Saturday, August 11, 2007

Quilty inspiration

Best of Show: Screeching Cockatoo by Helen Godden

Ah, it's that time of year again when Canberra's best quilters display their wares and so it was that Carl, Romily and I were out of the house by 9.30am today, heading off to the Canberra Craft Fair.

While possibly not up to last year's standard - where we were privileged to see some of Japan's best contemporary quilts - we still had a very enjoyable morning browsing the quilt show, as well as an interested wander through the 'Peaced with Love' exhibit - a bunch of quilts made by partners of Australian war veterans. Some of them were pretty terrible, some great, but all told a story about how war service had affected their lives.

We also had a bit of a browse through the stalls and checked out all the wares on sale. I only bought a couple of bits and pieces - some 'quilter cots' (kind of like the tip of a condom that you wear on your finger/s to help pull a loaded needle through when hand quilting), some tear-away stabiliser for embroidery, some photo-printing fabric (haven't tried this technique yet, so thought I'd give it a go) and a couple of half-metres of Christmas fabric for my Christmas Stars project, as I didn't have quite enough green.

Mekong Gold by Helen Godden

Here are some pictures of some of what I thought were the best quilts on show. Enjoy!

Tango in the Wind by Liuxin Newman (otherwise known as The Thimblelady) - each of those incredibly tiny leaves on this miniature quilt are needle-turned appliqué. Incredible craftsmanship...

Boabab Series II by Susan Mathews

Apologies for some blurriness - I was shooting without flash to get as accurate a colour reading as possible. Part two next post!

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Thanks also to everyone for your lovely comments on Romily's birthday post. It's nice to know she has so many 'aunties' out there in the Land of Blog!

Here's Princess Romily, wearing her lovely tiara on her birthday! Enjoy your weekends.

9 comments:

Chookyblue...... said...

Oh Lily thanks for sharing the pics...Helen Gooden is very talented.......

Jan said...

My favorite is Mallee Topsoil...lovely! Thanks for sharing.
Romily does look like a little princess. Two already!

~Bren~ said...

I am still picking my jaw off of the floor!! The Thimblelady's quilt is incredible!! And Chookyblue is right..Helen Gooden IS very talented! Thanks for sharing. Can't wait for part 2. Romily should wear a tiara everyday!

Patti said...

Your post really made me chuckle. When I hand quilt I wear a finger cot on the first finger of my right hand to assist in pulling the needle through. Every time I put it on I feel like I'm wearing a finger condom LOL!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting those photos. The best quilts don't often make it to Adelaide, and I love Helen Godden's work. I'm jealous!

Helen said...

A craft fair and quilt show under one roof, *sigh*, is there a better way to spend the weekend?! Thanks for the picts. :)

Tracey @ozcountryquiltingmum said...

Some groovy quilts there...don't think mine will ever get to that stage!
Loved the Romily birthday post, she is so gorgeous and sweet, Tracey

Clare said...

My favourite is Mallee Topsoil too. Some truly amazing quilts.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your photos. I went to the fair too but as we don't have great shops here, I spent all my time brousing the stalls and workshops. Beautiful quilts. One lady did tell me the Peaced with Love was very moving, bringing on tears. Thanks again.