Wednesday 23 March 2016

We have a couple of shots today of some industrious sewers on a sunny day. Those windows at the hall are great for light but not so good for photographs!
Hot cross buns and chocolate eggs appeared on the morning tea table. It must be close to Easter. Only a short holiday break and then we'll all be back next Wednesday.
When the badge draw was done today there was a loud cry of "And not before time!" Congratulations to Elaine who has finally had a chance to draw a little prize.

Beth whipped this quilt up on the weekend and quilted it yesterday on Faye's longarm machine. She bought the jelly roll in Sydney and also the giraffe wallhanging pattern. Why not use them both in the same project? They are raw edge appliquéd. What a great masculine quilt.

Fay has hand quilted another little quilt from fabric remnants in her stash. Fay just has to quilt every night in front of the TV and so produces so many quilts she is out of recipients. If any one knows of a good cause for this little quilt, please tell.

Fay made this quilt for a little grand nephew. She actually had to purchase a piece of new puppy fabric as she didn't have enough, but still managed to use up lots of scraps for the sashing.

Wednesday 16 March 2016

Quite a solemn morning this morning as we thought of members who are no longer with us.  But sharing memories and flipping through magazines and therapeutic stitching is always good for the soul.

Doreen was allowed to draw the badge draw but didn't draw her own name again. Thank goodness. Anne R was very glad her name was drawn out.

Joan liked this pattern of babushka dolls and made this cute little quilt from it.

Another of the baby quilts Marlena has to make in next few months. She wanted to use the remainder of this jelly roll and so decided to finish the blocks for the quilt. What a surprise to find she already had enough for a little quilt! She has called this one Twinkle Twinkle.

Houston Down Under. Marlena has completed this mystery quilt started in a workshop at the Houston Quilt Show last year.  It is the only quilt she has ever made where the sashing provided the pattern instead of the block.

Scrap Eight Pinwheel. This is a crazy quilt type pattern but Marlena thought if she kept the same pieces in the lightest fabric she could get a pinwheel pattern. She wasn't that fussed on the pinwheels fading so much into the blocks with the addition of the white sashing. Still looks like pinwheels to us though.

Cherry Pop. Marlena assures us this is a simple pattern and goes together like a dream. As long as you can sew long straight lines.  She bought the pattern and fabric at the real  Hancock Fabrics in Kentucky.

She was horrified though to see what large pieces were cut off as waste in making the Cherry Pop quilt and couldn't throw them away. A couple of bright matching cushions never go astray.

Heather used the same Cherry Pop pattern  (bought in Mackay) with a few innovations of her own to piece this quilt for Breastscreen from the donated fabric. Looks more like a  yummy lollipop than cherries though!

Robyn Mc designed this pattern herself to show off the Breastscreen fabrics. She only needed to purchase the blue fabric so there would be some contrast. And don't you love the border treatment you can do when there is not enough of any fabric for a border? 

Wednesday 9 March 2016

An early start this week with a committee meeting. Thank you to those who come a little earlier to ensure our club keeps running efficiently. 

And thank you to those who regularly bring something for show and tell. It's always good to see something completed. And we are waiting patiently to see the crazy rug / bag that Brenda is maybe not so patiently deciphering. It  will be amazing.

Doreen won the monthly raffle and then embarrassed herself by drawing her own name out in the badge draw. Well done Doreen!

Anne has been to the Proston Show. The theme this year was hearts and Anne managed to pick up a second prize in the appliqué section for her cushion cover. And she really enjoyed the atmosphere of the lovely country show as well.

Another wedding present made by Anne. A new pattern for a table runner this time in the bride's requested colours of purple and black.

Doesn't this little quilt look like it has been machine appliqued? But Beth just machine quilted around the thick outlines on this cot panel and used a thick wadding and it gives a great effect. It will go to a lucky baby girl in Brisbane.

Beth has finished this Puppy Dog quilt with it's cute little appliquéd puppy dogs. She quilted it herself  by free machine quilting on Faye's longarm machine and has done a brilliant job of quilting so evenly around the little dogs. 

Cathy has been hand stitching this quiet book since November and it is now complete for grandson Lachlan to play with. A couple of the colourful pages are shown below.  

Wednesday 2 March

"April showers bring May flowers" (in the Northern hemisphere apparently.) But Autumn in Mackay has brought some lovely rain. Unfortunately that meant not so many were willing to drive out to the meeting today, but the 20 or so ladies that came had a lovely cool morning with some good chatting, much morning tea, and some interesting show and tell.

The Block of the Month Bonanza (BOMB) for February (It's always a heart pattern for Valentine's Day) turned out to be something very different and it was good to extend our minds with a new technique. There was no sewing involved. Double-sided material was made and hearts of differing sizes cut from it. There were enough little hearts for two draws, so will be good to see what sort of a wallhanging Lynn and Deane can come up with.

We also had a badge draw today and Karen was the first lucky winner for the year.

The Heart of Hearts BOMB 

A little Blanket of Love from Barbro

Robyn Mc has made this wall hanging for a special friend's special birthday. She lives in Cairns and has lots of ginger plants in her garden so she is going to love this appliqué and sashiko. Robyn designed this based on Silvia Pippin's book.

Cathy has made this quilt she named 'Zigzag around the Country' for her sister and husband who will put it in the motorhome they are building. She forgot to save the instructions and so worked it all out by herself from a tiny photo. The blocks are not identical. Cathy machine quilted it herself stitching either side of each line and leaving the centre wadding out until the end so it was easier to manage under her domestic sewing machine. Six reels of thread were used in the quilting.

The appropriate backing is quite spectacular. Great job Cathy