Time Flies

Time flies when you're having fun.  This month has been quite a fun month around here, starting with the quilt retreat in early October.  I will tell you a bit of what I've been up to since then.

Firstly came a decision to start yet another quilt.  This time it is all about 'stash busting'.  I am now half way through making the top of this quilt, and  there are plenty of scraps still to go.  For as long as I have been quilting I have cut left over bits of fabric into strips.  I love the randomness of this - just picking up any old strips and joining them up where they fit.  It is a lot of fun.

Once I have all the top put together I intend to hand stitch the seams.  Possibly with herringbone stitch.  That should keep me out of mischief!!

Last Thursday a friend and I caught a bus down to Brisbane and went to the Queensland Quilt show.  The quilt I showed you here after our exhibition, Silk purses and crazy bags, by Robyn Ginn, won Best of Show.  You can see all the winners here on the Qld Quilters web site.http://www.qldquilters.com/

I enjoyed looking at the art quilts, but time was limited and I had to do a very quick whizz around the display.  

I loved this quilt by Denise Griffiths called "Waratahs and Wildflowers for Dad". 

 I thought this quilt by Lorraine Carthew was very spectacular.  "Memorable Women".

There were a lot of fantastic quilts on show and it was huge.  We spent a lot of time looking at all the merchant stalls and going to a couple of demos.

A lovely day out.

Quilter's Retreat

We had our club's quilt retreat on the weekend in bushland surroundings at Perseverance Dam. Poor old Perseverance Dam is a little on the low side, and even though some areas of Queensland have had torrential rain, it has missed the dam completely.  Our cabins are surrounded by beautiful Aussie flora and fauna.  We were advised to keep our cabins closed or one of the resident possums may come in and help themselves to any food we have in our cabin!!
 
I took this quilt along to retreat to begin hand quilting it.  I did get a little done in between cups of tea, coffee and meals.  Then there was lots of chatter too - catching up with old and new friends.  It was such a happy weekend, and the perfect overcast cool weather for staying inside, keeping warm and sewing.  The funny thing is we moved our retreat from August to October so it would be warmer!
 
This is the main hall and all the ladies getting stuck into it.

My friend, Marleen, always gives me a gift for driving her out to the venue and this year she gave me this gorgeous wall hanging.  I have it hanging from a drawer handle on my old singer treadle machine.  Thank you Marleen.  

"I'm just a Girl that can't Say NO"

That is why I haven't been able to blog for so long.
I have been blogging -  but over on the quilt club site.  It has been a busy few weeks with our annual exhiibtion and my not being able to say no.  I am passionate about our quilt group and have made many wonderful friends, enjoyed the company of some interesting quilters and shared ideas and dreams.  It has come time now that I must say NO.
Currently, I am newsletter editor (once a month but taking two days to do it - on a weekend),Vice President and maintaining the blog.  In addition to this, I maintain membership and email lists and co-ordinate the sales table at our exhibition. 
"Yes" - I can come to that meeting, "Yes" - I can help with the raffle, "Yes" -  I can shuffle equipment from one place to the next, "Yes" I can post that to a new member and so on. 
 At the same time I am a partner in my husband's business and a housekeeper, mother and grandmother.  
NOoooooooooooooo
Now, I am not blaming the quilt group, it is entirely my own fault and, in 2011, I am intending to take a giant step back for my own sanity and so that I may enjoy what I really joined a quilt group for, yep, quilting, sewing and crafting.

To soften this blog post I will now post some pictures of my favourite quilts at the show.
 
I have always loved the Storm at Sea pattern and vow I will make one one day!  This one was done by a friend, Vicky, and she has used a beautiful variegated red fabric with the cream.
 
My friend Robyn Ginn has made this spectacular quilt using silks and she has used the traditional crazy fan design, and made them into little silk purses.  This quilt is all done by hand apart from sewing the blocks and borders together - amazing.  The entire outside border is hand embroidered.  I am in love with this quilt!
 
Close up of some of the purses WOW WOW WOW
 
Lynn did this one which was a Debbie Caffrey mystery quilt.  I love it because it is full of Kaffe Fassett fabrics and I am a sucker for star quilts.
One of my darling girlfriends, Yvonne, did this beauty.  It is called "Daniel's Pineapple Farm" and was made for her nephew's 21st birthday.  Daniel always wanted to work on a pineapple farm when he was little.  I just love circles.
 
Another Robyn Ginn quilt.  "Hearts for Hannah".  Robyn made this for her granddaughter.  Whilst Robyn was making this quilt, Hannah was involved in a very bad car accident.  She was seriously injured but is now fully recovered.  This quilt has many loving thoughts sewn into it.
Close up of Hannahs heart - all hand embroidered.  All Robyn's quilts are hand quilted as well.

I so admire the patience it would have taken for Dorothy C to make this confetti style quilt entitled "Murphy".
Imagine cutting up all those tinsey bits of fabric and fibres.  He is so cute.

There were so many quilts I loved at the exhibition, but if you would like to view more, I have put some up at www.toowoombaquiltersclub.blogspot.com