32nd Birthday Party

We had a big celebration today!
32 years of Hunters Hill Quilters!

With all the excitement we forgot to take a nice photo of the lovely Birthday Cake.
But you can tell that everybody did enjoy it!

Thank you Betty for organising the cake.
Thank you Narelle for organising the Champagne and soft drinks.

Happy Birthday all


Congratulations to our Life time member June Pryor.
Hope to enjoy you for another 25 years!


There is a bit of a tradition that we have a challenge for our Christmas party, or that we get one at our Christmas party.
There have been some comments at our last show for not having HHQ aprons.
So that will be the challenge!
Robin H and Elva have come up with the plan.
They provide a check fabric,  all pieces needed for the apron are cut.
So it is up to the different "table" groups to make 2 or 3 aprons.
Use your imagination  and whatever you need to make some nice aprons!
We will bind them all with a green binding also provided by Robin and Elva.
Any questions you know where to go!

Have a look at the Elva Notice Board for all the interesting news.
Like the Birthdays coming up!
Comfortable shoes.
Shows.

Unfortunately no show and tell today!!!

Happy stitching,
Helena

Community Day and the start of Spring!

Not that you'd know Spring has sprung. It was as cold as ice outside, with occasional rain. But tucked up in the hall, a happy bunch of ladies were stitching away making quilts for community use. It's a wonderful feeling. Susan put up what was left of The Lord Mayor's picnic quilt blocks, with a few already completed. We all agreed it's going to be another beauty this year!

Thanks to Kathy D for the donation of another copy of "Collaborative Quilts" to replace the one we lost from the library. Very generous, as it has become a valuable book. We are all alerted to the dangers of on-lending and/or forgetting to fill in library cards as books are borrowed. Can't afford to lose any of our books.

Next Thursday is our birthday party celebration. Thanks to Betty and Narelle who will take care of refreshments for us. Try and remember a glass for yourself, or some plastic ones might be available as well. 

Audrey reported on the financial success of our 2014 show. Another triumph despite numbers being down. Some areas of the show obviously did better  business than last time. Just shows that all the work pays off in the end. Well done everyone.

You may have noticed already that the show photos of the quilts are now on the blog. Thanks to Alison for this work. More photos to come I believe, and possibly another book which many are looking forward to. 

A reminder that The Lord Mayor's picnic quilt blocks are due back  on the 9th of October. Gives us plenty of time to complete them. 

And finally to our show and tell. 

Robyn S has made this beauty called "Leftovers"

This red and white number doesn't have a name yet. Put together from some donated squares for a community quilt. I'm planning to finish it with a bit of hand quilting in the border. Any name suggestions would be appreciated. It's been fun......

Lindy has made this as a Christmas present for her sister. Can't believe it's getting near that time again! Nice job Lindy!

Jill working on another baby quilt for the Grace Centre I think. Looks wonderful!

And finally a few round the room shots showing girls working away on community quilts.

Have a great week till we meet again.

Photos of the Show Quilts

Photos of the show quilts are now on Flickr
Click Here to see them
Photos of the Playing Cards are also on Flickr.
The later additions will be added soon.
Meanwhile, here is the winner of the Viewers' Choice by Heather

A full and varied day

Hi again.

Another very busy and full day today. 

We started quietly enough, but before long the action began. Susan and Helena set up the design wall to introduce the layout for The Lord Mayor's Picnic Quilt for this year. It wasn't long before girls were headed to the wall to select a section to work on. Still plenty of pieces left for those not at group. The theme this year is 'Inspire' and the quilt is based on a sea theme. Start thinking of creatures, flora, sunken things, replicas, idealised, creative......you know the drill! All that variation our group is renowned for when doing group projects. Susan will explain in detail next week if you missed it. The deadline for blocks done and returned has been set as the 9 th October. 

Next our visitors arrived. Jan and Caroline from The Grace Centre came to receive 42 baby quilts which have been completed this year. They both spoke about the work of the centre, the babies and families they work with and the accompanying research projects which are supporting that work. Most inspiring to hear. They were delighted with the quilts and couldn't wait to spread them out and examine them closer.

After the presentation they enjoyed moving around, chatting to people and admiring the work that was going on in the room. They enjoyed some refreshments and also brought us a beautiful cake as a gift. Not that we needed more food. The table was groaning as usual. However, much appreciated!

Thanks to Lindy, we had a full box of avocados and bananas to help ourselves to. What a productive garden she must have! I think most of us took some home.

Meg was welcomed back from up north. Had a great time by all reports. 

Before we knew it, it was time for the midday news. I have set up a notice board which can be brought out and placed in easy view as members move around the room. I think it might make keeping up to date with shows, news items etc much easier than having to go to the cupboard. We'll give it a try anyway. 

Strangely only one quilt for Show & Tell this week. It was done by Lindy and she is donating it to the community collection. Many thanks Lindy.

Finally everyone was able to settle down to simply stitching, chatting, drinking a cuppa and enjoying all the pleasures of just being with friends. 

Don't forget that our birthday party is coming up on Thursday, 11th September. Bring your own glass so you can enjoy a little tipple and toast another year in our history. 

Have a restful weekend and enjoy any sunshine that manages to break through. 

I'll leave you with a few shots taken around the room during the afternoon.

Cheers and see you next week.

A Very Busy Day

Well, some of us had a very busy time yesterday. Back to back meetings to de-brief and finalise feedback from the show, then a committee meeting to plan events for the rest of the year.

At last we were able to get over to the hall and enjoy sewing, chatting and catching up. The usual delicious morning tea and plenty of work of a quilting nature to do. No wonder we all look forward to Thursdays so much!

Coming shows for those who have the opportunity to get to them:

Canberra Craft and Quilt Fair 21st to 24th August 10am - 4.30pm daily

Berry Quilting Ehibition 30th and 31st August

Novocastrian Quilters 30th Anniversary Show 11th and 12th October

For more details call Elva.

Grace handed out the photos people sent in with their show quilts. If you didn't pick yours up, Grace has them safely stored for you.

Kathy D talked about some great workshops coming up. If you weren't at group and are interested, give her a call.

Very soon, the last newsletter will be published. We would all like to acknowledge and thank Ailsa for her wonderful efforts in keeping this communication stream going. After this final blockbuster one, the website, blog and group emails will take over the communication role. Thanks Ailsa. We're looking forward to this one indeed. 

Finally some Show & Tell time. Considering we are just surfacing from the show, it's amazing what work is being revealed!

These two cute baby quilts were made for The Grace Centre by Beryl Brooks (blue one) and Marie Kennedy ( whitish one)

 

This hexagon beauty was done by Jenny Stitt. When did she get the time? A question on everyone's lips! Much admired as girls gathered around to examine and photograph it.

This striking quilt was done by our newest member Hayley. Welcome to Hunters Hill Quilters Hayley! Judging by this work, you're going to fit right in. Gorgeous.

This last quilt was made by Grace and will be donated to Hunters Hill Community Centre.

So there you have it. Hope I've covered everything. Don't forget, any urgent news updates will come by the group email. Look forward to seeing you next Thursday. Enjoy the weekend. Try and stay dry!

Sewing day at Fairland Hall

After a weekend of show activity,  it was good to be able to relax, chat and just sew. 

Elva welcomed a visitor,  Hayley.   Hayley is new to the area and possibly a new member.  As always, new members have an opportunity to 'try us out'  before joining us on a regular bases. 

The August birthday girls were recognised, Audrey, June and Betty next week:  happy birthday all.

Jenny gave an excellent report on the show - thanking everyone for their contribution towards making it another successful show,  and congratulating all the winners.    Jenny's full report will be published in Ailsa's final newsletter in a couple of weeks.        Jenny received a huge applause from everyone for her superior coordination and leadership.

Next week,  the ladies from the Grace Centre for Newborns will be visiting us to collect the latest 'pile' of baby quilts:   

There are 39 in this 'pile' ready for them to collect

Show and Tell:

Helen shared the new pattern that she had bought: The Rajah Quilt Revisited by Lessa Siegele.  It is supported by a book called Patchwork Prisoners which tells of the story of the Rajah Quiltmakers.  Helen suggested that it would be a good addition to our library.

And still on old quilts:  this treasure is a donation.  It is probably dated around the 30s and does need some restoration.

Susan H.,  showed this quilt which is going to the Inala School for their fund raising event.

Forrest Floor made by Robyn S. and her 'team'

Jenny and June made these two cot quilts: 

Blue by June and pink by Jenny

Narelle showed us her quilt  ...

Colourful and Fun

And Elva was delighted to show her granddaughter's finished quilt - made to a  strict criteria !

Fairies and 'Puffy'

Happy sewing,  Iris

The final day for 2014 HHQ Quilt Show

I suspect that this post will be a long one:  the final day had so much to celebrate.   First - all our winners:

Viewer's choice

Friday's Viewers' choice was Grace for her quilt - Molecules Adrift

Saturday's Viewers' choice was Marie G.: I promised a picture - here it is.  As always, the quilting is amazing.

Fly Away Butterflies

Sunday's Viewers' Choice was Margaret D.  

Henri's Harem had no Shutters

Margaret also won the Members' Choice

And the overall Viewers' Choice :   the 'big votes' went to Grace:

Modecules Adrift 

The Full Deck of Playing Cards attracted lots of votes:   

The winning 'card' was Heather's Queen of Spades - a three dimensional 'queen'.   Sorry - I was too late for a picture:  the deck was shuffled and packed away.

The Raffle Quilt draw ...

Barrel Girl Val with our vibrant President, Elva

 

and the winners are:

Julia Birmingham from Berry and Louise Binney from Lindfield.    Julia choose Bush Bouquet and Louise has won Metropolis.    The quilts are on the way to our winners.   Congratulations to both.


The 'Business' end of a quilt show is always of interest - the more business, the more we can support our favorite charity, Giant Steps,   so a 'red dot' is exciting.

I understand that Robyn's Award winning, hand pieced and hand quilted quilt is now on its way to new owners in the Northern Territory

It has been said many times over the last few days - our quilt show is successful because of all our enthusiastic members  who work hard during the preparation and planning stages as well as over the three days of our show.   My camera found some of them.   

The 'Wagga' Girls

'On Stage' Girls 

Robyn J - where were you ?

The 'Queens of the Kitchen'

Notice how the 'Head' Queen tried to hide

Our 'in house' shop  -  Material Obsession

And our other  'in house' treasures:  Jenny Burton's Antique Quilts

There is no more to say  ...  an excellent show, a successful show and now we wait for another two years before another one !   Three cheers to our (almost) unflappable, organised and wonderful show coordinator - Jenny.

See everyone on Thursday for lots of stories   ....   Cheers Iris