Show and tell smiles

A week has passed since my 10 days in Queensland and I am not sure where that week has gone! While friends in the Northern Hemisphere are freezing we are in the middle of yet another heat wave! My first show and tell is for all of us 'Down Under' to help us cool off a little! The scenes are from our wonderful Canadian friends Penny and Paul.......their emails bring us such joy - just beautiful - thanks guys! XX

 In Paul's words....."We woke up to this scene the other morning. It had snowed very lightly all night with the temperature just below zero. That makes the snow very sticky, and it builds up on even the smallest twigs 2 or 3 inches. The sun came out the next day, and the snow all softened and fell off the trees. It's always beautiful while it lasts".

So to some more quilting 'show and tell'. Anne sent me pictures of her beautiful version of "Kelmscott" and gave me permission to share it.....just lovely Anne and great effort - those bias knots are not easy!

Ellene sent me her version of "Bird" and went on to tell me she has won several awards in the US for it. Her quilting is just divine (click on it to get a bigger view), and I was chuffed to see she used many of my fabrics as well! Gorgeous Ellene and thanks for sharing.....

We can't have show and tell without the little man who continues to bring us such joy....and he actually calls me "Nanna" now which of course melts me. And Larry is "Da Da" as opposed to "Daddy" so Larry is pretty chuffed with being called that! Beau is almost walking on his own and is starting to climb - life will change now for us on childcare duties......

 And we always applaud ourselves when we do something clever!!.........

We had a birthday celebration during the week (missed out on Quilters Guild that night).....Happy Birthday Tim but for some reason the only photo I took was of Auntie Sophie and Beau.....oops!

I have been playing with some new tile designs for a retreat coming up on the weekend so that kept me busy for a few nights. Amazing how one little block can create different effects - such fun to do so I will share photos next week after the workshop. I have also been working on a very exciting project with Nicola Jarvis. Nicola won the award at the William Morris Gallery's competition "Inspired by Morris" in 2010 with this image.....

(Photo from Nicola's website)

Nicola is an embroiderer but she also produces these exquisite drawings that look just like stitchery. Nicola is having an exhibition at the William Morris Gallery from June to September this year....check the link HERE at the Gallery. Several textile artists are interpreting her work and Anna Scott is doing a piece for the exhibition. Anna's embroidery is beautiful and it has been wonderful watching her progress.....

(photos from Anna's blog with drawing belonging to Nicola Jarvis)

Well exciting news.....I am also stitching a piece for the exhibition! It is such a thrill and an honour to be a part of it all and I was so pleased the exhibition is on until September 22nd so I can see it! Mine will be an appliqued quilt rather than embroidery and time permitting I will add some embroidery and possibly beading. The package of Nicola's drawings and fabrics arrived last week so the head is down as it needs to be in the UK by the end of May. Now these birds are massive - they measure about 16 inches long by 12 inches high. Not sure I can use a lot of Nicola's fabrics with my raw edge applique technique ...these are some of them - silks and brocades which look like they might fray badly......

But I am sure she will be pleased with my substitutes. Tonight all the pieces are traced and ready to be cut........

Even more exciting that we will be doing a May Morris embroidery class with Nicola next year at the Royal Needlework School during our May Morris tour!
So until next time - I hope life is treating you well wherever you are x