Off to the exhibition with this one

Here is the finished product called "Happy Birthday to me" - I trimmed off the threads, ran the lint roller over it and even remembered to take a photo. The lint roller was an eye opener! Because I'd hand quilted it, it had been on the sofa for a number of months and was COVERED in cat hair. Those cats are impossible to keep off quilts and they shed like they have hair to spare and are growing more every minute. Maybe they are.

I do like this quilt - it's very simple but I like the colours and I like the warmth of the borders. It was fun to make because I decided on each border, and each fabric, as I went - and it was fun to hand quilt because it's just all done in straight lines. It was a deliberate choice to make something for the exhibition that would look "normal" and good on a wall, and I think I've done that. Hardly an artistic statement, but true for me.

I took a photo of these little fellas in the museum at Jakarta. (Actually, on closer inspection, I don't think they're fellas). They're each such a great shape.

Using my powers for good

Sometimes, very few times, being able to sew is actually a help in real life, and not just an esoteric hobby. For example, when the five year old wants to go to the "nursery rhymes and fairy tales" day at school as the gingerbread man. He was very specific about the colours he wanted, and the amount of icing "More!! More icing!!!" and in the end just looked adorable.

He did say the other kids kept chasing him all day. Shouting "run run as fast as you can" and killing themselves laughing. Oh well.

No pictures today

Because I'm in Jakarta for the week, and haven't been doing any quilting at all! There is something about the inside of a hotel room that makes me want to lounge around, watch television and read trashy novels. No quilting ever gets done!

I have had a few fabulous textile moments though - there are some amazing batiks, as you can imagine, and really wonderful fabrics. We went to the National Museum yesterday and some of the traditional textiles are just incredible - even the bark stuff!!! How can you make such lovely things from tree bark???

I am actually here for work not a holiday, so I better get on with it and stop drooling over the batiks.

Squares and circles finished

Here is my squares and circles quilt finally finished.

I think it took me longer to machine quilt than the other one did by hand! I finally gave up on the monofilament thread after trying a few ways to stop it breaking ... different brand, altering the tension, putting it off the machine spindle and into a jar ... and it still broke. So I just went to various colours of thread that sort of match in with the colours of the quilt and it seemed to have worked! None of the colours jump out at you, and if anyone notices I'm hoping that they think it was an artistic decision, and not the ugly truth that it was a technical stuff-up.

I like the spirals very much in the end, it was a great suggestion. Thank you quilt retreat lady!

Here's a picture with the flash on to show the colours more clearly.

New nephew quilt

I finished this one off at quilters on Wednesday - it's a good time to do binding! Sitting quietly around the table stitching at something fairly uncomplicated and listening to the ladies ....

This is for my sister's baby boy due sometime next month. I think. She won't tell me the name so I'll have to wait until he's born to do the label and send it over. I don't have to worry about these pictures ruining the surprise though, she doesn't read this. No-one reads this.

It's quite a busy quilt, perhaps a bit too patterned for a small baby, but I figure it won't show the dirt! And a few washes in the machine won't hurt it either; what more could you ask for. I used some of the left over fabrics in the bag too - pretty blues.

Curse you, school fete

Our primary school fete (sorry, it's a "fiesta") is in October, or possibly November, and I'm trying to think of things for the craft stall. Given that I'm working such a piddly amount this year I really should pull my finger out and be a little bit helpful ... but it's hard to think of things that would sell and aren't too much trouble to make.

Anyway, I'm trialling bag patterns to find something that is straightforward and looks good. This is a Robert Kaufmann free pattern (and freely adapted by me, it had a poofy bow on it that had to go) which went together well, but it sits oddly at the top. So I won't make any more. This one still might make it to the craft stall though! The colours are pretty.

And this weekend we enjoyed the fresh and crisp winter weather by going for a walk - this is just up behind my house. Would you think we lived in a city of nearly half a million people?

My happy birthday quilt

This is the other one I'm putting in the exhibition - in the "bed quilt" category. This quilt was a deliberate attempt to make something that would sit well with the other quilts - traditional and with colours that would stand out from a distance. I'm pleased with the result. I've bound it now and it looks good - it's not particularly complex or well made but I like the colours and the way that the borders work with the central medallion. It's hand quilted which adds a softness to the overall look.

I've called it "Happy Birthday to me" because the Saturday I'm doing floor duty at the exhibition is my 40th birthday! And if I have to walk around telling people not to touch the quilts I may as well get the odd "happy birthday" thrown in there too. I've put why I've called the quilt that in the catalogue, so we'll see if anyone reads it and my name tag and puts it together! Maybe, maybe not.