Lecture by Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn

Visiting UK contemporary embroiderers will lecture on "Pathways to Stitch". Jan and Jean will talk about how they develop their initial ideas and take these through to finished pieces of work.
Date & time: 2.30pm on 28 April 2010
Venue: Canberra Museum and Gallery, cnr London Circuit and Civic Square
Cost: $20 includes afternoon tea
Enquiries and bookings: 0427 625 145

1000 Artisan Textiles

Congratulations to CQ member, Brenda Gael Smith who has two quilts featured in the new book 1000 Artisan Textiles that is due to be released in May 2010 and available for pre-order now:


1000 Artisan Textiles features artisan-made examples of quilts, wall hangings, linens, rugs, baskets, wearable art, home accessories, and fashion accessories; incorporating a number of techniques including felting, hand and machine embroidery, appliqué, dyeing and fabric painting, weaving, beading, and all types of surface decoration.

Other Australian textile artists featured in the book include: Elizabeth Armstrong, Gill Brooks, Heather Crossley, Ruth deVos, Sue Dennis, Penny Eamer, Jette Ford, Jody Pearl Lange, Carol McGill, Sharron Shalekoff, Tricia Smout, Svenja and Daniela Tommasi.

Cutting Corners Calendar Competition

All members of Canberra Quilters are invited to submit a quilt to be featured in our 2011 calendar! The theme for this competition is Cutting Corners.

The shape of the quilt should be square, the size no larger than 50cm x 50cm. Thirteen quilts will be selected, one for each month of the year, and one will be our calendar's cover. No entry fee required. Deadline: 6 May 2010.

See the entry form included (loose) with the March issue of Connecting Threads.

2010 Members’ Exhibition - Entry Pack

The annual Canberra Quilters Members’Exhibition is held in conjunction with the Craft
and Quilt Fair at Exhibition Park. The dates are 5-8 August 2010, from 10am until 4.30pm each day. Entry to the Fair includes entry into the Canberra Quilters Members’ Exhibition.

A complete entry pack for the exhibition is included in the March 2010 issue of Connecting Threads or can be downloaded from the Forms Page of the Canberra Quilters website. Please read the documentation carefully as there are changes. This includes changes to forms, categories, roster requirements and conditions of entry.

The closing date for entries and roster forms is 4 June 2010.

CQ Annual General Meeting: 8 April 2010

The Canberra Quilters Inc Annual General meeting will be held in conjunction with the April evening meeting on Thursday, 8 April 2010. All Committee positions are declared vacant at the Annual General Meeting and any financial member of Canberra Quilters Inc. is eligible to nominate for a position. Committee meetings are held on the last Thursday of the month and Committee members are expected to attend.

If you are interested in nominating for any of the positions, please contact a member of the Committee. Download Committee Nomination Form & Position Descriptions. Nominations for committee positions must be lodged with the secretary before 8 April.

Membership Renewal due by 31 March

It is time to renew your membership, especially if you want to enter a quilt in the members' exhibition in August and/or sell goods in the sales room. The deadline for membership is midnight on 31 March 2010. If you are posting your renewal, we will deem the postmark date on the envelope ad the date received; it must be no later than 31 March 2010.

Download Membership Form & Information.

PETITE: Call for Proposals - Closing Date 14 May

Artists working in TEXTILES or FIBRE are invited to submit proposals for artwork to be included in the exhibition PETITE Miniature TEXTILES to be shown in the Gallery WORKSHOP SPACE @ Wangaratta exhibitions Gallery 12 June - 11 July 2010

Proposal Requirements

• Artists may submit up to 3 works for selection. Entry is free
• Works must not exceed 30x30x30cm in size but may be smaller
• Submissions must include a CV or brief artist’s biography and Jpeg files or photographs of the works for selection
• Include title/s, medium, dimensions, price including 20% commission
• Submissions must be received by 5pm Friday 14 May 2010. All submissions will be subject to a selection process
• Artists will be notified of the selection by 21/5/10
• Selected works must be delivered to the Gallery by Monday 7 June or by prior arrangement. Artists are responsible for all delivery transport or postage costs
• Artworks will be returned by Express Post at the conclusion of the exhibition on 12/7/10
  

For more information contact the Exhibitions Officer on 03 57220761 or
gallery@wangaratta.vic.gov.au

500 Art Quilts

Congratulations to CQ members Dianne Firth, Beth Miller and Brenda Gael Smith whose work has been selected from over 2000 entries to feature in the new book 500 Art Quilts:

Hungarian Patchwork Guild on show in Canberra

As part of the 14th Annual Hungarian Cultural Convention there will be a show of quilts from Hungary. This is only on for a short time.

Times: Monday, 28 December 2009 to Saturday, 02 January 2010
Venue: Foyer of Multimedia Room,
Canberra Girls' Grammar School,
48 Melbourne Avenue,
Deakin ACT 2600

Further information is available at www.talalkozo.info/program/patchwork.htm

Art Quilt Australia 2009 Exhibition: 7 Nov - 19 Dec 2009

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.

UFO Pledge for 2010

In 2009, 44 CQ members pledged to complete 62 of their UFO projects by the evening meeting in November 2009. Many CQ members have indicated that they want to clear a UFO our of the way and want to take the pledge for 2010. So here is am opportunity to set a goal for next year. Sign up and take the pledge to complete your UFO by November 2010.

The September newsletter contains a pledge certificate for your to sign and hand in to the Vice President Elizabeth Rose. Blank certificates will also be available at meetings. You will need to nominate a specific project on the pledge and be ready to show the completed quilt in November 2010. You may choose to show the incomplete UFO and tell the story at the December 2009 meeting. You may want to wait until you see the results of the 2009 pledge participants at the 5 November meeting before you take the plunge.

You have until December 2009 to make the pledge and you can nominate more than one project to complete.

Evening Meeting Bring & Buy: 5 November 2009

At the evening meeting on 5 November 2009, there will be a "bring and buy" element. This is an opportunity to sell of any unwanted fabric, patterns, books, tools and threads. NO COMPLETED ITEMS PLEASE. This is a casual arrangement - to be set up on chairs AFTER the formal part of the meeting. Please contact the Vice President Elizabeth Rose if you are planning to participate.

Exploring the Art Practice Conference

Art quilters in the Canberra area may be interested to know that the Ozquilt Network is hosting a one-day conference in Canberra entitled "Exploring the Art Quilt Practice". The conference will be held at Primal Space,Shop 12 Torrens Shopping Centre, Torrens Place, Torrens ACT from 10.30am - 4pm on 7 November 2009. Speakers include:

• Valerie Kirk, Head of Textiles, ANU School of Art, “Process, Ideas & Technique”


• Bea Brickhill, Director – ACT, Australia Business Arts Foundation, “Business Skills for Artists”


• Barbara Macey, eminent textile artist and founding member of Ozquilt Network Inc, “A Journey in Textiles”

Non Ozquilt Network members are welcome! See the booking form for the full program and other details. Conference papers are available for $15. Bookings for the Ozquilt Network annual conference close on 30 October 2009.

Made in New Zealand II

As evidenced at recent evening meetings, many CQ members have enjoyed participating in quilting activities in New Zealand including their fantastic biennial symposium. For those of us who can join the festivities at the 15th Carrefour Européen du Patchwork in Ste Marie-aux-Mines from 17-20 September 2009, we can still have the pleasure of viewing Made in New Zealand II - the the largest collection of New Zealand quilts ever assembled to travel overseas.

Fabric Search: A Message from Marie Lucas-Smith

Help Please! My friend from Fiji has started to learn patchwork and needs scraps of one particular fabric to complete her quilt. She is making a hexagon quilt so only needs scraps.

The material is a backing size cotton fabric and is a patterned fawn colour.
If anyone has any scraps even the size of the palm of your hand, I would be so grateful to help her complete her quilt.





Please contact me on 0401271854. I will come and collect or pay for postage. I hope one day to have her visit and come to Canberra quilters to show her quilt.

Marie Lucas Smith

ArtCloth Exhibition: Engaging New Visions

If you are heading up the Hume Highway, you might like to stop for at the inaugural International ArtCloth exhibition, 'ArtCloth: Engaging New Visions, Fairfield City Museum and Art Gallery, 29th August - 11th October 2009. Opening at 2.00pm Saturday, 29th August by Joan Truckenbrod, Professor of Art & Technology, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA.

The list of participants in the exhibition includes:

• Laura Beehler, USA
• Claire Benn, England
• Regina Benson, USA
• Jane Dunnewold, USA
• Susan Fell-McLean, Australia
• Claudia Helmer, Germany
• Cas Holmes, England
• Ken Kagajo, Japan
• Helen Lancaster, Australia
• Jurate Petruskeviciene, Lithuania
• Jeanne Raffer Beck, USA
• Julie Ryder, Australia
• Joan Schulze, USA
• Tjarya (Nungalka) Stanley, Ernabella Arts, Australia
• Norma Starszakowna, England
• Tjunkaya Tapaya, Ernabella Arts, Australia
• Annie Trevillian, Australia
• Joan Truckenbrod, USA
• Jurate Urbiene, Lithuania
• Els van Baarle, The Netherlands
• Marie-Therese Wisniowski, Australia

For further information visit Jane Dunnewold's website http://www.artclothstudios.com/

$1,000 Acquisitive Art Award & Braidwood Quilt Event

As part of the Braidwood Quilt Event (27-29 November 2009), textile artists are invited to create a quilt inspired by the work of Australian printmaker and artist Hall Thorpe (1874 – 1947).

The award is sponsored by Cheryl Hannah, Director of Fyre Gallery, Braidwood, in conjunction with an exhibition of Hall Thorpe’s work from November 13 to December 21

Entry forms available from the Quilt Event website www.braidwoodquiltevent.org.au

Email: dunvegan@activ8.net.au Ph (02) 4842 2355 or (02) 4842 2626

CQX Prizewinners 2009

Images of the prize winning quilts from Canberra Quilters Exhibition 2009 can now be viewed online including Best of Show - Happy Magic by Naomi Miyake:

A Slice of Canberra Quilters

You can now purchase your copy of A Slice of Canberra Quilters, a cookbook full of scrumptious tried and true recipes accompanied by colour images of quilts made by our members. Priced at $15 (excluding postage and handling), the book makes a wonderful gift.

The watermelon quilt on the cover is made by Dianne Firth.

Exhibition Awards

Our annual exhibition was opened this morning by Diana Lampe, a local Canberra embroiderer, author and writer of a column in the Canberra Times Food & Wine Guide. Diana also launched the new Canberra Quilters' cookbook, A Slice of Canberra Quilters.

These are the major award recipients:-

Bernina Best of Show: Happy Magic by Naomi Miyake

Best Use of Colour: Luminosity by Judy Turner

Chiatanya Designs
Embellishment Award: Corrugated Iron – Iron Lace II by Beth Miller

Retaining the Tradition: Cecilia’s Crazy Creation by Cecilia Skene

Excellence in Handquilting: Happy Magic by Naomi Miyake

Bernina Excellence Award
for a Junior Quilt Maker: Fairyland by Kristina Kleine Butron (age 7)

The Margaret Armistead Award for a first time exhibitor was awarded to Linda Gosnell for her quilt At Last! Linda's Seminole.
The Allan Armistead Award for a first-time Junior exhibitor was awarded to Gabrielle Ciacia for her quilt Butterfly Dots