Where it all Began

This is what started it all.  This is the quilt my talented Mum made in 1973. It has just had a wash and airing at my home . Here it is drying on my clothes line.

Mum made it from 1& 1/2  inch hexagons. It is paper pieced and entirely hand stitched. I can remember her painstakingly cutting out the paper templates. Mum was meticulous about the accuracy of those hexagons!  I can also recall my friends'  Mums giving her pieces of left over fabrics from dresses that they  had made their daughters. Even a piece of my old school uniform is in this quilt! Those were the days when our Mums all made our school uniforms. This quilt is really quite the time capsule. It is a treasure trove of 60s and 70s fabrics and childhood memories.

Part of its charm is the fact that the central hexagons have faded over time, from when it used to adorn my bed as a child. Lucky me! And dare I say 43 years on it still is a favourite quilt of mine. Truly a scrappy sensation. 

Who knows, but hopefully some of the quilts we make today for our families will live on for decades too.  The quilts we make do not have to be perfect. They can be scrappy and eclectic as we all know that a quilt is more than the sum of its parts. A quilt is a reflection of our lives and the times we live in. 

So here is to quilts that pass the test of time, no matter how worn and loved they become. I wouldn't want my quilts to grow old any other way! 

Happy sewing, love Miriamx

Quilts on Vacation - Part 3

Welcome  back to Sewmiriam. It is always a pleasure to have you visit. I have saved a very special quilt for Part 3 of my Quilts on Vacation series. The quilt featured this week is Rousillon - the Fairholme Quilters 2016 Raffle Quilt.

You can read more about the quilt and its name at The Fairholme Quilters  blog by clicking here. 
Here the quilt is at Point Clare in NSW taking in the sea air.

An exquisite French Touille is on the back, so the quilt is reversible.

After a hard days photo shoot, Rousillon has taken up residence at Cottage Quiltworks in Warriewood for the next few weeks.

 If you visit the shop, there are raffle tickets available for purchase at the counter. This year proceeds from the raffle quilt will be going to Studio Artes - a wonderful Hornsby based programme for the disabled that focuses on life skills, performing arts and visual arts. You can read more by clicking here.Their fibre arts programme will also have a display at our show. Be prepared to be blown away by their talent.

Then  Rousillon is  going to the Fairhlome Quilters Biennial Show on April 8, 9 and 10 at the Thornleigh Community Centre. I will be there with my Fairholme Quilting friends, so I hope you will join us for what is always an excellent display of quilts made by our members. 

Please save the date in your diary, and please say hello to me there. I always love meeting my blog readers! 

Happy sewing, love Miriamx 

Quilts on Vacation - Part 2

Mt Gibraltar lookout near Mittagong, NSW is spectacular. The perfect location for a quilt vacation!

Here is my latest quilt enjoying the views.

I had a wonderful time designing and creating this pattern, using brown fabrics that no one cares much about these days,  and mixing them with modern graphics to create a fresh, new look. It has an authentic Australian feel to it, don't you think!

 It is machine pieced, hand appliquéd and hand quilted using Aurofil 12 thread. If people are interested, I am happy to run a workshop at Cottage Quiltworks in Warriewood on how  to create this quilt. It is fast, fun and a great stash buster. When I was making this quilt, I felt that I was giving old fabric a fabulous makeover!

The Australian bush provided the perfect location to photograph this quilt and really complements the earthy tones of the quilt. 

I hope your week has been filled with joy and some time for gentle stitching!

Happy sewing, Miriamx

Quilts on Vacation - Part 1

Welcome to Sewmiriam!  I am so glad you dropped by. My usual weekly blogpost is a bit late this week because I took my quilts on a mini vacation. Last Friday I had the immense pleasure of meeting the RedBerry Quilters and sharing my love of quilting with them. Thank you ladies for making me feel so welcome. I even had the opportunity to see their ' show and tell.' What a talented and inspiring group of quilters! 

Evan and I decided to stay the weekend in the Southern Highlands. On our journey home we went to Mt Gibraltor near Mittagong . The views were spectacular. I could think of no better place to take some holiday snaps with my just finished 'Kakadu Dreaming' quilt - pattern by Kathy Adams. 

My good friend Jo Anne Philips machine - quilted Kakadu Dreaming and you can see the wonderful way the swirls complement the quilt design to perfection in the next 2 photos.

This quilt would make a luxury picnic rug too!

but I think Evan has found its ultimate use!!! 

Happy sewing, love Miriamx 

A Quilt Gathering

My quilts are coming home! I love making quilts and giving them away. But this week, I have been calling them back home. Why? Well for a very good reason. Next Friday I am traveling down to the South Coast to show my quilts and share their stories with the RedBerry Quilters.

Here is a sneak peak of just some of them. How exciting to have them back for a visit. It is wonderful to see them again. It is like looking at them through fresh eyes. 

I am a bit nervous. Will the RedBerry Quilters like the quilts and their stories? I hope so. I am looking forward to meeting them all. Lucky for me, it is their first meeting for the year, so I will be able to see their 'show and tell' too. I feel very honoured to be asked. Wish me luck! 

And , to top  it all off the Southern Highland Quilters' Guild Fourth Biannual Quilt Show is on the 27th and 28th of February at the Mittagong RSL Club, so I can go to that too. What a splendid weekend to look forward too. 

Happy sewing, Miriamx 

Liberty Love

I have had a delightful time over the last few weeks working on something really special. It hasn't been a rushed project, or a project with a deadline. It has been gentle and it has been a pleasure  every stitch of the way.

After her mother passed away, my dear friend Elaine gave me a tablecloth that her mother had embroidered and edge-crocheted. I fell in love with it immediately. Being of a certain age, this tablecloth had a few rust marks and a couple of wear holes. What to do to make it into a special, meaningful piece ? 

Being white on white embroidery, it needed a gentle touch. I chose to finally use my Liberty pieces that I had been squirreling away for years. I mixed these with some modern fabric pieces. 

The pattern I used is called Joseph's Coat.  I hand - pieced the rounds and then joined them together. What I adore about this pattern is the wonderful rounded edges that are formed if you work it in a circular fashion. To cover minor imperfections in the tablecloth I chose to make fabric circles and appliqué them on. Repairs were made to the crochet border.

I love the way this tablecloth has turned out. Thank you Elaine for sharing this tablecloth with me. Your Mum was a wonderful sewer and I hope that it honours her memory. 

Happy sewing, love Miriamx 

Meandering is Marvelous!

Phew! Who else feels the pressure already this year?  ENOUGH I SAY!!!

I don't want to feel pressured this year with my creative endeavors. Our lives are brimming over with things that need doing, things that need fixing, pressures from family and friends, demands of work and so the list goes on. .... Time slips by and we loose the joy, calm  and peace that comes from our creative time. Relax. Pause for a while.  The world will not end if you do. In fact, the world will look a whole lot better if you do.

I don't know where the belief came  from that a busy, stressed life is a better life, a more worthy life, our best life.That belief is just wrong. I see quilters and sewers do this all the time. 

Slow down. 

It doesn't matter if you have several projects in progress.

There is no race.

 Dip in and out of projects. 

It's okay ! 

Be generous to yourself and you will find yourself being generous to others. 

Quilting is a precious process.

Enjoy it to the full.

You can be a wanderer. You may even surprise yourself by what you discover along the way. 

Happy sewing, love Meandering Miriam x