OK, that's it - now what?

Well, folks, that's it.

So, we have 27 quilts submitted to the swap, which is not too bad. Not quite as many as I'd hoped for, but I know it's been a busy few months for quite a few of us - myself included!

Here's what you do now. Sometime between Thursday 23 July and 3 August, you should send me a list of the 10-15 quilts you would most like to own - ranked in order of preference (i.e. 1=most like to own, 2=second most, and so on). All the quilts are numbered, so just use the number. (e.g. 1=no 24; 2=no 15; and so on). After I get all the lists back, I will try to sort out who gets what. I can't promise you will all get your first choice. In fact, I should think I can guarantee that we won't all get our first preferences! But I will do my best to acheive a nice balance and hopefully we will all get something we really like. Frankly, I'm not sure there's a quilt shown I would be sorry to own, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Some of you may be on holiday during this choosing period - it IS summer, after all - but don't worry, I won't assign quilts until I get lists from all the participants. If this means that the choosing period extends beyond 3 August, so be it - but I will update the blog accordingly so you will know what's going on.

Hope that's clear! If not, just ask.

Oh, and just a note - I will be away from home from tomorrow afternoon (Thursday, 23 July) to Saturday afternoon, 1 August. We will have a laptop with us and internet access, but I probably won't be quite as readily available, so don't panic if you don't hear back from me straight away.

Quilt no. 27

A Sunny Pre-Hurricane Day in Houston; 13.5x16"

My little quilt is entitled " A Sunny Pre.Hurrican.Day. In. Houston". I used 100% cottons. It's a sunny landscape scene showing a sunny July day in Houston, before the hurricanes begin. I used 2 strands of beads to put some sparkle in the sky. I used pre-made iron on appliques for the little girl in pink, the beetles and the spotted dog on the grassy knowl. The butterfly in the sky is a fussy cut out. The backing is the same as the grass fabric and I've also added hanging sleeves at the corners for the convenience of hanging if desired.

Quilt no. 26

The Disappearance of Water On Our Land; size 14.x16.5"
(obviously, this quilt has yet to be bound; the binding will be in sky blue)

Cotton fabrics , beads ,cotton yarn , flower application with Heat and Bond and machine quilting with free motion . This is the first time I have done art quilting .

Quilt no. 25

Autumn Woods; 24x16" (12x16" each)


This is my first attempt at an art quilt and was inspired by the background leaf fabric. The little animals are made from Fimo and attached with permanent glue.

Quilt no. 24

Untitled; size 18x18"

To make this piece, I sandwiched a piece of cotton duck with recycled blanket and medium weight calico. I originally intended to create an abstract piece and for want of a better idea, machine stitched some wavy lines and a circle. Gesso was applied with scrim and molding paste was added in places on top. The raised circles above the wavy lines were made by pushing the lid of an ink bottle into the wet molding paste. This was followed by layers of several different colour acrylics. When I had finished I felt it looked vaguely like a fiery landscape scene. I decided it needed a focal point and was just going to work some hand stitching on the surface. But anything for an easy life, I thought I would try a Thermofax screen print of a silhouette of something, possibly a flock of birds going along the top. After much thought the print turned into just the one crow as I was reminded of various country sayings that my uncle, a farmer, used to constantly regale us with as children, and the crow plus red thread one seemed perfect. I used heavy body black acrylic for the print. Because of the raised edges of the circle the print just skimmed the surface so I had to fill the dipped parts in using a brush. The wording was printed on to dressmaking tissue paper using a laser printer and adhered to a scrap piece of gesso and painted cotton duck with Polymer Medium before being attached to the surface of the hanging. The entire surface was then given a further two coats of Polymer Medium.

Quilt no. 23

Chestnut; size 37x39cm

This quilt was inspired by chestnut blossoms. All spring I was watching and admiring the blooming process, then one day I saw my rust-dyed fabric stash. “CHESTNUT” I thought…. I used my own rust-dyed cotton/linen and machine appliquéd fabrics, and then stitched by machine.

Quilt no. 22

Quilt for Van Gogh; 19 x 22"

The quilt is made of up to 9 layers of rayon and one of gold lame fabric, stitched and cut to make a chenille effect. There are a few beads appliqued on the stars. I left the edges a little ragged quite deliberately, considering the state of Van Gogh's mind. I hope his ghost would appreciate my quilt.

More photos to come

Hi all - I still have a few more photos to upload and at least one to come in to me - all will be up and ready to be coveted by the time I go on holiday on Thursday - along with instructions about what happens next. Quite a good handful of people have had to withdraw, but of course, because of the way the swap is set up, no one is going to be disappointed because of that (except inasmuch as it would have been nice to have them playing along). I can't imagine we'll be disappointed ourselves with the choices we have, even if it's only 2 dozen or so instead of 3 or 4!

Quilt no. 21

untitled; 15.5x17"

This piece just started with a piece of fabric and kept building and adding until I was happy with the look. My favorite part would have to be the embellishments handsewn on using old buttons of my grandmother's.

Quilt no. 20

Inch by Inch; 21x18" (total height with tassel 26.5")

The quilt top is made of black, chocolate and cream velvet and cream satin, and backed with chocolate quilters' cotton. I faced rather than bound it to keep the front simple. The chocolate is easier to see in person. The 25 inchies are made from quilters' fabrics, edged with rayon satin-stitch, quilted and then embellished with a selection of seed and bugle beads, crystals, ribbon, jewellery findings, feature beads and two hand-made tassels. The inchies are attached using permanent glue (and the hanging ones by beading thread) but although the whole thing is technically washable, it probably would be best not to!

Quilt no.19

Italy through window shades; 16x16"

This little quilt is made almost entirely out of batiks and my own hand dyed and hand painted fabrics. It is my interpretation of a photograph I found and Ricky Tims "Convergence" ideas. I sampled drawings with both vertical and horizontal strips but fell in love with the horizontal ones because it adds so much height to the tall building. It gives me the feeling of being in a basement looking out a window through blinds. This quilt is almost entirely paper-pieced with strips sewn between the horizontal strips. I quilted stone shapes in the left building and a sun in the upper left corner -- its rays fill the sky across the quilt. A quilt sleeve is sewn onto the back for hanging.

Tiny extension

Just a note for those of you struggling to finish by Monday, I will accept photos of quilts until 5pm my time (that's 12 noon, east coast US) on Wednesday, 22 July. I am so busy at the moment, that I will probably not be able to finish putting up all the quilts until that evening anyway, so if a day or so makes a difference to you, this is your chance!

Quilt no. 18

Untitled, 22x22"

The quilt is made of beautiful batiks and marbles, the center blocks and corner blocks are Carol Doak paper-piece design. It is quilted in teal and purple thread, some with the walking foot and parts are freemotion (I am fairly new at free motion, did alot of ripping out of stitches, and hope it is liked despite my mediocre quilting) The backing is a gorgeous batik and there is a hanging sleeve.

Quilt no. 17

Untitled; 21x22"

It was painted, screenprinted and stamped. Some fabrics are commercial fabrics. Then different tulle was added and organza. After machine quilting some organza was removed.

Quilt no. 16

Lacy Fan; 60x40cm

The background is made of two pieces of hand-dyed fabrics: sewing, cutting, re-sewing, re-cutting ... ad libitum. The quilt sandwich was then quilted, fastening painted Tyvek pieces at the tip of each section. The fan shape was painted with black acrylic, followed by a layer of acrylic wax. Finally, viscose band was sewn to mark the fan sections, and a tassel added to the bottom.

Quilt no. 15

Ice Cream; approx 40x60cm.

Most of the quilt is done by curved piecing on a foundation, using tweezers. Some sections are snippets of fabrics, covered with organza, and then stitched by machine. The irregular blocks are then pieced, and embellished with needle-punched wool tops, angelina and silk tops and some beading. It is hand quilted.

Quilt no. 14

Reminder of Spring; 17x19"

The background of the piece is a stitched cotton quilt sandwich, with a treated paper frame around a panel of embellished silk, threads and organza. This is decorated with an embellished thread flower on sequin waste.

Quilt no. 13

Cupcakes and Carrots; 16x16"

This piece is screenprinted, discharged, re-printed and stamped (it is washable).