Showing in October

October is a busy month for some of my quilts, two small pieces are on display this weekend and other pieces have been shown during October.

Aotearoa Quilters Green 12x12 challenge is on show this weekend at Whangamata Patch and Quilt exhibition.

photo from Aotearoa Quilters FB page,
mine is middle solid green one (here it is below)

Also on this weekend is a display of postcards created by Oceania SAQA members at the Stitches and Craft show in Melbourne.  The postcards were shown earlier this year at SAQA's (Studio Art Quilt Associates) annual conference in Portland.

mine second to bottom row, third on the left

My quilt 'Knit One, Paint One' is part of SAQA's 'Redirecting the Ordinary' exhibition and has been showing in Europe.  It has just shown at Abilmente Mostra-Atelier Internazionale della Manualita Creativa, Fiera di Vincenza, Italy.  

During September it was at Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork, Alsace, France.

'Knit One, Paint One' third from the left
'Redirecting the Ordinary' at Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork
photo from SAQA's Europe/Middle East blog

My quilt 'Caveman txts' is in SAQA's exhibition 'Text Messages' and showed at 'Original Sewing & Quilt Expo' in Fredericksburg, VA, in early October. 

Just Green

The current Aotearoa Quilters' colour challenge is Green.  This time I've only created one 12x12" mini quilt.  The previous colour challenges were Red, Blue and Purple.

It is a wholecloth quilt with matchstick quilting in a variegated thread.  

I did stitch around the letters in a clear thread, each letter has an extra layer of batting.

 




The green quilts are on display at the Christchurch Quilters show 1-4 October. At the Whangamata Patchwork exhibition during Labour weekend and then at the Auckland Festival of Quilts 6-8 November.

All are for sale at $125 each.

Purples, Living Colour and more

As well as the Symposium exhibitions there were a number of other exhibitions at various Palmerston North venues.

Aotearoa Quilters had their silent auction at the Symposium venue. My quilt 'Out My Window II' was purchased by one of my quilting friends.

'Out my Window II

'

'Increasingly Modern'

Aotearoa Quilters also had their Purple 12x12 challenge at the Square Edge Gallery, as well as the 'Growth' Challenge.  Nice to see my quilt 'Increasingly Modern' again - its been touring New Zealand. 

selection of Purple 12x12s,
my three are on the bottom 2nd - 4th from the left

At Te Manawa was the 'Living Colour' Exhibition.  My two favourites, mainly because I enjoy the Monarch butterfly and Irises:

'Consider the Flowers of the Field',
Christine Dowell

'Yum Yum', Kay D Haerland

Also at Te Manawa was an exhibition of Canadian quilts by Fibre Art Network. 

'Tallheo Cannery', Terry Phillips

'Greens Point Lighthouse', Leslie Forbes

'Canadian Hats', Janet Bednarczyk

Taylor Jenson Fine Arts had a very vibrant and fun exhibition of 40 quilts by Caohagan Islanders.  To read about Caohagan quilts click here.  Unfortunately I didn't take any photos.  A small selection of the quilts will be shown at Minerva Gallery, in Wellington, from Thursday 19th February.

Finally, I missed out on seeing Merrilyn George's exhibition 'Set Apart' on Suzanne Aubert - I just ran out of time.

Quilts on show

Quilt Symposium Manawatu is currently on in Palmerston North.  I can now show my four entries - the rules stated that quilts couldn't be shown before the event.

Aqua Panels

Now Sew HSTs

Harakeke

Market Fresh

As well as the Symposium exhibitions, Aotearoa Quilters' (AQ) also has exhibitions.  The 'Growth' Challenge makes an appearance as it tours the country, so I'll see 'Increasingly Modern' again.

Increasingly Modern

Out my Window II

AQ also have a Silent Auction, I've donated 'Out My Window II'.  This is a bigger version of 'Out My Window' that was part of the 'Beneath the Southern Sky' travelling exhibition.

The purpose of the silent auction is to raise funds for AQ, while showcasing quilts from well known (!) NZ quilters.  Not sure how I managed that, maybe because I know one of the organisers!!

 




and finally AQ's Purple 12x12 challenge.  The triangles are painted iwth textile paint and the ric rac is coloured with oil pastels using freezer paper stencils.  The scooters piece is commercial fabric, quilted and trapunto-ed.

my three entries

I Can Do Purple

Back here I went on a bit about how I didn't really like the colour purple.  And, as I mentioned then Aotearoa Quilters have a purple 12x12 challenge, with the deadline 21 November.  The entries will be displayed in Palmerston North during the Manawatu Quilt Symposium early next year.

In between other stuff I've been working on a couple of purple pieces (maybe more!) and I also got a little side-tracked ...

I had a bit of a clean up and came across a newsletter from Nancy's, which included a picture of a cute little sewing machine from a blog (suchitysuch.blogspot.com).  Well I just had to have a go ... this did mean ferretting through the kids lego and finding most pieces, however, a few substitutes were required.

Back to the purples, playing with different techniques ...
 

It isn't too late to create your own wee purple master piece, the challenge is also open to non-Aotearoa Quilters members.

The full instructions for the lego sewing machine appear here.

Purple is appearing

What is it about purple? back here I posted about my slight dislike of the colour purple, well maybe that is changing a little.

One of my latest quilts features purple ...

snippet of 'Increasingly Modern'

and I'm working on two entries for Aotearoa Quilters Purple 12x12 challenge, a couple of sneak peeks ...

However, the other two quilts I'm currently working on - definitely do not include any purple!!

Mini Break

We've just spent a few days in New Plymouth, as it is the school holidays.  It also meant I was able to attend Aotearoa Quilters AGM and the opening of their 'Growth' exhibition.

The Growth exhibition is currently showing at the Percy Thomson Gallery, Stratford.  Its a great space, with a pleasant cafe - Sgt Peppers that served excellent coffee. 

The judges were two locals, artist John McLean and quilter Dorothy Smith.   

The quilt on the left was awarded Best in Show - 'Mother Earth' by Kathleen Burford.  The other two quilts are 'Increasingly Modern' by me and the quilt on the right is 'Algae Blooms' by Mary Transom.  

I do like the two below - these received merit awards.

'An Abundance of Gum Blossums' by Jennifer Patterson

'Darling Buds of May' by Natalie Murdoch

'Waste and Renewal' by Fyvie Murray

I just had to include a photo of Fyvie's quilt, as I've watched her creating it and its a great quilt. The circles are all sewn in - there is no applique! It was awarded a Judges Choice prize.

The lighting in the gallery just made the silk shine and also the little bits of blue in the strips just pop.





The 20 quilts that form the 'Growth' exhibition can be viewed here.

Increasingly Modern

Aotearoa Quilters has a travelling exhibition called 'Growth', entries were due by 1 July.  My quilt 'Increasingly Modern' has been selected along with 19 other quilts.  Its first showing is at the Percy Thomson Gallery in Stratford (Taranaki).

Increasingly Modern

At first I struggled with this challenge as I couldn't get past kids growth charts!  The quilt was a bit of a last minute effort, I had been looking through some photos and came across my quilt, 'Painted Chocolate Blocks'.

Painted Chocolate Blocks

That sparked the idea of using the same technique to some how (!!) create a quilt representing growth.  I eventually decided to represent, as a graph, the growth of modern quilting.

 

I drew a diagram to work out the layout, there is even a bit of Fibonacci series in the sizing of the squares.



 
The shapes are painted using freezer paper stencils and Pebeo Textile shimmer paint - the glittery ones.

painting in progress

Then the quilting, this was a slow process.

I quilted around each painted block in a similar colour - the advantage with this is if there are any imperfections in the painted line the stitching sort of blends it out and the eye only sees (hopefully) the straightness of the stitched line.  

I mostly used my current favourite thread - Madeira Polyneon.  I've found I can't finished off the threads using the machine either with its knotting off stitch or several small stitches together.  It leaves either a noticeable blip of threads or they unravel - mainly a problem with these shiny polyester threads.

quilting and all those threads

I start by pulling the threads to the top when I start and finish each piece of quilting.  Then threading to the back and burying the threads later.  I tend to do some quilting then threading off and a bit more quilting, etc.  instead of leaving the whole lot to the end.   




As I quilt (and thread threads in) I often listen to podcasts on my iPad - one I'm following is Charlotte Scott's click here to listen.

For the white quilted area I wanted a wonky look that matched the painted squares.  While the blocks may be wonky they need to be vaguely straight.  To help with the 'straightness' I tacked horizontal lines and then quilted the squares mostly within these lines.  When I'd nearly reached the top I did check that the top row of blocks would line up with what would be the top edge of the quilt.  

angled closeup

 










The purple line is a piece of ribbon, hand stitched then machine stitched.

And somehow more purple is creeping into my work!

SAQA Trunk Show

Earlier in the year I sent off my entry 'Orange Blocks' to SAQA's 25th Anniversary Trunk Show.

Orange Blocks

The quilts are only 7" by 10" and have been mounted onto a black backing board. There are about 400 quilts divided into 8 trunks, my entry appears in Trunk D.

Each trunk then travels to various regions worldwide for a couple of years. 


 



 
An earlier trunk show was shown last year at the Taupo Symposium and also at Aotearoa Quilter's 2013 exhibition.  The quilts were still small but different dimension.


The trunk shows provide an opportunity to see art work by well known international artists (and unknowns!)  that you probably wouldn't see unless you travelled to major shows in the US.

Purple

OK so purple isn't one of my favourite colours.  At my guild's show and tell I usually look the other away when purple quilts are shown especially those with green.  

Although I am starting to change my mind a little bit - there are some quilt nice modern quilts on various blogs that feature purple.

The reason why I'm mentioning purple is that Aotearoa Quilters latest 12x12 colour challenge is purple.  The entries are due 21 November 2014, so plenty of time for me to get more enthusiastic about purple (or not!).  Entry is open to members and non-members more details on their website.

Update (October 2014): If you're interested in my progress with purple click here.
.

The Blues have their Outings

Aotearoa Quilters (AQ) Blue 12x12 challenge (previous posts here and here) have been at the Craft Fairs in Christchurch and Palmerston North.  

photo from AQ's facebook page

There will be an additional showing in Palmerston North at the Rose City Quilters 'Tote and Gloat' day early in May.

To view the individual entries click here - mine are numbers 1 and 58.

Just one more

Well I couldn't help myself, I delivered another Blue 12x12 for the Aotearoa Quilters Blue 12x12 exhibition.  (see here for my other entry)

I started it the day of my Guild's January meeting so I could take along some hand stitching.  The January meeting is just an informal night where you can stitch, knit, whatever and chat.  The usual monthly meetings are more formal and involve a speaker, show and tell, etc.

So I quickly felted up a blue piece.  Starting with acrylic felt I needlefelted (with my trusty Janome needlefelting machine) a selection of blue wool, silk rovings, with vague white crosses and some bits of black.  During the Guild meeting I added some handstitching and then took the piece on holiday with the intention to stitch more - yeah right.  It spent the whole time in its wee bag.

Back at home and completely uninspired with it - it sat in its wee bag. Until last Wednesday (two days before the deadline), when again I needed some handstitching to take to my Wednesday evening stitching group (the first for the year).  Quickly added a bit of machine quilting to firm it up abit, some bobbin work, then sewed on the facing strips that could be handstitched that night.

So 4pm Friday afternoon I delivered this ...

The quilts will be exhibited at the Craft Fairs in Christchurch and Palmerston North and the quilts will all be for sale at $125.  Not sure what I'll do with this if it doesn't sell and is returned.

In Print

The latest NZ Quilter magazine arrived a few weeks ago, I knew a photo of my Bernina Music Challenge entry would be in as I'd been asked to email a photo just prior to the magazine's printing deadline.  

Even though it didn't get anywhere in the Facebook competition (see here) it is nice to see it in the magazine.

 



There is also a nice mention of my quilt 'Vanilla' that was in the Taupo Symposium in July.  

Vanilla

As well as a picture of some of the RED 12x12s that were also displayed at Taupo.  Shows all three of mine (row 4, two on the right, row 5 first on the left).

Blue 12x12s - only one

I've only delivered one Blue 12x12 quilt for the Aotearoa Quilters Blue 12x12 exhibition.

I've decided that I really like my Gwen Marston inspired one in shot cottons (see here)  that I'm going to keep it - it may appear again sometime.

A Touch of Blue

closeup

 


Again I've used paintsticks and freezer paper stencils.  I decided not to overlap the squares and just add interest by shading the blue across the quilt.

This may be my last entry into an Aotearoa Quilters exhibition.  There has been no increase in membership and they can't stay financial at the current level, so it is possible that they will close down.  

I'm a bit sad as they have provided me with many opportunities over the last four years that I've been a member.  

Bit of a dogs breakfast

Back in 2010 my quilt 'Painted Chocolate Blocks' won a merit prize at Aotearoa Quilters Annual exhibition.  

The prize was a $150 voucher from Tulis Batiks.  I selected a range of mostly blue and brown batiks with a small amount of lime green ones.  My original idea was a log cabin quilt, not a traditional style but more like Edwina Mackinnon with her Cut and Come Again quilts (click here to see one on Laura Kemshall's blog).  

For some reason I was a bit intimidated by just having a go and trying this technique so I never did.

After attending Gwen Marston's class last year I looked at the collection of batiks again and thought maybe I could try a Gwen version of log cabin.  I had made a 12by12 that I liked (see here). So off I went.  

The first blocks were good, the ones with too much brown were ok-ish.  When I put them together - hmm.  Some quilting friends have made some polite (!) comments, the most useful being they need to be separated by filler blocks.