Friday, October 26, 2012

Birthday Blocks

Some of the ladies have been busy working on a block of the Month:

Here is Donna's teapot block:



Elizabeth also bought in her quilt to show:

Aren't the colours fabulous!

This week Marianne is celebrating her birthday and on Tuesday they presented her with the birthday blocks they had made in black, white and red.

Thank you ladies for such beautiful blocks!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Quilters in Singapore Lunch 2012


















It's that time of year again when quilters living in Singapore gather to share lunch and craft.
It was quite a large turn out, with lots of interesting stalls, including a tatting demonstration!  This year there was no judging so the pressure was off. Instead, entrant's names were put in a hat and many won great prizes from the sponsors. 

Martina did a great job.
Everyone who attended received a generous goody bag!
Elizabeth drew the winning ticket for the charity quilt that she had donated this year.
                                                                     Here's the lucky winner.                                                                                                                         
Here's some of the entries from ANZA...
Kirsten



Kate                                                                                               
Marianne



Roslyn
Carol
Outside inspiration...
One from the British Club, I imagine!
This quilt was beautiful.
And finally...
Speeches were made and flowers and prizes were given, the food was good and all-in-all it was a great day!
P.S. Kate is wearing a jacket made from a quilt.









Monday, October 15, 2012

Lots of Colour!

















As beautiful as Singapore is, sometimes you can feel a little 'greened' out! So its great to head off to ANZA quilters for a little colour injection. 






Marianne demonstrated  that her flair for colour is not limited to quilting and dyeing fabrics.In her self made skirt the vibrant fabric is perfectly balanced by the black panel. Great look. Very cute baby's quilt too.











































Now I couldn't be more impressed with this quilt. The colours are so cheerful and there's no holes (my term for when a colour blurs with the background), but also, the quilting is so meticulous. Jesse, a new member, welcome!, used the embroidery hoop on her machine, and incredible patience, to create an effect that was well worth the effort.

Finally this quilt can see the light of day. After months of sewing the octagons, (yes hexagons would have been a lotttt easier) the maker banished this quilt to the cupboard, but  can now face it. Some good examples of the 'holes' I mentioned earlier.  I'm not being mean, it's mine!

And finally...

A lot of us are off to the 'Quilters of Singapore' lunch tomorrow. Great to spend time with other fabric lovers and see what the rest of the quilting community has been up to this year. Kate is modelling Elizabeth's charity quilt! Kate and Alison have contributed a lot of effort to making the lunch a success and we thank them.

So there are many vibrant colours to be found in Singapore, and, to be honest, being surrounded by greenery is a great way to live!


Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Beautiful Quilt for a friend

Technorati Tags: ,
Kathy I. and one of her friends, recently made this beautiful quilt from many different types of Japanese fabric.  Lots of different methods were used and some lovely sashiko quilting as well. 

It was made to comfort a friend during her illness.  We are sure she will treasure it.

holiday2012 270 holiday2012 272

holiday2012 273 holiday2012 274

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Chocolate is Chocolate...or not

We all know that Quilters generally love chocolate....and being part of such a diverse group of international intellectuals, there is often much discussion as to which country has the best certain brand dairy milk chocolate.

Vicki organised the challenge....everyone who visited different countries over the summer was to bring back a block of the aforementioned brand and we would do a blind taste test.

Samples arrived from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Brazil, Philippines, Singapore, Chile and maybe one other?

Some of the samples.....

 

 
The judges would like to point out that the tasting team were from many nationalities. 
 
 
 
Is it a surprise then that the sample from Australia was voted the best? It will be to those from the UK! 
 
 
 

 

Quilters In Singapore Exhibition 2012

Come one, come all, to the Quilters In Singapore Exhibition and lunch...

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Reporting Live From...

Thought I'd do this post in the middle of a tuesday meeting. The noise level is pretty high, which is a good thing...   lots of happy conversation.

Where were we...
Oh yes quilting.
Quite a few people are industriously working at their BOMs. Here's a snapshot.
Some people are so quick and efficient at appliqué, and then there's others...
But we are all enjoying it in our own way. Others are mass producing Christmas coasters!
Someone just said, 'thank goodness these walls are soundproof'. So I think I'll sign off and concentrate on the conversation - if I dare!

Bye for now... 





Thursday, August 23, 2012

Christmas - already?

Quick post...
At our last gathering Alison talked about making Christmas coasters for an end of year Christmas party. My version is pictured, but as long as they are Christmassy, let your creativeness flow! They are easy to make - for this type just google 'criss cross coasters' and you will find a good pattern. I found that they hold their shape better with some all over quilting (the pattern doesn't suggest this). There is also a version using strips - Elizabeth can direct you to that pattern. It would be great if we could all make about...... 10 each (5? 20? a few!) The finished size for these coasters was 4in x 4in, but an extra 1/2 inch all round is good too.

Happy coasting...

Monday, August 13, 2012

50 Kinds of Heat!


Keep cool and Quilt on......... It's the hottest time of the year in Singapore, so not really the best time to rest a large quilt on your lap for some hand quilting! Luckily there are smaller projects to occupy us and thank goodness for air conditioners! So, apart from perspiring, what are the ANZA Quilters up to?





Here is the first Block of the Month designed by Elizabeth. Lots of scope to play with colours and fussy cutting. We can also use the tip from a few months ago  where foil is used to create crisp circles. Patterns and instructions are kindly supplied by Elizabeth during Tuesday meetings.










Kate was busy basting this superb quilt that looks even better in real life. She will now hand quilt it, using a frame - on a stand to keep the heat away!
























In between creating BOMs Elizabeth has embarked  upon the journey of creating her version of the pictured quilt. Always fun to make the very first cut into a fabric for a new quilt.





Little tip...



Who'd have thought? When blades get blunt, fold up a piece of tin foil (about 4 layers) and start slicing through, over and over. It really does prolong the life of a blade. 

Something completely different...
Thanks Roslyn for your 'Singapore Inspiration' photo. Keep them coming.

PS. Anyone who'd like there finished quilts or even works in progress featured, please bring them to tuesday meetings. It's great to show them off! Alison and Chris are happy to take photos, you can even email your own photos to us.



Tuesday, July 17, 2012

You Can't Hide!

Ok girls. Holidays are over. Time to get back to quilting, cos we miss you, and we are making plans..... without you! Having said that, there was actually a small but lively group of us in attendance at Ye Olde Holland Club today.  The Dutch influence is slowly infiltrating as many of us opted for the Pea Soup from  quite a varied menu. But I digress...


The Plan.
Since we all enjoyed making the farewell blocks and also admired the Crazy Birds quilts, Elizabeth proposed that we initiate an ANZA Quilter's Block of the Month drive. She is happy to introduce a design we could all turn into individual masterpieces that can be shared/ shown off/ hidden form view (if we see how good everyone else's is!) once a month. It's a good way to learn new skills, as some of our more experienced quilters have offered to help the more sewingly challenged. What does everyone think? Bring your views along next week.


Now For Some Colour Therapy...


Feeling lacklustre? I like to blast my eyes with happy fabric, feel good moments. Here's some complementary examples from our members' works in progress.
First up we have Kate, who's great sense of colour we all know and love.
Here's a pretty one from our new member, (welcome!) Patty.
Some impressive blocks form Elizabeth.
A lovely idea - husband and wife handprints (pun intended!) forever joined on a quilt.
The beginnings of some black and white coasters (just for balance).

And now for something completely different...

Romance in Singapore. What a lovely surprise to chance upon a heart flower created by an anonymous Singaporean in the Botanic gardens.  Sweet!

Bye for now...