Authors Maro Vanezis |
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Special little people come into all of our lives. When milestones are reached it is nice to make them something special and unique. This weekend for a christening instead of giving the usual envelope with a card I decided to create a cushion. Cushions I think, have a greater life span than baby quilts and fit into various bedroom / play area settings. They don't always end up with less piecing however. This specific cushion ended up with 75 pieces to fit its 45 cm insert ! - Maro
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Finally posting this now to try and keep the momentum and inspiration going for the 100 or so Primary Art Teachers who have just completed their first hand-sewn patchwork and quilting seminar and workshop with Patchaouri... After the teachers who had taken part in our seminar in March (see previous blog- May 2017) we had a week to put together the pieces that we received from various schools islandwide. It was a massive challenge that took us 47 hours in total on top of a normal work load and daily necessities of family life .The challenges were many but, we were pleased that we managed to fit all the pieces together. The couple of blank spaces that were unavoidable allowed other children to participate in embellishing and completing the making of this quilt at it's first showing. On 24 May at the National Gallery in Nicosia "The Paphos 2017 Quilt" as we named it, was exhibited for the first time : The quilt then went on tour finally reaching its destination at the Paphos Ethnographical Museum / Museum of Cultural Heritage on June 17, where, another event was held for children to participate in : We hope that this is only the beginning of what our children in Cyprus can create with fabrics.   Look at what some soldiers were up to during the the last century wars in Crimea , India, South Africa, Prussia, Austria and France. Patchwork and Quilting !!!! Quilts were made for all sorts of reasons by soldiers using uniform fabric. Some were made for therapeutic reasons , others just to stay out of trouble and others just to be creative . These were mostly in Intarsia style, a technique that differs from most of the Quilts we see today. Quilts of wool without batting or backing, tiny pieces (many under and inch ),top stitching and embroidery on seams, pieces sewn together on the edges without seam allowances were seen throughout most of the exhibits. I can go on and on but for now enjoy a selection of these antique beauties. - Nonie Click for larger picture. War and Pieced ( Annette Gero collection of military quilts) at the American Folk Art Museum,NY.
 
One Wednesday in March Patchaouri held a seminar/workshop on the basics of Patchwork and Quilting at the University of Cyprus. The Primary School Art Teachers Union, inspired by a children's book decided, to create a quilt depicting the culture of Cyprus and donate it to the town of Paphos. For those reading this who do not live in Cyprus, Paphos is the cultural capital of Europe for 2017 and is hosting a variety of events and exhibitions (local and international) throughout the year. We squeezed a group of enthusiastic teachers into the art room of the university and after a short talk on the history and different styles and techniques of patchwork and quilting we taught them how to hand sew their own basic 9 patch block. Ideas were discussed and samples shown as to how children could embellish and attach different media and materials to a nine patch block for the larger project the school teachers were about to assign their pupils. The Paphos 2017 quilt, as we have named it, will be shown for the first time on Wednesday (24th May) at the National Gallery in Nicosia at 5pm. The primary teachers will be holding workshops for any primary children interested in adding their touch to the quilt as advertised.  What a lot of fun I had making this quilt. I hope little Valeria enjoys it as much as I did ! - Nonie.
 Yet another year flies by and too many atrocities worldwide still occuring. This year one of the charities we support who help orphan children in Africa, many also suffering from AIDS and also that children in Cyprus all get at least one proper meal a day, had another fund raising event. This year I was given a handmade doll from Africa and was told I had to turn her into my own fairytale. My mind went straight to Australia...funny that !...and to The Dreaming or Dreamtime. We all need to be reminded of where we have come from ,what we are, and, where we are going. A good time to reflect is Christmas Time and hence Dreamtime Angel was born with her stocking. The 3 facets of Dreamtime on her pebbles remind those who hold them about what is important to respect in our lives. A Merry Christmas to all... Maro and Nonie If anyone would like to donate or see what has been made possible, by a group of volunteers, please click on the button..  Remember my scrap quilt challenge back in September 2014? I was sorting out the triangles and was going to keep you updated. It took a while.... Those bins are now empty and out of them came a total of 6 patchwork quilt tops. I can hardly believe the number myself ! - Nonie Scroll down to see the new finished quilts . (If you would like to see the first two quilts - go to archives ( right on the screen) and click on the September 2014 blog post. ) Quilt 3 - Right angle triangle quilt Made from leftovers triangles from previous projects .  Right angle triangle quilt ( 1.40m X 1.90 m) Quilt 4 - Red basket weave quilt. Red, purple, pink and orange strips sewn together into a basket weave style quilt.
Quilt 5 - Wacky quarter log cabin.Combination of long uneven strips in muted colours and left over patchwork pieces. The result - a wacky uneven quilt that looks like a quarter of a log cabin block.  Wacky quarter log cabin quilt ( 2.25m x 2.41m). Quilt 6- Square Crumb quiltFinally all I had was crumbs. Some pieces were as small as 3/4 of an inch. I grouped them into similar colors.and connected them so as to have a contrasting interior. The final size of each square was three inches . 864 squares and many days later I had this!  Crumb galaxy quilt ( 1.32m x 2.08m) - Never underestimate the scraps!
Just saw an advertisment on Facebook for the 2016 Sydney Quilt and Craft fair ,which reminded me that I hadn't posted the photos of last years event apart from the Red and White themed exhibition so here goes... My time at the quilt show last year was spread over 3 days , you need that time to take in what is available and also to recharge your camera battery so you can take as many photos as possible!! The usual shops were there selling their goodies with a few new ones too just to add to the confusion of where to look first... then there were the yarns... and the smaller exhibitions... Yes, I was a bit manic taking photos but there was so much to remember....and so I don't crash the computer from all the downloading I will save the prizewinners and my favourites for another time...For anyone in Sydney this year's show starts on June 22nd.
Maro Back in Cyprus finally trying to get sorted with an array of things to do in order to get back into a routine of some sort, and reach my ultimate goal at the moment of using my fabrics again... Amongst everything, my stuff returned after nearly another 7 months of sitting in a container at a dock, or, floating about at sea. Yippee I thought, not realizing the mess and backache I was to endure for this elated emotion! Amongst all my boxes I came across my red and white materials. Having recently seen a publication at a friends house on an awesome red and white exhibition in New York (see button link below for a short tour by the curator and another button for Houston's Ruby Anniversary) and, finding this unfinished draft from last year I decided to finish it now I am back on NORMAL internet connection...yes Sydney, it was a bad experience, your communication avenues leave little to be desired! At the Sydney Quilt festival last year the NSW quilters Guild had a theme...Red and White. There were a few hundred quilts which looked fabulous all together.The New York exhibition must have been mind blowing with about 650! Enjoy some photos of some of my favourites...and those that I appreciate the work. These were done by children... The gallery photos may be enlarged if you click on them...
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