What I'm Working On

When my entry into a quilt show arived back enclosed was an entry form for next year!!!! now I'm not usually planning that far ahead but something clicked and off I went. Not with just one idea but with two wnich is another new field for me, but they both have the same "theme" spirals and as I said I have a year to work on them.However life has got in the way a bit and so I decided to post the work in progress photos and look for input, ideas etc.I should say they are two sizes, the smaller one has only one spiral while the larger one has two, they have free cut shapes appliqued to the background fabric ( plain calico) and the larger one I intend using couching, vibrabt thread, and also black thead, at present I still have to dicide what, how to quilt the smallr one. Thank you for looking.
Take Care,

Janette

Hello it's Been a While.

Well Fishy Fantasea has been away to a show and is now safely back home.When it came back it had an entry form enclosed for next year this time the theme is Spirals (I think) anyway I put my thinking cap on and have started two quilts with this theme (loosely) One large and one small, both applique both free cutting the fabris but the smaller much more restraint in design.I will take some photos of work in progress and have even thought about the quilting thread colour I will use on the larger quilt which is a first as that is more like an afterthought then part of the "plan"  design.I have also recently made a bag from Harris tweed fabric and now Kathleen and Robert have it to sell, if it does not sell I will be happy to have it back as I like it a lot however I forgot to take a photo before I gave them it.I,m glad I have been able to post as the last time I tried there was a problem.Thank you for visiting.
Janette

Fishy Fantasea is Ready.

This is my entry into the themed category of  The Great Northern Quilt Show, Harrowgate, England. The theme is Beside the Seaside and my entry is Fishy Fantasea. The inspiration came from a trip to Barbados and going underwater to sea the marine life in all ita colourful beauty however I am not good at realism so my tropical fish went funky and I had lots of fun making this quilt.
Tha background is pieces, the "fish" are appliqued, as is the seaweed, the eyes are vintage buttons  and the shells are real shells from Turkey (another trip) held in place with beading.The quilting is machine quilting FMQ and there is a little hand embroydery on the seaweed.

I would really appreciate any comments and I will not be offended by anything said. The photos are not very good but then I am not a hphographer I just hope you  enjoy looking.
Thak You For Looking
Janette

Random Thoughts and Other Finds.

People have been very kind to me in the last few weeks and I find that very hearwarming given life in todays world.I can still look forward to my SAQA journal as I have received help with my subscription, I thought I would have to stop this wonderful,  infomative, and inspiring publication but thanks to the european rep. and her kindness I am still a memeber.
Other finds, well I am still unpacking my studio stuff, I know, I can hear you say"Just how much stuff did/do you have?" and the truth is LOADS some of which I had forgotten about.These forgotten finds are now new again and I hope to have fun USEING the where as before they were "must haves" that I really did need, and were not really  must haves at all however now that we are broke my over stashing has come to the fore.One of the forgottens were a set of  Tsukineko inks, I had never even opened the little bottles. so have tried them out, I'm not a painter so need to practice with them but I did try them by really wetting cotton the useing the ink very much diluted, leave it to dry and it gave a lovely frilly edge.I also discovered that once the ink is on and dry you cannot dilute it its permanent, someting else to take note of. I also found class samples and the hand out from a class I took with Evelyn Ramsay, she uses transfere paints, layers sheers, and the end result is/arepopies, when I took this class I was happy to continue afterward and have made a small wall quilt.It hangs at the top of our stairway.So another avenue to visit but with paint this time.
I miss my friend Linda lots, we talked textile all the time, bounced ideas off each other, gave and asked for advice on textile stuff and were just best friends, something that cannot be replaced.I cannot use the enbellisher she gave me at present because it reminds me of her and my mind goes blank and I cant do anything at all.
These were random thoughts etc.nice talking to you and do call again.
Janette

Sad Post Etc.

My best friend Linda Cooper has died, she lost her battle with cancer in April and I am very sad she has gone. Linda and I went to college to gain our City and Guilds parts 1 and 2 in Patchwork and Quilting, Linda went on to do the embroidery City and Guilds,We started out teaching patchwork together just keeping ahead of our students but loving every minute and that love of all things textile grew over the years. I moved house the same day as she was diagnosed as in- operable and I felt really bed that I could not give my friend my support, its been a very hard year for llots of reasons.Linda was positive right to the end and a great example to all of us who new her, she is sadly missed.

Today I mailed my quilts off to Loch Lomond Quilt Show, just hope they arrive in time as our little post office is only part time four days and we have had public holidays galore recently. I have found working quite hard since Linda died my friend Susi felt the same way affter her friend died so hope soon to be back on track.To-day I finished a canvas I started a year or more ago, it was from the Adventure quitls lady (forget her name!!!!) anyway it was an interview with Bonny McAfrey (?spelling) and it looked fun and easy,now a year later I can say it was fun and fairly easy but I did it a little different to her (the quilter) method. When the thing dries I will post a photo, I will also have to charge the battery in the camera so watch this space.

Bye for now,
Janette

Jelly rolls and other matters.

On a quilt list I am on one quilter asked us to visit her blog to "see" her latest quilt a jelly roll style quilt.It was very good and she had spacers of black and white fabric which lifted the quilt and made it zing.Now this was not sewn from a jelly roll but strips the same size as those in a roll and for me it made me feel that I am correct in thinking these jelly rolls are really for peole just begining on the quilt road.They take away the need to look at colour, size, (they are all pre cut to the same width and length) and have never excited me however it did make me think that cutting strips of perhaps not so attractive fabric and using them in a strippy quilt it would reduce my stash and give me another quilt.How do you feel about jelly rolls???
Today I tried to contact the local craft association via e-mail and still have not received a reply so at present I have put Etsy on hold one reason is I would rather do something local the other is the tax man has been in touch again after telling me everything was o.k. Once these two things have been sorted I will decide what I want to do, DH tells people that I will not sell my work so he will get a surprise one way or the other.
I have made some "Wee Works" for sale, taken photos and priced them (in my head) so now I have a small stock to begin with.Its been a while since I earned money from my quilting skills and I'm looking forward to earning a little to keep me in crafty stuff.Hope you enjoyed our chat.
Take Care
Janette

We Have a Name

The fish quilt is now ready for a sleeve and I have given it a name, Fishy Fantasea, the theme is By the Seaside thats why I have use fantaSEA. The shells are from Turkey, I drilles holes myself, now I wand my own drill!!!! and beaded arround them with green, blue and peal beads.I do'nt do beading much but I like the results here and will try beading in other work now.Another thing I need to do is find the book the fish shapes are from to give credit to the quilter however since we moved house things have been, how can I put this, wild! cluttered! very disorganised! and thats just my studio!!!!! if I do'nt find it soon I will ask on a list I am on for the collective help and someone is sure to know perhaps the author herself.Please feel free to comment as I always find it helpful.Thank you for looking.
Take Care

Janette

What's going Where and When

I have made ready the two quilts for The Loch lomond Quilt Show so here they are. The top one is for  D.H. in his football team colours and is called, Away The Pars.    The second one is one I made as a sample for a class I teach called Wibbly Wobbly 9 Patch and this quilt is called Baby Love. These two quilts are made using two of my favourite blocks but with a twist which is what was asked for, traditional  but with a twist. I think I have thats worked out o.k. all I need to do now is learn how  to take better photos, with that in mind I would like to hear you're take on these quilts.
Thank you  for taking time to look and comment.
Take Care
Janette

The Fish

This is the final order I put hte fish in. As you can see they are TROPICAL fish and \I used a variety of fabrics and just had fun.They still need to be FMQ. at this stage, also a border and embellishing need to be added  but I think they are fun.

OOOOps I forgot to rotate this photo, but I hope you like the close up and can see some of the fabrics used.

February

The wind is gale force and it's raining, again, but this helps me because it gives me time, time to work on the entries for quilt shows. The idea of hand stitching all the half square triangles back to make a curve felt good at the time but has been hard work mostly due to my arthritic hands however I am close to the end now. The deadline for entries is March so I need to pick up speed, it still needs wadding/batting and quilting but the quilting is minimal due to the ammount of fabric used.Will I do this again, maybe but not for a spacific date as it has taken much longer then I thought it would.The other quilt for this show was ready just needed a name so I have decided on Baby Love, as its really more of a baby quilt, colours etc., and it has pink backing fabric so a bit girly.The black white and red is Pars, thats the nick name of DH football/soccer team and its the colours of the strip and also it's a gift or him. The other quilt is for a deadline in July so I have time however I am well on the way with that quilt as it's been so much fun.I will post a photo of it as work in progress, but I have worked on it since I took the photo's so the fish have bee free motoin quilted quite a bit of fmq. done on each one.These are fantasy fish but the inspiration comes from real fish we saw in Barbados while on holiday there, the tropical fish were so colourful as was the coral and even the sea weed so for my artist statement Barbados fish life will take centre stage.Feed back from you would be good, I have a thick skin so please be as honest as you like.Looking forward to hearing you're thoughts.
Take Care
Janette

Hello 2011.

Hi, This is my first post of 2011, new year, new ideas, new way to blog. This year I hope to be more profesional when blogging, by that I mean less personal stuff and more quilt related topics and to start the new year off I'm talking about juried show's and judged shows.
I have had my fair share of  "sorry" slips, but what really confuses me are the comment slips from judges, for example, one time I had three slips, two of the judges were pretty close on marking however the third was the total opposite of the other two, where one said "excellent" this judge said "needs work" so my resulting thought is, I will do what I llike to a standard I feel is good and if the judges like it, fine, if not thats also fine because I like it.
I have only ever enered one juried show and needless to say did not make the cut, nor did I get feed back which I found a bit negative however I have since read up on juries and see why they cannot give feed back to everyone they reject.
Right now I am working on two quilts for The Loch Lommond Quilt Show, both are traditional (thats what they want) and both are getting me working again after a year off. (due to moving house) However traditional work helps me to unblock creatively so this show is a great help to me.
What would you say to,  
Judged show's?
Juried show's?
Traditional quilts?
Unblocking creativitey?
Look forward to your answeres.
Janette