We have had a delightful Japanese guest staying with us this week who a tour leader for a group of school students. Her name is Momi, a nickname derived from her family name. She wrote her name in Japanese characters with a wide texta so it could become a square. I stitched the characters with straight stitch in the same order that Momi had written the characters. The fabrics on the side and the base were chosen because of their asian feel.
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I am a lighthouse fan! I love them, want to visit them, must climb them! So , there had to be a lighthouse in this journal quilt! This week we had three nights at Laura’s Cottage at Barwon Heads which was part of the set for Sea Change. The cottage is on the bank of the Barwon River and the living room windows looks across the beach to the heads, an idillic setting with the added benefit of the Point Lonsdale lighthouse. We had two friends sharing our time at the cottage ( the four red dots). We could sit in the lounge and watch the ships coming and going through the heads. The block features the view with the baollard anfd thick rope in the foreground which seperates the cottage from the public path way.
Castlemaine is the town where my parents were born, grew up and are now buried. Once a year my brothers and I and our families get together in Castlemaine to celebrate our family history and the rich legacy it has given us. I took some photos in Castlemaine , one of the tower of the Town Hall, one of the tower of the Castlemaine North Primary school. I transfered these images to lawn and organza and used them as the basis of the block. This is a simple, very powerful way to use images. I added the black spots as a contrast and then decided to sew ” A & J ” standing for Alma and Jack, my mother and father’s initials. It wasn’t until I was stitching the initials onto the block that I realised that Arnie and I have the same initials, so they have a double purpose!
I got new glasses this week. I had a play with the scanner and the photocopier. I scanned the glasses and then printed them onto silk and organza using the printer. I arranged the two prints so they were slightly overlapping. I did some stitching under and some over the organza. Great Fun! The fabric in the “7″ is a zebra print I think is great, but I only have tiny scraps left! The satin stitching is still a challenge! I am happy with the way that the red areas in the bottom right hand corner are working. They give an additional feeling of unity. Sometimes they fit into a design really well, sometimes they are just there.
Went to the cricket this week. We went to a day/night match to see Australia play India. The number 18 is to commemorate the contribution of Adam Gilchrist, batsman/wicketkeeper to Australian cricket. The match was great, but the wrong team won! The wicket was a challenge. I love the shape of the bales, but the size made it all too difficult, so had to simplify the shapes. I found a wonderful spotty fabric to create the effect of the crowd in the background. The numbers were machine embrioidered which worked very well.
I am working on a quilt with circle motifs so I used this as the basis of this week’s design. The number 40 is because it is 40 years this week since I came to Ballarat to live. I wonder if I will ever be accepted as a local?
My husband, Arnie’s birthday this week so I thought the idea of a birthday cake was a good idea for a design. I pleated the black fabric for the base of the cup cake .The top is black and white spot which I lifted with some machine embroidered coloured spots.
I went to the Australian Open this week. Dorothy and I have been going to the tennis for 10 years. We have a wonderful day together, driving down, watching the tennis, watching the people, driving home.
I appliqued tennis racquet shape with a red tennis ball in the corner and a 3 in the top corner. The centre of the racquet consisted of a checked fabric which worked well. The satin stitch applique on the numbers is a challenge, but I really like to use them. After checking by Dorothy, I added two red spots to represent Dorothy and I and a 10 to indicate the ten yeras we have been going.
Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields this week. As well as designing the aprons , I also attended most of the concerts of the Festival, sometimes three in a day. It is a wonderful festival which runs for 10 days with most of the concerts held in the churches of the Victorian Goldfields area. Many concerts include the organ, sometimes as a solo instrument, sometimes in combination with other instruments.
The Gothic arches come from the wonderful churches used, mostly built in the 1850-60 period. Many feature beautiful wooden arches either structurally or decoratively. The eye depicts the visual communication through eye contact which must occur if a group of musicians are going to successfully perform together. The glances were most important!
I used a wonderful musical fabric as the background, with black gothic arches and the eye and eyebrow appliqued on top. There is an overlay of tulle to deeepen the colour above the arches. Machine embroidery provides the details on the eye.
The start was in Boston, September,2007. I had been visiting a friend, Geraldine who shares my love of quilting. She is in Boston for three years with her family and we evolved the Journal quilts as a means of communicating with each other while creating in a medium which we both find very forfilling. We established the boundaries while sitting at Boston Airport waiting for our flight to Chicago.
Parameters
1. 1 block per week, imagery based on weekly events ,sightings or musings.
2.All or any of the following techniques may be used : fusing,paper piecing,machine piecing,applique, bias strips.
3.54 blocks total with starting block and finishing block, layout 6 blocks across x 9 blocks down.
4. One fabric to make a guest appearance in each block.
5. Size of blocks : raw 19×19cms, finished 16×16cm.
6. Quilt as you go.
7. Sashing of 3 cm to join blocks, no posts
8. Go for it and ENJOY!!!
Before I started, I had an attack of the cold feet and thought that one per fortnight would be more achievable, but Geraldine was not happy with this suggestion. I chose to add a couple more parameters to my blocks, firstly I wanted to use my stash of black and white fabrics, so I decided to use black and white fabrics with a slash of red in one corner. Secondly, I wanted to use numbers and letters to add to the story.
My starting block has “B – B” for Ballarat to Boston and ” 08 ” for the year.