More community quilts

We delivered 84 quilts to a range of community services and support organisations during the financial year 2022 - 2023, including some working locally, some in the regions and some state-wide . 

A very sweet little quilt made by Elaine B, using some
whimsical fabrics from the community stash, supported
by geometric and blender prints.

Julie’s Lion King quilt!

Susan K is a prolific maker of community quilts, which
are much appreciated. This one is Diamonds and Dots,
from Quilter’s Companion. Quilted by Quilting Finesse.

Gorgeous scraps.

The beautiful backing fabric.

Flannel rail fence made by Dawn, quilted by
Laura, bound by Lynette.

Community quilts in progress

Last month Susan Mack collected some fabric from a donation
made by Hilary’s friend, and within two weeks had produced
her next community quilt top. If you look cluster at the second
image you can see that it is a single block, simply repeated
with alternate ones rotated. 

The strong diagonal design arises from the consistent colour
and tone contrast - all the large triangles are dark green/ read
as green, all the squares are red and all the small
triangles are low volume. 

We pin basted Jill’s 2022 #30daysofimprovqal top
recently - just before this years qal started … 

Susan K has set herself a challenge - to puzzle a collection OF
orphan blocks into a quilt top. We had fun ‘helping’ her …

…  some trimming and filling will be needed, but it will work.

AQC challenge 2024

 

Australasian Quilt Convention 2024 Challenge

Deadline for entries: 9 February 2024

Judged Quilt Competition

Sponsored by Expertise Events Pty Ltd

The AQC challenge is run annually and welcomes entries from quilters around the world. 

Entries are juried and judged with up to 30 finalists selected and displayed at the AQC in Melbourne in April, 2024 before touring at various craft events.

AQC 2024: 11 - 14 April 2024, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne

Recent finishes

Henry’s baby quilt, made by Jo-Ann is made from snowball
 blocks and machine appliqué antennae. The background fabric
is a tiny pale green pin dot set on a diamond grid, so directional.
Jo took great care to align all the pieces. The colourful
scrappy binding offsets the negative space very well.

Susan Mack had some fabric left over from a recent community
quilt. She used it to make a tote bag for our community craft
stall stock. It didn’t quite get that far, being snapped up by
a member before it was handed over - Roslyn arrived
at a price on the spot, and the deal was done!

Jeni’s Liberty and linen ‘Clifton Ties’ cushion is a beautiful
pairing of fabrics from Mel Storey @patch_girl 

Louise made some little ‘hearts of kindness’ for
friends with sadness in their lives.    

Made for family members, Marg V’s quilt featuring their
names was designed with the aid of a digital crossword generator.
And careful checking that all the names were included and
spelled correctly. Clever and thoughtful.

The back can have family photos added 
over the years to come. 

Dawn has made warm hats through winter, for people in
need, using a round knitting loom.

 

Reading, viewing, listening …

Some serious treats in these links:

Art Quilt Australia 2023: award winners and online gallery

Art Quilt Australia 2023 seeks to promote excellence and originality in contemporary art quilts in Australia with an added emphasis on quilts made of wool. Works were selected on the basis of originality, composition, content and execution by a jury of acknowledged experts: Dr Anne Farren, Beth Miller and Dr Moira G. Simpson. OzQuilt Network, 11 August 2023

Festival of Quilts, Birmingham UK 3 - 6 August 2023

This link will take you to the 2023 Competition Gallery. Explore the website for other 202# galleries.

The Festival of Quilts was launched in 2003 in partnership with The Quilters’ Guild as a hub for people from all over the world to come together and share their passion for quilting.

20 years on and it is now the biggest quilting show in Europe with over 22,000 quilting fanatics expected to attend this year. It is also home to the largest open quilt competition in the world, has the largest programme of workshops and talks offered anywhere in Europe and hosts some of the leading quilt artists from around the globe

Victorian Quilters Showcase 2023

Award winners gallery.

9 Fascinating Needlework Tapestries like the Bayeux Tapestry

The Bayeux Tapestry has fascinated needleworkers and historians alike for centuries. Unlike most tapestries, which are woven, the Bayeux Tapestry was embroidered in stem stitch and couching, or Bayeux Stitch. Over the years, EGA has offered educational opportunities exploring the Bayeux Tapestry, such as our recent virtual lecture with Christine Crawford-Oppenheimer (learn more here). The history of the making and preservation of the Bayeux Tapestry, as well as the history it captures in its threads, tell a fascinating story about crafting as a means of storytelling and record keeping.

But the Bayeux Tapestry isn’t the only artifact of its kind. In fact, the Bayeux Tapestry has inspired a number of other similar needlework tapestries, all with the express purpose of capturing the history of various cultures around the world. Let’s uncover some of the tapestries created as a response to the Bayeux Tapestry … Embroiderers Guild of America, 19 July 2023

Embroidery and the 2023 Archibald Prize Win

The 2023 winning artwork for the prestigious Archibald Prize included the use of textiles, collage and embroidery, a first for this highly esteemed prize - and that’s proving to be tricky for some art critics.

Why?  Because it’s challenging the norms of art - but does it really?

Listen to the latest Stitch Safari Podcast episode here: Embroidery and the 2023 Archibald Prize Win. Cathy Jack Coupland, Stitch Safari Podcast, June 2023

New stitches added to Royal School of Needlework Stitch Bank

25 brand new stitches have been added to RSN Stitch Bank, bringing the total up to 350 stitches. Each stitch entry contains information about its history, use and structure as well as a step-by-step method with photographs, illustrations and video. Royal School of Needlework, 21 June 2023

A Teacher in 1876 Handcrafted This Quilt to Help Teach Astronomy to Her Class

Ellen Harding Baker, an American astronomer from the 19th century … is famous for one particularly crafty education method. She is rumored to have spent 7 years embroidering the entire solar system onto a quilt, which she then used as a visual aid during her lectures … Emma Taggart, My Modern Met, 27 November 2018

More August events

Australian Fibre Arts Awards Exhibition
Gallery 76
76 Queen Street Concord West 2038

8 July - 13 August, 10am - 4pm daily

Campbelltown Arts Centre, 

1 Art Gallery Road, Campbelltown

WENTWORTH QUILTERS EXHIBITION

26 - 27 August 2023

9.30am - 4pm

Linwood House

25 Byron Road, Guildford 

Beautifully clever, useful finishes

This might be one of the most beautiful ‘toolkits’ you’ll ever see. 
Janice loves Liberty lawn, linen, stripes, hexagons
and hand sewing, and has used them all here.

And she’s quite fond of blue.

Designed to accommodate all her favourite tools …

… and keeping so neat!

A matching project pouch completes the set, with a touch
 of linen and the prettiest blue tussle as a finishing touch.

A bag made with Australian native flora and
fauna prints for a gift going to the UK.

With A whimsical Gumnut Babies lining.

Susan K has well and truly mastered the Kandou Crafts
cross body travel pouch after making several versions for
herself and others. She is really pleased with dry oilcloth
as the outer fabric, and has made some adaptations to the
zippered pockets to suit her own use.  

The red spot lining is a nice foil to the oilcloth outer fabric.