Recent finishes

Basting and quilting larger quilts is somewhat of a challenge during ‘stay at home’ public health orders, but some of us are  making good progress, giving us some very nice eye candy.

Val’s third Kawandi finish is made from her French provincial
fabric scraps, it measures about 22 ‘ square.

Nerida is going to enjoy this one at home for a bit before gifting it.
 The blocks are all half square triangles. Made during last year’s
 #moremodernhstbom2020 run by Steph Jacobsen and Zina Hull Clark.
 Nerida added the sashings and then big stitch quilted it with
Perle 8 DMC in lots of different colours. 

Helen latest finish is a combined inspiration from the 2019 fussy
 cutting challenge by @naomialicec providing monthly themes,
 and the beautiful ‘Little Miss April’ designed by Margaret
Sampson George. Paper pieced and machine ditch quilted.

Helen’s bright and fresh half square triangle top is actually
now a finished quilt,  for our community collection, having
been quilted and bound by Laura

Helen was delighted with the bargain backing she picked up
as an end-of-bolt at Cottage Quilt Works before the
current Sydney lockdown. 

Links to some quilts online

Detail of Fairholme member Val Nadin’s quilt
from our 2018 Quilt Show

In this time of very few quilt shows we can go to, there are many ways to at least see lots of spectacular quilts in curated settings. Here are a few links we follow, and sometimes share posts from/about. They all include information about quilts, their history, current developments, quilt study, and broader textile topics. Any of them offer hours of entertainment and interest. Your recommendations for others are welcome.

International Quilt Festival, hosts of the large annual quilt show in Houston, posts on Facebook and Instagram, with other material on its website.
https://www.quilts.com/quilt-festival/

The National Quilt Museum (Paducah, Kentucky) is celebrating its 30th anniversary year, by sharing a quilt from the museum collection every day, all year long, on Facebook and on Instagram.
https://quiltmuseum.org/

The International Quilt Museum, Lincoln Nebraska, often posts quilts from its extensive collections on Facebook. Much of its collection and museum activities such as tours and talks can be viewed from the website.
https://www.internationalquiltmuseum.org/

American Folk Art Museum includes quilts in its Textiles collection, viewable on the website, and posts on Facebook.
https://folkartmuseum.org/

Vintage Spools quilt

 Quilt in the wild, well not that wild, but at least it’s out getting some exercise …

Three stars, one quilt. Miriam’s ‘Vintage Spools’,
a grand magnolia, and the lovely Betty.

The backing was waiting in Miriam’s stash just for this quilt.

On-line show and tell

Our Quilters are finding various ways to continue making, and to manage it during lockdown. During our zoom meetings, the most common comment is how lucky we are to have our interest in quilting, other sewing and other crafts.

Nerida has made a number of small quilts, including receiving
blankets for newborns and baby quilts, in between
working on larger projects.

Robyn made her improv ‘plus’ quilt entirely from her stash, 

and hand quilted it with big stitches.

Laura’s zinger of a quilt is a version of ‘Shimmering Triangles’
designed by Jenny Bowker @jennybowker1showcasing large
scale prints. Laura has used Kaffe Fasset fabrics to great
effect,  and has skilfully finished the quilt
on her long-arm quilting machine.

Stephanie used some bright scrappy hearts and hexies
from her stash for a quick finish small quilt.

Festival of Quilts, Birmingham, UK

Following a virtual event in 2020 because of the pandemic, the UK’s 2021 Festival of Quilts, the largest patchwork and quilting show in Europe, returned to Birmingham last weekend. All of the award winning quilts can now be online.

The original poster for the postponed
2020 Festival of Quilts .
The featured quilt is Sarah Hibbert’s
‘Macaroons’.

Best of Show:

https://www.thefestivalofquilts.co.uk/handi-quilter-best-in-show-award-2021/

Winners and short listed quilts in all categories:

https://www.thefestivalofquilts.co.uk/beyond-foq-quilt-competitions/

‘Wonder of Eyes: Eyes of Wonder’ online

From the exhibition curator, Brenda Gael Smith:

Check out the new online gallery for the 73 20x20cm textile artworks entered into the Wonder of Eyes: Eyes of Wonder exhibition at www.wonderofeyes.com

Voting is now open for the Viewers’ Choice Award. The maker of the winning work will receive A$200 sponsored by the curator. All voters go into a draw for a copy of the Vision 2020 Textiles catalogue and, if the winner of the draw is from Australia, they will also receive a double pass to the Australasian Quilt Convention 2021 thanks to IntoCraft.

 

Show and tell - community quilts

 No monthly sewing days since May, but the community quilts collection is still growing … thanks to all those sewing at home during lockdown.

Sue made her two-colour blocks in the style of an 

Instagram sew-along from earlier in the year.

Jo used a collection of neutral colours for all these
stylish half square triangles …

… quilted in a complimentary modern design by Laura.

Sue found these folded flying geese in a donated collection … 

… and put them together with sashing from the community stash.

Jill used her green scraps and a little black and white
for her version of Miriam’s ‘Little Women’ design.

Quilted by Laura.

Elaine claimed the backing fabric from a donated package,
just as it was opened …

… it perfectly compliments the top of her quilt.

Dawn’s latest version of Miriam’s ‘SuperStars’ design.

2021 Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair postponed

 

From Intocraft, 4 August 2021
Sadly the Covid-19 situation in Sydney continues to decline to the point where it is clear that this event will not be able to run in September. Even if the lockdown ends by late August, the attendance of interstate exhibitors is impacted and the confidence of visitors to attend is also compromised. The Sydney Quilt Show is unable to run past October 1 under their terms and conditions and therefore pushing back to a later time is not a feasible option. In light of all these factors, it is devastating to announce that we have no other choice but to reschedule the fair to next year and our new dates will be Wednesday June 29 through to Sunday July 3, 2022 at Sydney Showground, Homebush. We extend our warmest regards to everyone in our community, and above all stay safe.
www.craftevents.com.au

From Quilt NSW, 4 August 2021

With the extension of the lockdown in the greater Sydney region, and anticipated ongoing social distancing requirements, our partner Expertise Events has decided to reschedule the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair to Wednesday 29 June to Sunday 3 July 2022. (See Intocraft Facebook Announcement.) 

This means that there will be no in-person Sydney Quilt Show event this year.

 

QuiltNSW is committed to providing its members with opportunities to share their quilts and to celebrate creativity. The exhibition sub-committee is actively exploring moving to a virtual event where all of the quilts are judged in the cloth, photographed and then displayed online. However, this is a significant logistical exercise and depends upon a number of factors including the easing of health restrictions and providing a safe environment for our volunteers. 

 

We will report back to you in mid-September, or earlier if there are any significant developments in our virtual show plans. In the meantime, please be assured that your quilts are safe and laying out flat.

Kawandi quilts update

Val’s Kawandi quilt aroused a good deal of interest while she was making it, so we thought you would like to see the finished quilt.

Val’s first Kawandi quilt was made from
her stash of African prints.

She enjoyed the process so much that Val is making a
second Kawandi, using her Aboriginal prints. And
there might be more to come …