Monday, March 18, 2013

Quilts, quilts and more quilts

There is no stopping these vibrant and busy women of Singapore. The productivity and creativity is amazing. Here are some of the recent offerings...

early Christmas or very late!!!!!
superb applique
Marg's sampler quilt hand pieced and perfect
baby quilt for Archie
Elizabeth's delightful baby quilt
Beautiful Baltimore by talented Angeles... a year in the making
Kathy Illingworth's fun and vibrant embroidery
Rhonda's BOM beginnings
Marianne's great colour scheme



A few more links that might be useful to readers. There is an amazing online shop in Hawaii called Fabric Mart info@hawaiifabricmart.com, www.hawaiifabricmart.com. They have a wide selection of asian fabrics, hawaiian designs and patchwork cottons at good prices and the selection can keep a quilter busy for hours. Readers might also be interested in the numerous on line tutorials available through youtube. Favourites are http://www.youtube.com/user/MissouriQuiltCo, http://www.youtube.com/user/TheCraftyGemini?feature=watch. Try a search and be amazed at what techniques and delights await you from cyberspace.

Its not always sweat and toil on a Tuesday. Recently some of the group caught up for a luncheon and chat with not a piece of fabric in sight. The venue was great although the weather is getting hotter as we leave the wet season behind, so the outdoor setting was a little steamy. It was a great chance to meet and greet as well as catch up with news other than our latest creations. Quilters are a very interesting lot and especially here in Singapore with such an eclectic mix.

Members are reminded that this blog is all about you and the featured projects are only a glimpse of the talent and ability of our members. Some of these women are only beginners but the generosity of those more experienced has made for some excellent outcomes.


More baby quilting from Kirstyn

Monday, March 4, 2013

Cooler Quilting

The rainy season has brought with it some cool breezes and the sewing machines have been ramping it up. Nothing idle about any of these women here in Singapore.
Tuesdays are gathering speed as well and there are new members, some leaving, some planning to leave. ANZA quilting is an ever movable feast!


New member Wendy is working on a panel with interesting design and colours. We are enjoying her travel tales as she has come to us via Tanzania so has been able to share some unique stories and experiences.


Elizabeth's version


Kaffe pattern


Elizabeth is a very experienced quilter and has some great skills to teach in terms of a getting a professional finish to all her quilts. She has a lot of information that she is happy to share so ask her if you are stuck. She is very generous with her time. Here for show and tell she was able to explain to us the Kaffe Fasset pattern quilt that she was able to work on in a Kaffe workshop and with the help of the man himself, she was able to produce a colourful and intriguing quilt. Her own version above showed that she was able to play with colour and we all admired her effort and the melding of fabrics and colour combinations.



Bridget is working on  a soft pastel quilt and it embodies some old fashioned and interesting fabrics.
She is our quiet achiever and we would all like to see some more of her work to showcase here.  




 The block of the month series is coming along well. In the first of our profiles, Carole has been busy and has completed 8 of the 21 blocks that is in this folk art series. It has been fun for her to try a genre that she was not familiar with, forces her to be creative and has been a very relaxing exercise. Choosing fabrics has been the most fun though and her collection grows weekly.



Janice has been missing in action lately but has not be idle. Here she showcases an amazing Jinney Beyer design, all done by hand and with an assortment of fabrics that while under construction looked "unusual" to say the least. Suddenly POW, it became an absolute visual delight. Way to go Janice.

Plenty more where all of this has come from. Will share more soon. Remember first Tuesday of the month is show and tell...bring along your work for admiration and discussion.

Meanwhile, some members have been interested in where some of our members get their fabrics. There are of course local shops here in Singapore and lots of members are very supportive. Names and locations are listed in this blog for everyone's reference and support is encouraged. There are also some favourite on line shops from all over the world and some members have had success and are very pleased with their purchases. As a chance to explore what is available, hyperlinks are listed below. Remember that overseas postage can inflate the purchase price but there are still deals and specials that may make it worthwhile.



 Local online shop Needle and Thread which
is listed on the Tab at the top of the blog.
Excellent prices and great service from Magdalene.

Alison's favourites from Australia:

Great selection of modern fabrics and lots of good Aussie patterns too

Millrose Cottage (Ballan, Vic) http://www.millrosecottage.com.au/
HUGE ranges of fabric and patterns, plus wools. Definitely worth a
visit if you are in Victoria

Amite (Gardenvale, Melbourne) http://www.amitie.com.au/
Big range of Liberty. Great modern fabrics. Awesome patterns.
Really fun fabric and stash clubs

USA
Great ranges and very competitive prices. Excellent shipping and service.
Regular newsletters and weekly giveaways. ( use them A LOT!)

Big range of fabric. Good prices. Excellent customer service.
Regular newsletters and competitions. Used them a lot - never had a problem.

Great fabrics - big range of batiks, Japanese etc.
Huge range of magazines and books
Excellent customer service
Sometimes has free shipping to USA and half-price to everywhere else.
Luana does a lot for charity.  A percentage of your bill is donated to your
nominated charity.   Never had a problem ordering here

Great range of fabrics
Excellent customer service
Weekly newsletter and giveaways
Great weekly specials - usually 25% off a particular designer or range
Good to deal with

Marg's favourite

https://www.google.com.sg/search?q=batiks+plus&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari

Some of Carole's favourites are from eBay USA. They include


Maintained by:
 Pre-cut patchwork kits and fabric. Log Cabin pieces precisely cut, coordinated and ready for you to sew. Bali Batik from Hoffman, Robert Kaufman Asian. Bali Pops, Jelly Rolls, 5 inch squares. Beautiful quilt store quality cotton prints. Jo Morton, Pandolph, Quilting Treasures, RJR, Anthology Batik
 Maintained by:
 Welcome! Thanks for visiting! Shop here for a wide selection of fabric: quilt-shop cotton, minky chenille, oilcloth vinyl, decorator fabric, poly-cotton prints, as well as quilting tools, sewing trims, books, etc. Shipping from Sunny Southern California.

Also frequented by a few of us:


www.gloriouscolor.com

Great prices on Kaffe Fasset and Westminster and Rowen fabrics



Finally for your quilting enjoyment. A few funnies from Rhonda.



We all know UFO's and FQ's

Try googling quilt acronyms, and you'll find some like these:
(Not so familiar, but very clever)


HSY Haven't Started Yet

PHD Project Half Done (yes - we all have PHD's behind our names!!!)

WIM Work In Mind

WIVSP Work in Very Slow Progress

TOAD Trashed Object Abandoned in Disgust

PIG Project In Grocery bag

USO Unstarted Object

STASH Special Treasures All Secretly Hidden (!!!)

SABLE Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy


And two favourites...

FART Fabric Acquisition Road Trip ( so can we call previous trips Old farts???)

WOMBAT Waste Of Money Batting And Time