Quilt!

QUILT! EXHIBITION

STANTHORPE REGIONAL ART GALLERY

6 OCTOBER TO 13 NOVEMBER 2011

QUILT! is an exhibition of contemporary art quilts by internationally respected Australian artists who over the years have all been selected for the esteemed American exhibition Quilt National. Their works incorporate new practices, but also refer to time-honoured quiltmaking traditions, extended and interpreted in a host of new ways. The result is a body of unique and striking works that incorporate a variety of concepts relevant to the life and time of each artist. The exhibition was curated by Barbara Macey and Glenys Mann. Read about the artists and their works on the exhibition blog: http://quiltaustralia.blogspot.com

I have three quilts in the exhibition, including "Weeyaww, weeyaww!". You can view the exhibition folder here. It's an exhibition I would love to see in real.

This and that

I LOVE those two photos. Not that they're great photos, but do you see what she's doing?
Reading. Voluntarily. Page after page. Chapter after chapter. Book after book. I've been hearing 'please may I just finish this paragraph first', and 'yes, I'll play with you, Aaron, after I've finished this chapter' and it's music to my ears! For nearly seven years all her 'reading' time has been forced, so to speak (we have daily quiet reading time after bathtime and Hannah has generally managed to wriggle and chat and procrastinate her way through that time of the day with little more than a quick flick through the pages of the nearest book). More books were requested so yesterday was spent raiding the opshops (an outing which all the kids thoroughly enjoyed and which mummy would have enjoyed much more without all the kids).

With school holidays here there hasn't been as much quiltmaking as I would have liked. The younger two children have been particularly demanding, and between them and various holiday activities, I'm feeling rather exhausted. There's a little bit of quilt progress every day, but I have to push myself to keep at it...
... although the size of the pieces of this quilt may have something to do with it too. I think I may have crossed the thin line between 'enjoyable challenge' and 'crazily impossible' with this quilt, but I'll persist for now and see how far I get with it.

I realise you probably don't come here to read about the quiltmaking that isn't happening right now, but I figure it's also good to make it clear that things don't always (hardly ever?) run as smoothly at our house as they might appear on this blog. By God's grace, I am healthy enough to be able to manage the various aspects of my life (kids, housework, quiltmaking, other commitments) and it usually goes OK, but it also doesn't take much to upset the balance so that everything falls in a heap, or at least goes out of kilter. This week I'm tired and the housework and quiltmaking are suffering (and if I'm really honest, the kids are too), but I have also learnt (am learning) not to get down about this, but to accept a bad week, put it behind me and tackle the new week with new resolve and enthusiasm. So I'm looking forward to a better week next week, God willing!

On to a good (bad?) thing

I think we're on to something good here! This is the second batch of macarons in as many days. I came home with the latest Donna Hay magazine on Thursday, and it's loaded with yummy recipes. Including a range of macarons. These coffee macarons with salted caramel filling are delicious, but I couldn't get them to look right - with the smooth top. Not sure if I whipped the egg white for too long, or maybe made the macaron mounds too big/high... if anyone has any tips, I'd love to know (although I should probably wait at least a few days before experimenting again - there's only so many macarons one can/should eat in a short space of time).

While they play

This afternoon I managed to sneak upstairs to spend some time in my studio while my kids were busy making a wonderful mess at the dining table. They were having a great time, and I figured I was best off being where I couldn't see the mess!(Yes. that is Hannah there, 'cleaning up' the mess. I do believe there was way more effort put into giggling and dancing with the broom than in actual cleaning.)While they were busy, I made some good progress cutting out a new quilt.Just in case you find all these different quilts confusing, my current quiltmaking situation is as follows:
9 small quilts and 1 large quilt - waiting for the binding to be handstitched down, and the threads to be buried
3 medium quilts - layered and ready for quilting
1 large and 1 medium quilt - cut out and ready for piecing
2 medium quilts - in the process of being cut out
1 TOP SECRET bed sized birthday quilt - layered and ready for quilting

I won't be bored for a while yet...

Caleb prints

My sister sent me some pics which she snapped with her iPhone when we did some screenprinting during the last school holidays. I thought you might like to see them. Did you know that screenprinting is best undertaken in your underwear? (I didn't have painting clothes handy so I made him strip).

This morning

This morning was spent speaking with students at a local primary about my artwork. They are having an 'artist week' this week, and I was invited to share my work with preprimary, grade 1 and grade 2. I took some of my childhood quilts, completed ones as well as quilts in progress, and described the process I go through. I also demonstrated screenprinting, which showed up in several of the quilts.

I don't have any photos, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I loved their observations and was impressed by what they all noticed and asked. One of the grade 2 students asked why I quilt instead of paint, which is actually quite a deep question. (Speaking about my work like this helps me to verbalise what I do, and is a valuable learning curve for myself). I answered that I have always loved to sew, and also, more practically, that paint is much messier so that it would be more difficult to manage with small children around. Not a completely satisfactory answer (well, it satisfied the student but wouldn't hold up so well in arty circles), but it's better than 'just because'. I should probably dwell on it a bit more.
For now though, I have left everything down by the front door and am going to put up my feet and work in a running-way-to-far-behind-to-get-it-finished-on-time birthday present for a soon-to-be seven year old.

Sewing in the sun

I found a new sewing spot today. Daniel was determined to play outside with the other children, and because we don't have fences yet and he has a tendency to wander, I need to supervise him closely. So I had no choice but to be outside with him all day. And thankfully I found the perfect place - out on the new (nearly) finished deck, on my recently thrifted table, behind the sewing machine, overlooking the whole yard as well as the valley beyond...
I barely touched the housework today, but I do have a mostly finished quilt top and some sunburn to show for my efforts - and the kids had a wonderful day outside altogether. I think we may be onto something here, for the upcoming school holidays!