More Book Inspiration

For those in the design class today and anyone else that might be interested, these are my two very favourite design books:

The book below is my very, very (!!) favourite and if you look at the quilts of the talented Karen Kay Buckley you will find this book influenced her quilt designs as well.......

A couple of others that are worth having as well..............

I don't have this book but I saw it in class today and it is a stunner. It is now on my "to have" list..........

These books and over 100 more are a part of the Dover Pictorial Archive series.

And there would definitely be something wrong if I did not include this one!!

And finally - our very own Art Gallery of South Australia book shop have published a book based on the Gallery's collection of Morris textiles and wallpapers. The book has the original Morris design on one page and a black and white image on the other. The book is called "Morris & Co. Designs and Patterns".....

ENJOY!

You can draw!!

I am forever telling people that if I can design anyone can! I have never had a drawing lesson in my life but there are plenty of images out there that can inspire anyone! William Morris was certainly inspired by many old textiles and designs from old brocades to architecture. Owen Jones, a 19th century English architect wrote the Grammar of Ornament during the mid 1800's to inspire designers of all medium. It has a fantastic pictorial history of pattern from Byzantine through to Elizabethan time.

There are also 100's of books at the Dover design library and most are in the public domain as the copyright life has expired. That aside I do always draw my work free hand and never use a photocopier - that way I feel I have more ownership. So for the past two days some members of Queensland Quilters  tried their hand at designing. It would be so wonderful to come back in a few months to see the finished quilts (maybe??!!). So I would like to share some of their beautiful designs........

Thanks girls for coming and keep going.......it is very satisfying to say you designed you own work!

I did have a day to myself on Tuesday and dodged the rain in the city. The Brisbane river is quite murky from the debris of the floods but thankfully today the rain has stopped. There has been so much heartbreak in so many areas and I hope the levees they need are built soon - Gympie has flooded four times and still no government funding promised! These are just a few shots of my quick visit Tuesday.....Brisbane is known for its Signal Box Art ..........

Clever windows and you can see someone at their desk if you look carefully...........

I am staying with one of the Queensland Quilter's members who has been spoiling me far too much!! Check out the menu for the week!! Bev is so organised and she is enjoying trying some new recipes.........Harry thinks it's great too but I told him I was sorry he would be back to bangers and mash after Monday!!

Bev and Harry have some native "pets" as you can see below. They come each morning for a free feed! These are Eastern water dragons and are really quite wonderful - quite prehistoric especially their gait.......

But this fellow and the noisy bats are not really to my liking......

I hope you are safe and well wherever you are xx

Toowoomba to Brisbane

Yesterday on the very wet drive to Brisbane Bev took me to a quilt shop in Gatton - Sew Creative ......and this shop certainly stands by its name and is sew creative beyond all! To start with I was shown this beautiful hand appliquéd Dresden plate quilt. Rose has used many fabrics from the William Morris inspired collections from Jason and myself and she has been sew creative with her use of fabric (and the sections missing in the corners will be happening soon).........

Then I was told about an incredible project that is now coming to a close. Gail decided to attempt to make the world's biggest hexagon quilt and started the project 3 years ago. Hexagons came from all around the world and were pieced together to make one whopping quilt! These are images taken from the story board and you can see in the photo below how long the original quilt was (and how heavy!!) and then an image of the entire length draped around the town.......(and for those overseas reading this - 108.8 metres is over 118 yards, and 146.7 kgs is a whopping 321 pounds!)

It must have been hard cutting into all the work, but when you find out that well over 100 quilts were made from this whopper it brings tears to your eyes. One quilt in particular made me tear up - it was given to a little boy who had lost his Mum in the floods of two years ago. Below is the latest quilt about to be sent to someone who is very unwell.........I am sure this quilt will bring much comfort.........

There was a beginners class in progress as we arrived and there were cheers all round as two of the girls had just completed their very first block! Sadly some girls didn't make it to class because of road blocks with the flooding but hopefully they will be back at it soon. Now this next bit has me in awe! This is a small town in the Lockyer Valley, a place that was devastated with the floods of 2 years ago (and they certainly don't need to be going through this all again). Anyway the net tells me that the population of the Lockyer Valley and surrounds is about 37,000 and this little shop in this little town manages to get seven children every day of the week sewing in their children's sewing classes!! What a feat and if that isn't "sew creative" I don't know what is. The ages range from five years to teens and they start with a stitch sampler and then move on to making a needle-case and pencil case. This is a small sample of some projects in progress.........

Thankyou Bev for taking me there and congratulations to Gail, Jennifferr and Janelle for not only serving the community but also for creating quilters of the future!

Time in Toowoomba

I have just had two wonderful days with some lovely girls at Lisa's shop in Toowoomba.........

It was a pleasure to meet all of you who came and I do hope your two days were enjoyable. Thanks also for bringing such an amazing "Show and Tell". First is Angela and her lovely version of the William Morris Friends quilt.........well done Angela!

Sally has made this beautiful felted wool bag covered in sumptuous embroidery.........

Beautiful Bev brought in some of her divine quilting to drool over....and all done on her domestic machine.............

Bev is just the sweetest..............

The shop is gorgeous and so was the food.......

red velvet cakes....mmmmmm!

Lisa was a great hostess and after class took me on a little tour to see some of the typical Toowoomba houses.....some 'drive by shots'.....

And this is one spectacular house with a capital "S"!! It is the fully renovated Court House converted into someone's home....WOW!

 These trees are fascinating........

Thank-you so much for inviting me Lisa and we will see you again one day!

The next few nights I am staying with another Bev as we have workshops with Queensland Quilters. It was rather frightening driving in the torrential rain back to Brisbane and many roads were closed with the flooding. So many must be feeling so fragile and it must be distressing to be going through this all again. Six people have lost their lives so far this year from this extraordinary flooding and more rain is expected the next few days. Already some parts have had well over 100mm just today. But Bev took it all in her stride and on the way we visited an amazing shop full of some interesting stories. I will share that tomorrow. Till then stay safe and take care.