A Woman's Look..............

Wow, Vicki has really raised the bar this year when she took on the job of running the 2009 challenge for my embroidery group.


We were gobsmacked as she handed out visual art books for journals and proceeded to tell us that we would be endeavouring to create an original piece of embroidered artwork based on the theme " A Woman's Look".


There we sat, speechless and in awe as we discovered that we would be creating a textile book of at least 5 pages plus a cover using the elements and principles of design. (line, shape, colour, size, pattern, value/tone, movement - balance, gradation, contrast, repetition, harmony, domiance, unity and rhythm)


Holy toledo.............talk about overwhelmed!!!!!!!...I'm only a beginner!!!!!!!................


We have before us a list of challenge stages to which we endeavour to have completed by December 2009.

A Journal Cover

Page 1 -Line

Page 2 - Texture

Page 3 - Shape

Page 4 - Colour

Page 5 - Self Portrait

Textile Book Cover

There I sat dumbstruck as we received our kits - a blank journal and a dress form silhouette printed on fabric.......our first task -


to make a journal cover using the dress form silhouette......to start collecting ideas for the textile book and to start experimenting with possible backgrounds.







..............................and now that my mind has stopped screaming help me, I think the project is really going to be kinda fun. This is the start -

A scrap of black velvet, black and white striped cotton, black homespun, white ribbon and black ricrac. As you can see there will be just a touch of red when the flower on the dress form is embroidered with satin stitch.

(hmmmm thinking I might call the textile book - "Iam woman see me raw" - a line courtesy of the Kath & Kim TV comedy show)

Pressies from embroidery

Mums Quilt

This is the quilt Im making for my mother. It has been in the pipeline for at least 18months now and I am really quite excited to have all the blocks finished and laid out. The border is blue and will be about 10inches wide. We are still wondering if it might need a thin border first say in red just to frame the pieced section, but will consider that when the blocks are sown together.

Mum has blinds in her bedroom the same colour as the blues in the quilt so this will look very nice I think.

One More

The local embroidery guild has been studying individual stitches as a part of their yearly challenge which is to make an Artists Trading Card to swap with each of the members of the group. I have one more swap to go and thought it might be fun to do a sampler of some of the stitches studied this year using a few of the wonderful threads acquired in June at the Quilt and Craft Fair in Sydney. I hope my swap partner likes it.

Looking Out

Me and PeggySue, surveying the landscape from the front verandah after yesterdays soaking rain. .........hmmmmmmmmmmmm perhaps I should have mowed the lawn before it rained.....
oh well, sewing was much more fun

A Finisher or a Journier?

Are you a finisher or a journey quilter? Do you have the need to get a project finished, not because of a deadline, but because you have this inner voice whispering "finish, finish, finish? Or are you someone that enjoys the journey to the end of a quilt.



It seems that quilters come in two types. There are those who are driven to finish what they start without a break from that project. I call these quilters "Finishers". They worry over projects unfinished, often not starting another until the first is completed. They are unable to focus on other activities until the first is completed, stress when things go wrong and finish with a huge sense of euphoria.

The other type I call the Journiers. For Journiers quilting is about the process, the end will come eventually and how long it takes to get there is of little consequence. They move fluidly from one project to another, doing a little here and a bit there. They have many works in progress and like it that way. They will conform to a deadline if the need arises but feel no pressure to complete a project that has no specific use by date. For Journiers the joy of quilting is in the time taken to enjoy the fabric, the colours, the ideas, the company, the new technique - no stress attached.

Of course the sense of euphoria when a project is completed must be, I think, the same for all quilters.

I am a Journier. What type are you?

A WIP completed. A Monogrammed Cushion.

The project started as a 1 hour workshop at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair this June.

A-Z Series

Does anyone look at the Inspirations Magazine.

A wonderful publication that comes out quarterly. It covers mostly embroidery projects with some lovely articles about works from all over the world. The projects can be sourced from Country Bumpkin in South Australia. They have an online business where you can sign up for newsletters and the like.

Anyway, Country Bumpkin are currently having a sale on their A - Z Series books , buy 5 at once and get them at a reduced price..................how can you resist!!!!!!!!



My purchases showed up in the mail this week.

With just one more ATC due next week, guess where the inspiration will be coming from