V&A find and gift

Last month I received an email from Jacquie in the UK who had gone to see the Quilt Exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London - her camera was handy and look what she found in the book shop - WOW - very exciting!!

Visit Jacquie's website and see the amazing work she does (and she is also doing a book!)
Link to website; http://www.jacquieharvey.co.uk/
Her work is just stunning and all hand quilted - she has won numerous awards for her work and I can't wait to meet her in Birmingham in August. We have been a great support to one another while writing our books :-)

This would be one of my favourite pieces of her work - just exquisite

And today I received a gift from Marilyn who lives in Salem, South Carolina. I had sent her something to help her with a William Morris project and look what she sent me as a thankyou:

Just beautiful and it is filled with

heavenly smelling beads (I am yet to find out what they are!)

Bendigo and more

We arrived home last night from a couple of days in Bendigo, Victoria – only 650kms away from home but with the stops it did take us 8 hours by car. http://www.bendigotourism.com/pages/welcome-to-bendigo/

Inspiration for quilting

And these will have to find their way to a future quilt!

Bendigo has to be one of the most beautiful country cities for architecture and more. I had been invited by the lovely Strathdale/Bendigo quilting group – we had two days creativity with 20 keen quilters. It was not long enough for me to explore the city but Larry did manage to see an amazing exhibition of Frederick McCubbin work so that was a bonus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_McCubbin

The Pioneer - Frederick McCubbin (1855-1917)

And here are the talented quilters with a couple missing and one hiding behind the group! Thanks so much for having me girls and especially for the amazing accommodation (more photos below of that)

                                       

The accommodation was like stepping back in time. Bishops Court is a bed and breakfast that was once obviously where the local Bishop lived.

http://www.bishopscourt.com.au/index.html

                                        

                                                                         My Room (!!)

Our rooms were just lovely. I say 'our rooms' because I have a very bad snoring problem and Larry is a real wriggler! To get a good night's sleep we do like our own space for sleeping - that is always a challenge when we go away as we do get a funny look when we ask for twin share accommodation - come on, it is just for the sleeping bit!!! In fact if you are interested there has been some amazing research done in this area in the UK and it is a great read;

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article3593222.ece

And we all know Morris and his wife had separate rooms and for the record Larry and I have had 32 blissful years of marriage!!)

                                               

Our own lounge room

The breakfast room

Our own games room

Just what you need after a day of quilting~!

Exciting news!

I am so sorry to those of you who have subscribed and been waiting for a newsletter via my website - I just haven't had the time to do it properly so for now you will have to hear the news here. Some months ago I was approached by Tim Meyers of Lloyd Curzon's -
http://www.lcurzon.com.au/  here in Adelaide to see if I would be interested in being involved in a range of fabrics - I am still pinching myself and still feel in awe of the journey that quilting has taken me. It is such an honour to be asked to do these things – and having never gone looking for it still leaves me bewildered.

So it is with great delight that I can officially let the quilting world know that Jason Yenter and I will be releasing a new range of fabrics!! Jason is well known from “In the Beginning Fabrics”  http://www.inthebeginningfabrics.com/ in Seattle and it has been an honour and a privilege to work with him.

Jason tells me it will be premiering at the International Quilt Market in Minneapolis next month and the fabrics should be available in November/December later this year.

All I can tell you is it will be very William Morris like (of course!) – not reproductions though – all new designs. And how wonderful that it is to be called “The Adelaide Collection” ....our home!

Now we can't have a blog entry without some photos so here are some images of the wonderful participants at recent workshops at Berrima Patchwork - thanks girls and one special guy for making it all happen (Sorry that some of you are missing in the pics - we weren't fast enough!)

Wednesday/Thursday group

Saturday/Sunday group

Monday/Tuesday group

Gottcha Geoff!!

I love this image - I also learn from sharing students

The Wedding!

Sorry folks but you knew this was coming!!
First of all the photographer Glen Dealtry of Destill has done a little preview at this link; http://www.destillphotography.com.au/emilyandbrettpreview/
I can't wait to see all his photos - I just love his style.

The down side to being 'mother of the bride' is that I missed out on so many photo opportunities! But I did manage to take 125 pictures so here are just a few!! We were incredibly proud and it was a beautiful celebration despite the rain.........

Embroidery from the past and all mine!

On my recent visit to Berrima I had the privilege of being taken to the most amazing treasure house of antiques, Peppergreen - http://www.peppergreenantiques.com.au/

Their collection includes vintage textiles, embroidery threads and embroidered textiles. Two hours passed in a blink of an eye on my first visit and nearly two hours on my second. My heart was all a flutter when I came across some William Morris vintage textiles and even three sets of William Morris curtains.........BUT wait............it was these two tablecloths that entranced me and became my purchases over the Morris pieces!!

Click on the image above - I've kept it at a high resolution so you can share in the luxurious stitching

The embroidery intrigues me and is just what I have been searching for. I have tried crewel work classes in the past but do not have the patience for it. These cloths are embroidered in a very heavy thread called Cordonnet and I even managed to buy some vintage thread to give it a go. This style appeals to me as it will compliment my applique - not too intricate. So in true William Morris style I will examine it closely and give it a go - not sure I am ready to unpick the work like he would have though!

If any of you in blogland can enlighten me I would be most grateful as I cannot find any sources apart from these old books which I also purchased. I am trying to see if we can still get the thread as well - it is like a cord - not stranded at all and not like the ecru and cream cordonnet crochet threads that I've seen. Might be another reason to visit the V&A in August!

But how sad there are no labels like on our quilts. It would be so nice to know who embroidered these works of art - I will certainly treasure and enjoy them

Another male quilter and a winner!

  Kelmscott made by Neil Chisholm

I am finally catching up on emails and things at home - I've been away for 8 days teaching in New South Wales in Berrima at the local shop - Berrima Patchwork. We all had a great time and Tamsin kindly copied me photos but the CD tells me there is nothing on it! So photos of the workshops will have to wait for a later blog.

But for now this is the story of Neil from Ballarat. I met Neil last year and was so thrilled to see his amazing Kelmscott quilt all done in batiks! (I even came home and set to work to do a batik quilt myself which will be in the new book!) Anyway Neil kindly sent me this photo last week and permission to share it - he won a prize in the local quilt show. I am so thrilled for him but I am sorry the photo does not do the quilt justice. It is so exciting to have male quilters on board - I even had one in class in Berrima - you will hear more about 'him' (Geoff) later!!

Anyway CONGRATULATIONS Neil!

The Garden at Nangeela by Neil Chisholm

And this is an original design by Neil - isn't it just beautiful? I am sure we will see more of his designs soon.

And a little peek at the 'Bride to Be" at her hair trial!!