Quilters' Circle - 30th August, 2010

Today was our bonus 5th-Monday meeting for August. Outside it was feeling a bit like spring, and we were all a bit surprised at how the end of the year is rushing towards us.

Glennys brought along her sewing machine, and was putting together a quick quilt for a new arrival expected later this week:

The quilt is meant to be used, not handled with care. It's for putting on the floor and throwing in the washing machine. Glennys makes one for each new arrival in her family, and she refers to them as "Pooh and Spew" quilts.

Carol showed us this work in progress:

That's just part of it - she has a few more blocks to make for the whole quilt.  Did she say 60?  We liked the graphic quality of the black and whites.

Vireya covered a few pentagon shapes for the wallhanging she has been working on for a while.

There was quite a bit of appliqué happening today.   Here's Carol in action needleturning:

And here is Joy's buttonhole work:

Joy doesn't consider this to be "proper" appliqué, but she chose this method because of the tiny pieces in this design. 

Marie showed us the goodies she bought at a stash sale this week:

And Marie has finished the mystery quilt that she and Marilyn are doing.  Marilyn wasn't with us today, so we don't know if she has looked at the last lot of instructions yet.

Marilyn, if you haven't, don't read any further!

So that's how all those bits go together!  Fantastic.  Now it will be sandwiched and quilted, and should be finished by Christmas.

Our next meeting will be on 13th September.  Hope to see you then.

Quilters' Circle - 23rd August, 2010

Today is the fourth Monday in August, so that means it is Quilters' Circle day.  A few people couldn't make it - we hope they will be back with us next time.

Joy showed us this Torii gate she has made to add to her Japanese quilt:

Joy created the design based on blocks in the two books of Japanese designs she brought along in back in May.  We all admired how she has used the fabrics to enhance the design.  Today she was hand piecing another circle for the miniature quilt she showed us part of last time:

Marilyn brought along her machine so that she could continue piecing sections of her mystery quilt.  Here is what she has done so far.  We all played with ways of arranging these strips, and tried to guess what it would turn in to, without much success!

There are a few more parts to the mystery.  You can see that there are quite a few pieces cut and pieced that haven't been used yet, and there may well be more cutting required before the mystery is revealed.  It is keeping us all intrigued, not just those who are doing it.

Marie was appliqueing, and brought along some books for us to enjoy:

Carole was cutting pieces of black and white fabrics to make several blocks from the book 200 Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match by Davina Thomas.  She is making the blocks as a border for a quilt.

Vireya was also appliqueing.  She brought along the completed sock monkey she was working on in our last meeting (there was no photo because it was a secret project) so people could see what all those bits became once they were assembled.

Our next meeting is only a week away, because there are five Mondays this month.  Hope to see you then!

Quilters' Circle - 9th August, 2010

Happy birthday, Sussex! Before our meeting today there was a lunch to celebrate the House's 19th birthday. At the same time, the completed raffle quilt was unveiled and everyone encouraged to buy tickets.


If you would like tickets they are $2 each, or 3 for $5 - available at the house. The raffle will be drawn at the house Annual General Meeting in September.

We were lucky that some of the lunch goodies ended up as afternoon tea for us.

Marilyn brought her sewing machine along, and did some piecing for her latest project.


Joy and Marie both showed us balls they had made as baby toys. Marie's (on the left) is from a pattern by Jinny Beyer, from her book Patchwork Puzzle Balls. We don't know who designed Joy's, but here is link to a similar ball.


Marie and Marilyn are both doing a mystery Christmas wall-hanging project at their other quilting group. Here's Marie's so far:

Because it is a mystery, they don't know what all these pieces will turn into. The way they are laid out here may be completely unrelated to the final layout. It will be interesting to watch it progress!

Joy was working on an iris to add to her Japanese quilt we've seen a few times before. She brought along these delicate stumpwork wrens to show us. They are destined to be framed. Aren't they beautiful?


Glennys, Vireya and Carol worked on various projects today, mainly appliqué. Here's one that Carol is needle-turning:

Carol did a Baltimore class with Robyn Falloon, and this piece is the Jane block from Robyn's Airs and Graces.

Richard and Ching Ching laid out the work so far on Richard's quilt that he showed us the design for last time. Here is just one little part of this lively work:

He has a lot of work ahead of him completing the background for this quilt before all these pieces are attached, but it was fun to get the overview of the whole piece.

Remember Ching Ching's quilt from last time? It is part of an exhibition called Art Without Borders: A Migrant's Journey in Textiles, which opens on Wednesday this week, and runs until 15th August (Sunday), at the Box Hill Community Arts Centre, 470 Station St, Box Hill. The exhibition will be opened by the mayor of the City of Whitehorse, which inspired Ching Ching to make these white horses as gifts for the officials:

If you get the chance to visit the exhibition, you can get a close-up view of Ching Ching's wonderful quilt, as well as the work of 8 other artists.

Our next meeting will be on 23rd August. Hope you can join us!