Tent Makers of Cairo...

...we have heard so much about them over the past few years thanks to the promotion of their work by Australian quilter/tutor/textile artist Jenny Bowker, and today we got to see a piece 'in the flesh' so to speak. 
Anike bought along her smaller piece to share with us, it has an envelope backing so was probably a large floor cushion cover.

 The pieces are stitched very quickly, and are not made as heirloom pieces, rather more of the everyday and not designed to be kept longterm, serving the purpose of background hangings for celebrations and even funerals.

The tentmakers, all male, stitch these intricate pieces for all and any celebrations  but as is so often the case these days, this ancient craft is being overtaken by the fast, cheap, easy with printed polyester that you can buy by the yard such as this meterage Anike also bought along to share

Jenny talks of her work promoting the tentmakers and there work here while this link will give you a glimpse of modern day applications of the tentmakers work - great pics of celebrations and some of the works.  Both these links are to pages on Jenny Bowkers blog.  You can visit the Tenmakers community facebook page 'Stitch like an Egyptian' here.
Listen to Jenny talking about the tentmakers while watching a father son team and their amazing stitching speed here.
Enjoy!

Irene had a lovely to share with us, made back in 2011 from a layer cake using a disappearing nine patch design, as Irene said, a simple but very effective design, perfect for showing off beautiful fabrics.

Irene hand quilted around each block and placed a watermelon and square design in the larger squares with a string of hearts in the borders.

Remember all those squares Lainey had been chopping into existence?, well she stitched some of them into this rather lovely charity quilt.  A combination of white & patterned H.S.T's with solid squares stitched together in lines, either vertical or horizontal, doesn't matter but Lainey reckons a design wall or floor is 'very necessary' for the stepped placement of the solid blocks.   Machine quilted in vertical lines

Lainey also quilted these two charity quilts, assembled by Val from Derrick's darlings stash.  The Cathederal windows was an assembled piece that Val simply bordered with fabric from the stash.

All three of these quilts will be donated to the Rockhampton womens shelter in the very near future.

So, would you be upset to loose this cutie in the making?

Val was!, helping with the charity quilt pics she inadvertently bought the block along, placed it on a chair and forgot where it was for a minute.  Erk!  All ended well with Santa back where he belonged.

So so many more of the toiletry bags bought in this week, there will be quite a tidy number ready to be filled next month.

They look so pretty with their pocket trims. (Was thinking gay and pretty but well, I guess that just shows my age, I really miss using that word, it was a goodie! spoke volumes)

Courtney is getting stuck into the stitching part of her table runner, all under the watchful eye of tutor Lainey.  Just look in the background, another roll of wadding, my goodness you gals are churning out those charity quilts!