Long overdue catch up

Real life has taken up most waking hours lately, but for my sanity I have kept on working on some of my WIPs. Sorry for the iPhone post which dumps all pics at the bottom, just hoping I might get to my machine soon (and a laptop post requires shifting photos fr phone to laptop and picasa - one day...).
My 'Frei' quilt has arrived in AUS, I don't know if it has been accepted to be exhibited and I don't know when they'll let us know. I have booked my flight to Melbourne and am looking forward to getting to the AQV! Obviously I haven't booked into any workshops, I'll just go for the exhibitions, merchants and the whole atmosphere :-)

So what have I been working on?

Tokyo Subway Quilt:
I finally pieced my two February blocks, have laid out three for March with one pieced so far (only a little behind :D).

Sew it's Finished BoM from 2012:
I now have 9 blocks completed, with a bit of luck I get the remaining three done over Easter. As I go QAYG, I'll then have to decide on sashing width (2" like the squares or maybe 3"??). Judi, the green quilt fairy, had a fun tutorial on diamonds, so I I thought that might get applied here (the squares will get postage stamp treatment). One finished it will travel with us to Germany this winter as a present - hence linking up to Wendy for the BLS for March.

Yesterday Suz, Ms Lottie and I had a playdate at Ms. Lottie's place. We made a glorious creative mess, but more about this another time. IT WAS LOTS OF FUN!!!

I'm getting a bit over appliqué and piecing umpteen squares so I'll soon pull out some other WIPs and BLS projects... Did I mention the flannels I bought at The Apple Basket last month or the fabric plus jelly roll from Grandmother's Garden earlier this month (waiting for Elizabeth Hartman to publish her sewing circle tote pattern...) - now doubt there are choices :-)

What are you doing to stay sane?

Happy Sewing!

OMG!!!

"Frei" - my entry to the AQC Challenge (theme 'free')

My (secret) quilt has taken the first hurdle, it is off to Australia!!! I just received this confirmation in the mail:

Dear Quilter,

RE: AQC 2013 CHALLENGE ENTRY

Thank you for entering the 2013 AQC Challenge: 'FREE'.

We are pleased to advise that your quilt has been selected to proceed to the next step. We invite you to send the quilt for the finalist selection and judging. To do this, please send your quilt to the address below to arrive before March 28.

Upon seeing the actual quilts, the organisers reserve the right to decide which quilts will be included in the exhibition.

Please ensure your quilt is labelled clearly with the title and your name.

It can be either posted, couriered, or delivered by hand, but must be able to be folded and transported. Ideally it should be in a cloth bag which is also clearly labelled.

We are delighted that you have been chosen to proceed with this next step and wish you well.

Can anyone tell me, how great are the chances of being accepted? They don't say when they let you know about acceptance, not before 28 March obviously. I said if it was accepted I would go to Melbourne over Easter - do I need to start looking for flights?

Some details:

This is the brief summary I sent in with my entry:

"ARBEIT MACHT FREI" (labour frees) said the sign at the Nazi Concentration Camps. The surviving prisoners were freed more than 60 years ago, but is our world today truly free?

This quilt is a glance at what the world might look like once it is freed from human kind – some traces still remaining, but soon to be completely taken over by nature, with only the word ‘FREI’ (free) remaining.

I am OVER THE MOON!!!! Shortly after I first read about it, the idea was born and then percolated for some time. Mid February I went to work in earnest and managed to complete it just in time for the 1 March deadline. It is made up of hand printed and commercial cottons, overlaid with hand painted silk chiffon. The flowers are hand felted by my mother Ilse Seidel, wrapping around a machine stitched chain-link fence I had stitched onto wash-away fusible. I raw edge appliqued various objects - especially the rusted sign from above the entrance. I also thread painted flowers and fmqed in different scale to give the piece depth. I am very pleased with how the piece turned out though it is very different to what I usually do! One piece of warning, if you want to burn fabrics to make them look rusted, try to keep your hands away from the hot fabric, I ended with some not so nice burns on the back of my fingers!

I have done little other quilting, have been very busy and very happy in my new job, but this weekend will be spent adding hanging sleeve and label so I can put "Frei" in the mail to AUS on Monday. I will have to look into the whole insurance thing, too - all things I never have had to worry about before!

Happy Sewing!!!

Linking up to Leah Day's FMQ Friday

Behind!!!

I am so behind in my quilting it's not funny! I started my new job four weeks ago and I love it, but it is a lot of work (well, it's full-time and pay and perks have to be earnt somehow!). Since my last post I have...

• Quilted some more on my D4P - but obviously still not named it lol. I really love the feathers which came from a suggestion Suz made, I also like the wiggly lines that I have tested on one of the strips between the triangle (not a sashing strip but looks like one) - it will bring out the star. But will it be soft enough to sleep under?? Advice, please!!! See, I only use my quilts as day covers, in keeping with my German upbringing lol

I have made my way three quarters across the first two rows of blocks - 6 more rows to go :-)

• 

There'll be lots of threads to bury... and I am yet to quilt feathers in the partial squares around the edges.

• I have also (finally) picked up again on my Free Challenge Piece for the AQC - pictures are due by 1 March, so I better get to hurry up! I am not entirely sure how much I am allowed to share about it, I have shown you the background here and the chainlink fence here. I have experimented with painting silk chiffon yesterday to layer on top of the green part of the background to give an impression of a flower meadow. As I have powered through my paid work without any break today, I might get into this again before dinner. I have also organised my backing and batting, as well as my template for the sign which will have particular significance in the finished piece - if I ever get it finished!!! It's quite different to what i would make without the self-inflicted threat incentive of entering the competition!
• My two Tokyo Subway Quilts blocks are still sitting there set out awaiting piecing.

What have you been up to? Linking up to FMQ project UFO Sunday.

Happy Sewing!

A few more feathers...

Following on from my post earlier today - I think it's going to work out:

Feathers sneak peak

Today I finished the SiD of the still nameless D4P and quickly tried out some feathers - what do you think? Can you see the white stars in the sashing, I will repeat these in the centre of the blocks (where you can see the hourglass). The white sashing in between the stars will get some dense quilting, too, maybe some wavy lines. So glad to be fmqing again!!!

Start of February

Work has taken up a lot of my focus, but I managed to get a little sewing done.

The D4P - which is yet to be named properly - is on hold until the thread I have ordered arrives - beauty of living where we are, everything - and everyone travels...

I finally made a fluffy cushion cover from the fluffy blanket DH bought - picture below.

If I want to submit 'Free' for the AQS, I better get cracking, so I stitched the wire fence onto washaway fusible and below you can see how it turned out.

I have also laid out my next two Subway Map blocks ready to piece - maybe on Wednesday = Waitangi Day?

I am spending 2 days in The Big Smoke = Auckland - I absolutely despise the traffic, but I am envious to the access to services, shops, schools, people you have down here. This evening I managed to have a brief catch up with the lovely Chris from Diet Coke Rocks and her family, and I even got a cuddle with her second newest grandson, 7 week old Dante - so cute! Chris took some pics, so I'll have to borrow one when she posts them. In between work schedule and traffic this was way too short a visit, but if I get down here more often, I might be able to have the odd catchup with more of the lovely Auckland Quilters / Bloggers - Rona, I hope your term has started well, I hope we can organise sth. towards the end of February?
Tomorrow afternoon I go on the return journey home, with Waitangi Day on Wednesday I hope I can run away before the masses - I don't fancy another good 4h drive (crawl) for a 260km journey (which you can manage in 3h)...

Happy Sewing!

Busy, busy

I have been rather busy the last little while - not that I have much to show for! The house needs a proper clean, I don't dare to mention the windows, there's weeds in the garden etc. While the sun is still shining, the weather has been uncomfortably windy, reminding me of autumn way too early, while at the same time drying out the garden and paddocks horribly!

My D4P has made some progress, it is in one big piece now, sandwiched and pin basted, and yesterday I have started to SiD the horizontal lines. I don't usually SiD but I have read it helps stabilise things, and as this is a present I really want it to be right! Not that tidy SiD is all that easy (sigh)...Here are some pics from the sandwiching stage:

Here is also a picture of my second block from the Tokyo Subway Map Quilt - block 5. This has brought me up to target, two new ones to do next month;-)

My new job has kept me busy though at this point in time I'm just working from home. It's amazing how many intesting and relevant education documents are out there that people in my position need to know about! Thank goodness for webinars, Google Hangouts and skype sessions to discuss things with colleagues! [some of these I had barely ever come across before last week - so it's learning all around!]

In case there are any avid iOs users reading this:
Is there a way to include pix from my Picasa web albums into a post created on the blogger app? (I'm using the rather longwinded approach of drafting on the iPad, then adding pics on the laptop & publish). I am just having a play with inserting these in Google Chrome (still on the iPad), but it's not without pitfalls (maybe that's the operator, not the programme?). What I hate the most is that I don't seem to be able to scroll through all of my post - arrrgghhh!
Also, I am after a good app that can read docs, pdfs, maybe websites to me; I read about Speakably but I'm keen to hear from someone before I buy it. My idea is that like with foreign language learning I could be listening to important information over and over while I do other things like drive etc.

Happy Sewing!