Quilt show demo

I have been at the annual Queensland Quilters quilt show, as part  of the art quilt off
shoot I have been doing some demonstrations. we are called 2QAQ as Queensland quilters is affectionately called 2Q, so its QQ art quilters. or 2qaq (2quack) if you say it fast enough!
This is great fun, I have so many people amazed that I am doing freeform work, inspired  by Rayna Gillman and Gwen Marston.
This is very much using solid fabrics with some hand dyed thrown in for some fun. Its cut and sew then cut and sew, if you need more colour or bigger add some, then cut and sew to your hearts content. Some things don't work, but that's half the fun to do something different , they are going to be placemats as our dining table is soft Huon Pine and needs some protection.
I have 3 quilts in the show. Am happy that with my silly year of illness that I actually achieved that.
No prizes this year, but am happy that my challenge piece with its blue ribbon is there (from March this year).

oops a sideways row by row quilt, more on this another day

 An old log cabin block about to be reworked. There are a little family of these in my cupboard needing to be reworked!

Part way through the reworking, some cutting and adding being done. I was cutting randomly with no ruler mostly

A little further along in the process below, needs some more work, but I had to pack up and go home. I will work on this some more tomorrow when it is my turn to demonstrate tomorrow, pleased to be going today to view the quilts, hope I can have a proper look.

Another block in the making, this one started as some strata units and was built using narrow strips, just a little fun, its interesting to see how the colours change the look as each new strip is added.

One of my entries, I will take some close up shots today of the machine quilting which if I say so myself is pretty good! Just  a little too small for the applique category, and couldn't find any more fabric to my liking to make it bigger. oh well if only I was a bit more organised and had got started earlier!
Of course, this working full time is curtailing my creativity, so tired when I get home in the evenings, and then getting up at 5:20 am doesn't help as I need to go to bed early...

Home and back to work

Following our exciting trip to Spain and France, we arrived home safely, always try to sit next to a small person on the long flight home, of course your husband on one side - but a small person- a Malaysian chef this time, very comfortable indeed, except for the leg space, and of course the hot chicken dish split down my husband- but that's his story.   http://rundlesrant.blogspot.com.au/
My camera died- sadly, so few pictures, but funnily enough I didn't see the need to take hundreds of photos- unlike my travelling partner. I do have some of my own though.

Celery to feed all of Villandry!

ornamental kale at Villandry

Back into the swing of things I went to a quilters retreat this weekend, 2 nights and 3 days of sewing, chat,- no cooking or housework or hungry family. It was at Staceys at the Gap, luckily I also had a driver, my negotiation of the roads around Brisbane is rudimentary, however I can get to where I need to go- in the end.
The whole weekend was great fun, some of the quilters I already had met. They were all working on different projects and I also had several of my own to manage. I finished the star top - too late for the quilt show, and as it is a gift for next year, will not be exhibited except at show and tell. I am working on a top I started in a Jane Sassaman class a few years ago- I did some work on that, but my machine applique skills are basic and I have found it frustrating, should have raw edged it!
My other project is a liberated medallion quilt that I worked on at a recent Gwen Marston workshop- so may pieces to finish! and such little time. The medallion is growing fast, I am hoping to make it for our own bed, its a bit scrappy- I am really fussy and find it hard to do scrappy and freeform, but am trying hard not to make it too ordered...
One of the fun things about retreat is watching others sew, cogitate, and sew a bit more...then unpick!

Paris

Well we have come via Spain, where it was steamy hot to Paris where is is cold and wet, 16 degrees today, a lot different from 35 in Spain!
Had to buy winter coats and a long sleeved top, and socks as my ankles were cold.
The town of Tours was lovely, so different from where we have been. We had a great day riding a bike along the river to the next town, did some wine tasting! Local wines of course.
The day tour to the chateau was lovely, a small bus with a small group, so much easier than a large group.
Now to see as much of Paris in one week! Had a walk along bd
 Haussmann to the Arc de Triomph, shame that one nasty little black thief gave us the creeps when he bumped into Peter, luckily no damage.
Well my camera is broken, and it has taken me several days to get motivated to post, even though I wrote the first part of this blog  a few days ago.
We have been everywhere of note in Paris, to Versailles, on the metro, out to dinner and to the Moulin Rouge.
My photos are a bit random as I have been using peters camera. Hmmm, he wouldn't let me bring my trusty old one and the shutter has jammed on the new one I just had to have.....we have 2  more days of holiday, then home. Giverny tomorrow.

Versailles

Bed decoration

Chair at Versailles

Ceiling, so many wonderful ceilings to see

Garden at chateau

Bordeaux to Tours

We had a lovely few days in Bordeaux, lots of lovely food and many wine shops for peter to peruse. We had some great dinners in local restaurants, and did a fun 1 hour tour of the city.
An afternoon tour of 2 vineyards and wineries that bought back lovely memories and smells from our little winery and also friend's wineries in Hobart.
Train travel is the way to go, clean and comfortable. We passed lots of fields of grapes and sunflowers and old towns.
We arrived in Tours in torrential rain, caught a taxi to a cute little hotel, note it has no lift and we are on the third floor.....
Then when we came to our senses- discovered the tourist information was opposite the train station so walked there in the rain!
Booked a tour in the end to chateaux and wineries for monday, sort of would like a car to do it on our own, but not in the rain!
Woke up today- Sunday to discover clouds, with some blue sky and no rain, a good day to explore on foot and maybe hire a bike, there are lots (600km) of bike tracks here, maybe just a small portion of that could be covered today.

Breakfast

 Bordeaux sculpture with and without lights.

Peter at home in the vineyard

The rest of our breakfast

Bordeaux

Last dinner in Spain, Bilbao, it is always wise to wear your glasses when ordering food, not quite what I thought it was, but tasted great! Outside of restaurant below.

Well here we are in France, Bordeaux to be exact. The train is such a lovely peaceful easy to travel, great views, quiet, comfortable seats.
We like Bordeaux, its easy to walk around, the only troublesome thing it has been raining a little. We walked up 231 steps to the bell tower of the st Andrews cathedral, the best view of the city, a long way up then back down again.
We have dined at the most wonderful restaurant- le Petit Mignon, such great food, service and wine. Our French is abysmal, but we managed admirably! I recall that Paris has many more English menus, oh well we do know what steak tartare is and even could eat it,But ordered some lovely dishes, I had great prawns and scallops, followed by panna cotta.
Pictures of dinner on Peter's blog- rundlesrant.blogspot.com

Gate

Look what was opposite our Bilbao hotel!

Our last dinner in spain- such fun

Pilgrims

On the train we encountered a woman from New Zealand who was about to start a pilgrims walk, we were a bit interested as we didn't know anything about this. Now we know lots! There are about 500 people every day leaving the start, they carry packs! And a lot have walking poles, some in groups of old and new friends, some solo.The walk is usually from St John de Pied de Port ( on the france side in the Pyrenees) to Santiago de Compostela, across Spain. Some only do part of the walk, some all, in varying time frames. The trail is called the Camina, and many people stopped us and asked if this was the Camina? The first few times I had no idea what they were asking!!
I am not sure if they find themselves or not! But I am sure that pilgrims do not usually fly first class ( as I heard them saying) or dine at top class eateries, or even sleep in nice hotels, my image of a pilgrim is sleeping on the floor, sharing food etc. Hmm maybe I should rethink!!
An early night in Pamplona for me, Peter found some Irish pilgrims to drink with! And they drink like fish- or at least these ones do.

Pilgrims resting on the bridge after we rode across it

Another bridge we rode across

We ride 5 km from Pamplona, then back and around the town. We passed many walking pilgrims on our bike ride, by far the easier way to get around.

Pamplona

We caught the train again and came to Pamplona, arriving in the middle of a medieval festival, many people in the street, craft stalls and a parade. What fun! So much to see.. Walked around the citadel and marvelled at its size.
Wine and tapas of course then dinner and more wine.
Today we hired some bikes and cycled along the river, lovely and cool, although we did get a bit sunburnt. A short siesta for me while Peter did the laundry, he met a few new friends there.
Then more walking around and food and wine. We need the cycle to wear off the food.

View from the walled city onto the river

Felting Spanish style

View from the plaza near our hotel

Off to Bilbao tomorrow.