Thank goodness for typing as I have very little voice left! I spent the whole of last week talking talking talking, blah blah blah!...but WOW...what a week it was!

 I have just returned from being the Guest Quilt Artist at the NSW Quilter's Guild exhibition, Darling Harbour Sydney for 2009. What a BUZZ! I had 14 quilts on display showing my 6 year progress from early quilts through to my latest, highlighting how I have developed and where my art is headed. I gave hour floor talks each day with a crowd of up to 40 keen to listen and learn. I was also the Guest Speaker at the Gala dinner and spoke off-the-cuff for 30 minutes and had the group rolling off their chairs....believe it or not, in the Quilt World I am quite comical!

It was a terrific experience to catch up with so many past students and make so many new friends....Quilters are very friendly supportive folk!

I also had another 6 quilts in various displays and competitions including my latest epic, The Man from Snowy River, a large bleach painted piece. He was awarded the Hanger's Prize and Viewer's Choice so although the 3 judges on the day did not find my Man suitable for anything higher than Judges Commendation, the thousands of people who viewed the quilt and all the volunteers who hang the quilts liked my Man From Snowy River just fine....what an honor....I am very pleased to have been awarded most popular quilt.

  The Man from Snowy River - 175 x 210cm

The experience for the week was like being a celebrity.....so much positive response and feedback and encouragement from so many. Lots of exposure and opportunity to meet and chat with so many...it was wonderful and I do sincerely thank the Quilter's Guild of NSW for such an honor.

To add to the experience, I was on TV the previous week and for those who do not live in ACT I have link to my story on ABC TV Stateline ACT ........check it out!
http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2009/06/05/2590982.htm

 So now it is time to get my vocal chords rested, get my head out of cloud nine and my feet back to Earth and think about the next quilt... and be assured.....it's a brewin'!

cheers HG

Well, the best thing since sliced bread if the quilting world was a sandwich!

Talking of sandwiches, what do you wrap your sandwiches in? No doubt it is a Glad Wrap product or something similar. Well there is a new type of sandwich wrap out there and its worth every cent of $5.90 that you will pay for it, and its well worth the investment.

NEWSFLASH -  this product is becoming very difficult to purchase ...try your local IGA or Supa Barn. I have been scouring the Food Wrap aisles where ever I go so soon there will be a black market in the stuff.....read on to find out why it's in demand and why you gotta get some!.

Please explain - It is called Press'N'Seal and it is a Glad Wrap product. It is a very thick form of average sandwich cling film with a sticky side so it sticks very firmly to plastic containers etc . The manufacturer recommends the stuff for wrapping meat for freezing and to cover table surfaces before kids craft activities etc. For the quilter it is excellent for tracing designs on to a quilt to do free motion quilting. Lets say your quilt calls for zebras to be "drawn" in stitching on to every second block.....ahhhh I can hear you cry. Easy with Press'N'Seal.

Find a suitable simple line drawing of a zebra from a colouring book or clip art from the internet (copyright free) .Establish a master copy for yourself, the right size,  ready to trace. Tear off a piece of P'N'S and stick down onto the master image. It will stick firmly while you trace with a texta/marker or pen,  but then peel off the paper easily, ready to stick in place on to your quilt block. As it is see thru, it is easy to trace thru and easy to stick in place on to the block with no pins and no residual goo. You can them stitch through the P'N'S tracing with your darning foot over the continuous line of stitching. After the job is done, peel away. The plastic film will rip away from either side of the stitch line like it is perferated...real easy. Unlike tracing paper, which can get quite stuck under close stitched spaces and be a bugger to pluck out with tweezers...I talk from experience here, the P'N'S will leave very few bits stuck under the stitching, but if it does, a quick iron will melt away the little traces of plastic and leave the perfect zebra stitched in place. Now having ripped away the P'N'S you are glad you still have your master copy to trace from again for the next block.

Recently I finished the applique and stitching for another cope for the Bishop of Adelaide, which had a back panel in hand dyed colours of yellow, orange and reds with a stylised celtic design of fire flames. I used my Husqvarna Sapphire 870 working a zig zag stitch in free motion, constantly adjusting the width of the zig zag satin stitch from 2.5mm to 8mm. The design was symmetrical so from left to right it had to be mirror image so as I worked stitching through the P'N's following my black traced line, I was able to make notes of zigzag stitch width on the plastic on the job....made it real easy.

Add Press'N'Seal to your shopping list now!