Cooler Quilting

The rainy season has brought with it some cool breezes and the sewing machines have been ramping it up. Nothing idle about any of these women here in Singapore.
Tuesdays are gathering speed as well and there are new members, some leaving, some planning to leave. ANZA quilting is an ever movable feast!

New member Wendy is working on a panel with interesting design and colours. We are enjoying her travel tales as she has come to us via Tanzania so has been able to share some unique stories and experiences.

Elizabeth's version

Kaffe pattern

Elizabeth is a very experienced quilter and has some great skills to teach in terms of a getting a professional finish to all her quilts. She has a lot of information that she is happy to share so ask her if you are stuck. She is very generous with her time. Here for show and tell she was able to explain to us the Kaffe Fasset pattern quilt that she was able to work on in a Kaffe workshop and with the help of the man himself, she was able to produce a colourful and intriguing quilt. Her own version above showed that she was able to play with colour and we all admired her effort and the melding of fabrics and colour combinations.

Bridget is working on  a soft pastel quilt and it embodies some old fashioned and interesting fabrics.

She is our quiet achiever and we would all like to see some more of her work to showcase here.  

 The block of the month series is coming along well. In the first of our profiles, Carole has been busy and has completed 8 of the 21 blocks that is in this folk art series. It has been fun for her to try a genre that she was not familiar with, forces her to be creative and has been a very relaxing exercise. Choosing fabrics has been the most fun though and her collection grows weekly.

Janice has been missing in action lately but has not be idle. Here she showcases an amazing Jinney Beyer design, all done by hand and with an assortment of fabrics that while under construction looked "unusual" to say the least. Suddenly POW, it became an absolute visual delight. Way to go Janice.

Plenty more where all of this has come from. Will share more soon. Remember first Tuesday of the month is show and tell...bring along your work for admiration and discussion.

Meanwhile, some members have been interested in where some of our members get their fabrics. There are of course local shops here in Singapore and lots of members are very supportive. Names and locations are listed in this blog for everyone's reference and support is encouraged. There are also some favourite on line shops from all over the world and some members have had success and are very pleased with their purchases. As a chance to explore what is available, hyperlinks are listed below. Remember that overseas postage can inflate the purchase price but there are still deals and specials that may make it worthwhile.

 Local online shop Needle and Thread which

is listed on the Tab at the top of the blog.

Excellent prices and great service from Magdalene.

Alison's favourites from Australia:

Ballarat Patchwork http://ballaratpatchwork.com.au/

Great selection of modern fabrics and lots of good Aussie patterns too

Millrose Cottage (Ballan, Vic) http://www.millrosecottage.com.au/

HUGE ranges of fabric and patterns, plus wools. Definitely worth a

visit if you are in Victoria

Amite (Gardenvale, Melbourne) http://www.amitie.com.au/

Big range of Liberty. Great modern fabrics. Awesome patterns.

Really fun fabric and stash clubs

USA

Hawthorne Theads http://www.hawthornethreads.com/

Great ranges and very competitive prices. Excellent shipping and service.

Regular newsletters and weekly giveaways. ( use them A LOT!)

Fat Quarter Shop http://www.fatquartershop.com/

Big range of fabric. Good prices. Excellent customer service.

Regular newsletters and competitions. Used them a lot - never had a problem.

eQuilter http://www.equilter.com/

Great fabrics - big range of batiks, Japanese etc.

Huge range of magazines and books

Excellent customer service

Sometimes has free shipping to USA and half-price to everywhere else.

Luana does a lot for charity.  A percentage of your bill is donated to your

nominated charity.   Never had a problem ordering here

Quilt Home http://quilthome.com/

Great range of fabrics

Excellent customer service

Weekly newsletter and giveaways

Great weekly specials - usually 25% off a particular designer or range

Good to deal with

Marg's favourite

https://www.google.com.sg/search?q=batiks+plus&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari

Some of Carole's favourites are from eBay USA. They include

Maintained by: jordansoforegon ( 20812)
			Pre-cut patchwork kits and fabric. Log Cabin pieces precisely cut, coordinated and ready for you to sew. Bali Batik from Hoffman, Robert Kaufman Asian. Bali Pops, Jelly Rolls, 5 inch squares. Beautiful quilt store quality cotton prints. Jo Morton, Pandolph, Quilting Treasures, RJR, Anthology Batik

			Maintained by: caligal-stitches ( 7317)
			Welcome! Thanks for visiting! Shop here for a wide selection of fabric: quilt-shop cotton, minky chenille, oilcloth vinyl, decorator fabric, poly-cotton prints, as well as quilting tools, sewing trims, books, etc. Shipping from Sunny Southern California.

Also frequented by a few of us:

www.gloriouscolor.com

Great prices on Kaffe Fasset and Westminster and Rowen fabrics



Finally for your quilting enjoyment. A few funnies from Rhonda.

We all know UFO's and FQ's

Try googling quilt acronyms, and you'll find some like these:
(Not so familiar, but very clever)


HSY Haven't Started Yet

PHD Project Half Done (yes - we all have PHD's behind our names!!!)

WIM Work In Mind

WIVSP Work in Very Slow Progress

TOAD Trashed Object Abandoned in Disgust

PIG Project In Grocery bag

USO Unstarted Object

STASH Special Treasures All Secretly Hidden (!!!)

SABLE Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy


And two favourites...

FART Fabric Acquisition Road Trip ( so can we call previous trips Old farts???)

WOMBAT Waste Of Money Batting And Time

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... 

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.