Sunday 29 August 2010

Only 4.5 weeks to AMQF Classes

It is 4.5 weeks until I teach at the Australian Machine Quilting Festival in Adelaide 1-4October.   They have opened up another class on  Friday so those who wanted to come to my class but had a clash with other classes on Saturday - you can now book for Friday. 

I think Registration closes on 17 September - so get Registered if you are going!  I'd love to see you there.

Now this beautiful envelope in the picture here was sent to me from none other than Maria Thomas of Zentangle - isn't it beautiful.  Maria is a professional calligrapher - what a wonderful way to have a letter addressed to me!  Only 5.5weeks and I am off to the home of Zentangle in Massachusetts USA  to do a class with Maria and Rick - very very excited - can you see me doing the happy dance - lol!  And just because I could, I counted the number of planes I will be on in October - 11 - yes 11 different planes - you know the biggest bit about flying that I hate - the ups and downs - OMGoodness i have to do that 11 different times - I am a big baby when it comes to travelling on my own.

This week has flown past really quickly ... I have been getting my class notes and samples together as well as organising kits with some beautiful paper to draw on.    So I haven't had much time for the actual Art of Zentangle .... this is the sum total of my tangling this week - done while sitting in my car waiting for my son to finish class for the day. 

Next time Gadget, next time I'll do more!

Happy Tangling for now ... Jane x

Monday 23 August 2010

Illuminated Letter Finished & Quilt Zentangle Closeups

My Illuminated M is finished .. I have added some more watercolour.  You can see that it is a birthday card for my husband's 50th birthday - which is in October and I will be away ... the first one I have missed but I think I feel worse about it than he does!   If I do another one I would probably set it out differently but it was a great lot of fun drawing it.










Here are some more close ups of the quilt using
Zentangle patterns adapted for quilting - some need adapting, some don't.  I took these while still on the longarm being quilted - so this is the underside of the quilt.  It is funny trying to take a photo upside down!































Okay that's it for now ... hope you all like them and thanks for stopping by.   Between my two blogs I think I have had over 150 people come look at these pics since last night ... but no comments other than a few lovely personal emails to me - I would love to hear from you all, I'm sure some of you have done this before - what has the outcome been, have you been happy with the quilting process etc.

And if you haven't been to the Australian Machine Quilters Festival web site ... go on over now - they have heaps of classes to choose from and of course mine!   Cheers for now....Jane

Sunday 22 August 2010

Do The Zentangle - Quilting with Zentangle

Zentangle Meets Quilting .... I have quilted a table runner with Zentangle patterns so you can see a small pre-view of my class at AMQF in Adelaide.  So if you are interested in taking my class ... visit the AMQF site and book your class. 






A corner ... the borders were quilted using the Paradox pattern.






















These are some of my zentangle patterns ... very simple ones.





























Leaves and swirls, paradox and more
































I hope you have enjoyed looking at these pictures ... this quilt was quilted using a green thread in keeping with the theme of the quilt (I called it Spearmint Twist).   You could use different coloured threads to get a more noticeable effect.

So ... go on over to the AMQF website to book into my class in Adelaide - October 2010.

Happy Tangling for now...Jane x

Thursday 19 August 2010

Inspired by Zentangle Masterclass

 I have been reading with interest the Zentangle blog and the recent Masterclass that was held in Newport.   Oh my goodness - how I wish I had been there.  Well ... I wasn't but I have spent a little time making my own Illuminated Letter (M for Monk of course)

What do you think?   I used watercolour for the colouring and i really like how it looks.
 Now it looks even more different with tangles using the Sepia pen.
And some more added zentangles ... it still has a way to go yet...but while I am having some very off days ... this keeps me going.














This is a little zentangle that I completed the other night ... very 3D ... and can you see "Bronx Cheer" where I stuffed up thougt it would look nice! LOL!

Happy tangling for now ... Jane x

Tuesday 17 August 2010

New Zentangle Pattern - Plaid

Some new drawings for you to enjoy...






























I have been inspired by some of Maria's recent zentangles to try this pattern out ... I love it.













 Now this one is not finished ... but it has my new pattern in it "Plaid"   see the steps below...












I hope you can see it okay - I made a mistake and have crossed out the 2nd step at the top - so skip this bit.    Click on the photo to see it closer.

Enjoy "PLAID"

Saturday 14 August 2010

Fantastic News - AMQF October 2010


I will be teaching at the AMQF (Australian Machine Quilting Festival) in Adelaide 1-4 October 2010. 
You may have noticed that Zentangles are taking the world by storm. Zentangle® is an easy to learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It is a fascinating new art form that is fun and relaxing. It increases focus and creativity as well as improving your dexterity and pen control. Zentangle provides artistic satisfaction and an increased sense of personal well being, even if you thought you couldn’t draw ... you really can, one stroke at a time! I have taken Zentangles one step into my world of quilting where I use this method of drawing to discover new designs for background fillers. Inspiration is everywhere we look, even in the fabric we are quilting. So come along to this hands-on class where I will teach you how to draw simple, beautiful Zentangles and then how to adapt these patterns into background fillers for your quilting.
And for those of you who were wondering, I have the founders of Zentangle,  Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas’s blessings to go ahead with this – so a big thank you to them and their trust in my ability.   I will be flying off to the USA the following weekend to do a Certification Class with Rick and Maria in Massachusetts... so I will be one of the first people in Australia to be a CZT (Certified Zentangle Teacher).  
Now my internet connection has been slowed do snail pace ... uploading pics is painfully slow.   I will post a few photos here by Tuesday (when my provider resets my connection speed) ... so come back and have a look – I’d love to hear any comments.  In the meantime – head on over to the AMQF and check out their classes – they are for both longarmers and domestic quilters ... it looks all set to be a great festival and I am sure happy I am going!
Happy Zentangling for now ... Jane

Tuesday 10 August 2010

It's been so long ...

Life has been pretty busy lately ... I have missed my early morning Zentangle sessions!

Here is a little tangle; I drew this on the 1st of August and none since ... I went back to the original Zentangle patterns for this one and it has gone home with one of my friends.

I have a few new ideas for patterns and hope to draw them up later this week.

Happy Zentangling for now....Jane