Well! Surprise, surprise. It would appear my blogging history is abysmal as I have not put mouse to pad on here since 2011. My only defence is that I have been ill for the past few years and having been free of pain for since March 2014 I am now beginning to see a difference in my attitude to life and regaining the ability to take hold of my life and attempt projects again.
Enough of the past and the only reference I will make to the past now are solely relating to UFO's in my quilting, embroidery and sewing world. I have a UFO list as long as my two arms put together but that is no biggie for me. I love the journey and learning new techniques, which peeks some people because they chide me about not completing quilts. All I can say to that is I have a designers mind and can put something interesting aside for future use in full view on a shelf and eventually that piece of research will be used to my advantage. I try to keep a good catalogue and filing system of items I have been working on so I can easily pick the project up again and have all the information I need at my fingertips.
Lone Star Quilts & Beyond
UFO's I would like to work on in 2015 include:
Fairyland Quilt - Hand quilted and embroidered with applique
Aquamarine Ambience - Machine embroidered on Dupion silk
Fairyland Quilt - Hand quilted and embroidered with applique
Aquamarine Ambience - Machine embroidered on Dupion silk
Quick Split Broken Star
Fairyland Quilt: Which I commenced when my little Grand-Daughter Eloise was only a year old because I know how long I take to make quilts and is destined to be given to her on or about her third birthday which is in September but it could be delayed until her fourth birthday but we will see how I get on. Life has a habit of getting in the way sometimes. This quilt was started in March 2014 whilst convalescing from an operation and certainly helped me focus away from pain and it was a delight to make the embroidered and appliqued blocks. I chose to make all of this quilt top by hand, having learnt the basics of hand-quilting from a book by the famous Ginny Beyer 'Quiltmaking by Hand: Simple Stitches, Exquisite Quilts'
The 'Fairyland' quilt book can be purchased directly from the http://www.thebirdhouse.com.au/books/Fairyland/fairyland.htm
or just simply click on the photograph.
Aquamarine Ambience - Machine embroidered on Dupion silk
I first discovered Jenny Haskins and Simon Haskins, (here is another website showing their beautiful) designs when I visited Australia for a month to spend time with my daughter and her fiancee, whilst they were on a working holiday in that wonderful country. My life changed totally in many ways once I visited a newsagents in a town we visited whilst touring along the wonderful scenic Great Ocean Road. I purchased a copy of Jenny Haskins then magazine called Creative Expressions. (She has since retired as Editor of that publication and back copies may have been sold out but you may find one if you google it.) Jenny Haskins' website has many more wonderful designs to choose from. In fact the have revisted the Aquamarine Ambience and are using the embroidery collection to make another quilt design and when I find the link to that I will add it here.
I first discovered Jenny Haskins and Simon Haskins, (here is another website showing their beautiful) designs when I visited Australia for a month to spend time with my daughter and her fiancee, whilst they were on a working holiday in that wonderful country. My life changed totally in many ways once I visited a newsagents in a town we visited whilst touring along the wonderful scenic Great Ocean Road. I purchased a copy of Jenny Haskins then magazine called Creative Expressions. (She has since retired as Editor of that publication and back copies may have been sold out but you may find one if you google it.) Jenny Haskins' website has many more wonderful designs to choose from. In fact the have revisted the Aquamarine Ambience and are using the embroidery collection to make another quilt design and when I find the link to that I will add it here.
The other reason my life was changed after reading Jenny's publication was I only had a normal mechanical sewing machine at the time and I knew that if I was going to be able to achieve my aim of making one of her quilts I would have to purchase a computerised sewing machine. This I did within approximately five months using money from an inheritance. I was so fortunate and I still have to pinch myself to believe I actually have this machine. At the time I purchased the Bernina Aurora 440Q/E but soon progressed to the Bernina 730Q/E machine it was top of the line and to be honest I still have it and love it to this day and it is definitely a keeper.
I decided to use the original colours for this quilt and only have four blocks to complete and I will have finished the top and it will be ready to be sandwiched and quilted.
Simon Haskins has recently done another interpretation of a quilt using the Aquamarine embroidery CD and it is called Modern Ambience in a combination of yellows and dark and light blues. It is fantastic but the pattern and instructions are not on sale yet. I can't wait to find our more about. Some information can be obtained from Jenny Haskin Designs on facebook.
Simon Haskins has recently done another interpretation of a quilt using the Aquamarine embroidery CD and it is called Modern Ambience in a combination of yellows and dark and light blues. It is fantastic but the pattern and instructions are not on sale yet. I can't wait to find our more about. Some information can be obtained from Jenny Haskin Designs on facebook.
No comments:
Post a Comment