Sunday, June 23, 2024

Work in progress

Last week saw three finished tops that we were not expecting shared at our regular meeting - you never know what people have been working away at quietly.


Hilary’s ‘Unallocated’, designed by Michelle McKillop
is ready for quilting!



The breeze almost defeated this photo session …

But Susan K’s ‘Medallion in a Day’ started in a workshop with
Margaret Sampson George and wax a finished top
just two days later …

The mix of prints is bonkers, and brilliant:
 tigers, Liberty stripes, cherubs …

… octopuses. Almost all from Susan’s stash.


Susan Mac magicked up a pieced and appliqued
top from a warm palette …

… and it will be quilted with equal skill, possibly
for next week’s show and tell!

 

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

July events

 


https://craftfair.com.au/home/sydney/








North Shore Craft Group
Members’ Challenge: ‘Inspired by Nature’
Catering by Hornsby CWA
Supporting Hornsby Women’s Shelter










Saturday, June 15, 2024

New quilts

Nerida’s nieces and nephews have each had a beautiful
quilt for their 18th birthdays. The most recent one, for Sam
is a Bonnie Hunter ‘Crooked Courthouse Steps’ variation in
a fabulous mix of many blues with flashes of warm colours.




The newest addition to Jeni’s couch is a wholecloth
embroidered linen very comfy cushion in sensational colours.


Susan M used a border print combined with a
patchwork of complimentary squares for her
granddaughter’s sweet little quilt.


… and a Little Mermaid backing that might be
turned to the front sometimes.

Val photographed her quilt with a traditional Indonesian figurine:
‘I made this small quilt for my granddaughter using 
Indonesian sarongs and batik. She's interested in all aspects 
of Indonesian culture and is going there in a few days to be part
of a Jakarta uni social studies exercise.’




Tuesday, June 11, 2024

The New Quilt 2024 at the Hawkesbury Regonal Gallery

A few of us visited The New Quilt exhibition at the Hawkesbury Regional Gallery in Windsor this week, and timed our visit to catch up with our member Val Nadin for an in depth look at her quilt ‘Fractured Landscape - After the Flood’. 

Val showed us how she captured the colours and movement of the debris that collected around the damaged landscape of the flooded Yarramundi Bridge over the Nepean River, using what she had on hand. It is close to home for Val, and the evidence of the flood is still there, a constant reminder.

The exhibition is presented by Quilt NSW.  An online gallery of the whole collection, can be viewed on the Quilt NSW website,  and you can purchase the beautifully photographed catalogue online too. We recommend an in person visit to the gallery if you can. The exhibition is open until 23 June 2024.




 

‘A Fractured Landscape - After the Flood by Val Nadin considers the destructive power of nature and, in particular, when the Nepean River burst its banks in 2022 and inundated the Yarramundi bridge.

Val’s interest in quilts began in 1980, while she was living in Singapore. She developed her skills and technique in both traditional and art quilt-making over 40 years. She has taught many classes, judged exhibitions, and worked on Valuation Committee for 25 years. Many of her works are in Australian-themed series, for example, ‘Convicts and Soldiers’, ‘Bushfires’, ‘Drought’, and more recently, ‘Floods’. Val’s quilts have been exhibited across Australia and internationally. Her favourite techniques include strip piecing, and the inclusion of her own hand-dyed fabrics and found objects such as teabags, plastics, and beads. She is currently working on a series of small quilts, using fabrics identified with specific cultures, such as Australia’s First Nations, Indonesia, France, England, and Africa.’


Sunday, June 9, 2024

Quilts online

Some quilt viewing for a wintery long weekend …



The New Quilt 2024 

Online gallery and award winners of The New Quilt Exhibition, currently at the Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor NSW until 23 June 2024. Exhibition details are on this link to the QuiltNSW website.


Free online talk focussed on The Radar Quilt, 1841 … made by a group of women prisoners on board the HMS Rajah convict ship, The Rajah quilt is both a work of great historically significance and an extraordinary work of art produced by the hands of many women. Recorded by the National Gallery of Australia, 29 May 2024
The Rajah Quilt is currently on display as part of ‘A Century of Quilts’ at the National Gallery of Australia until 25 August 2024

Canberra Quilters Exhibition 2024

Award winners.


American Quilters Society - Quilt Week 2024, Paducah

Congratulations to all the award winners in this prestigious exhibition. Two Australian quilters were among them:

Bernina of America Best Stationary Machine Workmanship Award:
‘Floral Synphony No 2’ -  Mariya Waters, Victoria, Australia

Miniature Quilts:
3rd - ‘In Plain Sight’, Robyn Cuthbertson, 
Victoria, Australia


‘Sonny’s Bridge’, a quilt by Faith Ringgold (1930 - 2024) is the cover photo on the 6 May 2024 issue of New Yorker magazine.


Wednesday, June 5, 2024

New community quilts

 

Julie’s latest ‘Wonky Courthouse Steps’. She says she has
trouble allowing them to be even a little wonky, but loves 
the way they eat up the little stripy scraps.

An orphan block quilt made by Lynette. She had a small
collection of nine patches, found some of the same size at
a destash sale, added some found flower blocks, and a
star block, and included a few strays on the back (below).


Louise found some very nearly finished tops in a recent
declutter at home and donated them. This one was
quilted by Laura.

Pam put the positive/negative blocks together after a workshop,
Lynette added borders and quilted it.

Susan Mac conjured up a very appealing design with a
constant white + tiny grey print fabric placement in quarter
square triangles partnered with a scrappy selection
of half square triangles.
The pink checked border is a community stash donation.


Sue and Hilary helped Julie line up her scrappy hexagons in
straight order so they no longer looked ‘drunken’ (Julie’s word).

… and Laura quilted them for our community collection.


One more colourful beauty from Julie …

… the backing fabric was an astute bargain from the
 community stash that compliments the top nicely