World Quilt Competition award winners

Here is an online gallery of stunning quilts from around the world:

Photos of the award winners in the 2014 World Quilt Competition XVIII, currently on exhibition in Manchester, New Hampshire are online here. 

Four Australian quilters have been awarded, Lucy Carroll (Honorable Mention, Innovative, for Soldier On), Susan Mathews (Best Machine Workmanship - Innovative, for Coastal Life 2), Linda Steele (Honorable Mention - Traditional, for Christmas Crazy) and Bernardine Hine (Best of Country - Australia, for Coreopsis).

Sew-vivor - reality TV meets quilting

Are you a fan of reality Tv that involves a competition/elimination element, such as Master Chef, The Block or Survivor?

Then you might enjoy following along (perhaps even sewing along) with Sew-vivor, season 3: quilters' edition. 16 selected quilters are competing, having made it through an audition process, with their entries posted online for voting and judging.

The Australian connection: two of the 16 starters are Australian quilters, Gnome Angel, and Two Little Aussie Birds, (profiles here) and  well known award winning Australian quilter/teacher/designer/writer Sarah Fielke is one of five judges.

Contestants' entries for the first challenge, with the theme 'nautical' have been posted and are open for voting. Voting for challenge one closes on 13th August (US time), so check it out now.

This week (and last week) at Fairholme ...

Dawn has transformed this cute teddy bear panel into a warm
quilt for a child with some borders, a warm flannel backing
and all-over stipple quilting. For the community collection.

A mix of car, bus and truck prints makes a gorgeous
medallion, coupled with a variety of black and white
prints (including the tiny check that appears grey in the photo), 
put together by Barbara. Lynette added straight line 
quilting and striped binding. For the community collection.

Janice pieced this beautiful braided design from a 
coordinating range of Moda fabrics. 
Machine quilted by Jo Phillips (Quiltwise).

Margaret lighted upon a collection of bold, bright fabrics
from Africa at a thrift shop in Berowra. She handed them on
to Val, who took up the challenge of making a quilt to
express their African origins, with some additions from her
own stash. She has called it African Dance, reflecting its
rhythm and life. machine quilted by Jo Phillips (Quiltwise).

We were delighted that Heidi Tamlyn, who won the quilt
Marmalade in our 2014 show raffle was able to join us this
week to collect it, after having agreed to leave it with
us so it could be entered in the Sydney Quilt Show in July.
Heidi kindly emailed 'I am absolutely thrilled with my new
 quilt.  I am so lucky to have won it.  It was lovely coming
this morning and meeting (Fairholme) Quilters.'

Denise Knowles 'collected' The Kensington Quilt, that she also
won in our 2014 Show raffle in April (see this post), and
immediately gave it back for entry into the Sydney Quilt Show.
She too collected it into her permanent keeping this week. 

Thank you both for allowing us to keep your quilts for the Sydney Show. 

Read more about the raffle quilts, and see more photos here.

Workshop with Anne Sommerlad - machine applique

We had another excellent day with Anne Sommerlad on Saturday, learning her machine quilting technique.  Anne juggled three quilt designs of varying complexity between fifteen students with apparent ease - while we managed our fabric, applique shapes, stabilisers, fusibles, cutting, tracing, gluing and sewing skills with more varied success. By the end of the day, we were well on the way to confident machine applique to complete the day's projects, and to use our new found skills in other projects.

Our class packs included pattern pieces already printed
 onto fusible material - we just had to make sure we ironed 
them onto our fabrics with the numbers facing
up - and we nearly always did ...
Then the room went quiet(er) as we concentrated on lots 
of careful cutting - and there will be more, especially 
for those making the larger quilts with many pieces, 
in many different, vibrant colours ...

... like this selection from Lynette's stash,
for her version of Anne's 'Summer' quilt ...

... and Elaine's palette.

Precision gluing was achieved with the help of a variety
of instruments - this is crane's wings, and Marilyn is 
prepping his body shape

We set our machines for tiny stitches and practised slow,
deliberate stitching for a neat, secure edge ... and it worked!

The crane crest has beautiful but tight curves, and pointy
wings and beak, requiring care, and some revision at times,
to achieve such good results as Roslyn's, prepared for stitching.

Georgie chose complimentary oriental prints 

for her Kamon crests - this is one of the 

crane's wings, ready to be stitched.

Anne is an excellent and encouraging teacher
... and we loved her hand knitted cardigan!

Design reference points were traced to backgrounds,
and the layering of pieces began

Anne gave us lots of tips throughout the day, including a recommendation for Tilda Fix Lite, a new fusible web product made by Victoria Textiles - a Google search will help you to locate a local supplier.

We had a little show and tell from our previous class with
Anne - Margaret's blocks were much admired
(as were Daphne's, but the photo opportunity was missed!)

Lynette's Hishigata quilt was finished in time for our
show in April - it was good to see it again.

Thanks to Georgie for organising the workshop, and to Anne for a a very good day, with so much to learn and practise.

Lucy Carroll's Anzac Quilts series

The centenerary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli in World One will be honoured throughout Australian life, including in quilts.

Award winning Australian quilter Lucy Carroll is currently making a series of quilts to commemorate the Anzac Centenary in 2015. She has been invited to exhibit them for the first time at the Australian Quilt Convention in Melbourne, in April 2015. While she is making the quilts, Lucy is generously sharing her process and consulting readers of her blog for their responses to her work.

You can follow along on her blog, Lucy Carroll Textiles. Previous posts on the ANZAC quilt series are here.

Lucy's quilt Soldier On won Viewer's Choice, First Prize and First Prize, Pictorial category - Sydney Quilt Show 2013.

15/08/2014 edit: 
Soldier On has been awarded an Honorable Mention in the Innovative category of the 2014 World Quilt Competition XVIII.

• Lucy Carroll member profile, Ozquilt Network
• Lucy Carroll Textiles on Facebook

The 'Wonky Star' remake is complete!

If you have been following the rescue of the 'Wonky Star' quilt on Tim Latimer's Quilts Etc blog,  it is finished!

Check out today's blog post Wonky Star Finished, and be amazed - no more wonks.

Congratulations Tim.

More to do and see in August ...

Fibre Tribe is the blog of ATASDA NSW - well worth reading for information about  fibre and textile related events, exhibitions, workshops and open studios. It describes itself as 'A blog for lost and found treasures from the NSW Branch of ATASDA, Australian Textile Arts and Surface Design Association'.

Fairholme in APQ

Fairholme Quilters Quilters Show (April 2014) is featured in the current issue (Vol 23, #12) of Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine  - thanks for coverage APQ!

July Community Quilts

Our members generously support our community quilts program by giving their time and expertise, and by donating quilts and tops they have made from their own stashes.:

Georgie has been decluttering, and has generously donated
the appealing colourwash heart quilt that she made in a
class with Yan Pring some years ago, to our community
quilts collection.
Thanks Georgie - it will be much appreciated by the
Donald Coburn Centre.

Lynette cleverly made strippy chevrons with offcuts from
another quilt, and added white half-square triangles. The
backing fabric compliments the top beautifully.  She too
has donated her quilt to our community quilts collection
 - thanks Lynette.

Dawn  made cobblestone blocks to use up the
scraps from an earlier 'construction' quilt and
complimentary prints.

This sweet little panel didn't need borders - they
were already part of the print. It has a cosy
flannel backing, and was quilted and bound by Dawn.

We pin-basted a number of quilt tops at our July community
sewing day - this vibrant top was made and donated by Robin,
from her legendary stash.  The design is from the classic
Spectactular Scraps, by Margaret Rolfe and Judy Hooworth.
Thank you, Robin.

Quilt Shows in August

August is shaping up to be a very busy month for quilt shows:

Camden Quilt Show, 2nd - 3rd August

Hunters Hill Quilt Show, 7th - 10th August

Quilt Walk, Panguitch, Utah 1864

Fairholme member, Virginia, came across Paguitch and its commemorative quilt while visiting the tourist information office for the Red Canyon in Utah, USA recently, and she knew our readers would be interested in the quilt and the history behind it:

The commemorative quilt was created by Elaine Hatch Sawyer
using her grandmother's treadle Singer sewing machine.
It was quilted by Maty Ella (Prince) Sudweeks and
Metta Jane (Wilcox) Whittaker.

The Paguitch Quilt Walk Story -
in text and online video re-enactment

A short video overview of the trail taken by the Panguitch quilt walkers in 1864

Thank you for the photos and the story, Ginnie.

Camden Country Quilters annual exhibition

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 2014

The second Saturday in July is the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in rural Oregon. Over 1000 quilts are on display - here are just a few stories and pictures from this year's event, held on 12th July:

• The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show - post by the Michael Miller Fabrics blog, Making it Fun

• 2014 Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show: A Photo Tour - Lisa Broadwater's post

• Epic! Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, Part 1 - Cathy Erikson, Blueberry Patch

• The adventure continued: Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show Part 2 - Cathy Erikson, Blueberry Patch

• My Highlights from the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show - from Wombat Quilts - an Australian quilter living in Portland

• This one is photographer Melissa Willard's Facebook album from the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 2014.

• The Nugget Newspaper told this Sisters Outdoor Quilt show related story about a visiting quilter and her surprise quilts for some local residents.

Fairholme Quilt Show 2014: pieced quilts (2)

FOUNDATION PIECING - Dawn Cox
I attended a foundation Piecing Workshop in Queensland.
The tutor was Marie Webb, a friend of mine.
An exciting project that worked for me.
(This quilt is miniature - about 12 " square)

STARBRIGHT - Susan McMahon
The blocks for this quilt were made a number of years
ago and they were left to while away the hours in the
linen cupboard. Deciding one day recently to have a
clean out of the cupboard I found them. I then
finished the quilt with great pleasure because
I can now quilt flowers!

NIGHT GLOW Georgie Patrickson
Second of 2 quilts made from the Jinny Byer 'Night and Day'
pattern and made with mainly her fabrics. This pattern
attracted me for its use of blended colours although they
are my choice of colours. This will be a wallhanging so I
decided to alter the border detail and also use a facing
rather than a binding to finish.
Machine strip pieced and quilted by me.

MARY’S DAYLIGHT GIFT - Georgie Patrickson
One of 2 quilts made from the Jinny Beyer pattern
'Night and Day' and made with mainly Jinny Beyer
fabrics. I have always loved her use of blended colour.
This quilt will be a gift to a life-long friend.
Machine strip pieced and quilted by me.

PAVEMENT - Jill O’Connor
My son asked for a ‘black and gold’ (football colours)
with no flowers. The very simple and forgiving piecing
pattern is called 'Pave the Way' by Karen Gray Design
The yellow rectangles in this version are 3" x 6” finished.
The pattern was published in the Spring/Summer 2011
issue of Quilt Sampler magazine.
Quilted by Christy Wang (Quilting Treasures, Pymble).

RICRAC CIRCLES - Robyn Leek
This fabric was bought as a bundle and I enjoyed choosing
the ricrac colours to blend with the fabric colours.
The circles and ricrac are all attached by hand and it is
 handquilted.
The original circle concept was inspired by Kathy Doughty.

Quilters Guild of NSW workshop with Bob James

And the good news keeps coming! The Quilters Guild of NSW has just announced that it will be hosting a two day workshop with Bob James on his award winning quilt from the 2014 Sydney Quilt Show, and it will be close to home:

FROM INDIGO TO SILK with BOB JAMES

Monday and Tuesday, 4 - 5 August 9.30 for 10-4pm

Epping Creative Centre, Dence Park, Epping

Full details are in the Guild's blog, Template Free, here - you need to book as soon as possible!