Monday, September 30, 2013

New fabric range designed by Sarah Fielke


Sydney quilter, teacher, writer and designer, Sarah Fielke has designed a second fabric range for exclusive sale in Spotlight stores in Australia. Millefiori will be released in stores this week.

As with her previous range for Spotlight, Sarah has designed a mystery quilt using the fabrics. This quilt will be delivered in 12 free PDF patterns over 12 weeks via the Spotlight Facebook page, and the Spotlight website, from next Friday, 4th October. The introduction to the project and the requirements list are available now.

Friday, September 27, 2013

One day Tentmakers exhibition in Canberra, Saturday 28th September

Great photos of the tentmakers at work accompany this news story about a one day exhibition at the Egyptian Embassy in Canberra, tomorrow:

Master quilter brings wares to Egyptian Embassy for open day
Emma Macdonald, Canberra Times, 26th September 2013
The ancient craft of Egyptian tent-making maybe revered in the West for its intricate applique, but in Egypt, its considered simple, common, and often no better than graffiti.

But a master quilter and wife of former Australian ambassador to Egypt is on a one-woman crusade to change all that.

Jenny Bowker, who spent four years in Cairo when her husband Bob was posted there between 2005-2009, said the appetite for the massive handmade artworks was growing internationally ... read  the full article here.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

More progress on our community quilts ...

We sorted (and swapped) the many Serendipity Circles blocks into broad colour groups last week ... this cool collection is now trimmed, sized up and a layout plan has been made by Elaine W,  ready for quilt top construction at our October sewing day.
Some of a warmer stack, put together by Jill ... 70s Circles?


Many hands have transformed this jungle fabric panel into a quilt. We didn't think it would be improved by being cut up, so Susan added the border, Dawn quilted it with a large meander and variegated thread, then Pat sewed down the binding and added the label.



The fabric was donated by an acquaintance of a friend of one our group members when she was having a clear-out ... none of us knows Anne, but we are grateful for her gift, as the recipient will be.





These simply pieced and beautifully hand quilted, soft little quilts were made by Lorraine K.  They will be donated to the Blankets of Love project that offers tiny quilts to the families of babies who die in the perinatal period, as a memento, or a wrap.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

This weekend ...


Hexagon progress ...

Click on an image for a closer view.


Louise W-S is making great progress with her hexagon quilt from the Margaret Sampson George workshop, assisted by her hexagon obsession ...

... she has completed all the medallions and one corner, and plans a border of hexagon flowers and one of hexagon diamonds to complete a square quilt ...

... Louise is working with 3/4" hexagons, so she has made more medallions than those using larger pieces - and gets to use more fabrics.  She is combining different fabric styles to great effect, but she is not anticipating an early finish ...

Sunday, September 22, 2013

This week at Fairholme Quilters

Click on an image for a closer view

Dawn has made these three quilts ...

... for her great nephews ...

... who we think will be delighted with them!
Thursday was our monthly community quilts sewing day, and this month we did a lot of sewing, as well as sorting the 21 quilts completed over the last three months for distribution, and sewing on labels. We worked on several works in progress, including the quilt tops being made from the Serendipity Circles blocks made in this workshop earlier this month.

We sorted the blocks into sets for four quilt tops.  Georgie had already made significant progress with this set that she made in the workshop, and another in a fabulous hot pink/white colour scheme. 
Miriam trimmed and sized up all the blocks for the red/lime/white top, and joined most of the rows, almost ready for basting and quilting. We know that others are working on their own workshop blocks that will be donated back to the community collection, so we will have at least seven quilts from the workshop, possibly more. We will have more photos next time.

Jo joined in the workshop as a visitor, and is making great progress with her blocks made from a selection of batik fabrics in her favourite deep purple.  She is adding dimension and graphic definition with sashing strips.
Lynette  will be seeing half-square triangles, pinwheels and zig-zags in her sleep, while she works on two tops based on HSTs - one in blue and white, one in florals.

Jill made this bright scrappy quilt with blocks left over from an earlier, similarly scrappy one that was intended to use all of the feature fabric. As is often the case, it generated more scraps, and a second quilt, both for the community quilts collection.  All of the balloon and aeroplane fabric has now been used.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Are you up for a challenge?

The Australasian Quilt Convention has announced its 2014 Challenge, with the theme ‘TEN’.

Quilts must be 125cm square and show interpretation of the theme.

First prize: $3500
Runner-up: $1500
Viewers’ choice: $500

You could also have your quilt displayed at the 2014 Australasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne. Prizes will be awarded based on the interpretation of theme, excellence in design and craftsmanship.

Further details of the challenge rules are here on the AQC websiteThe online entry form will be available later in the year.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Wentworth Quilters exhibition: next weekend

Spring is filling up with quilt shows - that has to be a good thing!

Wentworth Quilters
Saturday - Sunday 21 - 22 September, 2013
Linwood, Guildford

You can see the raffle quilt made by Wentworth Quilters for this show here, on Chris Jurd's blog, Patchwork Fundamentals

Further details: Template Free

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

More on 'Serendipity Circles' and 'Power Stripping' at Fairholme

Brenda Gael Smith wrote about last Saturday's workshop with us on her blog today - Circling Around with Fairholme Quilters -  and included a link to photos from our 'show and tell' session over morning tea, featuring our Power Stripped quilts from last November's workshop.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Advance notice


Saturday, September 7, 2013

Serendipity Circles meets Fairholme community quilts

Time for another workshop, said our tireless workshop coordinator, and booked up Brenda Gael Smith of Serendipity Patchwork and Quilting, to teach us how to make Serendipity Circles.

Georgie points out the prepared fabric kits, and the
 go-to stash for replenishment or supplementing kits.
Brenda and her beautiful quilts are in the background.
Then Georgie put on her genius hat -  since this would be a new technique, challenging to many of us, we could offer the opportunity for participants to use fabrics from our community quilts stash to make our blocks.

The genius of this idea, was the proviso that we donate those blocks back to the community quilts project.

Several people took the offer up, and did the whole workshop with community fabrics. Each of the 15 participants made two practice blocks with community stash fabrics (= enough blocks for one quilt top in about 30 minutes!)

Win-win! We got to practice new techniques (free piecing, no rulers, no measurements, freehand cutting of curves with very sharp rotary cutters, no seam matching) using fabric we didn't need to buy. And the community quilts project will  benefit  with enough blocks already made, or in the making, for six gorgeous quilt tops, possibly more.

Fabric kits were prepared in advance, and everyone could choose their own, as well as add further fabrics from the stash as needed.

Brenda provided prepared fabric squares for practising the fused circles
technique, and we cut and fused the decorative shapes -
they too will contribute to a community project
We spent most of the workshop making free pieced circles.
We started simply with 2 fabric squares, a single free-cut arc
and machine-stitched curved seam (no pinning required) ...
... and quite quickly upped the ante with multiple arcs,
adding dimension and zing to our designs ...

Three of us with fabric kits that looked as though they would play
nicely together worked in concert ...
... and by the early afternoon we had enough blocks for a quilt, that we
will trim, sew together and baste at our next community sewing day.
Here's a nice coincidence - both Roslyn and Ginny have Elna sewing machines
that have done sterling service for many years (they might even qualify as vintage -
the machines, that is), and they happened to set up side by side ...

... Ros only sews on this machine, although she has made one high-tech modification!
Might this become an annual event?  Choose a workshop focused on a technique or process rather than an individual project, and let the participants loose in the community fabric stash ... well worth considering.

It was a fun and productive day - low stress for high achievement.  Thank you Brenda for your expertise, encouragement, and challenging us, and for the opportunity to examine your quilts so closely. And thank you Georgie for coming up with a very bright idea, and putting in so much work to make it happen.

Thanks for the photos, Sue.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Arcadian Quilters Quilt Show: next weekend

9.30 am to 4.00 pm, Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th September, 2013
Image: Janice Dowdeswell


Galston Community Centre
37 Arcadia Road, Galston

Entry: $5 (children free)

For more information, and a photo of the raffle quilt, visit Template Free, the Quilters Guild of NSW blog.

Gwen Marston in Sydney - July 2013

Gwen Marston's classes in Sydney in July were a sell out, and the opportunity to hear her talk about her quilts during an evening lecture, and to see them up very close was a bonus.

If you missed these events, you can see a little of what the excitement was about from this post, and this one by Melinda Smith of Quiltsmith (who hosted one series of classes), and Erica Spinks's series of three posts, titled 'My Life as a Groupie - parts 1, 2 and 3', sharing her experience as a Gwen Marston fan and student at Creative Dabbling.

The images are fabulous, but seeing the quilts right up close, 'in the cloth' revealed much more of their visual and tactile qualities - their 'glow'. Gwen finished her lecture with a comment that people sometimes look at her improvisational piecing and think that anyone could make them in 'five minutes' ... but as she so emphatically said, 'you just can't!'.  If you ever have the chance to see Gwen's quilts, or to take a class with her - don't hesitate, just take it.

Fairholme members - we have a number of Gwen Marston's books in our library, including some recent additions.