Fairholme Quilters at Sydney Quilt Show

Congratulations to Fairholme Quilters Miriam Jones and Susan Kelly on having their quilts hung in last month’s Sydney Quilt Showpresented by QuiltNSW.

Miriam’s quilt is the Denver Art Museum Quilt
designed by Brigitte Giblin, hand quilted by Miriam.
The quit will remain with Miriam’s family as a much loved heirloom.

Susan’s quilt is Florida Bound, made using block patterns
from the Quilt Builder Card Deck and was quilted by
Jayne Ronnie of Quilting Finesse. It is one of a pair
heading to young relatives in Florida.

Dates for the 2027 Sydney Quilt Show have been released by QuiltNSW:

Thursday 16 - Saturday 18 September 2026

Rosehill Racecourse 

Long weekend reading and viewing links

Quilting As An Affordable Hobby

One day, Melissa Marginet overheard a quilter discouraging her friend from taking up this hobby – inside a quilt store!

“Don’t start,” the woman said. “It’s too expensive.”

“That’s just not right,” she thought to herself. Since then, Melissa has set out to disprove this myth so more people can enjoy affordable sewing and quilting. … Lois Tuffin,  Canadian Quilter, 27 July 2-26

 

Mary Jane Hannaford Quilts

Mary Jane Hannaford was an English immigrant from here in Devon, arriving with her parents and brother in Australia in 1842, aged just 2 … Mary Jane did not start making quilts until she was in her eighties (1920's). All her quilts have an authenticity about them, paying homage to her life and journey. I love her use of free form appliqué telling stories about patriotism, religious faith, and the love of Australian wildlife and flowers. Feels rebellious by nature, not picture perfect and pulls on my outsider art heartstrings … Rebecca Robin Studios

 

Using your stash to make scrappy quilts 

Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle of Modern Quilt Studio post videos here to help quilters learn new skills, gain confidence and learn more about making modern quilts.

We've been designing and making modern quilts since 1999. In addition to publishing Modern Quilts Illustrated, we also design fabric and host online quilting events. On the first day of each month we host the Quilts First! livestream on the Modern Quilt Studio Facebook page. The recording is uploaded to YouTube later in the day … Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle,  Modern Quilt Studio 1 July 2026

7 Artists on Soft Sculptures: Why Artists Turn to Textile

With so many hard things that we touch and live in, we’re crying for softness.” Sheila Hicks, Nick Cave, Kaarina Kaikkonen, and four other acclaimed artists reflect on how working with textiles has shaped their practice. “Every knot has a breath,” says Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto, whose immersive sculptures in cotton invite a sensory escape from everyday reality. American artist Nick Cave describes his work as “figurative sculptural,” where textiles and discarded materials suggest a “second skin” that conceals gender, race, and class … Louisiana Channel, May 2026

Give your quilt the wow factor

Take a look at my Beaumont Square Quilt - it’s a mix of red, orange, pink and a few pops of yellow. They all lie next to each other on the colour wheel. And while the quilt would have been gorgeous and mellow with this colour palette, I thought it needed a pop of something else to make it interesting. Enter the brilliant green linen … Mel Storey, Patch Me Blog, 10 April 2026

And this one shows the police evicting me: the fabulous fabric visions of Elizabeth Allen

Elizabeth Allen lived at the end of a steep, muddy track in a dilapidated hut with a notice on the door that read: “Knock very loudly.” One day in the winter of 1965, the artist Patrick Heron did just that – and overnight Allen, then in her 80s, became lauded as a luminary of the art world … One of Allen’s pieces, 1966’s The Great Swan Song, … features a black bird stitched into a cobalt-blue pond fringed by brown-leafed trees. The bird’s red eyes are gazing up at a vermilion sky, while a patchwork piece of bright green striped cloth seems to represent Allen’s hut … Joanna Moorhead, The Guardian, 13 April 2026

How to Use a Design Wall in Quilting: Turning Your Wall into a Composition Laboratory

…  the real purpose of a design wall is not storage. It is composition. In serious quilt design practice, the design wall becomes a thinking tool — a space to evaluate structure, value, movement, and hierarchy before sewing permanently. If used intentionally, the design wall transforms the modern quilting design process … Carolina Oneto, Modern Quilting Blog, 20 April 2026

 National Quilt Museum Online 

You can explore 700+ quilts from the National Quilt Museum – all online. Dive into insights from the artists, images and more details that bring each piece to life. Start exploring here.

Slow-stitching workshop - finished pieces 1

Each quilter started with a basic kit put together by Christine, and added embellishments of their own, exchanged with others, and/or from the shared baskets.

Made by Denise

Made by Robyn 

Robyn (3) = hand embroidered butterfly, Robyn’s design.

Made by Robyn - reverse

Made by Susan Mack

Made by Susan - reverse

Made by Hilary

Hilary found the Dorset button in an op-shop.

New community quilts

     

This quilt top was re-made from one generously donated,
but in need of some renovation and up-sizing.
Jill disassembled the original top, separated the couloured
triangles and added the low volume pieces.

Laura quilted it on her long-arm using a clever technique
that allowed her to avoid stitching through the block junctions
(with several layers of fabric), by adjusting the edge to edge
design to leave a small space at each one without
interrupting the stitching line..

The backing fabric was also a donation, a long length of a
of Australian wild flowerprint from 1985. It was identified as a
curtain fabric by one of our members who had chosen the
 same fabric for curtains in her previous house in the 1980s! 

Sue C cut into squares an alphabet panel intended to be made
into a cloth book, and alternated them with red nine
patches and blue stars. 

Laura quilted it on her long arm machine.

Elaine W is working her way through her large fabric stash,
 making commjnity quilts!

A second stash buster from Elaine W, combining
machine and hand quilting.

October events

Timeless Textiles Gallery

90 Hunter Street Newcastle 2300

Open 10 - 4 Wednesday - Saturday; 10 - 2 Sunday

Closed public holidays

Nulla Nulla Regional Gallery
490 Macleay Valley Way
South Kempsey, 2440

Recent finishes

 

Jeni made her ‘Figgy’ quilt during and after an online
Abstraction class with Brenda Gael Smith.
The restrained hand quilting!

The inspiration photo for Jeni’s quilt  (‘fiche’ in Italian)
was taken at a produce market in Italy last year.
She cropped it to the shapes inside the tape.

Jeni made her landscape mini in an in-person class with
Gloria Loughman for the Textile Collective.

Half square triangles in carefully chosen fabrics,
and paired with a striking border, make a
statement in Susan K’s quilt made as a gift.

Susan chose an Anna Maria Horner print for the back.
Quilted by Jane at Quilting Finesse.

A year is not a long time to hand stitch a large quilt
 made of small pieces. Amanda started ‘Oh My George’  with
Susan Smith at a retreat in Rye in the UK in 2025,
and finished it in 2026.

There are only two different shapes …

… but there are a lot of them, and there are many different fabrics.

Pretty backing …

… and a great label.

A whale of a quilt!

A playful whale, made by Elaine G, has a lot to see,
but she says she’s never making another clamshell!

Machine embroidery magic.

And on the back …!