TPQG Exhibition Part 2 - The Challenge Entries - Colour My Quilt

Okay,  here are the Challenge Entry requirements and results.

We all received a paint sample, the colour of which we had to match to fabric and use a recognisable amount of this fabric in the quilt. The name of the paint sample became the name and subject matter of our quilt.

Size was 24 inches high by 16 inches wide - portrait orientation and had to have three layers with binding.

Lesley Christiansen judged our challenge and she is a quilter, tutor and judge with many years experience in the quilting retail world.

First was 'Slight Envy' by Dorothy Dixon

The Tui and the Kiwi are both native birds in New Zealand - the Tui has a beautiful and colourful song and the kiwi is a flightless nocturnal bird.

Second was Tom and Jerry's 'Halloween HI-JINKS' by Rosemary Hancett

Third was 'Three Wishes' by Karen Livingstone

There were two merits and they were given to 'Laughter' by Denise Lee and 'Anticipation' by Tina Gillard.

The other entries were:

All of the entries were absolutely amazing and I am so proud of everyone for entering and giving it a go, it isn't easy putting yourself and your work out for judging and public display like that.

Hope you have enjoyed seeing all of the entries, please come back to see more of the exhibition in future posts.

Happy stitching everyone

Donna-Maree

Wow, having fun

Just a quick post as I need to hit the road shortly, but couldn't wait to tell you about my new cutting ruler from Fiskars. It is seriously cool.

With my fabrics already folded the way I need them for cutting, I just quickly grabbed some last night from the drawer and sliced through them effortlessly. Talk about quick, it made short work of the whole cutting session. Turning the ruler I could straighten the left hand edge and then turn the ruler back around to the other side for cutting the strips, no having to spin the cutting mat. 

Seriously I cut these strips super quickly. The cutting is super easy too, you just push down on the orange knob until it engages and slide it along the ruler.

This ruler with cutter is definitely going to be making a difference in my cutting, especially as I have been having a few issues with my wrists and I should be able to cut more volume in my cutting sessions from now on, meaning I will be more productive. I do believe in working smarter not necessarily harder.

I did see this ruler at the Bernina stand at our exhibition and originally purchased the longer one, but after watching the video the other night and refolding my fabrics I knew that this ruler would be better value for me than the longer one which isn't quite as wide.

These are going to be very popular and I did see several of these walking out the door at the exhibition. 

Let me know what you think of yours, if you have one. 

At the exhibition I realised that we have two other bloggers in our club - you might want to check out their blogs too - Alison andTina

The next time, happy stitching everyone

Donna-Maree

What am I doing now that exhibition is over?

Well, you might well ask. No it isn't tidying the house and doing the chores that are waiting to be done.

I have been folding fabric, actually refolding my fabric would be more correct.

Last night I happened to watch a video on an online link about folding fabric so that is always ready to start cutting. I just love the way that my fabrics look now compared to the messy pile they were before. Sorry I forgot to take a 'before' shot to show you just how bad they were.

I don't know about you but when I have to cut something from yardage, I have always put it off because it was always a mission. With my fabric folded like it is now it is always ready to go.

As you can see in the photo, the fabric sits nicely to your right if you are right handed and you have your straight edge on the left ready for cutting your strips. If you are cutting multiple amount of strips you just unroll your fabric when you need more. It sits nicely and is straight without it being a twisted mess.

The video went onto 'power cutting'. I had never heard this term before, but it went on to explain about creating a straight edge but how with each cut you can loose that straight edge. The demonstrator went on to show how to make multiple straight cuts successfully and quickly. With the 60mm rotary cutter you can stack multiple fabrics and cut successfully resulting in straight strips without wavy edges.

So, this is why I have refolded my fabrics, my fabrics now look lovely just like they do in the shop and much more inviting for me to cut into and therefore I am much more likely to shop in my own stash first! The fabrics will also be easier to put back where they came from which also means a tidier sewing space, which is always a bonus.

Here is the link if you want to check it for yourself.  Here

Let me know what you think about the video and whether this is a change you are considering to  make. Until next time happy stitching everyone.

Donna-Maree

TPQG Exhibition 2015 - Part 1

Wow - what an amazing weekend so far for Tauranga Patchwork and Quilters Group and their exhibition. Here are some general photos to give you an idea of the atmosphere.

More to come, and remember if you are around on Sunday, call in and have a look.

Happy stitching 

Donna-Maree

Both, done and dusted.

I did it, the second entry is completed and both wallhangings have been handed in.

"Flowering Pohutukawas" is my second entry for the exhibition. It is a reverse stained glass piece that I made in a class with Melanie Martin at our retreat back in May. I haven't completed the quilting of the sky as I was having issues with the thread and thought I would leave quilting it until after the exhibition and I have purchased more thread.

The continuous binding on this entry is better than the last one, they keep getting better each time. 

I was down at the venue setting up the cot for display purposes and got to see the challenge quilts being put up. Wow - they are amazing and I feel totally honoured to have such awesome quilters in our club.

Here is my entry - I can show it now.

The colour chip is on the left and mine is called "Vivacious". We had to create a piece using the colour on the paint chip and using the name of the paint colour. 

Check back tomorrow for more on the Chalłenge display and to see some of the entries.

Until then, Cheers

Donna-Maree

One down and one to go

We have the Tauranga Patchwork and Quilters Exhibition this weekend and I will have three entries displayed. 

The first one is the club challenge which has been judged but results won't be known until Friday morning when the results get pinned beside the entries just before the show opens at 10 o'clock. There will be quite a few people there on Friday morning anxious to see how their entries got on.

I have given myself this week to complete my two other entries and for tasks associated to the show. Then I decided that because I had allocated this time for a specific purpose that I couldn't waste this time and get caught up on doing things other than what it was intended for and that I was going to make myself accountable for this time, so that is what I have done.

Yesterday I completed entry number one that needed completing. All it required was some trimming, binding to be attached and sewn down. I methodically worked through the processes yesterday, stopping when required to check online as to the correct way to apply binding - it is so long since I have attached one that I had forgotten what to do at corners and needed a refresher.

The show is containing some ANZAC quilts and I was asked to include this wall hanging which I made as my recognition of the 100 years commemoration of Gallipoli for ANZAC Day. I plan to hang this wallhanging in our home for ANZAC Day in future years.

The other entry is another wallhanging and is still a work in progress and hand in day is tomorrow. Will I make it, will I get it completed? Check back to see what progress I make.

See you then, 

Donna-Maree