Craft & Quilt Fair - Brisbane

.....following on from previous post...
The real point of this exercise (Dinosaur Quilt) is to make some important points about sizing the backing to suit a quilt top.
Here's how to calculate the size of a backing:
1. Measure the Length and Width of the quilt top and jot those measurements down.
2. Add 6 - 8 inches both the length and width and jot those new measurements down too.
Note: if you are quilting your own quilt ie by domestic machine or hand quilting you probably won't need so much extra but, if you are sending your quilt off to a commercial quilter they will (as I will) need at least 3" extra on all four sides.

So having added the extra 6-8 inches you now have the correct size of the backing to fit your quilt top.

If you plan a seamless backing for your quilt and if your quilt is a small cot size, an ordinary width patchwork fabric will be wide enough. So you will only need to purchase the length of the backing.

If, however, the quilt is larger than cot size you will need more than one length, perhaps 1 + 1/2 lengths, 2 lengths, 2 1/2 lengths or even 3 lengths for a king size quilt. Although you might consider a wide backing fabric for the larger sized quilts.
I talk about seaming lengths together on my website go to  http://thequiltconnection.com.au/quilt-preparation/ and print out the PDF titled Quilt Backings...

Okay so getting back to the point of this exercise....

Now that you have calculated the size of the backing required, you can now set about planning a pieced backing to fit, and you can be as creative as you like.
Just a couple of things to remember though, before you start.

1. Plan the piecing so that (as much as possible) the grains go in the same direction. ie lengthwise grain running vertical recommended. For more information about Fabric Grains go to http://thequiltconnection.com.au/quilt-preparation/.
2. Position any seams in the backing that run parallel to the edges of the backing a distance away from where the edge of the quilt top will be. See photos to follow:

This photo shows my little dinosaur quilt laid out on top of its pieced backing.



Notice that the edge of the quilt top is 1 1/2" away from the seam that joins the ricrac fabric to the sides, the top and the bottom of the backing.
This is the important point!








This photo shows by the outline I've marked, (marked only for demonstration purpose only) where the edge of the quilt top will fall. I should say that it doesn't matter if a seam crosses the edge of the quilt top.

I wonder if you have worked out why I am taking the time to explain all this???


Sooooo....

If a seam is positioned too close to the edge there is a risk that after quilting that seam will end up aligned with the edge of the quilt top and will therefore have to be included in the binding and that would not be a good thing.

Cheers til next time.

Craft & Quilt Fair - Brisbane

This week I am having fun at the Fair!
I'm a guest of Imaaje C29 (one of my favourite online fabric shops) and giving free workshops at 11.30am every morning in Workshop 2 introducing new quilt-makers, and taking the more experienced back, to the Basics. It is my hope that the information I share will help patchworkers to achieve better results and therefore more enjoyment from this much loved craft.
The workshop is titled 'The Quilting B's" because I am talking about Backings, Borders, piecing Blocks, and a bit of all things in between...... well, I only have 20mins so everything? not possible.



Dinosaurs Quilt

Anyway thought I would share a couple of photos of one of the little samples I created to demonstrate the difference made when you 'press as you go', tidy threads as you go and Butting seams where they interlock. Oh and also ... how when Borders are calculated correctly, they sit flat and even around the quilt.


wrong side of quilt top showing seams etc

Pieced Backing using leftover strips

Quilts 1700 - 1945

Quilts 1700 - 1945

I had a most enjoyable day last Friday when a friend and I visited the Queensland Art Gallery to view the Quilts 1700-1945 exhibition. As you would expect, the quilts are truly remarkable and the exhibition itself is superb.

As I read the information which described the story of each quilt and its maker, I felt transported back in time. Reading about the history of quiltmaking and seeing photos of antique quilts is nothing compared to actually having the quilts right in front of you. This was an experience I will delight about for a very long time.

My thanks to the creator, Sue Prichard, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and QAGOMA for making this experience possible.

Ruth Stonely - A Stitch In Time

I also had the pleasure of viewing a stunning exhibition of innovative work by the late Ruth Stonely. This was a trip down memory lane for me. I think I am right to say that Ruth was a pioneer of patchwork and quilting in Queensland, certainly she was a highly respected quilt artist in her own right. Her quilting was most innovative and remains so today.

To read more about this current exhibition visit http://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/exhibitions/current/ruth_stoneley_a_stitch_in_time

Memory of A Queen

I was even more delighted to find the quilt 'Memory of a Queen' hanging in the gallery. I had the pleasure of quilting this quilt which was made in 2009 by Coorparoo Quilters to celebrate Queensland's sesquicentenary. The design was inspired by certain architectural aspects of a heritage building in Coorparoo now called 'Queen Alexandra Home'.

http://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/exhibitions/current/ruth_stoneley_a_stitch_in_time

Textile Art Festival- Brisbane

I took the afternoon off last Friday to venture into the Textile Art Festival. It turned out to be a very inspiring afternoon.

Twelve by Twelve

The Twelve by Twelve exhibit was my favourite. It is the result of an online collaborative project where twelve quilt artists from all over the world present each other with a challenge based on a particular theme or colour palette. You can see the quilts on the web but it's not as impressive as seeing them up close.

I was fascinated as I listened to one of the artists, Kirsten Duncan of Pom Pom Rouge, Townsville talk about the ideas, inspiration and techniques used to create these marvellous little quilts. Kirsten sells these neat little colourful cut-out felt shapes. Check out her website and blog, PomPom Rouge.

I also caught Brenda Gael Smith’s photo transfer demonstration using a product designed to remove "sticky spots and goo" and saw some great pieces from the Shibori Dying demo she had given in the morning. Brenda gives more info here at Serendipity.

Resisting Temptation - or not!

I managed to walk past the numerous stalls selling all sorts of wool and yarn, (there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything) but I couldn’t resist the colourful display of Lisa Walton’s dyed fabric. I bought some! You can see her range at Dyed and Gone to Heaven.

Down the hole with  Alice...

I went down the hole to see the very imaginative entries in the Alice in Wonderland Art U Wear competition, found an interesting selection of triptychs in the Elements display by the Darling Downs Textile Art Group and saw a stunning piece of freeform crochet produced by Prudence Mapstone. WOW! I ran into a few friends and stopped for coffee. I had a great time and although I had never been to this Festival before I certainly want to go to the next one.

A win at the NSW Quilters' Guild Quilt Show!

The NSW Quilters' Guild Quilt Show is on in Sydney at the moment and one of my clients - Lorna Haigh - won first prize in the Commercially Machine Quilted category! Her quilt is called Australian Wildflowers and is a stained glass style wall hanging that has been machine stitched, hand embroidered and then machine quilted by me. Here is a photo of it.



Congratulations Lorna! A prize well-deserved.

I have had the privilege to quilt some of Lorna's work before. Her quilts vary in style and technique, always something different. I think she likes the fun in challenging me! Check out these:






Visit the Quilters' Guild of NSW website here to see all the winning quilts.

The Sharon Schamber Workshops

Sharon Schamber is an absolute quilting legend. her work is exquisite and she freely shares her knowledge and expertise both through free videos on Youtube and through paid workshops. While her videos are great for those who can't get to a workshop there is really nothing like meeting her and having her guidance first hand.

This photo was taken at Sharon's lecture and that gorgeous quilt is her Spirit of Mother Earth. It's even more stunning up close and personal!

Sharon Schamber in Australia - May 2009

In May 2009 quilters all over Australia were treated to some of Sharon's workshops. Pam Hill of Manly hosted the tour and organised workshops at Tweed Heads, Brisbane, Maleney and South Australia. The Piec-lique class proved very popular but it was the 3-Day Longarm Quilting workshop that was of particular interest to me.

This turned out to be three days of absolute quilting bliss! Pam’s home is located at Manly overlooking Moreton Bay and you can see from the above photos it was just the most fantastic venue, perfect weather (not that rain would have dampened our enthusiasm) scrumptious food and lots of fun in learning.

Quilters travelled from Victoria, Western Australia, all over Qld and Northern NSW and they were not disappointed they made the journey.

The workshops

My good friend Wendy Watkins of Honey Pot Quilting came up from Bendigo (What an excellent excuse for a 3 ½ day leave pass from 2DD’s and DH). Wendy stayed with us at the Aspley Hacienda and as is always the case when we get together, the weekend was a hoot.
We attended Sharon’s lecture at Qld Quilters headquarters on the Thursday night and were just gobsmacked by the display of stunning quilts. Seeing Sharon’s ‘Spirit of Mother Earth’ up close and personal was awe inspiring. Such perfection in the detail. No wonder Sharon has an extensive list of awards and acknowledgements. Wendy and I both hoped some of the creativity would jump over onto us as we almost drooled over the beautiful quilts.

Day One – Wendy hit the shops for some retail therapy (Wuz up with that!) while I headed off to Manly for a day of Trapunto and Beginning Stipples. It didn’t take too long to discover that I was in the company of a very confident teacher. Sharon has a thorough knowledge of her machine which by the way is a Prodigy (that was one tick for me!). Sharon welcomed questions from her audience and was happy for the ensuing discussion to take place. I found her to be a very confident and helpful teacher.

More happy faces.....
L-R Judy Nolan, Robyn Dall, Debbie Cadman, Sharon Schamber and Elizabeth Magagnotti. came over from WA. (Those girls really know how to have fun at work!)

The two days that followed were filled with even more inspiring quilting... we learnt how to ‘Dance with Feathers’ and how to quilt all those creative stipples from ‘Spirit of Mother Earth’. Sharon truly is a very creative artist!

Show and Tell was amazing! This quilt is a stunner and just look at all those stipples and such majestic feathers!

All things considered... it was a fantastic weekend. Thank you Sharon and thank you Pam.

New Zealand Machine Quilters' Conference 2008

“I am speaking to you tonight as President of the AMQA. Founded about two years ago in Queensland, Australia, the Australian Machine Quilting Association is a not-for-profit organisation which is specific to machine quilting..... in particular.... the business of machine quilting”.

Earlier this year I was given the privilege to open the 2008 New Zealand Machine Quilters’ Conference at Cambridge, New Zealand. Hosts, Mike and Lori Neels once again ran a very successful four days of learning opportunities and machine quilters and tutors travelled from all over New Zealand and Australia to attend.

There were seminars and workshops for all levels that gave tuition across a wide range of interesting topics including, funky free-handing, thread-play, templating, pantographs, designing wholecloth quilts, business principles and inspirational colouring techniques.

Sunday was open day at the hall and the public were welcomed in to view a very impressive display of machine quilting. Hands-on classes for those who wanted extra were given by Kim Bradley, Tina Whitaker, and yours truly, either side of the main two-day conference.

The conference dinner was held at Onyx, one of Cambridge’s top restaurants. Everyone had a fantastic time, the food was great and I developed a serious liking for NZ wine which I am pleased to discover is available here in Oz.

Congratulations to all the winners:

Peers’ Choice 1st - Linda Young - $500 cash from Nolting Mfg Inc plus $250 thread parcel from Coats Industrial. (photo to left)

Peers’ Choice 2nd - Colleen Burr - $250 cash from Karamu Quilting plus $250 voucher from John Rainger Textiles.

Public Choice 1st - Diane Caskey - $500 cash from Kasa Engineering plus $250 thread parcel from Coats Industrial.

Public Choice 2nd - Julie Cannon - $250 cash from Karamu Quilting plus $250 books & fabrics from Fabco Ltd.

Kim Bradley’s Choice - Susan Trendall - 2 nights B&B plus 20 fat quarters and batting from Quilt Fairies of Baylys Beach.

The time just flew and before I knew it I was saying goodbye to our Kiwi friends. I left Mike and Lori sharing a well earned moment of relaxation on the front verandah at Quiltique under the autumn leaves of that beautiful neighbouring tree.

See you in 2010!

Exciting News!

It was a very exciting day here at The Quilt Connection yesterday. I received a phone call in the morning from the organisors of the Quilts Across Queensland exhibition at the Ekka to tell me that my quilt ‘Solutions 1’ had won 1st place in the Professional Small Quilts category. A blue ribbon….. I’m stoked!

‘Solutions 1’ is one of a pair of teaching samples created in preparation for the New Zealand Machine Quilters’ Conference in Cambridge which I attended earlier in the year. Both ‘Solutions 1’ and ‘Solutions 2’ are examples of thinking ‘outside the square’ in terms of planning the quilting. I applied very different machine quilting to a very basic piecing design which resulted in two unique and very individual quilts. Unfortunately, I was unable to complete ‘Solutions 2’ before the cut-off for entries so only ‘Solutions 1’ will be on display, but WOW, it will be on display with a big blue ribbon on it!

Second phone call for the day was from one of my favourite customer/friends, Barb McIntyre..... the red and purple one, and her husband David, who by the way, poses as my part-time business manager occasionally giving advise such as, “definitely with the stippling, not without” and “white, not red thread will give a better result on that red and white quilt”.

They rang with the news that Barb’s quilt, “The Torch of Lady Liberty” had won the red ribbon in the Collaborative - Commercially Quilted - Any technique Class 7 also in the Quilts Across Queensland competition. How ironic is that, a new red ribbon to dress up Barb's red hat. (VBG)
Congratulations Barb......Woo Hoo!

As if that wasn’t exciting enough, later in the afternoon, another much loved customer/friend, Lorna Haigh, rang to say her quilt ‘Morning Light’ had won the Blue ribbon in the Class 7. Congratulations Lorna.
I’m very excited for you both.
In fact, I am just over the moon, not only is it just the best feeling ever, to know that as partners in quilt-making we are obviously getting it right but also so good to be rewarded for our efforts.

All this excitement will make it difficult to focus today, but preparations need to continue for activities planned at the end of the week. Machine Quilters have flown down from the Atherton Tablelands and others, more local, who have recently purchased a machine for their own use or to enter the business of machine quilting, are attending a longarm workshop I am running here on Friday. Then, on Saturday, people from all over Queensland will come here to attend the next Queensland Machine Quilters’ Gathering. So off to work I go…… Whistling with joy all the while.

Congratulations to all other winners in the Quilts Across Queensland exhibit at this year’s Ekka.

I'll post some photos in a couple of days.