Talking of Christmas...

...here are the pics from our Wednesday Christmas Luncheon held at our local TAFE.

The food was delish, Chicken with some innovative takes on vegies - gotta just love vegies, and different ways of presenting them is always a winner, desert was a choice of Pavlova or Vanilla Panna Cotta with a lovely light sauce and berries. Major yummo.

After we had stuffed our faces, er, sorry, finished our Luncheon, the fun began, courtesy of Lorraine.
Each of our groups  'office holders' got a gift from Santa, (of course if was from Santa, it's Christmas! and it's a rule!)
However, Santa did have a couple of helpers, Ailsa with her bag of goodies,

 and Sue, who just couldn't wait to wear her special 'Santa Hat' with her basket of choccies and lollies which she spread with great and gay abandon.

Gotta love that bobbling pom-pom!


Then there were special gifts for the Gals who have worked hard to keep our group running so smoothly throughout the year.  The gifts mirrored the jobs these great ladies have done for our group  and a little trinket is just a token of our appreciation, a BIG THANK YOU, to you all, and I know these gifts have gone straight to the 'Pool Room' in your Castles.

Fran, for her beautiful smiling face and grace, you greet all newcomers with calm and friendship, Fran received a 'Happy Face' made from lollies.

And of course a special pressie for Sheila for all of her hard work and guidance being our group leader this year and for accepting the challenge of being leader for the next year, especially as it is a Quilt Show year and all the extra work that entails.

 Sheila, unwrapping her gift of a Layer Cake, we're all looking forward to seeing her creation from these special fabrics.
 
Heather is our Miss Moneybags (Treasurer) so of course what better than gold coins

Pat recently became our Assistant Treasurer and oversaw the gathering of the $$$'s at the Christmas Fair (One of Heathers rellies decided to get married!   on fair day!   can you imagine!)
so of course more gold coins had to be found.

I believe it was a great wedding and everyone had fun.  We survived beautifully thanks to Pat, and we do wish the happy couple a long and prosperous marriage.

 For some strange reason, and I know you will be equally mystified, Marcia unwrapped a wooden spoon.

Marcia, you have been wonderful as our Management Committee representative.  Bringing us the news and views but mainly the difficult task of putting forward our case to the Committee, you do a great job.

Santa gave Ailsa a coffee cup full of nibblies, I guess that is for backup if someone misses the fact that they are on arvo tea roster?  -  or maybe she and her darling had a special cuppa to celebrate a job very well done.

Lorraine, as our hard working sekretari, got a pencil, not a pen, (you can rub out a pencil - hee hee ) and a ? shiny long thing.
but the really confusing thing is, Sue and Marie got one too!- shiny long thing that is..

Wadda you think? same? different?

Sue works very hard for our group in various positions and this year took over the storing and packing of toiletry bags for the Mums and Kiddies looked after by Najidah.  Currently her home is being over run by products.  Now that's dedication!

Marie is our Workshop co-ordinator, she always has some great in-house workshops (which means she really does pay attention to the work done by the rest of the Patch Girls) and organises some great visitors for us, both tutors and ideas presenters.

 
So, here's the thing.  if you can correctly identify the three shiny long things that these 3 gals got from Santa, then I will send you a pressie!but you have to go to the end of the post to find out what and why.

The happy revelers, table by table.

The Thursday night Gals had their party last night, with some special entertainment, two lovely Grandies bought along their Sax and Oboe to play for the group, they were joined by Denise for the vocals, how special is that!  Will get that story to you ASAP.

Now, about that pressie, if you are an Aussie Lass then the book '500 Art Quilts, an Inspiring Collection of Contemporary Work', and some other unused things from my quilting room - that book weighs a brick, so might as well make up the satchel weight allowance with some other stuff.  However, if you are an overseas winner, I will be sending you a selection of new Fat Quarters.

Why am I doing this I hear you ask? well....it's a thank you to you lovely readers as this is my last year of doing the Buderim Patchwork Blog, it's been a hoot and a wonderful experience, but I've been telling myself (and the Darling), that I need a break - a something different - a new avenue to venture down, so next year the lovely Marie will be taking over our blog.
So leave a comment or if that doesn't work for you send us an email, the address is on the blog under 'Contact Us'.
 
This is the second post today, (yeah, who would believe 2 on one day), so don't forget to suss out the previous post on our Christmas Fair and the wonderful quilts and goodies that were on sale.

It's Christmas! again....

...gee, it just seems like a couple of months ago when we were all busily getting ready for the 2011 Christmas Fair, and now the 2012 Fair has been and gone - and what a wonderful Fair it was!
Now before we get to drool over some of the wonderful works done by the Patch Gals there is a pic courtesy of Heather, remember the monkey suit she created for her Grandie?, well here it is being modeled by one very happy little lad.

Patricia and Pat got their act going early, before the doors opened just to make sure all was as it should be.

Sheila was decked out in one of her clever patchwork skirts, all ready to assist the Fair patrons, as you can see, the Cottage fills fast, this was about 2 mins after the doors opened!

Some of the 'theme' quilts presented for sale.  The 'John Deer' wall hanging with 2 cushion covers (hiding behind the bags) was snaffled up early and is winging its way to Japan to live with two lucky young boys.

Lots of stunning cushions in various styles, and two very different styles of quilts, both stunning.

Quilts of all sizes and styles, some terrific table runners and a circular table cloth, lots of little gifts and a really cute half apron, Louise tells me they are called Fat Quarter Aprons, they just cover your top down past the waist.  Brilliant!

'What colour is an elephant'? well any colour you choose would be the answer to that one!

This is it! proof that Jackie just isn't one to sit around, ever on the go, dashing by and tidying the displays.

There was a mountain of goodies for sale, from little personal gifts such as earring carriers, to food carriers to toys, books, throws...you get the idea. Something for everyone, no matter their age or boy or girl.  A wonderful array.  Take a bow Patch Gals, you did yourselves proud - again.

Gearing Up for our Christmas Fair.

Would you believe it! it is only 8 days to the Christmas Fair!, boy did that come up in a rush!.
Anyway, if you are in our neck of the woods on the weekend of Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th November, pop on in, and grab yourself some lovely goodies for Christmas Gifts.
The Fair will be open from 4p.m. to 8p.m. on the Friday and from 8a.m. to 3p.m. on the Saturday.  We will not be open on the Sunday this year.

If you are unfamiliar with our Cottage and the myriad of goodies available from our various groups, pop over here to the Buderim Craft Cottage web site for all the info you could need, either on where we are, upcoming showings, our Atrium Gallery hours; where a selection of goods from all groups are for sale, and also contact names and numbers if you would like to be part of a vibrant and talented group of crafters and artisans.

Now if you are a little tyke, and you're off to your very first Christmas party at day care what do you do? well, you ask Gran to make you a Money Suit of course! (Being as how monkeys are your bestest fav. right now)
Heather whipped this beauty up for her Grandie.

 

It even has a little head piece/hat complete with monkey ears (the hat is being modeled over one of our thread catchers, so just ignore the little snippet of lace)

Bet he is the best dressed little tyke at the party.

On the subject of kiddies, Janice has added to her menagerie of stuffed animals for the Fair, here she shows off two of her dinosaurs.

We were privileged to a viewing of a very special quilt yesterday, and yes, it is for a very special gift, a wedding quilt for her Darling Husbands Nephew and his Bride. 

Gwen gave herself 6 months to design and hand quilt this Whole Cloth or Durham quilt, working on it a little every day and was able to finish it in 5 months

The design is a central circle enclosing a star and then ever widening with rows of quilting designs, surrounded by cross hatched diamonds and finally a wide feathered cable border and finally a narrower cable.  Stunning just isn't a big enough word to describe this quilt.
Gwen will be delivering this wonderful quilt on a visit to Scotland in the not too distant future.

Don't forget, for a closer look, click on the pic and a bigger version will open in a new window.

Lyn was leaving our meeting and jumping on a plane for a family visit where she will be presenting this dolls quilt and matching patchwork handbag to her little Grandaughter.  Another lucky Grandie.
Sorry I didn't notice the bag isn't turned to the front, as you can see Lyn is trying to swallow a grin, there was a little shenanigans going on at the time!

And our final pic is a W.I.P. from Lorelei, using a silk based 'wool'? (should that be a silk?) and an open pattern, this scarf is going to be something really special, don't want to wax poetic but the term 'gossamer web' immediately sprung to mind when handling this beauty.

August comings and goings...and a Mothers Love.

..and there certainly have been some comings and goings, lots of holidays as everyone pops off to escape the colder months of where we live, not that the colder months are all that cold in reality.

Our most exciting 'finish' for the group was Courtney's first quilt, this has been Courtneys 'bring along project' to work on at group meetings.
Made using her favourite colours in a 9-Patch design Courtney surround her cute 'Sunbonnet Sue'  embroidery with appliqued hearts. 

Some time back, (well quite a whack of time back - see the receipt date in the pic!)  Marcia purchased a lovely 'Amish Style' quilt kit, and to make sure it stayed in pristine condition she packed it away carefully in a zip lock bag.
A few days back Marcia though it would make a lovely 'bring along' project for meeting days, on opening the pack she was met with all the points falling off the triangular pieces.  Further investigation showed that all of the fabric had rotted, tearing apart with the tiniest bit of pressure!

The baggie is being blamed, and perhaps it's so, but I have bits of quilts and patterns all stored away in ziplocks and there is no sign of damage (.......yeah......you bet it was the first thing I did after rushing home - had a good look through the stash, and yeah again, some of my stuff is at least as old as Marcia's wasted quilt!
However - there is a bit of reorganising going on I can tell you!
Anyone else ever had this problem - the kit was from a reputable company in the U.S., so shoddy fabric to start with isn't suspected!

Now about that Mothers Love, the Darling Daughter wanted Mum to make her a quilt, so D.D. chose the design, 'Hidden Wells' and popped off to buy the fabric - not really Mum's colours but the quilt was duly made, quilted, bound and delivered.......now here is the Mother Love bit.
D.D.'s response was.........'its lovely Mum, and you did a good job, but...it's a bit yellow!!!!
So Sue fixed it!   -  How I hear you ask over the sound of all those jaws dropping.
She unpicked the quilting and hand appliqued strips of blues on top of the yellow dots!  yes! she did!

The revamped and re-quilted quilt, cute huh?!

and here you can see where Sue appliqued a blue chevron over the yellow dots, creating a yellow, blue, yellow stripe.

On this block Sue appliqued a blue square over the yellow dots to create a square, in a square, in a square.

Now scroll back to the quilt pic and just see how many of those chevrons and squares there are!!
Now if that isn't Mother Love, I don't know what is.

Our in house workshop for August was a repeat of the workshop done on our first retreat, the ever handy 'Tie Pouch'.
Made from a re-cycled men's tie, it is just the thing to cart your mobile around in, especially at meetings or similar places where you put you handbag down and then wander around, greeting friends, having a sticky at what they are working on and of course nibbling on something delish from the arvo tea table.
Janice, Sheila, Louise, Lorraine, Sue and Aila show off their pouches.

Marie bought along her latest 'Grandies Quilt' to share with us, a striking combination using a mix of a busy 'Batman' fabric and panel with plain fabrics in the borders.  Very effective use of colour to create a stunning quilt.

Val is still busily creating simple quilts for the kiddies at Laurel House, and although she generally uses simple construction methods, the quilts are always beautiful.  Val was just popping the binding on this, her latest, a Q.A.Y.G block set into a diamond pattern on the front and sashed strips for the backing, all quilted with a decorative machine stitch.

Yvonne's Trunk Show

Another wonderful Trunk Show from the Thursday Night Group, this time featuring the lovely and varied work of Yvonne, a new member to our Patchwork Group
Thanks again to Debby and Letitia for making it possible for us all to share Yvonne's treasures.

Yvonne has had no formal sewing lessons. She did sew for her children when they were younger and this is her first quilt that she made for her daughter 15 years ago.

Yvonne said it's a bit faded but her daughter has it on her bed & it's well loved.

A very large log cabin quilt. it belongs on her queen size bed & reaches the floor.

Yvonne's first embroidery quilt, a quilt as you go that Yvonne quilted on her sewing machine.

A closer view of some of the beautifully worked machine embroidery.

Using bali pop prints, Yvonne created this innovative design.   Yvonne said
she doesnt like it, she only liked the middle pattern so she just kept adding!!!

This puffy 'heart' quilt is a favourite of Yvonne's grandson, he loves to  lie on this ever so soft quilt.

This quilt started as a knee rug with some machine embroidery. We don't think Yvonne can do small!!!

This is a smaller quilt which has been recently done - cot size - Yvonne is hoping for twin grand daughters one day

A Table Runner in a design that many quilters have made but with the clever use of colour Yvonne has created a completely different effect.

With clever use of embroidered trees & farm scenes Yvonne created this small blue and green quilt. Very interesting.

More machine embroidery, two lovely machine embroidered cushion covers.

Beautifully embroidered and sprinkled with sequins, a Xmas stocking for grandson Jake

Machine embroidered Washer and tea towel, and a doylie that Yvonne created when she was at high school, hand embroidered with crocheted the edges .

Lace work done on the embroidery machine - just beautiful work & more gorgeous doylies.

Yvonne has also made lots of baby things but has given heaps away.  
Thank you so much Yvonne for sharing your lovely quilting with us & welcome to our group as well. - Debby.