Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Grahamstown


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Originally uploaded by thebodens
Gemma has grown in a lovely young girl. she loves crafts and in particular beading. We had fun putting a few beads together.

Grahamstown


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Originally uploaded by thebodens
Susha teaches at Gemma's school and does the P.R. work.
Susha and Martin have such a beautiful and interesting home.

Grahamstown


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Originally uploaded by thebodens
Martin works for The Presidents Award which is such an interesting job.Here he is going off to work while we laze away,

Grahamstown.


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Originally uploaded by thebodens
Martin and Susha Scholtz run a B anB from their beautiful home in Grahamstown and were kind enough to have us stay for two nights. It was wonderful catching up and seeing where they work and live.

EasternCape


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Originally uploaded by thebodens
A view of Clive and Terry's property.

EasternCape


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Originally uploaded by thebodens
Terry went to a great deal of trouble and prepared a lovely lunch for us. Their home is in a beautiful setting.Thanks for having us Terry and Clive.
Thanks for taking us on a tour of your property Clive.

EasternCape


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Originally uploaded by thebodens
I have not seen my cousin Terry and her husband Clive for many, many years. It was good connecting and visiting them on their farm. Terry takes great pride in her vegetable farming when she is not occupied with her children. Unfortunately Samantha is away at boarding school and Kendal was not home from day school so we did not get to meet them.
what a pity the family is so scattered.

The Steyn family.

Lindy nee Steyn, her hubby Gerhard and two beautiful children joined us for breakfast before we set off. It was lovely seeing and meeting them all.

Going Crazy


Going Crazy
Originally uploaded by thebodens
Knowing my passion for quilting, Val prepared our room with this quilt covering our bed. It is her first effort and she says her last! I think she has missed her calling.

Lovely embroidery


Lovely embroidery
Originally uploaded by thebodens
Just another example of Val's lovely work. I love the shine the cottons give off.

Val's embroidery


Val's embroidery
Originally uploaded by thebodens
Another example of Val's work. She has worked on a course linen and the work is very dramatic due to the black background.

Embroidered Butterflies


Embroidered Butterflies
Originally uploaded by thebodens
Val started out on an outreach programme teaching women to do this kind of Indian embrodery. She is no longer involved but has done some beautiful work herself. All her dining room chairs are embroidered in various designs.

The Steyns


The Steyns
Originally uploaded by thebodens
While in the Eastern Cape we looked up our ex-Swazi friends Val and Marnie Steyn. They live a beautiful home and are extremely happy living here.
It was so good to see them again.

A cute quilt.


A cute quilt.
Originally uploaded by thebodens
This is one of the many quilt patterns for sale in Beatrice's shop. She has her daughters working for her and one of them does all the designs for the quilts.

Quiltalk.


Quiltalk.
Originally uploaded by thebodens
At last I got to visit Beatrice Whitehead at her Quilt shop in George. What a lovely shop with the most wonderful selection of fabrics. Beatrice travels to all the quilt meetings and brings a selection of her goods to sell so it was super visiting her for a change.
The quilt in the background is what I would like to make for Molly when she is a little older.

Hope's village quilt.
Originally uploaded by thebodens
What fun we had putting Hope's appliqued blocks together. We had to borrow a rotary cutter from her neighbour to do the job. Fortunately she has a great selection of fabrics so there was no difficulty in finding the right fabrics. Now for the quilting.......! Sorry there wasn't enough time to complete the job while staying with Rene and Hope.

Sunshine and Shadows.


Sunshine and Shadows.
Originally uploaded by thebodens
Taking a peek at the fabric used on the back of the quilt. Bali fabrics bought in Denpassar in Bali are really lovely and Maybe just maybe we will be going back this year.

Sunshine and Shadows


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Originally uploaded by thebodens
It was great using some of my lovely stash from Indonesia. The back of this quilt is backed with fabric from Bali. This is a little lap top quilt which I think Hope's cats will enjoy sleeping on.As long as it is enjoyed who minds. the joy is in the making.
It is time to catch up on my blogs. Not having broadband back in South Africa has been an obstacle and then since we got back to Asia I had to get our new computer sorted out and learn all over again how to blog. Once I get going I really enjoy writing and blogging our photographs so here goes. 2007 was to start off with a trip to the Cape and visiting family and friends along the way. I wanted to make something special for my dear Aunt Hope who lives in George. It was time to use up some of my lovely Indonesian fabrics and so I chose some of the best I have and then lined the quilt with a beautiful Bali print. I used my favourite "Sunshine and Shadows" pattern as I only had a very short time in which to make this quilt. I wonder why I end up doing everything in a hurry.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Book case quilt.


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Originally uploaded by thebodens.
This is the final stages of the bookcase quilt I made for Flamboyant school. I loved making this quilt and used fabrics I had collected from all over the world.
It is very tactile with all the embellishments and hopefully the children will be allowed to touch it as it hangs in the library.

Tea cups!


Tea cups!
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
I collect, amongst other items, pretty tea cups and saucers and plates. I won these paper pieced tea cups at the guild in White River/Nelspruit and then put them together.
Rather charming, I think.

Izotsha


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Originally uploaded by thebodens.
The Beaders. My sister, Henny, Paddy and Margaret had great fun doing the beading course. That class was voted the noisiest class at Izotsha! Does that surprise us?mmmmm.
Robyn escaped having her picture taken.

Izotsha


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Originally uploaded by thebodens.
Aren't I lucky! Off to my second quilting retreat! This is the third I have attended the retreat at Izotsha. Robyn, my sister and I motor down together and this time Thembi our house helper came along as well as an outreach programme was being run by Daphne Reinbach.
I did the "Basket with a twist" course with Mary and Thalia. It was lots of hard work but I am sure will be worth it once the project is completed.

have a heart!


have a heart!
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
These little hearts were made using fabrics bought in the market in Bangkok.
I do not usually like using the heart pattern but maybe I am getting over that!

Buttons!


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Originally uploaded by thebodens.
I streamlined this pattern a little as the border was rather fiddly.
The buttons were purchased in K.L. Malaysia.

Miniature Basket.


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Originally uploaded by thebodens.
This littlebasket of folded flowers was taught to us by Margaret a fellow miniatue enthusiast.
I enjoy the miniatures as one can begin and complete a task in a few hours.

Sew Little.


Sew Little.
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
I have joined a second quilting group and managed to get to a few meetings. This group focuses on miniature quilts and calls itself "Sew little."
This is our little emblem.

Umgeni Valley KZN


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Originally uploaded by thebodens.
Our hostess and teacher Elizabeth Barrata busy quilting my completed butterfly quilt on her magic quilting machine.
Thank you Elizabeth, we all had a wonderful weekend.
Hopefully, if the coffers are full we will see you again next year.

Umgeni Valley


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Originally uploaded by thebodens.
This is my "piece de resistance"! I used specially chosen fabrics and my butterfly looks pretty good. My first piece in the background I enjoyed doing but did not enjoy the selction of fabrics I used. I want to do it again using Amish colours.

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Originally uploaded by thebodens.
Our motivator, Marilyn Gosnell, determined to complete her quilt. The weekend had a definite Swazi feel about it as we reminisced about the good old days.
Marilyn started a magnificent quilt in wonderful bright starry fabrics. Marilyn worked till all hours to get as much work done as possible.
I look forward to seeing the finished article.

Umgeni Valley


Umgeni Valley
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
Look at the selection of fabrics available for the workshops!So difficult to resist.
Wendy enjoyed finishing off a quilt which is a tribute to her friend Carol who died recently.
Wendy and i shared a room and had a great time catching up.

Umgeni Valley KZN


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Originally uploaded by thebodens.
This a view of Elizabeths Bedroom. It has the most wonderful view of the valley.
How inspirational for her as our view from the workroom was for us.

Umgeni Valley,KZN


Umgeni Valley,KZN
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
How lucky can a quilter get? Marilyn Gosnell, Wendy Moult, Dot Am and myself are off to Umgeni Valley for the weekend. Elizabeth Barrata runs a quilting retreat at her home. While she teaches downstairs her husband prepares delicious Italian fare upstairs.
We had a wonderful time. Great food. Great company, Great quilting.

Round Robin


Round Robin
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
This is the end result of a round robin I participated in.The centre piece was a gift to me from Jan, the pink dyed fabric was created by Di Hampson and travelled with the quilt.
This has adorned my walls in Swaziland, White River and now in Toti. I love this quilt and it has witnessed many a dinner party as it hung above my dining room table.
Thank you to all the contributors.

Going crazy.


Going crazy.
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
Crazy Patchwork.
My friends from White River gave this little quilt to me as a farewell gift.The two top squares are embellished with things that remind me of Mphumalanga and the bush while the two bottom squares have features of the sea. How clever as we moved from the bush to the seaside.
I will always treasure thememories of our evenings together over a glass or two of pink. Thank you Liz, Anne, Sue and Liz. I miss you!!

Butterflies


butterflies
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
Stack and Whack is fun and funky to do. I used mostly tie dyed fabrics had fun embellishing the butterflies.
Note my little "angel" I made. 2004 many friends received them for Xmas pressies.

Courthouse Steps.


courthouse3
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
I enjoy the exactness of this quilt. I used all my pinks and maroons. Once again I was challenged to us pretty little prints.

Toti Tuesday Quilters.


Toti quilters.
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
This the quilting group I hang out with. When we get together it is very noisy and there is loads of laughing.
From L to R
Henny, Mary, Paddy, Penny(me), Pam, Margaret and Rona.

chinese moon


chinese moon
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
I could call this "Bad moon rising" as I found using all the satins I bought in China impossible to work with. So often I just wanted to abandon the project. Maybe I should have tried using a stablizer.I don't even think I like the finished product. The pattern is from an Australian magazine.

grans garden


grans garden
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
I don't often use pretty little prints but challenged myself to use my collection to make this pleasant little quilt. The pattern is from an Australian quilt book Diana gave me.

Tisheshwe blues.


blues
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
This is one of two single bed quilts I made using traditional Tisheshwe cottons Together with the cream calico,It has a peaceful aura about it.

Community quilt.


Community quilt.
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
This is a quilt top made of Madras (Indian) cottons. This is my contribution to the community projects.

Cottage Patch Qulters Guild.


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Originally uploaded by thebodens.
This is the "emblem" of my home quilting group. I am only able to attend a few meetings a year but love connecting with the quilters and attending the workshops.The guild is very community spirited and once a month the quilters get together to make quilts for various charity groups.
This was also my Mother's guild.

Have a heart!


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Originally uploaded by thebodens.
This little quilt top was made by my late mother and I finished it off.
It was made to demonstrate the different methods of applique.
My Mother just loved her quilting andher quilting friends most of all!!

sj's quilt


sj's quilt
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
Triple Rail. I used a lovely piece from Rosalie Dace's collection and complemented it with turquoise and purple. I introduced black into the border and it is most effective.
One of my braver colour wise quilts.

Forest triangles.


Forest triangles.
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
An early attempt at using triangles.
I originally made this for Nick's bedroom.I was experiencing with light and dark.

Quilts


Quilts
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
This is one two quilts made whilst living in Swaziland. One is now being used as my brother Lester's "blankie".
I love the "around the world" Pattern and used sheeting for this quilt bought from Manzini. Really the only fabrics available.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

My workroom.


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Originally uploaded by thebodens.
My thimble collection which consists of over 500 thimbles. It really has stagnated for sometime now..

Workroom.


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Originally uploaded by thebodens.
I am trying very hard to "dent" my stash so I have reasons to purchase more fabrics. I know it does look a little chaotic but to me there issuficient order from which to create.
Each fabric has a story behind it too!

My latest machine


toti 010
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
I just love my new Pfaff and wish I could take it with me wherever I venture. What a beauty!! It does the most wonderful blanket stitch applique too. Now for art quilts....!!

Original Sewing Machine


Original Sewing Machine
Originally uploaded by thebodens.
This was my very first sewing machine given to me by my grandmother Alice King. I took it to college and my friends and I made many a "quick" outfit on it. While one turned the handle the other guided the fabric!! What fun we had when fabric was just 75c a meter or was it a yard.