Judy's Great "Jelly Mosaic"

Judy showed me her gorgeous version of my jelly roll pattern called "Jelly Mosaic" yesterday.

She made the quilt larger (4 x 4 blocks rather than 3 x 3) so she used two jelly rolls (but she culled the green strips out - not a fan of green!) to produce a beautiful blue and red quilt.

Well done, Judy:

Brenda Gael Smith's "Living Colour" Exhibition

When I was teaching at the Illawarra Quilters' Quiltaway last November I had the pleasure of getting to know a very talented lady, Brenda Gael Smith, designer and teacher of amazing patchwork and quilting techniques.

Lately I have been enjoying an email newsletter Brenda sends out with snapshots of a new exhibition she is curating called "Living Colour".

The exhibition will debut at AQC in Melbourne this year and will also be on display at the NSW Quilters' Guild Annual Quilt Show, this year at Glebe Island commencing July 9th.

I know lots of my readers will enjoy marvelling at the beautiful works in the exhibition.  You can click on this link here to preview the quilts and perhaps subscribe to the email newsletter yourself.

On The Road Again!

We drove home yesterday from Wodonga.

A hot day but cozy in the car.  We made a stop in Holbrook.  This is a lovely country town which is now bypassed by the highway but well worth visiting for the historic architecture....

the yummy food....

and the antique shops....

Back to reality now: chores, cooking, washing, the school run and lots more classes coming up.

Thanks, Veronica, for your company, the laughs and the great singing of "The Road to Gundagai"!

K xx

Final Class at Carolyn's Quilting Room Today

I held the last class of four days at Carolyn's at Wodonga today.

We had lots to do to complete the large compass blocks.  Here are a few.

This one was made by Mary.  Very gorgeous. Her main compass points were a rich blue with red and touches of gold.  The coordinating fabrics of red, gold and green in small prints look fabulous.  We auditioned her compass on many different fabrics.  It looked great on red but we decided the blue was better because it will also have some appliqué on it and Mary can make some of her flowers in red and green.

This was made by Pat in bright fabrics.  Fabulous! The orange and yellow really sing! Pat needed to put some purple in because that is her favourite colour.

This one was made by Maxine in lovely greys, golds and reds. Her block surround is a very lovely light blue grey with a little vine pattern.

This one was made by Jacquie.  Her compass is stunning in brown, orange, green and gold. It is always great to see the same design made in different colours and fabrics.

Carolyn continued to tempt us with delightful home cooking.  Here she is producing a cake for afternoon tea as I am demonstrating machine appliqué techniques to the ladies.

Here is Mary and Jacquie admiring Mary's beautiful block.

Maxine is hard at work.

Pat has some great stickers on her machine.

Well done ladies and thank you Carolyn for having me in your beautiful store.

Julie Does it Again

Julie has sent me a photo of another star she has made.  Yummy!

Foundation Piecing Class at Carolyn's Quilting Room

Just a short post today.... I taught some ladies at Carolyn's Quilting Room in Wodonga.  We were starting on my "Bunbury" quilt which is paper foundation pieced and machine appliquéd.

Only one of the ladies had tried this technique before and everyone else was eager to learn.

We achieved lots, nearly finishing a complete large compass block.

I must say we were all very spoiled again with Carolyn's delightful home cooking of special cookies for morning tea, the most delicious dainty sandwiches for lunch and a gorgeous cake or slice for afternoon tea.  Thank you, Carolyn for all your work.

Here is my "Bunbury":

Here is the start of Mary's very beautiful first compass block in wonderful red, blue, green and gold reproduction prints.

Here is Pat's foundation segments in fabulous brights.  Wow, the two are so different and equally gorgeous.

More tomorrow...

Julie's Fabulous "Hunsford" Centre

I have received a photo from Julie back in Sydney.  She has been working on her centre block for "Hunsford".

Look how beautiful it is:

Well done, Miss Julie!

Second Day at Wodonga

Veronica and I had another lovely day with a group of ladies at Carolyn's Quilting Room working on "Hunsford".

Here we are in the gardens outside the shop.

Toni brought in her very beautiful "Florentine" quilt which she started in class in February last year.  Wow, it is so gorgeous.  She has done a monumental job.

The ladies worked on their centre blocks for "Hunsford".  First is Margaret's centre in black and red.

Here is a block from the outside border design also made by Margaret.

Here is Leigh's centre star:

And here is her outside block:

This is Wanda's centre star:

And this block ring was made by Wanda:

This centre star was made by Mary:

Veronica was pleased with the sewing she got done.  Here are her super sized hexagons!

Tomorrow's class will be paper foundation piecing on compass blocks.

First Workshop at Carolyn's Quilting Room

Today was the first of four days I will be teaching at Carolyn's Quilting Room at Wodonga.

We arrived to find the ladies there and waiting to start work on "Hunsford".

Here is Veronica who helped heaps and supplied cups of tea for the teacher!

Here I am in front of "Hunsford":

This is Leigh's block from today's class.  She is using a very beautiful muted range of reproduction fabrics in shades of blue and brown. Looks gorgeous!

This one has been made by Margaret in red and black.  Very stunning!

There were some new soft green gum leaves hanging down along the path - very Australian.

More work on "Hunsford" tomorrow....

We Have Arrived in Wodonga!

Veronica and I have made our way down south today to Wodonga.

We have unpacked the car, set up our sewing machines, poured a glass of bubbly and now we have decided we are MAD!  That is Machine Appliqué Divas.

Here I am working on my large appliqué border for my quilt show entry!

I am looking forward to tomorrow when I am teaching "Hunsford" at Carolyn's Quilting Room.

Will report again tomorrow night.

Starting on "Hunsford"

My third class of ladies began their "Hunsford" journey today.

We had a lovely day "fussy cutting" and playing with fabric.

Here are some of the results:

The first centre is being made by Jan in rich reds and blues.  Lovely centre star.

This one belongs to my dear friend, Julie.  Stunning in black and brown.

This yummy one belongs to Chris.  Some very clever cutting here.

Next one is Jeanne's centre with a great stripe in the centre star.

Next is the centre being made by Gaye.  Love the centre star.  The stripes form hexagon shapes in the middle.

Hope you enjoy continuing to work on your quilt, ladies.

Exciting Program for South Australian Quilt Encounter 2014

I have just received my brochure for this year's SA Quilt Encounter. It will be held in Adelaide from Friday 11 July to Thursday 17 July, 2014.

I taught at this event last year and had a FABULOUS time.  I will again be travelling to Adelaide this year to teach two of my Jane Austen Quilt Collection designs.

If you have the opportunity to attend, I highly recommend this event for any beginner or experienced quilter.

The organisation is first class, the tutor faculty excellent and varied, the workshop rooms spacious and fully equipped and the food yummy. Everyone is in a happy place at this event.

The tutors this year include my fellow members of the Textiles Across the Tasman blog group Amanda Daly, Rachelle Denneny and Jacqui Karl as well as my Whitecroft Tours pal, Michele Hill.

I will be teaching "Pemberley" over a three day workshop:

I will also be teaching "Longbourne" over a two day workshop.

If you would like to receive a brochure for the Quilt Encounter, you can email the Coordinator, Kerryn Brand on mikeandkerryn@bigpond.com to request a copy to be mailed to you.

I very much look forward to meeting some new quilters at Quilt Encounter this year and catching up with friends from last year!