Its amazing where you can meet another quilter.

Regular readers of my blog will remember my DH and I visited Laos towards the end of last year. We also spent a few days in Bangkok.

Now, this isn't going to be another ho hum travel post......

While we were browsing in one of the larger department stores in Bangkok, I spied in the distance some sewing machines. I thought, lets head over and see what else I can find....maybe even some quilting fabric!

There was lots of wool and haberdashery, then DH spotted a quilt! We wandered over to admire the quilt and one of the shop assistants approached us. DH can speak some Thai, so they struck up a conversation. He told the lady I made quilts and was interested in all kinds of stitching.
Well, two hours later we were still talking quilts!!! My new friend showed me her samples in the shop (she teaches classes there) and via her tablet, lots of photos of her work at home. I gave her the address of my blog and showed her some of my work.
I speak not a word of Thai and Gulratida speaks not a word of English, but with the help of my DH translating we formed a friendship through a love of sewing!

Gulratida asked if we could come back to see her the next day.

Well, the next day we spent more than an hour chatting about quilts again, and sharing photos of our sewing, with another of the shop assistants also.

We exchanged gifts.

Gulratida gave me this cute little draw string pouch that she made. She also shared some sewing and quilting patterns with me.  Gulratida gave us directions of where we might find some other shops with fabrics and haberdashery.

Off we went in search! Two train rides and lots of walking later we found a market that sold, amongst many other things, some fabric. I bought the elephant fabric, above. (We didn't actually find what we were looking for, but we had fun exploring another part of Bangkok)

Yesterday I got out the patterns and made some blocks.

This block is called Starry Path.

I plan to make a small quilt that will be dedicated to the friendship that quilting can bring. A chance meeting in other country, online conversations via a quilting blog or meeting in a regular stitching group can lead to wonderful friendships growing and the sharing of quilting inspiration.

Thank you Gulratida!!

Thank you all for your inspiration and friendship!!

For me, 2014 will be a year for continuing some of my long term projects and the start of a few new projects. News of some of these in my next few posts.

Happy New Year everyone!! :)


Thinking of everyone contending with weather extremes: whether its 47 plus degrees celcius in New South Wales and Queensland, flooding rains in UK, or well below freezing temperatures in USA.


Lastly, on a very sad note, please spare a thought and prayer for Lisa and her family.

Red

Two more little houses from scraps.

Last week I chose the fabric for the sashing and cornerstones for my house quilt.

I have decided I want to make 2 house quilts, one with all red houses and one with all the other house blocks I have made.  Both quilts will have the same sashing and cornerstones.

More red.....

Turkey red fabrics from Collections for a Cause, Friendship.

Some of those fabrics will be used in a quilt from this book:

For more information about the quilt that inspired this book and some photos of the quilt look here.


This is what I have been doing today........

It has been a cold and wet day here, so a perfect day for some machine quilting.

Some red blooms from the garden today.

Today is ANZAC day in Australia.

My strongest memories of ANZAC day are from when I was a very young child. Both my father and brother played in our small town's brass band. The band played the music for all the returned service men and women who marched in the ANZAC day parade. I can remember wreaths being laid at the town's cenotaph.  I can remember "old" men with limbs missing, ladies in uniform, the wearing of medals, marching music, the last post and reveille,  and speeches. I was too young to have any understanding of the real significance of the day.
Later, when we had television I remember watching hundreds of people marching to the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne.

Thank you to all who have served and are serving now.  Thank you to all the young people who gave their lives.

Lest we forget.

Some sewing this week

I finished quilting the little top I showed you last week.
It took quite a while! I didn't realise how long it would take to quilt, but there are lots of little spiral patterns there!


Here are a couple more photos so you can see the quilting stitches more closely.



I am quite happy with how it turned out.

Next I will bind it and turn it into a cushion.

I hope to continue practicing my machine quilting and quilt something a little larger next.


I made one hexie flower this week. The photograph doesn't show the true colours, unfortunately.


I am having trouble adding more photographs tonight, so I will do another post.

More than One Flower Wednesday

Liberty fabric and zygocactus flowers.




My cushion is finished! I have had a second class, with lots of hints from Kellie, and lots more practice since I did that machine quilting, so the next piece should be a big improvement. I have started the machine applique on a second cushion and I have ideas for a small quilt using the raw edge applique technique.


Another broderie perse Morrell block finished! I am more than half way through making the blocks now. :)


Jacob's Coat is coming along well. I have 13 blocks finished and 2 more prepared ready to sew in the next few days.

Have a great week, everyone. :)

A little bit here, a little bit there.....

Over the last 2 or 3 weeks I have been working on several different projects. I have finally got my Morrell blocks out again and the photo above is my latest finish. I started the Morrell Quilt about this time last year and worked on it steadily through last year. This year there have been several distractions....good ones. :) We have a get together scheduled late in June to show our (hopefully!!!) completed quilts. Well..........I am sure I will not have the quilt completed, but I am determined to get quite a few more blocks finished.

Below are photos of progress on some of the above mentioned "distractions"............


These are my last 4 spool blocks. I have a total of 50 now and I have decided that is a good place to stop. Forty nine blocks will make a cute little wall hanging, with an extra block to incorporate in the label on the back.


From my previous post you will have noticed that I have joined in with the "one flower Wednesday" group, so I will be making hexies instead of klosjes now. :)


Last week I attended a class with Kellie of Don't Look Now! blog. The class is for her raw edge applique technique.

Below is my practice piece. I am quite happy with my applique.

However, my machine quilting still needs lots of practice. I have only done a very small amount of machine quilting and always using the stitch regulator on my machine. This time I tried quilting without the stitch regulator. There is a lot of variation in the size of my stitches at the moment. Lots of practice coming up for me!!



Next week we have the second class with Kellie, so I hope to have this block finished and made into a pillow and other project using the raw edge applique techinique started.

In another of Kellie's projects I am making great progress. These blocks are really enjoyable to sew. I have 11 blocks completed now. The 12th block is well on its way.


Have a great weekend everyone. :)

I will be hunting for a piece of fabric to complete the applique on that Morrell block.