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.

Quilts, Classes and how we use our language

There was a bit of a startled 'look around' last week when someone was talking of using orphans to make a quilt, don't know if the thought was more along the lines of  'what a good idea'   or   'is that allowed?'.... of course it was orphan blocks that were being referred to, well... that was all sorted and we had a bit of a giggle, well not as big a laugh as when the girls were getting ready for Gwen's class today........one of the items on the requirements list was a compass.......Catty, for the life of her couldn't see why you would need one, but it was on the list, so..........

she bought along a compass!!
One of the cool uses for the compass.....the other kind of compass, was how to draw up hexagons,

now where was that little bit of knowledge when I needed it??, You make the radius the same measurement needed for the side of the hexagon.  Cool huh!?  Looking forward to learning lots more tips from Gwen as she takes us through her Beginners Hand Quilting Classes.

Some of the girls, wrestling with the creation of templates, all agreed by the end of the day that it really was easy, once you got the hang of it.
While some were learning new skills, others were enjoying their friends company, Louise was researching ideas to use those pretty circles she has in front of her, and Sadie was really getting stuck into those black hexies.

while Fae was way ahead with her Pink Hexies

all will be revealed at the Christmas Fair, yep, the gals are gearing up for Christmas.......

Fran crocheted two cloche hats, a white one and a steel blue one, both decorated with cute little yarn flowers.  She bought them along to show us, so of course, had to ask her to model one for us...

Innes donated some offcuts from a quilt backing to Val, who promptly added some plain fabrics and turned them into another charity quilt using the disappearing 9 patch design.

Janette bought along her ditch quilted 'I Spy', looking for some inspiration for further quilting on the blocks,

The backing was bought before the quilt was assembled and there just wasn't enough fabric (how often does that happen?!) so Janette was rather thrilled to find a purple and orange that toned in beautifully,

With such a pretty and vibrant backing this is truly another reversible quilt.

Lorraine has finished her 'Orphan' quilt, who would think it was orphans??

The flying geese and strip blocks were from a paper piecing class that Lorraine did, the toile center of the medallion was from a hand quilting class...

and the double 9patch blocks were from last years Row x Row, after making 16 of them, Lorraine then changed her mind and decided on different blocks for the RxR, moral to the story?  when doing classes always use some of the same fabric!  you can then turn the orphans into a stunning quilt! Lorraine even practiced her new embroidery stitching skills to make the label for her quilt.
She then used this continuous quilting design to practice her machine quilting skills in the medallion border.

Arvo Tea saw us scoffing down smoked salmon, yummo, lovely date cake, a buttered slice (didn't manage to get even a crumb of that one) lovely biscuits and some of Fran's shortbreads.

An enthusiasm for Crazy Patchwork builds and a disaster......

firstly - the disaster, something that I worry about happening, did happen, there were some lovely items on the show and tell table yesterday,  I got called away while Sheila was showing them and their creators were telling their stories,......I usually don't fret too much when that happens, I get the low down from the creator when I take the pics - but yesterday,... dare I confess? - (in a bit of a whisper)....."I didn't take a pic".  Can you believe it?
I am still reeling.
So here, with apologies, are a couple of  cropped pics of some really beautiful work that I will hopefully be able to update next week.

A beautiful and beautifully stitched tapestry cushion, and just behind it, a casserole carrier, I saw that beauty being shown by Sheila and I can tell you it is just the ant's pants, large enough for a decent sized casserole or lasagne dish, stout wooden handles and well padded, I shall be keeping my eyes peeled at the next fair for one of these beauties, or maybe a commission?? ----

And these two lovely Jewellery rolls, I didn't even see them laid out......but the colours are magnificient, just calling to you to have a little pat and a pet.

Jenny, from the Thursday Evening group has agreed to be the Judge of our Lyn Ballinger Challenge this year, 

and for some of us the challenge is going to live up to it's name, just cast your peepers over this little bombshell on the side!... in particular that bottom line..........no Patchwork Cottons .....eeeek.

Thank goodness Sheila organised a little treasure bag of laces and goodies for us as our Christmas Gift.

Jenny very kindly agreed to come along to our meeting to give us a bit of a heads up on just what is involved in Crazy Patchwork, now unless you have really looked into Crazy Patchwork it could leave you a little cold.........but after yesterday not even a tinsy nip was to be felt, everyone is totally enthused, Jenny explained her method of Crazy Patch and had many samples of her wonderful work,as well as some examples of her students work, and on top of that, patterns that Jenny teaches down at Patchwork Angel, in particular the cutest little box. Just gorgeous, give the girls at the Angel a tingle to join Jenny in a class.


Janice getting a few pointers from Jenny on her 4 square throw, sashed with black velvet, this sumptuous piece seemed to be the most popular piece on show.

with an abundance of ribbons, buttons, beads and the most intricate embroidery  you can spend ages drooling over each block........don't ask how I know......the tinsy cupids aiming their arrows at the tiny gold heart, the spider and her web, and the curiosity of what story is behind this piece with the olympic rings embroidered on one square.

The black fringe and the myriad of textured fabrics give this throw a feeling of luxury, Jenny wanted it to reflect some of the colours and memories of South Africa, and I think she has certainly succeeded.

Jenny had quite a pile of blocks, a WIP of outstanding proportions, how beautifully embroidered they all are.

More of Jenny's goodies, how special would you feel, off to a special event with this evening bag

 and a cuter than cute work basket, full of goodies for Crazy Patch.

As we arrived yesterday, Sheila gave each member a number, well, we knew we were in for a treat, and what a surprising and generous treat it was. 
Meg, who you will surely remember, makes the most divine silk bags, bought along a box full of her hand dyed silks as a gift for us and also gave us a few pointers on using and stitching silk.

Just look at that box full of the most vibrant through to the most beautifully subtle shaded silks.  Can you imagine the ooohs and ahhs as each number was called and the silks were turned over.......not to mention the gasped prayers of  'oh gosh, please leave that, it would be perfect'. There is lots of sharing and trading, and groups getting together to see just what we really do have in our stashes.  Thank you Meg for being so generous and sharing with us.

It certainly was a day for the opulent, Janette bought along a quilt that has been 3 years in the making, a house warming for one of her Sons.  Janette, with Janet as helper, smiled beautifully in this pic, can't you see them? just behind the quilt, standing on chairs to show of the quilt in all it's glory........what we do for our passion!

and now you see why they stood on chairs for us, otherwise we would have missed out on the top of a fabulous applique quilt.  Janette machine quilted this beauty herself, and I don't believe the grin behind the quilt could have been any bigger than this smile of justifiable pride.

Julie gathered these fabrics at a Brisbane Craft show last year with a quilt in mind for her Niece's new baby to be, on turning to leave the booth she then spied the quilt pattern........and so one very lucky little miss has a lovely new quilt.......mind you, this is the second quilt that the little great niece has received from her great Aunty

a collage of some of the animals that Julie has stitched into the white on white spotted squares in her great Niece's quilt.

Remember those cute teddies and the nine patches from last week, well Betty decided to use some of her Japanese fabrics as hearts for their tummies, aren't they so cute?

These little bears are going to make the loveliest quilt for one of the younger set, Betty is using a Country Cupboard Designs pattern

and just look at the cute little tote that comes with the pattern, wouldn't a little girl just love that for a gift.

Quilts, WIP's, Hanging, a little stitching.........

......and this amazing little invention

 

amazing as Lorraine I. is, I'm talking about the bag/roll - quilt room in a kit thingy that she is showing.  A friend of Lorraine's had a similar roll, Lorraine decided she just had to have one of those, so drew up a rough pattern/idea and went to work, end of day, one amazing roll/bag - quilt room thingy - there is a place for everything - I kid you not, and on the outside there is a pocket, empty yesterday, to stash your choccies when going on retreat.

More views of the amazing quilt room thingy...........

 and a pic of it rolled up and ready to go..........I flipped the piccy for a better view, that is why Lorraine's arm has that 'what the?' look.

Wendy bought her finished Row x Row in to show us, it is destined for her spare bedroom, just fancy visiting and getting to sleep under such a wonderful quilt.

Wendy finished off the rows by putting a wider 'rail fence' border and two narrower borders around her quilt.

Janette is doing a set (don't you just love it, a whole set) of wall hangings of Japanese Ladies, she bought in Lady #2 to show us yesterday, looking forward to seeing Ladies No.1 and 3.

Janette and her Darling went on a little cruise over the Chrissy break, and as part of the relaxing activities they were going to share reading a trilogy, well some people read faster than others don't they? so what to do, she managed to find a little tapestry kit and a tiny sewing kit, to which these tiny little scissors belong, aren't they cute?

Sheila is busily continuing with her Son and Daughter in Law's quilt, she is using the large and the small Drunkards Path templates from our Library and coming up with some terrifically innovative blocks, like this turtle..........

here are some of the other blocks Sheila showed yesterday, the top right block will be a stylised version of the Custom House in Rockhampton, the city where Son and D.I.L. live,  and the circle will be a ball............basketball?, Sheila did say........an 'I Spy' quilt for adults, so looking forward to seeing the finished quilt.

oooh isn't that last block blurry!........not sure what happened there.........probably busy gossing.......the photographer, not the stitcher.

Val made this version of a Chinese Coin quilt to donate to her charity group, made from strip pieced scraps Val tells us it didn't use up anywhere near as many scraps as she would have liked, I guess there will be more scrap quilts in Val's future.

Another of Lorraine I.'s designs, inspired by a magazine pic, Lorraine made this vibrantly coloured beauty over the Christmas break and bought it in to share with us yesterday.

While designing the quilt Lorraine realised that if she double stitched the H.S.T.'s, instead of having a lot of left over triangles and scraps she would end up with extra blocks to use in the backing of the quilt..........

and so another reversible quilt was born.

Found these cuties on a table down the back, seemed to be just hanging around waiting..........stuck them together and took a pic...........who's were they??

 

My goodness, they have multiplied.............and there are 9 patches too...........still no owner..........

 

Eventually mystery solved when I spotted Betty walking around with a bear block, there will be little hearts on the Bear's tummies and Betty was getting opinions on what fabric to use..........some of her precious Japanese prints?, or perhaps something a little pink?........what do you suggest?

And lastly, you might notice a green 'Free Rice' button in the sidebar,

 Free Rice is a non-profit website started in 2007 and run by the United Nations World Food Program, you get to challenge yourself, improve your language or maths and with each correct answer, 10 grains of rice are donated via sponsors to the World Food Program...........so a bit of fun, a bit of a challenge and a good deed too...........with a nice choccie and your fave drinkie......what more could you ask?..........well actually I'll ask you, what is a gilet?? thanks to this little game I now know it is a vest..........can't wait to use that one!