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!

Quilters' Circle - 29th September, 2014

Today was our bonus "fifth Monday of the month" meeting.

Marie brought along this lovely children's book which we all enjoyed reading:

Marie showed us the background fabric her hexagons will be appliquéd to:

Today she stitch together a few more hexagon flowers. She also showed us a new project she has begun - one block of the pattern Fabric Fusion from Modern Quilt Studio:

She is planning to make 30 of these blocks. It should be fun choosing fabrics for this colourful quilt.

Debbie showed us this lovely garden journal which is another pattern by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched:

However, Debbie will be using the journal to record her craft projects, rather than garden projects.

Today Debbie worked on the last panel of sayings for her Truly Aussie quilt:

We may be seeing this quilt coming together soon!

In between her adventures packing up and moving home, Vireya has made a few parts of Wild and Goosey blocks (designed by Bonnie Hunter). They are made using the paper foundation piecing method. The pattern was published by Quiltmaker magazine, and the template can be downloaded from their site. Today she trimmed the sections she has done so far:

Here's the pile of trimmings after the last one was done:

Now the paper needs to come off the back of each one, so that they can be assembled into blocks. The sections will be put together with sashing to complete the blocks as per this mock-up:

Vireya is trying to make the whole quilt without cutting any fabric from her stash - just using scrap pieces left over from other projects. As she was packing up her sewing room she found a few such pieces she had forgotten about. For example, the sashing fabric in the above photo is actually the assembly instructions printed on a toy panel Vireya made up years ago.

We had some fun playing with different ways the blocks could be arranged.

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 13th October. See you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 22nd September, 2014

Today Debbie showed us that she sometimes does hexagons too:

Here are a few sitting on a magazine ad for a quilt kit. But did Debbie buy the kit, or is it just her inspiration? Someone should have taken notes. Either way, they are cute hexagons! The website mentioned in the ad seems to be defunct, though, so it seems the kit isn't available any more.
Today Debbie was stitching another humorous saying for her Truly Aussie quilt (designed by Helen Stubbings):

Glennys has been assembling her My Blue Heaven quilt (designed by Therese Hylton):

There is another section still to be to be joined to the bottom of this one. We've seen lots of these blocks being stitched in our meetings, so it's lovely to see them all together!

Marilyn joined us and brought along this intriguing "folding cube" which her sister made:

As you open it up different fabrics are displayed,

and different configurations:

There are cubes of foam inside. We don't know if Marilyn's sister used a pattern, but there are instructions for making a wooden version covered with photos on this site:
http://www.chicaandjo.com/2008/05/08/magic-folding-wooden-photo-cubes/
You could probably adapt the photo instructions if you wanted to make a fabric version. It is meant to be a baby toy, but it is quite fun for adults as well.

Marie has two sets of hexagons joined for the sides of the bag she is working on:

There are a few more hexagons to add, then these pieces will be appliquéd to the body of the bag.

Sorry for the very brief report, but I only popped in to take the photos and couldn't stay to participate. I hope the rest of the attendees had a lovely afternoon together!

Our next meeting will be next week, on 29th September, as there are five Mondays this month.  See you again then!