Fairholme Quilters show and tell

Margaret's quilt for a friend's baby has a very high cuteness factor ...

.... with delightful prints like this one,

Sue's Power Stripped quilt, 'Melody' (made in a workshop with Brenda Gael Smith last November) is now quilted and bound, and she has kindly donated it to our community quilts project.

We are keenly watching this beautiful applique emerge from Noelle's skilled hands. It is a Lyn Alchin design she is doing in a class at Cottage Quilt Works. 

A lovely finish from Susan - the front of her intersecting quilt-as-you-go circles (click for a larger view to see the small purple flower Susan placed at each intersection)  ...

... and its scrappy hour-glass reverse. Clever!

The top of this quilt, that appears to be made from a selection of orphan blocks, was one of 8 given to Fairholme Quilters by the Quilters Guild of NSW to complete for a community project.  It was donated to the Guild by its maker.  Dawn quilted it on her mid-arm machine, and bound it from the community stash.  It will join our community collection for distribution to its new owner. 

Red and white quilts sought for Australian magazine article

Down Under Quilts magazine has posted this request on Facebook, today:

Have you made a red and white quilt? We are featuring them in issue 160. 

If you have and you would like to share it with our readers, please email Erica Spinks at ericacreativedabbling@gmail.com and include a photo of your quilt.

(Northern) Spring Bloggers Quilt Festival 2013

It's May, spring in the northern hemisphere, so that means it's time for Amy Ellis's (Amy's Creative Side) Blogger's Quilt Festival - an opportunity to check out hundreds of well loved, and well known and new-to-you quilters who blog.  You can also enter a quilt of your own if you are a blogger:

Blogger’s Quilt Festival is for our online community! Young and old, all styles are welcome. There’s no judging, just inspiration with each and every click! I have timed it to coincide with Quilt Market in the fall and spring each year. Our festival runs for two weeks, with the opportunity for your quilts to be nominated to win by your peers.

May 17 – 24:   Linky’s Open & Nominate for Viewer’s Choice
May 24 – 30:  Vote for favorites in each of the categories
May 31:  Winners announced

Visit this page to see the entries for this Spring 2013 Blogger's Quilt Festival (check in regularly as more blogs are linked each day).  If you are even an occasional reader of blogs about quilting, you will probably see familiar names, and each year, more and more Australian quilters enter.

2013 is the 5th year of this fun online event - Amy has provided links to the archives from each previous year ... so this could take some time.

While you are there, visit Amy's home page to see information about her new book, Modern Neutrals - a fresh look at neutral quilt patterns, released this month - sounds interesting.

Kathreen Ricketson and Rob Shugg

If you have been even an occasional reader of the very popular craft (including quilting) blog Whip Up, or of Quilters Companion magazine, then you will be familiar with Kathreen Ricketson a leader in the craft world in Australia and internationally. In a tragic event this week, Kathreen and her partner, Rob Shugg have both died, presumed drowned, while on an around-Australia adventure with their children.  Weeks Ringle has written a moving tribute to her friend and colleague, on Craft Nectar.

Whip Up contributors' announcement and tribute is here. Information about an education fund set up for Kathreen and Rob's children has been added here.

Community sewing day, 16th May 2013

Nine quilters took part in our monthly community sewing day for May, and a very productive day it was.  We have a number of quilts 'in progress' which progressed considerably today. We also had the opportunity to check out the stash fabrics recently acquired in a sale - great choices that we all look forward to using.

Here are just a few photos - we worked on several other quilts today (machine sewing tops and backings, pin basting, labelling, binding, piecing), but the photographer was a bit distracted, and didn't catch them all ... we missed you Sue! They might appear next time. We're going to concentrate on finishes over the next few weeks, before we start anything new (never heard that before!) ...

This bright and beautiful marine quilt top was made by Robin. The body of each fish is a bright spot, with very well chosen complimentary and contrasting fabrics for other fish-parts. The off-set flying geese are a clever suggestion of ocean waves.  When completed, it will be donated to a local community group that plan to use it for fundraising.  It was pin basted today, and will be quilted and bound ready for donation by the end of June.

Dawn (one of our most industrious members), pieced this top from recently donated fabrics, with solid sashing from the community stash.

This pretty quilt was already finished, and just needed its label attached today, by Barbara.  The half-square triangle units were pieced by many members, put together and quilted by Lynette, then bound by Louise ... an excellent group effort.

Lynette chose a pretty floral backing form the community stash.

Improvised cobblestones quilt-top made by Jill was one of several tops pin-basted today. The only measuring was to trim the blocks to a uniform final size. Mostly community stash fabrics, highlighted by the final black and white borders. Pat pieced a striking graphic backing for it today.

Thanks to everyone who worked on these quilts at various stages, and all the others we 'progressed' today.

Beneath the Southern Sky: on exhibition at Gosford Regional Gallery

Beneath the Southern Sky is a travelling exhibition, curated by Brenda Gael Smith, of 30 textile works exploring the title theme.

The exhibition continues on tour next to:

Gosford Regional Gallery 25 May to 26 June 2013 
Official opening Friday, 24 May 6.30 - 8.30 pm

• Beneath the Southern Sky on Facebook
• Beneath the Southern Sky website and online gallery

The Gosford Regional Gallery is located on the shores of Caroline Bay in East Gosford. It is part of a complex that also includes the Gosford/Edogawa Commemorative Garden, the Arts Centre and the Caroline Bay Brasserie, Cafe and Function Centre.

May fabric sales: Craft Depot and Quiltsmith

You might already know this, since it's nearly half-way through May already, but Craft Depot in Pennant Hills and Quiltsmith in Annandale are both having fabric sales throughout May.

Others' photos from Springwood and Eastwood shows

If you didn't get to Springwood, or to Brush Farm for the Eastwood Patchwork Quilters shows over the last two weekends, you can see some of the quilts on these blogs and Facebook pages:

Kathy Doughty has kindly posted some photos from Eastwood on the Material Obsession blog, including Louise Smith with her beautiful Best of Show quilt.

A Good Yarn has photos of different quilts from Eastwood, and some of the exterior of Brush Farm House.

Carol Roberts from Cherry Pie Designs has posted two large albums of photos on her Facebook page, one from each of the shows, this one with 33 photos from Eastwood, and this one with 19 photos from Springwood.

Fairholme show and tell

Click on an image for a larger view

Lyn has completed her homework - her finished quilt from Pauline Rogers' (Quilters' World) multi-technique workshop  at the end of March. Those striped bias strips work well.

Jill 'upcycled' this small quilt from a centre originally intended for a large quilt that was finished several years ago.

Helen donated this top (that she had almost forgotten about) to our community project - Dawn quilted and bound it with fabric also donated by Helen.

Robyn made this  unusual I-spy quilt top, which was quilted and bound by Lynette, also for our community project.

Susan made this quilt almost entirely from fabric in the community stash, that play happily together.

Historically Modern: quilts, textiles and design

Prolific blogger and quilt historian, Barbara Brackman is writing a new blog, Historically Modern: quilts, textiles and design ... about the traditions of modernism, with an eye to textiles, prints and interior design and how today's quilters can build on the past. You'll find information about designers, trends and innovation that influenced taste around the world from William Morris and CFA Voysey to Sonia Delaunay and Alexander Calder, plus patterns for needlework inspired by those ideas.

With characteristic wry humour, she says ... I have a college degree in art education. I suffered through art history and now you have to too. But reading this blog is a pleasure - not suffering, at all.

Dear Jane!

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the making of Jane Stickle's quilt, now generally known as Dear Jane. The quilt has been reproduced and reinterpreted by many quilters all over the word.

Among the celebratory events were the Australian Quilters' Association exhibition of Dear Janes in Victoria in February, and recent exhibitions in Brussels and Nantes (France), of  more than 100 'Dear Janes' as part of the Pour l’Amour du Fil event in April, organised by Quilt Mania magazine.

You can treat yourself to some great photos from the Nantes exhibition on the Faberdashery (click on an image for a larger view), and Batikquilt blogs.

If you enter 'Dear Jane Nantes 2013' into a Google image search, you will gain immediate access to many, many more images from the French event ... or visit this Dear Jane Quilts Printerest board, with 284 'pins' of Dear Janes and its derivatives,

To make your own Dear Jane quilt, you might start with Brenda Papadakis's book of patterns, Dear Jane, which is widely available, or links to blogs and a 2010 block of the month project on the website.

The original quilt, completed by Jane Stickle in 1863 is in the collection of the Bennington Museum, Vermont, where it is displayed each year in September-October.

Added 11/5/2013:
More interesting and beautiful examples of Dear Jane quilts can be found on these blogs:

• Entre Nous - the text is in French, the pictures are universally understood (thanks to Creative Dabbling for this link)
• Quiltsmith - the last image in this post is a black and white Dear Jane