sydney quilt show ......

Hi there my quilty peeps.....

 

3 Days ..... yep!! I spent 3 whole days at the Sydney Quilt Show..... (warning: it's a bit heavy on photos).... I had a fantastic time meeting up with old friends and meeting lots of IG and FB friends for the first time. On the first day my Aunty Diana & Uncle Dave popped by to check out my quilts and were awestruck by the amount of talent in the quilt makers. On Saturday my parents, Aunty Heather and cousin Suzanne came to see what all the fuss was about. I think Mum and Dad were very impressed and now understand what I do a little better.......it was great to have them in my world.....

AND.....

Great News !!!! I won Third place in the Modern category with my beautiful quilt "Emma".

 

 This is Emma hanging in all her glory......

 My 3rd place ribbon.....

Me and my girl ......

A close up of some of the custom quilting.....

 



 

 

I also entered "Scarlett" in the Red and White category. This was a one off category for this year. It was an awesome sight to see all the red and whites hanging together.

This is (a poor pic of) Scarlett..... 

 A closer look at some of the custom quilting that  I did on her.....

My Mum with hair that matches my quilt...lol.....

This year I was asked to custom quilt this little beauty for the lovely Chris Jurd. I was so excited to be asked then quickly realised that this was the first time I was doing a quilt for someone else to enter in a show. I am extremely proud of how it has turned out. I used the centre panel for the inspiration for the background quilting.  

 



 

It felt a bit like I was quilting a tattoo with the snakes and skulls .....

 

One of the best parts of the show is catching up with friends and realising they are all just as crazy as me. I walked away from this bunch the a sore face from laughing so hard.....

 Bec, Myself, Gemma from Pretty Bobbins and Angie from Gnomeangel

 Myself and Sarah.... We have been going to the show on Saturday for years now. I always love spending the day with my good buddy .....

AND...... Finally, I got to meet the lovely Siobhan from Beaspoke Quilts fame. We have talked via email for years. It was really great to catch up and touch base.....watch this space....

 

 

By the end of the week I was exhausted and had hit the wall. I've just had a forced hiatus while the kids were on school holidays and I feel refreshed and ready to go again.....

 

Happy Quilting

Leanne xo

March Already.....

Well, I have been getting myself organised....

Unfortunately I haven't been able to fit in computer time until now. The good thing is part of my getting organised was to make time for myself and get fit and healthy. I can report that I am succeeding better than I expected. I signed up for the Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation and in 6 weeks I have lost 7.5kg and a whole dress size....yippee !!!! I am in it for the long haul. I have about 25kg more to lose. I have made a life change for myself and my family. We all have tons more energy and we are happy....

 

Quilting has become more enjoyable too. Because I am stronger, my back doesn't ache as much and I am able to stand all day with no problem. So last week I made this cute quilt. a jelly roll race quilt with giant applique flowers. I topped it of with custom quilting to enhance the quilt....

 

 

 

 

 

My niece Annalee came to visit with us for a couple of days last week. What else would you do when visiting your crazy quilt obsessed Aunt....make a quilt of course. She is so clever. This is the first time she has ever sewn. I'm so proud. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Quilting

Leanne xo

 

Friday Showcase....

Last Friday I headed to Sydney on the train with my friend Jan to attend the Friday Showcase at the NSW Quilters Guild.

Who was the guest quilter I hear you ask ???

It was ME !!!!

 

Suitcases packed full of my creations, Jan and I chatted all the way to the big smoke. I haven't been on a train for about 13 years. It was a good experience and I would definitely do it again.

 

 

Once we arrived in Sydney I was really glad to have Jan with me. I was totally turned around and had no clue where I was. I followed along and we emerged onto Pitt St. I do love the city....

 

A good number of ladies came to see my showcase of quilts. I was really nervous to speak at first but once I got started you couldn't stop me. In case you don't know, I like to chat a little ...lol

 

I spent the next one and a half hours talking about my quilting journey, including all my ups and downs. It was quite therapeutic... Lots of questions were asked and everyone was very interested in my quilts and different techniques.

 

You will notice in the photos below that I not only love to talk but I also talk with my hands a lot...lol

 

 

 

 

I got to meet lots of new people and I caught up with the lovely Chris Jurd who had some very nice things to say about me over on her blog.

 

After the showcase we headed over to the Queen Victoria Building (with suitcases in tow) for lunch....it was YUM ! and felt a bit posh for this country girl.

 

I had the best day. Thanks Jan for convincing me to do the showcase. I feel like it's opened up a whole new world to me....

 

Happy Quilting

Leanne xo

 

 

Lots of quilts...

In the last week I have been crackin' along on my customer quilts.

I thought I would show you what I have been up to.
 

 This is quite a large custom I did at the end of last week and into the weekend. I'm really happy with how it turned out...

 Here you can see the different quilting in each of the borders and below is the freehand all over flowers in the centre section of the quilt...

 

 

 Not a great photo but you get the idea...

 

 Next up was a panto edge to edge for the lovely Ena. It's cotton Candy. An oldie but a goodie...

 

And just off the frame today is this very bright strip quilt with applique flowers. I did an all over freehand swirl with ditching around the flowers... 

 

This is me with my head stuck in the machine. My back really hurts when I spend too long doing this... 

 

 Again, not a good photo... It's such a bright quilt...

 

Just a bit of what I've been doing...I won't show you photos of my neglected house. Having the boys home on holidays means that it's 10 times messier than normal. Only a week to go and they are back at school and when I clean the house it will stay clean....for a little while anyway...

 

Happy Quilting

Leanne xo

Oh No...

...I couldn't help myself.

They are everywhere on the web. I just had to make one. I love every one of them that I have seen.

What am I talking about you ask ??

The Scrappy Trip Around the World Quilt

The original instructions can be found at Quiltville. I changed mine up a little.
Firstly, as I'm short of time, I used 3 jelly rolls instead of scraps or stash. Much faster than cutting it all myself. Thanks Leanne @ Lizzie the Quilter for that idea!
Secondly, I cut my jelly roll strips in half, which is longer than the original instructions. This enabled me to have 8 strips per set instead of 6. This in turn made my blocks 16 " instead of 12".
Thirdly, I have not used one single pin. If you press the right way, the seams nest right in against one another, saving even more time !!! (I will probably have to use pins to put the blocks together)
The 3 jelly rolls make 30, 16 inch blocks. A huge, fast growing quilt !!!
I have done 4 complete blocks, and prepared another 6 and sorted the others into their sets, all on this rainy Sunday afternoon. It's nice to do some stitching for myself. Now I just need to make a bit of time each day to get it finished....

My 4 finished blocks....



My bits ready to go.....

 

What about you? Are you going on a trip around the world?

 

Happy Quilting

Leanne xo

 

A Bit Carried Away....

I spent today on Dudley custom quilting. Sam needs it for this weekend so it need to be done fast but whatever I wanted to do was fine. As always, once I set up to do custom I just can't help myself. It's a sampler quilt so I tried to do each block differently and I also did some designs I haven't done before. It's turning out great. I'm about 2/3 through it. I hope Sam loves it like I do....

Another full day should see it finished. I might have to go for a massage after this one...

Happy Quilting

Leanne xo



A little something I'm working on. It's an improvised wonky sampler.

I am doing a demonstration on improv blocks at the upcoming Wyong Quilt Show. Later in May I am teaching this quilt in a BOM class at All About Sewing.

Sorry for the photo quality. I took it with my phone....

The blocks still need the white around them. I love blue and orange together.

Have a Happy Easter.....

Leanne xo

Stunning Sabrina....

I have been quilting up a storm... I'm really happy with how this is turning out. I have gone a bit feather crazy. It's been fun to do. It took a while to work out how I was going to quilt it but once I started the creative juices just kept on flowing...

This will have to wait a few days now. The boys are still on holidays and we have a few things planned. Close to home but time with my beautiful boys just the same.

Hope you are having fun whatever you are doing...

Happy quilting

Leanne xo