Quilters at Sussex

Quilters' Circle - 13th February, 2012

2012-02-13T20:00:00.017+11:00

It's the second Monday in February, which means it's time for the quilters to get together again.

Last year Glennys brought along some mystery squares she had found. Today she had the finished product to show us:

Now it is a lap quilt finished just in time for her mother's birthday.

Glennys is making progress on her My Blue Heaven (quilt designed by Therese Hylton). Today she spread out her completed blocks to show us:

That's the original in the foreground for reference. More than half of Glennys's blocks are finished now, and it is looking good.

Marie brought along this block keeper which she made a few years ago:

Aren't those colours lovely? The "square in a square" blocks are made from hand-dyed fabrics, and match the colours in the main print really well. The purple cord keeps it securely closed for transport. It is like a small quilt wrapped around a cardboard tube. When you unroll it the inside is lined with a flannel fabric which holds everything in place, so you can use the block keeper for storing or transporting works in progress:

Today Marie had lots of use for it, as she spread out all the pieces for her latest project and played with arrangements of fabrics within the blocks:

Once she was happy with the arrangements, all the blocks were put into her block keeper, layered between pieces of calico, so that Marie could piece them together at home.

Vireya brought along a pot-holder she recently made using this same saw-tooth star block:

She is testing this one, before making some more. She used Vilene Thermolam for the batting. It is lovely and flexible, but perhaps a little thin. Vireya is planning to add another layer of something else (perhaps cotton batting) to the next one she makes.

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on the 27th February. See you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 30th January, 2012

2012-01-30T18:07:00.000+11:00

It was a hot and sticky day. Not unexpected weather for this time of year, we suppose! A small group of quilters attended the Quilters' Circle fifth Monday meeting.

Marie brought along a Down Under Quilts magazine fresh from the letterbox. March looks like a big month for quilt shows in Victoria:

There are a few there we might make it to. In the meantime Marie is still appliquéing circles; quilter's circles.

Vireya spread out the sunflower blocks she has made so far. Will they be a wall hanging? What will go between them? How many more will she make?

Maybe not a lot more, given that today she was playing with ideas for another project using these shapes:

Later on, Richard joined us. He had purchased some fusible bias tape to outline the design elements of his quilt:

The package says, "It will eliminate time consumption in making and pinning it in place." I guess they are right, because it goes on pretty quickly! Richard will stitch it down later. The black lines really add impact to the design:

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 13th February. We hope you can join us!

Quilters' Circle - 23rd January, 2012

2012-01-23T19:07:00.000+11:00

Welcome back for 2012, and happy birthday to Glennys! We all had cake to celebrate, and enjoyed catching up with what everyone did over the break.

Glennys is trying not to go slowly blind working on this cross-stitch sampler for her youngest grand-daughter:

That's actually four different pale pinks, and keeping track of them is not easy. It is painstaking work, but it will be lovely when it is finished!

Since our last meeting, Carol has finished putting together the quilt she is making for her grandmother, and is now adding a border:

Here's a close view of one of the embroidered blocks:

Very pretty! And baby Isabella approves, too. She wanted to get her hands on the quilt to see if tastes as good as it looks.

Marie made this lovely cushion for a friend:

It is the first time she has made the "snail trail" quilt block, and she enjoyed putting it together, so it might not be her last.

Today Marie was appliquéing circles for her on-going project. Here's her stock of circles:

She had fun going through her fabric supplies choosing which ones to cut out, but it will take a lot of stitching to use up all that she has cut so far.

Vireya brought along this quilt she finished during our break.

She made it using the "stack-n-whack" kaleidoscope technique devised by Bethany Reynolds. Vireya last brought this quilt along when it was in pieces about six years ago, although she actually made the blocks about five years before that. She is very happy to have finally finished it!

She also made this top since our last meeting:

This is Bonnie Hunter's design, "Story-Time Stars", which was only published on 10th January this year. Will Vireya get it quilted as quickly as she assembled it?

Leigh has been bitten by the hexagon bug, so came along to show us her progress and ask us about various methods of doing English paper-piecing. Everyone has a different preferred method, of course!

For now Leigh is just making these shapes, but she's considering unconventional layouts when it comes to assembling them into a quilt. It will be interesting to watch her progress and see what she decides.

January has five Mondays this year, so we will all be back again next week. See you then!

Quilters' Circle - 12th December, 2011

2011-12-12T21:56:00.000+11:00

At our final meeting for the year, there was a Christmas tree:

There were yummy goodies and a Christmas table-cloth:

It's a pity that blue container still had its lid on when the photo was taken, because inside were the cutest (and yummiest) mini Christmas puddings. And while there was way more food than the combined knitters and quilters needed for afternoon tea, all those mini puddings were devoured!

Some people dressed up for the occasion:

Gifts were exchanged:

Don't those Lindt teddy-bears look too cute to eat?

Marilyn surprised us with a visit, which was fantastic! She brought along her latest project for show-and-tell:

These blocks are part of a quilt called "Love Letters", but the designer's name wasn't on the information Marilyn had with her. If anyone knows, please let me know and I'll edit this post. Marilyn also showed us a photo album of the building of her house, which we were all interested to see.

And on top of all that, some people even managed to do a little sewing:

Well done to those people!

We were sad that Joy was not well enough to join us. We were thinking of you, Joy, and hope everything improves for you over the summer break.

To everyone who reads this blog, best wishes for the festive season! We hope to see you again in 2012. Our first meeting for the new year will be on 23rd January.

Quilters' Circle - 28th November, 2011

2011-11-28T18:32:00.000+11:00

It was our second-last meeting of the year today.

Glennys was back, with good news about her grand-daughter's recovery. Today Glennys worked on a couple of the remaining blocks for her "My Blue Heaven" quilt.

This is one of them, and the other is a 64-patch block.

It was great to have Joy back again. She still isn't feeling great, but we were happy she was well enough to attend. During her illness she has done some sewing, and a couple of her long-term projects are now completed tops. We look forward to seeing them at future meetings. Today Joy was sewing beads and shiny bits to this Christmas tree:

Vireya made a few pentagon shapes, and stitched together most of another sunflower:

Carol brought along this project which we think wins the prize for the oldest unfinished quilt (if there were such a prize). It is Carol's first quilt, which she began in 1995.

Today she did a little "unsewing" to fix a couple of blocks which were in the wrong place, while her lovely daughter Isabella had a look at everyone's work and entertained us with big smiles before taking a little nap.

Marie has added the roof and the garden to the house she showed us last time:

It looks great! She also embroidered the title banner for the top border. Today she was working on embroidered details for the bottom border.

Our next meeting is in two weeks, on the 12th December. It will be the final meeting for the year, and we will have a combined afternoon tea break-up with the knitters. Bring a plate if you are coming along!

Quilters' Circle - 14th November, 2011

2011-11-14T17:59:00.001+11:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARIE!

Today we celebrated Marie's birthday with some afternoon tea and a few cards and gifts.

Marilyn remembered the day, and sent a lovely card and gift by post, which we all admired.

Glennys couldn't be with us because her little grand-daughter became very ill over the weekend, and is in the Children's Hospital. Glennys was at the hospital with her this afternoon. We all hope that the little one makes a full recovery quickly!

Marie showed this house she is making for a gift for someone:

It will get a roof and some garden next. I'm not sure we will see it completed though, as I think she may have to present it before our next meeting.

Today Marie appliquéd circles while drinking tea from her very appropriate mug:

I forgot to ask what the circles are going to become. We will have to wait and see.

The paper-pieced pentagons Vireya was playing with last time are turning into sunflowers. Today she finished stitching this one together, and most of a second one.

Very bright!

Mary dropped by and had afternoon tea with us. We tried to persuade her to come back, so maybe we will see her with some quilting next time.

Wendy is at home with a broken ankle. Hope you are back on both feet again soon, Wendy!

Special thoughts too for Joy, who has been improving but couldn't make it today, and Dorothy who celebrated a birthday last week.

We have only two meetings left for this year. The penultimate meeting will be in two weeks, on 28th November. Hope to see everyone again then!

Quilters' Circle - 24th October, 2011

2011-10-24T18:12:00.001+11:00

A small band of quilters braved the conditions today for our last October meeting this year. Some of us were planning to come back next week for the 5th Monday meeting, but apparently the house will be shut for a long weekend. There's a horse race or something!

Last time Leigh showed us the completed blocks of her latest project, and today she came to show us how busy she has been since:

All the blocks assembled into a great-looking top! (The pattern is "Sparkling Gemstones" from the book Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott.) Now Leigh is considering her options for borders and binding.

Marie and Glennys brought along a few magazines for us to read.

Lots to look at in these magazines from around the world.

Marie has made some more miniature blocks since our last meeting:

Glennys has started quilting her train quilt, and today worked on the binding.

Vireya showed us some quilting she has started on her oldest UFO (unfinished object).

There is still a lot to do; there are 84 of those pink triangles, and 42 of them have no quilting in them yet. Then there are the dark hexagons in between, and the border to quilt. But Vireya is happy to be making some progress on this quilt which as been "maturing" for a number of years. Today she was playing with ideas for a new paper-piecing project, arranging these shapes in a few different patterns:

It will be interesting to see how they end up.

Our next meeting is not until 14th November. We hope that everyone can be back with us then, as it is Marie's birthday so there will be cake! See you then.

Quilters' Circle - 10th October, 2011

2011-10-10T19:08:00.000+11:00

Welcome back to another meeting of the Quilters' Circle!

Joy couldn't be with us today, as she is still unwell. Joy, we are missing you, and hope things are looking up soon.

Carol has been busy making blocks for her grandmother's autumnal quilt. She has added some pieced blocks and an embroidered one. Today she cut some more squares while baby Isabella had a sleep.

Isn't it looking very warm and snuggly?

Marie has made some more miniature blocks since our last meeting:

There are some very teeny pieces in some of those blocks!

Today she worked on the next block, which is a vase of flowers done in broderie perse:

Extreme close-up, because these are actually very small pieces.

Vireya has been working on a larger scale. Since last meeting, she has made some batik 36-patch blocks, and today she brought along her machine and sewed the last seams

to complete this scrappy top.

Thanks for holding it up for the photo, Julie!

Julie showed us this baby quilt she has made in 1930s fabrics:

The combination of white and these small prints is such a classic look. But today Julie was working on something completely different:

Finishing a jumper for her grandson. Julie not only knitted this jumper, she also spun the wool herself! The colour is the natural fleece. It looks like a very warm garment, and when we looked outside and discovered the weather had turned to rain (not to mention the washing several of us had on our lines) we probably all would have liked to have this jumper in our own size to wear home.

Leigh came and showed us her latest project. She has made 120 of these blocks:

Now comes the fun part. These bright and happy batik blocks will be assembled to make a "human-sized" quilt for Leigh's spare bed. The pattern is "Sparkling Gemstones" from the book Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. Today Leigh was asking us all what we used for design walls to test the layout of such a large quilt. Inspired by Marie's method of pinning a sheet over her largest window, Leigh is now ready to test layout options.

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on the 24th October. Hope to see you then!

Quilters' Circle - 26th September, 2011

2011-09-26T18:39:00.000+10:00

Here it is, the 4th Monday in September already.

We heard the news that Joy has been in hospital since our last meeting, and is still unwell. Joy, we all hope you are feeling better soon!

Julie bought along some hand-quilting to do:

It's a project she has been working on for a while. Each block (and there are 49 of them) takes about 90 minutes to quilt, which means in just a few months of Quilters' Circle meetings, the whole thing will be finished!

Marie showed us these miniature blocks she has made since last time:

She is planning to make them into a bag when she has enough. Today she made this tiny hexagon flower for the next block:

Since our last meeting, Vireya has made and attached the final borders on her quilt of somewhat larger hexagons:

Thanks to the two people holding it up for the photo! (Can you guess who they are?) Today Vireya cut the batting and backing for the quilt, but it needs a good press before it can be basted.

Glennys worked on the appliqué for her "My Blue Heaven" quilt, but had to leave early to go and look after her granddaughter, so we didn't get a photograph of it.

Carol cut some more squares of the quilt she is making for her grandmother, then showed us these bibs she is making:

She is embellishing them with appliqué and decorative machine stitches, then they will be finished with bias binding and velcro fasteners. Very cute!

Carol also showed us the progress she has made with her prairie points on the baby quilt:

They are all attached, and now Carol is up to the binding. Unfortunately none of us have done this sort of finish before, so we couldn't offer any advice about how the corners should be handled. Might have to do a little googling for that one! Meanwhile Isabella kept us entertained by smiling at us. The good news is that she is starting to occasionally sleep almost through the night, much to the relief of her parents!

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on the 10th October. See you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 12th September, 2011

2011-09-12T18:08:00.000+10:00

It's the second Monday of September, so that means it is Quilters' Circle day.

Today we were happy to have Joy back with us, still not feeling 100%, but much better than she has been. We hope she is even better next time. We also had a lovely surprise when Marilyn arrived! We haven't seen her for quite a while, so it was great to catch up. We missed Julie, who has an assignment due later this week, so is very busy working out how to do footnotes and the like, and Wendy sent her apologies and hopes she can make it next time.

Glennys worked on the binding of this baby quilt she has made for a new arrival in her extended family, and got two sides stitched down.

Joy worked on this hanging which none of us have ever seen before. It's inspired by William Morris's designs:

Lovely!

Carol has started a quilt in autumn tones for her grandmother. Today she managed to cut and arrange some squares one-handed, while holding baby Isabella in her other arm.

That's multi-tasking!

Marilyn showed us this bag her sister made for her a while back. It has lots of room inside, and pockets and zips, and is very handy:

Marilyn's new home is at the frustrating stage when it seems nearly finished, but there are still lots of little jobs; floor coverings to be laid, heaters and kitchen appliances to be installed, and the like. She is really looking forward to moving in and unpacking all her belongings (including her quilting things). Today she worked on this cute little long-stitch teddy bear:

Marie worked on her hand-quilting, and brought along some interesting old quilting magazines that I forgot to photograph. We all enjoyed looking though them.

Vireya spread out her hexagon quilt and showed us how the border might look.

The general consensus is that there needs to be some triangles of the dark-greys and blacks included in the border. But because she is waiting for the optometrist to put new lenses in her glasses, marking dots on the back of the triangles for when she sews them together was about all Vireya could see to do today:

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 26th September. Hope we will see you then!

Quilters' Circle - 29th August, 2011

2011-08-29T19:23:00.000+10:00

Today is the fifth Monday in August already. Where has the year gone?

Joy is still unwell and couldn't be with us today. Please get better soon, Joy! We are missing you.

Julie's collection of cute little hexagon flowers is growing. Here's one she made today:

Glennys showed us this quilt top she made for her daughter:

The quilt started at a workshop with Teresa Horsburgh, and is based on Teresa's design Floral Garden. Glennys's fabric choices make a quilt which is very different from the published pattern; in fact Glennys doubts Teresa would recognise it! Will Glennys hand-quilt it? She's thinking about it. Today she started appliquéing the 12th block of the My Blue Heaven quilt we have seen a few other blocks of:

Marie worked on some hand-quilting today, and contemplated her next project.

Carol managed to join us, an impressive feat with a five-week-old baby. She was even able to cut a few squares while Isabella was passed around the quilters.

The squares are for making prairie points to go around Carol's baby quilt, which we've seen before but which now has been quilted and is ready for binding:

The camera still doesn't like the lemon yellow colour, so you will just have to believe me that this quilt is lemon and green, not beige and green. The chenille squares add cuddly softness, don't they?

Vireya had to work this morning, then come straight from work so wasn't able to bring along anything to do, but she also is pondering what her next project will be.

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on Monday 12th September. See you then!

Quilters' Circle - 22nd August, 2011

2011-08-22T19:25:00.000+10:00

What a beautiful sunny day it was today! And we were inside quilting and chatting and eating cake. But more about that yumminess later...

Richard solved the machine problems he had last time by using a better thread, which his machine was much happier with. Here's how his amazing quilt is progressing:

She had an eye and a mouth by the end of our session. Meanwhile Richard and Ching Ching's son entertained us with his thoughts on mountains, canyons and purple ponds.

Vireya was reminded by the warmth of the sun today that it is nearly time for hat-wearing, so she cut out the pieces of this Nicole Mallalieu Design hat pattern:

Maybe next time she'll bring along that hexagon quilt to show us. Or a completed hat?

Julie sewed these lovely little hexagons together today,

and then had to unsew one of them. Oops! An easy mistake to make, but perhaps mean of the photographer to snap it before it was fixed.

Wendy entertained us with some photographs of her twin sons' 21st birthday party, which had a steampunk/mad scientist theme. She also brought us some of the cake she made and decorated for the occasion. You can see pictures of the amazing cake and some of the party costumes on Wendy's blog here.

Marie brought along some magazines for us to read, and these notices of up-coming events:

Today Marie was hand-quilting her 1930's baby quilt, which we last saw when it was just a top in June:

The combination of 1930's fabrics and white always looks lovely, doesn't it?

Wendy worked on this sashiko piece. You wouldn't guess that this is the first sashiko stitching she has done!

When she feels she has mastered the sashiko technique, Wendy is planning to make this lovely piece:

It is part of a series of Australian wildflowers designed by Sylvia Pippen, using appliqué and sashiko with some Aboriginal-designed fabric as borders, which can be put together into a stunning quilt. Will Wendy make the whole quilt? Or will the blue orchid be enough?

Our next meeting will be next Monday, 29th August. We hope Joy will be back with us then. And Jenny. And Glennys. And you!

Quilters' Circle - 8th August, 2011

2011-08-08T20:48:00.001+10:00

Today was an exciting meeting of the Quilters' Circle. Carol was back, and brought along the best "Show and Tell" ever!

Looks as if the photographer managed to make Isabella a little blurry. (But everything was a little blurry today - see below.) We heard that she isn't always as peaceful as this, but we all wish the proud new parents a wonderful life with their precious daughter.

Leigh told us about her recent trip to tropical Queensland, and brought along this booklet about the Bowen Shire quilt, which she saw on her trip:

Joy worked on her appliqué, but somehow no photos were taken of that.

Richard and Vireya were both machining, but Richard was having some difficulties with his thread, which broke his last needle so his machine was packed up before the camera had a chance to get to him. Vireya's little Lotus wasn't playing up (even if it looks a little blurry...), which she is thankful for, as she is trying to meet a deadline:

Next time we should be able to see a full picture of the project she has been working on since last year.

Julie worked on some English Paper-Pieced hexagons. It's a technique she hasn't tried before, but enjoyed:

She said it was tricky because she hadn't brought the right glasses with her, but the blurriness of this picture can only be blamed on the photographer. In real life, they look great! Julie also showed us her thimbles, which she didn't have with her last time when we took the group thimble shot:

These are both Clover products. The one on the left is made of a soft flexible rubber, and the right-hand one is adjustable. Forgot to ask which is best, or if they have different strengths.

Glennys worked on the ninth block of her "My Blue Heaven" quilt:

I'm not sure how many blocks there are all together, but 9 sounds as if it should be getting towards the end. How many to go, Glennys?

Marie is hand-quilting her green "thousand pyramids" quilt, which she has titled Into The Forest:

The quilting follows organic, tree-branch lines, although you can't see it in a long-shot like this. We'll have to get a close-up next time.

Our next get-together will be on 22nd August. Happy sewing until then!

Congratulations, Carol!

2011-08-04T10:58:00.000+10:00

We have just heard from Carol, who gave us the fantastic news that her daughter Isabella arrived on 21st July!

Congratulations to the new parents, and we are looking forward to meeting the new arrival!

Quilters' Circle - 25th July, 2011

2011-07-25T19:07:00.000+10:00

It's the 4th Monday of July, which means the Quilters' Circle met again. We missed a few people. Carol, we especially hope all is well with you!

Richard and Ching Ching didn't forget the date this time. They both brought along their latest projects, and took the chance to spread out and fuse some larger sections. Richard machined some pieces into place on his latest project. The stitching will be covered later with thin bias strips, to give a stained-glass effect.

His machine is so quiet that his slow-and-steady free-motion work was a soothing background noise.

Ching Ching cut out some intricate pieces for her latest project:

Then she contemplated using this lovely batik from Malaysia, which she has had for a while but hasn't wanted to cut in to:

Will she cut it up? Will she put it away again? We'll have to wait and see...

Marie finished hand-quilting her autumn leaves piece, then started pulling out all the basting threads:

And here's how it looked when they were all gone:

Hooray! Now for the binding...

We had a bit of a discussion about thimbles at one stage, so here are some heirlooms and some newer thimbles owned and/or used by some of us:

Joy worked on this lovely appliqué panel:

We welcomed Julie, who came along for the first time. But what was she doing?

Sshh! Don't tell the knitters!

Marie found this wonderful book at the Darebin library. It was the companion volume to a special exhibition of quilts at the Victoria and Albert Museum last year.

The book is full of information and superb pictures. A quick flick through didn't do it justice.

Next weekend is the Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair, so a few of us will be going along to be inspired and look for supplies. But the next time we will be back at the Neighbourhood House will be the 8th August. Happy sewing until then!

Quilters' Circle - 11th July, 2011

2011-07-11T20:05:00.001+10:00

It was cold outside, and only a small number of quilters braved the conditions to meet today. Inside, the air near the ceiling was hot but lower down it was a little cool. We discovered that the ceiling fans have a switch to change direction based on the season. Once we set this one to "winter" we had warm air circulating around the room:

In fact it got so warm that people started complaining.

Joy and Glennys worked on their appliqué projects, and Marie quilted, and in between we looked through these books and brochures:

Joy showed us this shopping bag her family bought for her in Thailand because they thought it looked like patchwork fabric:

Here's how it looks unzipped:

Very handy!

Glennys showed us this top she has pieced from the cute train fabrics she showed us back in May:

Joy's son saw a picture of a quilt in one of her magazines, then went home a drew up templates for her to make the design. Joy used his templates, and her hand-dyed fabrics, to make this top which looks just like the picture in the magazine:

Ching Ching popped in to say hello. She and Richard were at the house for something else, because they had forgotten that today was quilting day. So a little reminder for everyone, the meetings are on the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Monday of each month. That means that our next meeting is on 25th July, at 1:00pm. See you then!

Quilters' Circle - 27th June, 2011

2011-06-27T18:44:00.000+10:00

After what felt like a long break, the Quilters' Circle met today for our first and last June meeting.

For some of us, the break had been longer than others. Ching Ching and Richard have been in Malaysia for a few months. While they were away, Richard completed the quilt we saw the design for in July, and the beginnings of in August last year.

What a fantastic first quilt! And today Richard worked on the design for his next one.

Ching Ching ironed some fabrics, and shared these yummy sweets with us:

They are made with sweet potato and other yummy ingredients, and packaged beautifully. Very nice! Thank you, Ching Ching.

Glennys blanket-stitched some appliqué in the latest block of her quilt designed by Therese Hylton (My Blue Heaven). She had most of this bit done by the end of our meeting.

Wendy was also appliquéing, working on a block of Esther Aliu's latest free mystery BOM, Hearts Desire. (Shouldn't there be an apostrophe in that somewhere?)

Marie has finished the wall-hanging she has been working on at our last couple of meetings, and took it down from her wall to bring it along and show us:

The hanging is based on a design by Rosemary Penfold, "Quilt for a Hot Night". The little picture doesn't do it justice - please click on it to see a larger view.

Marie's next project is already well under way. In fact the top is finished already:

It's a lovely baby quilt in white and 1930s fabrics.

Since or last meeting Vireya made a quilted hot-water bottle cover for a challenge. It had to be submitted for an exhibition last week, so she couldn't bring it along. Here are the photos, anyway.

Front view:

Back view:

If you would like to see many hot-water bottle covers, made in many different textile techniques, the exhibition at the OpenDrawer Gallery opens on Friday this week and runs until 24th July. You can click on this picture to get all the details

We missed Joy, Jenny, and Carol today. Hope you are all well and will be back with us soon!

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 11th July. See you again then!

It's a Finish

2011-06-08T08:52:00.006+10:00

E finished her 9-patch quilt in last week's "Let's Patchwork" class. It's taken a while for the borders to go on, but now it's done. Yay!The next step is to baste up the quilt with its layers of backing and wadding. Maybe that will happen tonight. Meanwhile all the other students are eagerly stitching away at their various projects. Note to self: we're going to need an extra couple of tables tonight to cope with the basting as well as the usual cutting and stitching.

Quilters' Circle, 30th May, 2011

2011-05-30T20:13:00.000+10:00

Today is the fifth Monday in May, so we had a bonus meeting, which is good because in June we will lose one meeting due to the Queen's Birthday holiday.

We missed a couple of people who didn't make it along today - we hope you are well! It was great to have Joy back with us, and to welcome Wendy who bravely came along despite her son's warning about meeting people on the internet.

A couple of people organised a surprise afternoon tea because Friday was Vireya's birthday:

Yum! I'm sorry that the slice Joy made is out of focus, but it tasted great, anyway! And of course, you can't have a birthday without presents, so here are the fabrics Vireya went home with that she didn't have when she arrived:

Yummy fabrics, yummy cakes, thanks everyone!

Vireya showed us some of her other gifts, including this pack of Japanese fabrics:

Since last week Carol has added this very cute cow to her baby quilt:

So now she is up to the border.

Joy appliquéd leaves today:

Marie and Wendy both worked on binding. Marie's wall-hanging involves a lot of binding. Here's a progress shot which is meant to show how the strippy columns will be connected by a ladder of black loops:

Although these particular columns won't be joined like this, as they will be on the opposite side of each other.

All too soon, time was up, and we had to head out into the cold again. But we all took home some cake leftovers!

Our next meeting will not be until the 27th June. Hope to see you again then!

Let's Patchwork, Up and Running

2011-05-26T08:52:00.011+10:00

The sewing machines and cutting mats were out in force last night for the second in this term's Let's Patchwork class. The evening started with a spot of show and tell and then it was full swing ahead.

We have a couple of beginners making their first 9-patch quilts.
Then there are several students finishing off projects or starting new ones. There's just one more spot available in the class this term and another set of classes planned for next term. Please contact the Neighbourhood House office on 9354 2210 if you'd like to join us.

Quilters' Circle - 23rd May, 2011

2011-05-23T23:02:00.000+10:00

It was a bit cool and very wet outside, so it was a good day to be inside quilting with friends. Four of us braved the conditions, but we missed Joy and Jenny. We hope you are both well and that we will see you next time!

Marie has started binding the wall-hanging strips we have seen in progress over the last couple of meetings, and brought along a couple of them to show us:

The black sets them off really nicely, doesn't it?

Today Marie continued quilting her autumn leaves miniature quilt:

Carol has already pieced together a lot of the squares she started cutting out at our last meeting, and the quilt is looking very cute and cuddly:

This photo doesn't do the colours justice. The pretty lemon yellow seems to have been turned dull beige by the camera. Carol has included some very cute appliqué blocks among the squares. Here are a couple of close-ups which will make you smile:

There is one last appliqué block to do, and Carol wanted to do something green. It was amazing how many green critters popped out at us as we browsed through a couple of magazines Marie had brought along, so Carol ended up with lots of ideas for her last block.

Glennys is kindly binding two quilts made by a friend. She finished one, and started the second one today.

Vireya did a bit more of her current paper-piecing project, but no photo, sorry.

Lastly, Carol showed us this beautiful heart she has embellished with embroidery and beads:

So lovely!

May is a month with five Mondays, so our next meeting is only a week away, on the 30th May. See you then!

New Patchwork Class

2011-05-11T12:06:00.004+10:00

Great News:
You are invited to a new Patchwork Class at Sussex Neighbourhood House. This is class is for anyone who wants some support, guidance or encouragements with their patchwork and quilting. Brand new beginners will learn the basics, while more experienced patchworkers will be helped to keep going in their craft. Enrolments are essential, so please contact Joanne on 9354 2210 if you'd like to sign up.

Quilters' Circle 9th May, 2011

2011-05-10T17:01:00.000+10:00

After what felt like a very long break, the Quilters' Circle got together again. We had lots to talk about, and a few people had things to show us. Blogger is playing up a bit tonight, so I can't format this post quite how I want. However, for several hours I couldn't post anything, so this is an improvement...

Here are some lovely pink and green quilt-as-you-go blocks Jan made:

Marie has made two more columns for the wall-hanging she had started last time:

To give you an idea of the scale, Marie is hiding behind those three pieces...

Glennys showed us the fabric she purchased at the AQC last month:
Cute! We all loved those trains. Today Glennys worked on some appliqué:
Next she will add some embroidery.

Vireya has finished the wall-hanging we have seen her working on over the last year, and took it down from the wall to bring it along for us to see:
And she showed us this little Japanese pouch made from a kit she purchased at the AQC.

Carol worked on some appliqué, and then started cutting squares for a baby quilt:

The fabrics are soft greens and yellows, but this photo seems to have washed them out a bit.

Joy is working on this fruit bowl block for her Baltimore-album quilt:
Next some grapes are going on the right-hand side.

We heard that Marilyn is back in Melbourne for some medical care, and sends us greetings. We hope you are feeling better soon, Marilyn! It's great to hear that your building plans have been approved.

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 23rd May. I hope Blogger is behaving itself by then!

PS - Now that Blogger is working again, this post has been edited to fix some of the issues.

More Blocks On Their Way

2011-05-10T16:55:00.000+10:00

Here's our second box of QAYG blocks, along with the quilt made by council staff members, heading off to the Oz Comfort Quilts appeal. I did a quick count before I went to the post office, and I think there are 101 blocks in the box.

Thanks everyone who made blocks, extra thanks to the people who contributed to the postage cost, and special thanks to the guy at the post-office who taped the box up for me rather than making me buy a roll of packaging tape.

Quilters' Circle - 11th April, 2011

2011-04-11T20:13:00.000+10:00

Back again, for our first meeting for April. Unfortunately the Anzac day public holiday means that this is also our last April meeting!

Six of us got together today, and while we sewed we discussed fountain pens, treadle sewing machines, and other ancient technology. Jenny showed us how her Clover needle-threader works, and Marie showed us this leaflet that Marilyn passed on to her:

So maybe some of us will be making a trip north on the Easter weekend.

Vireya showed us this quilt she has assembled:

The blocks were made by staff from the Moreland City Council at a couple of working bees organised for International Women's Day. Vireya showed people how to make the blocks, then she assembled the quilt and did the binding. Now the quilt is going back to the council to be shown off a bit, then it will return to Sussex by Easter to be sent with our QAYG blocks to the Oz Comfort Quilts appeal. That means that if you have any blocks at home that you are still working on, please get them to the House by Thursday 21st April, so that they can be sent off.

Jenny today was appliquéing leaves on her lovely Robyn Falloon design "Tea and Scones". Here's one of the large flowers on the quilt:

Carol was appliquéing her tulips, but she brought this wonderful waratah to show us:

The design is "Australian Wildflowers" by Helen White. Carol made this piece at a workshop she attended in Altona earlier this month.

Glennys brought along her machine and did some piecing, then she too did some appliqué.

Joy recently redesigned her Baltimore album quilt, deciding not to make all the intricate borders she had been planning. But the new layout meant she needed another block (or two?) to complete the quilt. She has made a lot of progress on this extra block already:

Marie was quilting the autumn leaves quilt we saw last time. But she has started another project as well. This is the first part of a wall hanging which will include several long quilt-as-you-go sections:

The project is based on a design by Rosemary Penfold, "Quilt for a Hot Night".

Round about here I should make some really outrageous comment, just to test if anyone is reading this. But I probably won't. (Several people today mentioned that they hadn't looked at the blog for a while.)

Our next meeting will be on the 9th May. The year is rushing by, isn't it? See you in four weeks.

Quilters' Circle - 28th March, 2011

2011-03-28T20:08:00.001+11:00

Can you believe it is a month since our last meeting? A few people have been very busy in that month!

Marie showed us this small wall-hanging she has been working on:

Very appropriate for the season!

It was great to see Joy back again. As well as getting better, she has been making lots of QAYG blocks:

But apparently now her walking foot is not well!

Tamara delivered these blocks:

And Dorothea gave us these ones:

Jan told us she had some too, but was worried that it was too late. It is not too late! We will be sending off a second lot in a few weeks. Vireya is currently assembling a quilt of blocks made by Moreland Council workers at a working bee for International Women's Day earlier this month. Once that is done (she is waiting on 3 more blocks) and then shown to the workers responsible, we will pack it and all the blocks we have up and send them off. At the moment there are about 60-odd blocks, so if you have any at home, it would be great if you could get them to the house in a couple of weeks from now, so that we can see what size box we will need this time.

So what did we all do today? Someone had kindly left a pile of books for us to take if we wanted them. So we enjoyed browsing, and a couple of them did find new homes.

As well as making the room smell lovely with the bags of fresh basil she brought for us,

Carol was appliquéing the tulips she showed us last time:

A couple of people worked on English-paper-piecing projects involving hexagons. Here's Marie's cheerful green hexagons:

And Vireya's slightly-less-colourful ones:

Joy was sewing the binding to her miniature log-cabin quilt:

Those logs are only a quarter of an inch wide. And this was all done by hand, of course!

We missed Glennys and Jenny who couldn't make it today, but we hope they will be back with us next time, on 11th April. Hope you'll come back to see us then, too!

On Their Way

2011-03-03T16:18:00.001+11:00

This afternoon all the completed QAYG blocks, plus one complete quilt, were boxed up and taken to the post office, on their way to Jan Mac to join blocks from all over the world being turned into quilts.

I should have written down how many there were, but I can tell you that they weigh about 8 kg. Thanks everyone for your help with getting this box ready! Some of these blocks could end up in quilts for flood victims in Queensland and Victoria, and some could even be on their way to New Zealand to earthquake victims. Wherever they end up, I'm sure they will be greatly appreciated.

The fact that these have been sent doesn't mean it's too late to make blocks - now we're collecting towards a second box-full. If you need fabric, there is still a large basket of cut strips in the office. I think they are breeding there!

PS - the box arrived safely as can be seen on Jan's blog "Sew Many Quilts - Too Little Time" here.

Quilters' Circle - 28th February, 2011

2011-02-28T21:07:00.000+11:00

The last day of summer - and it was cool and rainy outside, making it a good day to be inside quilting.

Unfortunately Joy couldn't be here today. Doubly unfortunate for her, because we had a surprise afternoon tea to celebrate her birthday!

We hope you have a lovely birthday next week, Joy, and that we will see you back again soon! I'd like to say that we will save some of that fruitcake for you, but I don't think it will last, sorry...

Today a bit of appliqué was going on. Carol worked on the tulips in the border of this beautiful quilt:

Vireya did some work on the centre of another project:

This is the first block of Esther Aliu's new Block-of-the-Month project, Hearts Desire, although Vireya is not planning to make another whole appliqué quilt.

Jenny is appliquéing thirteen greyhounds for a quilt she is making. Here are four of them:

Aren't they great?

Glennys cut the pieces for this Jacob's Ladder block, which will be a cushion cover for a football fan.

No prizes for guessing the team!

Marie worked on her hexagon project, and delivered even more blocks for the Oz Comfort Quilts appeal:

They are so bright and happy!

There are quite a pile of blocks in the office now. Thanks everyone for your contributions! We are planning to send them off on Thursday this week, so if you have some finished it would be great if you could get them to the office by Thursday lunchtime, please.

So that's it for another Quilters' Circle meeting. They go by so quickly. Our next meeting won't be for a month, because the second Monday in March is Labour Day, and the house will be closed. So we will see you again on 28th March.

Quilters' Circle - 14th February, 2011

2011-02-14T19:42:00.000+11:00

Welcome to the meeting!

I'll be your guide today. Jenny brought me along to show everyone, and I enjoyed keeping an eye on the proceedings.

Joy couldn't make it along today, and we all hope she'll be feeling better soon! It was great to see Marilyn. We won't see her at every meeting, as she has sold her house and is moving to Bendigo. We hope she finds some nice quilters up there to meet with regularly, but we also hope she can come back and visit us because we will miss her. We also heard that Dorothy is in hospital, so we hope she is on the mend soon.

It seems today was a day for sewing down binding. Marilyn, Marie, Carol and Vireya were all doing that.

Here's Marie's triangles QAYG project that she was assembling last time. The pieced binding is the perfect finishing touch!

Vireya finished the binding on her quilt for the Oz Comfort Quilts drive, so here it is all done:

And here's the back view:

Carol was sewing the binding on this striking black and white quilt which we saw when she was making blocks back in August:

Can you guess which football team the recipient barracks for? Did someone say Collingwood?

Glennys has decided how to assemble the mystery squares she showed us last time, and today she brought her machine along to sew some of them together.

Later she did some appliqué, which is what Jenny was working on, too.

Mary joined us with her knitting, as the rest of the knitters couldn't attend today. Mary has made quilts, and she owned up to having an unfinished one tucked away somewhere, so we decided that she really is a quilter.

Since our last meeting, people have been busy sewing blocks to donate for the flood victims. Here's some Carol made:

And some from Marie:

Marie also made more blocks like those she showed us at the last meeting, and today she delivered a complete set of 35 (the number required for a single-bed quilt).

As well as all that sewing, there was lots of conversation about topics which were over the head of a small needle-felted dog. Just what are planning regulations? And electricity companies? And then there were discussions about books. Dogs can't read, so I went to sleep through that.

And although I am fuzzy, I'm not really blurry. I think the camera operator should wear glasses.

The next Quilters' Circle meeting will be on 28th February, at 1:00pm. Hope you can make it along!

Oz Comfort Quilts Working Bee

2011-02-03T19:17:00.038+11:00

On Tuesday night a few people gathered to get stuck into making some blocks using all the strips, backings and waddings which were prepared at the previous working bee.

A couple of wonderful women who had many years of experience with industrial sewing machines, gave their domestic machines quite a work-out. They set a cracking pace the rest of us couldn't keep up with!

The iron was kept busy:

The rotary cutter was flying:

The pile of offcuts grew and grew:

The larger pieces went back onto the pile to be sewn into other blocks.

Meanwhile more sets of backings, waddings and strips were prepared for people who couldn't attend the working bee to make up at home. And if you want more fabric, just let us know - there's a basket of strips you can use in the office at the house, and more can be added if it starts to run low!

And here are the results on the night!

Actually that's not all of them, but you can see that it was a fantastic result.

When we add in all the blocks people are making at home, it will be quite a pile to send to Jan Mac. A couple of people have asked about the deadline for the blocks. We will send whatever is ready off later this month - but that doesn't mean that work has to stop. We can send more later - Jan will be busy sewing them together for quite a while

Quilters' Circle - 31st January, 2011

2011-01-31T19:07:00.001+11:00

It was our bonus fifth-Monday meeting for January. It was hot outside, but fortunately the cooling inside stopped us from melting.

Welcome to Jenny, who found us through the Sussex course pamphlet which was delivered to her letterbox.

A couple of our regulars couldn't make it this week. Joy, we hope your ankle is feeling better soon, and Marilyn, we hope your house move goes smoothly this week! We also missed Debbie who came along last week. Hope you can make it next time, Debbie!

Marie showed us the QAYG blocks she has made this week for the Oz Comfort Quilts appeal:

Don't they look great? And she intends making some more between her other projects.

Vireya has also made a few blocks this week:

Today Carol did some appliqué work on this cute butterfly, who is for another charity quilt appeal.

She used "Glue-Baste-It" to attach the pieces before stitching them in place. Some of us hadn't seen this product before so were interested in the tips and advice the experts could offer ("keep it upright" seems to be an important rule).

Jenny also appliquéd. She is working on a Robyn Falloon design, Tea and Scones , which features lots of lovely appliqué on a subtle pieced background.

Beautiful!

Glennys showed us her "mystery quilt". It is not a normal mystery quilt, this one is a mystery because she doesn't have the pattern for it at all. She has lots of squares, in a range of sizes, in a colour pallet that is not really her preference.

So, what to do with them? She had some fun playing with arrangements. Maybe something like this, with the smaller squares surrounding the larger ones?

But what about the middle-sized ones? It will be interesting to see how it all comes together.

Marie today did some hand-sewing so finalise the assembly of a quilt-as-you-go project of a different nature:

She pieced and quilted this colourful quilt in four sections before joining them together. I think it was just about done by the time we finished today. Love all those brights, and the amazing range of "boy" themed prints!

As a special bonus, here's a picture of some beach-themed cushion covers Marie made before Christmas, but which couldn't be shown then because they were gifts:

Unsurprisingly, the recipients loved them!

While we were stitching we had many interesting conversations, and met some visitors from another neighbourhood house who were touring the premises.

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 14th February. However, before that, there is a working bee tomorrow, 1st February, from 3:00pm to about 7:00pm, to make some more QAYG blocks for flood victims. If you can come along for any part of that time, you will be very welcome! Please bring some nibbles to share. Lots of backings, wadding and strips have been cut ready to be sewn, so you won't need to bring any. (But if you want to, feel free!) What we will really need is your machine and some neutral-coloured thread. But even if you can't bring a machine, there will be things to do like ironing and trimming blocks, so there will be ways you can contribute. Hope to see you then!

Quilters' Circle - 24th January, 2011

2011-01-24T21:06:00.001+11:00

First meeting back at the house, and there was an obstacle or two to get through:

The road was blocked off for work on the water mains, so there was no car-parking close to the house, making it a little difficult for people with sewing machines and fabric to carry.

We welcomed Debbie who came along for the first time, and Diane and Carmen who were here for a working bee - more of that later! Carol was back and glad to be warm after the ice and snow in Europe.

Glennys showed us a lovely gift she received for her birthday:

It's a beautiful Queen Victoria Pincushion made for her by a good friend. The pincushion was designed in 1897, to celebrate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. It is made of 60 diamond shapes, for the 60 years.

We celebrated Glennys's birthday with some chocolate mud cake:

Then it was down to business. Marie stitched some of her hexagons together:

Marilyn stitched down binding, Debbie worked on a stitchery panel for a BOM she is doing, Carol did some appliquéing, and Vireya showed us these QAYG (quilt-as-you-go) blocks she has made:

The blocks were made to be sent to Jan Mac for her Oz Comfort Quilts drive, to be incorporated into quilts for flood victims.

And that brings us to today's working bee.

It had been arranged for people to spend some time today making QAYG blocks for the flood appeal. The work started in the room next door, and continued later after the Quilters and Knitters had finished their regular meetings. Here's the scene as work got under way:

There were batting and backings to cut,

strips to cut,

and sewing and pressing to be done. Busy busy busy!

Once the blocks were made, they had to be trimmed

to get them all neat and square.

And then we could start laying them out to get a feel for how they will look:

What a great way to use up left-over bits of batting and fabric, while having fun and feeling like you are doing something constructive for the flood victims.

Next Tuesday (1st February) from 3pm the working bee will continue. Everyone is welcome to come along and join in. If you would like to do some sewing at home, the instructions for the blocks can be found on Jan Mac's blog
QAYG Blocks Jan's Tutorial
or on Kaite's Yarngarden blog:
Kaite's QAYG Tutorial

Happy sewing! Our regular Quilters' Circle meeting will be next Monday, 31st January.

Quilters' Circle - 6th January, 2011

2011-01-06T20:59:00.000+11:00

Happy new year, everybody!

The neighbourhood house is still closed for the summer break, but the quilters didn't want to wait for it to re-open, so we arranged to meet today at Joy's home. Unfortunately a few of us couldn't make it in the end, but a small group of us got together for a lovely afternoon. This beautiful rose was one of several in a vase on Joy's table:

I forgot to ask if they were from her garden.

Joy had left up her Christmas wall-hanging quilts for us to admire:

Both were created from "chance blocks" Joy won at Essendon Quilters' meetings, with some of her own additions.

Joy also treated us to a yummy, international afternoon tea:

Dorothy used to attend the Quilters' Circle meetings, but hasn't been able to make it for the last couple of years. Fortunately she could come today. She was embroidering "Flat Nat", and took her out of the embroidery frame for this photo:

Flat Nat the Travelling Stitcher is designed by Natalie Lymer of Cinderberry Stitches.

Vireya made some triangles for her paper-piecing project:

Joy was adding binding to her miniature mariners' compass quilt. She also showed us these blocks from the "Dear Jane" quilt which she started a number of years ago, but decided not to continue with:

She has made quite a pile of blocks, I wonder what she will do with them?

Thanks again, Joy, for opening your home to us today! Our next meeting may be 24th January, at the Neighbourhood House. If they're not open by then, we may get together again at someone's house. Come back then and find out!

Quilters' Circle - 13th December, 2010

2010-12-13T19:58:00.003+11:00

Today was the last meeting of the Quilters' Circle before the neighbourhood house closes for the Christmas and New Year period.

Joy brought along some decorations to get us in the mood -

Her angel:

And her tree:

She also brought a table-cloth for our spread of eatables.

We had a little bit of show-and-tell. Vireya made these coasters after being inspired by the ones Marie showed us at our last meeting.

Joy showed us this small quilt which she recently found tucked away in a cupboard. It was her first foray into the world of half-square triangles, but she wasn't happy with it and put it away.

I should add that she didn't want me to photograph it, either. It doesn't quite lie flat, because all those bias edges made it hard to control. But we liked it, and it is fascinating to compare the fabrics available now with what quilters could buy then.

Not a lot of quilting work actually happened today - although Glennys did some stitching on this very cute reindeer who is going to become a Santa sack for her grand-daughter.

There was so much else to do; drink cups of tea, chat, share yummy eatables with the knitters, and read some of the many books and magazines people had brought along.

And on top of all that, all sorts of gifts and goodies were exchanged and displayed.

Some people have been very busy!

Marie made individual coasters for us, each featuring special fabrics relevant to the recipient. You can see a couple of them in the photo.

Vireya made a bunch of lavender handbags, from a pattern designed by Nicole Mallalieu. Some of them are in the photo, too.

The teacher of the patchwork group Marie and Marilyn attend made all her students a strawberry bag. I didn't get a photo of one, but here's a link to a blog post that shows what they look like, and has instructions for making your own. And here's another one, which uses metric measurements. The cathedral-window decoration and the tiny handbag were also made in that class.

Joy made some little sewing kits. Here's what one of them looked like inside:

And they all had different patchwork designs on the outside.

Well that's it for this year. We hope all our readers have a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year. We will be back at the house on 24th January, 2011 (assuming the meeting days will be the same next year as this), but may get together between now and then. If we do, we'll report on it here.

See you next year!

Quilters' Circle - 29th November, 2010

2010-11-29T17:45:00.000+11:00

Today is our bonus fifth Monday in November, so the Quilters' Circle got together again at the House for the second-last time this year.

As it is only a week since our last meeting, most of us didn't have a lot of show-and-tell. However, Marie has completed the quilting on her Christmas wall-hanging, and today was sewing down the binding. Here's one corner all done:

Inspired by that corner block, Marie used some of her left-over Christmas fabrics to make these seasonal coasters:

We were happy to see Joy back with us today. She is still quilting her miniature mariner's compass quilt, using a tiny tiny needle (which looks huge here, but when it fell on the floor it was very difficult to find).

Vireya worked on her paper-piecing project, but had some trouble planning the sewing order to avoid having to fold cardboard when stitching together this shape:

Marilyn brought along her machine and chain-pieced some triangles:

Our next meeting will be the last for the year, on 13th December. Mary from the knitting group suggested we all bring a plate next time for a special afternoon tea. Good idea, Mary! So, come and join us then for some stitching and snacking!

Quilters' Circle - 22nd November, 2010

2010-11-22T18:34:00.002+11:00

Here it is, the fourth Monday of November already. We missed Joy, who couldn't make it today. Hope you are feeling 100% again soon, Joy.

Marie brought along her finished baby ball to show us:

People couldn't resist picking it up and playing with it.

Today Marie was tracing templates and cutting out pieces for a new project:

What will it be? You'll have to wait and see. Sorry about the fluorescent light reflection - I didn't notice that until later.

Vireya brought along the finished apron that she was cutting out last time:

Although she did model it for us, no photo was taken of that, so this is on her dressform at home.

Today Vireya was working on a paper-piecing project.

Glennys worked on her Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls. Here's the very huggable Ann all done:

Look at the brilliant fabric Glennys used for Ann's clothes. Did you know that Raggedy Ann was created in 1915, and Andy in 1920? That makes them 90 and 95 years old!

Marilyn has added the border to her Bombers block from last time. She had done some quilting, but discovererd that her walking foot was a bit loose for part of it, resulting in stitches like this:

So today she unpicked that part, and re-quilted it:

Looking good!

While stitching, we browsed a few magazines, books and catalogues Marie brought along - and ate some of her bickies! Thanks, Marie.

We also had a look at some information about a quilt competition for neighbourhood houses next year. We'll give that a bit of thought between now and our next meeting.

Speaking of our next meeting, this month has 5 Mondays, so it is only one week until we are back again, on the 29th November. See you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 8th November, 2010

2010-11-08T18:28:00.000+11:00

November already! Five of us got together today, and had a lovely afternoon.

Joy was hand-quilting her miniature mariners' compass quilt:

Joy is on a "finishing" drive - she is working at completing unfinished items, rather than starting anything new.

Marilyn was machine-piecing the border for this football-related block:

Guess which football team?

Vireya cut out an apron panel she recently purchased:

Marie was assembling her baby ball:

Glennys added hair to a Raggedy Anne (or is this Andy?) doll:

This one is for her grand-daughter. Glennys made the same dolls for her children, using the same pattern. It is now a family tradition. She also showed us the cute outfits she has made for the dolls, using a very appropriate border print. I didn't photograph the clothes, so I hope Anne and Andy come back for a visit before they go to their new homes.

We had lots of books and magazines to read, and Glennys very kindly brought along some very yummy chocolate-chip biscuits:

Thanks, Glennys!

And speaking of chocolate, the childcare centre is having a fund-raising chocolate drive, so we had to help out...

Last time Mary, one of the knitters, offered around pieces of a red-flowering salvia from her garden, and today she brought them along all potted up for us. Thanks, Mary!

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 22nd November. Hope to see you then!

In the meantime, some birthday wishes:

Happy birthday tomorrow to one of our readers, Dorothy. Hope you have a lovely day!

Happy birthday to Marie for this coming weekend. Hope something nice happens for you on the day!

Quilters' Circle - 25th October, 2010

2010-10-25T19:12:00.000+11:00

October is nearly over already. How can that be?

Marilyn was the most productive person today. She chain-pieced many triangles for the 64 flying geese she needs. Here's 4 completed ones, so I suppose that long chain she worked on was the other 60!

Marie was stuffing the segments of a baby's clutch ball. Here's a few of them, featuring some very cute fabrics.

Joy did some embroidery embellishment on blocks for her blue Baltimore Album quilt. She has started joining the blocks together. Aren't they looking good?

These blocks will surround the large centre block which didn't come along today.

Vireya has also been putting blocks together.

Today she cut the batting and got this ready to be basted.

As well as all that, we chatted, drank tea, flicked through a big pile of older magazines, browsed catalogues Marie brought along, borrowed books from the knitters, and enjoyed Vireya's recent internet purchases (on the left below).

Our next meeting will be in a fortnight, on 8th November. We hope some of our missing members will be back with us then!

Bonus - Marie's Birds

2010-10-12T15:11:00.000+11:00

This is the quilt Marie showed us yesterday, but that we couldn't show until today:

Isn't it lovely? The birds, leaves and flowers are hand-appliquéd, and the rest is machine pieced. The lovely swirly quilting was also done by machine. The birds' legs, beaks and eyes are hand-embroidered. The end result is totally charming, although I don't think it looks quite as good in the photo as it does in real life.

Marie made this wall-hanging as a gift for a lucky person. The gift was presented today, which is why we couldn't show it yesterday — we didn't want to spoil the surprise! If you'd like to make one like this yourself, the quilt is from a design called Holiday Morning, by Kathy Doughty, found in the book Material Obsession by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke.

Quilters' Circle - 11th October, 2010

2010-10-11T19:15:00.000+11:00

Here we are in October already. Today was a lovely warm spring day, "except for the wind", which everyone seemed to say.

Joy has put together the top of her Japanese quilt:

The design is Joy's adaptation of a pattern called "Japanese Collection" by Leesa Chandler. Joy has replaced many of the original blocks with her own selection of Japanese designs, as Leesa encourages people to do in the pattern. Here's a better view of the centre block, showing the kimono flap open:

Unfortunately the lady's face is a bit bleached out in the photograph. But can you see that the inside of her kimono is also pieced?

As if that weren't enough, Joy has also completed the fourth (all hand-pieced) mariners' compass block for her miniature quilt:

Marie also had something special to show us. She has completed a delightful quilt that we can't show right now, as it is a gift. Come back tomorrow to see it!

Marilyn is making another of the blocks from the "Working with Triangles" course. She showed us her first one back in April. Today she was ruling lines on the back to help with accurate piecing:

The sandpaper stops the tiny pieces moving around while they are being worked on.

Glennys did some stitching on a Christmas wall-hanging project she started a little while back:

Cute, aren't they?

Vireya appliquéd some yoyos:

We'll have to get a a photo of the whole thing next time.

Our next meeting will be in a fortnight— the 25th October (fourth Monday of the month). But you don't have to wait that long— come back tomorrow to see Marie's completed quilt.

Quilters' Circle - 27th September, 2010

2010-09-27T17:47:00.001+10:00

Today a small group of quilters met at the Neighbourhood House.

Glennys put the finishing touches on a couple of sundresses she is making for her grand-daughter's first birthday. One is in a gingham-like print with added caterpillars:

And the other a cherry print. We marvelled at the "vintage" cherry buttons Glennys had found in her stash to go with this one:

Marie showed up the progress she has made on her latest quilt, which is looking really good. No photos, because it is a gift for someone! Today she worked on more segments for the baby ball.

Vireya showed us this purse which she has made since our last meeting, testing a new pattern for Nicole Mallalieu.

Today she was making more pentagon shapes. She is starting to get sick of them, but she doesn't want to start any new projects until a few works-in-progress are completed.

A member of the knitting group, Karin, recently had a trip to Norway. She brought this book to show us:

It features works by Norway's first professional quilter, Grete Gulliksen Moe. We all enjoyed seeing Grete's work. The picture below is of my favourite, but there were many lovely pieces.

Grete is a designer, a patchwork and quilting teacher, and Scandinavia's best-selling author in this field. Her website shows some of her other works and her books.

Leigh also dropped in to show us her latest project, the Twin Stars quilt from the book Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. She had a very cute selection of fabric, which I didn't think of photographing at the time.

Carole, Joy and Marilyn couldn't be with us due to other commitments. We hope to see them and you back with us at our next meeting, which will be on 11th October.

Quilters' Circle - 13th September, 2010

2010-09-13T18:29:00.001+10:00

Today the Quilters' Circle got together again. While we sewed productively, we chatted about a range of topics including appropriate gifts for a baby shower. We read some magazines and compared how people dressed up for photos then and now. Then we had to try and work out how long ago the then magazine was published!

Glennys blanket-stitched around a baby blanket:

When she finished that, she moved on to some appliqué which wasn't photographed. We'll have to get it next time.

Joy appliquéd more of the final panel of her black-background wall hanging:

This panel is nearly finished, although that doesn't mean the whole project is nearly done. There are borders and sashing strips to be appliquéd as well.

Marie is making a baby ball like the one Joy brought along in August. Today she cut out sections from some cheerful fabrics:

Carol worked on the flowers of this lovely appliqué panel:

The design is Whitefriars Ruby by Robyn Falloon. It was published in Beautiful Country Crafts in 2009 (vol 21, number 4).

Marilyn has been very self-disciplined, and has not read our last blog entry which showed Marie's completed mystery. She also hasn't opened the last two sets of instructions. Today she pieced a couple more of the rows:

Vireya showed us this cover she made for her Kobo ereader since our last meeting:

Today she made more of those pentagon shapes.

Our next meeting will be on 27th September. Hope you can join us then!

Quilters' Circle - 30th August, 2010

2010-08-30T20:52:00.000+10:00

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

2010-08-23T19:08:00.000+10:00

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

2010-08-09T18:57:00.005+10:00

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!

Quilters' Circle - 26th July, 2010

2010-07-26T18:35:00.004+10:00

Look how busy we all were this afternoon:

Lots of appliqué was happening. Joy worked on her blue Baltimore Album, but brought along this tiny (about 10cm across) mariner's compass to show us:

This is for a miniature quilt which will feature four of these compasses, surrounded by a saw-tooth border. All done by hand, of course!

Glennys did some stitching on a "work in progress" which she has restarted.

As you can see, this block is part of a quilt designed by Therese Hylton called My Blue Heaven. The basket and flowers are fused to the background, and today Glennys began blanket-stitching around them.

Carol was also appliquéing, working on a design by Robyn Falloon. Marie was appliquéing birds. Vireya worked on her pentagon-flower appliqués, and today she brought along all her completed blocks and laid them out for us to see:

She has done about a third of what she needs for the complete wall-hanging.

Ching Ching showed us her first quilt, which tells the story of how she and her husband Richard met:

This large quilt (it's about 2 metres tall) tells the story of a fateful journey on the No 86 tram 7 years ago. Ching Ching used many types of fabrics, and various embellishment techniques — including felting, appliqué, and dye-discharge — in this very personal work of art.

Now Richard, who is a painter, is inspired to make quilts, too. He showed us the design for his first quilt:

Wow! Today he was preparing some of those shapes. He and Ching Ching brought along their own irons and were ironing-on vliesofix to the shapes. Isn't this the cutest iron ever?

As well as all that sewing, we looked through lots of books and magazines, and looked at the progress on the the raffle quilt. It was passed on to the next person who will do some more of the quilting on it. What a busy afternoon!

Our next meeting will be 9th August. Hope to see you then!

Basting Bee

2010-07-18T15:34:00.011+10:00

A bunch of enthusiastic folk assembled at the neighbourhood house this morning to get the raffle quilt ready for quilting. Here were the tasks ahead of us:

Adding the borders involved a bit of measuring,

a bit of stitching,

and some pressing.

The back was steamed

then stretched and taped to the table.

Next the wadding was laid down and smoothed out (note: action shot):

Then the top was put into position (see goodies in the background, which were consumed throughout the morning):

and smoothed by many hands.

The first pin was ceremoniously inserted:

And a short while later there were pins everywhere!

Then came a big decision: which fabric to use for the binding?

Binding No. 1?

Binding No. 2?

Or Binding No. 3?

Which would you have chosen? Stay tuned to see if we agreed.

The label was prepared

while the binding was cut, stitched and pressed.

Yes, we chose fabric number one.

It's time to check our progress:

Looks like we got everything done. Hooray!

Thanks to everyone who could participate today. Your input was invaluable. If anyone would like to be involved in doing the actual quilting, please let us know.

And of course, you can always contribute by buying raffle tickets. When the tickets are available, we'll post the details here for you.

Quilters' Circle - 12th July, 2010

2010-07-12T18:11:00.003+10:00

It's the second Monday in July, so the Quilters' Circle met at the neighbourhood house. We were lucky because today is Joanne's birthday. Leigh had baked her a cake, and they kindly delayed eating it until the quilters and knitters were there to help.

Joanne received some lovely gifts, including this scarf (sorry the photo is out of focus) made of many tiny yo-yos stitched together. Guess how many? Joy counted, and there are 500.

Happy birthday, Joanne! Thanks for sharing your cake with us.

Everyone's been very busy since our last meeting. Here's what they've been doing.

Vireya has finished the top of her Red Delicious quilt:

Joy has been adding lots of 3-dimensional elements to her blue Baltimore Album quilt:

Marie has made lots of squares in 1930s fabrics:

Marilyn did some shopping while she was travelling:

It was great to catch up with everyone again.

Today Glennys came along for the first time. She sewed down the binding on this quick quilt she has made for her granddaughter. Look at the cute fabrics she has used:

Welcome, Glennys!

Heather came to show us this angel quilt her mother won in a raffle to support Banksia Palliative Care.

We all admired the work that had gone into it.

In between all that we talked, sewed (a little), and browsed some books and magazines. It was a lovely afternoon.

Some of us will be back at Sussex on Sunday 18th July to baste the house raffle quilt seen in our previous post. If you can join us from 10:00am, you would be very welcome!

Piecing Bee

2010-06-30T19:58:00.006+10:00

As mentioned here, this afternoon a few people got together to piece the friendship star blocks together for the raffle quilt while enjoying cherry cake, chocolate biscuits, and lots of conversation.

First we laid out all the blocks, and worked out what extra bits were needed.

Then there was a bit of cutting and trimming, followed by some stitching and some more trimming.

Then all the pieces were spread out so we could check the layout, and move around blocks and bits to ensure a nice spread of the different intensities and shades of colour.

After a bit of swapping around, rows were sewn together, then joined to each other.

As each seam was completed, it was pressed into shape.

And finally, the quilt top was all together in one big piece!

Well done everyone who was able to be there today.

The borders will be added before the basting bee, which will be on 18th July. You are welcome to come and be part of the fun!

Quilters' Circle - 28th June, 2010

2010-06-28T20:00:00.000+10:00

A few people were away, there were no photos taken, so nothing to blog. Sorry, but we will just have to take more photos at our next meeting, which will be on 12th July.

Thank You! and Invitation

2010-06-25T09:30:00.004+10:00

It's been so exciting to see the Friendship Star blocks for the Sussex Raffle quilt come in. Each one is different and lovingly made. I now have box full, and it's time to go on to the next stage. You're invited to an impromptu quilting bee at Sussex Neighbourhood House next Wednesday afternoon. The North Studio will be available from 3.30pm. The task is to make the joining strips which will convert this set of blue Friendship Stars into a set of blue and yellow interlocking stars. It's all very casual, so please come any time after 3.30pm, bring a snack or some dinner to heat up in the microwave--oh, and your sewing machine and some appropriate threads. I will have rotary cutters, rulers and mats available.

We've set aside Sunday 18 July to do the basting, so that's the next date for your diary.

Quilters' Circle - 14th June, 2010

2010-06-14T18:45:00.006+10:00

Because the Neighbourhood House was closed for the Queen's Birthday public holiday, Joy invited us to meet at her home. We enjoyed a lovely afternoon tea, served on a cloth Joy's grandmother made her for her 21st birthday.

Joy also provided us with a pile of patchwork magazines to look through, so between the magazines and the refreshments, not a lot of sewing was done.

A couple more of us have made our blocks for the raffle quilt.

Marie bought along this tiny cushion to show us. It goes with the doll quilt we saw at her place on ANZAC day.

Marie's new project involves appliquéd birds, leaves and flowers formed of simple shapes. This shot shows how it will go together:

During our time together Marie began to appliqué one of the birds. The design is called Holiday Morning, by Kathy Doughty, from the book Material Obsession, by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke.

Marilyn brought along her finished cushion, complete with a very professional-looking zip in the back of the cover.

It looks lovely, and should be greatly appreciated by the person who is about to receive it as a house-warming gift.

Vireya has finished the last block of her Red Delicious quilt.

She is hoping to have the top assembled by our next meeting.

Our next meeting will be at 1:00pm on 28th June, at the Neighbourhood House. See you then!

Quilters' Circle - 31st May, 2010

2010-05-31T16:47:00.004+10:00

Today was our bonus 5th-Monday meeting. We had a very quiet time in the house, as it seemed we were the only ones there.

Since our last meeting, Marie has made herself this lovely blue bag:

Joy brought along the Japanese quilt she is making. We have seen some of these blocks before, but this was the first time we have had the chance to see the whole thing.

This lovely quilt includes various dimensional elements that the photo doesn't show clearly. The design is Joy's adaptation of a pattern called "Japanese Collection" by Leesa Chandler, but Joy has replaced most of the original blocks with her own selections, inspired by a couple of books she owns of Japanese designs.

You may notice that a couple of corners of Joy's quilt are still to be done. In between doing our own sewing today, we enjoyed browsing through Joy's inspirational books, and making suggestions for how she could fill those last corners. Marie also brought along the latest edition of Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine for us to flip through.

You may remember that raffle quilt block kits were distributed last week. Some of them have already been made and returned:

Our next meeting would be on 14th June, but the house will be closed for the Queen's Birthday holiday. So our next meeting at the house will be 28th June. Join us if you can.

Quilters' Circle - 24th May, 2010

2010-05-24T16:28:00.008+10:00

Today this sight greeted me as I arrived at the Quilters' Circle meeting:

The wonderful women of this group surprised me with these gifts and goodies because it is my birthday later this week. I was overwhelmed!

Here's what was hiding in those packages:

So many lovely things! Thank you everyone, for your friendship and thoughtfulness.

After all that excitement, we had something else new to look at. The Neighbourhood House is planning a raffle quilt featuring interlocking friendship stars, and we received our kits with the instructions:

Included is a piece of hand-dyed fabric which will feature in each block, and some paint-chips to guide our colour selections for the pieces we will supply ourselves. The plan is for the quilt to have a "coordinated-scrappy" look. We have about a month to make our blocks, after which the quilt will be assembled. It will be fascinating to see how it all comes together! Raffle tickets will be for sale in August, so stay tuned for details.

In between enjoying the afternoon-tea goodies, we all did some work on our own projects. Marie did some quilting, and here she is in action marking the quilting line:

That's actually a pencil, not a biro as it appears.

Joy worked on the next block in her Japanese quilt:
It will be a Japanese Crest featuring pine trees when complete.

Marilyn was cutting pieces for her next project, and brought along this lovely hexagon miniature quilt to show us:
This quilt was made by her sister. It is all done by hand, and features tiny fussy-cut hexagons in a Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern. It was interesting to see how she handled the edges - they are faced with a hexagon facing. Here's a close-up:

What a clever idea!

Vireya is still appliquéing cherries on the last of her Red Delicious blocks. Nearly done:

We are lucky that this month has 5 Mondays, so it is only one week until our next meeting. Hope to see you then.

Quilters' Circle - 10th May, 2010

2010-05-10T17:32:00.007+10:00

Happy blog birthday to us! It is now a year since we started putting our meeting reports on this blog.

Today we had a special guest come to visit us. Betty brought along this quilt belonging to her daughter Kerryn, which was made by Kerryn and her friend Shelly:

The two friends were both diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago. They have supported each other through their treatment, and working together on two quilts (one for each of them) was part of that support. They have used a lot of Pink Ribbon (breast cancer awareness) fabrics in this very special quilt. Betty was one of the 14,000 who took part in the Field of Women event for the Breast Cancer Network at the MCG on Friday night.

Joy brought along these ducks to show us:

They are for her Japanese quilt. Previous blocks we have seen include the cranes and butterflies.

Today Joy worked on this bow for her blue Baltimore Album quilt:

Vireya brought along some practice free-motion quilting she has been doing:

This view shows the backs of the blocks, as you can see the quilting better that way. Vireya has a few quilt-tops ready to be quilted, but wants to improve her quilting skill before she tackles them; hence these practice blocks. To help with further improvement, she borrowed Joy's book and DVD Mastering the Art of McTavishing by Karen McTavish.

Today Vireya was appliquéing cherries and leaves:

Marie cut out pieces for the border of her green triangle quilt:

The template she is tracing around is clear plastic, so didn't show up well in this photo.

Marilyn couldn't be here today - we hope to see her next time, because we are wondering what her next project will be after she completed her last quilt.

Our next meeting is in a fortnight, on 24th May at 1:00pm. Happy sewing until then!

Quilters' Circle - 26th April, 2010

2010-04-26T16:43:00.007+10:00

Today is the public holiday for ANZAC Day (although the actual day was yesterday), so the members of the Quilters' Circle met at Marie's home.

Joy brought along this doll's quilt which she made in 1990:

It has faded a little over time, because it lives in her sun-room. It is placed on an antique cot which once belonged to the tennis champion Sir Norman Brookes, and in which Joy slept as a baby.

When Joy picked up the doll's quilt to bring it along, she discovered lying underneath it this quilt top depicting irises which she made in the early 1990s. Joy described it in rather disparaging terms, using words like "ugly" and "horrendous", but we didn't agree. What do you think?

I think it has a certain naive charm. The quilt was made in a class at a patchwork shop. We all remarked on the change in fabric availability in the last 20 years; notice how nearly all these fabrics are solid colours. Originally there were various embellishments on the top, such as an embroidered spider-web and sparkly beetles, but Joy removed them.

Since our last meeting Marie made a doll's quilt, and here it is in action:

Notice that the doll even has his own tiny teddy!

Vireya made cherries today for the last block of her Red Delicious quilt. Here are some at each stage of the production process (except being sewn on to the quilt):

The talented designer of Red Delicious, Esther Aliu, has just launched a new free Block-of-the-Month project, called "In the Pink". You can see it and get the details on her blog here. Vireya isn't planning to do this one, though, because she has quite a few unfinished projects she wants to complete. But it is lovely, and very tempting...

Marilyn today finished binding her quilt. Hooray! She also brought along her completed triangle block from the "Working with Triangles" class:

Congratulations on getting all those flying geese done! The finished block is lovely - the light-green colour doesn't show up well in this photograph, but in real life the colours are beautiful.

Thanks Marie for opening your home to us. We all had a lovely afternoon.

The next Quilters' Circle meeting at the Neighbourhood House will be on the 10th May, at 1pm.

Australasian Quilt Convention

2010-04-21T16:44:00.003+10:00

The Australasian Quilt Convention is on next weekend. You can follow the link for details. There should be lots of great quilts to admire, and lots of shopping too. Is anyone planning to go? What about coordinating a visit?

Quilters' Circle - 12th April, 2010

2010-04-12T16:53:00.008+10:00

Today is the second Monday in April, so the Quilters' Circle met at the Neighbourhood House again.

First we had to get past the foot-path works which had some of the road blocked:

Marie brought along her latest bag to show us:

That shark is scary! While we were admiring the bag, Marie was hand-quilting her cushion covers.

Joy had some show-and-tell too:

These rolls of fabric strips were in a package she found on her doorstep one day. The package had come from Express Publications, who publish a couple of patchwork and quilting magazines, but Joy doesn't know why they sent her these. I'm sure she will find a use for them, though.

Here's what Joy worked on today:

We have seen part of this panel before. In this section the small pieces have been fused to the background using Vliesofix, ready for Joy to stitch them down.

Vireya worked on this bow, which is part of the final Red Delicious block.

When the bow is complete she has 34 (or was it 35?) cherries to appliqué. That should keep her going for a while.

If you read quilting blogs, there was an article in the Guardian over the weekend which you might enjoy. The article was written to complement Quilts 1700-2010, an exhibition currently at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. We all wish we could go and see that! However, some of us did get to visit the Essendon Quilters exhibition over the weekend, which was inspirational enough and gave us lots to talk about today.

The fourth Monday of April is a public holiday (ANZAC Day), so our next meeting at the house will be on the 10th May. Hope to see you then!

Quilters' Circle - 29th March, 2010

2010-03-30T10:04:00.003+11:00

It was the fifth Monday in March, so the Quilters' Circle met again at Sussex NH.

Joy added some cute three-dimensional flowers to the block she was working on last time:

She also brought along some old patchwork books for us to look at. I should have photographed them. We enjoyed looking at how fashions (and techniques) have changed in the world of quilting since the 1980s.

Marie is making another bag, and brought along these four half-finished blocks for us to see:

The blocks are made of strips of fabrics stitched to a light-weight foundation. The light-green strips aren't attached yet, but you can see the way she is using the colours to create a cheerful rainbow.

And speaking of cheerful rainbows, here is a cushion Marie has just made for a friend:

It is a very huggable cushion and is sure to be loved by its recipient.

Vireya sewed together a few more pentagon flowers. Here's the back of one:

In between our sewing, we chatted with the knitters, enjoyed chocolates Marie had brought along, and helped out Leigh by eating some left-over chocolate cake (with sauce and cream).

Our next meeting will be on 12th April. See you then!

Quilters' Circle - 22nd March, 2010

2010-03-22T16:14:00.007+11:00

All the Quilters' Circle regulars met today at the neighbourhood house, for the first time since before Christmas. It was great to see Joy back with us again.

Joy did some stitching on the next part of the centre of her Baltimore Album quilt. We saw the centre block at her home back in January, but now there's an appliquéd bias strip surrounding the whole block, and birds are appearing in the corners:

Marie did some quilting on the four cushion covers she was cutting out pieces for at our last meeting. Since then she has assembled the blocks, joined them together and basted them. Here they are:

Aren't they lovely?

Marilyn brought along this cute apron which her sister is making:

Thanks to the volunteer who braved the pins to model it for us! The apron starts as two fat quarters of fabric squared off (so cut to a 50cm square) which are sewn together. The backing fabric shows where it folds over at the top, and matching fabric is used for the straps and the large triangular pocket at the bottom. It's a quick and cute gift idea.

Joanne came to show us her latest project, a quilt for her spare bed made with a collection of hand-printed Tiwi fabrics.

The black surrounds make the vivid hand-printed fabrics glow. Here's a close-up view of one of those squares:

The next step will be a border pieced from more of those stunning fabrics.

Vireya worked on some more of her Red Delicious appliqué,

almost completing that central toadstool by the end of our time together.

Our next meeting is only one week away on the 29th March, as this month has 5 Mondays. See you then!

Quilters' Circle - 8th March, 2010

2010-03-09T11:21:00.008+11:00

It was the Labour Day public holiday in Melbourne, so of course the house was shut. However, Marie came to our rescue, and generously offered her home for our first March meeting.

Marie showed us this bag she has made since our last meeting:

It is for one of her grandsons, and features a great range of prints specially chosen to appeal to him. Notice that skeleton in the top picture? He glows in the dark!

During the meeting, Marie cut out quite a few rectangles for some cushion covers she has planned. Here's an action shot:

Marilyn brought along a lovely cushion cover she is preparing to quilt, made from a pattern she purchased a while ago. She got the batting ready, and we talked about her options for quilting it. Here it is:

Her mother did the central stitchery, then Marilyn pieced the top; the end result will be a nice family co-production.

Textile Tragic has missed our meetings for the last couple of years, but the public holiday freed her for the afternoon. It was great to have her with us again. She sewed down the binding on a cuddly pink quilt.

That's the back you can see in the photo. The front is of various tactile fabrics such as corduroy and flannel. Very snuggly!

Vireya did a little appliqué on her latest Red Delicious block, and took the opportunity to spread out all the completed blocks. It helped to see how much has been achieved, and how relatively little remains to be done. It was also good to see how the blocks are working together.

The upper left one is in progress, and in fact after the meeting the background of it was completed. The block might even be completed by our next meeting. As you can see there's only one more block after that; the central area will eventually contain a big basket of cherries.

We all missed Joy (belated happy birthday for Sunday, Joy!) and hope she can make it to our next meeting, which will be back at the house on 22nd March.

Quilters' Circle - 22nd February, 2010

2010-02-22T19:15:00.007+11:00

Today was our second meeting at the house for February.

We all missed Joy, who couldn't be with us. We hope you'll be back with us next time, Joy!

Remember last time I only showed pictures of one of the bags Marie had made? Here's the two sides of the other one, which she made for a lucky coffee-drinker:

Since our last meeting, Marie has been busy. Here's her latest creation, which we all oo-ed and ah-ed over today:

Everyone wanted to take those cute dogs home!

During the meeting Marie removed all the tacking from the hand-quilted cushion cover she worked on last time, then trimmed off the excess batting and backing:

Marilyn continued sewing down the binding on her quilt. She is also pondering what her next bring-along project might be.

Vireya appliquéd this chilli for the next of her Red Delicious blocks:

It was finished apart from the stem by the end of the meeting.

Our next meeting will be on 8th March, from 1:00 - 3:30. Come and join us if you can, or come back here then to read all about it.

Quilters' Circle - 8th February, 2010

2010-02-09T07:40:00.008+11:00

It was our first meeting at the House for the year. Unfortunately Joy and Marilyn couldn't be with us. We hope they'll both be fighting fit soon, and be back with us next time.

We were feeling a bit apprehensive about today's meeting, as we now share the room with another group, and we weren't sure how that would all work.

Leigh brought along this colourful floor-quilt she is making for her grand-daughter:

For quieter times, the back of the quilt is more restful tones. We looked at some photos of her grand-daughter enjoying the bug quilt. Leigh will soon write a post about that herself. She also showed us this coaster she was given:

It is a simple but effective design. If you would like to make some of these yourself, there are instructions available here, and there's also a round version here.

Vireya brought along this top she finished recently:

The pattern is a design called "Leapfrog" by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville, although because Vireya prefers the metric system she re-engineered the blocks to her own measurements. The next step is to make a backing, then baste the layers. During our meeting, she made some more pentagon shapes.

Marie has completed the top of the miniature version of her dog quilt that she was working on in January:

It is so cute! Marie has managed to find prints of a small enough scale that they can feature even in those tiny squares in the corners of the blocks.

Marie did some hand quilting during the meeting, and she also brought along some bags she made recently. Here's the two sides of one of them:

I'll post photos of another one in a future report, when I've worked out how to get those photos where I want them.

Our next meeting will be at the house on 22nd February, at 1:00pm. Happy sewing in the meantime!

Quilters' Circle - Meeting times for 2010

2010-01-28T17:19:00.002+11:00

Hello to all our loyal readers. The meeting days for the Quilters' Circle have changed this year. Now we will be meeting on the 2nd, 4th and 5th Mondays. The time is unchanged; 1:00pm to 3:30pm.

Thus our first meeting at the House will be on 8th February. Hope to see you then!

Quilters' Circle - 18th January, 2010

2010-01-18T18:36:00.008+11:00

Today we had a small gathering at Marie's home. We hope those who couldn't make it will be back with us soon.

Marie has nearly finished this quilt for a special young girl:

The fabrics feature horses and the occasional cowgirl; no cowboys! The quilting design carries through the theme, with the outline of a horseshoe quilted in each block. The blocks are put together in the hidden 9-patch (or disappearing 9-patch) pattern. Marie has even made a matching pillow-case from some of the left-over blocks. It is sure to be loved by the recipient.

Meet Mr. Lion:

Mr. Lion was made for Marie by a friend in 1966. He's in amazingly good shape for his age!

Vireya brought along her most-recently completed Red Delicious block:

Today she made some pentagons with the help of some "handy" clips:

Marie is piecing by hand a quilt for her grandson's teddy-bear. It is a miniature version of the dog quilt she made for him (seen here in last September). Here's the first complete block:

And here's some of the strips Marie has prepared for the blocks:

I don't know why these two pictures are on their sides. There will be twelve blocks in the completed quilt. To give you an idea of the scale, the completed size of the small corner squares will be half an inch. Very cute!

We are not sure when the next Quilters' Circle meeting will be, as late last year we were informed that the meetings at the neighbourhood house might be changing to a different set of Mondays. We are waiting for the house to re-open to confirm just when we will meet. We'll be back again on either the 1st, or the 8th of February. See you then.

Quilters' Circle - 4th January, 2010

2010-01-04T20:39:00.009+11:00

The neighbourhood house is closed for holidays at the moment, so an extraordinary meeting of the Quilters' Circle was held today at Joy's home.

Joy served a very elegant afternoon tea, which we enjoyed while looking out over her lovely back garden.

Those pretty cups were among Joy's 21st-birthday presents, and are still making the tea taste better a few years later!

Joy showed us a few of her projects which haven't been to the neighbourhood house. One of them is the centre block for her blue Baltimore Album quilt:

We've seen a few of the smaller blocks before, for example here and here. Won't it be fantastic when all complete?

Some years back, Joy's boys asked her to make a quilt they saw a picture of. Sadly, once it was complete, Joy and the boys were disappointed with the look of it. The boys had the idea to divide up the quilt and turn it into a set of placemats. They did the cutting and unpicking, and Joy added the binding. Thus was a disappointment turned into something well-loved:

Each placemat is for a particular person; the cute pigs (on the left) were for their father, and the cats in the foreground were for their mother.

Marie was quilting the cushion top she was working on late last year. Here's another quilt she completed in 2009, using a pattern known as Hidden, or Disappearing 9-Patch:

It's a very effective design which is quick to make, and is a good way to use novelty fabrics like these.

Vireya stitched down some pentagons which are part of her latest portable project:

This is inspired by a quilt in a recent issue of Down Under Quilts.

In between sewing, afternoon-tea-ing, watching birds visit flowers and the birdbath, and chatting, we looked at some books and magazines:

It was a wonderful afternoon. Thank you Joy, for your hospitality!

We will probably get together once more before the house re-opens for 2010. Come back in a couple of weeks to see what we get up to.

Quilters' Circle - 7th December, 2009

2009-12-07T17:43:00.014+11:00

Today was our last meeting at the neighbourhood house for the year. There are lots of pictures to show you!

Joy got into the mood by wearing her Christmas apron:

Joy once won a "best dressed" competition wearing this apron, and she was definitely best dressed today. Unfortunately the flash has not picked up Santa's face - he isn't really faceless. Joy brought along this Scottish-themed cloth to brighten our table:

All the embroidery, and the crocheted trim, were done by Joy. She is multi-talented! As you can see, we had a range of yummy goodies for afternoon tea.

For show-and-tell, Marilyn brought the first quilt she made. She started it about 6 or 7 years ago, after being inspired by our own Textile Tragic, who was a fellow student in a sewing class at the neighbourhood house.

The colours in the quilt all come from the Japanese floral print in the four-patches. This is a great way to create a colour scheme - choose a print you love, then look at the colour dots printed in the selvedge. Choose other fabrics that match those dots, and you are guaranteed that they will all work together.

The top languished for a few years, because Marilyn found it difficult to quilt such a large project. Her sister in Bendigo came to the rescue, and machine-quilted it for her, in time for Marilyn to give the quilt to her mother for her 80th birthday. Since then Marilyn has used the quilt-as-you-go method, which she finds much easier as it doesn't involve manoeuvring the whole quilt through the machine.

Vireya brought her Christmas-wreath wall-hanging:

It is made using an uneven log-cabin block. The pattern was originally from a Burda Moden magazine in the 1990s some time. Vireya saw a photograph of this wall-hanging on the internet, and worked out the design from the photo. Only after completing the quilt did she discover that she actually had the magazine with the pattern in it.

Joy showed us a Christmas angel she has appliquéd:

It looks like the flash has bleached out the angel's face as well, which is a shame because he/she has a very delicate face.

Here's Joy's cute little pumpkin bag:

And here is the amazing "New York Beauty" quilt top Joy has made from all the clothes her daughter left at home:

Sorry about the strange angle, but it is too large to get a good shot of the whole thing. Here it is being held by three people and a table. Notice the amazing range of fabrics, including fine Indian cottons, lamés, velvets, and satins. Ricrac and other braids are applied as embellishments. All the fabric came from Joy's daughter's clothing, except for one which was from the dress Joy wore to her daughter's engagement party, so there are lots of memories stitched into this quilt.

We didn't get much sewing done today - but we did do some textile craft. Marilyn brought along this origami star ornament she made at another patchwork group:

The pattern is from here , but instead of using paper, two layers of fabric are fused together. Marie had prepared enough fabric triangles for us and the office staff to all have a go. Here's an example that isn't quite sitting properly, but will look better once it has been pressed:

Thanks, Marie! We all had fun with that activity. Once you have done it once, it is much easier, so I think I'll be making a few more.

Here's a gift that the teacher of that other patchwork class made for each of the students. It is a cute little holder for needles and a spool of thread.

Closed:

Open:
Isn't that great?

A few cards and gifts were exchanged today:

We had a wonderful afternoon, celebrating a great year of the Quilters' Circle. Although the house will be closed for about five weeks over the Christmas/New Year period, it is likely we will get together in homes during that time, so stay tuned because this may not be the last blog post until February.

To all our regular readers, we wish you a very happy Christmas and a fantastic 2010!

Quilters' Circle - 30th November, 2009

2009-11-30T17:39:00.007+11:00

It's the last day of spring, and a bonus fifth Monday for the Quilters' Circle.

We missed Joy who had to stay home waiting for a plumber who was due last Friday. Hope he didn't keep her waiting any longer!

Marilyn and Marie stitched down binding today. Marie almost finished the binding on her lovely 1930's hexagons:

The unusual arrangement gives a fresh look to the hexagons, and reminds me of molecule diagrams in chemistry. The quilt has been pieced and quilted by hand, and finished with a pieced binding. It's a cheerful quilt that makes me smile.

Here's another quilt using 1930's fabric Marie made recently:

Isn't that the most delightful baby quilt? Notice the "old-fashioned" toys in the centres of the blocks and at the corners of the outer border. I love the teal green sashing.

Vireya did some more appliqué on a Red Delicious block, and hopes to have something worth showing at our next meeting (which is only a week away).

Leigh came to visit and ask for some advice about the borders for her "bugs in bottles" quilt. The quilt is for her grand-daughter, who arrived a couple of weeks ago. Here it is so far:

Should she use the multi-coloured spots, or the green? After playing round with the fabrics, we thought the red might make the best border. What do you think? There are some very cute bugs in those bottles! Particular thanks go to Pennie in Sydney, who read Leigh's plea for bugs on this blog, and sent her some. The internet is an amazing place.

Marie brought along this work-in-progress, which will be a cushion cover. It uses the same basic rectangle block used in the wedding quilt she made in September, but arranged differently:

Marie is not looking forward to putting in the zip, so we made a few suggestions for alternative fastenings. But whichever fastening is used, it will be a lovely cushion. The deep red and beige are a beautiful combination.

As I mentioned above, it is only one week until our next meeting on the 7th December. As this will be our last meeting for the year, we are planning to bring along a few quilt-friendly nibblies (ie nothing that will spill or stain) to celebrate a year of quilting and friendship. See you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 16th November, 2009

2009-11-16T20:38:00.008+11:00

Today is the 3rd Monday in November, so the Quilters' Circle met again at 1:00pm.

Vireya and Marie had the excitement of unwrapping some fabric they had ordered from overseas, which arrived today:

It felt like a birthday, or possibly Christmas.

Joy brought along this fellow to add to the atmosphere:

This cute Santa and his reindeer were made for Joy by her granddaughter a few years ago. Each Christmas they sit on the back of Joy's couch, keeping an eye on proceedings.

Joy and Vireya worked on their respective appliqué projects today. Marilyn has completed the bag she showed us last time, and today was cutting squares for another one:

That's her completed bag on the left. It looks great! As Marilyn was cutting, I noticed how she transported her rotary cutter:

This handy gadget roll was a gift from the teacher of a patchwork class. It rolls up and ties with the braid you can see on the left. What a lovely idea for a gift which would be fairly simple to make for anyone with some patchwork and quilting skills!

Marie was stitching down the binding on her 1930s quilt:

Now we can see the lovely border, which has been half hidden while Marie was working on the quilting. The little hexagon flowers complement the main part of the quilt beautifully. This sweet quilt is destined to live on Marie's spare bed.

As we seem to have a bit of a gift theme today, here's a photo of a quilt Marie recently made as a gift for someone special:

Marie called it "Hidden Dragons", as it is a variation on a Hidden Star block, made using dragon fabrics. There are also some extra stamped dragons hiding on the quilt.

That brings us to the end of another Quilters' Circle meeting. Join us again on 30th November for our bonus 5th Monday meeting, which is our second-last meeting for the year.

Quilters' Circle - 2nd November, 2009

2009-11-03T06:45:00.002+11:00

The Neighbourhood House was closed, but that didn't stop the members of the Quilters' Circle. We had our first November meeting at Marie's place instead. Magazines were read, conversations flowed, and even some stitching was done.

Joy is feeling much better, which we were glad to hear, but she couldn't join us because of a tradesman. I hope he showed up when he said he would.

Marilyn showed us her bag-in-progress, which she is making from the pattern Marie gave us in August:

Isn't it cute? The lining is ready to go in, so it is close to being finished. Really must get on with making one of these.

Notice Marie's lovely table - it's a bit nicer than the plastic ones we normally sit at! We enjoyed a range of beverage options and some goodies for afternoon tea.

Marie showed us her round-robin quilt. She made the centre, which was then handed on to other members of her group. Here's the centre:

And here's the final result after each group member had added a section:

The camera doesn't handle purples well - it seems to move blue-purples further towards blue. Imagine this picture warmed up a bit to get a truer idea of the colours. The final quilt is lovely, but the process is interesting, as you have no idea how others will add to your original block. Of course, at the same time, you have the responsibility of working on everyone else's quilts as well.

Vireya did a little relaxing stitching on the rose stems she cut out last time, but forgot to take a photo of her own work.

Thank you, Marie, for inviting us into your home for our meeting. We had a lovely time.

Next time we will be back at Sussex on 16th November. Hope you can join us!

Quilters' Circle - 19th October, 2009

2009-10-19T17:56:00.004+11:00

Today is the third Monday of October, so the Quilters' Circle met again.

We were sorry that Joy could not be with us today. Hope you are feeling better soon, Joy, and that we will see you at our next meeting.

Marilyn is on the last step of her quilt:

She is hand-sewing down the binding on the back. She is not really enjoying doing it, but it is looking great. It must now be time to start planning the next quilt.

To help with ideas, here are the books, magazines and catalogues members brought along for us to browse today:

Having these publications to browse is particularly useful when you aren't really in the mood to sew. For example -

Vireya traced off these patterns for rose stems, which are for the next block of her Red Delicious quilt. Then she pinned them to her fabric. Then she read books, magazines and catalogues. And contributed to conversations about colour, craft expos, quilt shows, movies, books, and many others. But she didn't do any sewing.

Marie quilted her 1930s hexagon quilt, and brought along this beauty to show us:

Isn't it lovely? This is quite a large quilt, which normally lives on Marie's bed. It is all hand-pieced and hand-quilted, and made by a quilt-as-you-go method. Members of the book group, and some of the office staff, came in to admire it.

Our next meeting should be on the 2nd November, but the House will be closed that day. So our next meeting at Sussex will be on 16th November, four weeks from now.

Quilters' Circle - 5th October, 2009

2009-10-05T16:40:00.003+11:00

It is the first Monday in October, so the Quilters' Circle met again. Amongst conversation (much of it about courting customs), reading of magazines, and drinking of tea, we did some sewing.

Marie was quilting her 1930s hexagon quilt, and brought along this Christmas wall-hanging to show us. It started out as a bag and grew. The design is the friendship star block Vireya used in her couch quilt.

We love scrappy quilts!

Marilyn brought along her sewing machine, and pieced the binding for her quilt. I thought this photo might be out of focus, and I was right.

We all discussed how Marilyn should prepare her quilt to attach the binding. Some of us trim first then sew, others sew then trim.

Joanne showed us her completed piece from the "Working with Triangles" course.

Joanne definitely is now hooked on quilting, as she suggested she might be back in May. We know this because she also showed us the next two projects she has started - some placemats, and a bed quilt using beautiful fabrics hand-printed by women in the Tiwi Islands.

Joy worked on her appliqué, and showed us this table runner which she has entirely hand pieced and hand quilted.

It was made during weekly quilt-guild meetings she was attending, so it took a while to complete because she only worked on it at those meetings.

Vireya did some embroidery embellishment on her latest Red Delicious block. She doesn't stab herself with the embroidery needle anywhere near as frequently as she does with the appliqué needle.

We also had a visit from someone who wants to start coming along to quilters' circle, so we hope to see her again soon. Our next meeting is in two weeks, on the 19th October.

Quilters' Circle - 21st September, 2009

2009-09-21T17:26:00.005+10:00

Today the Quilters' Circle met again at Sussex Neighbourhood House - but first a little cleaning-up was required!

Once those two cleaning angels had finished, we settled down to some serious quilting. Or did we? Well there were a lot of books and magazines to look at, and we had lots of visitors, and we talked a lot.

Joy brought along this green-backed section of a mystery quilt from 2001. The background was chosen after a challenge by her son that she should do something other than her normal cream background. (Or was it her brother who laid down the challenge? I should have taken notes...)

Since using that green background, Joy has also worked with black. Today she did some more appliqué on the heart panel (photo last time), and here are the other panels which go with it:

The appliqué is done with a tiny blanket stitch. Don't those colours look beautiful against the black?

Marilyn did some work on the borders of her quilt:

The cinnamon colour echoes the colour of the floral fabric in the corners and centres of the churn-dash blocks. The end is in sight - soon the binding will go on.

Now we can reveal a quilt Marie finished recently as a gift for her son's wedding. She actually brought it along to the last meeting, but that was prior to the wedding. The quilt is a beautiful scrap quilt, with a colour scheme chosen to represent the football-team loyalties of the couple. This is Victoria, after all, and it is footy-finals time!

Who could have imagined that football team colours could look so gorgeous? Below is a detail shot, where you can see the structure of the block. Marie chose fabrics to represent the couple's interests, and they should have hours of entertainment finding all the special fabrics she included.

The block design was inspired by the book "Successful Scrap Quilts from Simple Rectangles" by Judy Turner and Margaret Rolfe. The book shows some of the amazing potential of a very simple shape - a rectangle twice as long as it is wide. This is why we love patchwork and quilting!

Today Marie was sewing the binding on this quilt featuring dog fabrics, which is for her grandson.

We saw some of these blocks when Marie was trimming them back in August. The finished quilt is delightful, and we all spent some time picking out the cutest dogs. Her grandson will love it.

Vireya did some appliqué for the next Red Delicious block. She also brought along this small quilt which is ready to baste, but that didn't happen today. Maybe next time.

The pattern is "Whirlin' Dervish" designed by Margaret J. Miller. It was the first time Vireya had used "long triangles", which are a little trickier to piece than half-square triangles or equilateral triangles. The quilt is destined to be a wall-hanging when finished.

Leigh came to visit us for a while and discussed triangle sizes for the corners of the bottles in her bug quilt. She seemed to have it worked out by the time she had to get back to work, so we are looking forward to seeing some bugs happening. A couple of other people came by to visit and admire the works in progress. and to look at the room.

That brings us to the end of another Quilters' Circle meeting. After which a couple of people went to check out the "moving sale" happening at our local quilt shop this week, but that would be another story...

Quilters' Circle - 7th September, 2009

2009-09-07T17:08:00.003+10:00

Today was the first September meeting of the Quilters' Circle. Happy Spring, everyone!

Marilyn has been doing the "Working with Triangles" class. Here's her work so far, beside the instructions:

The colours she has chosen work really well, don't they? She is contemplating making the block several times to turn into a lap quilt, which would be lovely, but there are a lot of flying geese to make yet to finish the first block.

Marie brought along this tessellated whirly-gig quilt top to show us:

Here's a close-up:

I'm assuming that the pattern is made of pieced squares, so it must take a lot of planning to have each of those whirly-gigs end up with four arms all of the same colour. I should have asked about that.

Joy worked on this appliqué project:

The full quilt consists of four long panels, each with a different design. The sashing and borders also include appliqué. It is a beautiful quilt, and the colours glow against the black background.

Vireya did more of the swirls from the Red Delicious quilt. Here you can possibly see the yellow line representing the edge of the shape to be appliquéd. This is the final panel of swirls getting under way, and by the end of our time together this swirl was finished.

Between now and our next meeting, just about everyone will have attended a wedding or an engagement party. I think that proves it is Spring. See you all in two weeks!

Quilters' Circle - 31st August, 2009

2009-09-01T08:43:00.004+10:00

It was the last day of winter, and the quilters met again at Sussex Neighbourhood House. In between discussions about noisy neighbours, the roadworks and detours due to sewerage works in the area, and the likelihood or otherwise of an event anticipated with dread turning out to be nothing like that bad, we all did some sewing.

Marie worked on joining together rows of her quilt-as-you-go dogs, as seen here last time. She brought along a book of star blocks which we all admired. The book included illustrations of the different effects that you can achieve by altering the value of sections of the designs. Joy also brought along a coloured diagram of a quilt using the same "friendship star" block as in Vireya's quilt from last time, but done in a limited range of colours to really emphasise the trellis pattern which is only incidental in Vireya's. I should have taken a picture of it!

Marie brought along her finished placemat:

The background fabrics are really a lemon yellow, not the beige-y colour they appear to be here. Marilyn's placemat from last time is for the same project, and includes some of the same fabrics. Marie also brought along this bag:

I think a few of us want to try making one of them! Marie had written out the construction instructions. I already have instructions but haven't made one yet. Stand by for more bags appearing here in future.

Marilyn worked on the last part of the border for her quilt we have seen in steps along the way. She is looking forward to completing the quilt so she can start a new project! Recently she visited her sister who showed her how to make "crumb blocks" from odd scraps of fabrics. Here's a couple Marilyn brought along to inspire us:

Apparently making the blocks is good exercise, because you sew a short seam, then get up and trim what you have sewn, then go back to the machine to do the next piece. (Repeat until finished).

Joy and Vireya were both appliquéing. Joy worked on her blue "Baltimore album" blocks, that we have seen some of before. A basket block is here, and a posy block is here. Vireya was sewing so hard her needle snapped! (Top left of this picture).

Who knew that could happen? It necessitated a quick trip to the nearest patchwork shop after the meeting, to buy more needles. The swirl is another part of the Red Delicious quilt designed by Esther Aliu.

Vireya also brought along her first ever quilt:

It is square, I don't know why it was hanging so strangely there. The quilt was inspired by an old episode of Simply Quilts, where the guest was Margaret J. Miller. In the episode she talked about her new book, "Strips that Sizzle", which is now no longer new (it was published in 1992), and no longer in print. I might have to make some more of these blocks some time, because they are fun to do.

Our next meeting is only a week away, on the 7th September. So happy Spring, everyone, and enjoy Adult Learners' Week this week.

2009-08-28T11:34:00.002+10:00

Will Be Missing You
Hi to the triangular ones. I will be really missing you and your little triangles on Wednesday night when I am away and you are finishing off your blocks. Make sure you post lots of pics so I can see how all those lovely colour combos came together in the final product. Happy Accuracy. L : )

Triangles Continued

2009-08-27T08:55:00.007+10:00

Lesson two of the "Working with Triangles" class was held last night. Last week we looked at sew and flip triangles. This week we made the same size triangles using a couple of different methods. It was interesting to see different students work out their preferences.

Here's J in full efficiency mode, making up a string of half-square triangles for her centre block:

She has cut her squares, drawn her diagonals and stitched her 1/4 inch seams on either side, now it's time to cut the triangles apart ready for pressing.

We also had a quick look at Flying Geese which will be used for the final border of this sample block. By the end of the session there was one little goose ready. I'm sorry I didn't capture it on my phone camera. There are more photos on the Neighbourhood House camera.

On Wednesday nights the Neighbourhood House is absolutely full. There's our quilting class in the North Studio, a computer class next door and yoga in the Children's Centre. Our class seems to be the last to finish, so we get visitors from the other groups as they come out of their classes and pop in to see what we're up to. That just adds to the excitement, especially as there's usually some work ready to be admired by then.

Triangles to Go

2009-08-20T12:59:00.007+10:00

Yesterday was the first "Working with Triangles" class. I took several photos, but when I checked over them this morning, this was the only one that included any actual triangles. So here it is.
We used the "sew and flip" method for the first batch of triangles. In this pic J is marking the diagonal line across one of her squares. You can see the half-square triangle units she's already made in the foreground. I really like the way her floral and purple fabrics tone and contrast.

We spent a bit of time at the beginning of the class talking about colour values and making decisions about light, medium and dark fabrics, since the success of these blocks so often depends on the contrast between fabrics. Of course that meant we had a chance to admire the fabrics which each of the students had brought along.

Vireya's Friendship Star quilt, which featured in the last blog post here, was my demo quilt for the day. It was much admired and very effectively demonstrated the importance of colour value in block designs.

As for "Triangles to Go", we have a correspondence student signed up for this class. So I'll be exploring flexible ways of delivering the teaching to some-one who can't be there for the face-to-face class.

Quilters' Circle - 17th August, 2009

2009-08-17T16:58:00.003+10:00

It's the third Monday in August, so the Quilters' Circle met again. We sewed, we chatted, we bought fund-raising pens from Leigh, we were shaken by trucks thundering past, we read Marie's magazines, and we drank cups of tea. Here's the what we achieved.

Vireya brought along a quilt featuring triangles to be used as an example in the "Working with Triangles" course which starts on Wednesday. This lap quilt is a scrappy version of the friendship star, and normally lives on Vireya's couch.

The friendship star is quite a simple a 9-patch block, consisting of a plain square in the centre surrounded by eight "half-square triangle" squares. Each square has a light side and a dark side, although some medium fabrics appear as both light and dark depending on the fabric they are paired with. I like the lattice-like secondary pattern formed by the light triangles when the blocks are put together.

Vireya spent the time today doing some embroidery on the fan block she was appliquéing last time.

Joy did some appliqué for her Japanese quilt which we have seen parts of here before, and told us about the adventures with the medical profession she has had since last we met. We hope the next round goes well!

Marie was trimming quilt-as-you-go blocks featuring dogs. Here's a preview of how they will look when they are put together.

That's just a small sample of the blocks - there are about 60 blocks all together. Aren't there some very cute fabrics in that quilt? The variety of fabrics you can find on any given theme is amazing. As further evidence of that, Marie brought along some bug fabrics to add to Leigh's collection.

Marilyn sewed down binding on this placemat:

She was pleasantly surprised at how much she got done in one session.

Our next meeting is the bonus 5th Monday in August, the 31st. If you can't join us in person between 1 and 3:30, come back here to see what we are all up to then.

Triangles start this week

2009-08-16T12:25:00.003+10:00

Woo Hoo!!! The Working with Triangles classes start this week and I am very excited....both about the triangles, and about catching up with alot of the people who were in the Patchwork for Beginners class earlier this year. L : )

Working with Triangles

2009-08-04T19:56:00.003+10:00

There are already seven students enrolled in the "Working with Triangles" class. This class is a follow up on the beginners "Patchwork by Machine", class offered at Sussex in term 1. The sample block is now on display in the office.

Here is a pic I took before I dropped it off.
It's a 16 inch block, so it could easily be turned into a bag, cushion cover or small wallhanging.

There is a limit of eight students in this class, so get in quickly if you would like a spot!

I'll do my best to keep you posted on this blog as the classes get underway. There are only 3 sessions in the course and it's mainly about techniques, but it's always fun to have a project to work on.

Quilters' Circle - 3rd August, 2009

2009-08-03T19:16:00.004+10:00

Today is the first Monday in August, so the Quilters' Circle met again to sew, chat, and admire each others' work.

Leigh brought in her "stack 'n' slash"-style quilt. Here's a close-up of the beads she is using to embellish the quilt:

The beads serve two purposes - helping to hold the quilt sandwich together, and looking very cute! The background of those ladybirds, and the fabric in the upper left, are both purple, but somehow the camera has lost a lot of the purpleness. The shot below of the whole quilt really doesn't do it justice. I've tried to adjust the colours but I can't get the proper lush purple effect.

Marie and Marilyn each worked on projects that have already featured in the blog, and both also brought along a special project they are working on with another group they both belong to. Details and photos may appear some time in the future, as the project is a surprise for someone.

We had a visit from a local patchworker who came to check out what we do. We hope she will join us to sew and chat in future.

Joy added some embroidery to blocks for her blue Baltimore-album quilt. One of her blocks has been shown here previously, on the 4th May. If you click on the photos you can get a super-sized view, which allows you to see the details. Here's another block from the quilt, featuring a lovely woven basket:

Joy also showed us her plan for putting these blocks together, which left us all gob-smacked. Each block is full of intricate detail, but the final quilt will contain so much more.

Vireya has finished the vase of flowers block from Esther Aliu's Red Delicious quilt. Here it is, along with two previously completed blocks from the same project (the red ones), and the beginnings of the next block (the purple fan). Today the fan block received some appliquéd leaves, and it will get some embroidery and ribbons before it is finished.

The neighbourhood house is approaching its 18th birthday, and we all had to sign the card:

The pen may give you some idea of the size of the card. Those shiny circles are little mirrors, but a camera flash isn't really the best way to capture their sparkle. Happy birthday, Sussex!

Our next meeting is 17th August, 1:00pm. Hope to see you there!

Look at That!

2009-07-26T10:41:00.003+10:00

A few of us went to the Quilt and Craft Show yesterday afternoon. Here's a picture of Jo and Leigh admiring some of the Singer Challenge quilts.

There were some amazing quilts on show: traditional, contemporary, professional and amateur. As you might guess from Leigh's bags, there were also some great shopping opportunities: tools, fabrics and bling--it's all there for the buying. I'm sure there will be much admiring and comparing at the next Quilters' Circle get together.

Leigh is Looking for Bugs

2009-07-22T21:37:00.003+10:00

I visited the Sussex Quilters to ask if anyone had an bugs or bees in their fabric stashes. I am hoping to make a cot quilt with insects as the theme. Joy immediately asked if I was going to make a "Bugs in Bottles"quilt. At that time I didn't know what she meant, but since then I have discovered some "Bugs in Bottles" in magazines. I have included a bad photograph from a magazine. Plus a photo of the adorable ants, and lovely lady bugs fabrics that I have already. Apparently I will only need pieces about 6" x 9" of each design. I am hoping for some bumble bees and dragonflies particularly.

Quilters' Circle - 20th July, 2009

2009-07-20T17:17:00.003+10:00

Today was the 3rd Monday in July, so the Quilters' Circle met again.

Marie brought along this fantastic bright top to show us. The centre design is a feathered star, then each successive design is done using different techniques. This is a large quilt, so unfortunately only a tiny part of the outer ring of blocks (which I think are "delectable mountain") can be seen:

Joy brought along these sweet Japanese girls, who normally hang on a wall in Joy's home. They were completed in 1997.

Marilyn was completing the joins on the back of her quilt. All nine blocks are together, with their sashing and cornerstones:

Next step is adding a border. Marilyn also brought along a few fabrics to get some colour advice from everyone for her next project. Pictures of that will have to wait!

Joy did some quilting on this amazing piece of work:

Again, the whole quilt is not showing here. The photographer needs to stand further back! The design for this quilt is by Patchworks Unlimited, our local quilt shop. There are all sorts of techniques in this quilt; stencilling, painting, piecing, appliqué, and embroidery can be seen. Here's a close-up view of a cute little fellow done in stumpwork who you might just be able to see above, amongst the gum leaves on the left-hand side:

Vireya worked on another flower for that Red Delicious block-of-the-month project. She is only 6 months behind with it now!

In between all that, we looked through some books and magazines, enjoyed a cuppa (Marie and Joy's mug bags shown below), and of course enjoyed much conversation!

Our next meeting will be in 2 weeks, on the 3rd August. In the meantime, we will be checking our stashes for "bug" fabric in primary colours for Leigh's next project. Perhaps Leigh could leave a comment here telling what size pieces she needs if we do find something suitable?

Happy sewing, everyone!