Quilters' Circle - 24th March, 2014

It is a month since our last meeting, so it was nice to see what everyone has been up to in the interim.

Before we look at everyone's work, think about what you might want to keep in this pretty box Debbie made:

It is shaped rather like a pirate chest, and closes securely with a loop over the butterfly button. What would you keep in it? Read on to find out its actual contents.

During the break Marie made some pillows to match the dolly quilt we saw in February:

They will allow the little girl's doll and teddy to get a good night's sleep!

Marie has also made this top, featuring lots of animal prints:

The adults had enough fun looking at all the different fabrics - the child who finally receives the quilt is sure to get a lot of enjoyment from it as well as warmth.

And as if that weren't enough, Marie has also assembled and quilted this quilt, and today she stitched down the binding:

Very cute! And Marie found the perfect fabrics for her borders and backing on sale for just $2 per metre. What a find!

Glennys has added the borders to a quilt we saw in progress last year:

Lots of butterflies on these pretty fabrics which were chosen by Glennys' granddaughter.

Today Glennys was blanket-stitching the edges of a fleece blanket featuring very cute dinosaurs:

Debbie brought along "Doug the Bug", her pincushion made from a pattern by Hatched and Patched.

He's made of very touchable felted wool, but you have to watch out for those pins it you try to cuddle him.

And here's the answer to what is in Debbie's treasure-chest:

Her husband found that it was just the right size to hold a roll of toilet paper for his trips away! Bet you didn't think of that.

Vireya showed us the first two borders on her mystery quilt, and the fabric she has for the outer border:

Today she spent time pressing some of the seams:

The individual blocks are all pressed, but the seams joining the strips of blocks together (like that running down from the top left corner) haven't been. Before the quilt can be basted they all need to be as flat as possible. There's a long way to go.

This month has five Mondays, so it will only be one week until we meet again. See you then!

Neighbourhood House Quilt

This blog began back in 2009 with a post about the Coburg Saints, part of a community art project in 1992, which still hang in the house. In the background of the first photo of that post, there is a glimpse of another community art project, the Sussex Neighbourhood House Quilt. It is about time that quilt had its own blog post. Here's a better view of it:

The quilt has 28 blocks representing different groups associated with the house (made by members of the groups), blocks representing the values of the house (celebration, access for all, social interaction, and volunteering), and a large block in the centre with the Heart House logo:

The quilt was made in 2007, and finished in time for Neighbourhood House Week that year. The Moreland Leader published an article about it in their edition of 7th May, 2007:

Here are some closer views of a few of the blocks.
The Scrabble Group's block is a winner:

The Arabic Group's block features the word "peace" in Arabic:

The Yoga Group's block captures the essence of yoga:

And lastly, the Quilters' Circle block features lovely appliquéd quilters:

Quilters' Circle - 24th February, 2014

It is the fourth Monday of February, so that means it's the quilters' circle meeting day. When we arrived we found the room decorated with some knitted bunting:

When Mary from the knitters arrived, she explained that she had made it for the childcare centre. It features lots of cute knitted and crocheted motifs.

Today Debbie returned and showed us lots of beautiful things she has made since we saw her last. This cute quilt didn't quite get finished for Christmas, but there's plenty of time before the next one, isn't there?

The pattern is "Joy to the World" by Nancy Halvorsen. Debbie is blanket-stitching around the appliqué, and has only the bottom section to go.

Today Debbie worked on some embroidery for another project, "Truly Aussie", designed by Helen Stubbings. The quilt features colloquial expressions, and some great Australian innovations like this one:

The link I have added to the name takes you to Helen's website where you can see what the completed quilt will look like.

Debbie also showed us her completed stitcheries for another Helen Stubbings design, "Life is Beautiful":

She was working on one of these last time she joined us, so today we admired all 32 of the completed stitchery panels. It is worth clicking on the picture to see them in greater detail. Debbie's stitching is beautifully done.

Vireya showed us some paper foundation piecing she has made since our last meeting. Today she was removing paper from the backs of completed pieces:

Here are some of her completed letters, and one still under construction:

They are for a wall-hanging for her sewing room. The patterns for the letters is "Just My Type" by Kristy of Quiet Play.

Marie has started quilting the small quilt she made of the scraps from a twisted pinwheel quilt she made a while ago. It is a busy piece, but is you look close you can see some of her hand-quilting in purple:

At our last meeting Marie was stitching down the binding on a doll's quilt, and she told us today that she has heard back that the little girl who received it absolutely loves it. That's not surprising, as it was so cute, but it is always nice to get that feedback!

We won't be meeting again until the 24th of March, because of the Labour Day public holiday. I might do a post on something else on the day when we should have met, if I can find the photo for it. Stay tuned - or at least, come back in a month for our next meeting!

Quilters' Circle - 10th February, 2014

Welcome to a new year! It was great to catch up with everyone today, and see what they had been doing during our long break.

Glennys made this quilt in Essendon football club colours for her grandson:

Today she was stitching down the binding:

Marie made a special quilt for a little girl who received a doll for Christmas:

The doll's quilt matches the little girl's own quilt, which was also made by Marie. Today its binding was also in progress:

Marie also showed us some lovely fabrics a friend brought back from Canada for her:

At our last meeting Vireya had started working on Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt "Celtic Solstice". Today she showed us the top complete except for its borders:

There will be a narrow inner border, then a pieced border of blue and orange triangles, then possibly another narrow border. Today we laid out some possible fabrics for the inner border to see how they looked.
First a neutral one:

Then a yellow one:

And last, a darker neutral/yellow one:

The yellow seemed to be most people's favourite. Which would you chose?

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 24th February. See you then!

Quilters' Circle - 9th December, 2013

Today was our last meeting of the year, so we had some celebrations. That included yummy goodies for afternoon tea:

And lots of gifts:

On the quilting front, Vireya is participating in Bonnie Hunter's current mystery quilt. She showed us some of the pieces she has made for the first two steps in the mystery:

Today she was marking diagonal lines on squares, with the help of this little triangle she won in a Christmas cracker last year:

It is just the right size!

Glennys showed us these cute stockings she made from flannel fabric Marie gave her at our last meeting:

Marie worked on week 42 of her year quilt:

Marie also showed us this sashiko kit a friend bought for her in Japan:

Those instructions will be tricky to follow! Hopefully she can find some English sashiko instructions somewhere.

Marilyn worked on the binding of this piece she has made as a Kris Kringle gift for a lucky recipient:

And that's the end of 2013. Apparently the house will be shut all through January, so we can't meet again here until 10th February next year. But we may get together elsewhere in January, and if so, we'll post photos, so check back from time to time.

Best wishes for Christmas and New Year to all our readers! See you again in 2014.

Quilters' Circle - 25th November, 2013

Four quilters gathered on this lovely spring day, our second-last meeting for the year.

Marie has added the binding to her placemat, and today she was stitching it down:

A view of the front with the binding:

Vireya prepared some pentagon shapes, then clipped them in place ready to sew:

Glennys brought along her cutting gear:

And cut some pieces for the last of the quilts for her grandchildren. Then she finalised the arrangement of fabrics for her design:

Unfortunately this photo is on its side. If you tilt your head 90 degrees to the right it will be correct. This is something we noticed even when the photo was taken; the camera was flipping the photo when we tried to look at it. It's just one of life's mysteries.

Joy brought along this tessellated leaves piece she came across at home recently:

This is a tricky design to make. Joy's is all hand-pieced, and you can tell by the fabrics that she started this many years ago. There are a couple of internet sites offering easier ways to piece this, using techniques such as paper-piecing, or even a raw-edge appliqué method (found here).

Today Joy brought along some prepared pieces for a hexagon quilt-as-you-go project:

And here's one she finished:

Again, the photo has turned itself a quarter-turn. Sorry, but I can't fix it. If I turn it on the computer before uploading it, blogger rotates it again. So we are stuck with it like this.

Our next meeting will be the last for the year, on 9th of December. This will be our Christmas break-up. See you then!

Quilters' Circle - 11th November, 2013

Today we had a special afternoon tea to celebrate Marie's birthday, which is later this week. She also received this gift:

This isn't a great photo of it, but it is actually a zip-up insulated case for carrying an iron (with added embellishment). However, everyone came up with other creative uses for it! Suggestions included carrying hot food, cool shoes, or small wine bottles.

Glennys is making a quilt for one of her grand-daughters, using fabrics and colours chosen by the grand-daughter:

The design is Glennys' own. We were very impressed with her small "square in a square" blocks, which cleverly use a printed mandala-like design as the centre square. Today she auditioned border arrangements:

Then made some progress on Raggedy Ann:

By the end of the meeting Ann's arms and legs were stuffed and attached, so she is nearly done. So cute!

Marie's mystery quilt has come to an end after 6 clues:

She decided to assemble it in a 5 x 3 arrangement, rather than 4 x 4, to give a more symmetrical layout. It looks good, but now she needs to decide how to finish it.

Marie also showed us her progress on the placemat she had just the top of last time. She has added borders, and done some free-motion machine quilting in a leaf design:

Unfortunately her machine has had to go in for a service, so the quilting has stopped for now. Today she did some more hand-quilting on the hexagon project we have seen before:

Vireya pinned a pattern on some garment fabric, but no photos were taken of that. Then she made a few diamonds for her sunflower quilt:

These colours are looking a bit cooler than in real life.

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on the 25th November. I think that will be our second-last for the year!