A quilt for my very special friend overseas...

 I have a very special friend whom I have known for over 50 years.

Unfortunately for me, she lives in Canada so it's not easy to see her regularly due to distance. But we are still very close friends and keep in regular contact so when she got some challenging health issues I immediately decided to make her a quilt.

                                          

It's my own design and I just let my heart guide me...

The center medallion is made with a combination of cotton and wool .

I embroidered meaningful words ...

And a label..

And here it is gracing her favourite couch ...

Another little slow stitching basket

 What can I say?

I love making these little baskets out of special pieces of fabrics with some embroidery along the way. No planning, just letting the needle and the threads guide me...

I gifted it to my friend who lives overseas.

25 Years ago....

I recently was staying at the holiday house of one of my relatives overseas.
The room I was staying in,  had the bed made up with a quilt I made over 25 years ago.
Those were the days when I had less leisure time (full time work) and yet I made this quilt all by hand pieced (english paper piecing) and hand quilted.

It was kept om pristine condition.

Modern Quilt

 I had made this top a while back and finally quilt it on my long arm.

Lots off scrap fabrics.

Stars !!!!

 I made another gift quilt top for my guild using batiks, solids and Aboriginal fabrics. 

On June 5th this year I took a holiday and one of my destinations was Amsterdam. 

 I absolutely loved that city and the many other places I visited for a few days.

Being a quilter a visit to a quilt shop is a must, so I went to Petra Prins Patchwork and Quilting shops. It comprises of 2 adjoined shops with slightly different styles but totally beautiful.

I was lucky enough to meet Petra Prins and she kindly agreed to have her photo taken with me.

A 'bit' of shopping took place and I came out on a high from such beautiful fabrics and store. 

Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair

 Last weekend I attended the Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair.  This is a yearly event that brings a lot of crafts under one roof as well as over 150 quilts on display.

I have been a quilter for over 20 years but this year at the last minute I was encouraged to display some of my quilts to be judged under the banner of Victorian Quilters Inc. I entered 2 quilts quite different from one another.

This quilt (Kim Diehl pattern) is made from wool and cotton, using machine and hand applique. I quilted on my long arm.

 

I was lucky enough to get a ribbon "Highly commended first time entrant"

The other quilt that I submitted was all machined pieced and quilted. 

Basket with Embroidery

 

Making these bags/baskets with fabric scraps, beads and some decorative appliques made from cotton and wool is so fun. Once I start stitching a panel, my imagination takes over and I can't stop.

Even the inside is made from scraps decorated with machine decorative stitches

My garden is now 'waking up' as Spring has began...

Blue tones Top

 I had such fun making these easy blocks using a jelly roll of blue toned batiks and white on white scraps.

This top has been donated to  Waverley Patchworkers  Gift Quilts Program.

Little Basket using embroidery

 

I have a bunch of batik scraps that I put to good use.

I got some thin cotton fabric, and wool wadding and covered the entire surface (5.5 inch square) with the batik shapes and randomly stitched them down with blanket stitches, running stitches, lazy daisy, etc in whatever direction it took me.

I made 5 squares and then sewed them up in a bag, Japanese Rice Bag style.

To make it more interesting I added some buttons.

This little basket was a little gift for my daughter's birthday.