Exhibition at Depot Artspace in Devonport.

I have made several pieces for the Auckland Quiltmakers exhibition being held at Depot Artspace. Check out the link to find out some of the details.

Here are photos of my pieces. They are all for sale at the Gallery for the (almost) 2 weeks it is open.

I would love to see you at the opening on Saturday afternoon 3pm to 4.30 pm.



Hibiscus (4 in x 6 in)




"Inch by Inch" (approx 8in by 10 in)





"Flower Power" (Fits within a 16 inch square)



"Confusion" (Fits within a 16 inch square.)

Isn't it great to keep busy? See you soon. 

Beaded Scissor Keeper

I really enjoyed the class I did with the Bead Hold. It was organised by the Auckland Embroiderer's Guild - thank you Robyn.

We started by making a bead out of beads for the top. That's on a par with cutting up fabric to join it together to make a quilt. There are some definite possibilities there for making some special beads to include in a necklace. So I made a couple more beads to see how they would go.

They may not look much to you, but at an hour a piece, that was a night's work. I think they look quite cute. You may see them on  necklace on my website some time.

If you want more info on these, please feel free to leave a comment and I will get back to you.

News from the (very Windy) north.

Anyone would think this was Wellington, not Whangaparaoa. It will be a relief when the wind settles a bit. But for now, it's good to not have to go far (oh, yes, there is the gym - I'm dressed for it, but can't quite get mentally prepared!) and I thought it was time to show and tell some of the results of the past few weeks.



My nephew, Brendon was very pleased with the quilt I made for his beautiful daughter Rileigh. I'm always amazed and humbled when others are so happy with these gifts.

Next: after the wonderful 2 day class by Louise Gardiner I had a quirky piece of multi media machine embroidery, with a definite Lou Gardiner bent. What do you think?

As my Mum said, 'Picasso, Eat your heart out!'

But it needed more work, and I had decided it would be the perfect gift for my sister-in-law for her 60th birthday.

So a bit of paint here, and playing with that sewing machine around the edges (just loved doing that), some bling (gotta have the bling!) and voila!

Ros, I hope you enjoy her as much as I enjoyed making her.

And finally, congratulations to Kim and Jan on the birth of their baby daughter, Lilith, on 18 Sep. I hope she enjoys her quilt. See the last blog to catch up on that.

Inspiration.

I received my newsletter from the Embroiderer's Guild and they had a lovely quote which I have reprinted here. You may find it uplifting, or just plain hilarious. How times have changed.

Words of Sewing Wisdom from Singer


Sewing Advice from a 1949 Singer Sewing Manual! How to prepare yourself to sew!

Prepare yourself mentally for sewing.

Think about what you are going to do.

Never approach sewing with a sigh or lackadaisically.

Good results are difficult when indifference predominates.

Never try to sew with a sink full of dirty dishes or beds unmade.

When there are urgent housekeeping chores, do these first so your mind is free to enjoy your sewing.

Put on a clean dress.

When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible.

Keep a little bag full of French chalk near your sewing machine to dust your fingers at intervals.

Have your hair in order, powder and lipstick put on. If you are constantly fearful that a visitor will drop in or your husband will come home and you will not look neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing as you should.
 
Now I'm sure you will all know exactly how to get all that sewing done. See you next week when I've done a bit more myself.

Hello again, and I'm still wearing my quilting hat. Another staff member is off on Maternity leave. I can tell you - I'm staying well clear of the water in the office.

Kim is having a baby girl later this month, so it seemed appropriate to make her a quilt to remember the Kiwis by when she heads back to Germany - even for her visits.

 

Sunshine Quilt

I made this at the recent retreat at Vaughan Park. 4 days sewing - no meals or housework. Not all of the time was spent on this quilt though.

I love to back the baby quilts with flannel for a warm cosy night's sleep or a snuggle in front of the TV.

Kim was just checking the size of the New born baby socks with the size of her baby. The socks are available from my website helenhoriginals.co.nz , and they are handknitted from yarn (80% wool) from stashable.co.nz

This was all pretty predictable fun for me, because I have been quilting for the past 30 something years. But watch this space for something right out of my comfort zone when I show you the results of a class with the very lovely and zanny Louise Gardiner. Check out her blog site from here http://www.lougardiner.co.uk/

Until next time, I'm off to keep those little fingers busy at the sewing machine, or maybe some beading. But there is some embroidery I would like to do. And that glass is still sitting downstairs waiting for some attention.

'Welcome' Quilt for Rileigh

Finally, with the assistance of the GIMP class I am doing with Sharon b http://inaminuteago.com/, I have a photo of Rileigh's quilt. I made this after she was born on the 28th July, and sent it to Coolengata with my sister when she went from NZ to meet her latest granddaughter.

I also have to say the GIMP classes are going very slowly, but I am getting a lot of extra things done. Like downloading all the photos from my camera (about time too), and trying to organise them. *Sigh* what a mission that is. It's even more of a mission to try to find them again - just when you thought you had it planned very logically.

It was wonderful to actually be able to 'straighten' this quilt. Thanks Sharon.

Have a good week everyone. Another quilt photo coming soon.

50% off all necklaces.

August Birthday Sale.

To celebrate August birthdays, all necklaces are half price until the end of August 2010 when purchased on my website

http://www.helenhoriginals.co.nz/.

Be quick! They won't last long at these prices

Excludes Art Silver.

Only while stocks last.

Biannual Embroiderer's conference.

The Embroiderer's conference in Hamilton was great. The weather turned on blue skies (with freezing mornings) but that was so much better than if we had rain.
I learnt some interesting surface textures from Yanny Splitz. Jo Powell from www.creativecraftsupplies.co.nz showed us how to use paintstix, paint, irons and heat guns on various media - from brown paper to lutrador and tyvec. Lots of ideas there. I wonder where they will end up in my work. And finally a class by Anne Jolly who showed us how to incorporate all those little bits and pieces that you can't possibly throw away into a delicate 'fabric' that can be used on bags, journals or molded into a bowl or vase. I have an interesting 'fish bowl' in progress.
And the weekend after Hamilton I was at a 4 day quilting retreat. Awesome. Someone else to do all the cooking and we just had to sew and eat!! More about that in the next post - with photos.