Quilt Memories

Hi there, it has been a long time since my last blog post! My friends near and far have been asking me to start blogging again. Even though I'm posting daily on Instagram, I was told there is not enough detail in IG, sorry! Of course I have no excuse now that I'm retired! But you know, there are other priorities in life when you are retired. My first priority these days is exercise, and that's what I do most days. 

A lot has happened since my last blog post about my exhibition. As soon as I returned from the exhibition in Victoria, my husband and I left for our six weeks holiday in Central Asia, Scotland, Europe and Scandinavia. We had a fabulous trip, and some of the places we visited for the first time. We are glad now we took that trip because as you know, now we can't even plan a trip anywhere. 

Soon after our return, our beach house 'Seabird' is finally completed. There was so much to do before we could move in. We planned to build our own kitchen and cabinets using IKEA modules. But it didn't happen straightaway due to Australia's bushfires. The areas close to Seabird were badly affected by the fires. Even though our place is safe, a month was lost because of it. Soon after we finished installing the kitchen and cabinets, we were on lock-down due to the Corona virus. The rest is as you all know. We are still under restrictions, but much better than the last two months. 

Last weekend we travelled four hundred kilometres to visit a dear friend we haven't seen for a while. At my friend's house I spotted a quilt I haven't seen before, but know it so well! It was a quilt that she made using fabric we exchanged some years ago. She explained the story of this quilt on the quilt's label in the last photo below.  

 My quilt that I named
'Rags to Riches' 

Close-up of the fabric you will recognise
in my friend's quilt too. 

The pattern is called 'Trail Mixed'

I added text borders to all sides

My friend's quilt

This is the label explaining about our quilts

Two different quilts from the same pile of fabrics. As soon as I saw my friend's quilt I felt like I knew it because both quilts share the same fabrics. My quilt took me years to finish so I was familiar with the fabric.  Read the label if you want to know the whole story of these quilts. 

Until next time (hope it won't be too long)

Nat

Bag Lady

My friend Jocelyn and I were called Bag ladies when we used to meet during our lunch break. We were together for two years and we made many many bags during that time. The reason we stopped meeting is because I started a handmade book group and Jocelyn was also in the group so we now only meet to make handmade books with some stitching thrown in. In our Bag Lady sessions I made a few crazy quilt style bags. Quite a few of them were giveaways as presents and some I keep for myself.

This bag brought back a lot of memories. I found the handle at a market in Queensway city hall in London. DH and I lived in London in the 80s BC (before children). We used to love going to antique markets and jumble sales at church halls or city halls. When I saw this handle I fell in love with it and thought one day I would make a bag to go with it. Twenty years later I made this bag to attached to the handle.

I am so happy that I finally made the bag using the handle. Sometimes I can't believe that I actually made this bag. It looks like an antique bag from the Victorian era...!

Another crazy quilt bag with long strap that I can wear across my shoulder. I like wearing my bag that way to free both of my hands when I travels. This bag is an ideal bag for a party or an evening bag where I only need my mobile phone and keys. I made a few of these bags and taught a few of my friends to make them as well.

This is what it looks like under the flap. It's a very simple bag to make. Once I finished with the crazy quilt part of the bag the rest was easy. I really enjoy using this bag and I get a lot of compliments every time I use it.

Another bag that holds a lot of memories for me. This bag is made from a pair of shorts which were DD's when she was about eight. I kept them knowing that I will make it into a bag one day. The belt was also hers and it was one of those Eastern European hand embroidery strips on felt. We found it at one of the jumble sales. I couldn't bring myself to throw it away thinking that someone had lovingly embroidered it by hand.

I am glad I kept it because it goes perfectly with this bag. I don't know if you can tell that the crazy quilt represents under water treasures. I get a lot compliments with this bag too. A group of ladies borrowed it for a while to copy it, but I don't know if they actually made any.

Down Memory Lane

It surprised me how many quilts I have given away...! I think I have given away more quilts than I have kept. Because I will not make enough quilts to blog every week I will bring out the one I gave away to blog under the section of "Down Memory Lane". Living an expatriate life I always see other expatriate friends moving on to their next location so we were constantly making quilts to give as going away gifts. But this quilt was not a going away gift. It was a gift of love to my dearest friend Debbie Fisher. I met Debbie in Abu Dhabi and we spent five years there together; it was the time to treasure forever.

After I completed this quilt I was anxious to give it to her. Debbie moved to Dubai so I had to wait until she came to visit to give it to her. Finally she came and we had afternoon tea when I gave her this garden quilt. To see the look on her face when she saw it was worth it for me. She was so happy and surprised that I made it for her for just being a good friend. I enjoyed making this quilt and it was such a happy quilt like Debbie. It was a quilt for a happy girl!

It is a flower garden quilt because Debbie loves gardening. She can grow anything anywhere. She had a vegetable garden in the middle of Abu Dhabi summer with the temperatures well over 45C, but Debbie's garden was always green.

I named this quilt Dubai Debbie. That was how everyone who knew her always called her. Debbie is now living back in the UK where she originally came from and her and I are still friends regardless of the distance between us. I would like to dedicate for you my dearest Dubai Debbie...!

Down Memory Lane

I lived in Bathurst, NSW in my pre blogging life. While I was searching through some photos, and I came across some I would like to share with you. When we returned from Abu Dhabi to Australia we lived in Bathurst, NSW for two years. Bathurst was where I first met my dear friend Dzintra . I have made many wonderful friends in Bathurst. They were so kind and acccepted me into their quilting circle. Not long after that we formed the Flying Geese Quilters. Some of these photos take me down the memory lane.

This photo was taken at home on one of our social get togethers. I always give my friends something to work on when they come to visit. That day I had them making dollie brooches. They had so much fun decorating the dollies with ribbons and beads. Dzintra is in the red dress. Dzintra told us that day that she was moving to ACT. She was not sure about moving away from Bathurst after sixteen years. Because I have made many moves in my life I told her she should move. I told her a change is as good as a honeymoon LOL! (did I say that?).

A little Guardian Angel Quilt I made for Dzintra when I visited her in ACT a few months after she left Bathurst. She still has it hanging at the bottom of her steps in her new home in Batemen Bay. I hope that the Guardian Angel does look after you my friend.

Terry, Geo and Claire at one of the Flying Geese Quilter's meeting in Bathurst. This photo always reminds me of the Flying Geese Quilters. Apart from the flying geese quilt on the table, you can see the airplanes on the wall. The Flying Geese Quilters meet each Thursday at Bathurst Aero Club, Bathurst Airport. When we were sitting there quilting we could see the planes landing and taking off, and Thursday the flight scheduled seemed very busy. It was the coolest place for a quilt meeting. I do miss it a lot.

This was a going away quilt I made for Claire when she left Bathurst. I asked all the members to make me a block each. The only rule for the block was pink heart and you know? Not one heart was the same!

Here was my heart I made for the quilt. I put the quilt together and hand quilted it. Claire loves pink and was very touched when we gave it to her.

This was another quilt down my memory lane. I made it for my dear friend Edna who was in hospital at the time. Edna was a very kind dear lady, she took me under her wing when I first moved there. Because she accepted me, everyone else did too. It was not easy to move into a small country town where everyone already has their circle of friends. I was lucky to have met so many kind ladies and they are my friends for life. Sadly Edna passed away soon after I gave her the quilt.