Sunday 18 August 2019

A Busy Day

Hi  Everyone,

Another busy and enjoyable meeting this week.

Heather kindly donated a free motion foot for our Janome machine. There is a clear plastic box in the cupboard for the machine.

Iris gave us details for this year's Lord Mayor's Picnic Quilt.  Iris  will be handing out instructions for the various blocks next week for us all to participate.

Narelle handed out the instructions etc for our Retreat in September. There is another Patchwork shop nearby. Helen and Suzie visited it last year. It is a 15-20 minute drive from Kurri Kurri.

Glendoon Patchwork Cottage
17 Bourke St
opposite the entrance to KMart
Maitland

Open Friday 9 - 5 and Saturday 9:30 to 2 pm.

Kerry was watching Sunrise on TV this week. They had a segment about Beecroft House, the shelter we donated 18 quilts to. She spotted some of our quilts on the beds.
The commentary mentioned that the quilts were provided by a local quilting group to welcome the women when they arrived.

Marie Kennedy is helping Moina sort through her stash. Moina has moved into a smaller place and does not have room for all her fabric.
Marie will be bringing some in  each week for us to choose and for Community.

Show and Tell:

A quilt for Community from Christie. We are calling it Chocolate Mint.


 Baby quilt from Robyn S.


 Sheila made a baby quilt. Hot off the press. She just completed the binding before my talk.


 Christie finished her Heart Quilt that she started in Helen's workshop. 
Robyn and Iris took 54 baby quilts to Westmead last week.


Three Baby quilts from Sue D. Elephants are always fun and the puppies cute.





  Alison was looking at stats from our photos on Flickr last week. She found that the most viewed is the Hexagon Flower Garden quilt with 12,230 views. 
The maker - Marie K. What a thrill. Well done Marie.


Until next week ......

Friday 9 August 2019

Bits and Pieces

Hi Everyone,

There seemed to be a lot of news this week.

* Maria Shell visit: 

Maria Shell will be in Sydney to host workshops at Material Obsession over the weekend of September 28 ad 29th.
Maria lives in Anchorage, Alaska. She is an artist and quiltmaker, working mainly with solids.
Her latest book is 'Improv Patchwork: Dynamic Quilts Made with Line and Shape'.

Kathy has suggested that she come to our meeting on September 26 the speak about her work, ideas and methods.

It will be a special treat for us and I am sure we will gain lots of inspiration from her.

* Elva is making pin cushions to be sold at our show next year. Robyn Jns has a friend in Orange who has very kindly given us some sheep wool for the stuffing. It is perfect for pin cushions as the lanolin in the wool prevents rust on the pins and needles. Also it make a solid stuffing for the pins and needles to cling to and not slip out.

* Moina has not been to quilting for a while. She has moved house and has had a bout of pneumonia. However she is coming next week. It will be lovely to see her after such a long time.

* Craft Depot at Pennant Hills:

Heather had an email from Craft Depot to say that all their fabric is $10/metre and machines are half price.

* September is shaping up to be a very busy month:

- Helena's workshop on Thursday September 5 is on free motion quilting
- Our retreat is 6,7,8 September
- Our Birthday party is September 19
- Maria Shell visit, September 26

Show and Tell:
Heart Quilts from Helena's workshop.
Red one from Susan H. and Blue one Jenny, Iris and Marie G.




Two baby quilts from Sheila. Sheila has cut a lot of her scraps into 4 x 2 pieces which is a great idea.



 A 'quilt as you go' cot quilt from Carolyn. Carolyn actually made 4 of them.


 Cot quilt from Robyn Jnst


 Quilt made from 'orphan' blocks for Community from Narelle and Ros


 Another Quilt for Community


A Wagga being made by Jenny


Until next week ......

Friday 2 August 2019

Heart Workshop

Hi Everyone,

Another enjoyable and busy meeting this week.

Helena set up her machine and tables ready for her workshop to make a Heart from scraps, based on Wendy William's "Pieces of my Heart Quilt pattern".

A number of members participated and many of us watched and learned.
It is such a pretty pattern and can be made into wonderful baby and childrens' quilts or a wall hanging or for someone special in your life.

A little competition began! Three in the Blue Group got together to work as a team - Jenny on the machine, Marie G. ironing and Iris cutting. Magnificent coordination! By the end of the day they had completed a large blue heart. Well done!

The workshop was informative and fun. A big thank you to Helena for organising it and to Wendy for her generosity in allowing us to base it on her pattern.

Our Show:

We have a judge for our show next year, Her name is Roseanna Gallo -  OAM JP.
Roseanna is a lady of many talents and will be perfect for our show.

We are supporting the same charities from our last show. Janelle from Day for Girls was absolutely thrilled that we were helping them out again. Every penny that is donated goes into the kits etc for the girls. It is a wonderful charity to support.

Modern Quilt Show - will be held in Kiama from 16-18 August. Both Beryl B. and Grace have quilts in the show. Kiama is an easy trip by train. It would make a fun day out.

Show and Tell:
Four baby quilts from Carolyn






One from Iris , made from leftover blocks from the challenge



Iris set us a challenge to make a pink and white block The quilt below is the result. It is such a pretty quilt.


Until next week ....

Friday 26 July 2019

Full House Today

Hi Everyone,

School holidays are over so we had almost a full house this week. It was good to see everyone. There was lots of chatter, stories to tell and a good old catch up with everyone.

Wadding - the new roll of wadding is in the cupboard for our community quilts.

Days for Girls - Alison and Suzie had made washed and ironed 182 rectangles of fabric after receiving an urgent request from Janelle at Days for Girls.

If you have spare, bright fabric please put it to good use by washing and ironing it and cutting it into pieces 30" x 12".

Helena's Workshop next week - Refer to the blog before last for what to bring.

Gill and Waggas -  Debbie A. brought in some lovely woollen fabrics to be made into waggas. Gill showed us a wagga top that she had put together. Very simple to do, so give it a try.

Show and Tell:
Two
Baby Quilts from June



One from Jenny


A cutie from Bev
I love the wheels on the trucks.


A cot quilt from June


Two cot quilts from Marie K.




Bev has finished this lovely quilt  from Kathy Doughty's new Book - Organic
Applique.


Until next week ....

Sunday 21 July 2019

A Quiet Week

Kits for Days for Girls

It was a quiet time at Hunters Hill Quilters as many members had school holiday commitments and there wasn't any Show and Tell.

Thanks

There was an article by the CEO of Sydney Community Services published in the Village Observer thanking us for our work.

2020 Show Committee

On Thursday we will have our first Show Committee meeting for the 2020 show. This is where we will choose our judge and charities to support. If you would like to be a member of the committee, please feel free to join us at Fairland Hall at 9:00 am.

Raffle Quilt

Our raffle quilt is progressing well but Christie still needs volunteers to take it home and do some quilting.

Urgent Request

We have had an urgent request for fabric for Days for Girls to make more than 200 bags so if you have any useful fabrics in your stash they would be greatly appreciated.
The fabric needs to be washed and ironed and cut into 30” x 12” pieces.
They also request that that the fabric have no cartoon or Disney-like prints, no animals and not too much white (difficult to keep clean).
Please bring whatever you can this week and give it to Suzie who will pass it on to Days for Girls for over locking. We will then need some volunteer sewers to make into simple bags.
See the photo above for some ideas for suitable fabric.

Friday 12 July 2019

Another Happy Morning

Hi Everyone,

We had a big group attend this week. As always it was good to catch up with everyone's news.

Iris piled the 18 quilts going to the new Womens' shelter on the side table. What an impressive lot.
The new shelter is in Beecroft for women over 55 and for a minimum stay of two years. Twenty women can be accommodated.
Sallyanne wanted to have a quilt ready for each lady as she arrives.
I am sure the quilts will bring comfort and warmth.
Thank you all for your effort.

Iris then announced that our cupboard is bare! We will have to get busy.

The wadding will arrive next week.

Helena's Workshop next community day - Wendy William's Pieces of my Heart Quilt:

Helena has been given permission from Wendy Williams to hold this workshop over the next two Community days - August and September.

What to bring:

Choose a colour for the heart
Choose a contrasting background for the centre
You need a bigger square for the centre of the heart
More fabric cut into strips between 2" and 3" wide
Background fabric strips can be up to 4" wide
Ruler
Cutter
1/4" sewing foot
machine
freezer paper

From what I understand the heart is made from pieces of strip fabric.

Show and Tell:

Lots of Baby quilts


Six from Alison and her friend Ann 



 Four from Carolyn


 One from Bev with star machine quilting


Cot quilt from Robyn Jn


 One from Marie K.


And a cute one from Narelle

Iris will be standing in next week .....


Saturday 6 July 2019

Lots of Show and Tell

Hi Everyone,

Community Day saw lots of activity in the hall this week.

I found Iris in the cupboard with a screwdriver in hand, removing a shelf. This is to allow space for our new larger roll of wadding that is arriving next week.

Robyn Jnst set Olga to work cutting up the scraps of wadding to be used in her sensory mats.
A big job. Thank you Olga.

The Black Group were busy making lots of amazing felt items for our show next year. There seems no end to their talent.

Meg's Green Group finished a Community quilt made from many scraps.

Christie was busy with the sewing machine and the Orange group making a Wagga.

I was catching up with everyone and actually didn't even sew a single stitch this week. Better luck next week.

Logans Fabrics:
I announced last week that Logans were closing. This week Sue St. came to me to say that she thought that was incorrect.
I called the shop and spoke to the Manager.
Logans is definitely NOT closing.

I do apologise for not checking further last week.

Traditional Quilt for Show:
Please volunteer to do some of the hand quilting for this beautiful quilt. Iris has the quilt this week so please see her if you are able to help.

Judge and Charities for our show:
If you have a suggestion for a judge for our show next year, please see Alison.
Also if you would like to recommend a charity, please do so.

Show and Tell:
Quilts for Women's Shelter

We reached our goal of 18 quilts. In fact I think there are one or two extra.





 The scrap quilt from the Green Group:


 Community quilt from Narelle. Red and White is always stunning.


Also another two from Robyn Jnst. 




Below we have three cot quilts for the Refuge at Sutherland.
First one from Bev.
Next two from Marie K. 




Below a quilt from Beryl R. The blocks were originally cut incorrectly for a particular pattern
but Beryl cleverly put them together to make this lovely quilt.


Another cot quilt from Marie K.


Our group photo with the quilts for the Shelter.
 Unfortunately the most important person, Iris, is missing as she took the photo.
We will make amends next time.



Until next week .....