Opportunity for Canberra Quilters' members

The Wesley Uniting Church at Forrest holds its fete on 17 March 2012. Canberra Quilters have been invited to participate by selling hand-crafted items, similar to what is sold in the Sales Room at our Annual Exhibition. Members would be acting as individual sellers, not through Canberra Quilters.

If you are interested in participating you need to sign up with the Wesley organising committee. All the details are on the Wesley website. Here is a link - Wesley church fete - craft

Evening Meeting - 1 December

This is the final evening meeting for the year. It is also the meeting for the reveal of the Mini-Quilt Challenge. The theme is "Stars". The item needs to be no larger than 24 inches in any dimension and represent the theme is some way. It could be through fabric choice or the overall design.
You also have the opportunity to attach a 300 word story relating to the quilt.

A toy drive is being conducted for local women's refuges. Baskets will be available at the meeting for you to drop off new (UNWRAPPED) toys.
The library is open from 7.00pm, closing at meeting start time of 7.30pm and re-opening after the formal part of the meeting is finished.

Also a reminder that membership fees are due. Canberra Quilters membership runs for the calendar year.  Membership fees are accepted at the meeting or through the post. Annual fee is $46, Junior Member is $16.50.

Wonderful Wednesday Christmas Meeting - 16 November

It was a fun meeting with lots of Christmas decorations and food!
We received $81.25 in donations as votes for the Christmas challenges. This will be topped up to $100 and donated to the women's refuge.
Below is a link to some images taken at the meeting.
Link to skydrive
Next WW will be on January  18th, from 9.30. and all ROWers are encouraged to come along and display their row quilts.

Merry Christmas.

Jacquie

Call for entries - Antique Quilts of Ireland

We have received the following request:

Call for Entries - Antique Quilts of Ireland Exhibit at the Galway City Museum.

We are looking for antique Irish quilts to feature at the Galway City Museum during the 1^st International Quilt Festival of Ireland (June 7-10, 2012). We would like to feature quilts especially around the time of the Great Famine (1845) and up to 1930.

These quilts will be on display for three weeks at the Galway City Museum starting from one week before the festival to one week after the festival. All quilts will be showcased in our festival program and in our online Showcase of Quilts.

How to submit:

If you’re interested in sharing one of your Antique Quilts please contact Suz at suz@iqfoi.com for all submissions and questions. IQFOI will pay the costs of shipping to and from Ireland.

Many thanks

Alan R Tremain

Director – Oz Quilt Design

Guest Speaker tonight - Life Member Beryl Hodges

At the evening meeting tonight our guest speaker is Beryl Hodges. Beryl is a life member and former president and has been quilting for many years. Beryl will present "A Personal Retrospective".
Meeting starts at 7.30pm at the Cook Community Hub Hall.

The library is open before the meeting (from 7.00pm) and after the meeting - in the Canberra Quilters Room in Building C.

Braidwood Quilt Event - Deadline approaches for entries

This year, a local Braidwood business, Cortona Resources, is offering an acquisitive award of $1,000 for an art quilt at the Braidwood Quilt Event with the theme

"We are Australian".

As well as this acquisitive award, there is the usual $200 prize for viewers' choice at the indoor exhibition (the main competition, which is open from the official opening on the Friday night, to the end of the day on the Sunday), plus an additional $200 prize for the viewers' choice winner of the outdoor exhibition (the Airing of the Quilts which is held on the Saturday only). There are some other cash prizes on offer as well, plus the usual other kinds of prizes for various categories.

The deadline for receipt of entry forms is Monday October 24, 2011, and the quilts must be received by Monday November 14, 2011.

The actual Braidwood Quilt Event runs from the evening of Friday November 25 (6 pm for the official opening, till about 7:30 pm), to Sunday November 27. If you'd like more info about categories, entry fees, etc. go to the website www.braidwoodquiltevent.org.au or email Jill (the Braidwood Quilters president) on dunvegan@activ8.net.au

You can also phone Jill on (02) 4842 2626, or June (vice president, and owner of the Braidwood Quilt Shop) on (02) 4842 2355.

Wonderful Wednesday Meeting on 19/10

A message from our meeting co-ordinator Jacquie...

The next meeting is in the Community Hall at the Cook Hub, starting at 9.30pm
This meeting starts our lead up to Christmas with a Christmas Fabric Lucky Dip.
So parcel up about a fat quarter of Christmas Fabric from your stash and bring it along. In exchange you will get some fabric that another member could do without and then the fun begins.

You will have a month to incorporate this fabric into something to bring along to the WW Christmas meeting on 16 November.
We will have a fundraising competition at the November meeting.  No exchanging of gifts this year we are going to raise some money for a local charity.
You will be displaying the item you made incorporating the Lucky Dip Fabric. This item must have wadding but need not be a quilt. It could be a stuffed animal, a tea cozy or perhaps a Christmas Tree decoration – whatever you feel like making.
There will be prizes for the best ones.

ROWmakers meeting today- final ingredients revealed

Joanne West reports on today's meeting...
We had another very enjoyable meeting this morning. The design walls were full again. By my count, it looks like we'll have about 30 quilts to show off. I think that's fantastic!

I'm glad we finally have the INGREDIENTS for the final row. To make things easier, I came up with a bit of a twist this time. We chose two ingredients from each list - but YOU ONLY HAVE TO USE ONE OF EACH..... YOU CHOOSE!!!!!

From the first list the INGREDIENTS are : BASKETS or BIRDS/ANIMALS (You choose which one you'd prefer).

From the second list the INGREDIENTS are : PINK or BLACK (Again, you choose which one of these two you prefer).

The ladies who chose these were Helen Percy, Mary Robertson, Pat Kenna and Pam McNamara.

I hope this makes it easier for everyone to finish. At the end of this post I'll include a complete list in case anyone is not sure.
Next month our meeting will be on Wednesday 9 November. As well as our usual show-and-tell we'll have a Share-a-Technique session and a discussion of the guidelines for next year's challenge. We'll also be discussing arrangements for our Christmas party on Wednesday 14 December. If you'd like some input, be sure to come along. Also, feel free to bring along any friends who may be interested in joining us next year. And don't forget that the design walls are a great resource for anyone wanting to arrange their rows (with free "expert" advice thrown in).

 Have fun finishing your rows and bring them along next month.

LIST OF INGREDIENTS

1. DIAMONDS/HEXAGONS and PURPLE

2 .CIRCLES/CURVES and YELLOW
3. STARS and STRIPES
4. BUTTERFLIES/BUGS/BEES and ORANGE
5. FLOWERS/TREES/LEAVES and GREEN
6. HEARTS and APPLIQUE
7. WORDS and BLUE
8. BASKETS or BIRDS/ANIMALS and PINK or BLACK

Theme for Wonderful Wednesday Meeting on 21/9

Tomorrow is the Wonderful Wednesday meeting in the Community Hall at the Cook Hub. The themed show & tell is "First and Last" - members and visitors are encouraged to bring along their first quilt and the last one that they have made.
Starts at 9.30 until 12.30. Sewing and chat until 11.00, when the formal proceedings start.
The meeting is followed by a drop-in session in the Canberra Quilters' room, in the building adjacent to the hall. This runs until 4pm.

Quilts For Others (QFO) working bee - 13/9

The next QFO day will be on Tuesday 13 September from 10am until 2.30pm - come along and help where you can. It could be quilting, sewing for a quilt-as-you-go quilt, hand-sewing bindings and labels, cutting, pin-basting...there are any number of activities you can help with. The working bees are held on the second Tuesday of the month (excluding December and January).

Tea and coffee supplied - BYO lunch.
If you are going to be sewing by machine you can bring YOUR machine and sewing accessories, OR use one of the four Bernina machines that Canberra Quilters own for just this purpose - whatever you feel comfortable with.
At the recent members exhibition at the Quilt and Craft Fair QFO volunteers were busy sewing. Bernina provide us with loan machines for the exhibition - the 440 Quilters Edition. Here are a couple of images of volunteers hard at work...

 Yvonne is sewing strips on a quilt-as-you-block. In the background you can see a completed quilt using this technique.

Anieta is quilting one of the quilts prepared at a QFO working bee. Quilting in public is fun - but you have to be able to sew and talk at the same time. Members of the public love to ask lots of questions!

So far this year 131 quilts have been handed over to various organisations. This includes 67 that were distributed to Karinya, Marymead, Ted Noffs Foundation, Anglicare, Uniting Care and the Women's Housing Program. Sometimes quilts are given to organisations to use as fund-raisers through raffles or auctions. Four quilts in this category were given to Make-A-Wish, Gungahlin Lions Club, Cerebral Palsy Alliance, and two were given to Calvary Hospital.

Workshop on Basics of Dyeing(with fibre reactive dyes) September 10

This Saturday CQ accredited teacher Mary Kennedy will be leading a workshop in hand-dyeing using Procion MX fibre reactive dyes. You will learn the basics of dyeing and come away with 12 fat quarters of hand-dyed fabric - be initiated into this wonderful world of colour!
Class runs from 10-3 at Strathnairn Arts Association, 90 Stockdill Road, Holt. Cost is $55, including materials fee. Contact workshop coordinator Jakki Cashman to secure your place: jakkicashman@homemail.com.au

Art Quilters Meeting - 10 September

The Art Quilters special interest group of Canberra Quilters meets this Saturday at our Cook headquarters.
The meeting starts at 10.30am and there will be a mini workshop on screen printing, presented by Anne Dickens. Contact Buffy Beggs for more details.

Row by Row - round 5 (July)

In July our 5th row was due. The elements to be included were the colour green and flowers, trees or leaves.
The quilts are starting to form into cohesive works now - colour themes and styles are more obvious. Japanese styles, beige/ cream pallette, white background, yellow background, garden-themed, child-themed - the variety is amazing given we are incorporating the same elements each row.
In some ways this is testing members to keep with their chosen direction and also incorporate the chosen elements.

We have had a break for the month of August because the annual exhibition was on, but the next meeting is only 2 1/2 weeks away so it is time to get sewing. The elements chosen for inclusion are hearts and applique.
This could be a trial for those who have pieced everything so far (your truly).
See you on 14 September for a 10.30 start. This will be our 6th row - we will be three quarters of the way with our rows.
Liz Rose

Ask a Quilter - All About Applique

Every few months Canberra Quilters hosts an afternoon called Ask a Quilter. The latest one was about applique and was led by member Elaine Jones. Below are a couple of images taken on the day... Elaine is the person holding the more elaborate blocks.

Raffle Winners 2011

Yesterday at 4pm the Canberra Quilters' Raffle was drawn. Winning ticket holders get to choose their prize from the prize list. 
The first drawn ticket was 04414 - Jane Tasker of Cowra. Jane chose the Bernina B330 sewing machine as her prize.
The second drawn ticket was 1416 - Pam Alexander of Tuross Head. Pam chose the quilt by Kath Hunt as her prize.
The third drawn ticket was 1989 - Maryann Davis of Ulladulla. Maryann received the remiaing prize of a Tru Blu Quilting Frame from Brindabella Quilting Systems.

Congratulations to all our visitors on winning a raffle prize. We hope you enjoyed your visit to the quilt show.

Results of judging - Canberra Quilters Exhibition - Long post

Judging for the exhibition took place on Tuesday, 9 August, and the results have been embargoed until now.

The exhibition was opened by Pamela Tawton, long-standing, award- winning quilter, today.
Below is a long post detailing the places awarded in each category and the special awards. Images of these quilts and clothing items will appear soon on the Canberra Quilters website. http://www.canberraquilters.org.au/

Pamela chose the recipients of the Margaret Amistead and Allan Armistead (junior quiltmaker) awards - for a first time exhibitor.
These went to Silvia Foira for Tropical Flower (Margaret Armistead) and Charlotte Jackson (Allan Armistead) for Paradise Playground.

Judging Results:
Category 1: Bed Quilt (non-professional)

1 Elaine Niit, Floral Windows
2 Karin Malmberg, Karin’s Saffron Sari
3 Beth Mackay, Timeless Blessings

Category 2: Bed Quilt (professional)
No awards made due to insufficient entries

Category 3: Wall Quilt (non-professional)

1 Jenny Houston, Red Centre
2 Silvia Foira, Cottage in the Cotswolds
3 Helen Rose, Kamon and Kimono – Fat Quarters Challenge
Highly Commended - Christine Gainey, Chinese Coins for Christmas

Category 4: Wall Quilt (professional)
1 Nobuko Miyake, Tea Bowls
2 Beth Miller, The Elephant
3 Dianne Firth, Field
Highly Commended - Beth Reid, Penny Rug

Category 5:Mixed Media Quilt (open)
1 Helen Godden, Lilli Marlene
2 Dianne Firth, Rain
3 Yvonne Williams, Poppy Stages
Highly Commended - Susan Blood, Unfashionable

Category 6: Art Quilt (open)
1 Helen Godden, Freedom
2 Beth Miller, Emu
3 Elizabeth Rose, Pathways

Category 7: Group Quilt (open)
1 Helen Godden, Seasonal Sisters
2 Robyn McPherson, Connecting Threads- Line of Design – Red
3 Elizabeth Rose, Gourmet Rows

Category 8: Commercially-Quilted Quilt (open)
1 Pat Godden, Japanese Windows
Quilted by Fran Wilson-Willowpatch
2 Sylvia Frazer, Journey of a Quilter
Quilted by Robyn Cawdron – Plain and Fancy
3 Katy Ciacia, Beach Days for Lotte
Quilted by Fran Wilson - Willowpatch
Highly Commended - Elaine Niit, Moondance
Quilted by Kay White – Kay’s Quilts

Category 9: Challenge Quilt (open)
Theme: Home
1 Helen Godden, At Home in his Arms
2 Anieta Barandrecht, Fragile: Handle with Care
3 Elizabeth Rose, Living on the Crescent
Highly Commended - Janet Cruise, Home is where the heart is

Category 10: Tiny Treasure Quilt (open)
1 Brenda Gael Smith, Dreamline #4: Lorikeet
2 Patricia Butron, Turning Triangles – Revisited
3 Lyn Steel, Memories of Japan
Highly Commended - Dianne Firth, Erosion

Category 11:Creative Clothing - Classic
1 Donna Sunderland, Dragonfly II
2 Irma Armytage, Japonesque Top
3 Jacquie Rogers, Asymmetrical Vest

Category 12: Creative Clothing – Art to Wear
1 Dell Armistead, Everything Old is New Again
2 Sandra Farley, Falling Leaves
3 Dawn Wilson, Fern Fronds

Category 13: Creative Clothing – Accessories
1 Patricia Butron, Fold, twist, stitch and shout
2 Louise Fredericks, Denim Bag
3 Lynn Steel, Scrappy Bag
Highly Commended - Andrea Carew, Am I ever at Home?!

Category 14: Creative Clothing – Challenge
1 Andrea Carew, Home is Where you Hang Your Hat
2 Dell Armistead, Black and White and Read All Over
3 Louise Fredericks, Granny’s Home

Category 15: Quilts by children(up to 12)
1 Ineka Voigt, Apple
2 Talitha Thompson, My Secret Garden
3 Charlotte Jackson, Paradise Playground
Highly Commended - Kristina Butron, LKKB, that’s me

Category 16: Quilts by youth (13-17)
1 Stacey Waring, Desire

SPECIAL AWARDS
Bernina Best of Show
Helen Godden, Freedom

Best Use of Colour
Helen Godden, Lilli Marlene

Chiatanya Designs Embellishment Award
Helen Godden, Seasonal Sisters

Retaining the Tradition
Elaine Niit, Floral Windows

Excellence in Hand Quilting

Nobuko Miyake, Tea Bowls

Bernina Excellence Award for a Junior Quilt Maker
Ineka Voigt, Apple

Canberra Quilters Exhibition Opens Tomorrow

Tomorrow (Thursday) the Canberra Quilters Exhibition opens at 10.00 until 4.30pm. It continues each day through until 4.30pm on Sunday.
As well as the exhibition, don't miss the famous Sales Room of handmade goods by Caberra Quilters members. Good qulaity fabric related items - including many quilts.
Demonstrations by Quilts For Others watch quilts being made for charity. Buy a raffle ticket. You can also visit the Craft Fair attached to the exhibition.

Elements by tACTile

This exhibition is on at the ANCA gallery until 14 August. Note the gathering tomorrow, 6 August at 3pm, to meet the artists and Ruth Hadlow.
All the members of tACTile are also members of Canberra Quilters Inc. ANCA is not far from the EPIC venue where the Canberra Quilters Exhibition will be held next week, so you can fit in a visit to both exhibitions.
The image below is of Beth Miller's work 'The rain', 2011.

Lost phone at 4 August meeting

One of our members lost her mobile phone at last night's meeting. It is an older model silver Nokia. If you find it or know where it is please contact Leonie on 62862868.

Quilt Delivery Day - Saturday 30 July 2011

This Saturday is delivery day for items entered in our Annual Members Exhibition. Items can be dropped off at Canberra Quilters headquarters at Cook, between 9am and 6pm. If you can't deliver personally then get a friend or family member to drop off your items.
All quilts must have a sleeve attached to the back of the quilt for hanging and/or security. Please refer to the latest issue (June) of Connecting Threads for the details.
Liz Rose
Exhibition Secretary

Members' success at Sydney Quilt Show - June 2011

Several members of Canberra Quilters Inc are also members of the Quilters Guild of NSW. At the recent exhibition at Darling Harbour three members enjoyed success in the judged part of the show. Congratulations to Helen Godden ( Art Quilt, Colour and Viewers' Choice), Ineka Voigt (Junior Quiltmaker A) and Beth Miller (Mixed Media).
Here is a link to the website with images of the quilts that won awards and prizes - www.quiltersguildnsw.com/quiltshow

Twelve by Twelve @ July Evening Meeting

Come along to the evening meeting at Cook on Thursday, 7 July to hear CQ member Brenda Gael Smith share insights and inspiration from her experience with the Twelve by Twelve International Art Quilt Challenge which is also the subject of a new book.

Brenda will give a slideshow presentation and also bring along an extensive collection of 12x12in quilts including her contributions to the group’s current Colourplay challenge.

Beneath the Southern Sky:Call for Entries

Beneath the Southern Sky is a travelling exhibition of contemporary textile works to be displayed at the Australasian Quilt Convention and other venues in 2012. All textile artists are invited to submit an entry exploring the theme Beneath the Southern Sky. Each work will be in a 40x100cm (W x L) banner format and up to 30 works may be selected.

To submit an entry, please review the Conditions of Entry and complete the Online Entry Form. The closing date for entries is 25 January 2012.

For more information, see www.beneathsouthernsky.com or contact info@beneathsouthernsky.com

Publishing Opportunity

Would you like to see your quilt published in a book by well-known publisher Lark Books?
They are currently seeking work to be included in the Lark Crafts second book in the Art Quilt Portfolio series, which will focus on "People and Portraits."
If your work focuses on people and you are interested in being published, the Call for Consideration forms are now available on Lark's website: www.larkcrafts.com/submit/calls-for-submissions


Deadline for submissions is 15 August 2011

Wonderful Wednesday - 15 June

We has around 52 people present at the Wonderful Wednesday meeting yesterday. There was the usual chat, stitch and cups of tea and coffee. The "bring and buy" saw some members selling their goods. Member Shuji from Wabi-Sabi Design was also there selling his Japanese fabric - fat quarters or by the metre.

Here is a view of some of the "Bring and Buy":

At the next Wonderful Wednesday meeting on 20 July , Clare Ayling will be present selling her latest shipment of batik fabric from Bali. The themed show & tell is quilts ( or anything really) made with batik fabric.

Row by Row Meeting - 8 June

On 8 June the Row-by-Row meeting was held. The elements to be incorporated in this month's row were butterflies, bees, bugs and the colour orange. Not everyone was able to make it - illness for some, and the fact that it was only 5 degrees C and windy meant others didn't want to venture out. For the 20 who made it there were some great interpretations presented.
Here are some images:



Dragonfly fabric solved the bug challenge





Nasturtiums and butterflies by Pat, Orange Peel block and bug fabric
 by Karin




Closeup of the nasturtiums



Berys is working on two quilts for this challenge- this is number 1



This is number 2



Joanne made her fourth "row" the corner blocks for the border



Closeup of some of Joanne's blocks



Sandra is going to turn her rows into a jacket

Butterflies and dragonflies - quilts as you go

For some it is producing a landscape, for others it's just crazy!



Sometimes there are leftovers - this will become a cot quilt for QFO


The elements for the next row were chosen by Robyn and Joan. Robyn chose "flowers, trees & leaves" and Joan really helped us all by choosing the colour green. The next meeting is on 13 July. We then have a break until September while the Canberra Quilters Exhibition is on. Catchup time for some of us, perhaps?

Guest at Thursday meeting- 5 June

At the Thursday evening meeting this week Jill Grant from kimoYES will be the guest speaker. Come along to hear about Japanese fabric. Jill will also have items for sale.
Jill is a Canberra local who loves Japanese fabric. Her website is www.kimoyes.com.au - so you can have a sneak peak at what she has for sale.
Meeting room opens at 7.15 for a 7.45pm start -  in the Cook Community Hub Hall. See you there.

In keeping with the Japanese theme bring along any Japanese-style quilts for a special show & tell. It could be the fabrics you have used, the style of piecing or applique or quilting.

Biggest Morning Tea - A Cancer Council Fundraiser

Every year during May the Cancer Councils around Australia encourage organisations to host a morning tea in order to raise funds for cancer research and support of patients.
For a number of years Canberra Quilters has hosted a morning tea - or an extended lunch - dubbed the Biggest Quilting Bee. This year it was held on Sunday, 22 May, at the Community Hub Hall at Cook - in the same complex of buildings as our headquarters.
Members had a fine old time from 11am until 3pm. The tables were groaning with tasty food - "bring-a-plate" brings out the best in the quilting cooks. The raffle tables were piled with donated prizes. Everyone had fun trying to complete the puzzles, chatting to friends, getting a little stitching done - and eating and drinking.

food, glorious food

What's a quilting bee without a bee?

Many, many prizes to choose from

Hard at work on the puzzles

Chat, sew, read, eat, drink...

Are you sure that's the answer?

At the end of it all...cleanup

A total of $1301.40 was raised on the day. Congratulations to Mary Robertson and her team and to all who attended. Special thanks to our MC - VP Tricia Morton.

Row by Row Meeting - 11 May

On 11 May the ROW makers had their meeting to reveal the results of the third row. Below are images taken on the day - in most cases showing the three rows completed by each person. Some definite styles and directions are emerging - through choice of fabrics and techniques.

The next meeting will be on 8 June. The two elements to be included in the next row are bugs/butterflies/bees and the colour orange. Once again this can be interpreted in many ways - it may be appliqued butterflies, pieced bugs or incorporating a bug fabric. Orange can range from the palest apricot, through a true orange to a deep rust.