Bucasia Beach Quilters held their now biennial Quilt and Craft Fair on Saturday 20 August, 2022. It was a very full and busy day after much organisation, preparation and setting up. But the hall looked a treat and it was estimated we had 200 visitors during the day. Well done to all the members who worked so hard in the set up, food preparation and general helpfulness to visitors. It was a tiring but lovely day.
A happy group of ladies were kept busy all day taking admissions and selling raffle tickets. The final tickets were sold in our annual raffle quilt (Behind Liz and Marilyn) and was drawn later in the afternoon to find the winner was our own club president Anne.
The other raffle was a Janome sewing machine and case, kindly donated by Mackay Sewing and Craft Centre. It was won by a lucky visitor.
The hall was crowded with trader tables, with something of interest for everyone to purchase. (Although not all trading tables have ended up with a suitable photo to post. My apologies to those that missed out.)
The highlight was the quilt display provided by members. We may be biased, but we felt it would stand up in comparison to any quilt display in Australia.
Unfortunately, there were so many quilts that not all were able to be displayed to advantage and many quilts overlapped others. And the stands were so close that 'square-on' photos were not possible. So we hope the following photos show enough of the workmanship to please viewers.
The back wall of the hall featured quilts that had won prizes in our local Mackay Regional Show in June.
Cathy's grandaughter, Mia, needed little instruction for her first quilt.
Marion picked up Best of Show for her accurately sewn piece with the black pinwheels.
Cathy spent a very long time on this foundation pieced quilt with curved piecing and lots of sharp points.
Marion's Wedding Ring quilt with the colourful applique was Best of Show last year.
Over 10 years ago, we had Robyn Ginn teach a workshop called Scattered Tiles. Robyn no longer tutors, but newer members were taken with the idea of this workshop where applique motifs of flowers and leaves are stylised from a chosen piece of fabric, embroidered and added as blocks, along with the fabric squares, to make a quilt. Our own Robyn made a new Scattered Tiles quilt as an example and assisted the ladies who wanted to give it a go. It was originally an exercise in needle-turn applique, but many techniques were used this time round.
Robyn's instructional example
Barbro made hers from some gifted birthday fabrics.
Elaine used some fancy machine embroidery techniques on her Australian flowers.
One of two examples Brenda produced.
Marion drew up a very complicated design and machine appliqued and quilted it.
Dell almost gave up in the drawing stage of the Banksia but just as well she persevered, ending with a lovely quilt and a prize for her applique.
Joan had some bright flowers and birds in her fabric
Anne stayed away from flowers and chose a bright fruity fabric and a more traditional setting.
Brenda's second attempt was for a dramatic tablecloth.
Lynn had trouble finding a suitable fabric with a flower motif but finally found this one in colours that are not her usual choice.
One of the things that kept us all sane during the Covid-19 months was our Colour Challenge. We could choose any block we liked, but every month we were issued a new colour to use for our block. The colours were yellow, blue, red, green, aqua, brown, orange, pink and purple (But not necessarily in that order.) There was a great colourful display on the stage of some of our Colour Challenge quilts.
L-R Back Kaye, Helen, Cathy Front Marion, Lynn, Lesley
L-R Back Cathy, Lesley, Anne Front Lesley, Dell
The next challenge involved designing a quilt using rectangles. The idea was to use up scraps and have 4 dark and 4 light rectangles to the block. Some lovely scrappy quilts resulted.
This one using some Aboriginal design fabric left overs was made by Deane.
Kaye chose some country style fabrics from the very back of her stash.
Helen got out her brown country fabrics that she never thought she'd use again.
Lynn had some red Japanese fabric left over from a quilt she made for a friend.
Dell dug into some fabrics she's had for over 20 years
Brenda used up a jelly roll that was sitting in the cupboard for some time after she realised she didn't know why she had bought it in the first place.
Other quilts made by members over the past twelve months prove that we are not only a productive little group, but we show a large range of styles and choices of fabrics and quilt designs.
I don't know who made this very tricky hexagon based quilt.
Joan was gifted some Kaffe Fassett fabrics and this bright and flowery quilt is the result.
Everyone says this is Brenda's quilt and she admits to making one in this pattern but is sure these aren't her colours, even though she does have those red fabrics. Pretty sure this was made by Brenda.
Amelia's Quilt was made from Machine appliqued blocks by Marion. Each block was put together using some new quilt-as-you-go rulers by Pauline Rogers.
It looks like a traditional Redwork quilt but the embroidered situations are hysterical. Just a little bit of fun by Lynn.
A lilac Grandmothers Flower Garden by Anne. Hexagons never grow old.
Kaye is the scrap quilt queen. This Chevron Log Cabin has used a lot of bright scraps.
Brenda appliqued some striking fish into a big fish tank.
A timeless Triple Irish Chain quilt by Robyn using all her batik fabrics. Diana quilted it for her.
Heather has been appliqueing hearts for so long she has hundreds of them. So her friends are helping to make them into quilts for her grandchildren.
Joan made this hexagon quilt from a jelly roll and coordinating fabrics. Can you see the white stars in the background?
Helen is having a geometric love affair and this quilt of exactness was last year's retreat effort.
Robyn's rainbow scrap quilt features cats and butterflies.
Cathy loves a table runner challenge and the following two belong to her.
Deane had some Drunkard's Path blocks left over from a quilt made 6 years ago and finally did something with them.
Joan has been making some colourful quilts for the children's oncology ward at the hospital.
Marilyn made this medallion quilt with an old-fashioned romantic fabric range.
Sue made this quilt with some Kaffe Fassett fabrics that she loves. It was a Kaffe Fassett pattern called Winter Home and Garden but she took the home from the middle of it.
Sue has used tulips in every colour for this bright little quilt. The pattern is called Reflection and Sue added a Flying Geese border.
This quilt made by Jean looks like a Disappearing Nine Patch but was a much more complicated pattern.
Brenda used her stash of batiks to make this Pinwheel quilt at last year's retreat.
The pattern for Cathy's Pohutukawa Aussie Style was in a NZ quilting magazine and the applique kept her busy Wednesday mornings for a couple of years.
Cathy started collecting ties after she saw a quilt made of ties and this Shirts and Ties quilt was the result.
Jean used some beautiful blue/green batiks to make her Three in a Box quilt.
And after a very big day, the pull down began at 4pm and it wasn't long before things were back to how they always are.
