52 Quilters - Week 27 - Fiona Forsyth - My Favourite Quilty Hang-outs

I tend to spend most of my time at home either in my sewing studio or sitting on my "soffice" - sofa/office - hand sewing:

My Sewing Studio

My Sewing Studio

My Sewing Studio

My Sewing Studio - view of the "Nut House" where my secret sewing squirrels congregate

My Sewing Studio - view of the "Nut House" where my secret sewing squirrels congregate

My Sewing Studio

My Sewing Studio

When I am not at home, these are a few of my favourite Quilty hang-outs:

Honeysuckle Stained Class & Patchwork - Bendigo 

My local quilt shop is Honeysuckle Stained Glass and Patchwork - which is owned by Nicky & Peter.  They have a large range of traditional and modern fabrics, buttons, ribbons, trims, DMC threads, Cottage Garden Threads, and other sewing notions.  Nicky is a modern quilter so she has a good selection of the latest fabric lines & is very knowledgeable.  If you lose me in the shop you will often find me in the Kaffe Fassett corner drooling over all the pretties!! Honeysuckle are a Quiltworx certified shop and they regularly run classes on the premises.

 

Honeysuckle Stained Glass and Patchwork

2 Havilah Rd, 

Long Gully (Bendigo) 

Victoria 3550 Australia

Phone: (03) 5441 3289

Opening Hours: 

Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm 

Saturday 9am – 12noon

http://www.honeysucklepatchwork.com.au/

~

Spotlight Bendigo

I often refer to the local Spotlight store as my second home - as I live less than 5-minutes away, I often pop in to get my supplies. Spotlight is Australiasias largest supplier of Fabric, Craft, Party and Home Interiors, with Superstores in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia.

~

Further afield - Ballarat is just down the road a bit from Bendigo :-)

Cotton Factory - Ballarat

My home away from home is Cotton Factory in Ballarat and I tend to go down there a few times a year.   Ballarat is "just down the road a bit" from Bendigo (it is 123kms south west of Bendigo - and it takes about 90-minutes to drive there). Cotton Factory is owned by Alison von Bibra (known affectionately as "#theAlison").  Cotton Factory is a small business in Ballarat with an aim to make craft available to everyone. They work with many independent Australian pattern and fabric designers to bring you some great goodies. Alison recently attended Quilt Market in Salt Lake City and she has access to all the products that are about to hit the market.  Here is a link to a previous article I wrote about Cotton Factory

Beyond these unassuming lime green doors lies lots of pretty treasures!

THE Alison - Alison von Bibra - Cotton Factory Ballarat

Cotton Factory

128 Clyde Street

(Cnr of Brougham Street)

Ballarat, Victoria, 3350, Australia

Opening Hours:

Thursday, Friday & Saturday

10am to 3pm

The online shop is ALWAYS open.

http://www.cottonfactory.bigcartel.com/

https://www.instagram.com/cotton_factory/

https://www.instagram.com/cotton_factory_destash/

Cotton Factory Community Block Swap

#cfcblockswap

A common theme when crafters talk about swaps, is how hard they are to organise, how varied the fabrics are (some chain store, some high quality fabric store, some Vintage) and how hard it is to manage when people don’t follow through. Cotton Factory is hosting a community block swap where you are guaranteed to receive your swap blocks.  The swap is open to Australian Quilters and Overseas Quilters and will work as follows:

• Purchase your BlockPack from Cotton Factory
• Make four blocks
• Return as many (or as few) as you decide
• You will receive the SAME number of swap blocks by return mail that you sent in.

All fabrics have been chosen by Cotton Factory. They include Carolyn Friedlander, Art Gallery, Jen Kingwell, Free Spirit and a range of well known, best quality, quilting cottons. For enquiring minds, the colour scheme is: mustard, teal, muted oranges and hints of citrus. Cotton Factory has partnered with Eye Candy Quilts to provide the pattern in your Block Swap Packs, at cost.  

Recapping key dates.

1. To start, just purchase a Block Pack before the end of July 2016.
2. Make your blocks
3. Post your swap blocks such that they arrive at Cotton Factory by 31^st August 2016
4. Get ready to receive your Swap blocks later that same week (or early the following week – dependent on Australia Post, the Universe and the usual postal planetary alignment).
5. In your own sweet time you make up your quilt. Keep using the hash tag #cfcblockswap, so we can all stay connected with your progress.

Sadly my Block Pack did not arrive in time for my 52 Quilters take over week however, Alison did give me permission to share some of her photos:

photo courtesy of @Cotton_Factory

photo courtesy of @katharine_von_bibra

UPDATE - this swap has since closed.

For more information about the #cfcblockswap, please go to:

https://cottonfactory.wordpress.com/2016/06/11/cotton-factory-community-block-swap/

Mystery Quilt "Millefiori" with Sarah Fielke

My latest quilt top finish is the Millefiori Mystery Quilt by Sarah Fielke. 

This quilt pattern was released over a 12-weeks period via the Spotlight Facebook page & the Spotlight website.  Each week you could download a free PDF file containing instructions on how to make that week's block/s.  As this quilt was a mystery, the picture of the finished quilt was not released until the end.  I waited until it was all released before I purchased the fabric and eventually started to make it only a few weeks ago.  I have included links to the pattern at the bottom of this article if you wish to download them.
 

Millefiori Mystery Quilt - design by Sarah Fielke

The quilt finishes at 80", which is about 2m square, so it is suitable for a large single bed, a double bed, or a large throw. There is an option to add an 8" border to the quilt to turn it into a queen size, however I haven't decided if I will enlarge it yet.

 

This quilt contains applique.  I chose to do hand needle turn applique instead of machine applique or fusible hand applique.

Personally I prefer hand needle turned applique.

My thread of choice is Superior Threads "Bottom Line" 60wt polyester thread.  I have 2 neutrals on reels (colours 619 & 623) and I recently purchased a "Super Bobs Donut" which holds 118 yards of each of the 35 colours.

A close up of the centre panels with the smaller circles.  All of these were appliqued by hand.

 

The fabrics used in this quilt are from Sarah Fielke's "Millefiori" fabric range which was released in October 2013.  Within Australia and New Zealand, these fabrics are exclusively sold through Spotlight stores.  If you live outside of Australia the fabric (if still available) can be purchased directly from Sarah Fielke via her website.

 

The Fabric Range

 

Here are the links to each week's pattern instructions:

• Week One - Block B
• Week Two - Block D
• Week Three - Block C
• Week Four - Block E
• Week Five - Block B
• Week Six - Block A
• Week Seven - Block C
• Week Eight - Block F
• Week Nine - Block C
• Week Ten - Block F
• Week Eleven - Block G
• Week Twelve - Block E
• Week Thirteen - Quilt Assembly

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed making this quilt top!  Now I just have to design a back for it and hand quilt it.  My goal is to have this quilt completed by Australian Winter 2015.

This made my day; when I posted a photograph of the finished top on Instagram, Sarah Fielke "liked" my photo! ☺️  Talk about making my head swell!

Spotlight Quilting Expo 2014

 

"Spotlight’s Quilting Expo is this Saturday the 4th of October 2014 from 11am – 3pm. Don’t miss out on FREE demonstrations, VIP exclusive discounts, new quilting fabrics and the chance to win a sewing machine, conditions apply! Ask your store for more information."

 

On Saturday 4 October 2014 I went along to the Spotlight Quilting Expo at my local store in Bendigo.  To celebrate, Spotlight was offering 30% off all fabric (excluding pre cuts & clearance items), exclusive VIP discounts, 25% off wadding, free demos and launching some new quilting ranges in store. 

 

Anyone who spent $25 or more on quilting fabric on the day would receive a copy of "Project Patchwork 3" for free. 

 

They were also encouraging people to bring along their quilts to be displayed.  One lucky person (per store) who submitted a quilt would win an Elna "Elina 21" Sewing Machine (worth $199).  All eligible quilts had to be made of 100% Spotlight fabrics. 

 

The local store manager had asked me on Wednesday to make something for the expo.  None of my quilts are exclusively made of Spotlight fabrics as I tend to mix & match & purchase fabric from many suppliers.  The only full size quilt that I had made exclusively with Spotlight fabrics ("Autumn Hearts") was now living with my BFF Miriam down in Melbourne.  I did have a mini quilt which was 97.9% Spotlight fabrics (the backing & a small slither on the front was not Spotlight fabric) so I brought it along to be displayed although it wasn't eligible to be entered into the competition.  I did however quickly whip up another mini for the day - "Elephantasy - the elephant of stolen dreams".

 

 



Millie is holding up my "Elephantasy - the elephant of stolen dreams" mini quilt.

My "Butterfly Fantasy" quilt

Millie is demonstrating how to make a patchwork cushion using the new Star Wars fabric.  She had already made one with Hello Kitty fabric.

Millie's daughter learns how to sew with Hello Kitty flannelette.

One of the special guests from "Strath Quilters" demonstrates hand piecing.

The ladies from "Strath Quilters".

Demonstration on how to make a small sewing caddy by "Strath Quilters".

Shirley is making some quilt blocks.

The lovely Shirley.

One of the quilts on display.

More quilts on display hanging above the fabric.

More quilts on display - I'm rather fond of those two on the left ;)

Hard to see the detail in this quilt but it is camels walking along the beach at sunset - it reminded me of Cable Beach in Broome.  Not sure who made it.

A beautiful Bargello quilt on display.  This one is mounted on canvas & is not quilted.

Some more quilts on display.

More quilts on display.

The winner of the Elina Sewing machine was a lady named Rosemary who had entered a large appliqued Christmas quilt.

The winning quilt - I didn't get a very good view of it.

The winning quilt - Christmas theme with lots of applique.
I felt rude that I didn't take a better photo but as one of Jehovah's Witnesses I do not celebrate Christmas. I respect the amount of hard work that went into making this quilt though and despite the subject of the quilt, I felt that Rosemary clearly deserved the win.  As I hadn't really looked at the Christmas entries, I thought that the bright Bargello might have won as it was truly stunning!

Elephantasy - the Elephant of Stolen Dreams

I do enjoy paper piecing and when the lovely Juliet at The Tartan Kiwi was looking for pattern testers for her latest design, naturally I raised my hand, jumped up and down and called out "Pick Me! Pick Me!"  And she did.

 

It was my absolute pleasure to pattern test a 12" elephant for her.  As soon as I saw it I just KNEW that I had to make a pink elephant.  After all, all elephants should be pink right!

 

The day after receiving the pattern (Wednesday) I was at my local Spotlight store and was talking to the manager about their upcoming Quilting Expo which was on Saturday.  She begged me to make up something for their expo as last year they didn't have very many quilts on display.  The only catch - the quilt had to made up of 100% Spotlight fabrics.

 

Hmmmm, I decided to kill two birds with one stone (so to speak - no birds were actually harmed in the process but I did come very close to shooting those rotten geese - read on).  Why not turn Juliet's elephant into a quilt for Spotlight to display at their Quilting Expo.  I had 2-days to get it completed.  Yes it was do able - it wouldn't take very long to paper piece the elephant.  And it didn't.  One ellie whipped up late Wednesday night.

My completed elephant

What took the most time however, was designing and making the borders for the rest of the mini.  I had decided to turn the elephant block into a mini medallion and add a border of facing flying geese to it.  I had no pattern so I was free forming it as I went... mistake numero uno.  It took me AGES to work out the correct size to cut the segments for the geese.  My Thursday was dedicated to battling geese.

Geese in the making

 

Geese learning to fly

In hindsight I should've paper pieced the geese individually and then joined them all together.  Instead my free formed geese were slightly wonky.  This led to further issues.  I had to increase the width of the inner white border so that my geese were even on both sides.

With geese flying about and honking around the depths of my over tired mind, I abandoned it for the night.  I spent the night dreaming of geese and thinking about designs for the corners.

 

This was the sight that greeted me the following morning.  "Oh Mr Hart what a mess!"  Yes, there was indeed a large pink elephant on my kitchen bench!

My kitchen bench

 

Geese trimmings

I decided that I wanted to add schmancy corner blocks to the flying geese border.  Initially I was looking at whirly gig designs, and doubly whirly gigs, but couldn't find a pattern to fit a 3" block.  Instead I settled for a miniature paper pieced block called "Birds In Flight" which I resized on my photocopier.

 

Birds In Flight 3" paper pieced block

I had to remake a few of the wonky geese so that I could accurately attach the corner blocks to the geese borders.  Whoa, I think I grew a few extra grey hairs there!  The first one took about 1.5-hours to attach; the 2nd one about 1-hour.  The last two didn't take very long at all.  The seam ripper & I were on first name basis by the end of it as I had to unpick my 1.5" stitches and retape my papers numerous times until they all joined up accurately.

Attaching my flying geese borders

It was worth the heartache though.  Initially I had planned to have the "Birds in Flight" blocks with the white triangle at the bottom and the purple section at the top but I quickly realised the pretty pattern they made if all the purple bits aligned so my three little birds are flying out from the quilt and not into it.  By Friday night all my borders were attached and the top was finished.

The finished top

 

Next began a marathon quilting session.  I was determined to get as much done as possible before "The Block" started at 7:30pm - yes, the world stops so that I can watch "The Block"!

Quilting - stitching in the ditch

 

I anchored down the edges by stitching in the ditch so that I could at least get the binding attached and hand sew it down whilst watching the TV.

 

My purry view whilst I hand stitched the binding

 

I ended up missing most of my show, bar the last 20-minutes, and then watched a movie.

 

Back to quilting

When the movie ended (& the binding was attached), I went back into the sewing room to finish the quilting.  I used a variegated pink thread to ditch stitch around the elephant and white thread to ditch stitch the rest of the quilt.  For an organic feel I added a row of hand quilted running stitches along the middle of the thicker white border between the elephant and the geese. I used a pink embroidery thread for this - the same colour as the elephant's tail.

quilt label

Even the quilt label was Spotlight fabric - I bought a meter of this quilt label print last year from one of their Melbourne stores (various designs on the panel).

 

It was about 2am Saturday morning when the whole thing was finished.  The Quilting Expo began at 11am.  Technically I had time for "some" sleep however my brain had other ideas.  Instead of counting sheep, I was harassed by honking geese ;)

My Completed quilt

 

Close up of the back showing the quilting

 

Close up of the tail - plaited embroidery thread attached to the quilt

 

Close up of the head - I love the fussy cut eye

 

A quilted ellie

 

I put it out there on Instagram: What should I name this quilt?  The name "Elephantasy" kept coming to me.  After all, it was a fantasy elephant.  It's a shame that elephants aren't really pink with polka dots. 

 

The clincher was when my friend Kerry called it the "Elephant of Stolen Dreams" referring to the lack of sleep I'd had the last few nights whilst trying to get it finished on time.

 

Hence "Elephantasy - the Elephant of Stolen Dreams".

 

Elephantasy - the Elephant of Stolen Dreams

 

And yes we did make it to the Quilting Expo on time.  I'll blog about that separately.

 

Elephant pattern by The Tartan Kiwi