Look !

Lately all I do on here is tell you about stuff that is in Magazines

I'm hoping soon after a few big jobs are out of the way I can start playing with the blog again. I kinda miss it.

The Latest Australian Homespun Magazine is out and has one of my creations on the cover.

you can buy it here

Please note Ms 7's placement of the lego horse....... I think she has watched me set up photo shoots far too many times.

I used a Aurifil variegated blue cotton thread on my Bernina 710 to quilt it in an echo pattern. Have a look at the mag for more detailed pictures and the pattern. 

I'm off to finish writing up some patterns for more magazine stories which you should see in a few months time.......

Siobhan  Xx

Quilting Class Give away

Hi!

I've been offered a giveaway by the lovely people at Craftsy for my blog readers :) 

I'm not big on giveaways usually but this seemed like something you guys might actually want?!

Its a precision piecing class taught by Norah McMeeking

You are taught how to do Amish Pinwheels, Stained glass Windows and Emerald rings. All templates are included in the course.

So - all you have to do is follow the link

HERE

which will take you to the BeaSpoke Quilts giveaway page and fill out your details

too EASY!

The end date for the comp will be two weeks 18th May 2013 - I will then pick a random number and Craftsy will email you the link to the class! 

Can't go wrong 

In other news I'm getting ready to go to Portland for Spring Market 

and I'm trying to finish a few quilts before I go away 

If your on Instagram or Twitter I'm @BeaSpokeQuilts

I'll most likely be taking a million pictures on my trip :)

and just because I cant have a post without a picture - here is an oldie

My Lone Star Quilt

Have a great weekend :)

Xx Siobhan 

New Sewing Machine :) & Autumn

Hello!

This week on Instagram (@beaspokequilts) I was saying that Autumn is my most favourite time of year.

The light is perfect

Its not to hot

or to cold

Things start to slow down

I see more family & friends

Its Perfect cooking weather......

my list could go forever

but most importantly its lovely in The Shed this time of year and I'm getting lots of stuff done :)

I'm trying out a new sewing machine at the moment and instead of finishing off the last bits of two quilts I'm working on 

I have given myself a challenge to make a jelly roll quilt.

I rant on a lot about consistency in my patchwork classes 

- If you make a mistake - make the same mistake through the whole quilt

- try to use the same sewing machine for a whole quilt

- use the same rulers or at least check that the cutting mat at class matches the one at home

Things can be out by a few millimetres from manufacturer to manufacturer and it can mean the difference between blocks joining or not joining.

anyway - Thats why I started a new quilt

To try out the new Bernina 7 series machine (this is not a sponsored post)

My Long arm quilter friend Kim is a Bernina Dealer and she has kindly let me use her machine to see if I like it :)

Whats not to like ??!!? 

I will eventually probably write a blog about the machine. I currently have a Janome, Pfaff and now a Bernina in my studio and they all have their own merits.

any way back to the jelly roll quilt

Often in my classes I am asked "what can you make with a jelly roll" or "how many jelly rolls to make a quilt"

so I bought five Moda jelly rolls - all different designer collections and I am making a Trip around the world quilt

Here is a little math

5 X Jelly Rolls = 33 X 6 strips

Each set of 6 strip = 2 X Blocks

5 X Jelly Rolls = 66 Blocks 

Each block measures 12 inch finished

If I use 8 X 8 Block configuration

= 64 Blocks

This will make a king sized quilt

96 X 96 Inches

I was making around 8 blocks a day

and with a bit of procrastination it was taking me 3hrs.

I've had two days of no sewing so I'm behind on my schedule....

Friday I was being social and hosting a lunch and today (Saturday) was our kids sports day.

Hopefully next week I can finish it off!

Although it is School holidays....

In other news I popped into Calico & Ivy Balmain, Sydney store

They are closing down early May 2013

and have a most things reduced in store.

Its worth a look if you are in the Sydney area

I picked up some Liberty of London fabrics so I can make some more Leather bags and have liberty as the lining.

How cute are the Tea Cups?! 

and last Thursday I dropped into NSW Leather at Waterloo,Sydney again and picked up some more sheep skins - Its so lovely and soft.

I now have some teflon feet to try out(Thank you Christine Mitchell from Hobby Sew Top Ryde) for sewing leather with the Bernina 7 series machine - Fingers crossed it makes it easier than with the standard foot. 

I had some lovely emails and comments from my last blog post about sewing with leather - THANK YOU!

I stupidly deleted them in my half asleep state and couldn't retrieve them.

I usually reply.... so - sorry I didn't reply and thank you very much for writing to me :)

I've also had some emails about pattern errors - which is unfortunate.

 Sometimes its a mistake in the editing process and sometimes its diagrams being taken out because the pattern is too long for the amount of pages allocated to my story... etc etc

Either way it reflects badly on me.

It happens alot to everyone - when students bring other peoples patterns from magazines to class they do tend to have errors...

It pays to read the pattern all the way through and double check fabric requirements / block / finished sized - I can usually pick up a mistake or at least correct it for a student so we avert any disasters when I'm teaching.

In the future I will try to get a read through before patterns go to publication - but things go through so quickly its hard for magazines to do.... I'm not sure what the answer is?

I like sharing my patterns and having my quilts published but I don't want a bad name.

If you ever have any issues with my patterns please don't hesitate to email me

Anyway I best be off!

The Girls have soccer tomorrow morning and I need to make sure all their gear is ready - Otherwise it will be mayhem.

Xx Siobhan  

Seasonal Cooking - Fig Tart

On arrival back home after nearly three weeks away on our Summer Holiday up North I set off to do some grocery shopping and came home with copious amounts of Fruit.

In summer the kids basically live in the pool and feast on Mangoes,Bananas,Watermelon & lots of stone fruits. 

To my surprise the fruit shop also had lots of locally grown boxes of Figs at a great price, I tend to think of Figs as an Autumn fruit... I looked it up and I was very surprised to see Figs had two seasons of produce a year. 

One in Autumn and one in late Summer.

You learn something new every day...

anyway

I love figs

Savoury or sweet and they always photograph beautifully!

We have been living off them (40 in the box)and the last of the figs started to ripen quickly.

Sydney has been a strange one in the last few days or so with its weather.

 Our second day home (Friday) saw the hottest recorded weather in Sydney's history!

The inside of our house was 40c at one stage.

Thankfully that evening a lovely cool southerly change came through.

which meant come saturday I could bake and use up the last of the ripening figs.

Fig Tart Recipe 

Set a fan forced oven at 170c

Short Crust pastry

I have used a very high quality store bought shortcrust pastry that I try to always have in my freezer. In this tart I used a combination of two flavours.

1 sheet of Dark Chocolate short crust pastry

1/2 a sheet of Vanilla bean sweet short crust pastry

prepare and cook the pastry shell to store bought (or your own recipe) instructions.

I used the dark chocolate short crust on the base and the vanilla short crust on the sides (refer to picture below)

Tart Filling

1 cup hazelnut meal

300g double thick cream

1/2 cup plain flour

6 table spoons brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla paste

3 teaspoons *fig Vino Cotto

mix all the above ingredients together in a bowl until it forms a paste. Spoon into the prepared tart shell and spread out evenly.

*instead of Vino Cotto you could use any liquids from water to a liquor such as Frangelico.

13 Figs

wash and cut the figs in half and place on top of tart filling, pushing down slightly.

Bake in a fan forced oven at 170c for 45 minutes or until the filling is set and browned (make sure to turn the tart for even browning). Take the tart out of the oven and let it cool before serving.

Serve with a dollop of vanilla bean ice cream 

I unfortunately didn't get a chance to take a proper picture of the finished result as the tart was taken straight from the oven to a friends house :)

here is my average Instagram photo below.

Happy Baking 

Xx Siobhan

Linen whole cloth quilt

Way back after my NYC trip in September I put this quilt top together.

I was inspired after a few museum trips and I wanted to try out some whole cloth quilt type ideas.

This one was given to my Dad for Christmas :)

I'm pretty happy with it !

I have a few similar ones waiting to be quilted, this one was long arm quilted by Kim Bradley in a figure 8 pattern that she made for me awhile back, I tend to use it on most of my quilts.

This is a big quilt - pictured its on a king sized bed

the cool fluro lights in the background are from BHV in Paris - I have a few more colours too, my kids think they are giant Lightsabers.

&

The framed fabric work is mine 

The rug pops up all over the place - its my Fav :)If you click on the above link I have more info about it and where to buy one.

Cushions are also my own 

anyway this is one of my usual brief posts - I'm suppose to be packing for my kids, they fly to Brisbane tomorrow to stay with family and soak up the sunshine :)

I'll be joining them after new years.

Hopefully I'll get a bit of work done between now and then :)I need to organise my 2013 teaching schedule and get ahead with a few patterns 

Xx Siobhan 

Big Block Beauty

Here you go

This is the quilt in the latest Australian Quilters Companion, Modern Quilts Special

it should be in store in Australia soon

This Quilt is a big one - measuring 84 X 108 inches

In my picture its on a king Size Bed,

in the magazine its on a queen size bed.

This is a re sized big version of an old block - the Courthouse steps

Its a great pattern for using up all your bits n pieces of your stash or even finally making that quilt out of your old favourite dresses and vintage fabrics. 

My Quilt is very bright and bold using a different colour for every block and for the neutrals I have used variations of white with grey text/ print.

If your looking for Text print fabrics or plain neutral backgrounds - I have some in my Spoonflower store.

So many variations are possible with this pattern!

the magazine also has a 4 page story about me and pictures of other quilts I have made :) 

the lovely quilt on the cover is by Cathy Underhill from Mt Martha Victoria, Australia.

The other projects are by

Brenda Gael Smith

Jenny Pedigo

Cynthia Muir

Jen Carlton Bailly

Charlotte Dumesny

and

Bill Kerr & Weeks Ringle

Enjoy the rest of your weekend

Xx Siobhan 

stop to smell the roses

Gosh time flies!

I made this quilt back in June this year for a Modern Quilts special for Australian Quilters Companion.....

and finally today it landed in my letter box!

Thanks Claire (Editor) :))) 

the magazine should hit the shelves during the next week or so - its worth a look and I have some very fine company :) 

 I read a newsletter recently by Denise Schmidt and she talked about taking a second to congratulate yourself and note all your achievements in 2012, she noted that life and work can be a whirl wind and we need to take the time and be still to think of all we have done. 

Its funny because of the type of stuff I do I can often forget to stop and appreciate my work - I'm usually too busy chasing or trying to finish the next "thing" and I mostly work 6-12 months ahead of anything going to print. I love what I do and I am incredibly lucky that I get my work published.

Thank you to everyone who reads my blog, makes my quilt patterns, takes my patchwork classes and sends me emails.

It means so very much to me and keeps me going in the work that I love.

Tomorrow I'll try to get a few better pics of the Quilt in the Magazine article and get some links up!

Here's to a very interesting next twelve months :)))

Xx Siobhan

quilting, photo shoots & markets

A few quick pics

I've had a couple of busy days finishing and starting projects and then today I had an Australian Quilting Magazine at my house photographing for a up coming publication, very interesting and lots of fun.The Mag will be on sale in 3 or so months time - no doubt I'll be showing you when its out ;-)

Prior to all of that on the weekend I went to the Finders Keepers Markets and saw some familiar faces selling lovely things.

The screen printed Owl is one of Kristen Doran's. I saw it at the Finders keepers Market and had to buy it - Too cute!

I'm teaming it up with my Text fabric and some light denim. Not sure exactly what I'm doing just knew how I wanted to start it! I'll keep you posted.....

all the above fabrics are available to buy in my Spoonflower shop

and this lovely screen printed fabric is from Leslie of Maze & Vale - the flowers I scored from the photo shoot

I'm loving Purple and Green at the moment!

My garden is full of it

I really need to look for some fabric combinations that are similar .....

anyway

I'm off to enjoy a Chai Latte and some peace and quiet :)

Xx Siobhan