Calendar blocks

Some Instagrammers post 'month marker' images, to act as easy to find date stamps on their accounts, helping to keep track of when things were posted. Each image on Instagram has a date stamp, but you can't see them until you open the image. 

Last year Miriam made a quilt block for each month using her extensive collection of quirky cowboy prints (you would not believe how many cowboy print fabrics there are out there!), and by the end of the year had a quilt's worth of themed blocks ready to sew together. In 2019, Jill is joining Miriam in what is like having your own private block of the month, helping you to find Instagram posts, and maybe making a dent in the stash. The quilt at the end is a bonus.

One of Miriam's 2018 patchwork cowboy blocks
- really looking forward to seeing this quilt finished!

Miriam is making scrappy Plus and Cross block month markers
 from her stash in 2019.

Jill is making 15" Winged Star blocks, each with a Monika
Fosberg bird from her Savernake Road designs at its centre, 
and stash fabrics for the wings.

Which way is up?

We pin baste a lot of quilts during our monthly community sewing days, and we rarely remember which way the batting is designed to go. Especially if you use a variety of brands and types of batting, a well illustrated reminder such as this blog post by Suzy Quilts will be useful:

Batting seems pretty straightforward ... so what else could there possibly be to talk about? We need to talk about the sides of batting, and how to make sure we stay on its good side ...  Is there a right side to quilt batting? Suzy Quilts, 20 December 2018

• The link has been added to our page of 'Quick links to techniques and resources', along with the link to Spring Leaf Studios' series of posts on 'quilt-as-you' go techniques.

Summer break sewing ...

We're taking a break from regular meetings for a few summer weeks, but sewing is still happening, as evidenced by these posts from some of our members on Instagram ... looking forward to a big show and tell session when we reconvene the week after next. Enjoy your summer sewing, wherever it takes you.

Louise's felt embroidery took a turn for the three dimensional
with these stunning little birds 

Nerida has finished a bright and happy baby quilt ...

... and put the binding on her jelly roll quilt from our
October sewcial day 

Jenn generously made a quilt for one of her children's teachers.

Daphne is working through her batik stash
- aren't these blocks fun?

Sue's transport quilt, made from a retro-look panel donated
by a friend has been quilted by Laura ...

... the backing and binding pick up the colours from the front ...

... some of the images from the panel 

Jan went 3-D with these very sweet baby gifts.

Sue C's first finished top for 2019! It was started in
2009, when she bought a collection of chambray
blue batiks that look fresh and cool with their white
sashing. Quilting design under consideration.

Happy New Year

Blog series on Quilt as You Go techniques

Quilting these 16" blocks was much easier
to tackle  one by one than the much 
larger quilt they became part of.

These lovely quiet, often slow, free days between Christmas and New Year are a good time to think about what we might do next as quilters - more of what we already know and love, or maybe take a leap into something new.

Before you start your next quilt (or at least before you join all those blocks together), would you find it easier to quilt it yourself if you mastered a 'quilt as you go' technique or two?

Anne Deister, who writes the Spingleaf Studios blog has written a generous series of posts on various quilt-as-you-go techniques that might get you started. The series covers 5 ways of piecing and quilting block-by-block, and a summary of the five.

She says:

... These posts are not QAYG tutorials but they do include links to the tutorials I used. 

I know I certainly learned a lot from my explorations and will definitely be using QAYG for future projects. 

My hope is that you will be inspired to give QAYG a try.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

' It doesn’t all have to be done today. Or tomorrow ...'

We make a lot of quilts for community groups and charities, particularly over the last ten years when we have held regular sewing days, collected a community fabric stash, and concentrated on a small list of recipients whose needs we know. What works for us is that we don't have a quota of quilts we are obliged to meet, we make what we can in the time available, from the resources we have, in designs that we choose.  From time to time, opportunities arise that were unanticipated, and we take a detour. The last thing we want to do it to wear out our willingness and ability to sew for others as well as ourselves.

Amy Smart's blog post is a reminder to pace ourselves as quilters and volunteers:

... about sewing for charity and giving, including some lessons I’m learning about making time for giving and serving. So here are some thoughts on how to make the most of your sewing and giving for charity and how pace yourself in order to help the most people effectively. (Including yourself.) ...  Sew Goodness – thoughts on charitable sewing, Amy Smart, Diary of a Quilter, 2018

'Colours of the Year' 2019

Do these promotions influence your use of colour, or purchases?

There are at least two 'Colours of the Year' promotions currently running campaigns on social media.

The Kona Colour of the Year is the more narrowly focused, promoting Robert Kaufman Fabric's Kona Cotton Solids, via a limited edition colour that will be available for one year only, from January.

The 2019 Kona Cotton Colour of the year is 'Splash'. Four free quilt patterns commissioned from well known designers, using 'Splash' are available here.

It will play very nicely with the Pantone Colour of the Year for 2019, 'Living Coral'.  The Pantone Colour of the Year is influential across a very wide range of products, including textiles.

Tutor expo at Embroiderer's Guild of NSW until 28 January 2019

Gallery 76 will be closed on Public Holidays and a few other days, but there are several opening days during the holiday period for this exhibition, and then normal gallery hours until the end of January ...

Embroiderer's Guild of NSW
Check the website for opening times over the
Christmas - New Year period

For information about other quilt and textile-related events, visit our '2019 events' page.

Exhibitions online

If you would like to spend a little time just looking at quilts online in the midst of your Christmas and holiday preparations, here are a couple of Australian online exhibitions worth a visit:

Quilt NSW 2018 Challenge: Running Away with the Amish

Ozquilt Network: Australia Wide Six

Both collections are also featured in touring programs.

2018 end-of-year challenge

Last Monday saw a gathering of friends, food, punch and a challenge at our Christmas lunch to mark the end of our quilting year. Thanks to Elsa, Pat, Marilyn and Janice who organised and set-up. The evening group met for a Christmas dinner on Tuesday evening - some of us  managed to get to both. We will take a break from regular meetings over the early weeks of summer, and reconvene in mid-January.

Our challenge was to make a favourite block, or to try something you have wanting to make without necessarily committing to making a whole quilt.  We were free to use the fabric of our choice, and to make any sized block. There is a plan for the blocks, but that is for another post, later ...

Viewer's Choice was won by Jill's Swirly Twirly
Dresden block, designed by Orchid Owl Quilts.

Nerida won a lucky draw prize for ticket no. 12

Helen's block

Elaine G's block - Honey Bee

Robin W's block - Dutchman's Puzzle

Robin B's block

Jan's block

Marilyn O's block

Janice's block

Jo-Ann's block

Robyn L's block

Roslyn's block - packaged up

Val's block

Daphne's block

Last weekly show and tell for 2018!

One last show and tell before we take our summer break. The sewing won't stop all together, we just won't see it until mid-January.

The spots and stripes log cabin blocks came as a
donation for our community quilts collection, and were
cleverly put together by Marg K. Lynette has quilted
 and bound it - team effort. The green sashing (it too
has a spot - a darker green pin-dot) is a very effective
foil to the business of the blocks.

Jan's gorgeous large quilt is made with a
variety beautiful soft pastels

Janice has finished her new son-in-law's
personalised Christmas stocking just in time
- the traditional cross stitch is embellished
with beads.

We were so pleased to welcome Julie back after a
long illness. As soon as she was well enough,
she filled some of the long hospital hours with stitching
precut hexagons together, and has made a
substantial start on a new quilt.

Julie also brought along a community quilt she had
finished before her sudden illness - she persisted with
the freehand, no-rulers curves she had seen others make,
but admits that freehand cutting is not really her 'thing',
so she'll be polishing up her rulers for her next quilt.

This pretty hexie pouch is very Nerida!

A lucky little boy will be in possession of his
dinosaur quilt made by great-aunt Lyn very soon.
The piecing pattern is very clever. Lyn found a perfect
bright dinosaur print for the backing - and yes, a photo
of that too would have been a good idea!

Roslyn  is making two of these quilts well in
advance of her new twin daughters moving into
their big beds, which will be before they know it.

Weekly show and tell

Sue C's recent big tidy up of her sewing room has revealed
lot of lovely random fabrics for the 1 1/2" hexies she's making
into a quilt for her granddaughter.

Marilyn O bought a SewMiriam bag pattern last week and is
 already on her second one, because she knows her friend
would like one too! Beautiful fabrics.

Robyn L's original design embroidery on linen.

If you receive one of these table runners as a gift, the giver might
have been in one of Linda's classes - they are stitching up a storm.
When asked where she found the fabrics in her sample, Linda
loves to say she 'picked them up in London', as you do.

The last of Jill's list of nine wips to be finished in 2018 - started
in April 2016, finished last week. Slightly adapted from a quilt
posted on Bits and Bobbins, with Trish Royal's permission.

Blue hexagon flowers are still landing in the
blue hexagon box, for the Quilt NSW/Arterie at
Lifehouse project. We saw some of ours online
last week, making it into the next level of
construction. These will be sent off soon.