Did You See My Quilt? British Patchwork & Quilting Mag: Aug 2015

It's just one little photo on page 60 but it's long awaited and I'm excited to have a pic of my 'Daddy's Little Girl' quilt included in the August edition of the British Patchwork & Quilting magazine.

Back in January 2013 I pattern tested a sampler quilt for my bloggy friend Sarah of Quilt Candy.  She was writing the pattern for a magazine so I couldn't share much info with you about the quilt but the months went by with no news about the magazine article and in January 2014 Sarah gave me the go ahead to share my photos with you - you can read that blog post and find out more about the fabrics here.

Fast forward two years and seven months from when I made the quilt and I've just found out a photo of my version of the quilt is included in the August 2015 issue of British Patchwork & Quilting magazine.

Here's a sneak peek of how the magazine page looks - Sarah's is the summery lilac Kaffe Fassett version on the left and mine's the wintery red French General quilt on the right.

I love seeing mine and Sarah's quilts side by side in print though separated by thousands of miles in reality!!!

If you'd like to make your own version of the Building Blocks Sampler the project pattern is featured over three issues of British Patchwork & Quilting - June / July / August 2015 (issue #257/258/259) - copies available here.

Note to Mum: Can you drop in W H Smith and see if they've got a copy - it's available from 17 July?  I promise I don't mind if you show the pic of my quilt to whoever's on the checkout and tell them you're my Mum.  If you're going to take it to the club to show Eileen and Jean and to bowling to show to Joan and everyone there and to lunch with Nellie, Rita, Joan and Eileen on Monday send them all my love but maybe think about getting your own copy too ;D Love you xxx

Clicking on a image will take you to a new page of crafty goodness :)
 

   

I'm Blushing!!!

This is the fastest I've ever put a post together as I'm about to fly out the door to work - I just had to share with you the news that my internet quilt friend Sarah @Quilt Candy is featured today over at Quilt Story.

I won't say more just that there's a whole heap of loveliness aimed at me in the story which is the reason that I'm blushing, all I did was put The City Quilter's exclusive fabric in an envelope and post it, Sarah did the rest, designing and making an amazing quilt!  Head over to Quilt Story and read all about it :D

Now I really have to dash - Bernina Sales Training is calling!!!

What Do You Think Of My Mini Adventure?

Been making cushions again - well just one cushion.  A batch of fat quarters arrived in The City Quilter last week - and as I was rolling them (for anyone who's new to my blog or wondering just what I was doing rolling fat quarters in The City Quilter, Manhattan then you can catch up by reading this post about my new job!) I just knew I had to have three of them - all England/London/America/New York related - they were meant for me and I knew exactly what I wanted to make with them so I bought them.

And this is what I've made using my own Quilted Pillow Cushion With Hidden Zipper tute: enjoy the front and back view!

Benartex Fabrics - London Bridge (Kanvas) Mini Coop; Pooch On Blue; News

I'm crazy about the Mini, I've owned 3 in my life - as a teenager, my first car was a red Mini identical to the bottom two Minis on the cushion front.  My second Mini was in my late twenties and was like the cushion's top red with white stripes Mini - I had to sell that Mini when I was ready to have Flicky - anyone who's ever owned an original Mini knows there's no room for a pram and three children under the age of 6 in a Mini!  In my forties the kids were grown and I wasn't always carting half a house with me everywhere I went so I went back to the Mini - meet Dolly, yes she was named after Dolly Parton, and she was my pride and joy until I had to sell her to move to the States - Flicky and I had our own 'Mini Adventures' in Dolly and lots of wonderful giggles and memories.

So now you know I love Minis, enough of all that reminiscing, let's get back to the cushion and some close-up details:

I'm loving the 'Best of British' and 'Soldier' ribbon details - I used some of the ribbon that Sarah @Quilt Candy sent me from one of her visits to Liberty, London (not been to Liberty, London?  Check out my photos/blog post from my visit last August, it's awesome!) and also the hidden zipper flap with all those cutesy dogs wearing the English and American flags.

And some front and back full shots:

 And here's some gratuitous front and back shots just because I kind of like the lighting!

I love this cushion - and I've got just the right person in mind to give it to, I'm pretty sure they're going to love it too and they can have their own Mini Adventure. :)


Disclaimer: 
This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.

I've been featured:

What Do You Think We'll Be Doing After Graduation?

This week has been far too busy for sewing, after last week's Prom we celebrated Flicky's Graduation from Dwight School at The Met Museum of Art, Manhattan.  It was a fabulous day and even the thunderstorms and flash floods couldn't spoil it!

Here's some highlights - though the photos are a little disappointing as the lighting in the auditorium didn't lend well to flash or no flash photography, hopefully the official photographer knew what he was up to far better than we did.  Check out Tatty giving Flicky her very own Grad card!

There's been several other fun things that have happened this week:

I'm a frequent visitor to the Housing Works Bookstore on Crosby Street, Soho, Manhattan, you can find me there at least twice a week as it's just the best place to grab a gluten-free wrap and a great cup of tea and at the same time supporting an incredibly worthy cause:

"OUR MISSION - Housing Works is a healing community of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. Our mission is to end the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS through relentless advocacy, the provision of lifesaving services, and entrepreneurial businesses that sustain our efforts."

  I'm also a member of their International Crime Book Group and if you follow this link you can see some great photos of the store itself and a few photos of me, not looking at my best, at one of our meetups!

This week I picked up a few fabulous bargains while I was at the store:

Haven't had a chance to peruse them at leisure yet, it's been a crazy week, but I'm looking forward to it :)

Always good to get a feature or two and my Burrito Pillowcases have this week been featured by Janice @Better Off Thread and also by Q @JAQS Studio.  Thanks girls, I'm thrilled as always :)

 

And I received a gorgeous parcel in the post from my friend Sarah @Quilt Candy - she's been busy shopping at Liberty, London recently and found time to think of me!  You can read about Sarah's visit on her blog here and you can read all about my visit to Liberty last July in my 'Liberty, London' post here, with lots of gorgeous photos of the building, inside and out.

Oh and maybe you just dropped by to find out what we're doing after Graduation?  Well tomorrow Flicky and I are off to Seville, Spain to visit my eldest son Jack and to meet his girlfriend, Ana and her family.  We're very excited.

I don't have any photos of Jack and Ana to share with you yet, hopefully I can rectify that very soon so instead here's a photo by Flicky ... no cat-beard photos for us, this one's our very own dog-beard!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful week too and this shout out's for Flicky

Congratulations Flicky on completing your International Baccalaureate Diploma and on your Graduation 

We're all so proud of you and love you very much
xxx

 Want to find out about our trip to Seville? -
click here to check out My Top 3 Reasons For Visiting Seville post :)

Linking To:

A Quilting Chance To Win $2,000?

Who doesn't recognise this beautiful, iconic interior? - Grand Central Station, Manhattan.  

  When this photo was taken 3 years ago we were in NYC on holiday from the UK, I had no idea that 11 months later I'd be living here!

Well this year Grand Central Station celebrates it 100th birthday

 I snapped this photo when I was passing through last week.

 My favourite part of the station just has to be the fabulous ceiling

The City Quilter has created 2 exclusive new fabrics in 2 colourways to celebrate the Station's birthday.  They arrived in store while I was at Sarah Fielke's Trunk Show so, of course, I had to buy just a small amount of each to play with!

 This is Grand Central (Aqua)

and here's Grand Central (Aqua) alongside GCT Constellations (Aqua) - Constellations is a study of that wonderful GCT ceiling!

 and here's the Aqua colourway alongside the Beige/Ivory.

And now for the really fab news, and probably what you're all here to find out about! There's a Quilt Challenge organised by American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine & The City Quilter in association with the NY Transit Museum & The Metropolitan Transportation Authority.  

and

the top prize is $2,000!!!

The competition rules are available here and below I've taken a photo of the handout also available in CQ.

Now that's a challenge well worth joining in with but please note the rules do state 'US residents only'.

Updated at 20 May 2014

Of course I wasn't actually able to take part in the challenge as I went and got myself a job at The City Quilter.  You can read all about it here along with a post about the winners of the competition and another about the quilt exhibition opening night at Grand Central Station.

In other news I've had another fantastic week on the blogging front, being featured on 3 terrific blogs:

My Quilted Pillow Cushion With Hidden Zipper Tutorial has been featured
by Kym @Totally Tutorials
and also by Jill @Creating my way to Success

and my Strip Sashing QAYG Method was featured by Pam @Threading My Way
and Pam also made me her feature blog of the week on her side bar.

A very big thank you to everyone :)

As if that wasn't enough, today I woke up to read a really special blog post by my great friend Sarah @Quilt Candy doing the sweetest, kindest shout out for my blog and thanking me for some goodies I sent over to her in a surprise package.
You can read all about it here!!!

All in all it's been a fantastic week but the absolute highlight has to be Flicky's Prom last Friday and here's a handful of photos from the day that I just have to share with you!

Hair by Whitney and Jess @Toni & Guy, Hoboken; pre-Prom photos in the Manhattan garden of my good friend Karen from The City Quilter; arriving at pre-Prom party in Soho; and finally a photo taken from my living room window of Flicky's Prom Cruise Yacht, the Majestic Princess, sailing down the Hudson River - she phoned me as they sailed past and I was busy waving to everyone!!!

Hoping you all have a wonderful week ahead of you :)

Chrissie

Bonzer Trunk Show - Up Close With Sarah Fielke's 'hand quilted with love' Quilts

Sarah Fielke chats about her 'paint by numbers' quilt from her new book 'hand quilted with love'

There was a buzz around Manhattan on Thursday night this week, Sarah Fielke was in town and we all gathered at the Art Quilt Gallery in Manhattan to see her Trunk Show for her latest book 'hand quilted with love'.

Under pressure, my attendance being the envy of several friends (particularly Sarah @Quilt Candy who told me about the trunk show before The Art Quilt Gallery even announced it!!!), I knew I had to report back.  Grabbing a seat at the end of the row so I could keep standing to get some great photos to share with you all, I snapped away - here goes, I hope I haven't let you down ;)

For the Trunk Show Sarah brought along a selection of quilts from her new book but obviously she couldn't squeeze all of them into her suitcase for the journey from Aus!  She also kept apologising for the quilts being in need of a good ironing, something I'm sure we can all relate to, however, none of us were there to look at whether or not her quilts were ironed, it's more about the how and why when we get a chance to see quilts we've only read about up close isn't it?!!!

Sarah tells us that she doesn't wash fabrics before using them, occasionally she might drop a small piece of fabric in a white cup of boiling water if she's a little doubtful about its dye fast hold, just to see what happens.  Sarah says that today's manufacturing methods should make fabrics dye fast but she recommends if you do experience a problem with a particular fabric that you notify the seller or manufacturer to make them aware.

Sarah often hand quilts appliqués (see CORRECTION note) in front of the TV at night - her tip is to use a silver, non acid gel pen to mark your pieces and quilts as it will shimmer in the light and although it won't wash out it will wear away while other colours of gel pen don't. CORRECTION at 5 May 2013: Sarah has left a lovely comment on this post and explains "I use the gel pens for hand appliqué, not for hand quilting. Please don't use them for marking your hand quilting lines, it won't come off and you will curse my name forever!"

 

 

Made with 100% cotton, high quality men's shirt fabric taken from shirt samples and bound with fabric cut from men's ties.  Sarah only ever used natural fibres - drills, linens, cottons, etc, she doesn't mind what fabrics she puts together within a quilt but she does want everything to be natural. 

Sarah's not a fan of the Clover Bias Tape Makers that I love (see my tute here) she prefers to make her bias strips using a Clover Hera Marker to score her seam lines then irons the seams into place and that's how she's made the teapot and cup handles in this amazing quilt.

 

Sarah's starting point for this quilt was the vintage grey and orange 'feed sack' fabric around the centre and the quilt grew from there.  She doesn't design her quilts on paper but prefers to use her design wall to audition different colours and sections until she finds what's right.  Unused sections are often pieced together later into baby quilts.

Never having made a jelly roll or solid quilt, Sarah felt challenged by comments from her blog readers to take the plunge and here's the outcome.

Here're all the other snippets of info I can remember that Sarah shared with us:

• Sarah stores her fabric by colour in a bookcase that her husband built around and over her door in her studio.  She keeps stripes and dots separately along with the small animal prints that she includes in every quilt she makes.
• A novice quilter about to take her first class asked for Sarah's advice, Sarah suggested that she shouldn't follow the rules.  She said to learn the foundations so you can make a quilt well but to follow your heart and your own ideas and not to listen to those who tell you how quilting 'has' to be done.
• Art Quilt Gallery owner, Dale, asked Sarah what she thought the main differences were between quilting in Australia and the US.  Sarah thought it was probably the use of colour, bright colour and particularly the use of bright colour that isn't combined with white.  She wondered if this was influenced by the quality and amount of light and sky in Australia.
• Sarah's machine quilting is all done by Kim Bradley.
• As Sarah is making her quilt top she has a plan in mind for her hand quilting and she irons all her seams according to where she will be quilting.  These days she likes straight line hand quilting to enhance the piecing rather than a detailed pattern which adds to the design and possibly detracts from it.

Sarah signing my copy of her latest book 'hand quilted with love'

 

And finally, me with Sarah

 As she left NYC to fly back to Australia, Sarah posted on her blog 'the last piece' and she said that she'll be posting a podcast of her Trunk Show soon - when she does I'll share it on my facebook wall so you can catch it.

For details of other fabric, yarn, trim and notion stores that I've visited around the world along with the NYC stores I love, exhibitions and events I've attended and wonderful people I've been lucky to meet click the links below or in my sidebar :D

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.