Quilters' Circle - 8th December, 2014

Today was our last meeting for the year, so there were goodies to share, and a few surprises.

Lots of yummy stuff!

Glennys made this bowl after seeing the one Marilyn gave Marie in November:.

Hers has a china dish inside to hold the contents at the moment, but she is planning to replace that with a glass one so that the pretty fabric on the inside can be seen as well.

We had a surprise visit from Carol who we haven't seen for a while. Today she worked on a block for the Robyn Falloon quilt design "Airs and Graces":

Carol started the quilt a few years back, and here are the blocks she has completed so far:

Looking good!

Debbie has completed a few more stitchery blocks for her "Truly Aussie" quilt:

Today she worked on the dunny door!

Glennys has made progress on her Christmas stitchery project, including making the patchwork to surround it:

This is what she was stitching today:

Marie has added some more sections to the quilt top she showed us last time:

 Today she did some quilting on another project:

Mary from the knitting group brought along some fabric she didn't want any more, which I think all found new homes:

Marie told us about this craft market next Saturday:

Vireya showed us her work on the first couple of parts of Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion mystery quilt.

 Today she was trimming her Part 2 units:

It will be interesting to see what this turns into.

That's the end of another busy year at Sussex Neighbourhood House. The house will now be closed until February, so our next meeting is a long way off, on the 9th February, 2015. See you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 24th November, 2014

Can you believe that is is already our second-last meeting for the year? None of us can!

Debbie has complete a few more stitcheries for her Truly Aussie quilt. Here's a very recognisable structure:

Today she worked on this swaggie:

Here is Glennys's project sitting on the magazine photo that inspired her:

It is a traditional block called "Jack in the Box". Glennys is using the English paper-piecing method to construct it.

Marie showed us this little quilt she is working on:

The centre is an orphan block her teacher had, and Marie is turning it into a cot-sized quilt by adding borders. We were impressed with how the triangle border fits the sides so exactly. That sort of maths can be tricky.

Today Marie continued stitching her hexagon project to the backing fabric:

Vireya stitched together a couple of sections of her Flower Ball quilt:

It's coming together, but later this week Vireya will be starting the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, so this project might be put aside while that happens.

Our final meeting for the year will be in two weeks, on 8th December. See you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 10th November, 2014

Marie's birthday is later this week, so we had some special goodies for afternoon tea at our meeting today, and there were also some presents:

A closer look at the cute little fabric basket:

It is made from a couple of squares of fabric, stitched at the corners to make a box shape.

Marie showed us the start of a new project:

These strips will become a placemat in the shape of a ginkgo leaf. Today Marie worked on her hexagon project, but somehow we didn't get a photo of that.

It was lovely to see Marilyn, who was able to join us today. She worked on an owl stitchery, and showed us a few which she has already finished:

It's a long-term project, which is a handy size for taking to meetings. They are very cute owls!

Debbie has been very busy. Over the long weekend she completed lots of stitchery panels for her Truly Aussie quilt (designed by Helen Stubbings):

Here's a close-up view of one of them:

But she still has quite a pile to go:

The pattern included iron-on transfers for all the designs, which is a handy way to get them onto the fabric, especially as there are so many.

Glennys has completed another block for her EPP (English paper piecing) project:

But today she too was working on a stitchery:

This one is a Christmas design, which will have some patchwork surrounding it. It is a pattern from an old edition of Patchwork and Quilting magazine, called Family and Friends and designed by Sonya Cormaux-Jones.

Vireya used one of the large tables to spread out and trace a dress pattern from an Ottobre magazine:

It looks confusing, and even though she has a lot of experience at using patterns like this, she did trace the wrong line in a couple of places. Will we see the finished dress before the end of the year?

We have only a couple of meetings left this year. See you again for our next one, on 24th November.

Quilters' Circle - 27th October, 2014

Here we are at the end of October, with the year rushing by.

Marie has finished assembling her version of the Fabric Fusion pattern from Modern Quilt Studio:

It looks great! She also brought along one of the community quilts we've seen before. It has been quilted by her teacher,

and today Marie was stitching down the binding:

Glennys has been well and truly bitten by the English paper-piecing bug. She has now completed two blocks:

and started a couple more.

Looking good!

Glennys also showed us these cushion covers she made from a panel she bought at the recent Stitches and Craft show:

Holly Hobbie brings back a few memories!

Debbie showed us this lovely Baltimore Album quilt she made (in 2001) from designs in the book Baltimore Bouquets by Mimi Dietrich.

All made by hand, of course! Here's a closer view so you can see some of the lovely details:

See the tiny beads inside the yo-yo flowers?

Today Debbie was stitching the very last saying for her Truly Aussie quilt:

Marie and Vireya each brought along new books to show us:

Vireya is still joining sections of her Flower Ball quilt:

And in between everything else, we got to see the architectural model of the new Neighbourhood House which we are hoping will be built next year:

So that's something to look forward to!

Meanwhile, our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 10th November. See you again then.

Quilters' Circle - 13th October, 2014

Happy October, everyone!

Seeing this patchwork dog in a Spotlight catalogue at our last meeting:

prompted a couple of us to bring along our own patchwork animals today:

We've met Mr. Lion before, when we met at Marie's home once when the neighbourhood house was closed.  He was made for Marie by a friend in 1966, and is all hand-sewn. He has a very cute embroidered face, although his button eyes have gone missing some time in the last 48 years!

Vireya made the two dogs in the early 1970s. She didn't have a pattern, but made them based on a picture she saw in a book. She used the English paper piecing method, as that was the only patchwork method she had heard of at the time. Nowadays it would be much faster to rotary-cut the squares, and sew them together by machine!

If one of these dogs looks brighter than the other, it is because the truth is that only one of them was finished in the 1970s. It is on the left in the top photo, and on the right in the lower one. The brighter dog was put away not-quite-finished, and stayed in the dark for 30-odd years. But Vireya sewed the last few seams and stuffed him a few years ago. They have both come to our group before, but it must have been before we started blogging in 2009.

If you would like to make your own patchwork critter, there is a pattern you can download here, or instructions here, but it isn't hard to improvise your own pattern and make a dog (or other animal) any size you like.

Glennys brought along the finished English paper piecing block she has been sewing at our last couple of meetings:

It was great to see it all together, and Glennys enjoyed the process so much she has started another block, using the same fabrics but a different design:

She's been bitten by the EPP bug!

Marie has made lots of parts of blocks for the pattern she showed us last time, Fabric Fusion from Modern Quilt Studio, and she spread them out so we could get an idea of what the finished quilt will look like:

Looking good so far!

Today Marie continued to apply her pieced hexagons to her background fabric:

Vireya has stitched together (but not pressed yet) four complete Wild & Goosey blocks (a Bonnie Hunter design):

Today she removed paper from a few more components she has made. She is also planning to participate in Bonnie's mystery again this year, which starts at the end of November. Bonnie announced her colours this week, and Vireya showed us some paint chips in Bonnie's colours:

Details of the mystery can be found here:
Grand Illusion Mystery.

Mary from the knitting group showed us these lovely poppies she made for the 5000 Poppies project, which you can read about here: 5000 Poppies

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