Houston International Quilt Festival winners and Sapphire Anniversary quilts

For a fix of stunning award winning quilts, you can't go past this online gallery (unless, of course you are actually in Houston) ...

2019 winners at 'Quilts: A World of Beauty', the annual Judged Show of the International Quilt Association, on in Houston, Tx this week:
www.quilts.com/fqf19/iqawinners/list.html

The Quilt Show Daily Blog has posted a gallery of very close-up images of the Best in Show winner, 'Crazy Four Ewe', made by Janet Stone: 

thequiltshow.com/daily-blog/142-newsletter/28613-best-of-show-houston-crazy-four-ewe-a-quilt-by-janet-stone

Congratulations to all the winners, and to all whose quilts were juried into this very prestigious show.

The Quilt Show Daily Blog has also posted about the Festival's 45th (Sapphire) Anniversary exhibition of blue and white quilts at Houston: 

thequiltshow.com/daily-blog/142-newsletter/28597-the-houston-quilt-show-s-45th-anniversary-in-blue

... beware of this blog, though - there are so many beautiful quilt images, in many posts, that you might just get lost for a while!

Show and tell

Her first trial of a wedge ruler produced a much larger ‘block’
than Pat was expecting, and we now have a very splendid wall
hanging to borrow for a large space at our 2020 quilt show! 

Pat embellished the centre with embroidered felt shapes.

Jill did a course of six once-a-month classes in artful improv
quilting with Jessica Wheelahan @birdie_beetle. The pieces
were free cut with scissors, no rulers until final squaring
up. Her class quilt is hand quilted with Aurifil 12 wt cotton.

The quilt is hand quilted with Aurifil 12 wt cotton.

Many of us have started a contrary quilt that just did not want
to get made! This is one such quilt. Marianne rescued this
 modern beauty from being discarded by her Singapore quilt group,
 and brought it with her to Sydney. She found a way to tame and
finish it, and has generously donated it to our community collection.

Thanks Marianne, and Singapore Quilters. We will find it a home!

Marianne makes her very well designed knitting/project bags to sell through
her Etsy shop at Jokamamo Textiles. She has a fabulous stock of fabric prints.

Marilyn's English paper pieced 'Christabella' might have reached a critical
stage - time for borders and a finish? It will be beautiful wherever
she decides it is done.

Community sewing day, October 2019

Our community sewing days are very enjoyable, and often quite varied ...

Elaine B is sewing pink blocks that a child will love
into a fun quilt top.

Pretty Dresden plate blocks are emerging from
Elaine W's sewing machine

Helen showed us Cluck Cluck Sew's method for making
a fabric rose - we are making Fearless Flowers in support
of the Pink Meets Teal campaign to raise awareness
and funds for ovarian cancer.

They are fun to make, and an opportunity to use up scraps
of almost any size and colour. We'll add a felt backing and
brooch pin with a hot glue gun. Others are making felt flowers,
We might graduate to flowers on stems!

Miriam turned this colourful pile of large scraps into ...

... a small zippered pouch, to help stock the craft stall
at our quilt show in April 2020.

Reverse of the pouch.

Sue started a new quilt in a layout similar to Susan's recent
quilt finish, but with the light and dark pieces in reverse.
Susan was away, and unable to consult on the size of the
pieces, so Sue, being a mathematician, used simultaneous
equations to work them out - as you do! 

We take advantage of the large tables at our community venue
for our own quilts too - Nerida thread basted this gorgeous
version of Sarah Fielke's 'Down the Rabbit Hole'
block of the month, with help from Noelle ... 

... and Jill squared up her artful improv quilt ready for binding.

Bags - large and small

Miriam describes the Small Betsy Bag as 'a great pattern by 
The Strawberry Thief. A delightful make. '
Fabric strips are crocheted using a large hook. 

Miriam also showed us her collage tote from Picture Postie
- the free app allows you to select your own photos to be 
printed on both sides and the base of the canvas weight 
fabric tote bag. The tote is about $50, plus postage.

Pat has decorated her Yazzi bag with embroidered felt. 
Bright and beautiful.

Even the clasp is decorated.

Yvette's tiny zippered and embroidered pouch.

Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson at the Powerhouse

If you have loved Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson's fabric, clothing and artwork beginning in the 70s, and fondly remember Flamingo Park in the Strand Arcade, the Powerhouse Museum has a show for you this summer:


'Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson: Step into Paradise'

17 October 2019 - 22 March 2020

Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

... an immersive exhibition, (it) is the first in-depth survey that captures the dynamic energy of Linda and Jenny’s creative partnership. It draws on more than four decades of one of the most influential pairings in the history of Australian fashion, examining the influences, inspirations and the compelling stories behind their work ... Over 150 garments, textiles, photographs and artworks, many unseen, from the Museum’s own extensive collection are brought together with the designers’ personal archives.

Check out recent Instagram posts from the Powerhouse to remind yourself how fabulous this exhibition will be. 

Quilt show and tell

Robin W made this quilt top for our community quilts 
collection, using the scraps from her last donation - and she 
says there are now more scraps for another. Stellar 
use of beautiful fabric, as always, Robin - thank you. 

Robin B and some friends kindly finished off a quilt started
many years ago, for a friend who can longer sew.
The kindness of quilters.

Val made border blocks before she made the centre
for her medallion quilt - can you see where this
might be going? The background fabrics don't
work, so Val is undoing her 27 appliqued blocks and
replacing them all. Tedious, but she will feel much
better about it, and the quilt will be finished.

An excellent design to feature a print in a baby quilt, Nerida!

Roslyn wasn't able to come to our SuperStars workshop
with Miriam in August, but she worked from the pattern
at home to produce this truly stunning quilt top.
The background is cut from an ombre fabric,

Julie's SuperStar quilt top is also finished, and shows
how beautifully French General fabrics work together
over several ranges.

Antique 1880s English hexagon coverlet

An 1880s hexagon coverlet (backed, but quilted only in the border) came home with Helen from a recent visit to London and Christopher Wilson-Tate at the Antique Textiles Company.

It was a show-stopper at show and tell last week, as we admired and examined every bit - the fussy cutting, the stitching, the quilting on the delicately printed border, and its overall appeal.

It is now back in use on a bed, on the other side of the world - wouldn’t its maker be pleased, and possibly astonished?

Christopher Wilson-Tate is a designer for Moda Fabrics, and an antique quilts specialist. Antique Textiles Co:  www.antiquetextilescompany.co.uk

October - November events

Dopamine, by Seed Stitch Collective

Gaffa Gallery

281 Clarence Street, Sydney

10 - 21 October 2019

Sydney Craft Week/Craft Up Late: 

Tuesday 15 October, 5pm – 8pm
Facebook event page for Dopamine

Wheel ‘n’ Weft Christmas Art and Craft Exhibition

25 - 27 October 2019

Thornleigh Community Centre 2120

Facebook events page

FibreFest on Facebook
Knitters Guild of NSW

Campbelltown Patchwork and Quilters Show

9 - 10 November 2019

Campbelltown Civic Centre, Queen Street

Campbelltown

Enquiries: 0404 092 454 (Sue)

Campbelltown Patchwork and Quilters on Facebook
Event page on Facebook

Cherrybrook Quilters Inc 

Quilt exhibition and Christmas Market 

Friday 29 November and Saturday 30 November 2019 

Uniting Church Hall, New Line Road 

Cherrybrook

Show and tell

Susan shopped in Melbourne and put a lot of thought
into choosing the fabrics to highlight the prints
- it paid off handsomely.

Julie saved the little half square triangle offcuts from
some octagon blocks and paired them with some left
over cornerstones from another quilt. Excellent use
of scrap fabric.The sashing is 1/2" finished.

Nerida's 'Dear Diary' is a catalogue of beautiful Anna Maria
Horner fabrics from all her ranges. 

The pattern, designed by AMH, is a contemporary take
on a sampler, released by subscription on Creative Bug.

The quilt is big, so will be machine quilted by Keepsake
Quilting - we’re looking forward to seeing it
again when that is done.

Jill found a post about Melissa Wastney's lined Bento 
bag onInstagram and made some from her 
online tutorial - it really is as quick and easy as the IG 
post claimed. A great use for larger fabric scraps.

Originally designed designed to hold knitting or crochet, 
the tie top bags could have many uses, and the size 
is easily scaled up or down.  The smaller bag is 12" 
across the base, the larger one is 17" across the base.

Quilty long weekend reading

It's the Labour Day long weekend here in NSW, so no meeting and show and tell for us on Monday. Here is some quilt related reading and pictures to entertain you over the break ... hope you get time for sewing too.

A little piece of Australian history

Addicted 2 Fabric, 25 September 2019

Every quilt has a layer of storytelling, but for this special quilt recreated by South Australian pattern-maker Lessa Siegele, the story began all the way back at the beginning of quilting in Australia ...

Fabric of Life

Rich Warren, Ohio Magazine, July 2019

Artist Nancy Crow draws inspiration from near and far to create beautiful and inventive quilts that take the medium to a new level ...

Artist's polychromatic quilts tell powerful stories using recycled fabrics,
Kimberly Mok, Treehugger,  5 March 2019

 ... some of the seven "R" strategies to shift toward a more sustainable fashion industry include reducing, reusing, recycling, repairing, researching, renting, and of course, repurposing. A great example of repurposing with inspiring results is Brooklyn-based textile artist Bisa Butler, who creates these stunningly intricate quilted tapestries that are primarily made with vintage and repurposed fabrics. 

But Butler doesn't just strive to bring a bit of environmental consciousness in her choice of materials, she also strives to highlight the richness of African-American culture as well through her polychromatic portrayals of everyday citizens to historical figures like Paul Laurence Dunbar, Basquiat, and Josephine Baker ...

One from the LA Times archives, recently posted online:

The Quilt Circle: How to make an American movie? Start by piecing together a network of OC seamstresses
Kathleen O'Steen, Los Angeles Times, 6 October 1995

When they needed quilts, the producers of the movie 'How to Make An American Quilt', based on a novel written by Whitney Otto at UCI, they called Patty McCormick of Corona del Mar ...

Our latest SuperStars

The SuperStars keep coming ... finished tops, and now finished quilts too!

Lyn found adding just a few darker stars worked
well against her light background.

Pat chose a dramatic dark background for
her scrappy oriental stars.

Miriam's latest variation 

Miriam's feature fabrics are from a Halloween range
- the crow is her favourite.

Clare's gorgeous tropical version is beautifully finished
with the hot pink binding.

Dawn made two tiny baby quilts, a single star ...

... and a constellation of tiny stars.