Quilters' Circle - 29th September, 2014

Today was our bonus "fifth Monday of the month" meeting.

Marie brought along this lovely children's book which we all enjoyed reading:

Marie showed us the background fabric her hexagons will be appliquéd to:

Today she stitch together a few more hexagon flowers. She also showed us a new project she has begun - one block of the pattern Fabric Fusion from Modern Quilt Studio:

She is planning to make 30 of these blocks. It should be fun choosing fabrics for this colourful quilt.

Debbie showed us this lovely garden journal which is another pattern by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched:

However, Debbie will be using the journal to record her craft projects, rather than garden projects.

Today Debbie worked on the last panel of sayings for her Truly Aussie quilt:

We may be seeing this quilt coming together soon!

In between her adventures packing up and moving home, Vireya has made a few parts of Wild and Goosey blocks (designed by Bonnie Hunter). They are made using the paper foundation piecing method. The pattern was published by Quiltmaker magazine, and the template can be downloaded from their site. Today she trimmed the sections she has done so far:

Here's the pile of trimmings after the last one was done:

Now the paper needs to come off the back of each one, so that they can be assembled into blocks. The sections will be put together with sashing to complete the blocks as per this mock-up:

Vireya is trying to make the whole quilt without cutting any fabric from her stash - just using scrap pieces left over from other projects. As she was packing up her sewing room she found a few such pieces she had forgotten about. For example, the sashing fabric in the above photo is actually the assembly instructions printed on a toy panel Vireya made up years ago.

We had some fun playing with different ways the blocks could be arranged.

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 13th October. See you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 22nd September, 2014

Today Debbie showed us that she sometimes does hexagons too:

Here are a few sitting on a magazine ad for a quilt kit. But did Debbie buy the kit, or is it just her inspiration? Someone should have taken notes. Either way, they are cute hexagons! The website mentioned in the ad seems to be defunct, though, so it seems the kit isn't available any more.
Today Debbie was stitching another humorous saying for her Truly Aussie quilt (designed by Helen Stubbings):

Glennys has been assembling her My Blue Heaven quilt (designed by Therese Hylton):

There is another section still to be to be joined to the bottom of this one. We've seen lots of these blocks being stitched in our meetings, so it's lovely to see them all together!

Marilyn joined us and brought along this intriguing "folding cube" which her sister made:

As you open it up different fabrics are displayed,

and different configurations:

There are cubes of foam inside. We don't know if Marilyn's sister used a pattern, but there are instructions for making a wooden version covered with photos on this site:
http://www.chicaandjo.com/2008/05/08/magic-folding-wooden-photo-cubes/
You could probably adapt the photo instructions if you wanted to make a fabric version. It is meant to be a baby toy, but it is quite fun for adults as well.

Marie has two sets of hexagons joined for the sides of the bag she is working on:

There are a few more hexagons to add, then these pieces will be appliquéd to the body of the bag.

Sorry for the very brief report, but I only popped in to take the photos and couldn't stay to participate. I hope the rest of the attendees had a lovely afternoon together!

Our next meeting will be next week, on 29th September, as there are five Mondays this month.  See you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 8th September, 2014

Happy Spring, everyone!

Today we all made progress on projects we've been working on for a while.

There are a few EPP (English Paper Piecing) projects on the go. Marie is joining hexagon flowers to each other:

Vireya is joining sections of her hexagon project:

Glennys is making some square shapes to complete the design for her project:

But we aren't all doing EPP. Debbie is embroidering:

Mary joined us and knitted - but no photo was taken of the knitting, unfortunately.

At our last meeting, Marie asked if anyone had a pattern for a zipped purse, as her purse was falling apart. Some of us forgot all about her request, but Debbie not only remembered, she made Marie a beautiful purse!

It is completely hand-stitched, in Marie's favourite colour, purple. Unfortunately the camera doesn't show the colours accurately - the purples are warmer than they appear here.

Here's the other side of the purse:

Debbie finished the purse by adding a friendly butterfly zipper-pull:

She even put a coin inside, because traditionally gifts of purses should include a coin so that they will never be empty. What a lovely and thoughtful gift, which you can be sure is greatly appreciated!

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 22nd September. Here are a couple of quilty events on before then if you are looking for somewhere to go:
13th September: Beaconsfield Quilt Show at Beaconsfield Neighbourhood Centre

19th to 21st September: Craft Fair at Cunningham Pier, Geelong. Details here:
http://www.2014craftfair.com.au/

See you in a couple of weeks!