Back!

Hoo boy. Two weeks, huh? That was pretty slack of me. I promise I didn't fall in the Pit on Sullivan Street and break both my legs. No, something much more interesting happened: I got busy!

Firstly I was helping out a LQS by making a sample from the Elizabeth Hartman book Modern Patchwork. If you haven't got this book, it's well worth adding to your library. I love almost every quilt in it and if I had the time I'd make them all! It was a surprise find. I picked it up kind of half-heartedly, thinking it would be good to use for the SydMQG library (which is currently just what modern books I have in my collection) but I am finding it very hard to lend out! I love the book a lot. I can highly recommend it.

The quilt I chose to make from the book is Honey. It is the first time I have ever followed a pattern so faithfully! At the end of each pattern she gives options for how to mix it up a little. I chose to make my quilt scrappy in colorstories instead of solid warm colors with a pop of B&W print as she did hers. As a concession to the patter, I put a single solid color in every hexagon.

The instructions for "make it scrappy" said 30 5.5" strips x WOF. I wanted to use my fat quarters too, so I chose 60 different fabrics in 5.5" strips x 1/2 WOF. I chose Kona Slate as the background fabric and used the same for most of the backing, too.

Now, I don't have a perfect picture of the finished product but I have one that shows most of it. I really, really like this quilt, and I am so happy with the way the colors turned out!

Now: the LQS I mentioned up there, Greta's Handcraft Centre, didn't ask for the sample, or comp me in any way, I did it simply because I wanted to. The reason I was so eager to help is because Vivienne is moving from just wool & cotton yarn to having modern quilting fabric. She is just emerging on the local quilting scene and her selections are savvy and judicious. Already she has Tula Pink, Anna Maria Horner, and a LOT of Kona Cottons! If you live on or near the North Shore, pay her shop a visit, and be sure to tell them I sent you! I love local shops and I am so glad to have one opening so near. And the staff are lovely, too. Plus, if you make it in over the next few months, you can see my quilt up close! :)

After I'd finished the quilt, I took a few days to just veg out and try and catch my breath. It's not every week I make a quilt in just 7 days! :)

In the midst of all of that, we had another meeting of the Sydney Modern Quilt Guild - this time a Friday evening Sit & Sew. It was a lot of fun and quite intimate! I'm so enjoying meeting new people as they make their way to our group and I'm even more excited to announce the changes for next year, too! Sewing machine days – new northside location for sit & sews – charity quilts – and so on, and so forth! Please come and join us at any time. We are so excited to be part of the modern quilting movement in Sydney!

After that excitement, I went and got my hair done. Blonde. I love being blonde. People expect so much less of you! And my dream is to look like Blake Lively (yeah, right) so if I have to grow out my hair, it gets to be blonde. :)

And last night, after a very frustrated fornight of a messy sewing space, I decided to clean. After I'd done the 7-Day Quilt, the whole place looked frightening.

So last night I went through, reorganized my stash and books, cycled in the new fabric I'd found hither and thither, and cleaned. Now I have a pretty, re-organized sewing room again. Mr Poppleton suggested I put the computer in the other corner of my desk. I had already decided to use my Alex roller drawer unit as a cutting station and even picked up a smaller cutting mat, but I was still reluctant to move things around. How wrong I was! Check this out!

I have plenty of room to sew and I have a cutting station at my elbow, ready to go! Plus I now have room for the spiffy new Wacom Bamboo my husband picked up for me. He is a dear, isn't he? I think I'll keep him.

I also went through my poor pathetic little overflowing scrap basket and picked out all the precious Mendocino, as well as my last tiny rainbow chicken scrap! I dug out my tiny clothes pegs and strung up some twine and made a little bunting with my scraps. Super cute.

And my freshly organized fabric collection is looking pretty fierce!

I have been feeling very grateful lately to have received the support of local shops, local prominent quilters, and even the encouragement of the NSW Quilters' Guild. Now, these are ladies who know all the rules, but they are welcoming modern quilters with wide open arms. It is great to be able to marry my colorful sense of adventure with their ability to actually follow directions (!) and so this is the year I join the guild. I've filled out my application and am going to post it tomorrow. Being a part of the NSW Quilters' Guild means, though, that I get to enter two quilts into the 2013 Craft and Quilt Fair at Darling Harbour. And guys, I have been inspiration-struck.

There's my start. I was impatient enough to special-order the rest of the fabric I needed (should be here by Wednesday!) rather than drive all over Sydney to purchase it, but I'm going to get a start on it tonight with what I have. It is calling out to me. I don't want to say anything else about it, as it's so unformed, but I am so very excited about this quilt. It will be simple, fresh, and bright without jangling. I'm looking forward to putting it together! I hope it comes together in real life as well as it has in my head. And I'm excited to be submitting! I still have to figure out my category, but I am eager to get slicing & sewing!

I hope your weekend is wonderful! I'll catch you on the other side of it!

Cheers

Penny x

Comments

[sarah]

those solids are SO pretty.

[Natasha]

Yay Jenn...I loved meeting you guys at the Sit n Sew and have been so inspired by that fabulous quilt you made, I went out and ordered Modern Patchwork..can't wait for it to arrive. I am very jealous of your very organised fabric stash now! Can't wait to see the next creation :)