The Cake

I seem to have been working on a friends wedding cake for months, its only been a few weeks though and finally the big event has come and gone, without a hitch.
The wedding on Friday was great and the cake fulfilled all of my expectations as well as the brides.


The roses which I have been making for the last few weeks really make a statement and the birdcage complete with lovebirds finished it off beautifully.

Claire in her stunning dress walking down the aisle with her proud dad.

As planned the cake complimented the style of the wedding and the chocolate ganache layered cake went down well when it was served later on with berries and ice cream.

Mark and I with the newlyweds, we had a great time and danced into the wee small hours.

Quilts in the Barn

The last few weeks have been a blur but here is how I remember it. First there was a trip to Melbourne to spend time with my friend Linda who has a lovely Quilt show called Quilts in the Barn.
Melbourne really turned on the weather and it snowed on the Saturday morning and like a true tourist I ran around taking photos at 7am in 3 degree weather.

Quilts in the Barn is officially open for business come rain hail or shine. This year Di Ford and her group the Secret Sewing Sisterhood were invited to exhibit and the quilts were stunning.

Here is some of the welcoming committee Jill, Bev, myself Sharon and Dorothy.

Corliss from Threadbear had a beautiful stand of her wares and all the visitors took full advantage.

Here are some of the Secret sisterhood Meghan, Deb and Julie.

It was lovely to see several different variations of the one quilt.

But wait there is more,

The alpacas didn't quite know what to make of all the fuss.

The workers were out in force and here are two Christine and Anne.

This magnificent quilt was designed by Di Ford and made by Julie Cashin. It is called The Tompkins Quilt aka The burnt quilt.

One of my favourites the Hexagon Star quilt which Di was lucky enough to receive as a Christmas gift in 2009 from her wonderful group.

This stunner was designed Deb King and made by Meghan Leslie its called Debs not quite telling the truth, I believe this name came from the fact that Deb referred to the drafting as easy.

The Rain, designed and made by Di Ford

One of my favourites at the show, designed and made by Di Ford called Queen Victoria's Crown.

Dis variation of Anne Dagg's Quilt.

A beautiful interpretation of The Jane Austen again made and designed by Di Ford.

As there were so may quilts on display there were several of the same design, and they were all quite different. This one is Merri Garton's version of the Tompkins Quilt.

The Hershey Quilt one of Di's designs made by Sue Delves.

Machine quilter Katrina Wilson (right) was lucky enough to win the beautiful Carolina Lily Raffle quilt, she is pictured here with my host Linda.

Here are some of the Secret Sisterhood pictured with their fearless leader Di Ford (4th from the left)

And finally the packing up begins. Linda then organised a lovely BBQ dinner for all the girls and helpers, thanks Linda for another great weekend.

Back at last

No I haven't fallen off the perch but have been in a cyber abyss. Our computer was having a major hissy fit and had to be reformatted which seemed to take forever, but I'm back with lots of news.
The Glenbrook Cocktail Quilters weekend to Bowral was a huge success and here we are on the front steps of "Links House" the weather was sunny and cold, the food was good and the company was charming as always.

Saturday night saw the unveiling of the quilts above is Glenys, Meaghan and Colleen.

Deb and Pam

Trish , Nikki and Cath enjoying a laugh

Rhonda and Di having a good time as always

Nan, Marg and Marlene

Chris, Joan and Sharon

Wendy and Heather

Sharon and Sandy

Sandy and Gail on the steps of Centennial Winery which was our Friday lunch venue

Gail's lovely quilt which was one of the viewers choice winners.

Hawaiian beauty

Sharon's quilt, she had started an winding ways quilt like mine but decided straight seams are quicker, another winner on the night.

Sandy's quilt which I was quilting the week before actually won a quilting prize so I was a grinner.

Rhonda's quilt won for best piecing.

There are quite a few Japanese quilt fans in our group as you can see.

Top Secret

Haven't been able to post of late as everything I've been working on is a secret.

Every year our group has a challenge weekend and everyone makes a quilt bound by criteria set the previous year. This year two of the girls have asked me to machine-quilt their quilts so I have been working on these and my own challenge quilt.

My friend Sharon and I are also setting next years challenge but again Top Secret. All will be revealed next week.

The quilt above was our last challenge, I was given an envelope with a photo of the underside of a mushroom with the instructions "Use concentric circles" so I chose this quilt pattern from Carolyn Koenig and just love the finished quilt, it has real movement and showcases the reproduction fabrics.

Very excited about the weekend and will report back.

Show and Tell

Had a couple of my quilting friends around for lunch the other day and my girlfriend Lynelle had some wonderful show and tell. Her quilt was just back from the quilters and I just loved the fresh fabric and mix of geometric and floral fabrics.
Its been really cold in Sydney hence the fire.

Inspiration?

Sorry I have been a bit quiet lately -which is not like me-as I have been battling bronchitis and haven't been up to much. But I have managed to finish a quilt I have had lying around for some
years - shame shame.
I have always found it fascinating where inspiration to start or finish a project comes from but more importantly how to harness it. I was recently in Melbourne for the Australian Quilt Convention which included an exhibition of Kim McLean's quilts. I had seen a retrospective of her work years before in Sydney where quilt Hexagon stars (above) really caught my eye. I then chased up a copy of the 2005 Quilters Newsletter calender as it included a pattern of the quilt.
I worked on the quilt over the next few years but then the stars and diamond blocks ended up in a drawer. After seeing the quilt again at the show I returned home itching to finish it.

Kim's quilt was inspired by the original made in Sydney by a lady named Frederica Josephson around 1850 using cottons and chintz fabric, a close up of the quilt above.

I am thrilled with the finished top, it's a bit brighter and pinker than the original. I will post a photo when it is finished which could be a few more years coming as I really feel it deserves hand quilting.

New TV Quilt

We recently splashed out on a new TV but the problem was we had one of those old 3 piece cabinets with the huge deep centre cabinet which wasn't wide enough for the new telly. I looked around but everything I saw was too small as I also keep my quilt books in one of the two side cabinets so Mark got to work rebuilding the centre cabinet which I then painted black and distressed and waxed leaving the inside and top stained timber.

The new TV then snowballed into a loungeroom makeover - much to my husbands horror. The navy blue lounge stayed but I changed the room's colour scheme from burgundy and blue to green and blue after seeing a vintage quilt in navy and acid green in a magazine. When I suggested a feature wall in acid green for the wall behind the new cabinet I was laughed at, but it all came together after new lights, rug and quilt hanger were installed.