Show and tell - works in progress

With our quilt show now three months ago, we are seeing some new quilt finishes, and lots of well advanced works in progress ...

This is Dawn's members' challenge block, from the show.
She always had a post challenge plan for it ...

Can you see where to the block is now?
Hint - it is now four smaller blocks.

Three fabrics make a double pinwheel in another of
Dawn's recent finishes of a quilt top.

And strips do not escape Dawn's needle just because
they are short!

Denise showed us her cat quilt top to prove she has
something other than her red-work blocks on the go!
What a great mix of prints, Denise.

Jo-Ann used a pack of bright contemporary prints to make
melons and squares that play nicely on a text print background.

Miriam calls this her 'rock chick' version of Judy Newman's
'Emma Mary' design - definitely a rock chick border, Miriam!
Visit @sewmiriam on Instagram for close-ups of the fussy cuts.

Sue H tried prairie points for the first and last time (she says)
on her pretty pinwheels

And there has been a fair bit of knitting going on, like Yvette
with her purple five-needle socks, in this chilly weather.

Show and tell ... recent finishes

Julie made this pretty floral hexagon quilt for a friend who
has moved into care ...

... the floral sashing plays nicely with the hexies.

The backing of Julie's quilt is made from a doona cover, given
by a mutual friend. Some of the print elements are embroidered.

Dawn has been house bound for a few weeks, but has been
 'finishing off'. She has done a great job finishing her 2017
end-of-year challenge. Diana had made the wedding ring
blocks, but had moved on to other things, so she
donated them to the challenge.

Community sewing day, June

We did collectively spend a lot of time at the Sydney Quilt Show last week, but we did quite a lot of quilting too, including at our June community sewing day ...

Julie's farm print quilt, with very cute chook sashing and borders.

Sue C's Plus quilt is entirely finished, with a very elegant
mini striped binding.

Helen is using up her collection of frog prints!

Sue H is nearly finished her improv curves quilt,
sewing in the thread ends.

We sewed 30 pink blocks together into two quilt tops for the Pink
Competition and McGrath Foundation fundraiser later this year

We've been watching Susan's Peacock print quilt coming
together for some time ...

... it was lovely to see the top finished, and to help her pin baste it.

Elaine W has a collection of left-over strips
that will make a gorgeous quilt ...

Sue C learnt that uneven stripes can be neatly mitred when they
meet horizontally ...

... but not vertically, although they do look better on the vertical,
in her vintage transport panel quilt top. That narrow 'grey'
border is actually a very stylish tiny white pin-dot on black.

Sydney Quilt Show 2018: Viewers' Choice awards

Images of the Viewers; Choice quilts have been added to the Quilt NSW Prize Winners Gallery from the 2018 Sydney Quilt Show:

First prize: Anne Blytheman, Floral Odyssey (pattern by Yoko Saito)

Second prize: Dianne Johnston, Abu Dhabi Memories

2018 Sydney Quilt Show: our group quilt

One last look at our group-made 2018 raffle quilt, Sunshine, hanging at the Sydney Quilt Show, before it goes to its new owner ...

Miriam, Elsa, Susan, Pat, Elaine, Helen, Sue - the Saturday
contingent of Fairholme Quilters at Sydney Quilt Show.
Thank you for the fabulous photo, Miriam.
PS - isn't that quilt hanging beautifully straight?

Sydney Quilt Show 2018: Bernina Best in Show

Congratulations to Jenny Bowker, awarded the Sydney Quilt Show Bernina Australia BERNINA Best of Show for her powerful quilt After the Last Sky.

Quilt NSW has given permission for this image to be shared. 

Quilt NSW has already posted a gallery of the major prizewinning quilts announced today - excellent service:

• View the Prize Winners gallery 
• Download the Sydney Quilt Show prize list

Read the story behind the quilt on Jenny Bower's blog here

Download the Sydney Quilt Show catalogue

From Quilt NSW - lots of other information about the Sydney Quilt Show is on the blog, Template Free, and on the Quilt NSW Facebook page:

The Sydney Quilt Show 2018 opens on Wednesday 20 June at the International Convention Centre Sydney at Darling Harbour and runs for five days to Sunday 24 June.

Opening hours are 9am - 4.30pm.

A short-form catalogue will be available at the show. This printed catalogue includes sponsor information; title, size and category information for each quilt entry and a layout diagram. 

A longer version of the catalogue that includes quilt descriptions and other information is now available. Download here (2.4MB PDF)

Jenny Bowker AO - Queens Birthday Honours 2018

Congratulations Jenny Bowker - you can see more of her stunning quilts here.

Canberra quiltmaker Jennifer Bowker has found a way to combat misconception of Arab culture, one artwork at a time
Rashida Yosufzai, SBS, 11 June 2018

... “I just wanted to create the sort of image where people could look into a face and see that they were kind and good and gentle,” Ms Bowker said. 

“I wanted my friends in America and in Australia … to realise the people I was working with were really great, good people and not in any way people to be afraid of" ...

Show and tell catch-up (3)

No Monday meeting today because of the Queen's Birthday long weekend (damp, cold and great sewing weather in Sydney), but it is an opportunity to catch up with last week's fabulous show and tell ...

Miriam is making a beautiful class sample quilt, Limelight,
for a monthly class she will be teaching at Cottage Quiltworks
from August - to see the completed top, see her Instagram post
from this weekend.

Susan has brightened up some florals that have
been in the community stash for some time with the
addition of cream spacer blocks, a diagonal colour
layout, and a complimentary bright border,
from a donation by Jo.

Yvette brought her  Round the Garden  (design by Wendy Williams)
felt applique on linen quilt in to show us her progress
 - it is all hand stitched, and coming along beautifully.

Jill brought all 16 of her Pickled Fish blocks in, and employed
the 'hive mind' to settle on an arrangement preserving the 
multiple circular and starry design layers of Chris Jurd's original 
quilt. A pieced border will complete the unfinished circles at the
edges, followed by a single fabric border to frame.

It was a delivery day for Yvette - she very kindly donated the 
long-arm quilting of this donated quilt top that will be the raffle 
quilt at our next Biggest Morning Tea, in support of the 
Cancer Council.
Both the quilt top and the quilting are fabulous.
Thank you Yvette; and Pat, who has volunteered to bind the
2m square quilt; and to Sue C who donated a beautiful Anna
Maria Horner print for the backing.

Jill took delivery of her quilt Eastside (block patterns and quilt
design by Elizabeth Hartman, in her book, Patchwork City),
beautifully quilted by Yvette in a modern edge-to-edge loop design.

Pink Project 2018: more blocks

Fairholme members have now donated more than 30 blocks for making quilts for the Pink Quilt Competition and donation to a McGrath Foundation fundraiser. We are looking forward to the challenge of putting them together at our June community sewing day. These are the latest blocks (the first 20 are here) ...

Blocks 21 - 33. Close-ups below.

Events: August

www.madquiltersgathering.com.au

Berry Quilting Retreat 2018
and
One Red Thread Textile Art Prize and Exhibition: WeatheRED
18 - 19 August 2018
Berry, NSW

Show and tell catch-up (2)

Still some lovely show and tell to catch up from recent meetings ... we're seeing more finishes since the quilt show now!

Robin's latest vibrant quilt top. The family are lining up
for this one, which is being quilted by Yvette.

Paint Chips is Elaine G's tribute to her husband's 50 year career
with Dulux Paints, made for his retirement in 2014.

She matched the colours of the
chips to actual Dulux colours,
and documented them in the quilt,
 although you can't read the numbers
and names in this photo.

Great work by both Elaine and Wally!

Nerida gorgeous fabric choices work beautifully with
the simple block design in her Sheena Chapman-style quilt.
The Anna Maria Horner border is a great finish.

Sue H makes an I Spy quilt for all the children in her family
 - she keeps thinking she has finished, but another one comes
along ... She includes a pocket on the reverse so that they
can be used as a quillow.

This beautiful collection of fabrics has become a very pretty
quilt for Roslyn's granddaughter who will move into her
'big girl' bed before she knows it.