Quilters' Circle - 23rd May, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.