My Melbourne Escape

Posted on July 14, 2014 by admin

It’s been a long while since I updated my blog as I’ve been busy preparing my well-deserved trip to Melbourne, Australia. I was there from 26 June to 6 July and just got back a few days ago. It was a wonderful trip and it has been ages since I had such a great time! Not only did I get the chance to catch up with old friends, I also had the opportunity to visit the Craft & Quilt Fair at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre on my first day of arrival. I’m just so blessed the event coincided with my trip! This is the first time I attended a quilt show and it was truly an eye opener. Well, we are talking about hundreds of professional quilters and crafters from across Australia and overseas who exhibited their products! Everywhere I went, there were beautiful quilts and craft creations being displayed, and I’ve never seen such an extensive range of products on show! Anything from quilts, bags and fashion to plush toys, notions and patterns. You name it, you have it! There were also talks and workshops conducted by esteemed crafters at regular intervals. Over at a corner, there were gorgeous quilts on display for the annual quilt competition. What I saw left me in awe as I’ve never seen such beautiful quilts before! Not just that, I’m amazed by the creativity of these Aussie quilters as it didn’t occur to me that some quilts could be done in a certain way!

Besides the the craft show, I also took the effort to visit craft markets in the city, just to check out what the local crafters are doing, in the hope it could give me fresh inspirations for my craft business. I visited the Rose Street Artists Market and St Kilda Esplanade over the two weekends I was there.

Again, I’m fascinated by the creativity of the Aussie crafters. There’s such a huge buzz and vibrant arts & crafts scene in Melbourne which I think Singapore crafters can learn from. No wonder there are so many talented crafters there, owing to the space and culture there to encourage people to do so.

For more exciting updates of my Melbourne trip, check out my travel blog at http://vivientraveljournal.blogspot.sg/.

Singapore Quilt Challenge 2011

Posted on October 25, 2011 by admin

Finally the day I’ve been waiting for is here – the Singapore Quilt Challenge 2011! I’ve been slogging and pushing myself to complete my quilt, and I’m so glad I managed to complete it last Saturday…phew! Despite countless problems with machine quilting on my Janome, I feel so blessed that my quilt made it for the quilt challenge.

My! The event at the British Club was a total eye-opener for me, it being the first quilt show I’ve attended and the first time I’m submitting a quilt for a competition. And no, I’m definitely not looking forward to winning as I know there’ll be many more gorgeous quilts on display. It’s really the experience and opportunity to network with fellow quilters that kept me on my toes.

True enough, there were so many charming quilts on display I was at a loss for words! These are some of the winners:

This quilt named “Chinese Lantern” is my personal favourite and it’s no surprise that it emerged as first prize winner!

This gorgeous quilt came in 2nd place. Tones of orange were cleverly pieced together with simple applique shapes, winning votes from many quilters.

This is also one of my favourite quilts on display. I love how the applique design creates an added dimension, giving it a well-deserved 3rd prize.

This quilt won a special commendable prize. I love how the cubes gave the entire quilt a 3D feel.

Yet another simple quilt which won a special commendable prize. I love how the hues of neutrals and blues turn out.


Another quilt which won a special commendable prize. Using only strips, the quilter has effectively allowed the flowers to stand out in her creation.

This is my quilt named “Summer Pinwheels” which I submitted for the quilt challenge. Sadly, I think it looks so inferior compared to the rest of the gorgeous quilts on display! Thank God my name wasn’t displayed. LOL!

Here’s some of the other beautiful quilts on display. I think every quilter is a winner in today’s challenge, as we’ve all put in lots of effort and time in our creations.

Finally completed my pinwheel log cabin quilt top

Posted on August 8, 2011 by admin

I was working on a quilt for the Singapore Quilt Challenge “Striptease” over the past two months and finally finished piecing the top yesterday. I also basted it last night and now it’s all ready to be machine quilted!

This pretty quilt top measures 35″x35″ and has charming pinwheels surrounded by log cabin blocks. It’s my first attempt quilting a log cabin quilt and I’m quite pleased with the results, though there are always room for improvements. I used charm squares from Fig Tree’s “Fig and Plum” and honeybun from Fig Tree’s “Fresh Cottons” for the top. Love the colour combination and soft look of how it all turned out!

The “Striptease” quilt challenge will be held on 26 October and I have exactly two months to finish quilting and binding! Very tight timeline for completion but I will try my best to work towards the deadline.

Finished pinwheel log cabin quilt top

Quilt Challenge in Singapore

Posted on June 6, 2011 by admin

There’s an upcoming Quilt Challenge in Singapore in October and the theme is “Striptease”. The terms and conditions state that the quilt should be pieced by strips not wider than 2.5″ and it should not be larger than a single bed size.

This is probably the first time I’ve heard of a quilt show in Singapore and I’m participating! With my amateur skills, I know I’ll probably not win anything but decided to go for it anyway for the fun of it and to meet and learn from fellow quilters.

I happen to have a few jelly rolls/honey buns on hand, so that’s what I’ll use for my quilt. Finally they could be put to good use!

I was thinking about my quilt design and finally decided on this pretty pinwheel quilt which I saw in the Moda Bake Shop:

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2010/08/pinwheels-in-house-quilt.html

It’s pretty and simple enough to piece together. With my limited time, I definitely can’t go for any complicated designs. Not forgetting I only have four more months to work on it!

Here’s my WIP – what I have completed so far:

Squares cut from my honey bun and charm squares, ready to be pieced

Here’s the completed pinwheel blocks – 25 in total

Arranging one of the pinwheel blocks with the log cabin borders

I’m using the “Fresh Cottons” honey bun and “Fig and Plum” charm squares for this quilt – all from my favourite Fig Tree Quilts. The finished size is 35″ x 35″.

I’ve finished arranging five blocks as of last night – 20 more to go! It’s not easy to match the pinwheel blocks to the appropriate log cabin borders and this is where it gets all exciting! This is such a fun quilt to work on and I can’t wait to complete it, so I’ll be in time to submit it for the quilt show.