Christmas 2015

The Toowoomba Quilters recently celebrated Christmas at their Tuesday meeting. There was fun provided by some members doing a quilters version of Christmas gift giving, and lots of quilts on the walls and decoration on the tables.

It was a very enjoyable day, a shared lunch was also part of the day which was delicious. (No photos of lunch).

Presentations

On Tuesday we had a special morning tea for the winners of the 2015 Art Union and the prize winners of the viewers choices and presented Manna house with a cheque from the proceeds of the Art Union.

Lyn B-winner of  the Art Union quilt who was very happy with her prize.

The representative from Manna House- the chosen charity for proceeds from the Art Union accepting the cheque with Ineke.

Winner of Professional quilt was Kathy Adams' titled "Hobart what a site".

  

Runner up was Robyn Ginn with "Quilted Wallpaper". A quilt dedicated to a special member of her family.



 Winner of the Amateur was Norelle White with her quilt "New from Old". Norelle found a way to make use of her collection of doileys from past family members.

 Runner up in the Amateur was Trish Ostwald with "Stonefields". This was a block of the Month. designed by Susan Smith.

Circles Cot Quilt



Angela made this quilt to try out appliqueing and quilting in one step using some left over fabrics.

Cot quilt made by Chris.

 



Retreat 2015

Club members gathered for the annual retreat this year at James Byrnes Centre. It was a new venue for the club and proved to be a wonderful way to relax and sew whilst enjoying the company of other sewers. Some ladies were able to complete a project while others used the opportunity to start a new project.

Betty brought along her box of scraps to make up a quilt to diminish her pile but they (the scraps)  seemed to be breeding.

 

At the end of the weekend we have a show and tell with what people have made. These are just a few of the tops completed.

Viewers' Choice 2015

Apologies to those who were hoping to see more frequent blogs over recent months!

Our 2015 Exhibition was wonderfully successful and our thanks go to everyone who attended, participated and in any way contributed a delightful week.

Congratulations to Lyn Bass who won our Art Union quilt with ticket number 1623.

This year four Viewers' Choice prizes have been awarded.

Hobart - What a Site!

First prize in the professional category went to Kathy Adams for Hobart - What a Site! Kathy's quilt presents an aerial view of Hobart's Harbour (in Tasmania, Australia) and is made up of many small mini-quilts.

Quilted Wallpaper

Second prize in the professional category was awarded to Robyn Ginn for Quilted Wallpaper who used panels of hand applique and border prints to give the effect of a whole cloth.

 

New from Old

First prize in the amateur category was awarded to Norelle White who incorporated vintage doilies into her quilt, New from Old.

Stonefields

Trish Ostwald won second Prize in the amateur category for Stonefields which she based on a block of the month by Susan Smith of Patchwork on Stonleigh.

It is always hard to do justice to a quilt with a blog photo. Hope you enjoy a closer view of a small section of Trish's quilt.

Toowoomba Quilters Club Exhibition

This week the Toowoomba Quilters are having their annual exhibition of quilts made by members. The art quilters also have a small display of their small works of art which are very inspiring and creative.

 

 

The variety of quilts range from intricate embroidery and piecing, applique, childrens' favourites and some amazing machine quilting.

Tuesday's show and tell

Each week the walls are filled with colourful quilts recently finished by members. The room is a buzz with enthusiasm and encouragement from members who enjoy sharing their love of quilting with other members.

 
 Trish made this delightful banner for the club to display at the Quilt show in September. The butterflies have been donated to the community quilting group.

 

 

 

 

 

The black and white quilts were popular today.

 

Needle turn applique

Some weeks ago we had the pleasure of a visit to our club by Dianne Johnston who taught a class on needle turn applique to an enthusiastic and hard-working group of members.

It is unlikely that the fruits of this workshop will be evident at our 2015 Exhibition. However, we anticipate seeing some at our 2016 Exhibition!

Dianne brought some of her own work to show us and was happy for me to share these photos of her magnificent hand stitched quilts.

Simply amazing!

Christmas in July 2015

Our monthly shared luncheon yesterday had a Christmas theme that was enhanced by the display of the wall hangers completed for our 2015 Club Challenge. Earlier in the year members were invited to create a hanger, My Favourite Christmas Tree, 23" by 31", incorporating two pieces of given fabric, to be completed in time for our Christmas in July event.

Again, Ineke did a wonderful job of organising both the Challenge and the occasion. There were prizes for ten categories: the most dramatic/arty; the most realistic; the nicest handwork/embroidery; the best background; the best decorations/embellishment; the brightest; the most mixed techniques; Shirley's Choice (selected by Shirley Bourke Craft who donated the prize); Councillor's Choice (selected by Cr Geoff McDonald who also donated the prize) and Members' Choice. The other eight categories were determined by the secret votes of members at the lunch - and some of the hangers won more that one prize!

It was lots of fun, there were over forty entries and the range of creations was amazing.  All of them will be on display in a special section at our Quilt Show at the Salo Centre during Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers Week in September.

These are some of the prize-winning hangers with their makers:

Club President, Janice, with Gabrielle and her hanger

Dot

Gaye A

Sharyn P

Ineke

Linda W

With just over nine weeks to go until our Quilt Show, many members will now be concentrating their efforts on completing other items for display. Our theme this year is Quilts, Flowers and Friends.  The Salo Centre is bound to be beautiful for Toowoomba Carnival Week.