Saturday's meeting

Hello everyone. 

Yesterday saw the group meet up instead of in April when the usual meeting date falls during the Easter break. 

The main purpose for yesterday's meeting was to get our 2013 challenge quilt entries in for the Victorian Quilters Inc. Quilt Showcase exhibition which is being held on 26-29 June at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre in Southbank. 

The majority of quilts are complete and look fantastic, if we do say ourselves!  We will be able to post them here once the quilt show has taken place in June.

For show and tell only one of our members, Jen, had a couple of items:

 2014 challenge blocks

a beautiful knitted hoodie cardi which was just awaiting the insertion of a zipper

and that was about it.

Until the next post, have a great start to the week. 
Thanks for reading.

Out and about

Hello everyone. It's been a lovely wet morning here in Melbourne - it's soooo nice to hear some rain.

There aren't any quilting shows on this weekend that I have come across but there is always the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show being held at the Exhibition Building at Carlton Gardens until Sunday. Apart from lovely gardens to look at I always find some sort of quilting inspiration at this show whether it's in the paving, fencing or amazing landscape garden art the designers use.

One other thing to add is that the group is meeting this Saturday, 29 March in place of our April meeting.  It's been brought forward due to the AQC and Easter holidays which fall on our normal meeting date.

Last but definitely not least, the group's President, Deb Layt, has had her challenge quilt entry for the AQC show (coming up in April), printed in the AQC Preview booklet which is sent out to subscribers of the event! Congratulations Deb - it's a brilliant ploy to get everyone into the quilt show to see it in person, as it's pretty amazing and the details are always best seen in the real life viewing! (Deb's quilt is in the top left corner of the photo)

Well, whatever you get up to this weekend, enjoy it.

Thanks for reading.

Out and about

Hello everyone.

There doesn't seem to be any quilting events being held this upcoming weekend in Victoria that I can let you know about.

But if you are keen to get out and about I can recommend the RACV Calendar of Events website which lists a bunch of things to do around the State - RACV.  There may just be something listed there that takes your fancy.

Until next week, enjoy and thanks for reading.

March group meet

Hello everyone.

I have to apologise for the delay in posting but a power outage due to yesterday's storms here in Victoria and dodgy internet reception caused problems! 

The group meet up yesterday and we had our usual show and tell.  First cab off the rank were the latest 2014 challenge blocks by some of our members...

 Then Linda and Helen gave us some examples for the next 2 months' challenge blocks - layer cakes (10" square pre-cuts)...

 and pictorial blocks  - here Helen has created a Dresden Plate design and house design

 

 and Linda had a leaf block and heart block (which, I'm afraid, didn't photograph too well!)

 

 

Show and tell was next in line:

 



 Helen G's Tuscan Vase quilt (a TPG quilt class)

 

 Therese's WIP of machine turned applique blocks

 

 Judy's 1953 family heirloom hexi quilt which she asked for some advice on regarding the best way to repair it

 

and  a close up of all those hexies

 

 Heather's TPG sampler quilt which is awaiting quilting

 

 guest Yumi's hand and machine pieced work which was just stunning

 

 Helen E's Christmas quilt (cos its never too early to be ready for Christmas?)

 

 Sarah's kid's quilt WIP blocks which were incredibly cute

 

 Nellie's disappearing 9-patch quilt which featured her (wonderfully done) first time attempt at stipple quilting

 

 Robyn's baby quilt which she has made for her grandchild due in a few months

 

and the back of Robyn's baby quilt

We also had more 2013 challenge quilts on show but again, they won't be posted about until they go on show at the Victorian Quilter's Showcase at Jeff's Shed (Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre) in June (and I may have previously mentioned that the unveiling of these quilts was happening at April's AQC which was wrong - sorry !!!).

We also had various blades sharpened during our meeting and as noted above, we got the next two month's worth of 2014 challenge block instructions for layer cakes and pictorial blocks. 

Something else worth mentioning is a Sashiko workshop being held in Werribee in April (Sashiko (刺し子^?, literally "little stabs") is a form of decorative reinforcement stitching (or functional embroidery) from Japan. Traditionally used to reinforce points of wear, or to repair worn places or tears with patches, this running stitch technique is often used for purely decorative purposes in quilting and embroidery. The white cotton thread on the traditional indigo blue cloth gives sashiko its distinctive appearance, though decorative items sometimes use red thread.)  courtesy of Wikipedia

The Quilters Café are offering a Sashiko Workshop on Tuesday, 8 April from 9am - 3pm. They are situated at 4A Pyke Street Werribee.  The flyer for the workshop is below in case you are interested in attending:

The shop owners think it's going to be popular so if you want to attend, you need to get onto it asap so you can snaffle a place.

That's about it. You have to be thankful for electricity and internet service!!

Have a great week and thanks for reading!

 

Out and about

Hello everyone.  Today is a lovey sunny autumn day here in Melbourne.
 
This Saturday sees our group meeting at the Lower Plenty Senior Citizens Hall at 86 Main Rd, Lower Plenty.  Along with our usual meeting goings on, we will be having a fundraising blade sharpening session. There will be a $5 charge per sharpening of rotary blades, scissors and even secateurs (please note: each item needs to be separately bagged and named with correct money for efficiency). So if you are interested in seeing what our group gets up to AND have a few blades that need sharpening it will be a win win deal!

If you are heading out and about though, there are a few quilty events on this weekend which will take you from the coast to central victoria:

**SEACHANGE QUILTERS OF BARWON HEADS 10th ANNUAL EXHIBITION**
When:  14, 15 & 16 March (14 March - 4-8pm; 15 & 16 March 10-4pm)
Where:  Community Hall, cnr Hitchcock Ave and Ozone Rd, Barwon Heads
Includes: raffle quilt, guessing competitions and handmade goods for sale. Refreshments available. Entry Fee -  $2; Kids free

**WILLOWS QUILTING GROUP BI-ANNUAL EXHIBITION** (in conjunction with its Switzerland sister group)
When: 15-16 March; 10-4pm
Where: Community Hall, High St, Melton
Entry: $7

**CASTLEMAINE APPLIQUE GROUP'S 1st EXHIBITION**
When:  15-16 March, 10-4pm
Where:  Castlemaine Market Building, 44 Mostyn Street Castlemaine

Whatever you get up to this weekend, enjoy it!
Thanks for reading.

Out and about

Hello everyone. 

The long weekend beckons here in Victoria and it's going to be lovely weather too last time I checked.  The only quilting/textile related event on this weekend is at:

**ARARAT REGIONAL ART GALLERY**  - 'The Art of Repair' by Paull McKee and 'Present In The Process' by John Parkes
When: 30 January - 16 March 2014
Where: Town Hall, Vincent Street, Ararat, Vic
Contact: 03 53522836 Email: gallery@ararat.vic.gov.au

Here is a link to the Gallery in case you are interested.

Have a great long weekend and thanks for reading!