December Show & Tell

Better late than never….here are the photos from Show & Tell in December.
Two in One quilts – from Michele.  I think are from Tops & Tails book – Aussie author to be confirmed


The quilts both use the same fabrics and are cut at the same time with two very different results – a great idea!

Next up some Christmas flavour, with Poinsettias from Christina


  
and some Christmas trees, still a work in progress

Maggie has finished an adorable baby quilt

and a close-up of little Sunbonnet Sam
  
and Michele has been super busy with an Eye Spy Disappearing Nine Patch

and lastly, the stunning Winter Wonderland from Christina, an amazing feat in hand applique

Well done everyone. 

See you at our Christmas Party on the 15th!

Block of the Month - Maple Leaf

Our December BOM is the Maple Leaf block.
You can see one here

The blocks should be 12" blocks in "autumnal" colours and we will draw the winner on 08 December.

Wonky Stars Quilts

Finally, here are some pics of the finished quilts we made for the Bushfire appeal in Victoria this year.

The first one was backed, bound and quilted in blue

and a close up

 

The larger quilt was backed, bound and quilted in green

The quilting was done by the wonderful Wendy at Honey Pot Quilting in Bendigo, Victoria. 

October Show & Tell

Nice to have so many people here today and great to have visitors Loretta and Matthew, (Claudette's son') who helped her bring over suitcases and belongings as they are staying here for a while before leaving Singapore - in between cruises and trips to China of course.  Then we welcomed back Rosemary after all these months and what an entrance she made, tripping over the threshold in her eagerness to be back.  Fortunately with a pharmacist and doctor on hand she was soon mended and enjoying catching up with everyone.
Show and tell yielded some beautiful, diverse work.  Maurine had a cloth designed by her and made by Christina I think at the Henderson Home.  Elizabeth had a beautiful cushion (for her daughter?) complete with lovely little cat button.  Christina had a block of the month quilt that she had had quilted in the States on a computerised machine.  It is beautiful and she had been able to have a lot of input into the design which is always nice.  Maggie’s applique quilt was quilted in Indonesia with variegated thread and they have done a fantastic job incorporating stems and insects and drawing together something that we have seen evolve over the last few months.
We are all getting excited about the Quilt Challenge so don’t forget to buy your ticket and raffle tickets and fill in the entry forms if you haven’t already done so.

Lunch/High Tea

We enjoyed a “High Tea” which is really lunch, at the Shangri La Hotel’s Rose Veranda to say farewell to Melinda who is leaving us and heading to Shanghai with her family. Lots of yummy food, 102 different teas to choose from and a scrumptious dessert buffet.  Best wishes for your new adventures Melinda – we’ll miss you and your wonderful classes – and we look forward to hearing about the quilting and fabric opportunities in China.

New - Block of the Month Lucky Draw

We've started a Block of the Month Lucky Draw.  First draw is October and the theme is anything Christmas.  Blocks should be 8" (8 1/2" unfinished) and any technique.  Each block you contribute equals one entry in the Lucky Draw to win all the blocks for that month.   The winner will then choose theme for the next Lucky Block Draw.

September Show & Tell

Thanks to Michele for hosting today. For those of us living at ground level it was a novelty to watch the big tropical storm from up high!  The rain was so heavy, we stayed and watched quilting videos – what a treat.
Get Well wishes to Miranda – we hope your recovery is swift and also to Kathy who we hope is out and about again soon.
The first pic is Michele and her Eye Spy quilt for one of her grandsons.
and a close-up

then some of Michele’s nine-pach blocks, intended for a Disappearing Nine Patch quilt design, also in Eye Spy fabrics.
Christina made this stunner from a pattern which was a Mystery Quilt pattern.  She machine quilted it herself on a long-arm machine, which you can “rent” for the job at shops in the US.  What a great idea!
and another one
It really has been SOOO hot and we haven’t had any rain for a while, so when it hit today, the temperature plummeted to about 26c and some of us felt Quite Cold!

Show & Tell August 2009

Wow. We have been busy this month.
First up is the Group Crazy Quilt we have put together, which will be raffled at the upcoming Quilters’ Lunch & Show in Singapore in October.
The top was made with lots of donated fabrics which each of the members made over the past year.  It has been tied, rather than quilted.
Next is a quilt which Dal has for sale to raise funds for her African charity.  The top was donated to her and she had it professionally machine-quilted by Desley (Addicted to Quilts) in Melbourne.

Melinda has made this lovely quilt with bright, modern fabrics.  Not sure what she has planned for this one?

Lorraine has made the gorgeous “Owl Bag”.  How cute is this ??

Lastly, Melinda has made this beautiful Sampler Quilt, which she’s teaching at one of her classes.

Victorian Quilters Showcase

In amongst the shoppping, galleries and lots of eating out, Alison managed to visit the major Quilt Show of the year last weekend in Melbourne.

Here's the link to all the winners -
http://www.victorianquilters.org/index.php?act=viewDoc&docId=4

Mini Workshop

Thanks to Miranda for hosting today and also giving us a demonstration of a different technique for a quilt-as-you-go project.

As requested, here are some recipes for recent cakes we have enjoyed!

APRICOT & PRUNE LOAF

1/2 cup dried apricots - chopped; 1/2 cup prunes - chopped; 1 cup sultanas; 2 tablespoons butter - melted; 2 cups SR flour; 1 cup brown sugar; 1 cup boiling water; 1 egg - beaten;

Mix together well. Bake in loaf tin at 180C for approx 45 mins.

LEMON OR ORANGE DRIZZLE CAKE

6oz margarine; 6oz caster sugar; 3 eggs; 12oz SR flour; 2 tablespoons milk; finely grated rind of 2 lemons or oranges;

LEMON OR ORANGE SYRUP – Juice of 2 lemons or oranges; 4 oz sugar

Cream margarine and sugar, beat in eggs one at a time. Fold in flour, add milk and grated rind. Bake in a 20cm round tin, in moderate oven (180c) for 1 hour or until cooked and golden brown. Allow to cool in tin. When almost cool, cut slits in top of cake and “drizzle” with syrup so that it soaks into cake.

To make syrup, mix strained juice with sugar.

ANZA Quilters Reunion

On a recent visit to Victoria, Dal attended a reunion of some former ANZA Quilters group members.
They enjoyed High Tea at Werribee Mansion in Melbourne and even had Show and Tell.

Debbie showed her quilt made from the friendship blocks the Group gave her. She has a photo of the group
in the centre of the quilt.

From left to right :  Helen, Erna, Peta, Debbie and Sarlene.

Show & Tell June

I need more info on this quilt, but do know it was made by Melinda who has donated it to Dal’s African charity. 

 

A FIRST:
This is for Miranda’s & George’s son Brett (who some of you met) who turned 30 in January.  Before starting her Cambridge English Language Teacher’s course –all Miranda could make was a promise, not a quilt. 
Unusually for a guy, Brett was very definite not just about the colours but the tones too.  However despite the huge selection of browns, oranges and chocolate found,  none of the colours were to his liking. So whilst in Melbourne Spotlight, the Gutterman cotton rack was used to select the exact colours/tones.  Then Miranda just carried around 3 cotton reels and scoured every material and quilting shop she knew in Victoria and NSW. On the last day in Australia driving back from her nephew’s farm in Gippsland, she found the exact 3 colours in a little quilt shop in Bairnsdale she’d never noticed before.
Since finishing the course, she machine pieced Brett’s quilt and hand quilted it. Little Mya will be delivering the quilt to Australia for her big brother in these school holidays. 
Maggie encouraged Miranda to attempt her first hand quilting, lent her the quilting table and mentored her through the process.  Brett has not seen it yet, but is sure to  enjoy it in his new home that he moves into the week Mya arrives.

Show & Tell June

The quilt is a wedding present - if I get it finished - for the daughter of a friend of mine. I am calling it the Japanese Chinese wedding quilt.  Both the bride and groom have links with Singapore as their parents lived here so I wanted to make it with a Chinese theme.  So I ended up with Japanese fabric of course!  The centre is not the double happiness that I thought - thanks Maurine - but it is associated with weddings.  Half of the squares are quilted with the eternal meander symbolising yin and yang - again thanks Maurine as I just chose it because it is often on Chinese brocade!  Running out of time the other half of the squares I just quilted on the diagonal.  Now I have the dragonflies of the border to do before it is finished

Janice

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Quilters Guild of NSW Quilt Show

Here is the link to the winners of the show which is on in Sydney this week
http://quiltersguildnsw.com/quiltshow/index.html#best

Wonky Star Block Tutorial

If anyone needs a refresher....you can view a very clear tutorial
here.

How Does this Look?

Quilting Today

We were up high at Judy’s new apartment…..look at the view!

Basting without Pins

Today while tying the charity crazy quilt, we were talking about basting quilts.
The following video shows a method which is used by Sharon Schamber, an American Quilter who has just toured Australia. Click on the link and then the section called "Basting Your
Quilt"

Beautiful Crazy Quilt

We have watched Carmen make this quilt over the past few months for her In-Laws and

Janice was kind enough to hand-deliver it on her recent trip to the UK.

The new owners look very pleased and I am sure it will keep them warm on those chilly English evenings!

Singapore Quilters Challenge 2009

Show & Tell April/May

As the photographer is heading off for a couple of weeks (Janice) we had Show & Tell a week earlier than usual.

First Alison had a quilt for a small boy in retro prints sourced from Australia.

 

And a baby quilt (still a top) made from a small pack of fat 1/8s plus white sashing and borders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, Carmen showed us the finished Crazy quilt she has made for her In-Laws.  We have watched this quilt come together

over the past couple of months and it looks amazing.  Lots of embroidery, beads and buttons have been added which look great.

Not being able to find the pearl buttons she wanted in Singapore,  Carmen has raided her wardrobe and used some from her clothes.  Be careful wearing those any time soon Carmen!

 

 

 

and a close up:

Maurine showed us the cushions she has made with tied & removable covers – a very clever idea.  The ties at the back have a jade ornament which really sets them off well.

Quilting Websites

We had a look today at Quiltville a website belonging to Bonnie Hunter who does lots of scrap and improvisational quilts.  There are also lots of clear tutorials on the site and plenty of inspiration.

 

Anyone who likes miniatures will enjoy this one.  It’s not strictly quilting, but she has possibly used quilting needles and thread while making these exquisite creations -