Quilters' Circle - 12th December, 2016

Today was the last meeting for the year, so the Quilters and Knitters combined for a special breakup.

Lots of yummy goodies to enjoy!

Marie worked on the binding of this community quilt she has made:

It's always fun looking at the different fabrics, and finding those we recognise from previous projects. In this photo a bout a quarter of the binding remains to be stitched down, but by the end of the meeting it was completely done.

Marie also showed us her progress on her EPP stars of reproduction fabrics.

We have seen some of these stars being made previously, but now Marie is joining them together. Aren't they beautiful? Here's a closer look at some of those kaleidoscopic designs created by careful cutting and piecing:

Each star is like a small jewel.

Unfortunately Debbie didn't bring along her Town and Country Quilt, (designed by Susan Claire) which is a "block of the day" quilt she has been working on all year. She has kept up with the blocks, and has completed 350 with only fifteen remaining. We hope to see it in the new year.

Vireya brought along a couple of projects she has completed since last attending in July.  Her Hazel quilt (designed by Esther Aliu)  was just a top when we saw it last. It is now finished:

And her Flower Ball quilt (designed by Geta Grama), last seen in February 2015 before it had a background, is now complete:

 
She has also assembled a top using the Wild and Goosey blocks (designed by Bonnie Hunter) we last saw in March 2015.

There are still quite a few paper foundations to be removed from it before it can be turned into a quilt.

Today Vireya was stitching down binding on a small apple-core quilt she made in a workshop a couple of months ago:

 At the end of the meeting, there was just one scallop of binding remaining to stitch:

Almost there!

During the meeting we had a visit from Tamara Russell of Creative Moreland. She told us about the Moreland Quilt Project, which is a:
 "community project collaborating with local business, artists, community groups, neighbourhood houses, schools and age-care facilities. The project will create a large textile Quilt representing Moreland resident’s cultural diversity, whilst recording the history of participants. The project will record local stories and be designed to represent the culture and history of local residents and businesses through imagery, colour, stitch, fabric and embellishment." (Quote from the Creative Moreland website.)

Tamara is hoping that some stitching sessions will be conducted at the Neighbourhood House in the new year, both during the regular Quilters' Circle meetings, and on weekends. If you would like to get involved, you can register on their website to be kept informed.

That's it for this year! Our next meeting will be on 30th January, 2017. Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to all our regular readers, and we hope to see you again next year.

Quiters' Circle - 11th July, 2016

Hello to any loyal readers! Our meetings have continued on every 2nd, 4th and occasional 5th Monday, it is just the reports that haven't happened.

We missed Debbie at our meeting today, and send her our deepest condolences for her recent loss.

Vireya showed us a BOM (Block of the Month) she has been doing this year:

The pattern is Hazel, designed by Esther Aliu. The top will get a narrow border to complete it.

Today Vireya was sewing down binding on another project:

This is her Zoo Animals quilt that was a BOM last year, designed by Kristy @ Quiet Play:

Last seen on our blog as 9 blocks in September, and now almost a completed quilt.

Marie worked on EPP stars, made with reproduction fabrics:

She has already completed about 60 stars, but has a few more to do for this project. Here are the next few to be sewn:

One point must have been left at home for this one:

And which way should these curly "M"s face: In?

 Or out?

Marie carries her quilting projects to meetings in this bag:

 Which is embellished front and back with rosettes of hexagons with a sewing theme:

We saw these hexagons under construction a couple of years ago, but haven't shown photos of the completed bag. Last seen when Marie was stitching the rosettes to the backing fabric back in November 2014.

We missed Glennys as well today, and hope all is well with her.

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 25th July. But when our next meeting report will be, it is hard to say!

Quilters' Circle - 29th February, 2016

It's a bonus fifth Monday, and a bonus leap day! And the first meeting report since our regular reporter moved to the country. Today she made the trip to the "big smoke" because it was such a unique day.

Debbie has taken on a very interesting project this year. It is a "block of the day" quilt, meaning that there are 365 blocks. (Although this year that should be 366, shouldn't it?) It's That Town and Country Quilt,  designed by Susan Claire of Gourmet Quilter. Details here. Debbie has been keeping up with the schedule, and has these blocks assembled already:

She also has a very organised folder with sleeves for each pattern. Here are a couple she worked on today:

And look at the great tin she has her threads etc stored in:

Marie today was adding some new hanging loops to a wall-hanging:

We have seen this piece before, but it is worth looking at again:

It is based on a design by Rosemary Penfold, Quilt for a Hot Night. Marie used scraps of many fabrics that have meaning for her. Here's a couple of close-up views:

The new loops will allow Marie to hang the quilt differently in her home.

Vireya brought along a couple of projects to show us. The first is the latest Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, Allietare:

The mystery ran during November and December. Vireya chose colours based on the view from her new sewing room.  This piece is only a top at present, but Vireya also brought along a completed quilt she made in a Craftsy class, Continuous Line Quilting, taught by Ann Petersen:

Today she worked on her current English paper-piecing project:

She is using a design by Lies Bos-Varkevisser of the Netherlands, called Kosmosstoff.

There will be no meetings in March, unfortunately, due to the Labour Day holiday and Easter. So our next meeting will be on the 2nd Monday in April, the 11th.

Quilters' Circle - 26th October, 2015

In the last report, I suggested that there might not be one of this meeting, but as you can see, I was wrong!

Four quilters attended our meeting. Debbie worked on her lovely applique project:

and showed us the start she has made on quilting her Christmas quilt:

She is hand-quilting, using a "Thimble Lady" quilting hoop:

Glennys is able to walk around and drive again, which she is very happy about. But she is still working on hand-sewing projects, including this embroidered Christmas bunting:

Here's a couple of close-ups:

The pennants will be stung together with strips of Christmas fabric. Lovely!

Marie has finished constructing the top of the mystery quilt she showed us the beginnings of last time:

It's very striking! I forgot to ask if others doing the mystery have already got the final instructions, so I hope this photo didn't spoil anyone's surprise.

Today Marie continued sewing down the binding on her baby quilt:

And she wasn't alone, because Vireya was also sewing down binding:

She has to get hers finished by Thursday, as she has entered this quilt in the Ballaarat Quilters' Exhibition next weekend:

(The pattern is Story-Time Stars, designed by Bonnie Hunter.) Based on how far Vireya got round the quilt today, she estimates another 7 hours of binding sewing, and then an hour or so of sewing on a hanging sleeve. Looks like a busy few days ahead!

Our next meeting is in two weeks, on the 9th November. Perhaps we will see you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 12th October, 2015

It is October already! The year is nearly over.

Debbie is appliqueing the stems, with beautiful tiny stitches:

on the lovely block we saw last time:

She started the block in a class with Irene Blanck. It looks like it will keep her busy for a while.

You may remember that last time Glennys couldn't join us. Today she came along and showed us all the hand-piecing she has been doing while recuperating:

Lots of blocks finished!

She has plans to make a few more before she is done. Here's the current one under construction:

Hexagons looking good! We enjoyed seeing all this work, but we do hope your ankle will be 100% again soon, Glennys.

Glennys' grand-daughter Matilda joined us again. Today she worked on a present for her father's birthday. She carefully stitched his initial over the line:

And when she was finished stitching, Glennys put her work into a frame:

Lovely!
Matilda has also been doing some machine stitching, trying out some of the stitches on Glennys' machine. She brought this piece along for show-and-tell:

She is a clever girl. We all enjoy seeing a young person interested in handcrafts. And after all her work, she relaxed with some colouring-in:

Marie brought along a new project for her show-and-tell:

It is a mystery quilt being run in another group she attends. This is one block, and below are a whole bunch of them:

It isn't a mystery to Marie, as her teacher gave her all the instructions. But we won't say what they become in case one of her classmates is reading this.

Today Marie stitched down the binding on her lovely baby quilt we saw quilted last time:

She is about half-way round, so it won't be long before the quilt is given to the baby she made it for.

Vireya made it to the meeting, but didn't have any sewing with her. She talked about her new house. She now lives about 120kms away, so may not be able to attend meetings very often. If no-one else takes up the job of writing these reports, future updates may be sparse.

The next meeting will be in two weeks, on the 26th of October. You might have to come along if you want to see what everyone has been doing!