Tuesday Show & Tell and Announcing Beginner’s Classes

Want to get started in patchwork and quilting?

One of our in-house tutors, Angela Langdon, will be holding some beginners classes in 2015. 

Please contact us via email (shown here on the right) for further details. Any classes we hold require you to become a member of the club first. 

Here is the sampler quilt which you will complete to learn all the various techniques.

Also on display on Tuesday 2 December were all these marvellous Dresden Plate table centres.  These were done on one of our very popular project days.

Dot C showed us her Mosaic Santa wall hanging which she vows and declares is going to be her last using this particular pattern.    It was quite a lot of work, but the result is stunning, I am sure you will agree.

Angela Langdon showed her scrappy log cabin which she calls “Memories”. The fabrics in the quilt hold many memories for her – dressmaking for her family, quilts made, fabrics from friends etc.  Beautifully machine quilted by Angela herself.

Angela also made this hexagon bag.  Like everyone, she started with hexagons and never finished the particular project, so turned it into a bag.

This is inspiration indeed to take your first steps into patchwork and quilting.  So come join us!!!

30 Years of Toowoomba Quilters Club Inc.

100 members, guests and former members, gathered for a luncheon on Sunday 30 November to celebrate the club’s 30th anniversary.  It was also combined with our annual Christmas celebration. The whole day was a ‘pearler’ (pardon the pun) -  30 years representing the pearl.

 

This delectable cake was made by member, Marilyn C and decorated by the lovely Valderie.  Well done ladies – it was enjoyed by all.

Members enjoyed a delicious roast meal followed by mini cheesecakes and mini plum pudding for dessert.  Tea and coffee and punch was readily available and a glass of wine for toasting.

(box belongs to Queensland Quilters who also celebrate 30 years this year)

There were 30 lucky door draws throughout the afternoon.

Lucky Lyn V with her prize.

It was intriguing to hear from the founder members as to how the club was started and how the club operated in those days.  Our club has morphed into an incredible diverse group of approximately 130 members today. 

One very very lucky lady won the pearl prize which was drawn at our annual exhibition in September.  Congratulations to Vicki L.

Sheila (left), our 2014 exhibition convenor presenting Vicki with her prize.  Genell in the background who was our MC for the day and did an admirable job too.

The cutting of the cake! Valderie, Janice & Marilyn C.

At the end of the day, a show and tell of 30 year old quilts and some newer ones took place.  We were thrilled that Robyn Cawdron, one of our first members, made the trip all the way from Canberra to join us with a suitcase full of quilts to show us.  Thank you Robyn.

 

Chris Dowell on the left showed us this amazing quilt which is made from a challenge fabric she chopped up into little bits to make the cubs. 

 

Our sub committee for the 30th celebration were all smiles at the end of the day.  (L-R) Agnes, Verna, Janice & Carol.  Job well done ladies. .

It was wonderful to catch up with all our quilting friends from the past and present.  A big three cheers and hip hip hooray for our current president, Janice for all the hard work we know she put into organizing our special day. 

 

Congratulations to Toowoomba Quilters Club. 

It's getting close to Christmas

A quick glance around our meeting rooms and it is evident that many members are working on Christmas gifts and decorations. A couple of gifts featured in our Show and Tell last week.

Marilyn C has made this quilt, Things That Little Boys Love, for her grandson, Bailey.

Angela L made this floral table centre for a friend in Germany who is turning 80.

June P has completed her One Block Wonder quilt top and is delighted with the result. We are all waiting to see it quilted and to view the original material.

June's One Block Wonder

Our annual retreat last month was a great success and generated what will be wonderful memories for those who were lucky enough to attend. Thank you Trish P for all your work in organising the 2014 retreat. A couple of personal memories from me:

Vicki (L) and Trish (R)

Vicki D who was so concerned about an "odd" block in her quilt. A dozen people tried to guess the block of concern; they all guessed something different and no-one picked the block that was bothering Vicki!

Genell

 

Genell L who completed several quilt tops over the retreat weekend spent a lot of time considering (and reconsidering!) at her design wall.

Tomorrow Betty F is coordinating a group project and we anticipate the completion of many Christmas table centre mats.

Presentations

Yesterday we had a celebratory morning tea in our meeting rooms prior to the presentation of prizes from our Exhibition and 2014 Art Union.  Details of the winners were provided in this blog on 1 October.  Today: photos of the presentations to those winners who were able to attend.

Betty with TQs President, Janice Becker

Betty Hindmarsh accepted the Art Union quilt (on display in background) on behalf of her granddaughter, Toni, for whom she bought the ticket.

Lyn with Brian

 

Lyn Virgo who organised the Art Union this year  was delighted to present a cheque for over $5000 to Brian Egan, the founder of Aussie Helpers.

Valderie Machin, who also made our Club's 30th birthday cake, organised the Club's multi-draw raffle baskets and she presented the prizes yesterday.

Judy Nothdurft (1st prize) with Valderie

Linda Vandersee (2nd prize) with Valderie

Helen Vetter (3rd prize) with Valderie

Trish Prowse organised the Viewers' Choice voting at the Exhibition and presented cheques to the winners. (Pictured with their quilts in the background.) Queensland Quilters Inc kindly sponsored "Viewers' Choice."

Trish with Betty Fawcett (1st)

Trish with Marion Johnson (2nd)

It was great to see so many members attend yesterday despite the extreme heat we are experiencing this week. Thank you to everyone who contributed to a wonderful presentation day.

(There are more photos on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TQ.Exhibition/timeline)

Stories of Quilts

Most quilts have a story; Robyn Ginn wrote a book, That Quilt has a Story (1994) This final blog about our 2014 Exhibition shares some of the stories attached to some of the quilts on display.

Ties of Love by Angela Langdon

Angela's Ties of Love was made with fabrics from the 170 cotton business ties that she made for her husband from 1994 to 2011.

Cora's quilt label read "My girl works in the corporate world.  the only 'colours' she likes are black, white, brown, beige, nay and a bit of blue. Very boring!  I collected fabrics in the colours she chose and that was the best I could do."

My Indoor Garden by Lyle Yantsch

Lyle's quilt label read "When I get old and immobile I can bring my garden into my house and still enjoy it. My favourite rose is a yellow one named Glorious. This was the inspiration for My Indoor Garden."

 

Australian Journeys by Vicki Draper

Vicki's quilt was designed by her and her husband who wrote that "We wanted our quilt to depict the beauty and diversity of our country. We appreciate and honor the first inhabitants and how they lived WITH the environment. The quilt also reminds us of the explorers and pioneers who endured hardships as they moved across this large continent."

Doodle Quilt by Judy Cribb

Judy Cribb's story:  "I gave friends and relatives fabric squares and asked them to doodle on the fabric using permanent markers. To my surprise I found that many people claimed not to be able to doodle.  I am really happy with the varied doodles/drawings and how this quilt has turned out."

close up of some Doodle Quilt blocks

We have booked the Salo Centre for our 2015 Exhibition, again during the Carnival of Flowers week. We invite you to visit - and be sure to read the quilt display labels.

Exhibition Quilts and Club Activities

Lots of members had a very busy time during our Exhibition week..and it doesn't stop there. Tomorrow will be our monthly business meeting as well as social sewing at our Jellicoe Street rooms.  Then on Wednesday there will be a bus trip to the Craft & Quilt Fair in Brisbane.  To be followed this coming weekend by our annual retreat at Perseverance Dam!

As promised here are some more quilts that were on display at our exhibition. It is a random selection with the intention of showing the wonderful range of quilts that we make.

A Chorus of Curves by Lyn Crump

A Field of Flowers by Marilyn Cooper (A Sue Daley Design)

Angel Quilt Story by Ann Jones (Designed by Annie Downes)

Autumn Glow by Lesley Ellevsen

Flower Garden by Carol French (Designed by Kim McLean)

Rose Trellis by Linda Wrench

Flutter Bye by Heather Ross

Kaffe for Kate by Val Bensen (Kaffe Fassett design)

Winners!

We are delighted to announce the lucky winner of our 2014 Art Union quilt.  Toni Hindmarsh (ticket no 2462) will receive her prize at a special presentation on 28 October.  On that day we will also present a cheque to Brian Egan, the founder of Aussie Helpers, the charity organisation we chose to support with our Art Union this year.

Winners of our club raffle baskets are:

First - Judy Nothdurft

Second - Linda Vandersee

Third - Helen Vetter

Fourth - Jeanette Barnsley

Visitors to our Exhibition were invited to vote for their favourite quilt. (Not an easy task.) The quilt that won our Viewers Choice vote was Betty Fawcett's Pickled Geese and Marion Johnson's Insanity came second. We thank Queensland Quilters Inc for providing for these prizes.

Pickled Geese by Betty Fawcett

Insanity by Marion Johnson

 

 

 

 

Our display of owl banners was very popular, particularly with the younger visitors, with Christine Hayward's Bad Hair Day being voted the most popular in that section.

Bad Hair Day by Christine Hayward

Further photos of quilts from our Exhibition will be posted over the next week. Remember that Sheila has been busy posting photos on Facebook (Toowoomba Quilters Club Annual Exhibition.)