A Special Guest

Hullo Everyone,

We had such a special meeting this week. Kathy brought Maria Shell along to speak to us and we had 7 guest quilters join us as well. It was very nice having visitors to our hall.

Maria took us through her quilting journey and showed pictures of quilts she has made since she began. She even showed us her quilts that had been entered into shows, only to be rejected.
After all that she showed two quilts that have since won second place.
It was interesting to see how her style gradually changed. Maria is trying new things
all the time. A very creative lady.
We certainly enjoyed our day with her.

It was Maria's first time in Australia. She is keen to return. Maria has held workshops in Melbourne for the Modern Quilt Group. Then to Sydney for workshops this weekend with Kathy Doughty at Material Obsession - Making Prints out of Solids on Saturday and Improv Triangles, Perfectly Pointless on Sunday.
She is then off to New Zealand, New York and finally the International Quilt Festival in Houston which starts on October 28.
A busy schedule.

A big thank you to Heather, Joy, Karen and Hayley for providing the scrumptious morning tea for us all.

Message from Suzie:

As next week is Community Day, we are going to make bags for Days for Girls. If you can manage to bring your machine you will be able to join in and get sewing.

Show and Tell:

Examples of Maria Shell's Quilts: 

Maria was quite happy for us to handle them and take photographs. There was a lot of interest from our group.

This one below Maria called 'Wormhole'. She has started to work with curved shapes. It is one of my favourites.

Two baby quilts from Lindy.

 Grace made two baby quilts. The other quilt was very similar to the one below.
Babies are attracted to bright colours.

A cute baby quilt from Lindy.

This baby quilt was started by Moina and finished by Marie K. The rabbits and flowers were intricately embroidered by Moina.

Mushroom baby quilt from June.

Here is the missing photo from last week. Robyn S. made this baby quilt using blocks left over from a Community quilt.

Until next week .......

Happy Birthday

Hi Everyone,

The Hunters Hill Quilters celebrated our 37th Birthday this week. The group started in 1982 and has been going ever since. We were fortunate to have two of the original members with us as well, Carolyn and Margaret.
In fact they arrived just as we started to sing Happy Birthday. Pretty good timing!

We had another busy day this week. It started with our Show Committee meeting at 9 a.m. We are underway with bookings etc ready for our show next August. There is a lot to do.

Sandy brought in a huge bunch of Continental Italian parsley for us to share and the kitchen was in very safe hands with Heather and Joy in charge. Ann also contributed two slices. Everything was delicious.

The Crafts and Stitches team is hosting the Newcastle Show from September 26 - 29 in the Newcastle Entertainment Centre,  Broadmeadow. Hours are from 10 am to 4 pm each day.

Hayley joined us this week and showed us photos of her 'new' island home in the Torres Strait. I hope she can visit us again before she goes back.

A big thank you to Kerry and Narelle for providing the beautiful cakes and drink for the Birthday.The table looked so pretty as you can see from the photo.

Baby quilt from June.

Baby quilt from Robyn S.

 Two lovely ladies with their medals. It was Helena's first marathon! What an achievement.
Akiko ran the half marathon and came first in her age group. She was disappointed that her time was just a tad over last time, but an hour and a half sounds pretty amazing to me!
Congratulations to you both.

Three baby quilts from Carolyn.

There was another baby quilt from Robyn that was made from orphan blocks leftover from a show quilt.
It has mysteriously disappeared!  I will take another photo for next week.

Until next time ....

Sunny Day

Hi Everyone,

After being so early last week, I am late this week. A busy weekend.

We had a really happy retreat last weekend at Kurri Kurri. 25 members came and lots of sewing was accomplished.
Suzie had us decorating items to be sold at our show next year. Some girls shared - one sewing and the other decorating which worked very well.
The Fat Quarter game this year was particularly fun. Two black and white fabrics were fought over by a number of us and a good time was had by all.
The weather was sunny but very windy and we didn't see as many kangaroos as last year.

A great big thank you to Narelle for organising everything perfectly. Narelle even had the staff at Kurri Kurri onside and singing her praises.

Iris brought along the box of 'orphan' blocks. Many girls tried their hand, sorting and trying various options. The end result was fantastic.
At our meeting Iris told us who had made which block. Lots of fun.

Our Birthday party is next week. Bring along a glass and we will have cake. I believe we are 37 years old which is a wonderful achievement.

We will have a show committee meeting at 9 am next week in the hall. There is quite an agenda, so come prepared.

Moina called in to stay for a while this week. It was lovely to see her after a long absence. She hopes to come more regularly from now on.

Show and Tell:

Iris and a quilt she is working on and part of the 'orphan' quilt being constructed.

A baby quilt from June. So soft and pretty.

Susan H. made her heart quilt from Helena's workshop into a baby quilt.

Susan D. made a baby quilt. The elephant block and the 5 squares were all from the box of orphan blocks.

Karen M. made this baby quilt. Lovely colours.

Gill finished putting together a bag which Suzie will sell at the show.

Iris made these mice for Robyn and her charities. Unbelievably cute!

Narelle made this cot quilt to be donated to a charity. The cats look super!

First go at the orphan quilt. Lots of hard thinking going on here.

 Another photo from the retreat. Debbie U. took the photo above and below. Lovely to see the kangaroos. Thank you Debbie.

Until next week ....

Early Blog this week

Hi Everyone,

We have our quilting retreat this weekend, so I am doing the blog before I go.

Thank you Helena for the free motion quilting workshop today. It was a pity more members didn't attend but it is awkward for many to bring along their machines.
Susan H. and I learnt a lot and tried hard. Not easy but requires a lot of practice.

Iris spent a lot of time sorting one of the cupboards. Grace and Debbie A. told us about a workshop that they had attended at Material Obsession where they started on a traveller's quilt.

It is a great idea. Collect fabric, cottons etc on your travels then start off with a  piece of fabric. Handstitch pathways etc to make a quilt record of your travels adding bits and pieces that you find along the way.

Thank you Lindy for the avocadoes and bananas from your farm.. They are always a welcome surprise.

Show and Tell:

Two baby quilts from Alison's friend. The check fabric was donated to us by the Miranda Patchwork shop. It is very soft and perfect for young skin.

Two baby quilts from Lindy.

Retreat news next week .....