A Cuppa for a Good Cause

For several years now our club has supported the Cuppa for Cancer initiative.  This year, the theme was blue (as you will see by the display of quilts) and we enjoyed a wonderful morning tea supplied by members and some raffles and retail therapy.

Many thanks to Margie and Loretta and their helpers and all the kitchen workers who pulled this event together. Almost all attendees dressed in blue.

L – R Sally Gardner, Danielle Crismani and President Janice.

Our special guests this year were Danielle Crismani from Brisbane founder of an organization called ‘Baked Relief’, and Sally Gardner from Meals on Wheels Queensland.  Both ladies gave an informative talk and we learned from Danielle that ‘Baked Relief’ was born out of the 2011 flood crisis in Brisbane.  Both ladies do wonderful work for the community.

 

Vicky & Mel

Janice B (President)

We had a large table full of donated fabrics  with all proceeds going to Cancer Research.  Thank you to all the eager ladies who purchased fabric for their stash and helped the cause.

Our table of goodies ready to be raffled.

Blue Show and Tell:

Recycled denim quilt by Judy C

Maker unknown

Maker unknown

Beautiful sashiko quilt by Lyn V.

Abstract art quilt by Leslie E done in a workshop with Cheryl Denny.

Some serious funds were raised for Cancer research.  Thank you to our members for your generous support.

Excursions and Shows

Thank you to Christine H who organised a bus trip to the Queensland Quilters Picnic that was held this year at the Sleeman Sports Complex at Chandler. It was a great day and we even had some time for extra retail therapy on the way home!

Queensland Quilters Inc is celebrating its 30th birthday this year, as is our club.















These are some of the beautiful 12 inch 30th birthday quilts that were on display at the Picnic.

This year a number of members entered their quilts into the Royal Toowoomba Show for the first time. Buddy Johnson worked hard to reorganise and to find sponsors for prizes to encourage greater interest in this section of the Show. Vicki D was out of town at the time but the quilt entered on her behalf by a friend won a prize. Fay S also won a prize. Congratulations to both them! It was the reorganisation as much as the prizes that generated interest this year so it's likely that there will be more entries next year.

Marlene and Vicki D with her prize-winning quilt

Betty's quilt - pattern from Kids' Quilts NZ

Betty F brought along this quilt for Show and Tell recently. It was destined for her grandson's bed.  However, she was heard to say that she enjoyed making it so much that she might make another one that she would display at our Exhibition in September.

Readers may remember our 2013 Art Union quilt that was on display at last year's Exhibition.  Proceeds from that Art Union were donated to the Toowoomba Branch of the National Trust to support the Royal Bull's Head Inn (http://www.nationaltrust.org.au/qld/RoyalBullsHeadInn) at Drayton. (Sorry - still can't get links to work.) 

Helen Moloney,volunteer at Bull's Head Inn, with Verna H and Gail J

Earlier this month the lovely volunteers at the Inn invited our club members to visit for morning tea and a tour of the Inn to view some of their achievements.  For some members it was their first visit.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and appreciated the opportunity to experience a little of Toowoomba's unique history, prompting discussion over morning tea about "the (good?) old days."

April update

Many thanks to Gayle A who showed a group of us how to sew a small clam-shell case (sorry no picture yet) that is great for storing or conveying thimbles, jewellery and other small treasures. Mini workshops such as this are really popular with our members and we are grateful to those who willingly share their knowledge, skills and experience.

We've had some wonderful Show & Tell on display recently. These are a few of the quilts.

Made by Bev M for her mum's 85th birthday. (APQ Vol 20 No 9)

Romantic Handbags made by Norelle W for her granddaughter

Raw edge with free motion quilting made by Lyn L for Zoe

Joan R who is a very active member of our Community Quilting group recently completed this cosy cot quilt.

Tomorrow Joan B will give an introductory talk about waggas, prior to leading sewing workshops scheduled for later in May. Christine H has organised a bus trip to the Queensland Quilters Picnic in Brisbane on 13 May and on 20 May we will have a special Cuppa for Cancer Devonshire morning tea. Sue S, Margie and Loretta are organising this fun occasion.  (Reports will follow.)

Luscious Landscapes

At the meeting this week Committee members received rave reviews about the Luscious Landscapes workshop taught by Lisa Walton. Everyone learned new techniques and lots about design, facings and embellishment. These quilts are not completed but it is anticipated that many of them will be for display at our September Exhibition.

Workshop participants with Lisa Walton

Here's a closer view of some of the works in progress.

Leanne

June

Sharon

Members have been busy in other areas too: our 2014 Art Union quilt has been quilted so is now completed! This is an unofficial preview photograph.

2014 Art Union quilt

Workshop and Community Quilts

Yesterday we welcomed Lisa Walton of Dyed and Gone to Heaven (http://www.dyedheaven.com/bio/) to Toowoomba where she conducted a workshop for fifteen of our members. Participants had the opportunity to stretch their imaginations by using a variety of thread and fabrics to create unique fabric landscapes.  Marilyn was kind enough to show her work-in-progress. Completed landscapes will feature in a future blog.

Gail J and Marilyn C at the workshop

We have a small group of very dedicated quilters who direct much of their effort to making quilts for donation to people in the wider community.  The quilts are frequently the result of a team effort and they often find their way to victims of the regular natural disasters we experience in this country.

These two have been completed recently. Some readers may recognise the double disappearing nine patch quilt that Joan was working on as a demonstration during our 2013 Exhibition last September.

Double disappearing nine block coordinated by Joan R

String quilt coordinated by Lyle Y

The string quilt was made following another pattern so kindly shared by Bonnie Hunter on her Quiltville website (http://www.quiltville.com/).

I am having problems inserting the links into the text so have included the URLs in brackets.

2014 Quilt Challenge

Congratulations to Chriss Jasper whose owl banner was the most popular with members when they voted earlier this month.  Lots of people commented on the wonderful owl eyes and the tree bark.

Owl Love by Chriss J

Our 2014 quilt challenge was to create a banner (12" x 35") showing a minimum of two owls using two pieces of provided fabric. More owls could be added but 90% of the given fabric had to be used in two owls and any method of construction was acceptable.

Here is a random selection of some of the forty banners that were displayed in our meeting rooms.

Apparently the voting was very close. All of the owl banners will be on display at our Quilt Exhibition in September when visitors will be invited to vote for their favourite.

Thanks again to Ineke who organised this challenge for members and who wore her favourite owl apron on voting day.

Scrappy Trip Around the World

This week a group of members spent Tuesday sewing a Scrappy Trip Around the World quilt. Penny Vanderval conducted this workshop using one of the many patterns that Bonnie Hunter shares on her website, http://quiltville.blogspot.com.au/

Bonnie Hunter's site is a great resource and well-worth a visit. Be prepared spend some hours wandering through her pages!

Irene and Gayle hard at work

Dianne P and Janice B with Trish P and a Scrappy Trip Around the World quilt top in the background

Bring and Buy Day

A highly successful "Bring and Buy Sale" (a swap meet) was held in our meeting rooms last Tuesday.  Members were able to sell items surplus to their requirements after tidying up their fabric stashes and sewing cupboards - what a wonderful opportunity!

 

 It was a fun day with lots of fabric pieces and assorted treasures finding new homes.

February–a busy month for our Quilters

A busy month is planned for Toowoomba Quilters.

The first meeting of February brought us a lovely display of what people were working on over the holidays.

Marleen K did these lovely home decor items in sashiko and Japanese fabrics – cushions and chair backs.  Marleen has used gold coloured sashiko thread.

Kathy Adams held a workshop in January using a very easy peasy skirt pattern.  Many of the participants wore their skirts on Tuesday and did a fashion parade.

Vicki L has made this delightful little girl’s quilt.

Work has been completed on our 2014 charity raffle quilt.

Thank you to those kind people who put the hard work into making the quilt and to those who contributed material for it.

The top of the quilt is now completed – beautiful.

Coming up for members in February we have an ‘Around the World’ workshop with Penny Vanderwal and a beginner’s ‘Patchwork 101"’ with Angela Langdon.

Members can also look forward to a bring and buy table this month.  Check your newsletter for details.

We look forward to seeing you in February.

Attic Windows

This is Angela L's quilt called Life's a Jungle, but it's warm in here. (She owns one very spoilt cat!)

Angela has taught a series of workshops for our club and on 11 March she will conduct a class on the attic windows block that she used to make this quilt. It will also be an ideal opportunity for some of our newer members to receive expert instruction on rotary cutting, machine piecing, making and joining blocks, Y-seams and adding borders.

June P showed us the quilt that she made for her son's 30th birthday. The photos were printed onto quilters muslin.

June P's Wheels of Time

Reminder: Participating members are reminded that their owl banners for the 2014 Challenge should be handed in by 11 February.

Happy New Year 2014

We had a huge crowd on Tuesday for our first shared lunch of the year. (We have a "Potluck Lunch" on the second Tuesday of each month to celebrate members' recent and imminent birthdays.)  It was a fantastic spread, demonstrating yet again the abundant range of skills in our club.

These are some of the quilts that were displayed this week.

Community quilt made by Lyn R-S

 

 

Lyn R-S is a very active member of our Community Quilting group who has recently completed several "masculine" quilts suitable for males.

Celtic Rose by Joan R

Snowball by Betty F

The meeting rooms were abuzz with plans for the year, some involving New Year resolutions relating to UFOs!  Ineke was encouraging members to complete their quilts for the 2013/14 Challenge while June was refining details for some of the classes and workshops being organised for this year. Information on these activities will be included in the next newsletter that will be sent to financial members in early February.  (Now is the time to renew your membership if you haven't already done so.)