Marianne Bos - Quilt Artist

Fabric Painting

2012-01-16T17:45:00.000+08:00

Today was a super productive day, first I did the machine quilting for the Free Motion Quilting Challenge and this afternoon I had a play with my fabric paints.

Here are the results:

Sponged with salt

Scrunched

Scrunched with salt

scrunched

scrunched with salt

scrunched

Not really sure if I like the sponged ones but am delighted with the scrunched ones.

These are all made using acrylic paints

Free Motion Quilting challenge - January

2012-01-16T12:21:00.000+08:00

Today I finally made it back into the sewing room and it felt really good. Oh how I have missed my sewing machine!
Today I did the first lesson from the Free Motion Quilting Challenge (see sidebar).

Hmm still need a bit of practice especially getting the leaves to look more random and not having them all facing the same way!

Really enjoyed seeing everyone elses work and it was great to see so many encouraging comments.

Quilters are such a nice bunch!

Tomorrow the ANZA Quilters are meeting again. Yippee!

Happy Quilting!

Batik and Fabric Painting results

2011-12-16T16:16:00.000+08:00

And the winners are:

I prefer to use the TextilDesign Colorstop if I am using fabric paints,Jacquard water based resist if I am using Procion Dyes and the paintstiks for stencilling.

As you can see in the picture above, the colorstop didn't work very well with the dyes but works great with the fabric paint.

I also had some purple/pink mottled fabric that I had dyed a while back and wanted to do some batik on it: Here is how it started out....

original colour

Added colorstop via a fern stencil and added red and red/black paint

After heat setting paint and washing

And last but not least, here is the flour paste resist with paint over it.

I will wait for a few days to let this "cure" before removing the resist.

(heat setting the paint would bake the resist and make it harder to remove)

Next I think I will have to go back to the discharging, I hear you can do that with the

flour paste as well.

Am really LOVING this low budget technique and will get me kids to try some in the holidays.

Happy Quilting!

Flour paste resist

2011-12-16T10:01:00.003+08:00

Today seemed a good time to get some "play" in before the Christmas school holiday rush and having to tidy up my sewing room in anticipation of guests.

Lately, I have been experimenting with different types of resists with varying results:

I have been using Colorstop by TextilDesign and Jacquard water based resist. The fabric was then painted with fabric paints. The Colorstop was fantastic and as soon as I washed the fabric the original colour came to the surface. The Jacquard resist however was not visible (after washing) from the front of the fabric and only slightly on the back. I have done this twice now thinking that maybe I hadn't shaken the Jacquard resist properly the first time but the results were the same. I will now try both with fabric dyes and if that doesn't work the Jacquard resist will be heading for the bin!

I also decided to try my hand at using a flour resist. I saw this technique on the Quilting Arts dvd that a friend has lent me and it looked pretty cool.

Mix equal parts flour and water to make a smooth paste.

Stretch fabric on a board and secure with clips.

Add paste to fabric and smooth out with a spatula or knife.

Make marks in the paste with the end of a bamboo skewer and let dry.

Once it is dry I will paint it with fabric paints then remove the resist by soaking in warm water.

I will post more when the results are in.....now to study for my Mandarin exam next week!

p.s don't forget to check out the www.quiltinggallery.com for their birthday "blog hop".

Lots of great giveaways to be had!

Pincushions galore!

2011-12-08T09:03:00.001+08:00

On Tuesday we the end of year Christmas lunch from the ANZA (Australia/NZ) Quilters Group http://www.anzaquilters.blogspot.com here in Singapore. We all had to make a pincushion as a "Secret Santa" gift.

What a variety of shapes and designs!
p.s The food was great too!

Making Batik fabric

2011-12-07T09:39:00.001+08:00

Yesterday I thought I would try making my own batik fabric. I got a piece of blue fabric that I had previously dyed and stamped on it using water based resists.

On the right is the Jacquard water based resist (flowers) and on the left is colorstop by textil design.

I found the Jacquard resist didnt keep its edges very nicely although maybe I just put too much on.

Once this dried I sprayed green/blue fabric paints over the design and let it dry. Once dry, I heat set the paint and washed the piece in warm water.

front

This is the front of the piece and the Jacquard resist is nowhere to be seen whereas the colourstop clearly shows the original colour, however.....

back

Turn the piece over and the flowers using the Jacquard resist clearly show up.

Maybe I need to try this again.....any suggestions or advice would be warmly welcome!

Yesterday we had our Christmas lunch from the ANZA Quilters and we had a lovely meal and we all made a pincushion as a "secret santa" gift.

Photos to follow......

I have also been busy watching Quilting Arts/cloth,paper,scissors dvds that a friend has lent me. Wow! my head is going to explode with all the new ideas. The problem is what project to start first?

LOVE LOVE LOVE the dvds!

You know it's going to be a good day when....

2011-12-05T15:51:00.001+08:00

You know it's going to be a good day...... when you wake up and its the first day this week that you haven't woken up with a migraine!

You know it's going to be a good day.... when you finally clean out all the "dust bunnies" out of your sewing machine!

You know it's a good day.... when you get time to practice your freemotion quilting!

You know it's going to be a good day..... when all you have on the schedule for the day is going out to lunch!

You know it's going to be a good day.... when all you have on the schedule for tomorrow is having another lunch this time with the ANZA Quilting ladies!

Happy Quilting !

Free Motion Quilting Pledge

2011-11-23T15:38:00.001+08:00

I have taken up the Free Motion Quilting Pledge and aim to improve my skills.

This will be similar to a block of the month with a different author teaching a new technique every month.

Click on the link below if you too would like to join this challenge!

http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/2011/11/take-pledge-registration-for-2012-free.html

Happy Quilting!

Autumn leaves

2011-11-18T16:46:00.001+08:00

I have had some autumn leaf fabric for some time and thought that this would make an interesting card. I added some skeleton leaves as well.

Note to self: remove the fusible web from the backing paper before ironing to leaves (between layers of baking paper) so that the leaves dont rip when removing the backing paper!

Autumn Leaves Fabric Postcard 4 x 6 inches

I had made some christmas tree tags with little asian dolls and had handwritten "Singapore 2011" on it, but I wasn't happy with my handwriting so these one's were done by printing directly onto the fabric . I made 3 of each colour. Much better!

I'm hoping these will sell like hot cakes at the school fair in two weeks time!

Tonight my hubby and I are off to the Affordable Art show which is on this weekend at the F1 Pit building (next to the Singapore Flyer)

One of the ladies from the ANZA Quilt group has some of her art quilts/fiber art in there. I'm so happy to see Quilt/ Fiber art being recognised as art at last!

The last of the postcards....(I think)

2011-11-15T19:10:00.001+08:00

Today was ANZA Quilt Group day and I was thrilled when I arrived that one of the ladies was working on a new quilt with some of my hand dyed fabrics that she bought from me!

After quilt group was some time to finish off the (hopefully) last of the fabric postcards that will go in the school fair next week

I even made the newspaper fabric myself!

Last Friday I went and checked out the MAAD (Market of artists and designers ) which is held once a month at the Red Dot Gallery here in Singapore.This is a craft market and has a variety of craft items all made by local artists. Check out their website! http://www.maad.sg/

Also coming up in Singapore is the Affordable Art Fair from 18-20 November at the F1 Pit Building (by the Singapore Flyer). I even hear a rumour that they will be having art quilts/fiber art there!

From 24 November to 26 December there is also a quilt show held at the Botonical Gardens and I have entered a couple of quilts.

Happy Quilting!

The Birds are back!

2011-11-10T19:29:00.001+08:00

Today was a busy day in the sewing room , and all I could think of was "angry birds".

Yes they are back!

this time smaller and ready to hang on the christmas tree:

I also made some more ornament ones and started on some more fabric postcards:

Completed cards

work in progress

These were printed directly onto the fabric using freezer paper ironed to the back of the fabric and fed through my printer.

Happy Quilting!

Zentangles

2011-11-09T12:56:00.001+08:00

And I thought I was done making Fabric Postcards!!!!!

Marbling, zentangles and more.......

2011-11-04T09:30:00.000+08:00

Its been a week since I last blogged and I have soo much to tell....Firstly, it was my birthday last Friday (28th) and my husband suprised me with a 3 day trip to Phuket, Thailand. We had a wonderful time!
My children also bought me some books:

Lee Child - The Affair ( Love Lee Child books!)
Pat Ferguson - Zen Quilting Workbook
Velda Newman - A workshop with Velda Newman adding dimension to your quilts
Susan Brubaker Knapp - Point, Click, Quilt!

I have since read these from cover to cover and my head is now so full of great ideas!

On Wedesday I decided to try my hand at marbling fabric. I have had a marbling kit for a while and just never started it.
The first attempt was done using water in a dish, adding the paper floating dots, adding the ink and stirring around the dish.
I found the dots were not very easy to use and much of the ink ended up on the bottom of the dish. Maybe next time I need to add a oily layer to keep the ink on top of the water.

Using the water method

I wasnt overly happy with the result so I used some shaving cream in the dish instead:

Shaving cream method

Here are the results for the shaving cream method:

Using the shaving cream method

These colours are brighter but less marbled. I suspect that the shaving cream was too thick.
Maybe I will need to try this again some time in the future!

Lastly this week I finally finished a project that I had started months ago.

A friend of mine (Terence) makes zentangle artist trading cards and he gave me one a while ago.

I have tried to reproduce this with machine embroidery on the sewing machine and finally it is finished:

Frog Zentangle Quilt

The original ATC with quilt

Quilting Detail

I can't be more thrilled with the quilt and especially the quilting in the background. After reading Pat Ferguson's book I'm sure there will be more zentangle quilts in the not to distant future!

Happy Quilting!

Cloudy skies

2011-10-27T14:26:00.001+08:00

Yesterday was Deepavali here in Singapore and so a public holiday.

The kids all went their separate ways and so I had some time to myself to try my hand at some fabric painting.

I had been wanting to try this for a while but got more than a little distracted by fabric postcards....anyway, ages ago I had bought some cloud fabric and now I am running out. So I dyed some light blue fabric and thought I would try painting my own clouds......

I think they are a little dark and look more light a storm is brewing!

It's just as well that I have 3 more corners to practice on!

Watch this space!

Today I also had a good clean up in the sewing room....well at least that was the plan until the bookshelf broke. Now I have books/patterns strewn all over the floor. I feel a trip to Ikea coming on!

Happy Quilting!

British Club Quilt Challenge Singapore 2011

2011-10-25T17:13:00.002+08:00

Today was the long awaited British Club Quilt Challenge 2011.
This is the one time of year that all the quilters from the various quilting groups in Singapore come together and have a quilt challenge/luncheon.

The quilts were absolutely beautiful and really showcased the quilting talent here in Singapore.

There is a slideshow available by clicking on the link below:

British Club Quilt Challenge Singapore 2011

This year I didn't enter a quilt but I did have a stall selling my hand dyed fabrics, fabric postcards and christmas tree tags. I sold several items and received plenty of positive feedback as well as making plenty of new friends!

Thank you especially to my friend Kim (left) who came and helped me today as well as helping me last week with the display!

Thank you also to all those that organised today's event!

see you again next year!

1 sleep to go!...More Fabric Postcards

2011-10-24T15:39:00.001+08:00

There is only 1 more sleep until the British Club Quilt Challenge and I have been busy making the last of the fabric postcards, christmas tree tags and hand dyed fabrics.
Here are some of the Singapore fabric postcards that I have made using photos taken by my friend Kim (with her permission of course!)

I also had some dye and a couple of fat quarters of fabric left over from last weeks dyeing session and so I dyed another couple of pieces of fabric.

Multicoloured Hand-dyes

In total I now have:

137 Fat Quarters of hand dyed fabrics

3 x 1/2 yards of hand dyed fabrics

69 Fabric Postcards

43 Christmas Tree tags

All of this was made in between watching the World Cup Rugby games.

Congratulations to the "All Blacks" of New Zealand for winning the Rugby World Cup 2011!!!!!

5 sleeps to go!!!

2011-10-20T16:24:00.000+08:00

Today my friend Kim came over to help me with the displaying of the hand dyed fabric and the fabric postcards that we will be selling at the British Club on Tuesday. She sorted all the hand-dyed fabrics into complimentary bundles and we tied them with ribbon and priced them.

I had no idea I had so much dyed fabric!

She also sorted out how to display the postcards nicely into the cane baskets that I have borrowed with some nice gold fabric that I had.

I LOVE dyeing fabrics and making the fabric postcards but knowing how to display things for sale seems to have completely escaped me!

If you follow my blog you will know how bad some of my photos are and it really is a skill that I will need to master if I want to be a successful seller. Thankfully I have good friends who are patient enough to teach me. Thanks Kim!

I did manage to make a couple more cards today and todays theme was....

Birthdays!

Happy quilting!

6 sleeps to go!

2011-10-19T22:08:00.002+08:00

Yes only 6 sleeps until the British Club Quilt challenge and I have been working really hard to get everything ready for the sales table. Last count was 60 fabric postcards and 35 christmas tree tags.

Here are three that I made yesterday after the ANZA quilting group:

Today I have been busy dyeing some more fabrics. Today I dyed 12 fat quarters of clear dark rainbow and 12 fat quarters of light muted rainbow.

Photos to follow tomorrow

Happy Quilting!

7 sleeps to go!

2011-10-17T14:47:00.001+08:00

It's hard to believe that the British Club Quilt Challenge is only a week away and I still have so many things to do before I have everything ready!

Today I concentrated on landscape cards and managed to do three. This was a pretty good effort seeing I also went out to buy foam and reupholstered my sons computer chair!

Moonlight

River Mouth

Winterscape

Till next time!

Happy Quilting!

Hijacked by a snake!!!

2011-10-13T16:01:00.000+08:00

I had big plans to achieve great things in the sewing room today ....

and then Gina found a snake in the garden!

A Paradise Tree snake

We called the pest control but by the time they came the snake was long gone.They tell me the paradise tree snake is only midly venomous. Not that this really makes me feel any better about having a snake in my garden!

Anyway after lunch I did manage to get into the sewing room and make my chinese character christmas tree tags.

I have run out of fabric printer sheets so I thought I would try my hand at printing directly onto the fabric.

I ironed freezer paper to the back of the fabric and cut it to A4 size. I then glued the top of the freezer paper to a piece of A4 printer paper to help the printer feed it through. I checked for any loose threads and carefully pushed the print button. I was very happy with the results and here are the finished tags.

Thanks to my friend Jan who helped me with the translation.

Too busy sewing to blog!

2011-10-12T14:50:00.003+08:00

I realise that it's been a couple of days since my last blog and that is because I have been so busy sewing and there just hasn't been enough time to blog about it. On Monday I decided to tidy up the sewing room before starting sewing as it was just so messy that I couldn't find the things I needed.

I will be having a sales table at the upcoming Quilt Challenge held at the British Club on 25 October and I will be selling my postcards, christmas tree decorations and my hand dyed fabrics.

To date I have made 50 fabric postcards, 27 christmas tree ornaments and I still need to dye some more fabrics as I have sold most of the last batch I did.

These are the christmas tree ornaments I made today:

There is also the rugby world cup on in New Zealand at the moment and so that has been busy with us having guests over to watch the games( funny how us being the only ones with the right cable channel suddenly makes you popular!) We will be having more guests this weekend to watch the NZ vs Australia game. Go New Zealand!!!!!

Yesterday was a break from the sewing machine and meet up with our ANZA quilting group. My friend Ada from Canada was also there and she lent me the book she has written called "Crazy about Quilting - confessions of an average quilter" by Ada Moyle.

I really enjoying reading this book (so much so that we had to order pizza for dinner!)

This is a great book and sure to put a smile on any quilters face!

Today is also our 20th wedding anniversary and my husband and I are celebrating by going out for dinner. I hope it stops raining before then.

Anyway thats all for now

Happy quilting!

Designed by Master Luke, Age 10

2011-10-05T19:09:00.000+08:00

Sometimes adults spend too much time thinking and not enough doing. Today I was stumped as to what to do with some rocket ship motifs that I had collected and along comes my son Luke,

he draws me a design and......

"hey presto" another fabric postcard.

I made several others today too but I still think Luke's card was by far the best!

He was really excited when I wrote " Designed by Luke" on the back.

Happy Quilting!

Quilting and great friends

2011-10-04T17:44:00.000+08:00

This morning I made some Japanese inspired postcards:

The thing I love about quilting (other than being able to "play" with fabric) is the fact that I meet lots of other lovely quilters from all around the world.

This morning I met up with my friend Ada from Canada and she came to our ANZA quilt group. We met via our blogs two years ago (www.thelight-heartedquilter.blogspot.com) when she came to Singapore to visit her daughter and now she is back for the birth of a grandchild.

My friend Ada (standing) with some ladies from the ANZA Quilt Group

Ada also gave me two of her minature landscape quilts.

Aren't these just lovely!

It always nice catching up with quilting friends old and new, from close by or from far away. Quilters are such a nice bunch!

Happy Quilting!

Christmas Tree tags

2011-09-29T13:31:00.000+08:00

Today I only had a short time in the sewing room as there were other things (such as groceries) that needed my attention.

Christmas Tree Tags

These double sided Christmas tree tags measure approx 2 3/4 x 3 1/4 inches and would look great on any christmas tree or as a gift tag.

They are 100% cotton fabric front and back and have peltex in between. Each one has been satin stitched around the edges.

Well that's all from me today.

Happy Quilting!

Christmas Cards galore!

2011-09-28T16:12:00.000+08:00

Yippee, today I spent the day back in the sewing room. It seems like ages since I have done any sewing althought it is only 2 weeks. It time to start thinking about Christmas and Christmas cards:

7 Cards in one day, I was "smokin" today!

I started on a new roll of fusible web today that I bought online (wonder under) and I had nothing but problems with it. I've used fusibles for years now and never had any issues until today. The backing just wouldn't peel away nicely and then it started to bubble the fabric. Grrr.

It had better behave tomorrow or I'm throwing it in the bin and heading off to spotlight!

Today I've also been in contact with the British Club who are holding a quilt challenge in November and I have booked a table where I can sell my cards and hand dyed fabric.

See you there!

Happy Quilting!

Back in Chinatown

2011-09-27T08:41:00.002+08:00

Yesterday I was invited to come and help in Chinatown with the "Aunties" (and 1 uncle) from Granny Quilts (see older posts 2008-9). They were making art pieces for the Singapore International Foundation.

The finished product

They were given black canvas's and embroidered them with thread and beads.

It was lovely catching up with them again (I got to practice some of my mandarin) and after we had finished working we were treated to a "high tea". (my first high tea). These aunties are so much fun to work with.

A big thank you to Terence, Richard, the Singapore International Foundation and all those that support these elderly in Chinatown.

Today I am off to the ANZA Quilt group and we are meeting at our new venue at the Hollandse club. What a great place to meet and the food is great!

Hopefully tomorrow I will get back into the sewing room......

Blue skies and clean green air!

2011-09-26T09:39:00.000+08:00

The last 10 days I have been in Wellington, New Zealand visiting my parents and to celebrate my Dad's birthday. It was a very busy 10 days but it was wonderful catching up with family and friends.

This is a picture of Mum and Dad's motorhome but what I really want you to see is that BEAUTIFUL clear blue sky! Oh how I have missed clear blue skies, fresh clean air and hillsides covered in native trees!

Here is a view from Wellington Harbour taken from the Maungaraki hills.

There was major Rugby world cup fever in New Zealand and rugby was everywhere you went.

I am back in Singapore now and enjoying being back with my own family and the warmer weather.

Somehow though, I will always be a "Wellington Girl" at heart!

Marianne

Dyeing Frenzy Week

2011-09-10T17:26:00.000+08:00

This last week I have been busy dyeing fabrics.

I dyed no less than 76 fat quarters (50 x 55cm) and one half meter. That is a whopping 19.5 meters of fabric!

Colours dyed are:

Muted blue

Muted blue to black

Muted yellow

Muted yellow to black

Muted red

Muted red to black

Muted dark coloured rainbow (12)

Muted light coloured rainbow (12)

2 light blue (these will be painted later to make sky fabric)

2 overdyed previously discharged fabrics

3 direct application purple/pink with salt effect

and one purple/ yellow shibori

Not a bad effort for 3 days work!

I will be listing some of these for sale on my etsy page, or you can email me.

On Wednesday I am flying home for 2 weeks to see my parents. I am not looking forward to the long flight but I am looking forward to spending some time at home with family and friends.

Not sure if I will have time for any quilting.....will have to see

Happy quilting!

Dyeing (to have cool air)

2011-09-06T15:45:00.001+08:00

I havent been able to work in the sewing room as 5 of our airconditioners broke down last week so yesterday seemed like a great day to do the dyeing that I have been meaning to do since July.

I dyed a set of 12 muted dark rainbow colours as well as 12 muted light rainbow colours. While preparing the light colours they seemed very disappointing but once they had cured and dried the colours were very nice.

Muted colours light & dark

Also overdyed the two fabrics that Gina and I used the bleach pen on. One we overdyed red and the other yellow. The colours really came out well.

Discharged fabric overdyed with red

I also tried a shibori technique on a pale yellow fabric that I had dyed a while back but never really liked the colour of. The 1/2 meter fabric was folded double lengthwise and a seam sewed down one side to make a tube. It was then pushed onto a tennis ball container scrunching the fabric up and securing with rubberbands. Purple dye was added and left to dry.

Shibori (not yet washed and ironed)

It was great experimenting with the colours and different techniques. I definately think I will do the shibori and the discharge again.

The aircon guys have been and we have cool air again! Yippee!

Christmas is coming!

2011-08-31T13:49:00.000+08:00

I heard that there are only 116 sleeps until Christmas so today I spent the day in the sewing room making Christmas postcards as well as a few others.
Here are todays postcards:

Fashion Chic

Postcards from Home

Sanddunes 2

Xmas Trees

Snowflakes
(still needs some "bling"!)

The last card is still a work in progress. I think it is in need of some "bling" to make it nice and sparkly!

p.s I have also listed some of my cards on the website "Felt" which is a Handcrafting website based in New Zealand.

Check out my shop at:

www.mariannebos.felt.co.nz

Happy Quilting

A Day in the Sanddunes - Fabric Postcard

2011-08-25T10:15:00.001+08:00

Its only 10am and I have just finished another fabric postcard.

A Day in the Sanddunes

Reminds me of the beaches back home in New Zealand! I can almost feel the sand between my toes......

Happy Quilting!

ATC Meeting

2011-08-12T12:26:00.000+08:00

Last night I was invited to share about my quilting, fabric dyeing and fabric postcard/atc's at a meeting of an atc (Artist trading Card) group that meets at one of the public libraries here in Singapore.

All the cards at 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches and can be made of card, fabric, felt and anything else you can find and are for trading only.

It was wonderful being with fellow "crafters" and I was blown away by the beautiful ATC's that they made. Thanks everyone for making a special night!

Here is but a small sample of their work:

Origami & painted cards

Mosiac cards

Series cards

Paper Quilling

Peranakan style

cartoon

Beads and embroidery

Check out their upcoming exhibition!

New curtains

2011-08-08T16:34:00.001+08:00

I have always disliked the curtains in the house we are in but never bothered to change it as it wasn't our house and wasn't sure if our lease would be extended next year but...

Old curtains

my husband and I were wandering around Ikea last week and we came across some black out roller blinds. Now if you suffer migraines like I do you will know that there is nothing like a dark room to make your head feel better and black out blinds will do the trick nicely.
So my DH hung up the blinds and I was tasked with the curtain making, (yep I've made a few in my time!)

New Curtains

Ahh much better don't you think!

I'm Back!

2011-08-07T13:53:00.001+08:00

Well I have been back from holidays for a couple of weeks but it has been really hard getting back into the normal rhythm of things. I have also not been in the sewing room much as the kids are still home on school holidays, and there are lots of things to get ready before school starts again this week.

As of this week, I promise to get back into my quilting with a vengence and promise to be a "good and faithful blogger!"

Here finally is a photo of the QAYG that I started the other week. (Thank you to my hubby for fixing my computer so that I can edit photos again!)

I not really sure of the colours as I am finding it a bit boring. I think it might need some more colour to make it pop more. Watch this space.....

Well thats all for now. Happy Quilting!

Back home again

2011-07-26T17:00:00.003+08:00

We have spent the last 5 weeks in Holland on holiday and had a great time. Summer is just beautiful in Holland especially when you can bike a lot of places. We spent a lot of time visiting family but also spent a week in Belgium and took the kids to Disneyland in France. Ate really yummy Belgium waffles!!

Holidays can be exhausting and so it was nice to get back to Singapore and into our old "groove".
I have started on a new "quilt as you go" quilt. Sorry I cant show you photos as my camera is currently in Thailand . I will try and post some photos later.

Today I got to go to the ANZA quilt group and it was great catching up with friends and new friends as well as our new baby to the group.

I have to say that I really missed sewing while I was away....not that I am addicted or anything!

Colour Study complete

2011-06-06T17:44:00.000+08:00

Yesterday the weather was terrible in Singapore. Lots and lots of rain and thunder and lightning. Major flooding in several parts of Singapore...waterfalls in shopping centres etc etc.

And it was a great day to stay home and finish my quilt!

Here at last is the colour study quilt. This quilt is based on a pattern found in Gloria Loughmans book.

I am really pleased with the quilting in this piece. Sometimes simple is best.

This was the first time in more than I week that I had time to get behind the sewing machine and I do admit to having had withdrawl symptoms. Hmm think I'm addicted?!

I have finally managed to set up a flickr account and have loaded all my photos. Check them out in the side bar.

The kids are finishing the school year tomorrow, (Yeah) and so there will be little time for sewing for a while....I guess I will have to spend the time thinking about new projects....

Happy quilting!

Artist trading cards

2011-05-29T12:26:00.000+08:00

Last week a friend of mine asked if I could make some "artist trading cards" for him.

These are the ones I made:

Lighthouse

Four seasons tree

Psalm 9:10

These cards are 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches.

The idea of working on something so small was pretty daunting but I loved making them and am pleased with the result.

Happy Quilting!

Suffering Bird brain!

2011-05-24T17:56:00.000+08:00

Yes it's another bird fabric postcard.....

I think this might be the last bird for a while as I am starting to suffer a serious case of "Bird brain"!

Maybe an ocean view or landscape would be nice.....

Going a little bird crazy!

2011-05-23T13:14:00.000+08:00

Here is the latest bird fabric postcard:

I am starting to feel a little "bird crazy". Maybe it's the time I spend playing angry birds!
Time for some more flowers or landscapes!

Revenge of the Pig!

2011-05-20T15:59:00.000+08:00

Here is my latest postcard:

Set of 3

There wasn't much time for sewing today as the grocery shopping got in the way. I guess it's only fair that my family wants to eat!

till next time....

One big red angry bird!

2011-05-16T16:24:00.002+08:00

Today I spent part of the day playing around in the sewing room and this is the result:

front

Yellow bird

Back of card

One big red angry bird postcard and one yellow angry bird postcard!
size 4 x 6 inches

Colour study

2011-05-16T13:20:00.000+08:00

Over the weekend I managed to get some more work done on my colour study. The blue part has been pieced and joined together with the red and the green pieces.

I have added borders, backing and batting and I thought it was ready for quilting....however after looking at the piece for a while I am not happy with the blue part. It really needs something else.....

This might require some thought before starting the quilting.

Watch this space!

Discharging fabric

2011-05-12T15:55:00.000+08:00

Today I was planning to have one of those super creative days and was going to dye and paint some fabric. But the weather had other ideas and it was one of those Blah days.

I had been wanting to try some fabric discharging with a bleach pen but needed something to neutrilise the bleach once the desired colour was reached. Off to the art store to ask for either "Bleach stop" or "Anticlor" or "sodium Thiosulfate". Ha! good luck with that! Got lots of blank stares. Grrr Sometimes it is sooo frustrating finding things here! (I won't go off on a rant about how things are made in Asia, shipped to the States where I have to pay huge sums of money to get it sent back here!!!)

After I got home I decided to give it a go anyway. Gina came to watch and she ended up doing the second piece of fabric. I think they look pretty good for our first try.

Our results

I have also listed some of my fabric postcards on http://www.trademe.co.nz/ so check it out if you are in NZ.

Happy Quilting

Beaches and flowers

2011-05-11T09:24:00.000+08:00

Here are my two latest fabric postcards: Beaches and flowers:

Beaches

pink flower

check out more of my cards on:

http://www.mariannebos.etsy.com/

Whale - fabric Postcard

2011-05-09T14:01:00.000+08:00

Here is the latest postcard:

Isnt this cute?!

http://www.mariannebos.etsy.com/

Culturally confused?

2011-05-05T11:19:00.000+08:00

Here are my latest fabric postcards:

Singapore River
(original photo by me)

Haere Mai

Hmm anyone get the feeling I'm a little culturally confused?

Check out my other cards on:
http://www.mariannebos.etsy.com/

Happy Quilting

Orchids from Singapore

2011-05-03T17:16:00.000+08:00

Here is my latest fabric postcard that I made today:

FOR SALE

Sorry about the photo - the postcard is not wonky - just my photography!

http://www.mariannebos.etsy.com/

Today was also the ANZA Quilt group . Check out their blogsite to see what we have been up to:
http://www.anzaquilters.blogspot.com/

Happy Quilting
Marianne

More "girly" postcards

2011-05-01T09:22:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I made some more "girly" postcards and these ones include some of my own hand dyed fabrics. They are machine quilted with gold thread and feature gold trim.

Handbags!

Shoes, shoes more shoes!

The set of 3

These are all for sale on my etsy shop:

http://www.mariannebos.etsy.com/

Happy Quilting

Very girly!

2011-04-30T10:09:00.000+08:00

Here is my latest fabric postcard:

FOR SALE

"Things women love"

Lovely "Girly" postcard in red, gold trim and purple featuring shoes and handbags, two things most women love to collect.

Machine quilted with gold thread and purple satin stitching around the edges.

size 4 X 6 inches

Comes with a plastic sleeve as added protection during posting

Send this to your mother for mothers day or to your girlfriend to say hi!

http://www.mariannebos.etsy.com/

Seeing Blue

2011-04-26T16:33:00.000+08:00

Yesterday morning I was all ready to sit down at my sewing machine for some serious quilting when I realised that my power box was broken. I already wasn't able to use two of the power points and now the last two were also on their way out. Time to buy a new one. My old iron was also on its way out as the wires were starting to protrude from the cord. Not good. So off to the shops I went.

Here is my new iron. Yeah! sorry didn't add a photo of the power box...I mean...it's a power box!

Anyway after that I managed to start on the blue part of my latest quilt. Here is my progress:

Ok it doesn't look like much but it took ages cutting and fusing all those small diamonds!

Today it was ANZA quilt group and I sold some of my fabric postcards and my hand-dyed fabrics. Yeah!

Yes, today was a great day!

Happy Quilting!

The latest batch of fabric postcards

2011-04-23T19:24:00.000+08:00

Here are the latest batch of fabric postcards:

Golden Hues

Golden Hue 2

Golden Hue 3

Seascape

All postcards are for sale on my etsy page:
http://www.mariannebos.etsy.com/

Happy Quilting!

Today's Postcards

2011-04-18T14:09:00.000+08:00

Not a lot of sewing happened today due to having to take kids to the doctor (nothing serious!) but I did manage to finish a couple of postcards. I hope you like them:

Pretty in Blue

New Zealand 1

I really need to get my photography skills up to scratch as these all look crooked when they are straight (I PROMISE!)

check out my etsy page:
http://www.mariannebos.etsy.com/

Fabric Postcards

2011-04-16T17:03:00.000+08:00

We arrived home from Shenzhen late Thursday night (early Friday morn) and picked our daughter Brooke up from the airport on Friday afternoon. She had been in Cambodia on a school trip. It was nice to have the family back together again!

Friday afternoon I managed to play around in the sewing room and made a couple of fabric postcards:

FOR SALE

Desert Sunset

Mexican Sunset

Pretty in Purple

Back of postcard

These all measure 4 x 6 inches and are able to be posted just like a regular postcard.

Check out my etsy shop for details:
http://www.mariannebos.etsy.com/

Shenzhen, China

2011-04-16T16:56:00.000+08:00

This week I spent the week in Shenzhen China (Just over the border with Hong Kong) with my hubby who had to be there for a conference. We stayed at the Westin Hotel which was a fabulous hotel. The food, service, staff and the room was fantastic. It was great meeting some of the people my husband works with.

During the day I found there is not really much in Shenzhen other than amusement parks (I'm too old) and shopping. For those that know me you will know that I am probably the world's worst shopper. (other than fabric shops) One of the days I took the Metro to Luo Hu. The metro is great and runs very similar to Singapore. I went to a place which sells knock off handbags/purses and electronics. It was NOT fun! How all that pushy, in your face, follow you everywhere tactic is supposed to entice you to buy anything is completely beyond me. I lasted only 5 minutes before running to the nearest exit and telling the guy following me to get lost!
I took a few moments to compose myself and take a deep breath then went in again (on a different floor). Hmm not much better although I did manage to buy myself a new purse before exiting and seeking solace in the local Mcdonalds! Second visit lasted 15 minutes. Aaargh I dislike shopping!

The last day I went to check out a local market street (on advice from the chef at the hotel) and could walk around freely and unaccosted and managed to take some photos.

This part of Shenzhen was far more interesting.

Dyeing Frenzy

2011-04-07T11:01:00.000+08:00

Yesterday we (Gina and I )got to do some more dyeing of fabric which I haven't done in quite a few months. Here are the results:

Greens and Purples

Then we thought we would try out something different. We cut the top off an old plastic coke bottle and added yellow dye to the bottom. Then we added a scrunched up fat quater of fabric and added green dye to the top. Then in with another piece of fabric, purple dye, fabric then yellow dye. Push it all down with an old chopstick and see what emerges.
Here are the results:

Aren't they cool!

Yep! all in all a great day dyeing!

Still missing something

2011-04-05T16:51:00.000+08:00

Have added some more pieces onto the red quilt but its still missing something in the top corner.

Not much sewing happened today as I went to ANZA quilt group.

Tomorrow if the weather is nice, the plan is to do some dyeing which I haven't done in a while. Maybe I might paint some fabric too.

Happy Quilting

Happy 13th birthday Celine/Seeing more red

2011-04-04T16:05:00.000+08:00

Saturday was my daughter Celines 13th birthday. She had a couple of friends around and then they all went off to see a movie. Big sister Brooke baked her a birthday cake and decorated it with fondant icing:

Purple - Celines favourite colour!

It tasted pretty good too!

Today was the day to start on the red part of my latest project. Im very pleased with my progress, it is a bit more pink than I was expecting and there seems to be something missing....hmmm

This may need some more thought!
Happy Quilting!

Seeing Red!

2011-03-31T16:56:00.000+08:00

Early this morning (9.30am) I visited my local quilt store to get the red fabrics for my latest project. Lucky for me, they were having a sale and I picked up some lovely fabrics.

I also bought my darned quilt in to show and Brigette offered to hang it on display in the shop. Yeah!
Then, at 10.15am it was off to Ikea to buy some more yummy Ikea meatballs. I was so pleased to have achieved two things all before morning tea time. Oh how I wish more shops would open early in Singapore!

This afternoon I finished my very first fabric postcard. Not the most exciting but for my first one I thought it was a reasonable effort. Something makes me think that this postcard thing could get rather addictive!

April is birthday month in our household. Celine is having her birthday on Saturday, hubby next Wednesday and Brooke on the 17th. That is not including all the brother inlaws and sisters, sister in laws and nieces that are also having birthdays in the month of April.

Happy Quilting!

The green is complete

2011-03-30T08:30:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, I finished the green part of my new project.

Now for the blue and the red parts and lucky for me my local quilt shop has just announced a sale! Watch this space!

Also yesterday, one of my friends at the ANZA quilt group had a book about fabric postcards. It was really cool and the mind just boggles with possiblities.........Hmmm I feel a new project coming up!

Happy Quilting

So much to tell.....

2011-03-28T16:52:00.000+08:00

Last week was an incredibly busy week. We had friends Ron and Wendy come from New Zealand to visit (for Wendys 40th birthday) and the kids had a week school holidays.

On Monday my husband, son Luke and daughter Celine and I finally went and visited Universal studios here in Singapore on Sentosa Island. The weather was perfect as it was not too hot. We went on a couple of the rides but we all gave the huge rollercoasters a miss. Brooke was at home busy making a gezillion cupcakes for a school fundraiser.

We sent Brooke off shopping with Wendy on Thursday and I went to the water treatment plant with Ron as that is his line of work. It was really interesting and seeing I'm not much of a shopper (except for fabric) it was a good solution. During the week we ate at a couple of local hawker centers which is much much cheaper than any of the hotels. (and pretty yummy too) Friday we all chilled out at the beach on Sentosa. Misty came along too and is really getting the hang of swimming in the sea.

Misty at least was smart enough NOT to get sunburned....unlike the rest of us.

Friday night, Ron and Wendy took us out for dessert and drinks at the 57th floor of the Marina Bay Sands. The view was spectucular although it was VERY VERY high. Dessert was yummy and even more yummy was the Cloudy Bay Dessert wine that was given to us by the staff.

We sat way up at the top!

Today everything was back to normal. (what's normal?!) I started off the morning with a long walk to get rid of all those extra kilos that I accumulated last week. Then it was back into the sewing room to work on my new project (not yet finished). This is a project from Gloria Loughmans book. I am hoping to also do a version in red and in blue.

Well I think we are all up to date again.....happy quilting!

Nearly finished

2011-03-15T08:54:00.000+08:00

This week I have been busy working on a "modesty cover" for the lecturn in our old church in Wellington and it is nearly finished.

I had originally bought the larger gold trim (in top right hand corner) but this was so damaged by lying in the shop that I was not able to use it. No amount of retwisting or ironing could fix the damage. Why dont they just store it better!!! This new trim I was lucky enough to find a brand new roll (plastic still on it) and as soon as I had bought it I rolled it nicely onto a piece of folded up paper I had in the car.

The trim just needs to be attached and it is finished and can hopefully go back to NZ with our guests that are coming on Friday. It is made from thick velvet which was harder to sew than I thought.

This is the last of the "must do" projects and then I want to start on a new project....problem is ....too many ideas....which one to do first?

The kids have a weeks holiday next week for spring break so it will be busy.

Today though, I am off to the ANZA quilt group and get to show off my darned quilt. Yeah!

Happy Quilting!

It's been a while.....!

2011-03-08T12:50:00.000+08:00

Wow has it really been more than a month since my last post! My how time flies! Since my last post there has been a major earthquake in New Zealand. This has taken a lot of my time and attention and our hearts and prayers go out to all those in Christchurch. Its things like this that make me feel very far from home!

Oma has gone back to Holland and I have also finished Luke's quilt. He has happily been sleeping under it and Im hoping he might discard the old quilt which is falling apart. (a sign of being well loved!)

Luke's New Quilt

Luke's Baby Quilt

This week I have been trying to finish all those things that just never seemed to get finished. Yesterday I finished the dress I was making....Hmm I knew there was a reason why never sewed my own clothes! Maybe I should just stick to quilting!

Today I FINALLY finsihed the darned circles quilt.

Darned Quilt

The only thing left to finish is the repairs to our bedspread. It had handquilting on the top but over the years the stitiching has come loose. Oma and I already repaired most of it and I just need to finish two more rows.

Then I need to make a modesty cover (the piece of fabric that hangs from the lecturn) for the pulpit for our old church in Wellington. I already have the fabric ready to go and it will need to be made in the next two weeks so that it can travel home with our guests that are coming soon.

sigh! Then and only then can I move on to new and more exciting things!!!!

Quilt completed / Australian Relief Quilts

2011-02-06T13:57:00.000+08:00

Yesterday we finished the large quilt that we were working on. We managed to quilt a large quilt with the three of us in less than 10 days! It was great all sitting around the table and quilting (and talking). The binding was added yesterday and only the label still needs to be done. Thanks Oma and Gina for all your hard work.

This quilt is for someone in particular but I don't want to tell you who yet as I'm planning to give it in person next time I see them.

Oma has been going "great guns" with the Quilt as you go blocks for the relief effort in Australia. She now has 20 blocks finished and we will bring them along to Quilt group on Tuesday.

This is a great way to use up some of your stash that has been sitting there for a long time waiting for "just the right project". The instructions for this are on an older post but here it is in a nutshell:

Cut a 11 x 11 inch backing piece and an 11 x 11 inch piece of batting. Add strips to the front starting from the centre and going out to the sides. (ranging from 2 1/2 inch strips to 1 inch strips) This will quilt each piece as you go.

What you will end up with is this funny looking shape. Press all the seams then trim to 10 1/2 inches.

Pretty easy eh?!

Happy quilting
Marianne

Quilts for Australia Flood Survivors

2011-02-02T16:30:00.000+08:00

A couple of the ladies from the ANZA Singapore quilt group have started making Quilt as you go blocks to be sent to those affected by the recent floods ( and now cyclones) in Australia. My mother in law sewed a couple today and I think they look great.

For more information on how to make these, check out Jan MacFadyens blog at http://ozcomfortquilts.blogspot.com/. You can either send completed quilts or just the quilt blocks to her. Her mailing address is listed on her blog.

Today I added the last of the borders onto my split rail fence quilt and Im hoping to get the binding done in the next couple of days. The kids are home for a couple of days due to Chinese New Year so we will see how much time I have. The weather finally cleared today after a week of rain but now the skies are starting to cloud over again. (Sigh)

We also found somewhere for my daughter Celine to go horseriding here in Singapore. She used to ride in New Zealand and really missed it. She went for her first lesson on Monday and loved it. She is going again tonight. Hopefully the weather will stay dry as she is riding on a outdoor arena.

Until next time

HAPPY QUILTING AND HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

Great weather for hand quilting

2011-01-31T08:46:00.000+08:00

The weather the last couple of days has been horrible and rainy with the temperatures dropping into the low 20's. Brrr. Yesterday I pulled out my long jeans and my long sleeved merino top as I was getting cold. Funny how quickly you get used to a warm climate!

Anyway all this rain has been pretty condusive to getting the quilt done. In the last couple of days we have put the 3 layers of the quilt together and basted it and started on the hand quilting. Its been a while since I have hand quilted (too many projects in my head, too little time) but I am enjoying the work. My mother in law and Gina have been working on it as well.

We have been quilting this on the dining room table to the dismay of my son who complains that he cannot hear the tv due to our talking. I have told him that it is a fact of life that when 3 women sit around a table and quilt that they are going to talk!

We are making great progress on the quilt and we are hoping that the quilting will be finished by the end of the week. Then only the binding and the label!

It is Chinese Lunar New Year this week and there have been many celebrations around Singapore. The kids finish school early on Wednesday and have Thursday and Friday off. We are still trying to think of what we can do with them....depending on the weather of course!

Xin nian kwai le! Happy New Year

Marianne

New year New Beginnings

2011-01-20T09:25:00.000+08:00

First of all thank you to those that replied to my previous blog. Dan from Findmyfabric.com has a website that you can send a photo of your fabric and it will try to match it in their database. Brilliant!

I was still unable to find the fabric and so had to come up with another solution. This is what we have come up with:

Actually this is a much better solution and it breaks the "busyness" of the fabric. My mother in law is currently here in Singapore and the aim is that we will hand quilt this together.

I haven't been blogging much since before Christmas but that doesn't mean that I haven't been busy quilting. Other than the quilt above I have also been busy making a quilt for my son Luke. The last quilt I made for him has fallen apart due to overuse and now it is time to make a larger quilt for his bed.

Guess what his favourite colour is?
This quilt is ready to be basted and then quilted.

My mother in law is visiting us until the end of February and so last week we spent the day at the beach at Sentosa Island. It was a lovely day and the weather was great. I managed to get really sunburned which probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. Next time I will wear sunscreen.

well thats all from me...Happy Quilting!

Help to find my fabric please

2011-01-10T20:52:00.000+08:00

This is the new quilt that I am working on. It is made from a jelly roll that I bought at Joann's in Houston when I was there in November. The problem is that the roll said it had 3.5 yards of fabric in it but there were a few fabrics that just did not fit with the rest and now I dont have enough.

I also dont know the name of the fabrics or who makes them so ordering more is impossible. Does anyone know the name or make of these fabrics and where I can get them?

Thanks

Marianne

colour swatches

2010-12-15T16:53:00.000+08:00

Today and yesterday my son Luke has been home sick with a cold and asthma so it seemed like a good time to get some dyeing done while he was blobbed out in front of the tv. I have been trying to dye a particular colour orange for a while but didnt have the right colour dyes. They finally arrived on Monday (dont get me started about Speedposts service!!!!) and today it was the right time to try them out.

While the oranges were "curing" I made some colour swatches for the rainbow fabrics that I dyed the other week. This seems like a good was of keeping track to what I dye.

Well the oranges are washed and dried and are completely the wrong colour . Hmm I think this learning curve is going to be bigger than expected!

Till next time....

Progress on the circles quilt

2010-12-09T13:35:00.000+08:00

Today I managed to find some time to dive into the sewing room and get some more done on the circles quilt. Yes I can hear you all saying "its still not finished!"

Today the pieces that I removed last time were "darned" back into place and it was time to start working on the borders.

The idea was to have "floating" bits in the borders however Im not sure if I like it and I'm not too crazy about the black border either!

Maybe I have to think some more about how I am going to do this....

Time now to practice my mandarin lessons

zai jian!

My Rainbow day

2010-12-01T21:31:00.000+08:00

After a week of feeling jetlagged and my head in a fog, it was great to get back into the groove and I got to play with some fabric today.

I started off the day by dyeing 12 fat quarters in the clear rainbow colours. I had already made some of these and I sold these at the beginning of the week. Yipee!

Then with the left over dye I made a 2 half yards of rainbow fabric which turned out well.

I did have a bit of a problem with transfer from my gloves and drips from the bottles that I was using. Maybe it is time to invest in some better bottles!

While all this dye was curing I did some more work on my "Darned Quilt".

Well, actually I cut lots of holes in it!

Hopefully I will have some time next week to "darn" the pieces back in. With Christmas just around the corner it is getting busy with end of year activities so it is getting harder to find time to get into the sewing room.

It is hard to believe that it is nearly the end of the year. Where has the time gone?

Well thats all from me

Happy Quilting

Bye Bye Holland

2010-11-17T22:25:00.000+08:00

Today is my last day in Holland and tomorrow morning I fly back to Singapore. It has been a busy week and my mother in law and I have been travelling all over Holland visiting friends and family. The weather has been quite mild although there was a lot of mist yesterday.

Yesterday we had my mother in laws 70th birthday party which was nice and I managed to catch up with people that I havent seen for a while including nieces and nephews.

Here are a couple photos from the quilt show in Holland called "De Naaidoos"
This is a must see if you are visiting Holland!

On Monday I went to visit my aunt in Schiedam and met a friend of hers that is also a keen quilter. It was great meeting her and seeing her work. Isnt it great that no matter what country you come from, quilters are such lovely people!

Well its time to go and pack my suitcase.....see you all again in Singapore

Bon Voyage Houston, Bonjour Holland!

2010-11-11T02:14:00.000+08:00

Our last full day in Houston was pretty relaxed and the weather was really sunny. After breakfast Hennie and I went geocaching, this time on the other side of Houston. These caches were hidden in the inner city parks and it was nice to see some greenery in the midst of the highrises.

The last day at the Quilt Festival was pretty quiet. A lot of people had gone home the day before so it was nice having a last look without having to bump into others. There were also some pretty good bargins to be had.

Then it was back to the hotel to pack.

Tuesday morning we arrived back in Amsterdam to be greeted by Jan and Hilly, friends that had lived in Singapore and moved back to Holland in April. They took us back to my mother in laws house for coffee. It was great to see them again.

Now I am staying at Hennies house in Schoonebeek. Today we went to check out the local quilt shop.
What can I say but Wow! The shop was in a converted farm house and there were just so many fabrics to choose from. It was HUGE! They also feature the work of local quilters on their walls and coffee, tea and biscuits were available to guests. "heel gezellig!" Check out their website: De Naaidoos

We also had a look in Emmen (and bought some socks which I had forgotton to pack!)

Sorry no photos yet, I hope to post some soon.

Happy Quilting, tot ziens
Marianne

Howdy from Houston 2

2010-11-07T08:21:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was a busy day for us. After breakfast Hennie and I managed to find a couple of caches in Downtown Houston. It was pretty windy and a bit chilly but we found two geocaches.

Then it was off to the Quilt Fesitval to check out some of the quilts and hit the market stalls. The quilts were absolutely stunning and it never ceases to amaze me the amount of creativity people have. There was a good variety of traditional and contemporary quilts as well as some terrific art quilts. Something for everyone.

Then it was time to go and check out some of the vendors. There were the usually array of beautiful fabrics to choose from as well as new tools and the latest gadgets. We spent from 10.30 till 6.45pm looking at quilts and shopping and even then we didnt make it to the other end of the building. This gives you an idea of the sheer size of the Festival.

I even got my photo taken with Alex Anderson the host of the "Simply Quilts"show and now co-host together with Ricky Timms from "The Quilt show".

You can tell that I come from Singapore as I was the only one wearing a thick ski jacket!

Hennie and I found most of the things that we were looking for and at reasonable prices (compared to Holland and Singapore). The choice is also HUGE here.

Today we spent the day with Glenda, a friend from mine that lived in Singapore and is now back in Houston.
She picked up us this morning and we spent the day checking out the craft shops including our favourite "the Hobby Lobby". There is just no shop in either Holland or Singapore that can compare to the sheer volume and choice of what can be found here.

We then went for a yummy (but HUGE) lunch at the Texas Roadhouse.

Hennie,Glenda and I

After lunch we went back to Glendas house and met up with the rest of the family including a really smart dog called Blake. This dog is so smart it even closes the door behind him!
We had a wonderful day with Glenda and it was wonderful to catch up with her again. Thank you Glenda!

With love from Houston, Texas

2010-11-05T06:37:00.000+08:00

Howdy everyone from Houston Texas!

I left Singapore on Monday night to fly to Holland and was met there by my friend Hennie and my mother in law Gysje. After a quick freshening up, we went into Barneveld to do some shopping and later that afternoon we did some geocaching around the area. This is a great way to see some of the local sights that you normally wouldnt come across. The weather was nice and "crisp".

The next morning it was back to the airport to fly out to Houston for the Quilt Festival. It was raining when we arrived in Houston and it was a "balmy"15 degrees celcius. Brrr. After checking in at the hotel it was time for Hennie and I to check out the Festival. It wasnt long before the jet lag set in and it was time to go home and sleep.

Today we went on the Lone star tour which visited a couple of local quiltshops and a ranch (a mere 22000 acres!)

This evening we will go back to the festival to check out the winning quilts and some more of the vendors.I will post photos soon.

Only two more sleeps......

2010-10-30T15:09:00.000+08:00

Yes it is only two more sleeps until I go to Holland and then Houston to attend the Houston Quilt Festival and I am SOOOOOO excited!

I will be picking my friend Hennie up in Holland and then we will spend 5 days in Houston at the Quilt Festival. We went for the first time last year and it completely "blew our minds". The sheer size of the exhibitions and market hall was astounding. I cant wait to go shopping. (yes I know I hate shopping but this is different...this is quilt shopping...completely different!)

On another note, the darned quilt top is nearly done but that will have to wait until I am back from Houston. It has been a really enjoyable course and am delighted with how the quilt has turned out so far.

Check out quilt university for more information on the courses they run.

Tonight we will be going out for dinner to celebrate my 40th birthday which was on Thursday. What does being 40 feel like? well its pretty much the same as 39!

happy quilting

Marianne

Darned Quilts

2010-10-19T12:34:00.000+08:00

After 4 days of a splitting headache and most of Sunday asleep, I finally relented and went to the doctor yesterday to get some antibiotics.

Today the head is feeling a little better and I managed to get some time in my sewing room to work on my "Darned Quilt" from Dena Crains class at Quilt University.

Today I added more embellishments and stitching to the quilt top and then proceeded to cut holes in it (literally) change them around and reinsert them into the quilt.

I am really enjoying this class and am hoping that I will have a lovely quilt at the end to show for it.
Will keep you posted....

After all that hard work its time for Misty and I to go and take a snooze before picking kids up from school.

Progress report - Darned Quilts Class

2010-10-13T08:43:00.000+08:00

Here is a photo of the progress on the Darned Quilts Class with Dena Crain: I still need to add more embellishments such a ribbon, wool , etc. Maybe I will get some time to do that today.

Bye for now

Rub a dub dub....

2010-10-08T17:10:00.000+08:00

After nearly 5 months of having to boil water to do the dishes and having two minute luke warm showers we got a new hot water cylinder installed today!

To celebrate I decided to take a nice long hot shower before dinner.....aaaaahhhhh!

This is one happy and very squeaky clean chick!

lesson one - darned quilts

2010-10-04T15:48:00.000+08:00

Today I started on lesson one of the "Darned Quilts" class with Dena Crain through Quilt University. I have done a previous class through them many years ago and found it really good. You get the lesson sent to you every week and so you can do it at your own pace. The lessons are also very detailed and there is always the forum for asking questions or meeting the other students. This is really cool as many of them live miles away in other countries.

Today we were making gentle pieced curves. Curves is one of those things that I generally stayed away from unless it was fused. These curves went really well and I didn't have to unpick anything and there were no little puckers either.

Today we also had someone come and install an automatic gate opener. Yeah! Not that opening a gate is a big hardship but living in a tropical country with tropical downpours, one tends to get soaked to the bone before the gate is even open.

Thats all from me...tomorrow is the ANZA quilt group.

Kapow! Wow wee that's bright!

2010-09-29T13:44:00.000+08:00

Today I was supposed to be making myself a summer dress, however.....

I have long been a fan of Melody Johnsons quilts and regularly follow her blog fibermania. Seeing my circles quilt is finished and my Quilt University course doesn't start until October, today seemed like a good day to pull out a lot of bright fabric and just "go for it".

There was no plan to follow and I found it quite liberating!

So liberating in fact that I forgot myself and cut into my large Teflon sheet with the rotary cutter. GRRR!

Oops!

I really wasn't sure if I liked what I had made until I evened up the edges and took a look from a (safe?) distance.

Wow wee that's bright!

This was a lot of fun to make even though the jury is still out on whether it will make it to quilting stage or not.

Sometimes even big girls need a day to play!

Another one bites the dust!

2010-09-27T20:53:00.000+08:00

The Circles quilt is finally finished! Today I put the final touches on it and sewed the label and sleeve to the back of the quilt.

Hopefully this quilt will be entered into the exhibition at the British Club in November.

The next quilt will be in a class with Dena Crain at the Quilt University called Darned Quilts. Yes it is circles again.....

I have done a class with them before and it is a great way to learn a new technique and its nice having other students in the class from all around the world.

Well thats all for now...
Happy Quilting.

Bags for science class

2010-09-22T21:33:00.000+08:00

Not much sewing happened today although I did make a sample bag for my daughter Celine (12). She has been asked to make 25 small fabric bags for one of the teachers at school. It will be a good opportunity for her to get used to her sewing machine.

The circle quilt is still hanging on the design wall waiting for the finishing touches. There is a quilt show at the British Club in November with the theme "curves and circles". Well I think it fits into that catagory. They hold a challenge every year and all the quilt groups are able to enter. This includes the quilters from the British club as well as the quilters from the ANZA (Aust/NZ association). Speaking of which....I have now been to two of their meetings and am really enjoying it. They are a great group of ladies and there are traditional and non traditional quilters. ANZA Quilters

Other than the small bag, there was lunch with my husband (always nice) and a pedicure/manicure today. Not something I normally do but very nice.....

(sigh) I guess the circle quilt will just have to wait until another day......

Under Covers....

2010-09-20T07:37:00.000+08:00

Thought I would let you know about their exhibition....just in case you happen to be in Wellington, New Zealand around this time!

Circles continued

2010-09-13T20:46:00.000+08:00

Today I added the backing to the circle quilt. Then I actually "handbasted" it together...something I haven't done in years but seeing that this quilt will have a lot of quilting I really didn't want things to shift while quilting.

I have discovered that I cannot baste in a straight line and so had to draw lines using tailors chalk! Very sad!
Thankfully I still have some of that dutch basting thread (rijgaaren?) and that is better for basting than normal thread as it breaks easily when it comes time to remove it.

Then it was off to the machine to start the quilting...and unpicking...and quilting...and unpicking!

About a quarter of the quilt is done...still plenty more to do. I am enjoying trying out different stitches that I normally don't use.

This week I have friends staying with us from New Zealand and they are busy sightseeing around Singapore and are planning to spend a couple days in Indonesia as well. Only a 1hour boat trip from here.

Tomorrow I am hoping to check out the ANZA quilting group here in Singapore. Very exciting!

Happy Quilting!

Happy Birthday Misty!

2010-09-10T16:38:00.000+08:00

Today is Misty's birthday. Well actually it is the two year anniversary of when we picked her up from the SPCA and we couldn't have picked a sweeter dog.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISTY!!!

Today is Hari Raya in Singapore and we went to see the Presidential Palace (Istana) which held a open day today. What a beautiful building on beautiful grounds and all in the central city district (it even has it's own golf course). We are so glad that we went early because when we left the wait to get in was at least an hour long.

Brooke & Dad

There was also a big thunder storm brewing in the background and we left before we all got wet!

Last night I washed and dried all the fabric that I dyed yesterday and am very pleased with the outcome.

Now to think up a quilt to show off all those lovely bright colours!

Happy Quilting.....

My Go Go Day!

2010-09-09T14:11:00.000+08:00

Today the aircon repairmen were coming to service our aircons and I figured that once they had gone I would head into the sewing room and work on the circles quilt. What was supposed to be a half hour service turned into a 3 1/2 hour pull all the airconditioners apart and major servicing. Grrr.

With the aircon pulled apart above my sewing machine I thought it was a good idea to try some more fabric dyeing. I had bought Linda Johansen's book "Fabric Dyer's Dictionary" a while back and hadn't quite managed to get my head around it yet.

Well today was the day and I dyed 12 fat quarters of fabric into the colours of the rainbow. They are now outside nicely baking in the sunshine.

I will post photos of the finished products later.

It is already after 2pm and I only managed to do two loads of washing today,

I still need to:
Go to library and pick up daughters reserve book
walk dog (x2)
pick up children from school
Go to mandarin class today
drop 1 child off on other side of singapore (& probably pick her up)
cook dinner
attend parents night at school
Figure out why my photos wont load on my blog! (server rejected...huh?)
and be pleasant to all around me........

Its just as well it's a public holiday here tomorrow !(Hari Raya)

Circles quilt

2010-09-08T16:14:00.000+08:00

Not much to blog about today. Had a slow start this morning....must have been the weather! Big dark thunder storms this morning with lots of surface flooding on the roads.

My DH (aka tall, dark, handsome) hung up my Geisha quilt in the hallway today. Looks good but very small compared to the big white wall.

Added the batting to the circles quilt today but then found that the batting didn't want to flow smoothly through the machine and so the circles ended up wonky!

There is some unpicking to be done and then I will add the backing fabric first using the escape hatch method by Melody Johnston. Hopefully this will then glide through the machine better.

Will keep you posted.....

Going round in Circles!

2010-09-07T18:33:00.000+08:00

There hasn't been much opportunity to sew much the last few days as general household things have gotten in the way. I did manage to do some sewing today and here is a photo of the progress on the circles quilt.

Today I cut away the excess fabric (light squares) from the back of the quilt and added some more circles. This is now ready to be made into the quilt sandwich and more circle quilting added.

Its been fun trying out some of the stitches on my machine that I normally don't use.

The "Geisha" quilt is still waiting for "tall, dark, handsome" to help me hang this up in the hallway.....

I've also joined the Artful Quilters Blog Ring. Check out the link on the top right hand side of this blog to see some more great art quilts!

Today I also had my first "conversational mandarin" lesson. I enjoyed the class but I know that it will be a challenging language to learn! Lots of practicing/homework before my next lesson on Thursday.

Until next time...happy quilting

crop circles

2010-09-02T14:47:00.000+08:00

Today I spent the day "playing" with my circle maker on my sewing machine.

I layered the light squares under the dark squares from yesterday and pinned them together trying to make sure that all the seams matched. There are about a million pins in this and I kept pricking myself on them during the day. Ouch! This quilt has my own hand dyed fabrics in it.

Then I made lovely circles and cut away the excess fabric to expose the lighter colours underneath.

The small picture that is hanging next to the quilt top is a quilt by Libby Lehman which is my inspiration for this quilt. I saw this on the Quilt show and just loved it! Not that my stitching would come anywhere close to be as good as hers as she is an expert!

I used to religiously watch the show "Simply Quilts' in NZ and was completely gutted when they cancelled it. Imagine my delight to find that I could subscribe to the new show "The Quilt Show" online with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims! Its shows like this that really promote our craft and I have learnt so much from these two shows!

Last night Hennie and I booked our classes for the Houston Quilt Festival. Yippee!

Anyway thats all for now

Happy Quilting!

Just Do It!

2010-09-01T17:45:00.000+08:00

It's time to get serious about this quilting thing! The last week I have managed to get a couple of hours each day in the sewing room and today I was in there 9am on the dot! All of this has paid off as I finally finished the Geisha quilt today. The centre panel is from a Lonni Rossi pattern.

I even had time today to start on a new quilt:

Dark squares

Light squares

Whoops! Just noticed a boo boo in the light squares. Guess I will be starting my day tomorrow unpicking the mistake.

Anyway for those of you who are surprised that I would be making something so traditional.... never fear, it won't stay that way! Hint: I will be trying out my circle maker on my sewing machine.

My "Marina Bay Bridge" quilt is currently in NZ and has been entered into the Wellington Quilters Guild exhibition which is on at the St Patricks College in Kilbirnie from 1-10 Oct. How exciting!

Marina Bay Bridge

Tonight I will be talking to my friend Hennie on Skype to try and decide what classes we will be doing at the Houston Quilt Festival. The only problem is that there is so much to choose from!

Well thats all from me...happy quilting

Back in Singapore and back online

2010-08-24T16:46:00.000+08:00

It has been ages since my last blog and that is not to say that I have been idling away the time. The kids went back to school last week and my mum in law left on Sunday night back to Holland so I am finding the house rather quiet during the day. It's back to just me and Misty! Misty has not been her usual bouncy self the last couple of days and I suspect that she is missing Oma.

The last couple of weeks were busy with the kids in NZ (Brrr) and settling back into a normal routine in Singapore. While in NZ I took the girls to the bead shop in Petone and they spent a couple of hours making necklaces, bracelets and earrings. It wasn't really Luke's thing so we went out for a drink at one of the nearby cafes.

Making jewellery at Bead store

Celine managed to go horse riding again while we were home. Sadly that is something that she is not able to do in Singapore so it was great for her to brush up her skills and even managed to do some jumps.

Luke spent an afternoon at the H20 pool with his friends Tim and Tim. He also had his first ever sleep over at my sisters house and the next day she roped him into playing hockey. He really enjoyed the game even though he wasn't really sure what to do and the other kids in the team were so supportive and encouraging!
It was great to watch him on the field although by the end of the game I couldn't feel my toes anymore due to the cold.

While in NZ I discovered the Edmonds Magic Pavlova mix. It comes in a small plastic egg and all you have to do is add water and sugar. Surely it couldn't be this easy? Yep it was! and it was really yummy. I have bought a couple of them back to Singapore and I baked one up on Sunday. Yum yum! Ok so the picture below is not actually the one I baked but I bet it tastes every bit as good!

Last week I also took Gysje to the Pottery Jungle here in Singapore. If you are into pottery then this is the place to go.

Today was the first time since June that I have been able to get behind the sewing machine to work on the Geisha quilt. My mum in law and I went to the quilt shop last week to pick up a new background fabric as we didn't like the one it came with. Hopefully it will get finished in the next week as I am looking forward to starting on something new. (and more exciting?!)

Well thats about all from my for now.....Happy quilting

Home sweet Home

2010-07-04T11:14:00.000+08:00

There is no feeling like coming home! We arrived in Auckland on Wednesday and spent a couple of days up in Northland with our friends Bert and Becky and family who run an organic egg and pig farm. The scenery couldn't have more different from Singapore! Rolling green hills everywhere you look and fresh air! Simply Beautiful!

It was great to see them again and we even got to feed the chickens and the pigs. What can I say but the pigs really lived up to their name!

We slowly meandered our way down country (after buying some chicken flavoured chips yum yum) and arrived in Wellington yesterday. The view on the desert road was stunning as there was plenty of snow on the mountains. (Mt Ruapehu)

Our nephew came to see us just after we arrived which was nice. We are all looking forward to catching up with friends and family.

This morning we drove in to Wellington and drove around the bays from Island Bay to Brooklyn. There was not a cloud in the sky and you could see all the way to the Kaikoura ranges on the South Island.

What can I say but Ahhhhh! its nice to be home!

Visitors from home and our dyeing frenzy

2010-06-21T12:35:00.000+08:00

The last two weeks have been pretty busy with my parents visiting from New Zealand and the kids having started school holidays. It was great to be able to show my parents where we live and a little bit of Singapore. The 9 days that they were here just flew by and there are still so many things that I want to be able to show them. I guess they will just have to come back again!

Mum and Dad in Chinatown at the Buddah Tooth Relic Temple. Afterwards we went to the Chinese Heritage Museum and then enjoyed a lovely lunch at the local hawker centre.

My parents also bought some origami papers with them and it kept my children busy (and very quiet) the whole afternoon!

We had a lovely dinner with them at the Brazilian BBQ place before they left. It was fantastic!

The last couple of days I have been busy dyeing more fabric. Celine has been helping me make some of the more "interesting" pieces. We have been laying the fabric onto a piece of plastic sheeting on the deck, then adding our colours. We added another piece of fabric on top of the first to soak up the excess dye. Strangely enough the top piece (which ended up yellow and green) turned out quite a different colour from the bottom one (purple and orange) Not sure why that happened! Any suggestions? We still have some resist to try out and want to try our hand at marbelling fabric with shaving cream.

Will post some photos of the finished pieces soon.

We have also been busy stocking up on winter gear for our "summer holidays"! Ski jackets and beanies for our trip home. We are all soo excited about spending some time at home and catching up with old friends and family.

On Wednesday Celine and I are going to a new painting group. She is very excited. Will keep you posted.....

Going orange!

2010-05-26T17:16:00.000+08:00

Today I took a break from working on the Geisha quilt and decided to try my hand at dyeing some orange fabric. A friend of mine had given me some samples of orange that she needed. (see below)

Orange sample

These are my results today. (top row) A think it has too much red and not enough yellow but I will have to wait to try again until a new batch of dye arrives next week

The bottom fabrics are dyed using the same dye as the top fabrics but this was dyed on fabric that I sourced locally. The man assured me that it was 100% cotton and that I would be able to dye it. ("yes yes can!")Well all I ended up with was 5 shades of Blah!

It was heartbreaking seeing all my lovely (and costly) dye disappearing down the sink! Moral of the story.....Buy from a reputable source!

Friday is a public holiday here (Vesak Day) and the kids have a day off school. If we have time we might try our hand at marbelling fabric using shaving cream. It will have to be yellow, blues and green as the red is all gone. Will let you know how it goes......

On a brighter note, my parents are coming in less than two weeks! I am looking forward to spending time with them and showing them around Singapore. Im sure they could use some warm weather too!

Graceful Geisha

2010-05-19T20:47:00.000+08:00

Today I managed to work on my Geisha quilt. This is a pattern from Lonni Rossi that I have had sitting in the cupboard for ages. It still needs another background and plenty of stitching. This is to hang up in the very empty hallway of our new abode. As much as I have enjoyed the making the horse quilt (pattern by Toni Whitney) and this one, I still feel like I want to be doing my own designs. Finish this first and then I can get my creative juices flowing.

No More Buying Quilt Kits!!!!!

Over the weekend I also managed to make and hang a design wall in my new sewing room.

A trip to the library over the weekend with the kids also meant that I could get some books out about fabric dyeing...my new favourite hobby. Found some interesting pages on marbelling fabrics using shaving cream, batik and shibori dyeing. I think that might be next weeks project! Ohh I am just soo excited!

will keep you posted....

My apologies for the photo...not sure why it is on it's side...will have to ask the technical dept!

It's finally finished!

2010-05-11T15:57:00.000+08:00

Today was a great day! I got to spend the day in my new sewing room and finally finished the horse quilt for my daughter Celine. (With some helpful support from Misty!) Celine is mad about horses and used to go horse riding in NZ but unfortunately that is not possible here in Singapore.

I even started planning my next quilt.... Watch this space....

But the best part of today was that when I finally ventured out of the sewing room, the good little elves had been around and cleaned my house.....

Yeah!

Going Green

2010-05-07T12:47:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was "Green" day!

The top row is the broadcloth which is only 90cm wide and the bottom ones are on the calico which is 150cm wide. I have to say that I prefer the broadcloth to the calico with regard to texture. There wasn't much difference in colour between the two but my all time favourite would still be the mercerised cotton from Dharma trading. The mercerised cotton is about the same price as the others except for the shipping of course.

This is my progress to date.....now to find some buyers.......

My Etsy shop

Before and After

2010-05-06T10:50:00.000+08:00

We recently moved into another house and so we have spent the last few weeks making feel like "our" place.

At the back of the house was a small "rock garden". Yesterday the builders came and transformed this area into an area that we can use. We are planning to put the outdoor table and chairs there....with sun umbrella of course as it gets HOT HOT HOT!

"Before"

"After"

Yesterday I went and bought some calico and some broadcloth from a local fabric supplier and will see how they go with dyeing. I think I still prefer the weave of the mercerised cotton from Dharma Trading. Pity they are so far away!

If anyone knows of a good supplier of mercerised cotton in the singapore region, I would love to hear from you.

I have listed my dyed fabrics on my Etsy page.....check it out.

Fabric Dyeing

2010-05-04T21:49:00.000+08:00

Today I spent the day dyeing the remaining fabric that I had bought at Dharma Trading.

Here are today's results:

2 sets of blue

2 sets of red/pink

1 set of blue/green

I still need to find a local source of good quality fabric suitable for dyeing. Perhaps thats what I'll do on Thursday as tomorrow I will be at school for most of the day.

Can't wait to try purples, yellows, greens and oranges!