Canberra Quilt Show 2010

Warning: Quilt-related content!Rounding out a supremely busy week, was a trip to the Canberra Quilt Show today, where I had two quilts on display! Well, one. Well none actually entered for competition...!
My calendar challenge quilt, 'The House That Jack Built' was on display with all the others - I'm 'Miss October'!'Susan's Stars', which was the collaborative quilt some of my work colleagues and I put together for our friend who was badly injured in a car accident, was on display too - they were down on numbers this year, so Susan asked if we wouldn't mind having it included. Why not?! With each entry comes the obligation to 'volunteer' for a shift. I chose to do a stint at the 'Quilts for Others' stand and enjoyed playing with a new Bernina 440 QE - with table! It fairly hummed along, and I was able to finish a medium-large all-over meander on a lap-size quilt in two hours. The quilt is destined for a local hospice once its bound. The Canberra Quilters gift many such quilts each year and it was nice to be able to do my little bit to assist. The quilting was by no means perfect, but it did the trick. It's the first time I've quilted with an audience - there were lots of ladies (and even a couple of fellas) who wanted to know how I was doing the quilting, so it was lots of fun telling them I'm a beginner FMQ-er - a lot of them didn't believe me! I encouraged them all to give it a shot. It was pretty funny, as I was sitting next to Pat Godden, quilter and mother of Helen Godden, whom, if you've been reading for a while, I admire greatly - she is one of the best machine quilters in the world. Helen was on duty as well and I was a tad embarrassed to be sitting there having a bunch of women admiring my very basic meander while one of the best quilters in the world was watching!

Here are some of my favourite quilts from this year's exhibition (click any image to enlarge):

Beth and Trevor Reid - Hot Lava II - Best of Show

Close-up - check out that marvellously textured quilting. Amazing.

Brenda Gael Smith - Dreamlines #3

Helen Godden - Chameleon (yes, the chameleon is trapuntoed - quite an eye-popping effect)

Diane Firth - Stones

Dell Armistead - 40 Shades of Green

Diane Firth - Drainage Basin

Helen Godden - Swanning East

Helen Godden - They Grow Up So Fast

And the Australian Best of Show for 2009 - unbelievably well done in concept and execution. This photo does not do it justice.

Marlene King - Travels

And the Australian Patchwork & Quilting Challenge quilts were also being displayed. Some of my faves:

Erika Krieg - A Snapshot from My Heart

Robina Wickerson - Flanders Poppies

Poppies close-up

And, finally, here'sEB quilting buddy Leah's quilt - it's massive! Well done Leah!

Leah Clark-Vial - Country Dresden Garden

I'm hoping to enter my first quilt for competition next year, but with all I've got on my plate these days, I'm not committing to anything! That's one of the good things about quilting - there's really no rush except our self-imposed deadlines!

The House That Jack Built

I've been a member of the Canberra Quilters for about three years now and love getting to the meetings when I can (which hasn't been all that frequently since Tristan's arrival, although I'm getting back in the swing of things now). Each year I promise myself I'll do a quilt for one of their challenges, but each year I get too busy and let it slide. This year was nearly no exception! However, I was determined, and completed this quilt, 'The House That Jack Built', in one night. It measures approx 18" x 15"

(click on image to enlarge)

I posted a while back that I thought I might do some tiny wonky stars for this year's 'Cutting Corners' challenge, but at the last minute changed my mind and did a wonky house instead. I enjoyed making the Tequila Sunhouse mini-quilt for Helen, so I thought I'd have another crack. I decided to go really bright, hoping to make an eye-popping quilt. Sadly I think I discovered that quilts can indeed be 'too bright' - resulting in insufficient contrast. In hindsight, I think I should have stuck to a white background. (Looking at it now, I wish I'd added a turquoise button for a door handle.) Nonetheless, I submitted this mini for the calendar contest - you never know, they might be looking for crazy, bright and quirky! I'm not sure when we'll find out, but regardless of the outcome, both kids like it and it can go on their bedroom wall when I finally get it back from the competition organisers :)
I love the backing/binding fabric - I originally bought it to use in a dress for Romily...that still hasn't been made! I did add a label after this photo was taken - at the meeting where the quilts were handed in. Talk about cutting it fine!

Collaborative Comfort

It's so nice to have a finish. I should outsource block-making much more often! Quilts come together amazingly quickly when you're working together. Here is 'Susan's Stars' bound and finished. I am very happy with the quilt (made by three work friends and me) and was delighted to present it to our colleague Susan, who was recently in a serious car accident. She is still in hospital, and will be for about another two weeks. The quilt will certainly brighten up her bed.
She said it was the first quilt anyone had made for her and was absolutely chuffed. She also confirmed that while she loves making quilts, she doesn't do much machine quilting - therefore she thought mine was fab!

Here's the pieced back - a beautiful stripe from Spotlight, of all places. I might have to go back and get some more - the colours are just fabulous. It didn't quite fit across the width, so I added a 90 degree strip down the middle - quite effective I think.
And one more close-up of the quilting/stars - excuse the folds, I had taken it to show everyone and it got a bit creased in the bag.
I now have five days to make a small challenge quilt for a calendar competition being run by the Canberra Quilters - it'll be no surprise that I'm doing some maverick stars! It may not get made in time, but I'll give it a try :)

Susan's Stars Update

I love long weekends - especially when Carl takes the kids of my hands for half a day here and half a day there. I get a lot done when I have the place to myself!

Here is 'Susan's Stars' quilted all over with a medium sized meander. While it's not perfect (I accidentally crossed the lines a couple of times - quilting in white over white-on-white fabric can be tricky!), it's effective and it was quick. So, it will have to do!
Now for some binding. I'm going to raid my stash for a suitable stripe - the back is a very bright Adobe style stripe, so it needs to coordinate or contrast. If I'd been thinking clearly when I bought the backing I would have bought enough to do the binding too. Ah well!

Gasp! There be quilting around these parts

Well there's been some quiltmaking going on around here! A work friend was in a serious car accident two weeks ago - she just happens to be the president of the Canberra Quilters - and a bunch of us at work, who also are quilters, decided a comfort quilt was in order. I wanted to get the quilt to her while she was still convalescing, so I thought a larger version of Bonnie Hunter's Maverick Stars would be a good idea, a la the Bushfire Quilt Project.

Polly, Teena and Ruth made up a bunch of blocks, and I made some too. I made eight, although it turns out I only needed two (leaving me with six for another project!). I originally thought a 5 x 5 layout would work, not realising how quickly 12" blocks would stack up. So I ditched a row and the quilt has finished up with a 4 x 5 layout instead. Now it's a very generous size lap quilt - Susan, the recipient, is vertically challenged, so the quilt will cover her completely when she's lying down.
Carl took the kids off to see the Dora the Explorer concert this morning, so I got busy and pieced the top together, as well as constructing the gorgeous stripy backing. As soon as I finish posting, I'll get started on sandwiching and pin basting - the intent is to spend part of tomorrow and Monday (public holiday here) quilting and attaching the binding to the front. Ruth has kindly offered to help me stitch down the back of the binding at work on Tuesday - a lunchtime quilting bee!

If I have any time spare after finishing the binding part on Monday I'm hoping to get a pencil roll made for a good friend's daughter - I made one for her big sister just over a year ago and the little sister adores it apparently! Meanwhile, the handquilting odyssey on Tristan's VHC quilt continues - I'm almost there!

Finally, here's a photo of my two cuties together. They both had haircuts yesterday - Romily had about 10cm (3") off in length (it was time) and Tristan had his first professional cut (he was remarkably still and well behaved!).

Learning to quilt by hand

I've often posted about wanting to improve my handquilting. When I was in my LQS the other day, I spotted a small sign advertising a handquilting class the following Sunday! I signed up on the spot and went along to the class yesterday. It was run by Canberra Quilter Kerry Gavin, who has been quilting for more than 30 years. You should see her stitches! They are tiny and perfect and she has incorporated some amazing designs into her quilts. My favourite that she showed us had four eagles, all stitched by hand and highlighted with trapunto. Amazing. Did I say amazing? Amazing.

The class only had five students, so we had lots of one-on-one time with Kerry and she was very encouraging. She first had us prepare the top - an ivory square of homespun, including marking up the design with pencil and basting the square by hand. We then tacked facings along each edge and, finally, we were ready for quilting. We spent the next two and a half hours learning Kerry's technique, which uses two thimbles: one on each middle finger - one on top and one underneath. The one on top controls the needle and the one underneath helps push the needle back up through the fabric. This was only a slight variation on my self-taught technique, so I didn't have too much trouble adjusting. I was amazed at what difference those small changes made though. I started to get much smaller and even stitches. Nothing compared to Kerry's - or Cynthia's - another lady in the class who was immediately AMAZING (there's always one), but so much better than what I'd been managing previously.
Kerry also let us in on one of her secrets - she uses a very loose, low-loft all poly wadding. It's much easier to needle than what I've been using. I've also been handquilting through a flannel backing, which doesn't help! Anyway, here are some photos of my practice piece. It looks a bit grubby - that's the pencil markings. The third photo is of the back - I was stoked to see the stitches on the back almost the same as those on the front.

(This is the back - I played with the contrast/brightness so the stitches would show clearly)

I will finish this piece off - I might even trapunto the hearts - Kerry also gave us a lesson in how to trapunto and I bought the needle and floss. At $22, I'd better use it, eh?

I'm also going to rip out some of the handquilting I did around the butterflies on the VHC quilt I'm making for Tristan - I can do it much better now and have a great idea for how to link the blocks together. Let's hope it looks as good in real life as it does in my imagination.

Art quilt exhibition in Canberra

Congratulations to Canberra-based art quilters Helen Gray and Pamela Munday whose work has been selected for Art Quilt Australia 09, an exhibition of contemporary quilts presented by Ozquilt Network Inc and Craft ACT.

The exhibition opens on Saturday 7 November and continues until 19 December 2009 at the Craft ACT Craft & Design Centre, Level 1 North Building, 180 London Circuit, Canberra City ACT.

From the Canberra Quilters blog. I'll definitely catch this one.

Canberra Quilt Show

After a crazy week of baking and organising and a day of recovery from Romily's party, I took off for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon and headed to the Canberra Craft and Quilting Fair. The Canberra Quilters annual exhibition is always good, so I was pleased to make it there - without children distracting me!

While there were a lot of traditional quilts there, I find it's the picture quilts that really draw my eye. Here are some of my favourites from the show.

Jenny Bowker Sandstorm over the White Desert

More unbelievably brilliant work from Jenny Bowker, currently resident in Egypt. I don't know why this quilt wasn't entered for best of show - she won last year with a similar entry. Also exquisite.

Beth Miller Grass Trees

Beth Miller A Touch of Green

Pat Godden Panda Reflections

Natsuko Miyake Life is like an instant dream

Check out the gauze over the base layer, with applique and embroidered details over the top. This was an excellent way to give this very interesting quilt a lot of texture. I really liked the design and technique, although I wasn't wild about the colours.

Jocelyne Leath A Moment in Time

The castle you can see is entirely quilted. You have to see it to believe it!

Jocelyn Green Oak Park - The windows of Frank Lloyd Wright

Helen Godden La Luna Feminingo

Naomi Miyake Happy Magic - Best of show (entirely hand quilted!)

There were also some excellent 'best of show' quilts from other state shows on display. Here are my faves.

Adriana Gismondi Encyclopaedia of Australian Birds (Quilt West Best of Show)

Elizabeth Camping Japanese Treasure Bag - SA best of show

I bought some gorgeous FQs from the trade hall. Will load a pic in the next post. No sewing going on here. We have a sick bubba - Tristan now has croup. Will this winter never end? Eventually!

Canberra Quilters - bushfire help

If you're in Canberra, hop on over to the Canberra Quilters blog for information about what they're doing for the bushfire victims.

Canberra Quilters' Exhibition 2008

One upside to the baby being 'not early' was that I made it to the Canberra Quilters' Exhibition last Friday. There were some lovely quilts there and here are a few of my favourites (Click on the image for a larger a view):

Diane Firth - After the Rain

Beth Miller - The Girls of Tyrone Farm

Jenny Bowker - Hakim (Best in Show)

Pauline Reynolds - Doggies in the Window

(Polly is a mate from work and first time exhibitor. I tried four times to get a clear photo of her hand-pieced attic window quilt, but there were always people in the way looking at all the different dogs!)

Jenny Cook - Sadako's Rainbow (hand quilted and sashiko - stunning)

Jenny Wild - Fire

Brenda Smith - Acacia Bloom

Lynn Cribb - Fantabulous Night (first time exhibitor and all hand quilted!)

Margaret Rolfe - Crimson Cranes I and II

Lorelle D'Arcy - Japanese Wedding Quilt (double sided!)