Sunday 30 March 2014

Lots of Sewing Done

A weekend off?  No, I have been working like a maniac: sewing, washing, gardening, ironing, cleaning, blogging and helping the boys study for exams this week.

I finally had time to sew the binding on my new "Josephine" quilt which I made in January.

I was able to find the perfect colour thread in my Appleyard Cottage Aurifil Thread Club box.  I needed a tealy blue and there it was.  Yay! This thread is perfect for hand stitching as well as in your sewing machine.


Here is the centre of my quilt.  I will be teaching it later this year.


If you would like to participate in the Thread Club, you can order online at www.appleyardcottage.com.au.  There is a link tab at the top of my blog page.

Happy stitching everyone.

Thursday 27 March 2014

Update on Show Quilts: "Henrietta" and "Meryton"

At last, a day at home to get some more sewing done!

I have completed all the machine applique on "Henrietta" and sewn the borders on to the pieced quilt centre.  She is now ready to go to Veronica for quilting.

I still have eight more blocks to make for "Meryton". These will be machine pieced with some hand appliqué in the centre. Still a while yet before she is finished:


The boys and I watched a great movie last night called "Austenland".  If you are a Janeite like me you will find it very funny!

Back to sewing....

Wednesday 26 March 2014

Dates Confirmed for Jane Austen Annual Quilt Event with "The QuiltingRoom" in South Australia

Following last weekend's successful event, Helen from "The Quilting Room" has been very quick and efficient and booked the 1920s beach house at Victor Harbour for the weekend of 8, 9 and 10 March, 2015. This is a long weekend in South Australia for the Adelaide Cup.

I will be teaching "Pemberley" in workshops over the three day period.

If you would like to join us, be quick to contact Helen at the link here so that you can book into "Pemberley" in 2015 at Victor Harbour.

Whilst this will be a relaxed class of hand work, I will be teaching many techniques for "fussy cutting", English paper piecing, bias stems, basted appliqué, mitred borders and colour selection over the three days.  I hope to see you there.







Patchwork by Richmond Ladies

Here are some quick photos from class today with my Richmond ladies.

The girls have been making their version of my hexagonal "Wild Rose" duchess set.

Here is Karol's dramatic version just in black and white.  She will embroider stems in white thread. 
Very effective!


This is the lovely set made by Christine.  Love the appliqué in the brighter colours.




Kim was working on her Le Moyne star blocks with a lovely Australian wild flower fabric:





These were made using my whack and stack pattern for star blocks.

Looking great!

Lovely Message from Mary in Fairview, USA

I received a really gorgeous email today.  I asked Mary her permission to share it with you:



Hello again Katrina!
Just wanted to say how much I enjoy your blog.  I look for your email the first thing in the mornings upon awakening.  First of all your patterns are so classy and gorgeous, and your student quilters fabric choices compliment your patterns beautifully.  I ohhhh and ahhh at the pictures of your and their quilt blocks and enjoy seeing how the quilts progress and want to let you and the ladies know reading your blog and seeing your pictures is like sunshine and the dawn of a new day of inspiration for me, and I thank all of you.  Bravo!!!
Kind regards,
           Mary from Fairview, PA USA



Thank you Mary.



Tuesday 25 March 2014

Beautiful "Hunsford" Centres

Another group making "Hunsford" today.  We worked on the dogtooth border to surround the centre block.

This is Julie's centre, so dramatic in black and cream. Fabulous Julie!


This is Jeanne's centre in red and blue. Wonderful!


Here is Gaye's centre, beautiful in red and black.


Here is Janine's centre in very beautiful fabrics of pink and brown.



This is Jean's centre in red and black with a very dramatic diamond pattern through the middle. I love it.


Thank you ladies for your concern.  David will have an x-ray on his wrist in the morning.

Katrina xx

Two Magnificent Jane Austen Show and Tell Quilts

Two of my students each brought a completed Jane Austen quilt to show me today.

The first one is "Longbourne" by Janine.

Janine completely made and quilted her quilt herself.  She has done a superb job! Just look at how beautiful it is in its soft colours:



Here you can see the detail of little heart motifs Janine has quilted between her elongated and square border.  She used a stencil to draw them on and then quilted them. Gorgeous!!



Next this is Gaye's "Pemberley"! Wow, it is also fabulous! Here is Gaye with her quilt, justifiably very proud of it. Gaye's quilt was beautifully quilted by Sharon French of Morning Star Quilting, located at Bateau Bay, New South Wales.





Look at the amazing detail in the quilting.  I love the swirls around the pot corners.


Here you can see a little bird quilted on the left singing and a beautiful feather!


Congratulations ladies on two of the most amazing quilts I have seen! Thank you for all your support of my classes.

Katrina x

Sunday 23 March 2014

Dear "Anonymous"

I always endeavour to answer any emails sent to me through this blog.

However, I do receive a lot of spam comments from various advertisers as well as comments from "anonymous" sources whom I am unable to trace.

If you choose to leave an "anonymous" comment, I cannot contact you.

The person who commented that "Katrina never responds" could easily send me an email to kat.had@bigpond.com, which is the email address connected to this blog.  If a return email address is supplied, I am more than happy to answer any questions.

Katrina Hadjimichael

A Weekend Becomes a Jane Austen SA Club and an Annual Event

I have just completed a weekend teaching for Helen Campbell of The Quilting Room in South Australia.

We had a very successful weekend of sewing, eating, laughing and getting to know new friends.

Helen has asked me to make a return trip each year to teach another of my Jane Austen Quilt Collection designs at the beach house in Victor Harbour.

I will return in early March 2015 to teach "Pemberley" over a three day period.  This is a very exciting opportunity for me to become better known in South Australia.  Thank you so much, Helen!

If you are interested to join in next year, please contact Helen via her website at www.thequiltingroom.com.au.

The ladies at this weekend's workshop were so enthusiastic, they have decided to create a "Jane Austen Quilt Support Club" which will meet every three months in Adelaide.  The ladies will be able to show and tell their progress on the quilt they started at the Victor Harbour workshops.  Very exciting!!!!

Here are some more photos from the weekend.  

This is the group holding up their quilt centres for "Rosings".  From left to right: Bron, Maggie, Sandy, Chris, Linda, Stephanie, Marion, Jill, Helen and Jackie. And yes, they all worked very hard into the night to finish their centre blocks.


Here is the group plus me next to Helen.


Here are photos of today's efforts.  The girls were working on their octagon border.










Thank you Helen and ladies for a fabulous weekend!

Saturday 22 March 2014

"Rosings" Centres Made at Victor Harbour

While watching the sailing boats go by past our window, the ladies were busy learning paper foundation piecing to make the Georgetown Circle block for the centre of their "Rosings" quilts.



This is Chris' centre with some wonderful reds, greens and blues.


Here is Jill's in rich reds and browns.


This amazing version is by Linda with some very sassy "fussy cutting"!


This is Sandy's with soft pinky red and brown.


This is Jackie's centre in red, teal and brown. Looks gorgeous!


Here is Helen's in great reproduction fabrics.  I love it!


More of Jill's...


It is lovely to see all of the work coming together over the course of a weekend.  We will be working on appliqué tomorrow.