2017 Sydney Quilt Show award winners

As always, Quilt NSW has published the award winners at the 2017 Sydney Quilt Show, within minutes of the presentation finishing this afternoon, and issued a photo of the Best in Show winner for sharing.

Congratulations to Pamela Brockwell, and all the award winners, and to Quilt NSW for mounting this major event.

There will be many, many images on Instagram and Facebook, and in blogs - enjoy the Show however/wherever you see it.

New community quilts one-by-one

Here are the latest community quilt finished, that are pictured stacked and lined up in Sunday's post:

Some quilts just materialise from the scraps of others - this
one is the scraps from at least two others, with the addition of
a lovely raspberry spotty border. Magic, Chris and Lynette!

Perfect backing fabric for this vibrant top made by Robin,
quilted and bound by Lynette - and it was picked up in a
snap sale for $4 a meter at Craft Depot.

Sue C's second quilt from these jelly rolls, generously donated by
a friend, with a cream background from deep in Sue's own stash
- and a pretty blue backing, of course!
But wait till you see what 'Blue Sue' comes up with next!

Sue M has been hard at work for community quilts - she has
finished the one on the left made from small pieces sourced from
the community stash and the border fabric from her own stash,
and quilted and bound Robin's second donated top, on the right.

Margaret has packed a lot of fun into this beautiful, bright
patchwork with colourful swirls on the back. A little
kid, or maybe a big one, is going to love it.

Lyn pieced this beautiful patchwork flower garden as a 
background for an appliqued wrought iron gate that wasn't 
quite realised. Lynette has added a complimentary border
and floral backing from another donation. 
It will be well loved, with the 'gate' left wide open ...

Anita's Arrowhead quilt pattern

We did a little internet digging for a pattern for Denise's quilt (posted in February), since the one that she used no longer seems to be available.

The same block, at a different size makes up Anita's Arrowhead, for which there is a free downloadable .pdf pattern here, via Quiltmaker, from 2010.

This version was designed by Anita Grossman Solomon for a 51”x 59.5” throw sized quilt - go to the 'gallery' tab at Make It Simpler for photos of other versions.

You can also find Anita Grossman Solomon on Instagram and on Facebook, and as a columnist for Craftsy.

Community sewing day, June 2017

We did quite a lot of work at our June community sewing day last week, depleting our batting supply, making progress on at least half a dozen works in progress, and pin basted four more, while six completed quilts were added to the collection. Thanks for morning tea Elaine B!

Six new community quilts, all in a line ...

... and all stacked up.
There will be photos of the individual quilts,
when we have some brighter days - soon!

Susan is making a quilt reminiscent of Shoji screens
- she started the quilting  as soon as it was basted on Thursday

Pat's 'Logs and Ladders' quilt is for the community collection
 - it is already gorgeous, and we look forward to seeing it quilted.

The first of two quilts, each to be made with twenty of our
2016-2017 challenge star blocks, was basted on Thursday.
All the blocks are different, so some contemplation and
consultation about the quilting is in order.
These quilts will be donated to NSW Quilts of Valour.

Can I take photos of the quilts at Sydney Quilt Show?

Quilt NSW has released a policy on photography at next week's Sydney Quilt Show - photographs are allowed but acknowledgement of the maker and designer are required if your photographs are published, including on social media.

Take a close-up of the information card attached to the quilt, as well as photographing the quilt, so you have maker and designer details, ready to post in your caption.

Quiltsmith's Sydney Quilt Show sale

From Quiltsmith, at Annandale:
Our annual Quilt Show Sale is on again.

9.30am Saturday 17th June - 4.30pm Monday 26th June 2017

• 25% of all fabrics
• 30 cm minimum cut
• 1m minimum cut on Value fabrics
• 10% off Fabric Packs and Kits/Patterns/Books

75 Nelson St, Annandale

Phone: 02 9550 4947

More recent show and tell ...

2017 is Sue H's 'year of finishing things', so when she
found a perfect-fit print for a final border, her plan for
a pieced border gave way to a finish for the win.
The centre was made in classes with Chris Jurd.

Louise's table runner is made
especially to go with the kitchen
decor in her new house.

Susan has been busy with community quilts.  This one,
reminiscent of shoji screens, has fabrics from the
community stash and some of Susan's own and is a good
showcase for large scale prints.

Susan has also quilted and bound Robin's top. We need
to take some close ups of the quilting designs in the blue
counterpanes. Community quilting can be a very
cooperative process.

Just one fat quarter of the cute bee print was the starting
point for this cot sized community quilt made by Jill

Quilters flannel front and back, with cotton batting  makes
for a very warm quilt. The blocks are made from the
scraps of two similar quilts Jill made last year for other
family members - this one is for her.

Recent show and tell ...

Linda is teaching a group of novice quilters. Having started a
year or so ago with basic patchwork, they then requested
appliqué classes. They are now on their third course, learning
several methods of using triangles in quilts. Linda's triangle
class sample is a generous single bed size.

Julie made her first disappearing four patch quilt, and
liked it so much that she immediately made another (below)
 in the same range of soft, muted greens and cream from
the community stash (below).

Janice was wearing hexagons on her scarf, while she
worked on her tiny hexies - they are just 1/4"!

Elaine B has nearly finished her latest community quilt -
 she made a disappearing nine patch for the first time.

Elaine also finished a pretty 'Sew Miriam' zip top bag
for a friend's birthday - what a lovely gift.

Quilt West 2017 photos

Quilt West 2017 was held in Perth 25 - 28 May.

• Best in Show

• Runner Up

There are more photos on the Quilt West Facebook page.

Community quilts for winter (2)

More of the quilts made for winter distribution, collected together at last week's sewing day. Sue and Lynette are the star contributors ...

Pretty log cabins, blocks donated by a friend of Sue's,
put together and quilted by Sue. Complimentary backing
just in view at left.

And there were some small pieces left from the jelly rolls
Sue's friend gave her, so now Sue is quilting the sashed four patch
she made with them.

Lynette's latest blue and white beauty, made from a very large
stack of squares cut from the community stash. The pink
border is a nice touch.

Lynette found a large enough piece of the blue/pink floral
to make a two fabric disappearing four patch.

Jill also made a pink and blue disappearing four patch
- this one is scrappy

Helen also found mostly blue 'leftovers' in her stash, mostly
florals, and sashed them with more blue scraps ...

... and Lynette trialled her new quilting template very
successfully on Helen's quilt

Sometimes, cutting is just not necessary - two small whole cloths,
one with fairies, the other with dinosaurs, again made by Lynette. 

And Sue also finished her 'Hello Kitty' Ohio Stars
- much admired and coveted by Linda, but destined for the
community winter collection.

A quick guide to making a disappearing 4 patch block

There's been renewed interest in disappearing 9 patch and disappearing 4 patch blocks lately, as some of our members have made them for the first time. Links to tutorial for both are in the 'Links to techniques and resources' list just under the banner photo at the top of this page.

A small sample of our disappearing four patch quilts -
they work well with just two fabrics , a limited palette,
or with scrappy backgrounds and feature fabrics.

Here is a quick pictorial guide to making a disappearing 4 patch block. The starting squares can be any size, and the cuts to the four patch can be any width - this block started with 6 1/2" squares, and the cuts were made 1 3/4" from the centre seams. The wider the cuts, the less distinct the design becomes:

Craft Depot June sale

The Craft Depot half yearly sale starts 9am Thursday 1st June 2017, both on-line and at our Pennant Hills store, and runs until 30th June 2017. 

Complete sale catalogue is available to view on-line here.

Recent show and tell ...

Lyn has made many wonderful quilts like this one for family 
members. She says it is making her feel very ancient, 
as it is for her niece's grandson!

Marilyn's tiny hexagon centre panel will be complimented
by many exquisite little clamshells.

It does often look like Hexagon Central around our
sewing tables - but aren't they lovely?

Roslyn's current hand-piecing is 'TheAvenue' designed
by Louise Papas, available from Amitie Textiles.

Lynette has recently returned from Japan with lovely memories
of cherry blossoms, and a little fabric, including this beautiful blue
piece she dyed in a Shibori workshop.

Elaine W changed her mind about making this quilt for her
husband - she did make him another one - and generously made
it up for our community quilts collection!

Patchwork on Pittwater 30/30 sale

Announced in the Patchwork on Pittwater June Newsletter:

30/30 Sale

• 30% off all fabrics in store (excludes Liberty)
• Minimum cut 30cm 
• 20% off Charm Squares, Jelly Rolls and Layer Cakes

Thursday 1st June 2017 - Friday 30th June 2017

Community quilts for winter (1)

Quilts for winter distribution, collected together at last week's sewing day ...

Julie rather liked her first outing with hexagons a few months
ago, so she cut some more from 5 " squares and arranged
them on a stylish background from the community stash.

Several of these quilts have been made by Lynette and her friend
Chris in collaboration. There are many lovely Moda fabrics in this
one, pieced by Chris, quilted and bound by Lynette.

A lovely candy floss pink confection, pieced by Chris,
quilted and bound by Lynette

Exotic animals and birds, with the cutest elephant border,
pieced by Chris, quilted and bound by Lynette

Hillary found the four 'cheater' cloth panels deep in the community
stash, and matched them up with a floral sashing for a lap quilt.

Lynette has been mining the community stash blues for about
three years - this could be quilt #7 made from a very large pile
of 3" blue squares, complimented by crisp white from
Lynette's own stash.