Quilters' Circle - 13th April, 2015

School holidays are over, so there were more people at the house and on the roads today.

Glennys has completely assembled the top of her My Blue Heaven quilt (designed by Therese Hylton):

It looks great all together! But after assembling it she noticed that some of the embroidery was missing from one block, so today she worked on that.

Here's a close-up of Marie's latest project:

And the full picture:

The young girl this one is for is sure to love it. We all enjoyed finding little surprises in the fabrics. Today Marie was stitching down the binding. She already has her next project lined up - a baby quilt for her neighbours. She is a busy quilter!

Vireya now has four completed Zoo Animals blocks:

Today she worked on an applique kit she was given many years ago:

Unfortunately the Vliesofix has separated from its backing because it is so old, so ironing these pieces down will be a bit tricky.

Debbie showed us this lovely bag she made some time ago:

The pattern from Chandler's Cottage is called Japanese Lunch Bag. Debbie's is completely hand-sewn, and features embroidered panels. She actually did use it for taking her lunch to work.
Today Debbie completed the stitching around this sheep:

He is part of a nativity scene.

So that's it for this meeting. Our next meeting is in two weeks, on 27th April. See you then!

Quilters' Circle - 30th March, 2015

Welcome back to another meeting of the Quilters' Circle. We had a very quiet meeting today, probably because the school holidays meant people had other commitments.

Debbie showed us this work in progress:

This is the background, but there is lots of applique to be added to it. The pattern is from a book called Everyday Angels in Extraordinary Quilts, by Mary Lou Weidman. Here's how the quilt will look when finished:

Very cute!

Marie finished the binding on the third of the community quilts she has worked on, and told us she has been given another of the embroidered pieces she used in the centre of each of them. So we will be seeing another of Marie's amazing creations in weeks to come!

Marie also showed us an unfinished kit that a friend found at a school fete and bought for her. The kit is for a small quilt with six house blocks. Here is the one house which has been partially assembled:

And here's the rest of the fabric for the quilt:

You can see where some of the pattern pieces have been traced onto the fabric for the next little houses.

Vireya spent a some time trying out this Clover yo-yo flower maker:

It looks as if this fabric was a bit stiff to give a good result, but it is worth trying again with something softer.

Vireya also showed us the third of the Zoo Animals BOM by Kristy at Quiet Play, which is a polar bear. Here's all three of the blocks so far, laid out on a potential sashing fabric:

There are another 6 months of patterns to go.

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

Quilters' Circle - 23rd March, 2015

We were saddened today to hear that Marie's mother passed away last week. Our heartfelt condolences to her, and best wishes for her trip to Sydney for the funeral this week.

Today Debbie worked on the star blocks for her "Truly Aussie" quilt:

By the end of the meeting she'd made this much progress:

She has twelve more blocks to make. All the pieces are prepared, ready to sew:

We are all awed by her hand-piecing skill!

Glennys blanket-stitched around a bunny rug made of some very cute fabric:

There are two new arrivals she is sewing blankets for. She showed us all the lovely fabrics she has chosen but unfortunately we didn't get a picture of them.

Marie worked on the binding of the third of the community quilts she has made.

The previous two are in the last two meeting reports. Scroll down to see them. All three are beautiful.

On the weekend, Vireya attended an amazing exhibition of Japanese quilts in Ballan. She brought the catalogue along, although the photos in it didn't do the quilts justice.

Vireya showed us her "Wild and Goosey" blocks:

They are foundation paper-pieced. The pattern is by Bonnie Hunter, and can be downloaded from the QuiltMaker magazine website here.

As there are five Mondays this month, it is only a week until our next meeting. See you then!

Quilters' Circle - 23rd February, 2015

While a thunderstorm rumbled away outside, we stayed dry inside and stitched.

Debbie is making more hourglass units, which will form the points of Ohio Star blocks:

Some in progress above, and finished ones below.

Marie is stitching the binding on another community quilt:

And here's the front:

Isn't it fantastic? This is the second quilt Marie has created built around a stitched panel. See the first one in our previous meeting report. And look, she has already begun putting a third one together:

Here's a closer view of some of the "square in a square" owls for the next border:

Very cute!

Vireya is stitching up the last few seams for her Flowerball quilt (designed by Geta Grama):

Six short seams and it will be done!

Here's how the whole thing looks now from the front:

Now she needs to decide on the background.

It is a whole month until our next meeting, due to the Labour Day holiday. We'll be back here on 23rd March. See you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 9th February, 2015

It is a long time since our last meeting, so there was lots of catching up to do today, and some progress on projects to show and tell about!

Debbie has completed all the stitchery parts of her Truly Aussie quilt (designed by Helen Stubbings).

That's just a small selection of the blocks. You will see that she has added borders to the blocks. Now she is making stars which are part of the same quilt. You can see a couple of completed ones in the photo above, and here's the one she was hand-piecing today:

Glennys started putting together a new EPP (English paper piecing) block today:

Marie has finished piecing and quilting the quilt we saw in progress at the last meeting:

Today she was stitching down the binding.

Marie told us of a workshop she did with Dijanne Cevaal, making "tifaifai" (Polynesian word for applique). Here are her class samples:

She also received a copy of Dijanne's new self-published book, Musing in Textile: France, which has beautiful photos of Dijanne's life and work in France.

At our last meeting Vireya was working on the second step of the Bonnie Hunter mystery, Grand Illusion. Since then she has completed the full top:

Vireya has started a paper-foundation-pieced "block of the month" called Zoo Animals, designed by Kristy at Quiet Play. Here is January's flamingo, and February's penguin:

You can download a new animal each month from links on the Quiet Play website.


Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 23rd February. See you then!

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!