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

Blog Book and More

The blog book I ordered has arrived. I've been trying to come up with an idea how to print my blog. Both Mr Notjustnat and I came up with various ways, but in the end I decided to get it printed with Blog2Print. I decided to print one year at a time. My first book for the 2014 posts has arrived. The next one is ordered and it is on its way. I'm very happy with how it looks and feels. The photos are as clear as I see on the web. 

Apart from that, I had a busy couple of weeks yet again. I visited a great exhibition: Exquisite Threads, English Embroidery 1600-1900s. I took some photos of my favourite pieces to share with you here.

I was sick for most of last week. The doctor ordered for me to stay home during that time. No good giving my cold to the rest of the team at work! The weather was horrible the whole time I was home, but I managed to complete small sewing projects and put on a batch of dye during that time.

My first blog book for 2014

2014 when I went on a textile trip to Vientiane
Luang Prabang and Siem Reap.

Below are some photos of the embroideries at the Exquisite Threads Exhibition. The first one is a Bible cover from the early 17th century. What caught my attention was the work of free-form embroidery. To use it for a Bible cover was comforting to me because I'm making the same things, but for journal covers.  

Bible cover-early 17th century

Part of my hand-stitched journal cover

My 2015 travel journal cover

Coif - early 17th century. Linen, silk, gilt-metal
(thread, spangles)

Section of a larger embroidery panel 

Stomacher - early 18th century

Below are a few small projects I worked on while I was home sick:

Shibori stitched on linen dress, socks and
cotton threads ready for indigo dye

Quilt label for Red Star and Blue Sea
quilt posted here

The Civil War block I made using Barbara
Brackman's free patterns that I posted here 

I was given walnut hulls a couple of weeks ago. I soaked them until they were ready to be used. Steeping is another way to cook dye bundles. The liquid you steep bundles in could be anything from natural sources. All bundles for this batch had been steeped in walnut bath. 

Jars and bundles ready to be opened

Unwrapped bundle of wool and Eucalyptus

A peak into another bundle of silk and Eucalyptus

Another bundle using different Eucalyptus

Autumn maple leaves on vintage silk

Silk scarf dyed in walnut bath

Lucky find:

My sweet Abela

A lucky find for this post is not what I found recently, but it was a lucky find I found 15 years ago on eBay. This sweet Singer Featherweight is my proud and joy and I enjoy her every time I sew with her. I only use her to sew vintage fabric. I named her Abela to remind me of an Arabic name for a beautiful little girl. Abela was made in Scotland, but I got her from Texas, USA. 

Until next time

Nat