Last show and tell for winter

Our ranks have been a little thinner as winter draws to a close and Sydney's flu takes hold, but we have continued to see brilliant work.

Beautifully appliquéd and quilted tree, made by
Jo-Ann about four years ago. An injury interrupted
its completion, until last week when the planets
aligned to give her a good block of time to devote to it. 

Jo took a while to settle on the quilting effect she wanted 
between the branches and some unpicking was involved. 

Jo took a while to settle on the quilting effect she wanted
between the banches and some unpicking was involved. She
is happy with the matchstick quilting that was inspired by Jenn's
work that she has been able to inspect closely recently.
Jo did the quilts a long-arm machine.

Julie has used a crochet thread rather than sashiko
for this wall hanging, made for her daughter.
She has added some green in the leaves and red to
the traditional white thread. 

We've been fascinated watching Lyn's appliqued and
embroidered village grow under her needle. There will be
more embroidery in the borders, but it is already full of 
detail. The pattern is Yoko Saito's 2012 'Mystery Quilt' 
published by Quilt Mania.

Closeup of just one little neighbourhood. Will it be done 
for our April 2018 quilt show? No pressure Lyn!

Robyn designed her quilt with circles and circles within
circles. It is all appliqued, and hand quilted. 

A lovely, happy mix of fabric, lots of detail, and Robyn's
beautiful hand quilting. She intended to quilt jut once around
the circles, but they demanded more!

Quilt shows this weekend and during September

Arcadian Quilters Exhibition
9 - 10 September 2017
9.30 am - 4.00 pm
Galston Community Centre, Arcadia Rd, Galston


Singleton Quilters 2017 Quilt Show
'Traditionally Modern'
15 - 17 September 2017 
Mechanics Institute, 74 George St, Singleton
Enquiries: marea 0408 731 529; Kim 0415 804 456


Stonequarry Quilters Biennial Quilt Show
16 - 17 September 2017
10.00 am - 4.00 pm
Tahmoor Community Centre, 6 Harper Close, Tahmoor
Contact: Hilary Best 0409 249 503 or hilarybest5731@gmail.com

This week's show and tell

Louise W-S  used her favourite pineapple print, and a combination 

of wonderful sashing fabrics to make the sweetest little quilt for 

her newest neighbour, baby Margaux. Lucky baby.

A great fabric for cat and book lovers. Julie made this
almost wholecloth quilt for her grandson.

Nerida's daughter is off to study overseas soon, with
a Mum-made bag for precious bits and pieces - a lovely 
reminder of home. 

Miriam has enjoyed hand piecing Judy Newman's 'Emma Mary'
border blocks, using an older liberty print for the joining squares,
but without the centre medallion - it's nearly big enough.

Julie's second community tumbler quilt made
from a fabric bundle donated by Noelle, and a
beautifully warm rug done in Tunisian  knit stitch,
that is actually a crochet method ...

All the spots and dots, and the occasional kitten. Yvette used
every spot print she could find in the community stash, and
filled a few gaps with a print that features a spotty cat.
Four hundred 3" squares makes a generous sized community quilt.

Circle quilting compliments the squares and all
the dottiness, and the pretty pink backing allows
the quilting to star. 

Jill finished the quilt top after a workshop with Catherine
Butterworth in 2015, and it waited to find a home for more than
2 years. Jo-Ann Phillips has now quilted it, ready to be donated
to Studio ARTES for a fundraiser next month.

Show and tell catch up

It's not a quilt yet, but it is the cutest needlework we've seen
this month - Robyn is trying out wool felt embroidery.

Julie's crisp machine applique is made from a pattern in
'Material Obsession 1'. The colour combination is a winner.

Daphne still loves this quilt that she made early
in her quilting career. The pattern is a nine
patch variation, Road to Jericho.

Robyn was so quick getting this one finished and
handed over to her friend that we didn't see it 'in
the cloth', but at least we have the photo. The
many blue prints work so well together. The
 pattern is Jenny Doan's 'Disappearing Pinwheel'
from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.

Margaret makes beautiful small quilts from upcycled blanket
wool and cotton applique. She recently surprised with Miriam
with one as a gift, that we all got to see being given.

Community sewing day, August 2017 (2)

More from our community sewing Saturday last week, including two newly finished quilts ...

Louise is taking a turn at hand quilting the
2018 raffle quilt, so she worked on it at
community sewing, allowing us all to catch
up with its progress.

Some of these blocks were made by one of our older members
before she sadly became too ill to continue sewing. She donated
the blocks and the fabric to make the remainder to community
quilts. Elaine B is honing her curved piecing skills in finishing
the quilt. She is nearly finished, so Saturday was a good
opportunity to lay them out with input from others, and to
audition fabric for the borders that will be needed soon.

Roslyn was in charge of fabric cutting, and craft stall business
with Georgie weilding a rotary cutter for a good stretch of time.

Roslyn is often called upon for a fabric and colour opinion.
She liked Helen's border choice for a cute chicken panel
Helen found deep in her stash (with no memory of ever
having bought it), and suggested that mitred corners be
a good finish.

A very collaborative effort, this small lap quilt is one of
two made by Julie from a pretty fabric bundle donated by
Noelle, using Sue C's tumbler template. All three were on
hand to baste them, and Julie is now binding the larger one.

Noelle makes beautiful quilts, and beautiful scraps - these
pretty, fresh pinwheels are made from the leftovers from
quilts she made for her grandchildren. The raspberry
border is a brilliant choice. Thank you for donating it to
community quilts, Noelle.

Community sewing day, August 2017 (1)

We hold one community sewing day a year on a Saturday, so those who cannot come on Thursdays can join us, and we provide lunch, just to make it a little bit special. Last Saturday we had a terrific roll-up of quilters, who sewed, cut fabric, pressed, pinned and pinned and pinned, and enjoyed a day with friends. The chatter and laughter level indicated that we were having a good time. Chris, Adrienne and Denise joined us for the first time - we hope they will come again.

Many quilts were in progress - nine or ten quilts were pin basted - and two completed quilts were handed in. Twenty people came and went during the day, and we got a lot done. Thank you to all who made it such a good day, and for all the work you do.

Just a quick photo line-up of all those finished quilts and tops,
we said.  Sue put on her teacher voice ...

... and we eventually had a straightish line and all the quilts on
view. The quilts were not necessarily made by the people who are
holding them, but Hilary, Pat and Helen are holding their own.

Yvette came very organised with her superhero blocks and
sashing strips already cut ...

... and she got right to work, finishing the top on the day.
A superhero fan is going to love this.

Pat took charge of pin basting, and her rotating team worked
hard all day pinning ten quilts - no time for photos of all of them!
Helen made this top.

Sue C's friend Lyn donated two finished tops and backing
fabric - this is one of them. Thanks Lyn.

This is Pat's latest community quilt - she was determined to
make these fabrics work together and they look fabulous!

Last quilt basted - we ran out of pins and sent Hilary home
for more. Jill busted some stash scraps for this quilt top.

More photos to come ...

First (and some second) quilts

Only some of us still have them, but we thought it would be fun to give our first quilts an airing for show and tell last week. Some people were organised enough to bring their second quilts as well. As you would anticipate, there were several samplers, and most were hand-pieced.

Janice made her first quilt at night classes at a community
college, for her first child in the late 1980s. In 2014 the
wedding quilt she made for Melanie was voted runner up in
the Viewer's Choice awards at our Quilt Show. Note the similar
colour palette, and the development of Janice's skills.

Adrienne says she had an early 'purple patch' - these are her first
and second quilts. The first is hand pieced.

Denise started well with her first quilt, a hand-pieced single
Irish Chain, and her second quilt, a sampler, is still in daily use.

Maraget's first quilt was made in a techniques
class at Berrima Patchwork.

Roslyn thought a deep scalloped border would be nice for her
very first quilt (hand piecd), with no idea how difficult
it would be to bind.

Sue's first quilt was hand pieced and hand quilted. Even the
borders are hand sewn to the centre. The top was made in 2008,
and it then rested until 2014 when she quilted it with both
hand and machine quilting.

Yvette made her first quilt, a kaleidoscope design, without the
benefit of classes (or anyone to tell it was a complex design to
be starting with), and with a strict fabric budget. She pieced it
by machine, and when she had trouble deciding on the colour
 placement, was helped out by her then 8 year old son, for
whom she made it.

Pat's sampler quilt has worn well, and has recently
had its binding replaced.

Miriam made her second quilt while living in Japan, with two
small children, and only able to attend occasional gatherings of
quilters where she collected the block patterns. She made them
up in traditional narrow-loomed Yukata cotton fabric, usually
used for making kimonos.

Canberra Quilters Exhibition award winners.

Canberra Quilters Members' Exhibition is on this weekend, along with the Craft and Quilt Fair. The award winners were announced today, and photos are already on the Canberra Quilters website, Facebook page and Instagram account.

The Bernina Australia Best of Show winner, Iggy, made by Bronwyn Hill is another stunning addition to a strong State line-up for 2017.

Chiaroscuro: a textile exploration of light and shadow

An exhibition by the ATASDA NSW Group 'Frayed' ...

Community quilts 2017 - 2018 (2)

Our community quilt collection is growing again, after the recent delivery of quilts made in the first half of the year. Here are the most recent additions ...

Julie used every scrap of the soft neutrals and green palette
 she chose for some chair/lap quilts - for the last one, she
added some soft yellows.

Pat's wall hanging, started with the blocks she made
in our Logs and Ladders workshop in April is now a
spectacular finish. We are considering how it might add
fun and warmth to a space used by a children's service.

Rich bronze prints play very well with a range of teal
and aqua and a little deep cream in Elaine's beautiful
medallion. She finished off the gently curved quilting
while recovering from recent surgery. These gorgeous
fabrics all came from Elaine's own stash.

A quilt that really tells a story - Dawn arranged a fabric
book panel featuring fun dragons, into the quilt, with some
additional prints. It is backed with a complimentary
appropriately spiky Sarah Fielke print donated by
Materials Girls Down Under.