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

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

Quilt Museum, York UK

When I was home recently I managed to find an afternoon to go and visit the recently opened Quilt Museum and Gallery. It is situated in the spectacular medieval guildhall of St Anthony in Peasholme Green, York, and is home to The Quilters' Guild of the British Isles (which I must join) and its world-famous Heritage Quilt Collection. It was a freezing day so I was very grateful to get in and see the lovely quilts which make you feel all warm and cosy and almost ready for the 3C outside.

Unfortunately, you couldn’t take photos but if you follow the link to the website www.quiltmuseum.org.uk you will get an idea of the type of work they do and exhibits they have. The guild is having a Little Gems' Quilt Tombola at The Birmingham Quilt Festival in Birmingham – there is a link on the right hand side on the home page. The Birmingham festival is THE festival in the UK and Sue Kirley and I both went last year and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who happens to be in the UK 20 – 23^rd August. All you have to do is produce an A4 quilt that they can use to raise money for charity. I was tempted to enter until I looked at the quality of some of the ones they have already received! Maybe it’s something we could do ourselves – have a competition and silent auction?

Janice

QUILT SHOW IN BIRMINGHAM

Here are some photos that Janice has sent from the Birmingham Quilt show. She'll add some info on them when she comes back.

Birmingham Festival of Quilts August 2008

After the fantastic show in Tokyo last year, I really didn’t know what to expect despite knowing that this is one of the largest shows in Europe. Well I wasn’t disappointed! Having persuaded a friend to join me who is a lapsed quilter who learnt in the States, I was relieved to see that European quilting is alive and thriving and is not restricted to the old fashioned patchwork I remembered.

These are a few trends I noticed at the festival – Sue went the day after me and it will be interesting to see what she thought. There were a lot of quilts incorporating printed pictures or screen printed images and painting on fabrics used for all or for part of the quilt. Some of the most beautiful quilts were single coloured fabric eg cream with coloured quilting forming the picture and patterns. There were some stunning long armed machine quilting done with coloured threads which I could easily live with (so long as someone else could make them!) Hangings were in abundance and often in 3 pieces. Some pieces incorporated felting and the work of Jacqueline Heinz was just amazing and she even wore some felted and quilted pieces she had made as well as showing the best hangings in the show as far as I was concerned. Unfortunately she doesn’t have a website!! Ricky Tims was there with a variety of his quilts and of course his cowboy hat. Kaffe Fasset was also there but I missed him as there was so much to see.

There were so many workshops to do but as I only had one day I thought I would just look around and of course I didn’t get to see everything by closing time – there isn’t enough time and after a 5am start from home, although the mind was willing, the body was done for at 5pm! The shopping looked good and I found a couple of different things of course but it was a bit short on old Japanese fabric so Betty, Sandra and Miranda would have been disappointed !! Generally I had a great day and my friend has been inspired to tackle her UFOs and try some new ideas so what more could I ask for? Better try and work next year’s holidays around the festival.

Janice

PAST MEMBER WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

QUILT SHOW PHOTOS FROM AUSTRALIA COURTESY OF ex member BETTY KERR

3 MEMBERS ARE IN QUEENSLAND

Courtney is having her baby shower in Queensland this weekend. Invited to the shower is Betty Kerr also a recent past member of ANZA Quilters. Betty won the Singapore Quilt challenge last year with her "Out of the Blue...Steve Irwin Died" quilt where she pieced several thousand 1 inch squares in colour wash of Steve Irwin and a crocodile. Since leaving Singapore Betty has featured Steve in a Quilting magazine in Australia and several State Quilt shows. She is currently working on a banner for a family reunion. Knowing Betty's skills it'll be something to behold. She's promised to send us a photo of the finished product. She has also sent us some phoots from the quilt shows in Brisbane and Melbourne.

Also in Queensland is Lyn McClellan who will be remembered by long term members. Lyn and I are friends (we lived in the same apartment block in Indonesia) where I taught quilting and Lyn helped tremendously to introduce her quilting skills and Knowledge to a group of expats and locals in Jakarta. Lyn is now in Queensland and preparing to head off with her husband on a huge sailing trip to Phuket and Ambon- we're trying to get her to come to Singapore and visit her old quilting group.

SURFING IN SINGAPORE - SEE INTERESTING WEB SITES

The winners of the Sydney Quilt Show 2008:
http://quiltersguildnsw.com/quiltshow/

How to fold quilts on the bias to prevent material damage over time: http://whipup.net/2006/11/13/know-when-and-how-to-fold-em/

How to care for quilts long term:
http://www.lostquilt.com/Storage.html

New Product - Ruler:
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s2287744.htm