New Look Canberra Quilters Inc. Website

** Connecting the Blog has moved to the Canberra Quilters Inc. website **

The Canberra Quilters Inc. website has had a makeover and is now the home to all things Canberra Quilters Inc.

You can now directly email members of the Committee by clicking on the email links on this page.

You can read all about the Special Interest Groups, workshops and see what's coming up on the Canberra Quilters Inc. calendar.

You can now also sign up to a new monthly email newsletter by clicking on this link.  This newsletter is not, and will not, replace the quarterly newsletter, Connecting Threads, which members receive as part of their annual membership fees.


The new website has been designed to display member's work and is currently displaying a selection of winning quilts from this year's Members' Exhibition.  This will be updated regularly to give all of our members a chance to show case their work.

Connecting the Blog has moved and can now be found here: Connecting the Blog

We hope you love the new look!

Website Maintenance

****** UPDATE *****

 The Canberra Quilters website and emails are back online.  (insert happy dance here)

If you have any issues accessing the website or emailing a member of committee please let me know.

Thanks for your patience and understanding during this time.

********************

Just a quick note from your Webmaster:

This weekend Canberra Quilters will be performing some maintenance on their website.  During this time the Canberra Quilters website will be unavailable and so will any Canberra Quilters emails (those ending in @canberraquilters.org.au).

We apologize for the inconvenience in the meantime you may access the temporary Canberra Quilters website by clicking this link.  It's a work in progress, but all the important information is contained there.

Again, we apologize for any inconvenience.  Thank you.

Rowmakers next meeting on 9 October

The next meeting of Rowmakers is on 9 October from 10 am until 12 noon.
Here is a message from co-ordinator Joanne:

Hi ladies

We know have our second last set of INGREDIENTS :-

. STRIPES (Audrey Cureton)

. APPLIQUE/REVERSE APPLIQUE (Shirley Rollins).

They shouldn't be too challenging.

Next month we get our last pair of ingredients. It's up to you whether you do 8 or 9 blocks/items.

The November meeting will be our Show-and-Tell. Hopefully with a prize to be drawn from everyone who brings along their 8 or 9 blocks/items. And December is just a party. Next meeting we'll discuss whether we should plan anything apart from eating.

We've also started talking about next year. If you have any ideas please come along and share them.

Until then, have fun,

Joanne 

QFO Working bee- 8 Oct

Quilts for Others are having their next working bee on 8 October from 10 am until 2.30 pm.
Come along to help make quilts for charity - morning and afternoon tea provided, BYO lunch.
Here are some of our members in action at the recent exhibition:

Brenda is explaining free-motion quilting

Donna is piecing blocks

Jakki is quilting

Living Colour! Call for Entries

CQ member Brenda Gael Smith is curating another travelling textile art exhibition in 2014/2015 that will premiere at the Australasian Quilt Convention in 2014 and will also be on display at the Creative Textile Show in Canberra.  All textile artists are invited to submit an entry exploring the theme Living Colour! Each work will be in a 100x40cm (L x W) vertical 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 31 January 2014.

Correction: Tentmakers of Cairo

Canberra Quilters would like to advise that there will be NO EFTPOS facilities at the Egyptian Tentmaker appearances at the Friendly Friday meeting on 27 September, between 10 am and 12 noon, or at the evening meeting on 3 October.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Egyptian tent maker Ekramy Hanafy in action. Photo: Graham Tidy

You can read more about the Egyptian Tentmaker's visit to Canberra here at the Canberra Times article.

Tentmakers of Cairo

The Tentmakers of Cairo are coming to Canberra as part of the "Windows to the World" event, celebrating the Centenary of Canberra.
The Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt will be open on the weekend of 28-29 September, between 10 am and 3 pm, with the work of the Tentmakers on display, as well as lectures and demonstrations. Bookings for the lectures and demonstrations can be made through windowstotheworld.com.au

Fragment of Birds in the Marsh

As well as this, the Tentmakers ( Hany El Sayed and Ekramy Hanafy) will be at the Friendly Friday meeting on 27 September, between 10 am and 12 noon and at the evening meeting on 3 October where they will give a short talk. At both these meetings small pieces of work and two publications will be available for purchase (EFTPOS, Cash or Card only).

The Tentmakers are also conducting workshops for Canberra Quilters on 30 September, 1-3 October. These workshops are booked out.

Sponsors for these events include Bernina, Jenny Bowker, Clare Ayling, Canberra Quilters and the Egyptian Embassy.

Small Japanese Projects Meeting - 25 September

Meeting is from 10 am until 12 noon. Here is a message from convener Wendy:

Hi everyone

Sashiko is what we are looking at this month.

I have been having a lovely time selecting magazines, patterns and books to bring to inspire you. We'll look at both machine and hand-stitched sashiko, and we'll look at ways to use finished sashiko pieces.

Bring your sashiko along, whether finished pieces/quilts, or clothing, or kits or pre marked fabric that you haven't yet started. Some of you have brought sashiko pieces to previous meetings - please bring them again.

If you made the small kimono project Edith demonstrated last month, I'd love to see them, too.

The aim is for you to go away inspired!

See you next week.

Modern Quilt Group Meeting - Thursday 12 September

GnomeAngel's Scrap Vomit

 Tonight at the Modern Quilt Group Meeting we'll be demonstrating how to make a "slab block".  (You can read more about them here:  Dining Room Empire)  If you'd like to make your own slab blocks at the meeting be sure to bring all the supplies you'll need.  (There are some sewing machines available, but these are limited.)

We're also going to be swapping 2.5" scrap squares, a la the Scrap Vomit quilt.  (You can read more about them here: GnomeAngel). Even if you don't want to make a Scrap Vomit quilt the 2.5" squares are so handy for so many different quilts!

If you are keen to do this, please bring along sets (however many you want) of 49 different 2.5 inch squares. This is enough to make an A block, or 49 hexagons, or 1 simple 14 inch block! 

Hope to see you there!

Collection of Annual Members Exhibition Certificates and/or Prizes

The Annual Members Exhibition Awards Night was held in September and it was a wonderful evening. It was so great to see the winning quilts again and see the big smiles on the faces of all the children that entered.

If you were a place getter or prize winner and were unable to attend the Awards Night to collect your certification and/or prize(s) never fear.

I will have the certificates/prize(s) with me at the following meetings for collection:

Modern Quilting Group Meeting - Thursday 12 September
Members Meeting - Thursday 3 October

If you're unable to attend these meetings and would like your certificate/prize mailed to you please drop me an email at angiewilson[at]iinet[dot]net[au] and I will organize collection or delivery with you.

Wonderful Wednesday Meeting - 18 September

At the Wonderful Wednesday meeting on 18 September the special show & tell is your "other" creative pursuits. Members are encouraged to bring and show the other things they make - knitting, crocheting, beading, embroidery, book binding, painting. The talents in our group are many and varied and we want to see what other things you make..

This is a sit & sew meeting, held in the hall at the Cook Community Hub. Meeting runs from 9.30 am until 12.30 pm.
Afterwards there is drop-in in the CQ room until 4 pm. The library is open straight after the meeting.

Rowmakers Meeting on 11 September - have you caught up?

The next meeting of the ROWmakers design group is on 11 September. A number of people indicated at the last meeting that they were in catch-up mode with their monthly design responses.

The elements drawn out at the last meeting were neutral and diamonds/ hexagons.

Here is a recap of what combinations have come up so far:

1. Green & circles/curves
2. Blue & geometric (squares, rectangles, triangles) 
3. Yellow & Celtic/ stained glass
4. Black & embellished/ embroidered
5. Purple & crazy piecing
6. Pink & pictorial/ scenic

2013 Exhibition Awards Ceremony Tonight

Tonight's monthly meeting is the Awards Ceremony for the 2013 Annual Members Exhibition.  It's a great way to revisit the quilts of the Exhibition and maybe even see some of them for the first time if you missed seeing the Exhibition.

The meeting starts at 7:30pm and is at the Cook Hall.

If you're thinking about joining Canberra Quilters the monthly meetings are a great way to get a sample of the work being done by the Guild, inspired and meet some lovely people.  Do come along!

Quilting Sale Day - 7 September

Don't forget the second Sale Day this year on Saturday 7 September from 1.30 until 4 pm, in the CQ room at the Cook Community Hub.
Members will have fabric, thread, tools and gadgets, books and magazines for sale. These are good quality items that are no longer needed by their owners.  Fill the colour gaps in your stash, find that gadget that makes life so much easier and get some bargain books and magazines.

Yes- it is the date of the Federal Election, so why not vote and then continue on to the sale!

The Last of the Flyer Competition Entries

The Exhibition may be behind us but there's still more flyer photos to share.

These photos come from Di Ballantyne.  Di took our little flyer on a big adventure on board the Trans Siberian Train Trip. The flyer went to Sydney, Singapore, Beijing, Ulan Bataar, Irkutsk (Russia), Moscow and St Petersburg and back via Singapore and Sydney.

"The most isolated was the steppes on Mongolia, the most remote was the ger camp in northern Mongolia, the closest connection (to patchwork and quilting) was the Mongolian Quilt shop I found in Ulan Bataar, and the most distant from Canberra was the Field of Mars Park shot taken in St Petersburg."

We also had 2 more photos from Patricia Branford:

Opposite the Matterhorn. At a place called Rotenboden

The following photos are from Dell Armistead's children:

Thank you to everyone that entered.  Prizes will be awarded at the Thursday 5 September Meeting. 

Presentation Night- 5 September

The upcoming evening meeting will be the night presentations are made to award and prize winners from our recent exhibition. Come along for another view of the quilts and meet some of the makers.

The usual evening meeting activities will also occur - library will be open, show and tell, tea and coffee, raffle and door prizes, name badge draw.

Meeting starts at 7.30 pm in the Cook Community Hub Hall.

Members on show at Mandelson's of Goulburn 31 Aug & 1 Sept

Several members of Canberra Quilters will be showing quilts at Mandelson's of Goulburn this weekend,  31 August and 1 September. These are the members of tACTile and the quilts are part of their recent exhibition, 100,  at the Belconnen Arts Centre.
Claire Ayling, joint owner of Mandelson's, is one of our sponsors through her Bali Batiks fabric business. Here is a message from Claire:

ICONIC EXHIBITION OF ART QUILTS

DIRECT FROM CANBERRA

The tACTile group comprising Jenny Bowker, Dianne Firth, Helen Gray, Beth Miller, with Beth and Trevor Reid working in partnership, are well known throughout Australia and internationally for their innovative art quilts.

They created 100 art quilts to provide a range of perspectives on Canberra as people, place and designed city.

We are fortunate to have 64 of these magnificent art quilts on display in Mandelson’s Ballroom.

                    DOOR DONATION TO CanTeen

HUGE SALE OF FABRICS, THREADS and PATTERNS

Date: Saturday 31^st August and Sunday 1^st September 2013

Times: 10am – 3 pm

Venue: Mandelson’s of Goulburn – 160 Sloane Street Goulburn (corner of Clinton Street)

Goods for Sale:

·         Claire Ayling Bali Batik Fabrics – with a HUGE selection at $10 per metre and remainder at $15 per metre.

·         Julie’s Superior Threads – selling a large selection with MANY on special.

·         Beth Miller Quilts By Pattern – ALL half price

Cash sales only – ATM’S are in walking distance

Morning and Afternoon Tea: served in Mandelson’s glorious Dining Room

Small Japanese projects meeting - 28 August: folded kimono

Here is a message from convener Wendy:

This month Edith is going to show the group how to make a folded kimono. I've included a picture of one - not sure if this is the exact model Edith will demonstrate. 

She may reply to this message giving you details of what's needed. 

Unfortunately I won't be able to make it but I'm sure you'll have an interesting morning. 

Bring along any Japanese goodies you bought at the quilt show. I know I found some lovely things

Connecting Threads via email

Are you interested in receiving the Canberra Quilters' newsletter, Connecting Threads, by email?

If so, you can give your name and email address to Jakki Cashman or use the Contact Us section of the website to indicate that you would like to join the trial group. The committee will  monitor the response, collect any feedback and consider issues associated with emailed newsletters. 

Wonderful Wednesday meeting 21st August: our exhibition quilts

At the Wonderful Wednesday meeting on 21 August the special show & tell is our quilts which were in the recent Annual Exhibition. Please bring along your quilt for everyone to enjoy again.

This is a sit & sew meeting, held in the hall at the Cook Community Hub. Meeting runs from 9.30 am until 12.30 pm.
Afterwards there is drop-in in the CQ room until 4 pm. The library is open straight after the meeting.

Viewers' Choice results

At the annual exhibition we have three categories for Viewers' Choice. Here are the results:

Quilts:  35, Cinzia White's "Raconteur- The Storyteller's Collection".

Other (Challenge & TT):136,  Colleen Reed's Challenge - "Night D'lite"

Creative Clothing: 157 Dell Armistead's "These Boots are Made for Walking"

All these exhibits were award-winners in their respective categories, so you can see images in the Exhibition album - here

tACTile exhibition is open at Belconnen Arts Centre, 9-25 August

the tACTile group is holding an exhibition at the Belconnen Arts Centre. If you are interested in quilts, particularly art quilts, this is the exhibition to see. There are 100 pieces in the exhibition. Members of tACTile are also members of Canberra Quilters.

Normal Service resumes at Canberra Quilters

Now that the Exhibition is over the normal program of meetings resumes.
First up is the ROWmakers group tomorrow (2nd Wednesday).
 Here is a message from convener, Joanne:

Hi Ladies

Sorry I'm a bit late with my reminder for our meeting this Wednesday, but I've spent five out of the last six days at the quilt show.

I thought it was another quality show with quite a variety of quilt styles and very well organised.

The Sales Room was very successful too.

 I might be able to get a chance to just play around. I know exactly what I want to do for the the last three months - I just have to sit down and do them! Just please don't make this month's too "out there".

See you on Wednesday - same place, same time.

Joanne

Check the calendar for information on further meetings and drop-ins.

Canberra Quilters Exhibition - raffle results

At 4.00 pm Sunday we drew our Exhibition raffle.
We don't nominate first, second and third prizes, but allow the first-drawn ticket buyer to choose their prize. The second drawn ticket-buyer chooses between the remaining prizes and the third-drawn ticket buyer get the remaining prize.

1. M. Christopherson,#623, of Nicholls, chose the quilt

2. J. Green, #1000,  of North Lyneham, chose the 'Kingfisher Design Wall' from Brindabella Quilting Systems

3. P. Matthews, #1486, of Goulburn, wins the Bernina 700D overlocker.

Exhibition images available on website

The images of the quilts that won awards are now available on the website, in the album on the home page.
Here is a link.

Did you see the exhibition on ABC TV news, Saturday night?

On ABC TV news last night in Canberra there was an item about our quilt show. President Michelle Law and Best of Show Winner Jenny Bowker, were both interviewed.
You can watch it here

Exhibition opened today, results of the judged portion of the exhibition

The Canberra Quilters Members' Exhibition opened today, in conjunction with the Craft and Quilt Fair, at EPIC in Canberra.
The judging portion of the show was held on Tuesday, 6 August. Images of these quilts and clothing will be on the website soon. Here are the results (long):

Category 1

Bed Quilt (non-professional)

1          23- Snowflake, Lynda Nikolovski

2          2- Big Blue, Joanne Barraclough

3          20- Spinning Tops, Gwen Leonard

Highly Commended -24- Cooper's ABC, Robyn Oats

Category 2

Bed Quilt (professional)

1          35- Raconteur- The Storyteller's Collection,

Cinzia White

2          34- Summer Trails, Anne Haddad

3          97- Fond of Flora, Cindy Watkins

Category 3

Wall Quilt (non-professional)

1          43- Street Art #1, Laraine Culnane

2          36- Canberra Warmth, Dell Armistead

3          38- 17-5641 Colour of the Year, Joanne Barraclough

Highly Commended -54 -Tree of Delight, Kathryn Labour

Category 4

Wall Quilt (professional)

1          70- Bottles, Nobuko Miyake

2          69- Baltimore or Less! The Stately Eight, Helen Godden

3          72- Blue Wren, Cindy Watkins

Highly Commended- 68- Wind Over Katatjuta, Jenny Bowker

Category 5

Mixed Media Quilt (open)

1          81- Silent Killer, Robyn McPherson

2          82- Meadow Argus, Stephanie Newman

3          79- Disappearing, Annette Horvath

Highly Commended -77- Waterway Warfare, Patrise Dowling

Category 6

Art Quilt (open)

1          86- Earth, Air and a Memory of Water, Jenny Bowker

2          96- Flying Colours: Eclectus Parrots- An Eclectic Pair, Brenda Gael Smith

3          90- Canberra, Helen Godden

Highly Commended- 95- Riparian Zone, Judy Robinson Whitty

Category 7

Group Quilt (open)

1          100- Only Way We are Going to Get There, Ann-Maree Jacobs

2          101- Barrier Reef, Beth Miller

3          98- Serengeti, June Browne

Category 8

Commercially-Quilted Quilt (open)

1          126- The Feather Beast: Slayed, Angie Wilson

Quilted by Sunflower Quilting - Raylee Bielenberg

2          113- Flying Free, Robyn McPherson

Quilted by Kay's Quilting - Kay White

3          125- Santa and Friends, Margaret Vinning

Quilted by Altogether Quilting - Helen Smith

Category 9

Challenge Quilt (open)

1          130- Canberra Narrative - Celebrating a Century, Frances Buscombe

2          136 - Night D'lite, Colleen Reed

3          138- Celebrating the Canberra Way, Elizabeth Rose

Highly Commended- 135- Moonlit Backyard, Kay Provins

Category 10

Tiny Treasure Quilt (open)

1          146- Colour Swirl, Patricia Butron

2          156 - Snails in the Storm, Sue Wood

3          151- Tako Bowl, Wendy Saclier

Highly Commended- 155-Triangle Tangle, Sandy ThompsonCategory 11

Creative Clothing - Classic

1          157- These Boots are Made for Walking, Dell Armistead

2          161 - Poppy Parade, Kay Provins

3          158 - East Becomes West, Louise Fredericks

Category 12

Creative Clothing – Art to Wear

1          163- Remembering Virginia Avery, Sandra Farley

2          166- Cleo's Collar, Helen Rose

3          167- Garden Border, Dawn Wilson

Category 13

Creative Clothing - Accessories

No awards made

Category 14

Creative Clothing - Challenge

1          176- My Centenary Garden, Donna Sunderland

2          174- Canberra- It Takes All Kinds to Make This City, Elizabeth Rose

3          172- Celebration, Sandra Farley

Highly Commended- 170 -Time is Something Money Cannot Buy, Dell Armistead

Category 15

Quilts by children in primary school

1          178- Autumn Breeze, Kristina Butron

2          181- Owls Are in the Air, Caylin Thompson

3          180- Brick Path, Hamish Newman

Highly Commended- 179- In the Garden, Gabbi Ciacia

Category 16

Quilts by youths in secondary school

1          183 - Sunrise Birds, Emma Hodgkinson

2          184 - My Dream Beach, Talitha Thompson

3          182- Mother Nature, Maddy Ciacia

SPECIAL AWARDS

Bernina Best of Show

86-  Earth, Air and a Memory of Water, Jenny Bowker

Bernina Amateur Encouragement Award

43- Street Art #1, Laraine Culnane

Best Use of Colour

126- The Feather Beast: Slayed, Angie Wilson

Chiatanya Designs Embellishment Award

138- Celebrating the Canberra Way, Elizabeth Rose

Retaining the Tradition

115- Retreat Station, Janelle Noack

Excellence in Hand Quilting

70 - Bottles, Nobuko Miyake

Claire Ayling Batik Award

8- Not Quite a Rainbow, Janet Cruise

Modern Quilting Award

19 - Across the Universe, Michelle Law

Bernina Excellence Award for a Junior Quilt Maker

183 - Sunrise Birds, Emma Hodgkinson

Margaret Armistead Award (for a first-time exhibitor)

43 - Street Art #1, Laraine Culnane

Allan Armistead Award (for a first-time junior exhibitor)

182- Mother Nature, Maddy Ciacia

No Modern Quilt Group meeting this month

Our rooms are a little sparse this month with everything at the show including tables, so we will cancel this month's meeting and just have a double-fun meeting on September 12.

If you have any suggestions for demonstrations that Jenny and I can do, let us know in the comments or by email. We will also do a scrap swap next month, which was discussed at the July meeting.

We will swap sets of 49 2 1/2 inch squares of different fabrics a la Block A of the Scrap Vomit quilt (see http://gnomeangel.com/crafty-samuels-technicolour-yawn/ if you don't know what I am talking about).

Even if you don't want to make a scrap vomit quilt, you can use these little squares for a million other things. Look forward to seeing you all the exhibition. Lots of modern quilts on show this year!

 - Michelle and Jenny

Thank You to the Library Display Teams

Image source: Ronnie Chow

Hello Again, it's your friendly Exhibition Coordinator here.  The Exhibition is only 4 sleeps away now! 

If you've been to one of Canberra's great libraries recently you may have caught a glimpse of the fabulous displays that our ladies have put together to help spread the word about the Exhibition.

The displays are so lovely and bright and do a great job of showcasing the fabulous work that Canberra Quilters does. (The picture above is of the display at the Erindale Library.)

I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to all the ladies that helped put together the displays.  I really appreciate the time and effort you all went to to make them look so fabulous.  Thank you!

A quick reminder, if you have raffle tickets they need to be returned to Melinda Coupland Thorne (our Raffle Coordinator Extraordinaire) by Saturday August 10.

A Quilt for All the Senses

"Celebrating the Canberra Way" - Liz Rose
Image source: Melinda Coupland Thorne

Only 7 sleeps until The Canberra Quilt and Craft Fair! Are you as excited about it as I am?

If you want to get a little bit of a preview of the amazing work that's going to be on display you can read about Liz Rose's quilt, "Celebrating the Canberra Way", that has been featured in the Canberra Times.  (You can read the article by clicking on this link.)

The quilt in question makes great use of an unusual embellishment; condoms.  It's an inventive way to add some excitement and colour to a quilt that's for sure.

Early bird tickets will be available at this evenings meeting for $11.  Tickets are valid for entry on any day of the Fair.

Raffle tickets need to be returned by 10 August and can be returned at this evening meeting (or at the Exhibition) to the Raffle Coordinator, Melinda Coupland Thorne.

If you're available on Wednesday to help with the set up of the Exhibition we'd love to hear from you.  Please let Raylee Bielenberg know.

Last Monthly Meeting before Annual Exhibition

Hello Everyone, your friendly Exhibition Coordinator here with a couple of reminders for the August meeting this Thursday.

Can you believe it's just over a week to go before the Exhibition is officially opened?

Now's the time to make that final push on selling your raffle tickets as the books need to be returned to the Raffle Coordinator, Melinda Coupland Thorne, at the August meeting.  (If you can't make the meeting books can be returned to Melinda over the course of the Exhibition however all books need to be returned by Saturday 10 August!)

If you're wanting to get an early bird ticket to the Canberra Quilt and Craft Fair the August meeting will be your last opportunity.  You can purchases tickets from myself (Angie Wilson) or Liz Rose.  Tickets are $11 (that's a saving of $3 which is the price of some of those fabulous Fat Quarters that will be available in the trade hall!) and valid for use on any of the 4 days of the Fair.

We're still looking for able bodied men and woman to help with the assembly of quilting frames and quilt hanging on Wednesday 7 August.  If you're able to help (or wish to volunteer your partner to help out) please let Raylee Bielenberg know.  (It's a great way to see the quilts before the general public!)

This years Exhibition is shaping up to be a great one.  The quilts and creative clothing that has been submitted is so wonderful, varied and sublime that I hope you can all get a chance to see them displayed in all their glory at the Exhibition.

If there's any information you'd like, or anything that I can help with, please feel free to drop me an email (angie[at]gnomeangel.com) and I'll do my best to help you out.

See you all at the August Meeting!!!

Exhibition Flyer Competition Entries

The Exhibition is less than 2 weeks away and entries for the Flyer Competition are still coming in.  (Have you got an entry to send in?)

Today we'll be sharing with you the entries from 4 of our wonderful members; Tracy Houston, Lisa Teasdale, Kathryn Hailey and Helen Rose.

Tracy has submitted an entry for the weirdest place to see one of our Exhibition flyers; Eurovision! Eurovision was held in Malmo, Sweden.

Tracy's second photo is for the furtherest location from Canberra. It's a sign on the Norway and Sweden border. The frozen lake in the background is Krutvatnet.

The next entries we have are from Helen Rose. Helen sent these 2 photos from Italica, which is a Roman city that was established in Spain in about 206BC. It's the birth place of Emporers Trajan and Hadrian. The flyer is sitting beside 2 of the many (almost) intact mosaics in the city.

This next photo from Helen is from the Renaissance palace, Casa Pilatos and, according to Helen, looks like a quilt. (Can't argue with her on that one!)

Helen has also sent in this amazing photo of the flyer next to the tiles from the Alhambra in Grenada, Spain. (Isn't it amazing!)

Kathryn was lucky enough to visit the New York and sent some amazing photos of a quilt store called "The Brooklyn General Store".

Kathryn wrote:

"Last week I visited a beautiful quilt shop here in Brooklyn called "The Brooklyn General Store" It was wonderful - a very old building with oak floor boards (which creaked delightfully), original fittings, etc. And the fabrics were really different. Not the usual run of things I've seen - lots of stuff from the fifties, and reproductions from earlier days! And not to mention the knitting wools!!!

Anyway the lady who waited on me was really lovely - so I asked her if she would agree to put a Canberra Quilters flyer in the shop and she agreed and did so while I was there. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to give her a coloured flyer but the black and white one was fine! (didn't have access to a colour printer)!

One fun thing though - as I was looking through the fabrics she had a beautiful one there from Australia with Fairy Wrens on it! That was great fun to see." 

And rounding out our jet setting quilters is Lisa's entry. While Lisa didn't actually traverse the globe, her friend Nancy did and she was kind enough to take a Canberra Quilters flyer with her.

Nancy took our flyer to Arizona, Niagara Falls and Toronto. Thank you ladies for your entries, they're all fabulous and make me long for a holiday.

If you'd like to enter our flyer competition there's still time. There are 3 categories you could enter:

- the furthest geographical (as the crow flies) place from Canberra,

- the weirdest place possible, and

- with a celebrity.

There will be a prize offered for each category. The competition is open to all Canberra Quilters Inc members. Prizes will be awarded at the September Canberra Quilters Meeting. Entries to be emailed to angie@gnomeangel.com

Small print: Winners will be decided by the Exhibition Committee. Judges decision is final and discussion will not be entered into. Closing date is 7 August 2013.

CQ Library - new books

Periodically our librarian Beth will update the website with details of new purchases. You can check out the latest additions here.  These books are generally available for loan to members at the following evening meeting.

The library is also open after the ROWmakers and Wonderful Wednesday meetings and at the Friendly Friday meeting. Check the calendar for details of these meetings.

Small Japanese Projects meeting 24 July - change of venue

The convener of the Small Japanese Projects meeting, Wendy, has advised of a change of venue for next week's meeting only. This means that the Canberra Quilters' room will not open for drop-in until 1 pm.

Here is the message from Wendy:

Hi everyone

Wintry weather means a little shopping would be good to cheer us up. So we are NOT meeting at Cook this month. We are meeting at Addicted to Fabric, 25 Dundas Ct, Phillip, at the usual start time of 10 am.

We want to explore modern  Japanese fabrics. They are very different to the ones we normally use for quilting. Great inspiration for small items suitable for presents for friends, nieces and granddaughters.

To start you thinking, here are some sites using modern Japanese fabrics:

http://www.kelanifabric.com.au/?PCID=10820

http://www.japanesesewingbooks.com/category/japanese-fabrics-2/

http://www.fabricworm.com

http://pinterest.com/sallyb1234/japanese-patterns-and-sewing-style/

http://www.tessuti-shop.com/collections/pattern-books

http://www.tillyandthebuttons.com/2013/06/japanese-sewing-books.html

http://www.flickr.com/groups/731888@N24/pool/

http://luckylantern.com.au

Addicted to Fabric is a long-term sponsor of Canberra Quilters. They give Canberra Quilters a 10% discount, so bring your membership card. And it's also a great shop, with inspirational classes and fabrics.

Come along prepared to review your ideas of 'Japanese' fabrics. Afterwards, we will adjourn for coffee to a Bite to Eat in Chifley.

It's going to be fun!

Delivery Day for exhibition approaches- 27 July

Delivery Day for items to be exhibited this year is from 9 am until 6 pm on Saturday 27 July, at our premises in Cook. That is just over a week for those of you counting down-or counting the stitching hours to get your items finished.

The exhibition roster has been finalised and a copy will be available for checking on delivery day. Everyone who is on roster should have received a copy via email, or notification of your roster shift.

Wonderful Wednesday meeting 17 July : Antique buttons

At the Wonderful Wednesday meeting on 17 July Marie Reed will talk about her collection of antique buttons. Come along and see these beauties from the past.
This is a sit & sew meeting, held in the hall at the Cook Community Hub. Meeting runs from 9.30 am until 12.30 pm.
Afterwards there is drop-in in the CQ room until 4 pm. The library is open straight after the meeting.

ROWmakers set an interesting challenge for next round

ROWmakers met today and here is a message from convener Joanne:

Another pleasant meeting this morning. There weren't as many blocks as normal - but I can't talk, I've still only done three.

But I do know what I'm going to do for the next three (thanks to my friend Annette for a brilliant idea for today's "quite interesting" challenge).

Now I just have to get the designs from inside my head to fabric. I'm not sure that will happen before the Quilt Show, but hopefully I'll manage one.

Now for the "quite interesting" ingredients:-

. PINK (Jenny Reynolds)

. PICTORIAL/SCENIC (Val McGregor)

Have fun!!!

Hopefully I'll see lots of you at the Quilt Show - I'll be in the Sales Room most days.

If not, our next meeting will be straight after on Wednesday 14 August.

I'm looking forward to seeing the quilts that some of our members entered in the Exhibition.

Cheers, Joanne

Modern Quilting meeting on 11 July

The Modern Quilting group has their meeting this Thursday, from 7.30pm.
Here is a message from conveners Michelle and Jenny:

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all staying warm! I know I'm very happy to be binding quilts at the moment - another extra warm layer to snuggle under while I work!

This month at the modern quilt group we will have a catch-up session. Bring along your machine to work on the blocks you've worked on the last few months, or finish off quilting your exhibition quilts, or just bring hand sewing along (that's what I'll be doing).

Sit and sew and cups of tea with friends. Sounds like a pleasant way to spend an evening. :)

Don't forget your show and tell! Quilts, books, mags, stories ...

Look forward to seeing you Thursday - from 7.30 but I'll probably get there around 7.15.

Cheers

Michelle and Jenny

Canberra Quilters Members' Success at NSW Guild Show

Some members of Canberra Quilters are also members of the Quilters Guild of NSW. Congratulations to all who exhibited in the recent quilt show at the Sydney Quilt and Craft Fair.
The following CQ members (listed alphabetically) were awarded places and prizes at that show:

• Joanne Barraclough- 1st place in Traditional 1.2 - Predominantly Machine Quilted, for 'Big Blue';
• Lucy Carroll - 1st place in Pictorial Quilt, and Viewers' Choice, for ' Soldier On';
• Lucy Carroll - 2nd place in Art Quilt for ' Bark Life';
• Pat Godden - Judges Commendation in Commercially Machine Quilted 14.2: Small, for 'I Never Promised you a Rose Garden', quilted by Helen Godden;
• Beth Miller - 4th place in Art Quilt for 'The Rain';
• Lynda Nikolovski- 2nd place in Traditional 1.2 - Predominantly Machine Quilted, for 'Snowflake';
• Elizabeth Rose - 3rd place in Art Quilt for 'Pathways'

You can view images of these and the other award winning quilts here.

International Quilter Dena Crain speaks on 4 July

Visiting international quilter and teacher will be the guest speaker at our monthly evening meeting on Thursday, 4 July. Meeting starts at 7.30 pm.
Here is a link to Dena's website.

Dena is also teaching workshops for Canberra Quilters on Friday, Saturday and Sunday so the CQ room is not available for normal use.

ROWmakers chooses purple and extra meeting scheduled

Here is a message from our convener, Joanne:

Hi Ladies

It was a relatively quiet meeting on Wednesday - thanks to the horrible weather and the Sydney Quilt Show.

However it was nice to see how some quilts are starting to take shape.

We'll be holding our weekend get-together on Sunday 30 June for ladies who can't make our regular meetings and anyone else who'd like a social afternoon. The more the merrier.

It will be 2.00-4.00 in our room at Cook. Bring a plate if you're feeling so inclined, but there's no pressure.

I'll send out a reminder the week before.

The INGREDIENTS chosen for this month are:-

 . PURPLE (Beres Senden)

 .CRAZY PIECING (Kay Provins)

Have fun,

Joanne

QFO extra working bee on Saturday 29 June

Quilts For Others have scheduled an extra working bee for Saturday 29 June from 10am until 2.30pm. If you can't make the usual weekday bee why not come along and help out this Saturday.
Here are some images of a recent get together so you can see what everyone gets up to:

Quilt has been pin-basted, ready for quilting

Pat is cutting strips for a kit

Using the design wall to keep track during construction

Hand sewing the binding down

More hand sewing...and some unpicking?

Pin-basting another quilt

See you on the 29th June or 9 July. There is always prep work to be done, ready for demonstrating at the exhibition in August.