Amanda Daly

Amanda Daly
I've been passionately working with fabric for more than 25 years . . . relax with me as you read about my life and my quilts

Saturday 20 December 2008

Under One Sun


Here is a photo of my entry in the Quilters' Guild of NSW annual challenge. The theme was Coast and Country. It's raw edge applique (currently my favourite technique).
It received second place - Great.

Wednesday 24 September 2008

Workroom Mess


When you are working on a quilt are you tidy or messy.

These days I only clean up my work room when I've finished a project.

It's not that I like working in a mess but I'm a bit driven and just keep churning through the work and I feel completely incapable of cleaning anything up 'till I've finished.

I know some quilters who I suspect put every reel of thread away in it's correct place and fold every piece of fabric and put it away as soon as it has been used. perhaps their scissors are always in the same place and threads are put into a container instead of the floor.


I have multiple unpickers, scissors and other pieces of equipment but towards the end of a project I'm hard pressed to anything. Much of my equipment and most of the threads and bits and pieces end up in piles on the benches or buried on the floor along with paper work, reels of thread, fabric and miscellaneous items. It can be quite annoying if I can't find what I want but that's just the way it is.

I'm in the process of cleaning up as I write. A clean photo to follow when I've finished.

Tuesday 23 September 2008

2.20am

Do you like a challenge? Do you work better under pressure?

I know I do, I think I purposely leave it until the last possible minute to start a quilt for a challenge, thriving on the pressure... It doesn't really make sense does it?

I finished my challenge quilt for the Quilters'Guild of NSW challenge at 2.20am this morning. It was all finished with the binding, hanging sleeve and label all in place by midnight, but it really needed a little something else to finish it off. Two hours and twenty minutes later I was finally satisfied. I'll post a photo of it after the guild's AGM and the unveiling of all of the challenge quilts.

After just five hours sleep I delivered it personally to the guild office in the city. I met a friend (a first time challenge participant) and we made a day of it, travelling on the River Cat and enjoying a walk through the city and around the Opera House before travelling home.

Pity I left the car lights on all day. Waiting for the NRMA to arrive to start my car was a bit of a downer at the end of the day.

Looking forward to a good nights sleep tonight and a few days break before I head into the next last minute challenge.

Sunday 14 September 2008

Hidden delight


When I'm on holiday in Qld I always make a point of visiting this quaint little shop. It just keeps getting better and better.
On my last visit I discovered that they have now expanded into the old bakery across the road. You'll need to ask Trevor to arrange to open this new shop for you.
Howard's Drapery is one of the few shops in Howard (a few kms north of Hervey Bay).

The patchwork fabric at the back of the store (and now also across the road in the old bakery) is your reward for picking your way through the very crowded shop, its full of just about everything imaginable. The first time I visited I left without ever reaching the fabric, so don't give up, push your way to the very back of the shop and find the little room off to the right.

The service is friendly but make sure you have plenty of time to spare.
It just goes to prove you can't judge a book by its cover

Sunday 24 August 2008

Backyard beach



Recently we visited relatives in Qld. Their backyard is the beach at Zilzie, just south of Yippoon.

I Took these photos on one of my many walks.

I've always loved looking at the designs crabs make on the beach.

The Sun bird hovering above the flower was taken in their garden.

We had a very relaxing holiday.

Stitches and Craft Show

Visited the stitches and craft show and caught up with some friends I hadn't seen for a while.

The Down Under Quilts calendar challenge was on display. My quilt "Colours of Australia - Simply Magic" is the September quilt.

I think I know what I'll be giving to family and friends for Christmas this year.

My Place

I've been checking out the new web site set up by Brenda Smith to showcase the MY PLACE quilt touring exhibition and I just love it. I keep going back for just another quick look. Check it out for yourself. www.myplacequilts.com

I was really excited to hear that my quilt "Blue Gum Creek" had been selected for inclusion in the exhibition. 30 quilts have been selected from each of the following countries Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The exhibition will tour for 2 years to the host countries and Europe.

I'm looking forward to seeing all of the quilts at the Australiasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne next February.

Wednesday 21 May 2008

Retreat at Lower Portland


It was a great setting for a quilting retreat. A very rustic B & B in Lower Portland. Last weekend I taught one of my favourite workshops to a wonderful group of ladies. The view from my room and the workshop room is shown in the photo. The food was really good and so was the company. Must keep this venue in mind for future workshops.

Very tranquil.

I took the photo of the spiders web early in the morning.
Just beautiful.

Hard at work, these ladies put in a 14-16 hour day.




Some of the works in progress are on the walls

Sunday 20 January 2008

We'll be back

We boarded the plane home from New Zealand saying yes... we'll be back.
12 days simply wasn't enough to see the whole of the South Island, but we did manage a quick look around Christchurch and down to Akaroa ...absolutely beautiful. Across to the West Coast on the Tranz Alpine railway ... a great experience. Fox Glacier was amazingly good, take a look at the close up photo below. Mount Cook was breath taking viewed over Lake Matheson with brilliant reflections. I knew I'd love Queenstown and I wasn't disappointed and finally Te Anau and a cruise on Milford Sound, a place I've wanted to visit all my life. Milford Sound was awesome the only dissappointment was that even though I had spare memory cards and spare batteries for my camera ... just in case. These items failed to make it into my bag and of course the batteries ran out after just 5 photos of this very special place!
Snow on the mountain tops in the middle of summer ...COOL.
We are already planning our next visit.





I must have had a good time as I didn't even miss patchwork, though I did manage to visit a patchwork shop in Queenstown.