Busy, Busy, so much to do and so much done.

Lots of amazing work to share with you today.  So much so it's hard to know where to start!

First port of call on arrival at the Cottage was to see what that noisy table up the end is up to, well, what a surprise, they are all doing the same quilt! shades of Quilt Shows past?.

It seems to becoming a Quilt Show tradition, these gals choose a quilt pattern and all make the same quilt, but with their own interpretation, its always fun to compare the finished results at the fair.  This time the chosen pattern is 'Leanne's House' a block of the month by Leanne Beasley from 'Leanne's House Patterns'.
Marcia has previously made one of these luscious quilts, so this is a second for her and she is toying with the idea of perhaps changing the wording of the central panel...perhaps...perhaps not!

Of course when Marcia had finished her quilt she contacted the lovely Leanne to request permission to add the B.O.M. patterns to our group library and permission was gracefully given.
Tempted to try your own? pop over to Leanne's website for a list of pattern stockists and a peek at her other lovely patterns.

Gwen is busily hand quilting another quilt, also stitched by another friend, (see last weeks post) this quilt was made by our lovely Janet who passed away in January 2012.  She is so sadly missed.  Janet and Gwen and a number of other Patchwork group members formed an offshoot group that met for an extra shot of quilting fun each week, they called themselves 'The Bossy Stitchers' or 'The Bossies'  for short....a group that is still going strong. (and if rumor has it right, they are still bossy!!)

The Pics really don't do this lovely quilt justice.  The subtleties in the fabrics don't photograph very well.  There is a very faint, almost watermark effect on the central hexagons and the little patterned wedges have a splash of colour while the straight pieces are charcoals and greys. Gwen is using a rust thread to hand quilt the hexagon centers, to pick up the rust in the wedges..
Getting a good match for the borders wasn't as easy as first thought either, but a nice pin striped fabric was found and Gwen is rather pleased that the strips meld together nicely at the mitered corners.

Julie had a very intricate flimsy for us to view, based on a Sue Daley design 'This goes with That', using Sue's English paper piecing papers. 

'This Goes with That' has now been replaced with Sue's 'Cotton Wood' Pattern, another lovely for those who love E.P.P.
Not sure how long it took Julie to create this lovely, but certainly not as long as the one she is working on now...
Found hiding in her stash, a pile of blocks created about 10 years ago! Julie bought them along yesterday to have a play with the layout.

Marcia, who had just bought in a pile of 'stash thinnings' (moving house will do that for you) thought that Julie should go 'shop the thinnings' to add to her blocks, Julie wasn't fussed....she is over little H.S.T''s, well yesterday she was, who knows about tomorrow?
See that lovely quilt hanging up in the background? 

Lyn bought it along to share.

As everyone seems to be scrap quilt happy at the moment, Lyn decided to have a go at reducing some of her scraps, she sourced a great star quilt pattern from one of our library books and feeling that she just couldn't cope with a truly scrappy quilt, she settled on using some of her Blue & Yellow scraps with a really cute spotted white background to set everything off nicely.

The star points are created by stitching squares of background fabric corner to corner at the end of each oblong of star fabric, (Pic 2) this of course leaves you with two nice little triangles of fabric that you can very fussily form into miles of H.S.T squares to form an interesting border insert as Lyn did.(Pic 1)  Lyn has also used this idea on a previous quilt with a twist to the H.S.T. layout to form a chevron or zig zag border insert.
Sorry about getting the pics turned around, just one of those things!
Lyn had the quilt quilted by Fiona from the Quilting Fairy.  
Fiona used a metallic thread for the quilting which gives the quilting a nice sparkle and lift. 

Julie had another flimsey to share, a free pattern she found on the net that would be a simple variation for some of our Charity quilts. 

Now as you all have probably heard, we are making lots of charity quilts for Najidah, using some great fabric we were donated.  Well, guess what, we have been given more fabric, lots more fabric, which means we can make many, many, more charity quilts.
It's a lovely story, though tinged with sadness and the short version is, that organised through Jan, our vibrant and energetic Cottage President,  a very nice gentleman, Derrick has decided to donate his late wife's stash to our group for the purpose of making charity quilts, Derrick visited a couple of weeks ago with part one of the stash.....this....

Yes, I know, amazing isn't it! so many beautiful fabrics.
We are so grateful to be given this opportunity to help the community with this ever so generous donation.
The Thursday night part of our group will be using some of these fabrics to create quilts for STEMM
the mothering and mentoring program of Burnside High School in Nambour.

There was stacks of goodies on the 'Chantell' table (Show and Tell).
Firstly those toiletry bags we make for Najidah have taken on a life of their own, going from a simple drawstring bag to now having an outside pocket, some in funky designs or the  occasional orphan block makes a great pocket.

Some fab finished bags from last weeks workshop, organised by Marcia and presented by Lainey.

Lyn put a different spin on her bag, using D rings and lengthening the straps to create a shoulder bag for her upcoming trip.

Marie had also created a 3 zippered shoulder bag

which hung very nicely, thank you Estelle,over the corner of the framed embroidery Estelle bought in to share with us. Estelle started this with the Embroidery group about 4 years ago, not sure when it was finished but it has recently been framed and looks fantastic.  Sadly the pic of just the embroidery work didn't come out too well, (reflections...eerrrggh) hence the 2 for 1 pic.

Now Marie had also bought along something else to share,

a square, a pressie of fabric roses all wrapped in cellophane with handy beaded pins and an amazing story.
Marie celebrated her birthday several weeks back, and like the rest of us, birthday done, celebrations over, not to be thought about until next year.  Well, not so in Marie's case.
She was busily quilting in her studio downstairs when an 'out of town' friend or two knocked on the door, Surprise!! a birthday party had been secretly organised,
'Keep quilting Marie' they instructed, and upstairs they all tripped
They had the lot, everything to make a fantastic party, all colour coordinated in red and black, including their outfits.  There was luscious food and cakes, and a wonderful tutorial on fabric weaving for the fun part of the day.
Marie's Darling also entered into the spirit of the day, scooting off to change his duds to fit in with the colour scheme.  What a fantastic group of friends, and a lovely day. 
And the tutorial on fabric weaving? well that is the square in the pic above, and yes, we will be having a workshop on fabric weaving in the not too distant future.  Lucky us!

Val has been hard at work with 3 more charity quilts, all these quilts come from orphan blocks either from Val's own stash or other orphans given to her as well as fabric bits and pieces.

She certainly has the imagination and talent to make all these leftovers work in creating lovely charity quilts.

Two cat panels create this great quilt with offset orphan blocks and a pieced border.

Courtney has almost finished her longstitch embroidery, hoping to see the last stitch next week and find out her plans for this lovely piece.

Deanne was as busy as a one armed paper hanger, she has set herself quite a deadline.  This terrific quilt is to be finished by this weekend for the Model Boat open day that will be held at University Lakes this weekend.  Deanne designed everything about this quilt, deciding on what boats to feature, all based on model boats owned by club members, she designed, pieced, appliqued and embroidered  each block.

Hope you bring us in a pic of the finished quilt Deanne, we would all love to see it!

My goodness me....at the end of the piccie pile, except for this one....Fae has graduated to Funky Footwear.....yep, tossed the flimsy fashion and gone for the Funky!
Few of us thinking this just might be a very good idea!

A day of sadness, memories, and a story of quilters helping their dear friend.

Our first day back at the Cottage was one of strong and mixed emotions, a day to greet quilting mates, get a big 'Welcome Back' from leader Sheila and catch up on the goss.
Sadly, it was also a time to remember Janet, our dearly loved and talented member who passed away on Tuesday morning.
Janet was a member of our group for nigh on 10 years and was always available to help with a quilting question, a chat, a smile and a positive outlook, she was our Workshop Co-ordinator for quite a few of those years, introducing us all to many new techniques and tutors.  Janet was also the winner of our latest Lyn Ballinger Challenge.

Orchids, Janet's favourite flower

As we all know, Janet was a great supporter and volunteer of STEMM, and her family sent us the suggestion that, if you were intending to send flowers you might like to consider making a donation to STEMM in Janet's memory instead. Our group will be sending a donation and if you would also like to, please send the donation marked 'In Memory of Janet Smith,  STEMM,  Burnside High School, Box 5247 SCMC,  Nambour 4560'

Our love and thoughts go to John, Daughter Alison and Janet's other family members at this sad time.

Janet was creating a lovely quilt for her granddaughter Jenna, bit it wasn't quite finished, so with the help of some good friends - Di, who did the final piecing, Marlene who added the border, Fiona who used her longarm quilting skills to quilt Jenna's quilt and Gwen who bound and finished the quilt, it was finished.  We got to see this lovely quilt for a special lass at Show and Tell yesterday.

As a gift for us all at our Christmas Luncheon, Sheila and Lorraine worked to collect a pile of 'Orphan' Blocks, visiting the hallowed halls of the local op shops, and form all accounts, really getting stuck into Lorraine's little orphan stash - well, it's a little stash now! so that we would all have something to challenge us and for us to work on over the break.....and guess what?...some folks did!

Val pulled open her bottom draw and found a full orphanage! she used some of them to create this colourful kiddies quilt, here she shows us her Christmas Orphan, thanks to Lorraine, the blocks along the bottom of the quilt are all Lynette Anderson stitcheries, and although Val had a story for each block she has no idea where the middle row pin wheel type blocks came from! all in all, a great use of orphans.

Another two orphans turned into goodies, Sue created a cute black, white and red cushion and Julie created a tote.  Both blocks from Lorraine's little stash.

Julie also created this cute little stuffed toy, and some inventive lass created two toiletries bags for our Women's refuge charity.

Another creation from Julie (boy she was a busy little Bunyip over the hols), this lovely coffee table runner, Bronwyn Hayes from Red Brolly stitcheries and lovely fabrics, Julie uses the runner when serving afternoon tea to her stitching friends.

Val was also trimming the stash over the hols, she passed these blocks and fabrics onto Betty who turned them into this terrific quilt.  Another one for Val's charity.

Innes bought along two quilts to share with us, her first quilt and her latest quilt.

The sampler was started a wee while ago in 1992, patterns drafted, fabric cut with scissors, hand pieced and hand quilted.  Innes finished this beauty in 1998.

and her latest quilt, all machine pieced and machine quilted, using Bali Pops and a wide backed Bali Print fabric.

Lyn Ballinger Challenge

Great excitement at this weeks meeting, it was our annual Luncheon and Judging of the Lyn Ballinger Challenge. This year, in keeping with our Quilt Show Theme of 'International Year of the Forests'  our challenge was to create a 'green' shopping bag from calico and re-cycled fabric.  The feature fabric, at first sight, could only be described as,  well, ugly really.  But what a star it turned out to be!, those clever quilters created some really cute shopping bags.  Now as the 'Viewers Choice'  voting is to take place at our Quilt Show on the first weekend in June, I can't show you all the finished bags....but...I can show you some of the innovative ways the girls used 'that fabric'

 There are leaves galore, singly and as bunches, hearts, suffolk puff flowers, letters, logos, buildings and baskets. How innovative is all that!

The Luncheon itself was organised by our 2 Professional Luncheon Co-ordinators, Queen Fran and Duchess Beryl, who had their tiaras firmly in place to prove their claims, they did a great job of presenting the many delish dishes, keeping everyones glass topped up with a selection of champers, punch and chilled fruit water and just generally setting out the room with lovely green table decorations.

 and of course, there is always the 'behind the scenes' workers and helpers who make these occasions sing along without a hitch.

Judging this year was by Patchwork Group co-founder, Rose, who in keeping with the theme, wondered if perhaps she was a re-cycled Judge, having previously judged a challenge 10 years ago.

 We also had some great Show and Tell, some of which was from a week or so ago, sorry I've missed a couple of posts, it's all the new pup's fault, I seem to rush from sunup to sundown and beyond with a roll of loo paper in one hand and a mop in the other, chasing behind a new puppy that can only be described at 'mischief on a stick'

Sue bought along a couple of cushions from last century, yep she finally finished them!!.  Both cushions used Sue's own hand dyed fabrics.

Now why is Susie hiding behind the 2nd cushion?, she was having a little sob...somehow or other, in the cushion swap over, all Sue's colour co-ordinated, organised tinsy little applique pieces got dumped on the floor!.....I kid you not! and what is worse, somehow, one of them disappeared. Drat!.

Janet has used a pattern from on of our Library books on using Jelly rolls to create this wonderful quilt.  Yep, apart from the background all the colour pieces are from a Jelly Roll!

Here is a closer view, it takes clever colour matching to create that larger triangle but as you can see, Janet has done a brilliant job of creating those large triangles.

The quilting, which so suits the quilt design was done for Janet by Fiona of the Quilting Fairy.  Fiona used a variagated thread for extra flow in the quilting design.

Val has been commissioned to make two quilts for twin little girls, she bought along finished quilt number one to share with us.  Wonderful vibrant colours bring this pattern to life.

 and a few closer views of the great blocks.

 Wendy bought along her finished 'Chinese Lantern' table runner done in a recent in house workshop with Janice.

Janette has created another wall hanging for her home,  a lovely stained glass creation with the neatest blanket stitched applique.

Tiny little gathering .........

Gosh, you could have shot a cannon down the length of the cottage today, a combination of getting over the fair, Easter and of course some Grans looking after the Grandies........but we still had some great 'Chantelle'

Janet brought along this amazing quilt, created for her Son and his Bride

As Janet's DIL is a New Zealand lass, she was thrilled to be able to find and incorporate a few New Zealand fabrics and motifs, such as the fern with the letters NZ, as well as the Maori symbol of ferns in white with black and mirrored in black with grey (last 2 fabrics, top right)

Fiona from the Quilting Fairy did a lovely job of machine quilting for Janet, using a curved design, reminiscent of the Curled Fern pattern.

Janets choice of backing goes beautifully with the quilt fabrics, however the quilting design is hard to pick out.

And here it is, the pic as promised of this wonderful quilt beautifully displayed on a bed, thank you John......sorry about the delay, had to get help from the Darling.......


Lorraine's friend is about to become a new Gran, and not being a sewer at all asked for a baby quilt, Bub is due in a few days, so time was of the essence.
Lorraine decided to used these vibrant 'stack and slash' blocks that she had made while teaching a class recently.

Of course, no time to hand quilt, so Lorraine tried out her new sewing machine, a Janome 6600.
With the extra throat width Lorraine was able to lay each block flat for quilting, making this lovely sun pattern a breeze to quilt.

Awhile back Lyn made a 'How Tall Are You' wall hanging for her Grandsons.... between them.... you know the story that is coming don't you?, yep, call from Daughter, that wall hanging kept being kidnapped (wallnaped?) by one or the other of the Grandies, now I won't say they were fighting over it, (we all know our little angels don't fight now, don't we?)  but things were getting a tad sticky.
Using a patchwork magazine pattern for inspiration, Lyn reduced the pattern by 50% to create this beauty,

Now this should certainly stop any fussing, don't you agree?  It is off to its new home, a freshly painted blue wall.

A closer view of some of Lyn's creative work, my fave is the elephant, or maybe the X-ray.
Lyn has used 'numbers' for N, this little guy new his numbers when he was 2 1/2 years old, I guess Mum being a Maths teacher would have something to do with that <g>.
Did you see the sunrise this morning?.......fab, fab, fab, such glorious colours.