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I can’t believe it is 4 months since I posted. Lots of things have happened ‘quilt wise’ in this time.

The Quilt NSW show displayed lots of beautiful quilts made by members. I had 2 quilts entered in the appliqué section ‘Eternity’ and ‘My Imaginary Garden’. It was a lovely surprise that ‘My Imaginary Garden’ was awarded a judges commendation.

I also had a quilt juried as a finalist in the Houston International Quilt Show this year. ‘Isabel’ is now making her way back home from her holiday to the United States.

I also had the pleasure of being invited to judge the Queensland Quilters Annual Exhibit. It was a lovely experience getting up close and seeing all the creativity and beautifully executed work of their members.

On the home sewing front I have been dabbling with several projects. I have designed another needle turn project, which is slowly growing, with lots of fussy cutting. It is enjoyable seeing it come together.

I also used up some of my stash in an ‘aboriginal print’ inspired pieced quilt. I adapted a design found on Pinterest and machine quilted it on my new Bernina Q20.

I have also been making some small projects, which I started in workshops. I have made several journal covers and have finished some fabric bags. The bags proved a bit fiddly at times, but I am happy with the finished result.

I have a new addition to my sewing room, a sit down Bernina Q20.

I was given the opportunity to upgrade to a 20 inch throat and change of brand….and I have been trying it out over the last few days. I love my Sweet Sixteen and my quilting has developed and improved using this machine over the last 12 years, so it was with much trepidation that I ventured to the Bernina. The sewing room has been rearranged and the new machine fits perfectly..

To familiarise myself with the new machine I found a cot panel in my stash and practiced with free motion manual mode for outline work and then moved to the stitch regulator for ruler work. I am really happy with the result. The machine is easy to navigate and sews beautifully.

I love finding a range of fabrics that contain all my favourite colours. The Sacre Bleu, French General, fabrics have beautiful hues of blue and beige, along with pretty small prints.

I wanted to design a pattern that would showcase the lovely soft hues and shading of these fabrics. Of course it needed to be needle turned appliqué. I have worked out the main panels and will design what type of sashing treatment is needed after I have completed the panels.

The design is inspired by old Spanish lace patterns, simplified and drawn so that the appliqué pieces create a floral design. The centre panel depicts flowers and leaves radiating from a main stem with birds perched on the branches.

This quilt was inspired by my eternity ring, bought by my husband on a family holiday to The Isle of Skye, Scotland. The Celtic symbol of eternity is depicted in the intertwining bands. The floral design and colours are based on Scottish thistles, inspired by my husband’s Scottish heritage.

It is a small wall quilt, measuring 130 cms square.

As the appliqué was quite intricate, it needed to be fusible raw edge to keep the pointy ends of the thistle leaves. I then machine appliquéd the edges using a small blanket stitch in a matching machine embroidery thread. The intertwining celtic knot border proved a bit tricky, but I am very happy with the finished look.

I used fine french cotton prints for the appliqué as they are finely woven and worked well for fusible appliqué with minimum fraying.

I wanted to leave some negative space in the design to provide the opportunity for free motion quilting designs to extend the appliqué pattern.

I had a lovely surprise this week. Canberra Quilters are having their annual exhibit of members work at Craft Alive, Canberra. I was honoured to have both my entries awarded prizes.

’Eternity’ was awarded first place in small quilts professional and highly commended in mid-arm machine quilting.

’My Imaginary Garden’ was awarded first place in large quilts professional. It also was judged best appliqué quilt and best in mid-arm machine quilting. It also took out Bernina Best of Show……a very exciting morning.

It has been a long time since I participated in a quilting workshop. The opportunity of attending a weekend workshop taught by Gloria Loughman, at my local quilting shop, became available. I have always admired Gloria’s art quilts. She creates beautiful colourful landscape pieces inspired from photographs taken during her travels. Her style of quilting is so different from my style and it definitely made me work well outside my comfort zone.
We spent 2 full days over painting commercial fabrics, drawing a design from our chosen photograph and assembling the pieces into a finished landscape piece, reflecting rhythm and colour in the sky area.
I tried using new techniques and different methods of choosing colours and applying shapes to a fabric background.

Here is my finished piece, ‘Sunrise at Malua Bay’. It is based on a photo my husband took at our local Beach.

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Melbourne for The Australian Quilt Convention. I was fortunate to have 2 quilts selected as finalists. It was a lovely surprise to learn that ‘Celebrate Thirty’ was runner up in the pieced/appliqué category of the Australian Quilt Show, and ‘Keep Me On The Map’ was awarded Viewers Choice in the AQC challenge.

It was a lovely display of creativity, showcasing the work of many talented Australian Quilters. Congratulations to everyone who had their work exhibited.

Many of my sewing friends have completed Sue Spargo projects. I have always been in awe of the beautiful hand stitching effects they have created…..so I decided to give it a go.
A small Sue Spargo project ‘Rooted’ fitted the bill. I really enjoyed learning how to embroider using Sue Spargo techniques and guidelines. I found it a lovely, relaxing pastime to create texture and colour. The finished quilt is a bright, happy addition to my sewing room.
The machine quilting was a way of putting my own mark on the design. I tried to use the quilting to add extra texture and patterns.

Each year the Australian Quilt Convention sets a challenge. This year’s challenge is titled ‘On The Map’. All entries must be 90 cms square and can include a variety of techniques. Judging is based on the makers unique interpretation of the theme, excellence in design and craftsmanship. Thirty finalists are selected to travel Australia throughout 2025, being displayed at various craft and quilt shows.

I am thrilled my quilt ‘Keep me on the Map’ is a finalist.

In a world where climate change is impacting our environment on a daily basis, many of our iconic creatures are facing a challenging time.

Such is the case of the Gang Gang Cockatoo, a favourite of many of us, but now on the endangered list. 

They nest in old tree hollows in eucalypt woodland forests. This habitat has been severely impacted by bushfires and with climate change, their young are dying in the nest from heat stress due to increased temperatures.

I am sure many of you share my sentiment to protect their habitat and Keep them “On the Map”.

It is always so rewarding when you enhance your projects with free motion quilting. A simple repeated design can give lots of texture to your quilt. By lowering your feed dogs and gaining confidence with moving the fabric under the needle, your patchwork and appliqué projects take on a whole new look. It is a skill that improves with practice. An excellent way to gain confidence is by quilting fabric panels. Here is a panel that incorporates very simple quilting, mainly stipple, loops and curves. With practice you can combine these elements into smooth flowing designs.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year, celebrating with family and friends. All my house guests have left and the Christmas decorations packed away for another year.

I have been designing a new quilt, based in my husband’s Scottish heritage, using thistles and Celtic designs as my inspiration. It is always challenging to work out how to transform a vision in my head into an appliqué design on paper and then how to manipulate the fabric to give me the desired finish.

I am happy with the progress so far….

I chose fine French cotton fabrics as they have a close weave. This project has too many tiny points to needle turn so it will be machine appliquéd using fusible web. The finer cotton will hold up better for this technique. I have restricted the colour pallet to soft mauves and purples on a cream linen background.
I think the Celtic knot borders will be a bit of a challenge………

The Celtic Knot in the border is called Eternity…it is the design in my gold ‘Scottish’ eternity ring we bought while visiting the Isle of Skye.

Over the past few years I have taught my ‘Bits and Pieces’ sampler quilt at a local quilt shop, Rosemont The Patchwork Shop at Mogo.

I had many workshop samples and decided to incorporate them into a single quilt. There were enough blocks to make a lovely cot size quilt. I had fun free motion quilting each block.

My quilt ‘Whimsical Flowers’ has just been published as project in the latest edition of Great Australian Quilts #15.

This quilt is an extension of Whimsical Houses, only I changed the appliqué features and added a foundation pieced outer border. Bright, colourful Kaffe Fassett fabrics are arranged on a background of light grey fabrics.

It incorporates machine appliqué with fusible web and foundation paper piecing. Full instructions and all pattern pieces can be found in the magazine.

I have been working on a new quilt that incorporates appliqué and embroidery using wool felt. It has been a very relaxing activity at night to sit and sew, creating different effects with the wool embroidery. Sue Spargo’s creative stitching provided some great inspiration. I used a range of tilda fabrics for the circles and tried to match the wool felt with the colour shades in each block.

I joined the blocks together and added an outside border using the floral prints.
It is so rewarding when a quilting plan works and makes the whole piece become one design. So happy with the progress so far.

She is finished…. The biggest machine quilting project I have ever attempted. I decided to quilt it with a dense bubble style background filler so that the appliqué would pop. All the appliqué has been outline quilted, then I added a quarter inch outline before filling the negative space with bubbles, feathers and scrolls.

I really enjoyed making this lovely design, using all my favourite blue fabrics. I had to extend , change and create new designs using Yoko Saito’s original pattern so that it became a queen size quilt. My border treatment is very different and I think it adds to the delicate feel of the appliqué design. The background and border fabric are Japanese yarn dyes, with the majority of appliqué in the same fabric style. I added a few printed cottons here and there from my stash.

It has been a while since I have made an update… in between times we have been away overseas for 6 weeks…no sewing but I did manage to buy some lovely fabric in Amsterdam. Now home I can continue working on my current project.

It has been a 18 months since I started my Imaginary Garden quilt, designed around Yoko Saito’s pattern. I wanted to make a larger quilt to fit a Queen size bed, hence some pattern adjusting and expanding was needed.

I have finally completed all the appliqué and embroidery. I decided to alter the outside border to make the appliqué appear to float in the middle of the quilt and added a light blue border with the same fabric I used for the flower stems.

Now for the quilting…. I want the appliqué to pop, so will only outline the flower clusters and fill the background space. I am happy with the progress so far.

It is the third year this event has been organised. All the finalists are exhibited at the Australian Quilt Convention, they then travel for the year, being displayed at Craft and Quilt Shows across Australia.

There is such a variety of quilts and techniques on display, all made by very talented Australian quilt makers.

This was the first year I participated in the event and was very excited that my quilt ‘Isabel’ was selected as one of the finalists and was awarded Runner Up in the Appliqué/Pieced Category.

Finished size: 153 cms wide X 155 cms long

This quilt was made to celebrate all the ‘Isabels’ in my family …great grandmother, grandmother, mother and myself….Lynette Isabel.

The original design is hand needle turn appliqué. The appliqué pieces are all fussy cut and outline machine free motion quilted using a cream 40 wt polyester thread. The background space is quilted in a pattern that enhances the appliqué design. I tried to quilt it so that the appliqué pops out from the background, which is heavily quilted.

2024 AQS Finalists

I am fortunate to live in a small coastal community, so it is the perfect spot for the grandchildren to spend a week over the school holidays….while mum and dad have to work.
These January holidays offered a mixed bag as far as the weather…..on sunny days we did beach ‘stuff’ and on the rainy days the children discovered my sewing machines. They were very creative playing with charm squares. After lots of planning and sewing they each made a quilt top….all their own work. Grandma was then charged to do the quilting and bindings. They then spent hours experimenting on my Bernina machines, discovering all the fancy stitches and patterns they could sew with lots of different coloured threads. A great achievement for a 6 year old and 9 year old.

I have also been busy making a handbag for my granddaughter to take to the Taylor Swift Concert next week. I hope she likes it.

I painted with lumier paints on black fabric, then quilted with red/gold thread for the snake, before outline quilting with black rasant.

It has been a busy year that has just flown soooo fast. As we get older the years seem a lot shorter…..or is it just my imagination.

The Christmas tree is up, all the loved decorations collected over the years are out on display, presents all done and now thinking about food. We are spending Christmas at my daughters this year, so not a lot of preparation on my part but we will be back home for New Year to celebrate with friends.

I have been busy finishing off those last little details on some of my Christmas gifts. I like to make presents for some special friends and family. My 9 year old granddaughter is getting a shoulder bag based on a pattern by Yoko Saito….but with a twist…no beautiful yarn dyed fabrics but teal colours which are her favourites at the moment. Mum is getting a new set of placemats and special friends are getting a sewing station for their lounge chairs based on a pattern from Arabesque Scissors. I made one for myself as well and find it really useful.

I am also making progress on my latest appliqué project. I have been working on this for a year now and have made it to the half way point…..a queen size quilt based on Yoko Saito’s Imaginary Garden Design…..all in my favourite shades of blue yarn dyed fabrics.

I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year with people special to you.

Happy sewing everyone.

I had the pleasure of visiting the Houston International Quilt Show 2023.

My quilt ‘Coming Home’ is on show and was awarded 1st Place Appliqué. It is a lovely honour to see it hanging among so many beautiful works of art. I am enjoying meeting many fellow quilters and sharing the story about my quilt. It is lovely to be able to meet the quilt makers and hear their personal stories about the inspiration and creation of their works.

Lovely news……Very happy and excited.
My quilt ‘Coming Home’ was awarded Ist place in Appliqué at the Houston International Quilt Festival 2023.

https://mailchi.mp/quilts.com/announcing-the-2023-houston-festival-judged-show-winners

Isabel celebrates all the ‘Isabel’s’ in my family that have come before me…..great grandmother, grandmother, mother…then me.

It was inspired by a quilting pattern I designed for in an earlier quilt, ‘Memories of Alex’.

‘Isabel’ uses a range of Tilda fabrics, ‘Cotton Beach’, and the design repeats and extends the floral pattern. Like a medallion quilt it has a centre design which is bordered by repeating images. Each of the appliqué flowers is created with lots of fussy cutting to create repeated groupings. The sashing strips have rows of fussy cut circles appliquéd onto a plain coloured fabric.
It is all needle turned appliqué on cream coloured background fabrics. By using a selection of background cream fabrics I think it creates more depth in the quilt.

The free motion quilting is designed to enhance and extend the appliqué. All the appliqué is outline quilted then fillers added to the negative space. It is quilted with a cream polyester thread., using my stationary Sweet 16.

I am thrilled that my quilt ‘Coming Home’ was selected for inclusion in The Houston International Quilt Show 2023. It has been carefully packed and sent off to the USA for it’s first international adventure.

My local quilting group have been working on a monthly sewing challenge, where a new block is released at the beginning of each month. It is a sampler quilt with sashings.

I have completed the quilt to provide examples of how it can be quilted. I used straight line and scalloped quilting with rulers. It was great for refining my skills. In some of the blocks I added free motion feathers and circle patterns to add interest.

We are also looking at ways to machine bind a quilt, so this was my first attempt at a flange binding. I am really pleased with the end result. A great exercise for practicing your piecing, ruler quilting and binding techniques.

I have just completed teaching my ‘Bits and Pieces’ sampler workshops, where we covered a new technique each week. At the end of the seven weeks it was lovely to see that many of the students were up to attaching the sashing strips. Some of the ladies had extended my designs and applied their own twist to the patterns. This is great to see. I am always impressed when they extend the pattern and make their own unique creation, feeling confident with their own choices and colour selection.

My ‘Whimsical Houses’ quilt was taught over 2 day workshop earlier in the year. As a result of demonstrating how to create the New York Block centre I had a bright colourful medallion workshop sample…….this has grown into a new quilt, ‘Whimsical Flowers’.

The Raw edge machine appliquéd flowers grow out of the centre circle. I added a foundation pieced flower border to finish the design. It is a small baby quilt measuring 42 inches square.

The bright, colourful Kaffe Fassett fabrics sit on a selection of grey background fabrics. Machine blanket stitch is in a colour that matches the fabrics and the quilting is in grey polyester to blend with the background. The flowers are surrounded by flowing, free motion quilted feathers.
All the appliqué has been outline quilted to define the shapes.

I have always been drawn to the old towns of Europe with their cobbled streets, beautiful ironwork, arched stone and heavy wooden doorways. A photo from a family holiday to Kotor, Montenegro, provided the inspiration for this small quilt. It measures 50cm X 70 cm.

The base fabric is plain unbleached calico. I outlined the image using a fine point permanent black pen then coloured it with Inktense Pencils, using water to release the colour.  The calico has so much sizing in it, the colour doesn’t bleed. Once dry and pressed gently with a hot iron, it was sandwiched together.

All the quilting is free motion in black thread over the black pen outlines.

I am really pleased with the overall ‘rustic’ appearance of the finished piece, plus very happy that it won 1st place in the Challenge.

Each year Canberra Quilters Guild hold their members judged exhibit to showcase work completed over the year. Canberra displayed beautiful weather, sunny days and lovely autumn colours in all the deciduous trees.

Everyone who entered their work should be congratulated. It was a colourful and beautiful display of all things ‘Patchwork and Quilting’.

I was fortunate to win prizes for all my entries.

‘Isabel’ placed 1st Large Quilts Professional and also received a judges encouragement award for Applique.

‘Memories of Alex’ placed 2nd Small Quilts Professional and also received Excellence Mid Arm Machine Quilting Award

My friendship group of 8 ladies entered a quilt ‘Loretta’s Kaleidoscope’. We all contributed to making the blocks and I did the machine quilting. This quilt was awarded 1st Group Quilts.

Each year there is also a challenge set. A small quilt measuring 50cm X 70cm. This year it was Doorways and Portals. My entry ‘Doorways’ was awarded 1st place.

2023 Virtual Exhibition

I have been working on a workshop sample that incorporates lots of different quilting patterns. It showcases how simple quilting can be used to enhance the patchwork design. This is a cot panel that has been quilted with straight line quilting to represent in the ditch, simple ruler work and beginner free motion patterns. All the designs provide excellent practice for those just starting their quilting journey. By combing simple patterns and feathers you can create lovely texture and interest to your project.

I had a lovely weekend with a great group of ladies at a 2 day sewing retreat, run by The Sewing Shoppe, Fyshwick , ACT. It was held at a golf club on our beautiful NSW South Coast.

Over 2 days we explored various techniques from foundation piecing, raw edge machine appliqué and English Paper Piecing to make my ‘Whimsical Houses’ Quilt. Everyone was very enthusiastic and enjoyed creating their own version of my quilt. It was lovely to see how they explored colour, looked at fabric values and created their own interpretation of my original design.

Lovely news today… ‘Waratah in Full Bloom’ is one of the 30 finalists in the AQC challenge.
It will be displayed in Melbourne at AQC in April, then tour the Craft and Quilt Fairs in Australia throughout 2023.

The quilt maker had to make a quilt 90cm X 90cm…their interpretation of the theme ‘In Full Bloom.

The 30 finalists feature traditional designs and contemporary styles.

It is a lovely honour to be included in this display of beautiful quilts.

Quilt maker’s statement….I am in awe of our beautiful native flora. Living on the South Coast of NSW our home is surrounded by natural bush. In 2019 millions of acres of NSW were ravaged by devastating bushfires, leaving a black and scarred landscape. Over the past 3 years we have watched it slowly regenerate and come back to life. The radiant Waratahs, in all their glory, showcase the beauty and colour found in nature. These Waratahs were captured in a photo taken by my husband. In full bloom, they are a symbol of the vibrancy and resilience of our iconic Australian wildflowers.

We all have a way of keeping track of what we have created.

It is important to have a record of your work. I make note of any techniques used, design inspiration, what materials and threads, tension, stitch type and needle. This helps me know what has worked…and what has not.

I always take photos of my work being made, make notes and keep photos of workshops and quilting adventures ……retreats, magazines that have published my projects, guild shows, award ceremonies, valuation certificates., etc.

I decided to make a photo book which included all these items. This keeps everything recorded in one place PLUS it is a great coffee table book for the sewing room. To my surprise I now have a whole series………

We all make quilts for friends, family and charities. Once these quilts are gifted we loose track and sometimes forget we even made them. This is an excellent way of keeping a record of your creations.

It is not an arduous task if you record each project as you complete it. The book project sits on my computer. Photos and notes are added once I have finished each quilt. This also keeps a chronological order of my work. When the book reaches its page limit, I then order and send the files to the ‘photo book’ company. My books are hardcover, 100 pages, size 26cm X 33 cm. This size allows me to include some closeup photos of special details or quilting designs.

I hope this has inspired you to create a lovely way to showcase your work.

I recently tried experimenting with the Inktense Pencils on linen, using a fabric medium to minimise the bleeding.

The inspiration for the design came from a photo my husband took on one of his photographic outings, a group of Waratahs. It was a suitable beginning for this years AQC challenge, In Full Bloom.

Living on the South Coast of NSW our home is surrounded by native bush. In 2019 our region was ravaged by devastating bushfires, leaving a black and scarred landscape. Over the past 3 years we have watched it slowly regenerate and come back to life. The radiant Waratahs, in all their glory, showcase the beauty and colour found in nature. In full bloom they are a symbol of the vibrancy and resilience of our iconic Australian wildflowers.

I was thrilled the finished quilt ( 90cms x 90 cms) has made it through the first round of juried quilts. Fingers crossed that it progresses to the next stage.

It was exciting to see my wall quilt ‘ Florabunda’ displayed on the cover of Quilters Companion GREAT AUSTRALIAN QUILTS magazine. #13

This version is a raw edge machine appliqué project using batik fabrics. The background is quilted in patterns that extend the floral design and the gum blossoms are embellished with colonial knots. The full pattern and instructions are listed as a project in the magazine.

FUN WITH INKTENSE PENCILS.

I had an enjoyable day with some lovely ladies in Batemans Bay. We experimented and played with our Inktense Pencils on fabric to create a placemat or small sample.

In this workshop I demonstrated how to outline the selected design on the fabric, various techniques used to apply the colours and how to quilt the finished piece with free motion machine quilting.

Below are some images of their work, well done to everyone who attended.

With the warmer weather arriving it is time to change those thick winter doonas over. I had made several queen size quilts over the years but they never looked quite right on the beds as they were missing matching pillow shams.
Being reluctant to throw any fabric out I found all the matching off cuts filed away at the bottom of my stash… some of the quilts were made 10-12 years ago.

After a couple of rainy days and a jigsaw of odd shaped pieces I now have all my guest beds dressed for Spring. It was a good challenge for creative machine piecing.

After moving to the coast three years ago, I became a member of my local quilting group which is affiliated with the South Coast Country Quilters Guild. After Covid lockdowns and lots of behind the scenes organisation the show was held at Batemans Bay Soldiers Club in September. This is a bi-annual show, so there were lots of entries, presenting around 190 quilts.

Many people volunteered their time to present a beautiful display, showcasing the talent of all the members. It was not a judged exhibit, but there were daily viewers choice prizes. It was such a diverse show with many beautiful pieces of handiwork. Everyone concerned should be very proud of their achievements.

I was fortunate to win a viewers choice each day of the exhibit…a different quilt each time. It was lovely to see my three entries all hung together. I also was awarded viewers choice for my small challenge quilt ‘Spring’.

Here is my version of Wendy Williams ‘40 Shades of Grey’….a colourful rendition.
I really had to move out of my comfort zone when using all these brights that had been hiding in my cupboards. It was a fun project to quilt as each square provided lots of opportunities to experiment with free motion patterns and play with my quilting rulers. The Line Tamer ruler was just the tool for all those striped patches.

It is the first time I used Glide thread and it didn’t miss a beat, Grey rasant in the bobbin. Very happy with the finished quilt…..plus by constructing it in a workshop situation I picked up some new tips and construction methods.

A spring challenge. The finished piece measuring 12×16 inches. I decided to pullout the Inktense Pencils and have some colouring time followed by free motion quilting. The design is drawn onto the fabric using a permanent marker, then coloured.

Using a black thread, it is free motion quilted over the black outlines, adding details such as leaf veins as you go. The background is then quilted in a cream to blend in with the fabric.

The design was inspired by a large panel I had completed last year.

I have been teaching a beginner class in patchwork piecing. Over 7 weeks we have constructed the blocks in my ‘Bits and Pieces’ Sampler quilt.

This time I decided to construct it as a quilt-as-you-go project. It made it more manageable for the students to see how you can quilt your own work with simple free motion quilting patterns. It is always lovely to see how others interpret the design and choose their own fabrics to create it in a variety of patterns and colours.

I have been fortunate to attend a few patchwork, appliqué and embroidery workshops over the past few weeks. It is always interesting to learn other ways to work and apply new skills. There are many ways to achieve the same result. So many quilters have their own tips and tricks. Through workshops you can experiment and decide which technique works best for you. Along the way you have a great time socialising and working beside ‘like minded’ quilters.

Here are my finished projects from a series of workshops with Wendy Williams. I had so much fun completing the wool embroidery and decided to make the sample a centre piece in a cushion, made from scraps found in my ’pink’ stash. Wendy’s work is so bright and colourful. All her work creates happy projects.

The quilt is my version of her ’40 Shades of Grey’, once again it was a great stash buster which incorporated lots of new techniques. Now I have the challenge of quilting it.

I have also had the pleasure of seeing the pattern and instructions for my quilt ’Whimsical Houses’ published as a project in the current issue of Quilters Companion #116.

I have just finished ’ Bits and Pieces ’ – a sampler quilt.

It showcases lots of bright fabrics set on a background of various grey prints. With all the differing greys it was great for using up some of my stash. Each block has been individually quilted with its own design.

I have used raw edge machine appliqué, foundation piecing, english paper piecing and simple machine pieced blocks. It is designed as a sampler quilt to incorporate lots of different patchwork techniques.

It has been a busy ‘Quilting’ week for me…….AQC in Brisbane on the weekend and back to Canberra on Tuesday to hang quilts in our Annual Guild Exhibition, which is being held at the Canberra Craft Alive event. The official opening was yesterday and my quilt ’Antique French Lace’ was awarded Bernina Best in Show. It was a lovely honour. Thankyou Bernina for sponsoring this award and supporting the Canberra Quilting Community.

Canberra Quilters have a beautiful display of quilts made by many talented quilters.

To see photos of all the quilts, including the prize winners, visit https://canberraquilters.org.au/2022-virtual-exhibition/

2022 Virtual Exhibition

I had the pleasure of a quick trip to Brisbane to attend AQC, where the winners from the 2019 Guild Shows were being exhibited and judged for the National Bernina Best in Australia Award. It was lovely to be able to join together after such a long hiatus due to Covid restrictions.

It was a colourful showcase of work by many talented quilters. I felt honoured that my quilt ‘Utsukushi Omoide – Beautiful Memories’ representing the ACT, was displayed with all the other state winners. Congratulations to Catherine Butterworth for her quilt ’Star Crazy’, which was awarded Best of Australia.
Thankyou Bernina for sponsoring such a prestigious event for Australian Quilters.

A new project is slowly coming together. Lots of fun fussy cutting the new Tilda fabric range, Cotton Beach. I am trying a new method of appliqué for me, where the freezer paper is on the wrong side of the appliqué piece, all turned under and ironed before sewing onto the background…..it seems to be working well.

I decided to try a Byannie pattern, a bag with lots of pockets for my quilting workshops.

It was a lot more involved than I thought , definitely not a weekend project.
It was the first time I had sewn with mesh or plastic, but they are great materials for making pockets. You can see all your bits and pieces easily.

It was challenging and tricky in parts, but I am really happy with the finished bag.

In 2005 we lived in Geneva and our children attended the International School. One of my daughter’s closest friends stayed with us for a few months so she could complete her International Baccalaureate. As a thank you gift she gave me a beautiful delft plate. This was the inspiration for my latest project, ’Memories of Alex’.
I love how all the beautiful shades of blue create depth in the design.

Raw edge machine appliqué was the obvious method to use as all the shapes had many curves and points.
All the blue fabric came from my stash, using up those small pieces left over from previous projects. The appliqué pieces were machine sewn using a double blanket stitch in a colour to match the fabric. I then outline quilted the design with a dark blue to highlight features such as the veins in the leaves and petals.

The background is free motion quilted in a cream thread in a pattern that enhances the appliqué and extends the floral design.

Well holidays are over and everyone is getting back into routine with school and work. If you are like me, the grandchildren are getting ready for a new school term…… can you please take up the school uniforms, make some new library bags?

Here is my attempt at library bags. Made from calico with the images outlined in black sharpie then coloured with fabrico markers. The designs are from Helen Godden’s alphabet collection……Z for Zoe and C for Charlie, my two grandchildren.

The Fabrico markers worked well and give a nice even colour to the designs. Outline quilted with black rasant thread over the black sharpie outlines.

I have completed another design by Helen Godden, the 12 Days of Christmas.

The designs were drawn into cotton fabric using a black sharpie, then coloured with Inktense Pencils. I used a textile medium to release the colour so that bleeding would be minimal. Some ’bling’ was added with the gold lumiere paint in the striped frames and number outlines.

All the blocks were sewn together, adding sashing and borders before being quilted. The designs were outlined and detailed with black quilting, then the backgrounds and sashings were quilted with a cream polyester.

I entered a quilting Challenge run by River City Sewing Centre in Queensland. It was to quilt the ’Sunshine Soul ’ panel, called ’Flowers of Eventide. I was so surprised to win the award for hand guided quilting. The photos were judged by a panel of international judges, blind without reference to the quilters name or the machine used. Thankyou to River City Sewing Centre and Bernina who sponsored the award. I outline quilted and added details to the image in black, then quilted the background in cream. I extended the design into the background negative space to create texture and interest. All the quilting was done on my Sweet 16.