Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Those Scrappy Quilts are getting smaller...

well, not the quilts so much as the bits, I mean, really, just look at these tiny pieces,
Pat 'woman's' the sales desk in our Atrium a couple of times a month and of course wants a quilting project to work on in the down time.  She has set herself a project, a quilt to hopefully be completed by our next quilt show. stitched from the tiniest pieces to form these little block parts.
Now just let your mind run wild with what this full size quilt is going to be.  Yep I've seen the pattern, and its mind blowing! but Pat is keeping it a secret just for now, will try to bring you more snippets as the quilt unfolds.
And just before we leave Pat beavering away, how cute is this...
was so taken with the tinsy little pieces I totally missed this mini pin cushion in a cotton reel.

Lorraine is also going for the scrappy ideas, she has joined the Thursday night gals in the creation of the 'Green Tea and Sweet Beans' quilt and was working busily away on hexies this arvo
Lorraine reckons getting the harder blocks out of the way first is the way to go, then its a downhill run.
The almost completed block of hexies.
The front cover of Jen Kingwell's book Green Tea and Sweet Beans.  Lorraine just had to have this book after seeing some of the work done by the Thur Gals.  Can you see the Hexies Block hiding in there?

And now a Christmas mystery story
At one of our recent Christmas Fetes, Patricia's Darling spotted a lovely Christmas Wall Hanging and bought it.  
A regular visitor to Patricia's home greatly admired said Wall Hanging, 
Patricia decided to do some sleuthing through the fair records and found that her much loved hanging was created by Marie, who then chased down a Christmas Panel and created this lovely just in time for Patricia's friend to hand on her wall for Christmas
Gotta love a happy ending.

Gwen has also been bitten by the scrappy bug, so badly that she has vowed that she is only going to create from her scrap bag for the next year!
This is #1, and Gwen tells us there is another not too far away.
Kinda wondering if Gwen's scrap bag is pretty close to other peoples 'Stash", just kinda a little more, well, scrappy.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Oh my gosh - Thursday night

The people gathered...................thanks to the organizational skills of Marlene!!!!


to see all Gwen's beautiful quilts that she so generously displayed as a last fundraiser for the Weekend to End Women's Cancers.


Gwen had so many stunning quilts and interesting stories to share.............


Enjoy her quilts...............




























A big thank you to all who supported this cause....................


A close up of Gwen's beautiful hand quilting....................


.......................it's not often that we get to see hand quilting now a days........................


Thanks Gwen!!!!


Debs with the raffle winners - 3rd prize Inge and 2nd prize Jackie. The first prize winner was telephoned with the good news and she was delighted....................
 A total of $262.00 was raised on the night.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Much more on the scrappy quilt front

Scrappy quilts of all designs are making an appearance, this one was created by Gwen from a pattern she found in one of our Library books on scrappy quilts.
A simple construction that creates so many different design elements.  Gwen machine quilted her creation with straight line quilting.

Jackie bought along her version of scrappy to share with us, still a W.I.P. at this stage Jackie is planning on a plain, possibly white sashing between the 4 rows below.
Jackie also tried pressing her seams open for this flimsy, as an experiment in construction, as you see the seams are all laying flat and there is a lot less bulk at the corners, possibly making it easier to quilt over the joins.
There is a wide range of fabric styles and ages with Jackie pointing out some of her very earliest stash purchases and in the other pic we can see some of the relatively recent Kaffe Fassett vibrant prints, all of which tie in beautifully and play happily together.

Sue was inspired by the 'Delight' quilt challenge that a number of our group took part in last year and has decided to create her own version.  
And of course, what is one of the bestest things about being part of a quilting group?
bringing along your blocks and playing with others about layout, colours and other 'design wiggles'.
The 'Delight' quilts were all constructed from the same pattern with each quilt maker creating her own spin via construction differences and colour choices with the finished quilts being displayed at our Quilt Show.

 Debby has been working on this applique block for awhile now (Months....she says...with feeling!)
She has some lovely fabrics chosen as borders to finish off her wall hanging.
 Just had to show a closer view, this puss has got the cheekiest grin, kinda looks like he knows exactly where that mouse is!

A few years back, Marlene made a beautiful floral quilt for her Daughter to celebrate one of those big '0' birthdays, every time she spotted a floral fabric she just had to have some... as you do, and of course the original design had a few H.S.T's as well, and they can't be wasted either can they?
The label tells the story,
a few years later, Marlene created another quilt from the left overs, as you do
and used some more of those left overs to create a unique backing
Now, doesn't this qualify as a 'free quilt'?

Marlene also had a flimsy to share with us, it's for a very special gift, her Grandsons upcoming 21st Birthday!!
when asked if it was o.k. to share on the blog, she gave me the 'Marlene look and grin' and said 'He's a boy, he doesn't read his Grandmas blog!'.....ahhh the young, what they miss out on!

Pat had some of her Fave fabrics on hand, French General from Moda, a lovely toil featuring a Burgundy floral basket and another Burgundy Toil, she teamed these with rows of hexagons to create this stunner.
 The quilting is all machine quilting with a variety of patterns, the hexagons have a star quilted around them, the floral baskets are a floral design and there are lots of lovely feathers along the burgundy border. 
All very hard to see but believe me, the quilting is lovely!
Sometimes stitching will show up a little better in a black and white version, so here goes....

Now the last 2 quilts to share with you are very special, they have been created by Val's quilting group, you will remember that Val and her girls stitch and create a large number of charity quilts for Laurel House.  A lot of donations come their way, fabric, part finished quilts, orphan blocks etc etc, but there is one constant expense, batting of course, and as quilters, we all know that is not a small expense.
Val and her gals are raffling 2 quilts to raise funds to purchase batting to continue their works,
and if you would like a chance to win one of these beauties either see Val at Patchwork or email us at
valsquiltingals13at(you know the sign for that)gmail(dot)com and we will work something out for you
Tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5.
 
 This wonderful quilt is a combination of creams, barely white, and palest coffee, with designs created by embroidery, doilies, cotton lace and candlewick embroidery.
A closer view of the quilt
and of an amazing butterfly block
getting the idea that this is my personal fave when it comes to a quilt to love???

but the second quilt is also a stunner.  Each gal was given some black and white fabric to create a block, and this is some of what they came up with...
 and the finished quilt
And Finally

A Reminder

Tomorrow night (Thursday 3rd) at 7.30 at the Cottage we will be treated to a Talk with Show and Tell from our very own Gwen.

Now we all know of Gwen's quilting skills and some of the amazing quilts she has created throughout her quilting career.....but some of you may not have heard the fascinating story of her quilting journey.  Give yourself a treat, come along, bring a friend or two or ten, you will love yourself for it!!!
Bring along a gold coin donation as entrance and to help out those amazing 'Walkers for Cancer research funds' Debs and Jenny
Supper is included.........oh and just a bye the bye, if you bring 10 let the gals know....<vbg>
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