Show and tell catch-up (1)

Our recent focus has been on our quilt show that was held in April, but the quilting and sharing continues, albeit at a slower pace. Here are some catch-ups with show and tell from the last few weeks.

Dawn has finished a wedding ring quilt started by Diana, f
or her 2017 end-of-year challenge. It has been quilted by
Yvette, and is nearly ready for gifting. Great save, Dawn!

Dawn is also using up lots of her large stash of
florals making two strippy lap quilts for people
living in aged care.

The first of Elaine G’s quilts we’ve seen (but by no
means her first!) - beautifully hand appliquéd with fine
blanket stitch, and hand quilted. 

The reverse is just as beautiful as the front.

Detail of the border applique

Margaret's quilt is made from a layer cake.
Her use of colour is always spot on.

Nerida made this modern improv beauty in a class with Sheena
Chapman, and hand quilted it with Aurifil 12 wt thread.
 It is an 18th birthday gift for a nephew.

Pink Project 2018

We're working on our contribution to the Pink Quilt Competition, making blocks for two quilts for the Oatley Cottage competition/exhibition and donation to the McGrath Foundation fundraiser hosted by Blessington. Members are making blocks, and we are two thirds of the way there, in just a month. Thanks to everyone who has contributed, and those who are making blocks in the next month. Here are the first 20 blocks (15 1/2" square):

We're looking forward to our June community sewing day, when we will be laying them out into the two quilts. Ten opinions will be better than one, right?

Two quilt shows this weekend

Caroline Bay Quilters Exhibition

Friday 18 - Sunday 20 May 2018

10am - 4pm daily

Gosford Regional Gallery

36 Webb Street, East Gosford

Contact: Glen Waples 4365 6651

Caroline Bay Quilters Inc on Facebook

Facebook event page

Northbridge Quilters on Instagram

Northbridge 2063 is on Sydney's Lower North Shore.

More quilts from our show

The feedback about the images of some of our quilts with their makers has been verypositive, but we didn't get a photo of everyone! We'll try to make sure we do next time.  There are more quilts to add to the show gallery, that will require several posts ...

Val Nadin - The Corporate Life
For years I’ve been collecting my husband’s cast off silk ties.
 A wall quilt for his study seemed the appropriate use for
these beautiful fabrics.English paper piecing, hand quilting.

Yvette Aoude - Starlight
I needed a simple and modern pattern that suits a traditional quilt.
The McCall pattern Blueberry Ice designed by Gerri Robinson
was perfect for my first machine quilt on a long arm.
Machine pieced, machine quilted.

Dawn Cox - Butterflies on the Wing
The design required three colours, a dark a light and a zing colour.
 All slashes were freehand from the stack and no pins were used -
just sewn. All curves fitted easily together.
 Slashing fabric freehand was stressful.
Brenda Gael Smith workshop, May 2016, 'Stacks of Improvisation'

Elaine Bright - What a Hoot!
I had often thought it would be great to make a ‘wonky’ quilt
so I set about constructing some log cabin blocks with the owl
fabric.This type of sewing is a little off-putting at first when you
are used to getting blocks to be perfect and trying to let go of the
idea of neat, straight lines is a little difficult but the effect turns
out to be very interesting.
Design: inspired by a 'Logs and Ladders' workshop
with Brenda Gael Smith.

Louise Wyatt-Spratt - Mindful Mandala
I really love Miriam’s (Sewmiriam) method of making the fusible
orange peels and I love how you can make different patterns using
different sizes. This quilt was lots of scraps from a variety of
previous quilts. I think my daughter Anna has her eye on it.
Machine quilted by Christy Wang.

Robin Williams - Wonky Squares
I like patterns that are off centre so when I saw this one in
Quiltmania I just had to try making it in a Moda blue layer cake,
despite my preference for bright colours. I enjoyed the process.
Machine pieced. Machine quilted by Jo-Ann Phillips.
Design: 'Shuffle', in Quiltmania July-August 2016

Val Nadin - A Little bit of Fauvre: A Nod to Henri Matisse
A small piece of Henri Matisse print was the inspiration for
this quilt. Working with small hexagons I was able to incorporate
many of my brightly coloured scraps.
Hand and machine pieced hexagons.
 Custom quilted by Jo-Ann Phillips

Robyn Leek - Hexie Flowers
A flower garden made with hexagon flowers with yellow centres
embroidered with colonial knots. Original idea for this quilt
came from a quilt seen on Pinterest.
 Hand appliqued, embroidered and quilted.

Val Nadin - Blue Boxes
I’m still trying to cull my scraps. So this time the blues had to go!
Hand pieced and machine quilted.
Design: 'Patchwork' by Kaffe Fassett

Susan McMahon - Autumn
I named this “Autumn” because it gives me the sense and
feel of the beautiful colours of Autumn. It also allowed me to
use the batik fabrics to their full advantage – from the recently
fallen to the older more decayed leaves. I also enjoyed popping
in a couple of butterflies as well.
Positive/negative applique using Vliesofix.
Design: Down Under Quilts, June 2001 by Michelle Steel
and Ami Hillege

Community quilts for children

A bundle of quilts for children in foster care is ready to be dropped off to a Quilt NSW representative who will arrange their distribution this week. We enjoy making quilts for others, but more importantly, they will bring comfort and warmth, and potentially some sense of security.

These ones have not been posted before - thank you to our donors and makers:

A donated top, finished by Julie

Miriam's 'In a Whirl" pattern made by Julie

Marg K made the top, and Lynette finished the quilt

Top donated by our good friend Chris, quilt finished by Lynette

Dawn made this one from a donated panel and some stash fabric

Pickled Fish progress

We've seen some more finishes of the Pickled Fish blocks we started in the workshop with Chris Jurd last month, and additional blocks on their way to becoming quilts. We think a second Pickled Fish sewing day might be necessary, so we can share progress and tips, to encourage each other with fabric choices as our block numbers build, and because it will be fun.

Janice's block makes excellent use of contrasting values,
and a pink/lavender shot cotton to compliment the prints.

Pat's first block - gorgeous blues and greens

Pat's block 2 - a very fun print in the 'wings'

Pat's vibrant block 3 - she's on her way to a quilt!

This one and the next four are Jill's, aiming for a 16 block
quilt with a deadline ...

Jill's son thinks the block would make him a very good shark
quilt. This is a test block for a Pickled Shark, and has been
approved. And set aside until the first Pickled Fish quilt is done.

Community donation, and the wonderful textile art it will help support

We had a lovely morning this week with artists Nadia Lolas, Lauren  Kerjan and textile teacher Claire from Studio ARTES, when our Convenor, Helen presented them with a cheque for $3,000 - the proceeds from our quilt raffle - to help support their artists. Studio ARTES participated in our show with a display and sales of their smaller, textile based artworks - it was a very popular pop-up shop.

Nadia and Lauren brought some examples of their brilliant textile works, including self portraits. Thank you for participating in our show, and for sharing your work with us.

You can also see Lauren’s work on Instagram at #laurenkerjan and Nadia’s at #nadialolas.

Helen, with Nadia and Lauren, and the cheque

Claire brought some textile self portraits
made by her Monday students

Lauren's soft textile sculpture self-portrait

Nadia's painted, embellished and quilted fabric leaf

Nadia's textile self-portrait

Painted, embellished fabric leaves made in preparation for
construction of a Studio ARTES family tree to honour each of t
he Studio's artists.

Fun food soft sculptures