Kangaroos, Koalas and Kwilts

In March we had a talk by Janice Gunner, entitled 'Kangaroos, Koalas and Kangaroos - Australian Inspiration'.  She brought a slide show, and we were looking forward to seeing images of Australia and the quilts they inspired.  We were disappointed that the images were more a travelogue than a quilt talk.  Shame.  After the show, she showed some of her stunning quilts - her use of colour is a delight.  Unfortunately I forgot to take her photo, but here is one of her in Japan, with a better  background than the Walcote Memorial Hall!

 

Then on to show and tell, where I failed spectacularly to take a photo of Denise's wonderful quilt from the front -

 

but you can imagine how lovely it is, as here is the detail in the back! 

 

Di didn't actually make this quilt, but it was a birthday present from her husband, and made by the Tentmakers of Cairo.  What a wonderful man! 

 

Debbie made this quilt for her daughter.  It's Debbie's individual take on an old 'Quiltmaker' pattern called Turning Leaves, but her colour choices have really upgraded it.  I'm sure her daughter will treasure it.

 

This quilt was made at the Yvonne Brown workshop last month.  I hear it was a great day.

 

Paula has been busy making more Linus quilts.  (Does this woman ever sleep?!)  This was made from a donated layer cake.  The grey binding really finishes it off.

 

Black and white and red all over!  Paula made two Linus quilts like this.

 

This block is Dutchman's Puzzle and was made from the half square triangles the group made at the Linus sewing evening in 2012.  Everything is used sooner or later!

 

A pretty baby quilt using 1930s reproduction fabrics.

 

Gaynor has cross stitched the designs on these blocks and then hand quilted them.  They are beautiful.  The snag is that she bought two kits of this design for twin beds, and now has the second one to finish!

 

Another pretty baby quilt, with a delicate flower as a centre.

 

This quilt shows such good use of feature fabrics to make a super quilt for a grandson.  It would have been a shame to cut up these great designs.

 

 Ruth sent me some photos from Janice's workshop.  This one is inspiration from Janice.  The colours are wonderful.

Here is another one of Janice's.  Good enough to eat!

 

This is another of Janice's - stunning!

 

We can do fabulous work too!

 

 

Look at this!

 

 

And this!

 

 

These last few images are from the workshop.  Fabulous colours (plus kangaroos and koalas!)

February meeting

In February we were delighted to welcome Yvonne Brown, who was a very interesting speaker and very generous with her tips and tricks.  Her forte is using synthetic fabrics, including kunin felt (I'd always wondered exactly what that was!) in a reverse applique technique and then burning the edges away to give neat and intricate shapes.  She brought lots of her work to share with us, and enthused us all!

 

 

I had forgotten my camera (so disorganised!) but luckily Sian was able to use her phone.  Here is a lovely Linus quilt in a wonky log cabin arrangement.  The red sashing really makes it sing. 

 

Last month's Scrappy Trip evening inspired Chris to rummage through her scrap bag.  She cleverly used a red square running through the centre of each block.  It looks wonderful!

 

Here is one of my Linus Mile a Minute quilts.  I love making these blocks, and they are so versatile.

 

The blocks we made at the last meeting were put together at 'Knit and Stitch' and I have layered and quilted them.  It doesn't matter which colour is used for the border, as all colours are already there!

This beauty was made by Carole from an Anja Townrow pattern in 'Fabrications'.  It's stunning!  It turned out to be quite large, so she asked Liz if she would longarm it for her.  Liz has done a superb job (as usual!)

 

Di ran a box workshop recently, and Bunty, Stephanie and Carole brought their boxes to show.  (Bet you can guess which one's Carole's!) 

 

This is what they look like inside - a bit like the Tardis!

 

Liz challenged some people to make these lattice blocks, and has put them together into a charity quilt.  I can't remember which one was mine, but I remember that accuracy rather than difficulty was the name of the game. 

 

This quilt came from a pack of charm squares, which waited for inspiration to strike.  They look so good with this pale blue background, and the little embroidered Kantha circles tie the whole collection together.  

 

Half square triangles in pink - what's not to like?

 

Di has a friend who is a member of a walking group called 'The Red Hats' as they all wear, yes, you guessed it, red hats!  She appliqued this bag for her friend to carry her sandwiches and other essentials.  Let's hope they don't all want one!

 

The day following the meeting Yvonne ran a workshop.  Here are some of the results. 

 

I'm looking forward to the next meeting so I can see what this inspires!