Interesting Back

I have just finished my latest curve quilt. I stitched the binding on last night, It always feels such a long way all the way round a quilt. Kit told me he liked the back better then the front! not sure how to take that!

 

 

I needed to use up some of my leftover bits so I pieced the back.

Lots of colour at home

We are all about new colours at home at the moment. I have just got a new kettle and this purple one just had to come home with me. I love it with our green splash back.

We are decorating my daughters bedroom so lots of shade cards have been in the house so she could decide. Kit is planning to paint on Saturday. We are making new curtains too which will be hand painted with green snails.

Finished Faces

This is the finished piece, using the same face but stitching it in 4 different ways. It hasn't got a name yet but I am sure one will come. I could just call it Nameless.

I have a few more faces drawn and ready to stitch, It seems to be my new direction for a while.

New Zealand Quilter

This is the latest issue of New Zealand Quilter. I am the featured quilter! all my friends laugh when I say that as I would not call myself a quilter but others seem too! I have had a piece of my work on the front of the embroiderers magazine Threads but this is the first time I have had my name on the front of a magazine that will be in the shops, I am pretty excited about that.

A day designing

I am thinking of designing and making some needlepoint kits. So I had a day yesterday playing with ideas. I will have a think about this over the summer, so watch this space! DixeySoul needlepoint kits maybe in the shops in 2013.

Planning for next year

I have started my summer task of planning classes for next year. I decided to have some fun using up my tiny scraps of fabric that I can't seem to throw in the bin, I just put them in a bag in case I need them. So crazy patchwork was the answer. The class will be early next year at All Things Patchwork.

colour from the garden

This was the salad we had last night, all from the garden. I just love summer.

 

 

And this is one of the avocado's from my tree. It is just fantastic to be able to eat home grown avocado's. I even have tiny ones on the tree ready for next year while I still have some fully grown ones, amazing.

New Quilt

I have had a curve quilt drawn in my sketch book for some time. I finally decided now was the time to make it. I will use it to inspire my students when I teach at the quilters symposium in July. I love making these curve quilts because you have to think the whole time, good for my brain cells!

 

This is just the blocks pinned up

 

Now I am trying a border, just need to get some more of the yellow.

Yellow and Purple

 

A month or so ago I found some very sick looking plants in our local garden centre for $1, the tag said they were yellow poppies and I knew they would look fantastic with our purple caravan so I got them. Well here they are and they do look fantastic

 

 

 

 

 

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New Pattern

With summer on the way this is my new pattern. The caravan is attached to the car with a press stud so you can leave the caravan at a site and go on a tour just with the car. I just have to check the pattern and then it will be available at All Things Patchwork. Kit wants one made twice the size as cushions on the sofa. Maybe thats a job for the Christmas holidays!

new faces

I have been playing with faces over the last few days. This piece will have 4 faces, stitched in different ways, to explore how the same image can look  when stitched using various techniques.

 

 

 

I love this long and short face partly stitched. Maybe an idea for a bigger face?

work in Viva

Today I have a piece of work and a few words in Viva which is a Lifestyle magazine that comes with the New Zealand Herald newspaper on a Wednesday. Really exciting that Viva wanted to feature the embroidery exhibition that I am part of. The piece is on the first page so you see it as soon as you open the paper, fantastic!

a busy weekend over

My weekend of shows has come to an end and it all went well.

The Big Quilt show was great, some really lovely quilts, mine is the brightest there I would say but it looks great hung in a big gallery.

The Embroidery exhibition looks fantastic, the gallery manager hung it really well so all the pieces have space around them so you can really see the work. It looks like an art exhibition not just a guild show of work.

On Sunday I had a day helping on the All Things Patchwork stand at a large quilt show in Auckland.
Not too busy so lots of time to chat, its great to see people getting excited about fabric. Lots of new stitchers too, which was a good sign.

work delivered

I have just delivered my work to the gallery in Pukekohe for the exhibition that opens on Saturday.
This piece of work has been used on the flyer's which looks great. They are showing  the contemporary side to embroidery as well as the traditional by having some of my work ( about 10 pieces ) hung alongside the guild display. I am doing a artist talk at the opening so people will be able to ask me questions about the work. Viva magazine, which is put out with the main Auckland newspaper are planning to do a short piece about the exhibition next week so that will be great. Its always good to have embroidery seen in mainstream media.

The opening of the Big Quilt Show is on Friday night. I am really looking forward to seeing what the other quilts look like.

cool close up

I have just finished a goldwork sample for  a class I am teaching next year. The whole piece is not that exciting but will be great for the ladies to learn how to us metal thread. But while I was taking the photo I started playing with the close up ability on my camera. These look much more exciting then the whole thing.

 

 

I guess I should give you a picture of the whole thing too!

 

 



 

The Face of Helensville

This was the start of a small piece to celebrate Helensvilles' 150th anniversary. Helensville is the small town in New Zealand where I live. 150 years ago, European people came and settled here along side the local Maori.

It is now finished. The shape down the centre of the face, joining the European and Maori sides is the line of the river that flows through Helensville. It is stitched using Long and Short stitch in 1 strand of DMC stranded cotton.

The piece will be on show when I am guest artist for the Counties Embroiderers Guild at their exhibition in Nov. The exhibition will be held at the Franklin Art Centre in Pukekohe from the 3rd of November, not sure when it finishes!

Watching

My big quilt has been selected to be part of the Big Quilt show at Northart. The show will be from Nov 3rd - 23rd. I am really pleased as I was not sure if this was the type of thing they were looking for. One of the selectors was from a gallery in Auckland which has really interesting exhibitions so that makes it even more exciting. It will be really interesting to see what the other quilts are like.

Dying in the lounge

When I was having the tidy up in the studio I found some white silk velvet that I had been moving around for many years. A few ladies from the shop I work at have been using silk velvet on some  wool applique they have been doing so I thought I would dye some for them. The problem is where to put it to dry, well the lounge of course!

 

 

I am never sure how my dying will turn out but I was really pleased with the results, some pieces may never make it to the shop!

 

 

 



Window Challenge

The fabric from the last Colour Quarterly was sprays of flowers printed in a diamond pattern.
I had decided to try to do something with diamonds and then I saw this photo that Kit had taken and the idea was set.

After a few weeks of moving the diamonds around I was happy with the design so here is my window.

 

 

Some of the diamonds are pieced and some are just one piece of fabric. The sashing was a challenge so its been good for my brain. 

Space to work

My desk is still pretty full of stuff but at least now I have a bit of space to work!
I seem to need all this stuff on view all the time.

I have finished my big quilt. I will send the images in for selection this week. I will know if it has been selected by 10th October. My quilt is called Watching. It is comment on the the idea of Big Brother watching our every move. It is just over 2 metres square.

Creative order or Chaos

I think my studio is in need of a tidy up!  I like to think this is the result of creativity but I think I have tipped over into Chaos! A job for the weekend maybe.

Carrot Love

The best thing about growing your own carrots is when you find two that are in love. My children think this is just fantastic. These two loving carrots are now not allowed to be eaten and will just sit on our kitchen bench to make us smile.

Blackwork has got in

My blackwork piece has been selected to go to the USA. I was pretty excited about that, I love blackwork and you can do so much with it, so hopefully lots of people will see it and be inspired. It will be interesting to see what the other pieces are like.

I find it funny that I will have two pieces of work in the USA at the same time but so radically different, one being my Kiss quilt which is big and colourful and now a blackwork skull which is small with only two colours. I wonder if anyone will see both and connect the two pieces to the same person.

look at this colour

I planted anemone bulbs earlier in the year and waited to see if they would come up. It was a mixed bag of bulbs so I had no idea what colours they would be. This one is just amazing. A friend of mine thought I had put a plastic flower in the garden!

 

 

I wonder if bees only collect purple pollen they make purple honey? wouldn't that be cool.

Winning piece

I thought it was about time I posted an image of my winning piece. "Welcome to the ipad 10"
This piece was awarded 1st in the open section and over all winner at the embroiderers conference in Christchurch last month.
I had forgotten to take a photo of it before I sent it away so I was lucky to track down an image as it was sold during the exhibition.
The title of the exhibition was Creating Change, so this piece is about the fast speed that technology is changing, soon we will be the computers! lets hope not.