Reading, listening, viewing …

Need something other than actual sewing to watch, listen to, or read during the lazy days of summer? Here are a few links that might interest you. 

 

How a new play is leading the push to return an historic convict-sewn quilt back to Tasmania

In a backroom of the National Gallery of Australia, an historically significant quilt is in storage. It is adorned with flowers, birds and other shapes sewn/embroidered into the yellow-faded quilt.

Sewn in 1841 by convict women on Her Majesty's ship Rajah as it made its way to then-Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), the quilt was presented to the governor's wife, Lady Jane Franklin, upon the ship's arrival.

It's had its own journey since then and was lost for almost 150 years, before it reappeared in an attic in Scotland in 1987. While the quilt is now at the NGA in Canberra, there are calls to bring it back to Tasmania.  Selina Ross and Isabella Podwinski, ABC News, 24 November 2023

ABC Conversations - Lucy Godoroja

Lucy Godoroja was unexpectedly introduced to the fascinating world of buttons in the late 1980s, in Amsterdam's old canal district.

She got hooked on these tiny treasures, buying an entire warehouse of buttons, sight unseen, from a button merchant's daughter in Milan.

Lucy managed to get this precious stash of buttons to Australia, where she's been running her own button shop in Sydney's inner west for 30 years now.

All Buttons Great and Small: A compelling history of the button, from the Stone Age to today is published by Exisle publishing.

 Conversation with Sarah Kanowski, ABC Radio Sydney, 23/11/2023

* Also available as a podcast on the ABC Listen app, or the podcasting service of your choice.

ABC Conversations - Catherine Martin

… the sequins and feathers of Strictly Ballroom, to Leo Di Caprio's Hawaiian shirt in Romeo and Juliet, and Nicole Kidman's red gown in Moulin Rouge, Catherine's designs are emblems of glamour and memory. Recently she's immersed herself in the story of Elvis Presley for her and Baz's (Lurhman) latest film.

Her work on the screen brings to technicolour life the entire world of Elvis, from the blues joints of Beale street, to the peacock stained glass windows of Graceland with its six metre sofa, and the iconic costumes of the King himself.

Catherine has won four Oscars for her costume and production design. 

Conversation with Richard Fidler, ABC Radio Sydney, 17/11/2023

* Also available as a podcast on the ABC Listen app, or the podcasting service of your choice.

The 300-year-old Japanese method of upcycling

Sashiko is easy, practical and beautiful – and gaining fans around the world. Bel Jacobs speaks to practitioners to find out more … Bel Jacobs, BBC, 14 October 2023
(includes video of Atsushi Futatsuya of Upcycle Stitches one of a new generation of Japanese practitioners (see video)

My quilt story

In my novel ‘The Crimson Thread’, my heroine Alenka embroiders messages in secret code on her wedding quilt to smuggle clandestine information to the Greek resistance.

I had to learn how to embroider in order to make sure that I described it properly in my novel. I had never sewn anything more ambitious than a loose button, so I was not at all sure how to go about it …  Slowly, stitch by stitch, square by square, my story quilt is growing – made with hand and heart.  Kate Forsyth, 2023

A secret to threading a needle

A short video of two handy tips for hand sewing. Threads Sewing 2016

10 Ways to Make a Quilt Back II

So here are some of the many ways I create quilt backs. It’s rarely my favorite part of the quilting process, but a necessary one nonetheless. And it's definitely good to have options, right?  Debbie Jesse, A Quilter’s Table, 2019

Quilts on Antiques Roadshow (BBC TV)

Antiques Roadshow Series 44 Episode 14 held at Woodhorn Museum, now on ABC iView: at 27m 45 sec - 33m 18 sec there is a segment on 3 antique quilts from The North East of England.

 

Merry Christmas

 

Made by Fairholme quilters

 

A dive into Elaine’s stash revealed an unfinished
quilt-as-you-go block from a workshop ten years ago.
Her granddaughter liked it, so they turned it into a cushion
cover. Going a little further into the stash, some more
Japanese prints were discovered, and now a new quilt
is planned (maybe started?) for one happy granddaughter.

The cushion is complete with a complimentary 

back in a cherry blossom print.

Susan is a serious bag maker - she had already made one of
this design from these fabrics, for the craft stall at our
2024 Quilt Show. But it sold to a member before reaching
the craft stall storage. So she just produced another!

The other side features another churn dash block,
 and Susan’s skilled free motion quilting.

A small quilt made as a gift by Pat in her characteristic modern
improv style, with an appealing mix of prints, hand quilted.

Improv quilters need to be adaptable. The first block in Jill’s
plan for a quilt-as-you-go Kawandi style quilt is now going
to be used as a smaller something else, as she feels the batting
she used is too heavy. She is pivoting to using much lighter
batting in nine 20” x 20” blocks for the larger quilt, a
long term hand stitched quilt-as-you-go project.

Last community quilt finishes for 2023

Pre-Christmas deliveries of quilts have been made, these will start the collection off for next year,

Elaine found a pile of hexagon flowers in her stash,
so she tired them into a quilt.

Hand and machine quilted

There might be another quilt sometime - Elaine says
there are still more hexagons!

Hints of Christmas in the shapes and colours
of Miriam’s scrappy quilt.

The backing is pieced from large pieces in the community stash.

Quilted by Laura Ujhazy.

Miriam was delighted to find the multi-coloured irregular
striped binding already made, also in the community stash. 

Made by Fairholme Quilters

Janet’s second, very vibrant ‘Exploding Heart’
quilt is for a dear friend.

Stephanie’s Slow Stitch quilt is many things to her.
The photo and caption are borrowed from her Instagram post:
My Slow stitch quilt is finished!! Started in April 2020 -
 originally inspiration came after seeing the Wagga
quilts exhibition in Geelong and @heidi.parkes here on IG. 

I’ll admit I had no idea when I started what to sew but it 

then began to be a space for all the little unwanted extras 

that you can’t part with, special fabrics, old embroideries,

 unfinished blocks,reminders etc. It was nice to create and 

stitch without rules and just allow empty spaces to be empty. 

Quilting was difficult to decide what to do- but then 

I stitched a cross …and it just seemed to work.

Susan’s very cool quilt is ‘just’ squares and half square
triangles, cleverly placed on point, and in a
great colour palette

Susan machine quilted it using rulers, and she was
delighted to find the very complimentary backing.

Jen Kingwell’s ‘Halo’ design has been very popular.

 Miriam’s version is completely scrappy - all sorts 

of prints are in there in a happy mix.

Hand-quilted and backed with a large scale, bright print.
One for everyday use by the family, on a couch.

‘Ribbon Dance’ - made by Roslyn

The most recent quilt we’ve seen for a grandchild - they have done well for lovingly made quilts from their quilting grandmothers this year.

Roslyn’s beautifully made version of Judy Newman’s
‘Ribbon Dance’ design will be loved by her granddaughter!

It is hand pieced and appliqued, using modern prints

Machine quilted by Laura Ujhazy. 

The pieced back might take an occasional turn as the front. 

Recent community quilts

Helen finished a donated quilt top made with a
variety of black designs, and Laura quilted it.

Helen found the Centre medallion in her fabric cupboard,
 and added pieced and unpieced borders from her stash.
 Laura had quilted it.

Helen is making inroads into her stash with another
medallion block ‘Mirabella’ designed by Margaret Sampson
George. A wide variety of complimentary prints
were cut into rectangles for the borders. Laura quilted this one too,
and Helen completed the binding - her third one in a month.

Nerida introduced us to Michelle McKillop's ‘Unallocated’
design, and the made a second one for our community collection.

The pattern is all in the placement of ‘lights’ and ‘dark’ tones.
All the blocks are made the same way, with just four pieces.

Beautiful floral backing …

… and striped binding for the win!

 

Made by Fairholme Quilters

As a generous favour to a friend who has had some difficult times, Julie made up this quilt from a kit the friend had purchased several years ago. Having made part of the kit materials into a wall hanging, Julie was short of a small amount of fabric for the full sized quilt. She found great customer service from the original seller, Indigo Niche in Brisbane who found a complimentary fabric in stock, and supplied it free of charge and free of postage. The tiniest pin dot looks fabulous as the sashing, and the backing was found at Patchworks Plus in Blackheath.  

Beautifully quilted by Laura, this lovely quilt has been returned to Julie’s friend, who will treasure it.

2024 Events - a new page

As the end of 2023 rapidly approaches, we have started a 

new page listing events scheduled for 2024 

that  might interest you. We will add to them, and update details 

as more information and notifications are received.

Made by Fairholme Quilters

A farm-themed quilt for a little boy who lives in the country,
made by Denise for her grandson

Red Tractor fabrics feature graphic designs based on rural life. 

Another lockdown quilt made by Val from her stash of floral
fabrics, with some geometric elements. Note the attention
to fussy cutting and pattern matching in the checked and
striped hexagon borders, and the mitered corners
of the striped outer border.

Val has a large beautiful garden, and this quilt might
become a fund-raiser for her garden club.

The backing fabric is a large scale print. Quilted by Laura.

A very spring-like quilt made by Dawn with
a little help from Lynette.

Quilted by Laura.

Scrappy binding added by Jill. Dawn is very happy
with the team effort.

A second lockdown quilt made by Val, from her stash, is her
version of ‘Mrs Peach’, designed by Margaret Sampson George.

The feature fabrics are a veritable I Spy mix. 

The multicoloured striped and spotted backgrounds add to the fun.

Quilted by Laura.