Leaving Winter Behind... Back to Florida!

Welcome to all readers- new and returning! An especially hearty welcome to all my new Followers! I am honoured that you have chosen to follow along on my crazy journey! If you are looking for the Grow Your Blog post and Giveaway, click HERE.

We're enduring our third snowstorm in 8 days.... When I returned from Florida (sigh.. that trip to paradise seems SO long ago now!) we had very little snow and I got away with wearing just shoes outdoors for about a week (I hate wearing winter boots!) But I knew that wouldn't last for long. Last weekend we got about 10", then on Tuesday we were hit with a blizzard that dumped over a foot on us, and now today another storm. We're expecting anywhere from 6-12" in this one, by tomorrow. So things are looking very white and wintery! I'm doing my best to concentrate on "warm and cozy" rather than "cold and snowy".

So let's head back to the land of palm trees and pelicans for some more quilts, shall we? (Did my title throw you off? Did you think I was heading back to Florida? (I wish...) No, we're going back... come on!) I've made you wait long enough - let's look at some of the entries in the World Quilt Competition. In honour of my new (and loyal) followers "down under", I'm starting off with quilts from Australia and New Zealand.

Because I'd much rather be looking at flowers than a snowstorm, let's begin with Ena's Pink Waratahs by Denise Griffiths of Australia, 45" x 68".
 "My inspiration comes from Australian Native Flowers and my beautiful Mum as this is the last quilt she has seen before she went blind. I use a technique I call "Bagliqué" a very easy way to appliqué without having to turn edges. You just bag them. I use a mixture of hand dyed and commercial fabrics and shade the pieces with Neocolor II. Free motion embroidered daisies."















Hand and Machine Appliquéd, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted. Original Design.













In the Mughal's Midnight Garden, 84" x 57", by Hazel Foot of New Zealand. "Inspired by a photograph taken in India of stonework on  a heritage building. The quilt uses the bright colors of the women's saris to evoke the energy and vibrancy of India. The flower motifs are mainly silks with shot cotton, cut on the bias for the trellis work. The piece is machine appliquéd and machine quilted with hand embellishment on the center."












Machine Appliquéd, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted. Original Design.
This quilt won "Best Use of Color" in the Traditional category.

Arum Bouquets, 89" x 89", by Anne Yeo of New Zealand. "My original inspiration was a bouquet of lilies in a church. This formed the bouquets in the central diamond. The 8 other bouquets were designed to fit the 8 corners formed by the squares and diamonds of the quilt layout. Techniques used are hand needleturn appliqué, machine embroidery, domestic machine quilted, hand couched fine gold cord around the ribbons. I feel that this design and quilt layout work very well together." (I would have to agree!!)

Hand Appliquéd, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted.
This quilt won "Best of Country" for New Zealand.




















Traditions with a Celtic Twist, 40" x 38", by Anna Williams of New Zealand. "The quilting depicts the usually pieced patterns and the Celtic work."

Machine Appliquéd, Machine Quilted, Original Design.

Note: I have not cut off any of this quilt, it was bordered on only two sides.

Grandmother-sisters' Garden, 88" x 96", by Jocelyn Thornton of New Zealand. "Both grandmothers and my sister plant flowers. I sew them, planted in a trellis border fabric. Back pieced from fabrics bought with the border for a quilt top. Flowers are hand sewn and machine quilted with guidance and help from Sharon Perry, who designed more hexagon patterns especially for this quilt. We used a computer driven longarm machine owned by Sue Burnett, who gave us the use of it."











Hand Pieced, Machine Quilted.









Note: From a distance this quilt appeared to be a "One Block Wonder" design, but upon closer inspection, we were surprised to see it is all done with (fussy-cut) hexagons. WOW!!









I am from...  by Wendy Ward of New Zealand. 21" x 71". " This quilt is one in a series based on a  poem I wrote entitled "I am from..." The poem is printed on the back of the quilt. I was born and bred in the South Island of New Zealand. One day while looking at the map of New Zealand for inspiration I 'saw' the South Island as the shape of a woman's dress. I had the map printed onto the cotton fabric and went from there."

Machine Appliquéd, Machine Quilted, Original Design.

Very clever!!







Coreopsis, 49" x 49", by Bernardine Hine of Australia.  "Every spring these Coreopsis bloom freely along the roadsides in my area, a garden escapee and weed. They raise their cheerful yellow faces skyward, attracting the local bees to feast on their offerings. Cotton and synthetic fabrics, painted and dyed with both fibre reactive dyes and fabric paints, bleaching, raw edge free motion appliqué, free motion embroidered and quilted."

Machine Appliquéd, Machine Quilted.

This quilt won "Best of Country" for Australia.

Soldier On, 70" x 40", by Lucy Carroll of Australia.  "Soldier On is my interpretation of the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial. The placing of a poppy is a poignant act which connects us with fallen soldiers through the generations. When we visit the Memorial I take my children to place their own poppies beside the names of my friends and former classmates lost in recent conflicts."








Hand Appliquéd, Machine Appliquéd, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted, Original Design.

My Turkish Plate, 40" x 40", by Valda Sutton of New Zealand.  "I have always been inspired by the colors and designs of Turkish tiles. While travelling in Turkey I took a photo of a 15th century design, hoping to replicate it in fabric. Using traditional motifs and colors the design has been machine appliquéd, the background areas have been finely stipple-quilted, flattening the background, showing the motifs to be raised."

Machine Appliquéd, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted, Original Design.









And lastly, Persian Promise, 88" x 88", by Ansa Breytenbach of New Zealand. "The quilt design is based on principles of the hidden courtyard gardens of Persia. The walls enclose the exotic beauty within, thus the emphasis is placed on the tranquiltiy and peace. The colors used also reflect on the deserts of Persia and the rich contrast of the lush beauty of a desert oasis."

















Machine Appliquéd, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted, Original Design.















Can you see that there is a tiny bead stitched at every intersection of the cross-hatching?  That alone would have taken hours.....

This quilt won second place in the Traditional category of the World Competition.









Piece!
Linda

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out." ~ R. Collier