Missing in Action part two

Well after catching up with a few more old friends in Townsville it was on the plane to Brisbane and then a ride up to here in the beautiful green leafy Eumundi

now we thought we were spoilt with our rooms in Townsville but this was heaven... and the four lovely women who had been staying there on a stitching retreat for the previous two days agreed - what bliss - a retreat where you are spoilt rotten with the most exquisite food, waited on hand and foot, stitching peacefully in this setting, with likeminded passionate women, views and serenity, great tuition on hand and beautiful projects and inspiration all round...

This was my room...

This was waiting for me on my bed.... check out the quilting on the cushion, the theme was black and white obviously and there were little handmade 'things' everywhere in black and white..

This awaited us at breakfast, beautiful views, peaceful serenity.... and.....
the most delicious banana caramel pancakes!

I tried to get a photo of the front of the house but Sue used a photographer with a blimp to get the shot for the website so best to look here....

I know I always seem to take floral shots but gardening and flowers would have to be my second passion.... these were spotted amongst the lush tropical gardens of Kindred Spirits...actually between the studio/workroom and the main house... My Hosts Sue and Jim Daly are also the owners and designers of Patchwork with Busy Fingers - beautiful traditional paper piecing patterns and supplies.... Catch Sue on her blog here

Anyway, it wasnt all fun and lying around, I was brought here to work... I had a lovely room full of women on Tuesday night for a trunk show and slide show of Paducah quilt photos which always inspire... then on Wednesday it was a Colourque class on my Blessed Beauty wallhanging. In my class presentation I show the original pack of Derwent pencils that I saved up for about 30 years ago and still have... however I was pipped at the post here. One of the ladies had her original pack, we are not sure how old they were but had a batch no of 1924 - not sure if that means the year or not.. all of the colour names and numbers are still the same...

These were a few of the finished products - all ready to go home and begin the stitching...

Wednesday morning it was time to be delivered to Forest Glen to Penny's wonderful store the Patchwork Angel
Penny had made a lovely display of my patterns and samples which was a great inspiring start to the day.

A small but keen group spent the day colouring a pre quilted panel in the style of the Lace quilt. Below is Penny's mums wonderful effort. Jill is not a stitcher or quilter but quite enjoyed colouring in and I think she did a great job. I hope I have the spirit and energy of Jill when I am a Grandmother...

Alas, this saw the end of my teaching trip to Queensland... A lovely time was had by all, I hope I managed to share, inspire and impart some skills or knowledge or even just enthusiasm to the many wonderful women whom I met and chatted with.

so now, home again to my girls and DH, back to work and into my list of things to do to...

hugs

Helen

missing in action part one

Well what a week I have had. Let me fill you in. It was my pleasure to be invited by Tracy of Tinkers Cart to be a guest tutor at her When friends gather retreat in Townsville last weekend. It was especially exciting as I had once spent 3 years up there and was very much looking forward to catching up with old friends. On arrival I and Sharon Hawkins of Handmade magazine were picked up and taken to Tracy's lovely store. These three old souls were keeping watch out the door and with the friends and neighbours Tracy keeps its probably just as well!

The wonderful gathering of 110 lucky likeminded passionate stitching women was held on Saturday in a wonderful theatre space. Rosalie Quinlan, Janet Rowe and myself were the lucky tutors. Tracy did a splendid job of organising her first retreat and all of the girls left very happy and vowing to attend the next one - a very good sign of success.
Tracy had some very dedicated and loyal friends and helpers who worked tirelessly all day gathering up the atmosphere for all of us.


Tracy had requested a Colourque(R) project from me which was great as Colourque works really well at retreat type days where everyone can have a go. I was so pleased that at least two thirds of the girls got to have a go and colour their piece with many varied and wonderful results.

This effort belonged to Lauren a lovely young enthusiastic girl from Charters Towers, I can't wait to see more of her work as she was so keen to go and experiment further. It had a really fresh young look dont you think?

After a long day travelling and setting up and then another sharing with all of the wonderful old and new friends it was back to our accommodation which wasnt hard to take. This was the view from my 12th Floor window - Magnetic Island in the distance - many memories there.

after a freshen up and whilst waiting for dinner I walked and sat in the peace of the sun sinking, staring out to see, soaking up the tropical air and the lights of the magnificent Strand.

after dinner and debrief conversations it was bedtime for some... but who is this making the most of life and showing us her newly painted North Queensland toenails...?? See here for some more details..

We rested our feet in the pool, solved the problems of the world and the industry and had many laughs.... a lovely finish to the day... not to mention my photography efforts to catch the curlew on film - sorry nothing to show- the best I got was two white spots which I am sure are eyes!!

A final breakfast feast and farewell to some new and refound friends.... Rosie - who is living life with spirit and gusto, Melly on a mummy break (also the two best of friends and sisters) and Sharon -a truly beautiful person.

yes the photo is at breakfast, champagne and all...

footnote, some photoshop work below? - well no actually that is how it came out - see lots of laughs were had...

I will tell the rest of the story tomorrow....

hugs, Helen

practise, practise, practise

Yesterday I had another practise class on my Mini Lace project for HMQS in May and at Penny's in a couple of weeks. I had the most wonderful group of ladies who produced such lovely results. JoinTAS after seeing my post here recently also squeezed in and it was lovely to have her company for the trip down to Geeveston.

I think they did such a good job, dont you and I have a few changes to tweak and check before the 'real' thing in a week or so.... I cant believe people want me to teach them colouring in, but just look at the results - and it really is so therapeautic and very satisfying to the colourer to achieve such great things so easily in lovely company.

this was Di's, she chose to keep her elements separated and it gave quite an antique stencilled look - I love it, cant wait to see it finished..Not sure who this one belongs to but they all looked this good...

Well done girls, I had a most lovely day,

hugs, Helen

mini lace bright as promised

Well I have finished colouring the third version of the Mini Lace panel this time using the Inktense pencils. It is not my favourite but gives yet another totally different look dont you think? I also played with a Quizzle and matched colours to my photos from a couple of posts ago... it is so nifty to try different colours and see how they change the total look of the quilt. And matching the colours to photos of nature is really a cheats way of getting something to 'work'.....
this was my sunset/storm pic.... You know there is a free trial Quizzle on the website that you could go and play with colours and a favourite photo and see what you come up with..


and this was my little treasure from the back of the cupboard....

thanks for all the comments and emails on the extra quilt for the book. Actually it is no further ahead than when I posted the pic... so once I do a post on NPNT I am onto it, I really am this time... I have to do the Block of the week post first though or they are onto me!

hugs

Helen

workshop preps

I have been busy colouring samples for classes in the US in May - a bit scary for me, first time overseas and in such a big show situation. Here are some different versions of my Mini Lace class. These are based of course on the big Lace#2 quilt designed by my sister Tracey which we exhibited last year. I have another practise class down here soon with some friends, then its onto the real thing in Qld in March, then the US in May. Hermione of Lorien Quilting has digitised my design so Tracey can stitch it out on her Intelliquilter so all the students have to do on the day is have fun colouring and they have a beautiful quilted and Colourque'd panel to take home.. I havent yet done the background quilting yet so have some free motion quilting and binding to go.

This is the one they will be doing in class, using the same colours and type of pencil as in the original Lace#2.

This version has been done using watercolour pencils in two colours only.
Of course now I am playing with one in the inktense range just to show how it looks but I really dont think the design lends itself to 'brights' - I'll show you when Im done.

For my US readers, I am teaching at HMQS in Salt Lake City, then am off to Portland OR. I have a couple of spare days either side of both shows so if you are near and have a group or local store who may be interested I may be able to squeeze in a couple of extra classes. Just email me to see, I'd love to meet you in person.

anyway, back to work, talk later

hugs Helen

home again

Home from a big few days in Melbourne. Yes its only an hour away by plane but a few long days of wonderful meetings, friends, new and old, and family.
Miss Molly came with me for the first time to experience the world of quilting and begin to 'learn the ropes' - well it did mean a couple of days with Grandma being totally spoilt and lots of shopping - she takes after her dad, a real bargain hunter but managed to buy a present for everyone...
I had the loveliest time teaching at Michelles Sewing Basket to 23 talented women who all achieved wonderful results. I'd like to think that has something to do with my teaching but I know they all had a lot of natural talent which shows in the results dont you think? With the sudden warm weather in Melbourne it was a hot and stuffy day in the classroom but chocolate from Michelle helped! I hope you all enjoyed yourselves if you are reading and have managed to finish your wallhangings. I'd love to see pics when you do..
Thanks so much to Michelle for hosting me and inviting me over.

I will post some pics and news of Quilt Market soon

hugs

Helen

Gathering pics

As promised some pics (s0rry many) of yesterdays wonderful gathering. The girls and their husbands had spent the whole day Friday setting up and decorating and what a wonderful feast for the eyes, the spirit and the passion of togetherness the day was.... 73 sharing, excited, passionate women coming together to switch off and have fun in a warm and inviting atmosphere of the sweet Campania country hall.... My voice was hoarse last night from talking and demonstrating so much and I didnt even get to every table.. I am sorry if I missed you...
Met lots of lovely personalities, hopefully gave some knowledge, skills or inspiration to some of you in any small way. Lots of colouring, stitching, piping hotties and chatter in my corner..thankyou so much to Deidre and Leonie for inviting me to share in this day. The next is the Autumn Gathering with Lynette Anderson as the guest tutor. I'll be booking in to that one.
hugs, Helen

the projects for the day are in front of the stage here where the 'shop' was beautifully setup inspiring many purchases of goodies on the day!

Michelle Vince, a local designer for the day

Deidre at the welcoming table giving out name tags and kits

Leonie and her 'best side'

the gorgeous little gift boxes they each got on the day....full of Christmas suprises...

All the walls of the hall were adorned with Christmas cheer as were the tables complete with Deidre's fir trees - are there any left at home?

The hall looked so warm and welcoming and set the mood for the day...

I jsut love gatherings and I think we should all attend one at year at least - now onto organising mine for the 28th October - a little different as its also a charity day...

hugs to all for today

Helen - who then went out to see James Morrison, Emma Pask and the Tasmanian Symphony orchestra last night - a wonderful show but a very long day...

Christmas Gathering

I am all packed ready to head off to Campagnia ( a very little town outside of Hobart Tasmania) tomorrow for the Quilted Crows' Christmas Gathering. I am very excited to share a wonderful day with many like minded stitching enthusiasts. Case is packed, patterns and samples delivered, Colourque samples ready to go and family organised.
I know we are going to have the most wonderful day as I know a few of the treats and suprises Leonie and Deidre have organised.. Have my trusty new camera (yes another one as the last one died on day 15 so they have just replaced it) so will take lots of pics for you and post them after the event.

Its always a worry whether the ladies will like my projects, I sure hope they do....

hugs for tonight

Helen

Esmes Girls

I had a long but lovely day yesterday at Esmes in Launceston teaching a new class to 8 wonderful ladies who all share my passion for stitching. This class was a new one for me and the first 'real' class I have taught in my new format using a video camera and projector so that everyone in class can see the demonstrations and technique up close and personal. I think it worked well and got some lovely positive feedback from which to continue to improve and value add to the class. See some pics of the wonderful results they all achieved... then it was back on the road home to Hobart amongst some wonderful water falling from the clouds which was welcomed by all.....

so from left to right if I remember correctly are Suzanne, Heather, Kerrie, Helen, Barbara

front - Rosie, Moo and Gloria all the way from Burnie

thankyou for a lovely day girls..... hope you enjoyed it as much as I did - cant wait to see pics of your finished wallhangings. And a big thanks to Lillian for hosting the day and 'feeding' me!

hugs

Helen

GO CATS!!!!! - for those who may not have heard!!! Geelong won the Grand Final of the Australian Football league today - very big for us Aussies!!!

lidl fish

Growing up in Townsville my two eldest daughters lived 3 years of their life in a pool. Although we have a pool here in our backyard (yes in Hobart, would have appreciated it much more in T'ville) poor Tilly hasnt yet gotten to swimming lessons. (for non Australians' Townsville is right up the top of Australia and quite warm and tropical whereas Hobart is about as far south as you can go at the bottom of Australia and not very warm at all!) So today was the day for her first lesson - now that she is 3 I dont have to get in with her and scare all the little kiddlies so here is my big little girl all suited up to go.... of course she had tears and refused at first but is now rearing to go again next week....how quickly they grow up....very excited, suited up and ready to gohey mum, this is quite fun.....look at me!
very pleased with oneself now that I'm back with mum....

now there was an ulterior motive in this swimming. It was supposed to tire her out... you see this child has never seemed to need much sleep - nowhere near as much as I need. So swimming was supposed to put her to bed early - and here she is sitting next to me at 10pm folding fabric for patterns for me!!! she was in bed, stories read, kiss goodnight, all the normal routine but decided she wasnt tired and could help mummy....

but... I need to be on the road by 7.30am after dropping kids off at 3 separate places to go to Launceston (21/2hrs away) to teach my Baltimore Beauty Colourque class tomorrow at Esmes. So she will be going to bed soon even if it is with me.... When I booked the date I forgot my husband is in Canberra for the Beating of the Retreat at Duntroon so will be a big day getting home in time for dinner! And Molly (12) who is very capable will look after the kids and get dinner ready - isnt she wondeful?

So I should get off of here now so hugs for today

Helen

New class sample

I have finally finished my Blessed Beauty Wallhanging I have been working on in between frantically stitching 104 designs for the Nice People Nice Things project. This wallhanging will be used to teach step by step the Colourque method and it will be so step by step I am confident everyone's quilt will look just as beautiful as the original... This class is already filling at Esmes Launceston for the 28th September and at Michelles Sewing Basket on Thursday 15th November (yes I am now coming a day earlier to Quilt Market so that I can squeeze a couple of classes in here with some lovely ladies at Ringwood).

My girls have been busy packing for Guide Camp at Maria Island today. They head off for 5 days in the morning and are very excited. They look so loaded up with full backpacks, day pack and bedding roll, I just wonder how they are going to trek with all of this?? They will be doing activities like snorkelling, fishing, bush walking etc. Quambatook, as it is called is a state camp held every two years somewhere in Tasmania.

It will be just Tilly and I for a few wonderful quiet days together here this week. Lets hope the weather stays fine although we have 6 degree nights forecast.. And I hope to get lots of lovely stitching done - baked beans on toast will keep me quite happy for the week...

hugs for today,

Helen

Mctavishing

I am very lucky to have a clever sister who is a Longarm quilter and very good at McTavishing. So, many of my wonderful quilts including all of the projects for my Colourque book have been "McTavished' by her. When making up a new design for a class project for Colourque I thought it was high time I had a go. Now I know I should have doodled on paper for a few weeks first, but not me, no boots and all, straight to the project...... I dont think it turned out too badly for a first effort. I am sure I can improve and develop my own style over time....

Oh if you dont know what McTavishing is - it is simply a free machine background quilting filler design developed by Karen McTavish - hence its name. My Daisy Dance quilt which was heavily McTavished (By Tracey) features in her book 'Mastering The Art of McTavishing' which was very exciting.

I then used the Golden Threads magic quilting paper and ironed an original design onto it to stitch onto the borders and then did a little more free machine quilting in the borders..... All on my Bernina baby which I have finally reaquainted myself with.....

mmmm...it was actually quite fun, think I'll play with this some more...

bye for now, hugs

Helen