Beautiful recent quilt finishes

These quilts have recently been finished by Fairholme members, but not all made during quarantine. We know there are many more that we haven't even seen photos of yet ...

Lyn made this beauty for our  postponed 2020 Quilt Show.
It is for her daughter, who will treasure it.

It was good to hear at yesterday's Zoom meeting that
Marilyn has been able to deliver her beautiful Storm at Sea
quilt to her son for a big birthday, and a very welcome family
catch up in the Far West.

Just brilliant Marilyn! 

Expertly quilted by Yvette Aoude.

Jenn's 'Aviatrix III', aka the 'Winter Aviatrix'.
Made for a friend’s wedding, which was now years
ago (because you can’t rush these things).

Jenn made a 'Fledgling' playmat/baby quilt for her friends
whose wedding quilt was Aviatrix III (above). She used a wedge
ruler, the colourful offcuts, and a season of 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'
to get this little one done!

Quarantine quilting (6)

We are still meeting only on Zoom, but as quarantine restrictions ease we are anticipating at least some gathering being possible during July, as our venues put precautions in place. Meanwhile, we keep in touch as we can, and sew on ...

Helen is trialling a bag design with pleats.

... and cats!

Victoria sewed a cloth book during one of our evening group
Zoom meetings - a quicker alternative to a baby quilt.

See the inside pages in Victoria's video.

Lyn's scrappy blue 'Winding Ways' quilt is all finished
and gorgeous. But like many of us, she says the scrap
collection has not reduced at all.

Light bulb moment!

During one of our Zoom meetings, Sue S told us about using a curved felt shape as a template for hand quilting, which has no need for marking. It seemed so logical - why hadn't we thought of it? This video shows Wendi Gratz's method.

New 2021 date for AQC

IntoCraft posted on Facebook and on Instagram on 15 June 2020:

It is with great disappointment that we announce the further reschedule of the 2020 edition of the Australasian Quilt Convention – due to take place in August 2020. 

With no certainty over time frame for review of the ratio for mass gatherings due to government restrictions, we are left with no choice but to reschedule to April 15 to 18, 2021.

• Australasian Quilt Convention website 

New quilts from Sew Miriam

Following the ongoing success of her 2019 'SuperStars' pattern, Miriam's designer skills have been in overdrive during quarantine, with four new quilt tops finished so far, ready for a big quilting session when basting space is available (and she won't be alone there. We've previewed them as the backdrop for our large group Zoom meetings over the last few weeks, as works in progress. Look out for them as patterns and/or classes in the coming months.

• Sew Miriam on Instagram
• Sew Miriam Blog

This one, in Miriam's favourite colour of red is personal
- it is for Miriam's daughter Hannah, who already loves it.

Miriam has been catching up with movies and reading as well
as designing and making quilts - this one is 'Little Women'.
If you have read Louisa May Alcott's book, or have seen any
of the movie versions, you will immediately recognise why.

'Pride and Prejudice', for the Jane Austen fans.

'Rebecca'  (Daphne Du Maurier) is just waiting for a border 
(and some blocks made from the left over narrow strips 
have already been spotted).

Quarantine quilting (5)

We've seen such beautiful hand stitch during our Zoom meetings, and on Instagram, perhaps there will be even more now that we are in winter and less time will be spent in our gardens ...

Janice's pretty, delicate  'Essential Sewing Wrap
is made from Zoe Mayson's pattern ...

... using lovely Liberty fabrics

... with useful  pockets and devices inside.
Just beautiful!

Have you seen cuter Easter chocolate bags
than these made by Louise?

Sue is feeling a great sense of achievement having
finished two hand pieced quilt tops ...

... both started one ago, one in 2011 !

Jill hand pieced the blocks for Jen Kingwell's
'Steam Punk' quilt, and assembled the top
by machine. Choosing the four fabrics from
her stash for each block was fun.

Louise has been following along with an
embroidery project by Sue Spargo

These little designs are about 1 1/4" across!

Lots of new stitches to learn.

An earlier finish by Louise - hand quilting a baby quilt
made in collaboration with her daughter Elle.

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

Quarantine quilting (4)

We held our second large group Zoom meeting this week, and it went well. We have learned where our microphones and video icons are, and we could see and hear everyone! It's not the same as meeting face-to-face, but better than not meeting at all. We're getting better at holding our work up high enough for others to see!

There continues to be quite a bit of sewing going on - here are some recent finishes and works in progress ...

Jo has finished machine and hand quilting her beautiful
blue quilt (design and fabric by Brigitte Heitland @zenchicmoda).

Jo acquired a very cute little kitten not so long ago
... guess who uses the quilt?

Marilyn made the perfect quilt for her little great
granddaughter, who lives on an emu farm!

Daphne continues to work her way through her
substantial collection of scraps!

And Daphne is still adding to her red and
white 6" blocks - almost there!

Julie does a lot of machine applique and has great skills
- she describes her 'Contantinople' quilt as the most difficult
she has ever done. But the top is finished, beauitfully.

Once Constantinople was conquered, Julie
finished off her dragon flies quilt ...

... and fussy cut leftover crane fabric from an earlier quilt for this one.

Reading and viewing

After such a long and very hot summer, the cooler weather is welcome. If you are looking for some quilt-related reading and viewing, here are a few links ...


The Legacy of Di Ford Hall
14 May 2020, Quilt andTextile Collections 

Description. We wanted to find a way to continue Di Ford Hall’s legacy for years to come and decided on a video record. She impacted many parts of the quilting industry depending on how you knew her, whether as teacher, fabric designer, mentor, friend and/or colleague. We really appreciate every artist that contributed a photo of their quilt to honor Di Ford Hall. May Di’s legend live on..

100 days
Terry Grant, And Sew It Goes, 13 May 2020

I just finished an online project called “100 Days of Creativity”. It’s a program of the Studio Art Quilts Associate’s (SAQA) that I am a member of. Members who want to participate simply upload a photo of something creative they have done that day to an online album. It is a great source of inspiration to look at daily and a little incentive to share our work in an informal way. I first participated last year and shared random images of what I was working on. For this round I decided to use the opportunity to explore decorative hand stitching/embroidery and created an irregular grid of 100 rectangles to fill a day at a time ...

The Bayeux Tapestry to Quilt
Renowned Australian textile artist, quilter and teacher Pam Holland has been on a 15 year quest to recreate the Bayeux Tapestry as a quilt. Pam has started a new series of blog posts, The Bayeux Tapestry to Quilt, richly illustrated with her own excellent photographs.

This enormous work is nearing completion - to read Pam's plans for the quilt and how quarantine in the current pandemic has influenced her decision to publish about it now on her Facebook page, starting with her post from 24 April 2020. 

If you have any interest in medieval history and in textile arts (including quilting, you will enjoy this blog.


International crafters link together to create beautiful quilts for bushfire-affected families
Justin Huntsdale,  ABC Illawarra, 29 April 2020

As bushfire victims work to rebuild their lives after the devastating Australian summer, a group of quilters is stitching together beautiful handmade squares from around the world to offer a gift that is like a "nice warm hug".

When quiltmaker Sally Tuner put the call out for people to sew beautiful squares to help make quilts for bushfire victims, she had no idea how the idea would take off.

The message spread internationally, and soon she was not only receiving donations in the mail but accompanying letters that would bring her to tears ...

Community Quilts

Just before our last meeting, we learned that we could no longer donate our community quilts to aged care facilities because of the Corona virus risk.

Then at our very last meeting before the restrictions on gatherings were implemented we were asked if we could donate fifteen quilts to a non-profit community organisation that supports women with family members in NSW prisons. We were able to organise a non-contact delivery at short notice. The quilts won't be distributed for some time, because the support group's operations have been severely curtailed for now, but we were very happy to pass on some of our collection for when they are needed.

As our members are continuing to sew as much as ever during our stay at home, and there is a flurry of 'finishing off' projects, we know the collection will be back to our storage capacity in no time.

Quarantine quilting (3)

 This is the perfect time for hand work ... cooler weather, more time, a need for relaxation - we've got this!

Robyn's hand quilting is spectacular, and her felt
embroidery is great fun!

With the missing block found and the quilt top made by her
daughter assembled, Louise is enjoying hand quilting
with  a variegated thread.

Denise has made a sweet bunny rug for her expected
grandchild -  she says the eight little legs were a bit
of a challenge!

Just one of Nerida's hand stitching projects.

Jill is half-way to 32 Steam Punk blocks
(pattern by Jen Kingwell).

Jenn is hand quilting her beautifully soft quilt made
with Heather Ross's 'Sleeping Porch' fabric range.

And having finished off two other English paper pieced
quilt tops, Jen has gone back to her Passaacaglia blocks
(designed by Willyne Hammersteein)

Miriam was invited to design a block for Quiltmania's
Solidarity initiative. She was pleased to able to  include a
piece of Di Ford fabric in the central flower for remembrance,

Zoomers ...

When we suspended our meetings on 16 March, most of us didn't know anything about Zoom, or that it was about to become a part of our lives. We've had a few practices with small groups but today was a first. Twenty six of us have just successfully held our first large group Zoom meeting, with judicious use of the ‘mute’ button to give every one a turn to say hello, tell us what they have been up to, and to sing happy 85th birthday to one of us.  

It was lovely to check in with so many of our friends.

Our show and tell included revealing our new group
banner, designed and made by members of the evening
group and beautifully quilted by Yvette.