Quilters' Circle - 26th September, 2011

Here it is, the 4th Monday in September already.

We heard the news that Joy has been in hospital since our last meeting, and is still unwell. Joy, we all hope you are feeling better soon!

Julie bought along some hand-quilting to do:

It's a project she has been working on for a while. Each block (and there are 49 of them) takes about 90 minutes to quilt, which means in just a few months of Quilters' Circle meetings, the whole thing will be finished!

Marie showed us these miniature blocks she has made since last time:

She is planning to make them into a bag when she has enough. Today she made this tiny hexagon flower for the next block:

Since our last meeting, Vireya has made and attached the final borders on her quilt of somewhat larger hexagons:

Thanks to the two people holding it up for the photo! (Can you guess who they are?) Today Vireya cut the batting and backing for the quilt, but it needs a good press before it can be basted.

Glennys worked on the appliqué for her "My Blue Heaven" quilt, but had to leave early to go and look after her granddaughter, so we didn't get a photograph of it.

Carol cut some more squares of the quilt she is making for her grandmother, then showed us these bibs she is making:

She is embellishing them with appliqué and decorative machine stitches, then they will be finished with bias binding and velcro fasteners. Very cute!

Carol also showed us the progress she has made with her prairie points on the baby quilt:

They are all attached, and now Carol is up to the binding. Unfortunately none of us have done this sort of finish before, so we couldn't offer any advice about how the corners should be handled. Might have to do a little googling for that one! Meanwhile Isabella kept us entertained by smiling at us. The good news is that she is starting to occasionally sleep almost through the night, much to the relief of her parents!

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on the 10th October.  See you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 12th September, 2011

It's the second Monday of September, so that means it is Quilters' Circle day.

Today we were happy to have Joy back with us, still not feeling 100%, but much better than she has been.  We hope she is even better next time. We also had a lovely surprise when Marilyn arrived! We haven't seen her for quite a while, so it was great to catch up. We missed Julie, who has an assignment due later this week, so is very busy working out how to do footnotes and the like, and Wendy sent her apologies and hopes she can make it next time.

Glennys worked on the binding of this baby quilt she has made for a new arrival in her extended family, and got two sides stitched down.

Joy worked on this hanging which none of us have ever seen before. It's inspired by William Morris's designs:

Lovely!

Carol has started a quilt in autumn tones for her grandmother. Today she managed to cut and arrange some squares one-handed, while holding baby Isabella in her other arm.

That's multi-tasking!

Marilyn showed us this bag her sister made for her a while back. It has lots of room inside, and pockets and zips, and is very handy:

Marilyn's new home is at the frustrating stage when it seems nearly finished, but there are still lots of little jobs; floor coverings to be laid, heaters and kitchen appliances to be installed, and the like. She is really looking forward to moving in and unpacking all her belongings (including her quilting things). Today she worked on this cute little long-stitch teddy bear:

Marie worked on her hand-quilting, and brought along some interesting old quilting magazines that I forgot to photograph. We all enjoyed looking though them.

Vireya spread out her hexagon quilt and showed us how the border might look.

The general consensus is that there needs to be some triangles of the dark-greys and blacks included in the border. But because she is waiting for the optometrist to put new lenses in her glasses, marking dots on the back of the triangles for when she sews them together was about all Vireya could see to do today:

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 26th September. Hope we will see you then!

Quilters' Circle - 29th August, 2011

Today is the fifth Monday in August already. Where has the year gone?

Joy is still unwell and couldn't be with us today. Please get better soon, Joy! We are missing you.

Julie's collection of cute little hexagon flowers is growing. Here's one she made today:

Glennys showed us this quilt top she made for her daughter:

The quilt started at a workshop with Teresa Horsburgh, and is based on Teresa's design Floral Garden. Glennys's fabric choices make a quilt which is very different from the published pattern; in fact Glennys doubts Teresa would recognise it!  Will Glennys hand-quilt it?  She's thinking about it. Today she started appliquéing the 12th block of the My Blue Heaven quilt we have seen a few other blocks of:

Marie worked on some hand-quilting today, and contemplated her next project.

Carol managed to join us, an impressive feat with a five-week-old baby. She was even able to cut a few squares while Isabella was passed around the quilters.

The squares are for making prairie points to go around Carol's baby quilt, which we've seen before but which now has been quilted and is ready for binding:

The camera still doesn't like the lemon yellow colour, so you will just have to believe me that this quilt is lemon and green, not beige and green. The chenille squares add cuddly softness, don't they?

Vireya had to work this morning, then come straight from work so wasn't able to bring along anything to do, but she also is pondering what her next project will be.

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on Monday 12th September. See you then!

Quilters' Circle - 22nd August, 2011

What a beautiful sunny day it was today! And we were inside quilting and chatting and eating cake. But more about that yumminess later...

Richard solved the machine problems he had last time by using a better thread, which his machine was much happier with. Here's how his amazing quilt is progressing:

She had an eye and a mouth by the end of our session. Meanwhile Richard and Ching Ching's son entertained us with his thoughts on mountains, canyons and purple ponds.

Vireya was reminded by the warmth of the sun today that it is nearly time for hat-wearing, so she cut out the pieces of this Nicole Mallalieu Design hat pattern:

Maybe next time she'll bring along that hexagon quilt to show us. Or a completed hat?

Julie sewed these lovely little hexagons together today,

and then had to unsew one of them.  Oops! An easy mistake to make, but perhaps mean of the photographer to snap it before it was fixed.

Wendy entertained us with some photographs of her twin sons' 21st birthday party, which had a steampunk/mad scientist theme. She also brought us some of the cake she made and decorated for the occasion. You can see pictures of the amazing cake and some of the party costumes on Wendy's blog here.

Marie brought along some magazines for us to read, and these notices of up-coming events:

Today Marie was hand-quilting her 1930's baby quilt, which we last saw when it was just a top in June:

The combination of 1930's fabrics and white always looks lovely, doesn't it?

Wendy worked on this sashiko piece. You wouldn't guess that this is the first sashiko stitching she has done!

When she feels she has mastered the sashiko technique, Wendy is planning to make this lovely piece:

It is part of a series of Australian wildflowers designed by Sylvia Pippen, using appliqué and sashiko with some Aboriginal-designed fabric as borders, which can be put together into a stunning quilt. Will Wendy make the whole quilt? Or will the blue orchid be enough?

Our next meeting will be next Monday, 29th August. We hope Joy will be back with us then. And Jenny. And Glennys. And you!

Quilters' Circle - 8th August, 2011

Today was an exciting meeting of the Quilters' Circle. Carol was back, and brought along the best "Show and Tell" ever!

Looks as if the photographer managed to make Isabella a little blurry. (But everything was a little blurry today - see below.) We heard that she isn't always as peaceful as this, but we all wish the proud new parents a wonderful life with their precious daughter.

Leigh told us about her recent trip to tropical Queensland, and brought along this booklet about the Bowen Shire quilt, which she saw on her trip:

Joy worked on her appliqué, but somehow no photos were taken of that.

Richard and Vireya were both machining, but Richard was having some difficulties with his thread, which broke his last needle so his machine was packed up before the camera had a chance to get to him. Vireya's little Lotus wasn't playing up (even if it looks a little blurry...), which she is thankful for, as she is trying to meet a deadline:

Next time we should be able to see a full picture of the project she has been working on since last year.

Julie worked on some English Paper-Pieced hexagons. It's a technique she hasn't tried before, but enjoyed:

She said it was tricky because she hadn't brought the right glasses with her, but the blurriness of this picture can only be blamed on the photographer. In real life, they look great! Julie also showed us her thimbles, which she didn't have with her last time when we took the group thimble shot:

These are both Clover products. The one on the left is made of a soft flexible rubber, and the right-hand one is adjustable.  Forgot to ask which is best, or if they have different strengths.

Glennys worked on the ninth block of her "My Blue Heaven" quilt:

I'm not sure how many blocks there are all together, but 9 sounds as if it should be getting towards the end. How many to go, Glennys?

Marie is hand-quilting her green "thousand pyramids" quilt, which she has titled Into The Forest:

The quilting follows organic, tree-branch lines, although you can't see it in a long-shot like this. We'll have to get a close-up next time.

Our next get-together will be on 22nd August. Happy sewing until then!

Congratulations, Carol!

We have just heard from Carol, who gave us the fantastic news that her daughter Isabella arrived on 21st July!

Congratulations to the new parents, and we are looking forward to meeting the new arrival!

Quilters' Circle - 25th July, 2011

It's the 4th Monday of July, which means the Quilters' Circle met again. We missed a few people. Carol, we especially hope all is well with you!

Richard and Ching Ching didn't forget the date this time. They both brought along their latest projects, and took the chance to spread out and fuse some larger sections. Richard machined some pieces into place on his latest project. The stitching will be covered later with thin bias strips, to give a stained-glass effect.

His machine is so quiet that his slow-and-steady free-motion work was a soothing background noise.

Ching Ching cut out some intricate pieces for her latest project:

Then she contemplated using this lovely batik from Malaysia, which she has had for a while but hasn't wanted to cut in to:

Will she cut it up? Will she put it away again? We'll have to wait and see...

Marie finished hand-quilting her autumn leaves piece, then started pulling out all the basting threads:

And here's how it looked when they were all gone:

Hooray! Now for the binding...

We had a bit of a discussion about thimbles at one stage, so here are some heirlooms and some newer thimbles owned and/or used by some of us:

Joy worked on this lovely appliqué panel:

We welcomed Julie, who came along for the first time. But what was she doing?

Sshh! Don't tell the knitters!

Marie found this wonderful book at the Darebin library.  It was the companion volume to a special exhibition of quilts at the Victoria and Albert Museum last year.

The book is full of information and superb pictures. A quick flick through didn't do it justice.

Next weekend is the Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair, so a few of us will be going along to be inspired and look for supplies. But the next time we will be back at the Neighbourhood House will be the 8th August. Happy sewing until then!