Quilters' Circle - 30th November, 2009

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

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

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!