Scatterday J

I've decided to join in the Scatterdays fun (cause I don't like to miss out when my friends are playing - mature huh?). The letter this week is J so here we go...

For the category Restaurant we have the Jasmine Rice Thai Restaurant here in Wollongong. They have very nice Thai food, but eating here is a bit odd for me - 20 years ago my parents owned and ran their restaurant in these premises. It was American style Ribs & Steak and I think they were a bit ahead of their time, given the success of Chilli's, Hog's Breath, etc in more recent years. I'm yet to taste any ribs as good as theirs.


The next category is sport and although Adam made a very good suggestion of Jousting it was a little difficult to find any of that going on. So instead we have Emma jumping rope (it is so a sport).

And finally we have Pointy Things (who thinks up these categories?). For this one I found this picture of Javelins and Javelinmen which is part of the Bayeaux Tapestry from the Middle Ages. Javelins are definitely very pointy, just ask that poor guy in the middle of the shot with one sticking into him.
I'm in Brisbane this week for the Quilt Show, so I'm setting this up to post on Saturday (hope it works). I'll try to post while I'm away, but I'm not sure if I'll have access to the internet. If not, be good and have fun, and I'll bring you up to date when I get home.

Might as well face it...

I'm addicted to journals. Of all descriptions, but in particular to making covered journals. This is one I made last night, and it will be another sample for the other class I'm teaching in Brisbane at the end of this month. Some of you may know that I have a bit of a thing for a blue/green colour combination, but doesn't it zing with some orange embellishments?

This class not only shows you how to make your own covered journal, but will also include free-motion quilting and embellishing your work with sheers, handmade beads, bobbin embroidery and more. It is lots of fun and I know everyone who comes along will soon be as addicted as I am.

There are places in this class, so please don't hesitate to get in touch with me or The Quilters' Store to book in - I'd love to see you there!

Improvising

This is a detail shot of my "Garnet Strata" quilt. It is a class sample for improvisational strip piecing, and a ton of fun to make. Students will add scraps of their favourite fabrics to a half metre of fabulous hand-dye or batik to piece a wallhanging as unique as they are - no two turn out the same. On the second day of the class, we sandwich our quilt top and do some fabulously easy and achievable free-motion quilting to complete the wallhanging.

I'm heading to Queensland next week for the Brisbane Quilt Show, where I will again be working with my friend Lisa Walton on her Dyed & Gone to Heaven stand. Then I will spend a few extra days in the sunshine state teaching at The Quilters Store. I'd love you to join me there - get in touch with me or call the store to book into the class.

Classy Results

This is the result of one of my Strata classes - Gay's version just glows, doesn't it? I will be teaching this class in Brisbane at The Quilters Store, Auchenflower on 31st October. It's a fun class, with improvisational piecing and a touch of sheer fabric for embellishment. The free-motion quilting is very effective and achievable for even the inexperienced quilter. There are places available in this class, so if you'd like to join me, contact The Quilter's Store on (07) 3870-0408 to book.

Dazzled...

Finally some client work to show - I know its rare aound here, but it does happen occasionally. This one was fun - lots of bright colours to keep me entertained while I did my free-motion thing with it. School holidays mean I have spent much of the past week running the kids around, but this is what I've been up to in between.

More Drawings

But with colour this time. Last week we had the daunting task of drawing this large and very colourful bunch of flowers, adding coloured media (coloured pencils, pastels, watercolours). This is my effort - very traditional looking in watercolours, but I do enjoy using them.



I thought I'd have a go with oil pastels over the weekend - these pears made a delicious subject. I'm fairly happy with this one too, although I couldn't find my paper stump so my blending is less than wonderful.



For those who were interested in the technique I used on the piece in my previous post - I began with white PFD cotton and painted the entire image, then added the quilting after the paint was dry & heat set.