Quilters' Circle - 30th April, 2012

Here we are again for the fifth Monday of April.

Glennys brought along her machine, and whipped up a couple of baby quilts. Well, quilt tops, anyway. Baby quilt number one:

And baby quilt number two (progress shot):

Later the first one was slightly re-constructed to change the orientation of one square. The quilts will have borders added later, but it was a very productive afternoon. Glennys needs to sew fast because of the imminent arrival of four babies in her circle of family and friends.

Meanwhile the rest of us worked on slower projects. It was almost a step-by-step lesson in English paper-piecing. Vireya cut out some (not hexagonal) templates she had printed:

Mary covered her hexagonal templates with fabric:

And Marie sewed her hexagons together and then removed some of the paper templates:

While we worked there was lots to talk about, tea to drink, and magazines to be inspired by. Before we knew it, it was time to go home.

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 14th May. See you then!

Quilters' Circle - 23rd April, 2012

We had a few surprises at the house today.

Marilyn was our first surprise. She was in Melbourne for the weekend, and stayed here long enough to spend the afternoon with us. It was great to see her again. She showed us these items her sister made for her (possibly as a birthday gift? I forgot to ask).
A bag

and a tuffet!

The tuffet is for using on your lap when doing needlework, as it provides a better height working surface than a table.

Our second surprise was Joy! It is a while since she has been able to join us at the house, so we were all very happy to see her. Today she worked on a long-term appliqué project that we have seen parts of before:

Unfortunately some of the smaller pieces have fallen off and been lost before Joy has had the chance to stitch them into place. However she still has the fabrics, so she will be able to cut some replacement pieces.

Marie showed us this tissue holder she has made for a friend who loves cooking:

Ideal fabric! It was a lucky find at a recent 40%-off sale. Today Marie sewed together some tiny hexagons:

Glennys blanket-stitched the hem of a blanket for a baby who is due to arrive in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile outside the weather surprised us all with a sudden thunderstorm:

Fortunately that was over by the time we were ready to leave.

Our next meeting is only a week away, as this month has five Mondays. See you on the 30th April.