Quilters' Circle - 28th April, 2014

Welcome to our sixth meeting of the year! We arrived to find this pile of fabrics on the table, a gift from the mixed-media teacher, Tess:

All found new homes, so thank you, Tess!

Several of us have been having sewing machine problems, and no-one had any "show and tell" for us today. But we still had plenty to keep us occupied. Debbie embroidered another saying for her "Truly Aussie" quilt (designed by Helen Stubbings):

Glennys did some embroidery on almost the last block of her "My Blue Heaven" quilt (designed by Therese Hylton):

Only one more block to construct before this long-term project is ready to put together.

Marie prepared hexagons for a new project:

She is using freezer paper templates, which she has ironed to the back of the fabric. The fabrics all feature sewing-related designs. By the end of our session Marie had ten scissor hexagons ready to be stitched together:

Vireya also worked with hexagons, but her templates are printed on thin card. Here's the group of templates she worked on today:

Later she showed us how they will look when attached to another flower she has already assembled:

Only twenty more flowers to make for the "Flower Ball" quilt (designed by Geta Grama).

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on the 12th of May. See you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 14th April, 2014

Only a couple of quilters attended today's meeting. Maybe the beautiful weather outside was too tempting! There was lots of talk about the Australasian Quilt Convention (AQC) which was held over the weekend.

Knitter Dorothea showed us her haul from the AQC:

Most of these patterns and kits were from a Leesa Chandler show bag, but one special one Dorothea won by being able to name Nellie Melba's father!

For show and tell Marie had two quilt tops she has done for a children's charity:

And today she was quilting her green 1,000-pyramids quilt:

You can see a picture of the whole quilt in this blog post.

It was a bit of a green day, today. Vireya was also immersed in greens, sorting fabrics first into a rough light-to-dark arrangement:

Then into five categories:

These will form the leaves between the flowers in Vireya's next project:

Flower Ball, designed by Geta Grama. Here Vireya has used coloured pencils to roughly show the colour and shading she is planning in her quilt, but she has many more shades of fabric than she does of coloured pencils.

Knitter Mary showed us this article from The Age about the Apron Festival in Ballarat on 10-11th May:

She thought we might want to make patchwork aprons to enter into the competition. I don't know that anyone felt they had the time to do that (entries close next Friday), but the exhibition sounds like it could be a fun day out. Details on their website: Apron Festival.

Our next meeting will be on 28th April, two weeks from now. See you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 31st March, 2014

Today was our bonus "fifth Monday" meeting for March. Even though it is only a week since our last meeting, there were a few projects for Show & Tell.

Last November we saw Glennys cutting fabrics for this quilt, and now the top is assembled:

Each of Glennys' grandchildren chose the fabrics for their own quilt. This one looks much nicer in real life than the photo appears. Somehow the aqua colours have been washed out in the photo.

Today Glennys continued blanket-stitching the hems of this fleece rug:

Last week's photo didn't show any of the cute dinosaurs, so this one makes amends.

Debbie brought along a couple of well-aged unfinished quilts to show us. The oldest one is 28 years old. It is beautifully made, and basted ready to be quilted, but too large for Debbie to physically manage the quilting:

Debbie's second sample quilt is 20 years old, and even bigger. This one is queen-sized:

They are both beautifully made, so it is a shame they can't be quilted as they are.

Last time we saw Marie's year quilt was nearly 4 months ago, when she was assembling week 42. Since then she has completed all 52 weeks, and assembled the whole year:

Fantastic!

Marie made this set of coasters as a house-warming present for a friend. We photographed them last time, and now it is safe to publish the photo as they have been given to their new owner.

If you look at the fabrics Marie used, you can get some idea of her friend's interests!

Marie made this colourful quilt top since our last meeting:

You will have to rest your head on your left shoulder to see it the way it was intended. Blogger has decided again that we need to do some neck stretches.

Today Marie finished the binding on the little gril's quilt we saw last time:

Vireya is preparing papers for her next EPP (English paper piecing) project:

Yes, those hexagons do look crooked, but they are meant to be that way. It is part of the 3-D effect of Geta Grama's "Flower Ball" pattern. Someone asked how many pieces there are in the whole quilt, and the answer is 199.

Our next meeting will be in a fortnight, on 14th April. The Australasian Quilt Convention is on the weekend before, so we might have some goodies or inspiration from the show to share next time.

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!