‘Meet the Maker 2024’ - online event

 

‘Join us for a fantastic event to hear from some of Australia’s
best contemporary quilters’

Online event
Saturday 14 September 2024
Booking essential - $25

Lions Club of  Quilters Victoria 

Opportunities

Two new opportunities to display your quilts have been announced - one in Australia, one international, online.

aqc.com.au

The Challenge:

Create a 90cm square quilt, using your own unique interpretation of the theme.
Enter online before Thursday 6th February 2025.

Judging will be based on interpretation of theme, excellence in design and craftsmanship.

Submissions opening soon.

Grab your quilt and join the parade! 
The American Quilters Society is hosting a virtual Show and Tell, 
celebrating the incredible creativity of quilters around the world.

Learn more about the AQS Worldwide Quilt Parade 
sponsored by Rowenta here: 
go.americanquilter.com/quilt-parade-2024

All submissions must be received by September 24, 2024
The Quilt Gallery for the Parade of Quilts opens for viewing on 
October 1, 2024.

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

Quilt shows online

If you can’t make it to the Canberra Quilters 2023 Exhibition this week, you can still see all the quilts in the virtual exhibition on their website.

It’s also Quilt Week 2023 in Paducah, Kentucky for the American Quilters Society. Photos of the major award winners and a list of all the other winners are on the AQS website, photos of all category winners are also being posted to the AQS Facebook page.

Reading, viewing, listening ...

https://youtu.be/jmbDaCGu8Hw

Kaffe Fassett discussing his quilts at 2021 Festival of Quilts, with Natasha McCarty.

‘Studio Spades’ is a series of posts about textile artists’ work spaces produced once or twice a week by Fibre Arts Australia. You can subscribe to receive an email alert each time a post is made. Alternatively you can simply read the posts at the website. There is currently an archive of fourteen entries:

https://www.fibrearts.net.au/studiospaces

It’s an interesting insight into how and where the artists work, and what they regard as essential to their practice.

Greg Lauren and the Gee’s Bend Quilters crafted wearable Americana

In our era of hyperfast consumption, Greg Lauren has a zeal for patience. His slow-made approach to reconstruction finds new life for otherwise unwanted scraps and textiles, a time-consuming process that undermines the typical more-more-more industry mentality.  

So, Lauren's partnership with the Gee's Bend Quilters feels like the designer both paying his dues and paying forward the renown garnered by his own designs.  Jake Silberi, Highsnobiety, 16 October 2021

 

How Singer Won the Sewing Machine War

The Singer Sewing Machine changed the way America manufactured textiles, but the invention itself was less important than the company’s innovative business … Alex Palmer, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 July 2015

 

Artist Bisa Butler on creating new narratives through portrait quilts

Artist Bisa Butler has been called a modern-day Griot – but instead of using words to tell stories, she uses stitches and cloth. Her quilts have graced the covers of magazines and she created the striking illustration for the soon-to-be-released book "Unbound," the memoir of activist and Me Too movement founder Tarana Burke. Nancy Chen reports.

CBS This Morning, 4 September 2021

Bisa Butler: Portraits
Erica Warren (Editor), et al, Yale University Press, 2020

Bisa Butler (b. 1973) is an American artist who creates arresting and psychologically nuanced portraits composed entirely of vibrantly colored and patterned fabrics that she cuts, layers, and stitches together. Often depicting scenes from African American life and history, Butler invites viewers to invest in the lives of the people she represents while simultaneously expanding art-historical narratives about American quiltmaking. Situating her interdisciplinary work within the broader history of textiles, photography, and contemporary art, contributions by a group of scholars—and entries by the artist herself—illuminate Butler’s approach to color, use of African-print fabrics, and wide-ranging sources of inspiration. Offering an in-depth exploration of one of America's most innovative contemporary artists, this volume will serve as a primary resource that both introduces Butler’s work and establishes a scholarly foundation for future research. 

Fairholme members’ quilts at Sydney Quilt Show

Quilt NSW has generously allowed sharing of  quilt photos from the Sydney Quilt Show 2021 Online, with appropriate credits.

You can visit the whole online gallery and vote for your Viewers Choice at www.quultnsw.com

Congratulations Jenn Davis @pennypoppleton on having 

your quilt hung in the Sydney Quilt Show 2021 Online

#sydneyquiltshow2021online !

Quilt label (the number can be used for Viewers Choice, 

until Sunday night, 31 October):

174 Jennifer Davis
‘Home Learning’
Category: Pieced Quilt – Amateur
Design Source: Mandolin Quilt – Tales of Cloth

Congratulations Stephanie @craftypinkcreates on having
your quilt hung in the Sydney Quilt Show 2021 Online
  #sydneyquiltshow2021online !

Quilt label (the number can be used for Viewers Choice
 until Sunday night, 31 October):

172 Stephanie Morrison
‘The Pink 100’
Category: Entrant’s Quilt Top, Quilted by Another – Amateur

Design Source: Kinship 100 Block Fusion Sampler
by Angie Wilson and Bec Proschogo
Quilted by Birgit Hoffman, Black Sheep Quilting

Quilt NSW Ruby Challenge 2021

Congratulations to Quilt NSW on leading and celebrating the NSW quilting community for 40 years, especially these last two difficult pandemic years. We are looking forward to seeing the virtual 2021 Sydney Quilt Show later this week, and the ‘in person’ event in 2022. 

From today’s Quilt NSW meeting, here is the link to view the online gallery of 2021 Ruby challenge quilts and winners:

https://quiltnsw.com/exhibitions/challenge

Congratulations to the prize winners. First prize is a BERNINA sewing machine sponsored by Bernina Australia .

FIRST PRIZE: Star Ruby by Judith Docksey
SECOND PRIZE: Wishful Thinking by Wendy Nutt
THIRD PRIZE: About Ruby by Suzanne Aubrun
VIEWERS CHOICE: Untitled by Grace Widders
JUDGES’ COMMENDATION: Ruby Resilience by Di Jobbins

At today's Zoom meeting, the committee announced the challenge theme for 2022 - Celebrate!

Sydney Quilt Show 2021 online

‘Mark your calendars! Plan a party! Celebrate creativity and join us for livestreaming of the awards ceremony for the Sydney Quilt Show 2021 Online at 7.30pm’

https://youtu.be/ZsG8qnQ870c

Virtual Sydney Quilt Show 2021

Welcome news from Quilt NSW today:

QuiltNSW is committed to providing members with opportunities to share their quilts and to celebrate creativity. With the welcome easing of health restrictions in NSW, the Exhibition Subcommittee is proceeding with the plan to present the Sydney Quilt Show 2021 online. This is a virtual event where ALL of the quilts are judged in the cloth, photographed and then displayed online.

258 entrants are participating in the online show. The Exhibition Subcommittee is very excited by this response and buoyed by the encouragement and enthusiasm of the entrants' comments in their participation forms. Thank you!

In coming days, we will be sharing some behind-the-scenes insights into Operation Blackbird aka Sydney Quilt Show 2021 Online. Stay tuned to the Quilt NSW Facebook page, or the Template Free blog.

Royal School of Needlework

 The Royal School of Needlework (located at Hampton Court Palace) has launched the RSN Stitchbank to mark its 150th Anniversary.

The RSN Stitch Bank aims to digitally conserve and showcase the wide variety of the world’s embroidery stitches and the ways in which they have been used in different cultures and times.

Launching with an initial 150 stitches, the RSN Stitch Bank is an ongoing project. More stitches will be added regularly and the RSN will be working with partners around the world to include stitches from different traditions.

https://rsnstitchbank.org/

Screenshot from the RNS Stitchbank homepage, 

launched this week.

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.

 

V & A Bags; Inside Out

Do you like a good bag? A new exhibition from the V and A in London might be just the thing to cheer you up in the current Greater Sydney lockdown - you can watch the Curator’s tour online. Thank you Miriam for the link.

‘From rucksacks to despatch boxes, Birkin bags to Louis Vuitton luggage, Bags: Inside Out 

explores the style, function, design and craftsmanship of the ultimate accessory.’

  

Dr Lucia Savi’s curator’s tour:

https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/bags

Or if you prefer to go straight to You Tube:

https://youtu.be/v4JvmemIqz0

Just one example of the intriguing and varied bags on exhibition:

Focus cutting sewalong

Stephanie and Linda are both participating in the Focus Cutting sew-along, run by Naomi Clarke on Instagram. We love catching up with their progress, so here are their blocks from the last few weeks. These will become fabulous quilts!

Stephanie’ s blocks ... she slips in an extra
hexagon every now and then.

Linda’s blocks ... the bottom right image shows how she
used different elements of a single print for the whole block.

Podcasts related to quilting and other stitching

 

A podcast series usually features one or more recurring hosts engaged in a discussion about a particular topic or current event. Discussion and content within a podcast can range from carefully scripted to completely improvised. Podcasts combine elaborate and artistic sound production with thematic concerns ranging from scientific research to slice-of-life journalism. Many podcast series provide an associated website with links and show notes, guest biographies, transcripts, additional resources, commentary, and even a community forum dedicated to discussing the show's content. (Wikipedia).

So its something like a niche radio program with episodes remaining online and available to listen to at your own convenience on the device of your choice. There are many quilt related podcasts - this is just an introduction - let us know about your recommendations for other quilters. We'll add to our list of favourites as we find new ones, and create a permanent page so you can find our recommendations easily.

The Stitch Safari

'Are you interested in stitch, embroidery, art, design and history? Then the Stitch Safari Podcast is for you.' The Stitch Safari Podcast is the creation by fibre artist Cathy Jack Coupland, who introduces it with ...

What on earth drove me to create this podcast? Passion, pure and simple.  I've always enjoyed stitching, and I find history utterly fascinating - I simply married the two together, so the entire ethos for the Stitch Safari podcasts will always revolve around history ...

There are currently 20 episodes to listen to, each 20 - 30 minutes long. There is also a blog to explore, and a compilation of resources - lots to enjoy. You can also follow the podcast and its events by liking their Facebook page, and/or on Instagram 

Quilt Buzz

... the podcast for quilters, by quilters, about quilters across the Quiltiverse. Join us every other week as we talk to folks from across the quilting community, asking all the nitty-gritty-quilting questions you always wanted to know ... 

 

Quilt and Tell - a Quilting Daily Podcast

Tune in every month for a fresh, new in-depth discussion about behind-the-scenes topics, the quilting lifestyle, and the conversations that take place between quilters—our craft is part of our identity!

Hosts Lori, Tracy, and Ginger come from different quilty generations and backgrounds. And, because they don’t know everything (they’re okay with that!), special guests will be brought in to tell us their stories.

Feedspot is an aggregator of blogs, You Tube channels and podcasts in niche categories, and includes a list of  the 'Top 25 Quilting Podcasts You Must Follow in 2021'

The Fashon and Textile Museum, London

Miriam recently passed on the link to the Chintz exhibition coming up at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London. Of course this led to further online exploration of this delightful and very interesting institution - so much of interest to anyone interested in textiles, how they are made, how they have been used in fashion (look back at posts about past exhibitions for glimpses into your own fashion past!), and in these pandemic times, several options for exploring exhibitions and talks online.

The Fashion and Textile Museum in London has scheduled the exhibition 'Chintz - Cotton in Bloom' from March - August 2021. This link features some highlights of the exhibition. Textile lovers should enjoy it. 

• The Fashion and Textile Museum on Facebook

• The Fashion and Textile Museum on Instagram

Thank you Miriam for taking us down this lovely online rabbit-hole!

Quilts 2000 - 20th anniversary

 Many Australian quilters will recall the Quilts2000 initiative involving quilters nationwide twenty years ago.

More than 600 quilts were made and donated by quilters from all over Australia. More than $500,000 was raised from the quilt auction to support the Sydney Paralympics in 2000. The initiative was endorsed by the Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee (SPOC), as one of two official community projects for the Paralympic Games (the other was a celebrity art auction). Quilts 2000 was recognised as the most outstanding event of the year by the Fundraising Institute of Australia in 2001.

The event is recorded in the book

‘Quilts2000: Australia Celebrates’

by Karen Fail and Dianne Finnegan.

'Victorian quiltmaker, Eileen Campbell, was commissioned to make '
The Lizzie Quilt' as the signature piece for Quilts 2000. It was unveiled
at Customs House on 10 February 1999 as part of the Quilts 2000
launch. Campbell's design is machine appliqued, machine embroidered
and machine quilted, illustrates the frill-neck lizard and Paralympic
mascot, Lizzie, running through the bush to the Games.'
It was purchased by Sydney Paralympic Organising
Committee for AUD$16500, and is currently in the collection
of the Museum of Applied Arts and Science (Powerhouse)
- you can see more information about Quilts2000 on the
MAAS website, here.

Fairholme Quilters donated a group quilt, ‘Fair Weather’, and several individual members contributed quilts as well.

‘Bushfire Weather’ was made by Alison Schwabe, and donated to the Quilts2000 sale and exhibition Fairholme Quilters bought this quilt and donated it to Hornsby Shire Council to be hung in our local library at Pennant Hills.

Val Nadin was our Convenor in 2000 (and is still an active member), and was a volunteer at the Games.

Val's quilt 'The Big Drought' was sold during the auction.
Fairholme members Evelyn Gray, Robin Williams,
Chris Hawker, Louise Church and Roslyn Pullen 
also made and donated quilts.

Quilt Stories: a You Tube playlist by Lisa Walton

Have you ever looked at a stunning, award winning quilt and wondered 'how on earth was that done?'

During quarantine, textile artist LisaWalton has created a You Tube Playlist called Quilt Stories - substantial interviews with award winning quilters, about the making of their iconic quilts. Videos range from 22 to 46 minutes - lots to listen to see, to enjoy, and generously made freely available. You can subscribe to the You Tube series, or follow Lisa on Facebook to see when new videos are released.

Come and meet Sue de Vanny and hear about her Reflections quilt.

https://youtu.be/ODGtk05hG1Y

Margaret Solomon Gunn talking about her award winning Value of Violet. Grab a coffee and enjoy it. Lots more fabulous interviews coming soon.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wPrdohKvdvQ

Quilting rockstar Ricky Tims about his Northern Lights quilt which has a beautiful and emotional memory for him.
https://youtu.be/7Ss8dwEMcPA

Jenny Bowker’s powerful award winning quilt After the Last Sky. An incredible emotive story inspiring an iconic quilt.
https://youtu.be/zyhZ5RmfX78

Peter Byrne who recently won Best of Show at QUILTCON 2020, and another major award with his first ever major show entries. Wonderful story.
https://youtu.be/032FYPscooE

COVID 19 quilt project

While many of us are continuing to stitch, quilt, knit, embroider, crochet and work on other crafts during quarantine for the COVID19 pandemic, the Covid 19 Global Quilt project is an Instagram initiative focussing on crafters activities especially during and in response to the pandemic. If you are an Instagrammer you might be interested in either seeing what others have posted, or in contributing to it yourself.

The project was launched by Kate Just @katejustknits and Tal Fitzpatrick @talfitzpatrick - artists and craftivists living and working in Melbourne, Australia, when they posted on 4 April:

'We are excited to launch our Covid 19 Global Quilt project @covid19quiltWe invite textile contributions from people all around the world that reflect on the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact it is having on the world, your lives, families, work, jobs, relationships, health and more. At a time when most of us are advised not to touch anyone or anything, and gathering in groups is no longer possible, we wanted to create a project that allows people to experience the sense of a joining a quilting bee or knitting circle. Working with our hands makes us feel calm, focussed and gives us a sense of purpose. We all need that right now. 

You don’t need to be an artist or experienced crafter to participate and we welcome submissions from people of all ages. In keeping with the times, you can make your square from whatever textile materials you have around the house already that are suited to the task! 

If you have already made a textile work about Covid-19 or would like to make a new textile square for this project, we would welcome these at @covid19quilt! Please check out project info in Story Highlights (on the @cid19quilt homepage - the purple icon in the screenshot below) and start sending us your responses via direct message!

And please let us know if you are willing to share and help us translate the project instructions in languages other than English! 

We can’t wait to see what this will bring! '

#covid19quilt #covid19crafts #isolationcreation #covid19 #knitting #sewing #pandemic #quiltingbee

A virtual preview (1)

As you know, our 2020 Quilt Show was scheduled for last weekend and had to be cancelled three weeks out. We'd done all the preparation and were highly organised, and we'll be well ahead with putting the rescheduled event together at an as yet unknown date. 

One of our members, Margaret, came up with the brilliant idea during the weekend to stage her own virtual quilt show in quarantine, at home. She posted her photos on Instagram, and invited the rest of us to follow suit. Here are her photos, and Janet's and Sue's who are the first to follow Margaret's lead ... 

Not all of Margaret's quilts would have been/will be
in our show, but how lucky are we to see so many?

Janet's first floor balcony makes an excellent gallery
for her 'Beauty and the Beast" ...

... and her 'Winter Village Amongst the Pines' quilts
(Laundry Baskets pattern, with some adaptations)

Sue's veranda gallery includes her first quilt (the sampler)
and her latest (Little Miss April), her first rotary cut machine
pieced effort and her first foundation piecing.