Poppy Quilt is Finished!

I don't know where the time is flying but I have managed to finish the Poppy Quilt finally- even the bindings are done!Thank you for all the positive comments on my last blog post about how it was looking- I really appreciate your feedback even if I don't get back to you individually. I think I need to make another one as I find the colour combo quite pleasing in the end.

I did toy with hand quilting the sky but decided against it as it did not show enough and I did not want to spend hours and hours making the stitching dense enough- so I opted for machine quilting the sky in skipping meander - sort of. I did however hand stitch/embroider some wheat in between the long stems to add contrast and just a bit of play with the lines. So it's done.You can click on the images to get a larger image.

The next thing I have to make is en elephant cot quilt.I haven't made cot quilts in such a long time and it really does not sit all that well with my other work or the series  which I am working on and developing to get  another kind of sentinelle shape happening- so part of my problem in getting these done is how to make the work mine and not make it look like some premade panel that could have been bought in Spotlight or some other cheap and nasty department store.

I also got the little list books from Margaret Cooter one of her books du jour- I do keep lists of things I have to do but I like the idea that a list book can both record things that need to be done and things that have been achieved without the crossings off. If you email Margaret she can send you a book or a pdf file for the booklet. You will need to scroll down her blog page to find the little books( i couldn't get the post to make a direct link so sorry about that). I will share an image of mine in my next post. I am writing this post before I have to go to school- which is keeping me out of lots of trouble I can tell you!!lol!

I have especially been enjoying the typography part of the course ( and other bits as well)  but typography is so much about pattern and shape that it suits my patterned heart. I love that we are making our own fonts for things and even though mine are far from polished I am enjoying the process immensely and can see all sorts of  uses for it. It has also opened up a whole new world of more books ( as if that was needed) and I could not resist getting Marian Bantjes I Wonder. I set aside a few hours on Sunday afternoon  to just absorb and  read and really study all the patterns and typography she uses. I love the section in her book  Notes on a Life- which were the lists her mother kept all through her life and which recorded the daily chores, interactions and little things of life as well as big ideas- her mother was  a political activist and early recycler- and so amongst lists for shopping or reminders to call friends you will find a note that says the Politics of Altruism. Marian and her siblings called the lists Mum's Brains and they were not allowed to tear a page from it though they inevitably wrote notes to each other on it. It looks scrappy when the rest of the book is so much about pattern but it is all about the pattern of life- the little things that we do every day, and years after her mothers death - she has a immediate link with the everyday of living with her mother- precious really, really precious. The book itself is a study in richness- there is gilt on the cover and the pages are gilt edged- something extremely rare these days but done originally to protect books form dust and moisture.... I am looking forward to next Sunday!