Quilters' Circle - 29th February, 2016

It's a bonus fifth Monday, and a bonus leap day! And the first meeting report since our regular reporter moved to the country. Today she made the trip to the "big smoke" because it was such a unique day.

Debbie has taken on a very interesting project this year. It is a "block of the day" quilt, meaning that there are 365 blocks. (Although this year that should be 366, shouldn't it?) It's That Town and Country Quilt,  designed by Susan Claire of Gourmet Quilter. Details here. Debbie has been keeping up with the schedule, and has these blocks assembled already:

She also has a very organised folder with sleeves for each pattern. Here are a couple she worked on today:

And look at the great tin she has her threads etc stored in:

Marie today was adding some new hanging loops to a wall-hanging:

We have seen this piece before, but it is worth looking at again:

It is based on a design by Rosemary Penfold, Quilt for a Hot Night. Marie used scraps of many fabrics that have meaning for her. Here's a couple of close-up views:

The new loops will allow Marie to hang the quilt differently in her home.

Vireya brought along a couple of projects to show us. The first is the latest Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, Allietare:

The mystery ran during November and December. Vireya chose colours based on the view from her new sewing room.  This piece is only a top at present, but Vireya also brought along a completed quilt she made in a Craftsy class, Continuous Line Quilting, taught by Ann Petersen:

Today she worked on her current English paper-piecing project:

She is using a design by Lies Bos-Varkevisser of the Netherlands, called Kosmosstoff.

There will be no meetings in March, unfortunately, due to the Labour Day holiday and Easter. So our next meeting will be on the 2nd Monday in April, the 11th.

Quilters' Circle - 26th October, 2015

In the last report, I suggested that there might not be one of this meeting, but as you can see, I was wrong!

Four quilters attended our meeting. Debbie worked on her lovely applique project:

and showed us the start she has made on quilting her Christmas quilt:

She is hand-quilting, using a "Thimble Lady" quilting hoop:

Glennys is able to walk around and drive again, which she is very happy about. But she is still working on hand-sewing projects, including this embroidered Christmas bunting:

Here's a couple of close-ups:

The pennants will be stung together with strips of Christmas fabric. Lovely!

Marie has finished constructing the top of the mystery quilt she showed us the beginnings of last time:

It's very striking! I forgot to ask if others doing the mystery have already got the final instructions, so I hope this photo didn't spoil anyone's surprise.

Today Marie continued sewing down the binding on her baby quilt:

And she wasn't alone, because Vireya was also sewing down binding:

She has to get hers finished by Thursday, as she has entered this quilt in the Ballaarat Quilters' Exhibition next weekend:

(The pattern is Story-Time Stars, designed by Bonnie Hunter.) Based on how far Vireya got round the quilt today, she estimates another 7 hours of binding sewing, and then an hour or so of sewing on a hanging sleeve. Looks like a busy few days ahead!

Our next meeting is in two weeks, on the 9th November. Perhaps we will see you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 12th October, 2015

It is October already! The year is nearly over.

Debbie is appliqueing the stems, with beautiful tiny stitches:

on the lovely block we saw last time:

She started the block in a class with Irene Blanck. It looks like it will keep her busy for a while.

You may remember that last time Glennys couldn't join us. Today she came along and showed us all the hand-piecing she has been doing while recuperating:

Lots of blocks finished!

She has plans to make a few more before she is done. Here's the current one under construction:

Hexagons looking good! We enjoyed seeing all this work, but we do hope your ankle will be 100% again soon, Glennys.

Glennys' grand-daughter Matilda joined us again. Today she worked on a present for her father's birthday. She carefully stitched his initial over the line:

And when she was finished stitching, Glennys put her work into a frame:

Lovely!
Matilda has also been doing some machine stitching, trying out some of the stitches on Glennys' machine. She brought this piece along for show-and-tell:

She is a clever girl. We all enjoy seeing a young person interested in handcrafts. And after all her work, she relaxed with some colouring-in:

Marie brought along a new project for her show-and-tell:

It is a mystery quilt being run in another group she attends. This is one block, and below are a whole bunch of them:

It isn't a mystery to Marie, as her teacher gave her all the instructions. But we won't say what they become in case one of her classmates is reading this.

Today Marie stitched down the binding on her lovely baby quilt we saw quilted last time:

She is about half-way round, so it won't be long before the quilt is given to the baby she made it for.

Vireya made it to the meeting, but didn't have any sewing with her. She talked about her new house. She now lives about 120kms away, so may not be able to attend meetings very often. If no-one else takes up the job of writing these reports, future updates may be sparse.

The next meeting will be in two weeks, on the 26th of October. You might have to come along if you want to see what everyone has been doing!

Quilters' Circle - 28th September, 2015

Apologies for the missing meeting report. Fortunately today we have some photos for you!

Glennys couldn't join us, though. Perhaps she did some hand-stitching at home, and thought of us? If you are reading this, Glennys, we hope you will be back on both feet soon!

Since our last report, Marie has quilted her baby quilt:

Today she was running in some ends:

And here's a close-up of some of her quilting:

With only the binding to go, this quilt is nearly completed.

Vireya has completed all nine blocks of the Zoo Animals BOM designed by Kristy @ Quiet Play:

Lots of cute blocks! But she is not ready to assemble the quilt, as she is planning to add some more blocks to the menagerie. Vireya also showed us her new phone cover, which is a bit quilt-like:

Her previous cover broke when she dropped the phone, so she is glad the cover was there to protect it.

Debbie recently did a needle-turn class with Irene Blanck of Focus on Quilts. This is the piece she started in the class:

Beautiful fabrics! And lots of needle-turn to do before it is finished.

Speaking of needle-turn reminded us of the Quilters' Circle block Joy made for the Neighbourhood House quilt in 2007. So we went and took a photo of the block as a reminder:

Beautiful work by Joy!

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 12th October. Happy sewing until then!

Quilters' Circle - 31st August, 2015

It's the last day of winter, but spring is definitely in the air!

Glennys added a couple of finishing touches to a cute cloth book for a baby:

The pages are calico with overlocked edges. The book closes with a tab with a press-stud. Glennys has made several of these books, and each is unique. She saves bits of appropriate fabrics, and creates themed pages:

Notice the little bell attached to the music page:

What a cute gift for a baby!

Once the book was complete, Glennys did some English paper-piecing:

Marie appliqued some dots:

Vireya made another star for her English paper-piecing project:

And here it is done:

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on the 14th of September. See you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 24th August, 2015

Our special visitor today was Glennys' 5-yr-old grand-daughter, Matilda, who brought along her own sewing:

She is doing a great job with her cross-stitch, isn't she? Glennys helps by marking with a disappearing marker where Matilda should put the needle in for her next stitch.

Debbie continued blanket-stitching around her nativity scene:

Glennys showed us this project she has started, using scraps and an interesting dresden plate technique:

 The pattern is Paradiso, from MoonShine by Monica Poole. However, today Glennys worked on perhaps the most unusual project we have seen:

Minotaur horns! They will be attached to a cap for her grand-son to wear to a Greek Mythology book-week event. Glennys is a champion, as she was given only a day or two of notice that the costume was needed. Which left us all wondering how families where no-one can sew manage to come up with costumes?

Marie stitched down binding:

on this lovely baby quilt:

We last saw this project when it was just some blocks back in June. It has come together beautifully.

Vireya removed paper from the most recent of her Zoo Animals blocks:

It's a monkey. Here are all the blocks so far:

There is only one remaining in the block-of the-month pattern from Quiet Play, although Vireya is planning to extend the quilt with some blocks from another Quiet Play pattern.

This month has five Mondays, so our next meeting is only a week away. See you then!