Quilters' Circle - 27th February, 2012

It may have been a sticky summer day outside, but inside was a bit more conducive to activities like quilting.

Since our last meeting where she arranged her blocks, Marie has assembled them all, and joined them into strips with a chequerboard sashing between the blocks:

Today she was slicing up strips to make more of the chequerboards for the horizontal sashing.

Glennys is working on a secret project for a friend's special birthday. It is a "shabby-chic" style quilt, and here's a little part of the appliqué design on a border:

We look forward to seeing the whole project the next time we see Glennys.

Carol has recently been put in touch with some distant relatives in the UK. They sent these lovely hand-knitted bonnets for the newest member of the family:

We weren't mean enough to make Isabella model them for us on this sticky afternoon, so the chair had to do that job. Aren't they cute? The bobbles are actually part of the yarn, rather than knitted bobbles.

Carol also brought along a treat for all of us - some yummy chocolates:

While Isabella had a nap, Carol managed to get some leaves appliquéd on the border of the quilt she is making for her 98-year-old grandmother:

There's still a few leaves to go, but it is looking great.

Vireya covered templates for her paper-piecing project:

It might be while before we see what these turn into.

It will also be a while until we are back at the house. The next normal meeting day is Labour Day, so the house will be closed. We'll be back in four weeks, on 26th March. See you again then.

Quilters' Circle - 13th February, 2012

It's the second Monday in February, which means it's time for the quilters to get together again.

Last year Glennys brought along some mystery squares she had found. Today she had the finished product to show us:

Now it is a lap quilt finished just in time for her mother's birthday.

Glennys is making progress on her My Blue Heaven (quilt designed by Therese Hylton). Today she spread out her completed blocks to show us:

That's the original in the foreground for reference. More than half of Glennys's blocks are finished now, and it is looking good.

Marie brought along this block keeper which she made a few years ago:

 

Aren't those colours lovely? The "square in a square" blocks are made from hand-dyed fabrics, and match the colours in the main print really well. The purple cord keeps it securely closed for transport. It is like a small quilt wrapped around a cardboard tube. When you unroll it the inside is lined with a flannel fabric which holds everything in place, so you can use the block keeper for storing or transporting works in progress:

Today Marie had lots of use for it, as she spread out all the pieces for her latest project and played with arrangements of fabrics within the blocks:

Once she was happy with the arrangements, all the blocks were put into her block keeper, layered between pieces of calico, so that Marie could piece them together at home.

Vireya brought along a pot-holder she recently made using this same saw-tooth star block:

She is testing this one, before making some more. She used Vilene Thermolam for the batting. It is lovely and flexible, but perhaps a little thin. Vireya is planning to add another layer of something else (perhaps cotton batting) to the next one she makes.

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

Quilters' Circle - 30th January, 2012

It was a hot and sticky day. Not unexpected weather for this time of year, we suppose! A small group of quilters attended the Quilters' Circle fifth Monday meeting.

Marie brought along a Down Under Quilts magazine fresh from the letterbox. March looks like a big month for quilt shows in Victoria:

There are a few there we might make it to. In the meantime Marie is still appliquéing circles; quilter's circles.

Vireya spread out the sunflower blocks she has made so far. Will they be a wall hanging? What will go between them? How many more will she make?

Maybe not a lot more, given that today she was playing with ideas for another project using these shapes:

Later on, Richard joined us. He had purchased some fusible bias tape to outline the design elements of his quilt:

The package says, "It will eliminate time consumption in making and pinning it in place." I guess they are right, because it goes on pretty quickly! Richard will stitch it down later. The black lines really add impact to the design:

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 13th February. We hope you can join us!

Quilters' Circle - 23rd January, 2012

Welcome back for 2012, and happy birthday to Glennys! We all had cake to celebrate, and enjoyed catching up with what everyone did over the break.

Glennys is trying not to go slowly blind working on this cross-stitch sampler for her youngest grand-daughter:

That's actually four different pale pinks, and keeping track of them is not easy. It is painstaking work, but it will be lovely when it is finished!

Since our last meeting, Carol has finished putting together the quilt she is making for her grandmother, and is now adding a border:

Here's a close view of one of the embroidered blocks:

Very pretty! And baby Isabella approves, too. She wanted to get her hands on the quilt to see if tastes as good as it looks.

Marie made this lovely cushion for a friend:

It is the first time she has made the "snail trail" quilt block, and she enjoyed putting it together, so it might not be her last.

Today Marie was appliquéing circles for her on-going project. Here's her stock of circles:

She had fun going through her fabric supplies choosing which ones to cut out, but it will take a lot of stitching to use up all that she has cut so far.

Vireya brought along this quilt she finished during our break.

She made it using the "stack-n-whack" kaleidoscope technique devised by Bethany Reynolds. Vireya last brought this quilt along when it was in pieces about six years ago, although she actually made the blocks about five years before that. She is very happy to have finally finished it!

She also made this top since our last meeting:

This is Bonnie Hunter's design, "Story-Time Stars", which was only published on 10th January this year. Will Vireya get it quilted as quickly as she assembled it?

Leigh has been bitten by the hexagon bug, so came along to show us her progress and ask us about various methods of doing English paper-piecing. Everyone has a different preferred method, of course!

For now Leigh is just making these shapes, but she's considering unconventional layouts when it comes to assembling them into a quilt. It will be interesting to watch her progress and see what she decides.

January has five Mondays this year, so we will all be back again next week. See you then!

Quilters' Circle - 12th December, 2011

At our final meeting for the year, there was a Christmas tree:

There were yummy goodies and a Christmas table-cloth:

It's a pity that blue container still had its lid on when the photo was taken, because inside were the cutest (and yummiest) mini Christmas puddings. And while there was way more food than the combined knitters and quilters needed for afternoon tea, all those mini puddings were devoured!

Some people dressed up for the occasion:

Gifts were exchanged:

Don't those Lindt teddy-bears look too cute to eat?

Marilyn surprised us with a visit, which was fantastic! She brought along her latest project for show-and-tell:

 

These blocks are part of a quilt called "Love Letters", but the designer's name wasn't on the information Marilyn had with her. If anyone knows, please let me know and I'll edit this post. Marilyn also showed us a photo album of the building of her house, which we were all interested to see.

And on top of all that, some people even managed to do a little sewing:

Well done to those people!

We were sad that Joy was not well enough to join us. We were thinking of you, Joy, and hope everything improves for you over the summer break.

To everyone who reads this blog, best wishes for the festive season! We hope to see you again in 2012. Our first meeting for the new year will be on 23rd January.

Quilters' Circle - 28th November, 2011

It was our second-last meeting of the year today.

Glennys was back, with good news about her grand-daughter's recovery. Today Glennys worked on a couple of the remaining blocks for her "My Blue Heaven" quilt.

This is one of them, and the other is a 64-patch block.

It was great to have Joy back again. She still isn't feeling great, but we were happy she was well enough to attend. During her illness she has done some sewing, and a couple of her long-term projects are now completed tops.  We look forward to seeing them at future meetings. Today Joy was sewing beads and shiny bits to this Christmas tree:

Vireya made a few pentagon shapes, and stitched together most of another sunflower:

Carol brought along this project which we think wins the prize for the oldest unfinished quilt (if there were such a prize). It is Carol's first quilt, which she began in 1995.

Today she did a little "unsewing" to fix a couple of blocks which were in the wrong place, while her lovely daughter Isabella had a look at everyone's work and entertained us with big smiles before taking a little nap.

Marie has added the roof and the garden to the house she showed us last time:

It looks great! She also embroidered the title banner for the top border. Today she was working on embroidered details for the bottom border.

Our next meeting is in two weeks, on the 12th December. It will be the final meeting for the year, and we will have a combined afternoon tea break-up with the knitters. Bring a plate if you are coming along!

Quilters' Circle - 14th November, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARIE!

Today we celebrated Marie's birthday with some afternoon tea and a few cards and gifts.

Marilyn remembered the day, and sent a lovely card and gift by post, which we all admired.

Glennys couldn't be with us because her little grand-daughter became very ill over the weekend, and is in the Children's Hospital. Glennys was at the hospital with her this afternoon. We all hope that the little one makes a full recovery quickly!

Marie showed this house she is making for a gift for someone:

It will get a roof and some garden next. I'm not sure we will see it completed though, as I think she may have to present it before our next meeting.

Today Marie appliquéd circles while drinking tea from her very appropriate mug:

I forgot to ask what the circles are going to become. We will have to wait and see.

The paper-pieced pentagons Vireya was playing with last time are turning into sunflowers. Today she finished stitching this one together, and most of a second one.

Very bright!

Mary dropped by and had afternoon tea with us. We tried to persuade her to come back, so maybe we will see her with some quilting next time.

Wendy is at home with a broken ankle. Hope you are back on both feet again soon, Wendy!

Special thoughts too for Joy, who has been improving but couldn't make it today, and Dorothy who celebrated a birthday last week.

We have only two meetings left for this year. The penultimate meeting will be in two weeks, on 28th November. Hope to see everyone again then!