Secret Sewing Sisterhood

A hint about what is to come!

2012-02-19T10:45:00.005+11:00

Not sure what possessed Di and I but.....while sitting enjoying the camaraderie of the after show barbecue at last year's Quilts in the Barn we volunteered to make the raffle quilt for the 2012 "Red and White" exhibition. Inspiration has been slow coming but we finally have a design and the fabrics have been purchased.

The fabrics are from Blue Hill Fabrics Garabaldi II range. Don't you just love the large floral? And no, your eyes are not deceiving you, the background is not white. None of us can quite wrap our heads around white as a main colour so instead we are using our favourite shade of tea stain. The freezer paper leaf shapes you see is the hint of what is to come with the finished quilt being a 4 block applique.

Yesterday was also our regular Saturday gathering. So to round out this post, here is a little show and tell from the day.

First up, Deb has almost finished her version of Phebe. The colours are just beautiful.

And a close up of the outer borders.

Ann and I are both busy stitching Di's Antique Wedding Sampler Revisited with both of us working on this block. We chose the red independently of each other and think these two blocks are a great example of 'same but different'. That is Ann's version on the left, mine on right.

I have also finished these two blocks in the past week or so. All up Ann and I are about halfway done with both of us really enjoying this creative exercise.

Until next time...

Meghan

A Little Catching Up!!

2012-02-06T08:17:00.018+11:00

O.K!.............we all forgot to bring out the cameras at the last gathering of the Sisters!, so I thought I might do a bit of 'catching up"
As requested by Meghan.............This is Merri's "Ode To Mary Brown", borders on, and looking fantastic!
Also, in this post a few images of the quilts from the American Museum in Bath that I visited in 2010. Yes!..........I forgot to finish my little "world quilt tour" that I started in 2011 (I think!)

So I hope you enjoy the show! As for adding images.....I am a little rusty at this!
Please forgive if they are all over the place!

Just take a look at these hexagons!, and don't you just love that border!?

Then, along comes this stunner!, and some detail!

The roses are amazing! and I did'nt have time to count the leaves on the border!

Let's add some stars and a bit more chintz!

Then finish with some Broderie Perse that is as vibrant today as it was when first made!

I hope you have enjoyed the "catch-up" and end of the "tour" of quilts!.......and promise that someone will have a camera at the next Sisters get together!!!
Keep on stitching!
Kerry

Another year over, a new one just begun...

2012-01-23T18:07:00.004+11:00

..well more than just begun, after all it is January 23rd! And yes, we have just had the third Saturday of the month so naturally there was a gathering of the sisters, this time at my home. It was great to see everybody.

There is renewed enthusiasm from Kerry and Sue for their versions of Mary Brown. Must be because Merri has finished her top and it looks gorgeous. (Kerry has the photo of this so if I ask nicely maybe she will add it to this post, please Kerry!)

Kerry has chosen a dusky pink for her background fabric. The centre and borders are on different fabrics. Kerry was not sure if she had enough of either to make the quilt so this is the compromise. It is difficult to see but there is a small spot on the border fabric. Don't the colours just sing?

Sue's could not be more different. Her background is a beautiful pale olive green that has an all over pattern in acanthus leaves.

You can see it better in this block that Sue is working on.

Merri has started on Antique Wedding Sampler. And despite starting a few months after Ann and I she is rapidly catching up to us.

And finally Di. Di is busy with new quilts related to her creative work as a wonderful quilt designer and publisher of patterns but decided she needed a little break from it so has started this amazing hexagon quilt. The pattern is by Will Vidinic and is in Quiltmania #86. Good luck with all of those hexagons Di!

Until next time,

Meghan

A Visit to Threadbear, Castlemaine

2011-12-18T17:43:00.003+11:00

For our final gathering of the year we decided to make a day of it and head north to Castlemaine and the delights of Threadbear. However before Castlemaine is the obligatory stop at the bakery in Malmsbury for coffee and muffins / mince pies. Needless to say we did not leave empty handed. The fruit loaf was warm from the oven so how can you resist such temptation.

Corliss was as ever a lovely hostess. We were delighted to be given the use of Threadbear's classroom to sit and sew. Not that there was a lot of sewing done! I am sure the first hour was spent fabric shopping. And I must say the shopping was very focussed - with each of us searching for fabric for our next project or to finish a current project.

Merri was looking for backing for her Mary Brown quilt. It is all but finished, just a few stars for the inner border to complete and some serious time on the machine to put it all together.

The centre is done and looking just fabulous.

Barb spent time choosing fabrics to complete her version of the Burnt Quilt. There are quite a few more stars finished and ready to be attached.

We then headed out to The Bold Garden for lunch. Lots of chatter! We are a noisy bunch when all together.

And finally, back to Threadbear. This time there was a little sewing done before heading back to Melbourne. And just to prove it here is Ann busy hand quilting Tesselations, a lovely bright and bold quilt designed by Brigitte Giblin.

Wishing you all a very, merry Christmas. Enjoy the New Year celebrations,

Until next time,

Meghan

An Early Christmas Celebration

2011-11-23T18:03:00.009+11:00

It is hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner! And it seems even closer after last Sunday when the Sisters gathered for our 'Christmas' lunch. It has become part of the tradition of the group for us to celebrate Christmas at our November gathering as there is just so much on in December.

This year was a little different as Kerry organised for us to have a day out at Mill Rose Cottage in Ballan. Apart from Kerry, none of us have visited this new addition to the quilting landscape. What a delight it was! We all thoroughly enjoyed the day as we sat and stitched in the gallery space surrounded by paintings and fabric.

And we were very industrious, above from left to right, Barb, Kerry, Sue and Ann. And below Di, Deb and Clare.

I forgot to take photos until the day was nearly over, so I don't have a lot of show and tell. First up, Kerry. Kerry is in a 'finishing' phase and brought along a block of Homage to Sally Ann to work on. The background fabric is stunning, a beautiful faded rose print with a linen-like finish.

Merri has complete the centre block of Mary Brown.

I have now finished seven of the blocks from Di's Antique Wedding Sampler Revisited.

And naturally we all indulged in a little retail therapy. This is Deb's selection of fabric, all from Barbara Brackman's new collection, Morris & Company.

Thank you Kerry for organising a wonderful day,

Until next time,

Meghan

A happy traveller!

2011-10-24T18:09:00.005+11:00

Our lovely Di and hubby Brian are travelling in Europe and by all reports are having a wonderful time. While this little jaunt is officially the 'honeymoon' following their marriage earlier this year it hasn't stopped Di from doing a little work while on her travels.

Di's first stop was at Zutphen in the Nederlands to visit with the delightful Petra Prins where one day was spent teaching the key techniques used in Antique Wedding Sampler Revisited. Marianne Snijders sent me an email about the day that included a photo of her completed top for the Burnt Quilt. Marianne tells me that she is hand quilting this beauty. I look forward to seeing the completed quilt.

The rest of the time Di and Brian have been busy sight seeing. It all sounds so wonderful but we did miss Di at our last sewing day and can't wait for her return. There are bound to be lots of stories to tell.

Happy sewing,

Meghan

A Fine Day Of Stitching!

2011-10-18T12:45:00.012+11:00

On Saturday, October, 15th. There was a lovely gathering of Sisters at Ann's place.
The gorgeous piece of work in the first picture is Megan's "Homage To Mary Brown" in the process of being hand-quilted!
This photo is Deb stitching away on "Homage To SallyAnne"...
Here is a block from Sue's quilt. A wedding present. It is an original Art Deco design. Hand pieced and hand appliqued............a near-future masterpiece!
See!..when we get together we actually do stitch!.....after solving the world's problems of course!!
And having a really yummy lunch
Sue working on the Art Deco quilt, blacks, browns, creams and reds. Wow!!
These next two blocks may seem familiar! They are from Di's Wedding Album quilt
Great colours and fussy-cutting!
Ann owns these blocks and after a rest has taken up the challange of completing the quilt. Which reminds me..I should really get back to mine!
Megan is busy on another of Di's quilts "The Sarah Morrell Album Quilt"
Mmmmm!!!.........another one for me to get on with!!!
Merri is creating the center-piece to her version of "Homage To Mary Brown"
The second photo shows her progress.
That's it for another very busy, but delightful gathering. A couple of the Sisters where missing: Clare has family committments and Di was winging her way o'seas to Holland.
As for me?......I was behind the camera! ..and working on The Antique Baskets quilt.
Until next time.
Happy Stitching!

Works in Progress or Projects Half Done?

2011-09-18T17:08:00.011+10:00

It was a very noisy group that gathered at Barb's yesterday. Not sure why but the decibel level was very high. As always we debated everything from world peace to the footy.

One point of discussion was the label we give to all of those half finished projects. Are they works in progress (WIP), unfinished objects (UFOs) or projects half done (PhDs)? We all agreed that 'working on your PhD" has quite a nice sound to it so, in future, that is what they will be called.

Now for the rundown on the sisters and the PhDs they were working on yesterday. First up Clare, working on 'Border of the Month. I remember this from Primarily Patchwork days so that would mean Clare has been "studying" hard for the better part of 5 years!

Deb brought along a block of Sally Ann. She was working at such a pace that the camera could not keep up with the speed of hand.

Barb continues to work on her Dear Jane blocks.

Ann's PhD must be in maths! All day she kept counting berries and making calculations on how many she had left to do.

Merri is working on her version of Feather with Flowers from the Fons & Porter book, Quilts from the Henry Ford. Merri is a little more diligent than the rest of us and has completed the 4 central blocks and began work on the fourth border between all the chatter.

While Di is starting something new. It is a secret so all I can give is a hint of the block she was stitching. And all of us just love this recently published book by Martha Pullen on the Quilts in the DAR Museum. If you love antique quilts it is a must have!.

And Kerry, the Sister that started the discussion on PhDs, continues to work on 19th Century Flower Baskets. And the focus on this particular area of study area has been on-going for almost 6 years. I know this because that is how long I have been working on my version of this beautiful quilt.

Until next time,

Meghan

Normal service resumed.

2011-07-24T20:38:00.008+10:00

For the past two months, our regular Saturday sewing has been put on the back burner as more important things, such as a wedding, have taken place. (We were all so taken by surprise in June when Di and Brian turned a 60th birthday into a wedding that none of us had a camera at the ready to take photos.) It was a lovely day made even better by seeing how happy Di and Brian are.

Come July, it was almost with a little sense of, I am not sure, let down perhaps???? that we gathered at Sue's. I was going to say disappointment but that is very much the wrong word, as we all love our sewing days. Anyway, here is a small tasting of some of the current projects being worked on.

Julie has started a quilt called Queen's Day on Marken. She purchased the fabric as a kit from Den Haan and Wagenmakers in Amsterdam. The quilt was designed by Elsbeth Wallenberg. There is lots of piecing and thirty-two of these windmill blocks to be made it total.

Merri has started something new, a reproduction of a quilt from the Beamish Collection (from the museum of the same name in northern England). She has created the pattern for the centre applique medallion but not beyond as yet. I just love her fabric choices.

Di is madly trying to finish a reworked Antique Wedding Sampler. This pattern will be relaunched at the Craft and Quilt Fair in Melbourne next week. It will be available as a block of the month project from Corliss on the Threadbear Stand.

I have completed the centre of my new quilt, added a small border and the first row of pinwheel blocks. I am sewing these blocks on the machine and must admit to being a bit tardy. I have almost half of the required number done.

That's about it for this month,

Until next time,

Meghan

How canI resist...

2011-07-10T20:54:00.007+10:00

...the siren call of an empty drawer? This set of drawers is how I limit the number of projects I have on the go at any one time. My golden rule is no new project unless I have a drawer available to house all of the fabrics I want to use in a quilt. The drawer has been empty for some time now, ever since I finished Miss Emma's Husband in fact.

So, inspired by the Vesalius quilt in An Moonen's, A History of Dutch Quilts and wanting to use the beautiful fabrics I had purchased from Den Haan & Wagenmakers in Amsterdam last year, I got to work.

The chintzs are from a 'candy box' that contains about 60 strips of various fabrics. The tone on tone gold is / was a little bright as I wanted to use it in conjunction with a beautiful piece of border fabric I had also bought. So out with the tea bags and here is the end result. A good match don't you think?

After I have drawn up the design for the applique I copy it to a piece of vilene and then start auditioning fabrics and cutting them out until I am happy with the balance of colour and pattern.

Once this is all done I start the applique.

I have made good progress, there will be more to see next time.....

Until then, happy sewing,

Meghan

New friends

2011-06-28T06:52:00.003+10:00

Yesterday I had the absolute pleasure to meet some new quilting friends. Di Hall, formerly Di Ford, invited me to join her and her new husband Brian, as they took some international visitors for a trip to the Dandenong Ranges. I had the most delightful day with Di and Brian, Beverley, Linda Collins from "Quilts in the Barn", Petra and Nel from Den Haan & Wagenmakers in Amsterdam, Nederlands and Mary and Joe Koval from Pennsylvania, USA.
Morning Tea and shopping in Sassafras, followed by lunch, and presumably more shopping in Olinda. ( I had to leave early, so I'm not sure how much more damage was done to the credit cards after I left!!)
Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, so I'm afraid no photos from me, but lots and lots of photos were taken, and I'm sure they will appear somewhere very soon.
I can hardly wait for the rest of this very "Special Secret Sewing Sisterhood" week, that would be a SSSS week: A Night with Mary @ Linda's home tonight, a SSS day at Di's home on Thursday, followed by a much anticipated day @ Castlemaine on Sunday. (The housework will just have to wait!!!)

Tripping Around The Globe: Part 2

2011-06-01T11:15:00.011+10:00

Hi! Everyone.
Thought I would sign in and continue the journey I began a little while ago and show some more quilts from the exhibit in New Hampshire USA.
Who knows?.......we may even travel a little further!!
First up, some detailed images of the two crazy quilts in the exhibit.
At left, Crazy Quilt number one............very impressive!

And here are some detailed views, just look at those stitches!
It seems the quilt-maker used silks, velvets and ribbons, and, yes, it is the work of one person! The photo on the right shows a corner of the quilt. These fans are in all four corners. I have never seen a crazy quilt stitched using a log-cabin design as the base before.

Here is a picture of the second crazy quilt in this exhibit.
Also a more detailed view.

This crazy quilt is made in the more traditional form.
Of, course, there where many more really nice pieces on display. As well as the tools of the trade.
These included needle cases, thimbles, stitch books etc. All displayed in glass cases just like this one. I think that's enough for now.
Next time I will continue the journey with some images and memories of Bath, England and quilts from The American Museum in Britain.
I hope you enjoy this post!
Happy Stitching
Kerry

A Perfect Late Autumn Day in Melbourne

2011-05-24T17:30:00.010+10:00

And how better to spend it than with the 'Sisters'. Yes, it's the third Saturday of the month and this time we all met at Di's. Well almost all, Julie, Barb and Kerry were busy with family events but we did have a lovely surprise when Clare joined us. Clare is a Thursday regular but rarely makes Saturday so it was a delight to have her company.

Now for the usual report on projects underway. Merri is on to the 4th block of her Princess Feather and Flowers from Quilts of the Henry Ford. She declared there was nothing new to show so no photo this time.

Chris is working on Tribute to Mrs Williams. Her centre is nearly completed. Chris loves a soft colour palette and her fabric choices work well together.

Clare has pulled out a project started a long, long time ago. It is so long ago that Di could not easily remember the name of the pattern but eventually came up with 'Antique Applique'. These 2 blocks are repeated 3-4 times each and then finished with a saw tooth border.

I took along a project started about a year ago at a class at Primitive Patches in Mentone. The pattern is from Liz Willing and called Mrs Miller's Journey. There are 9 central blocks surrounded by an applique border. I have finished 3 of the central blocks and the 4 corner blocks for the border. Two further blocks are partially finished. The photos below are a sample of the work done to date. They don't really do the fabric justice. I can assure you they look better "in the flesh".

And finishing off with Di's work. Di is reworking the pattern for Antique Wedding Sampler and is a little over halfway through the 25 blocks. The finished quilt will be on Corliss' booth at the July show in Jeff's Shed where the pattern will also be available.

As ever, Di has selected beautiful fabrics.

Until next time,

Meghan

Tripping Around The Globe

2011-04-27T12:32:00.014+10:00

It has been a while since I have "blogged" and I am a bit rusty, especially with the image bit... but here goes!
In 2010 my husband and I went for a jaunt o'seas mainly for the wedding of my nephew, Matthew, to Alissa.
Here is the very happy couple:

After the wedding we did a bit of sight-seeing in New Hampshire (U.S.A). This is where my younger sister and her family lives (groom's mother). Concord is the capitol of N.H. and they have a local museum, which, to my delight had an entire foor show-casing this:
Is'nt it exciting when these type of accidental encounters occur!?
Photos where a difficulty, as no flash was allowed and my images where a bit shakey. But here are a couple to start with.
I especially liked the two crazy quilts on show...those pictures along with others, are on my husband's super- dooper camera and if there is an interest I can show them in the future.
Just leave a comment.

A red and white delight.
There where a few examples of two colour quilts.
I noticed the red and white quilt exhibition on in New York recently.

There where many examples of blocks (and I took photos of them all...at least twice!)......reminded me of our Sampler quilts. It seems that many of the blocks where from a collection belonging to one individual who wished to preserve the quilting heritage of New Hampshire. I think she has done a great job.

Aren't they just wonderful?
I could have stayed all day.
Mind you, the guide stationed down-stairs told us it was disappointing we did not see the last month's exhibition......."Kitchens From The 1930's"......I think I know which exhibit I preferred!

A redwork beauty!
I have images of this one that show the detail much closer.
Just love the red on white and the white on red embroidery.

However, I am blogging on and on!........and I have'nt left the U.S.A. yet!
I know, all the Secret Sewing Sisters enjoy reading about quilt history and looking at the quilts made from those times. Sometimes reproducing the ones we love most.
I think I might end here and call this the "first installment" of the Trip Overseas in 2010.
Believe me, there are a few more interesting tales to tell and a"Trip" that even I was'nt expecting!
Stay tuned!

After The Ides of March

2011-03-22T20:15:00.013+11:00

Sewing this month was on the 19th, 4 days after the Ides of March. How is this relevant to sewing? It isn't really! It is just one of those dates (the 15th that is) I always remember courtesy of high school english literature and Shakespeare's Julius Caeser.

Anyway, it was a much smaller group that gathered, just 7 of us. Sue, Barb and Chris all absent for various reasons. But that didn't mean any less noise! We discussed everything from the terrible tragedy that is the Japan Earthquake through to "Inside Job", a documentary on the global financial crisis, (and all at several decibels above the safety levels I am sure).

Merri and I have both been to see Inside Job and highly recommend it. The only downer, you will come away angry at the greed, the cronyism and the collusion between the banks, government and academia.

Now for the sewing. Our day always starts with show and tell. First up was Kerry with her almost completed 'A Tribute to Mrs Williams'.

Julie has made some progress since last month on her version of this beautiful quilt and started adding the blocks in the first border.

I am sure many of you also follow Deb's blog and will have seen her progress on Homage to Sally Ann. She has started work on the corner blocks. We all just love her colour choices.

Di brought along 2 projects she is working on. First up she is re-working her Antique Wedding Sampler.

And now that all the sashings have been removed from her Baltimore Album, Di has a fresh wave of enthusiasm for this quilt and is working on additional blocks to complete it.

Merri has commenced a version of the the 'Feather with Flowers Quilt' from Fons & Porter's book, Quilts from the Henry Ford. Note the background fabric - Moda's Luna Notte in the pale green. I think every one of us in the Sisterhood lusts after this particular fabric but it sold out very quickly. I think Ann has managed to get a few metres and I was also lucky to get some.

And last, but definitely not least, Ann has completed all of the blocks for her daughter's "wedding quilt". Just the borders to add then off to the quilters. Oh, and I did remember to ask, the pattern is from Material Obsession.

So, that's about it for this month,

Until next time,

Meghan

Work(s) in Progress

2011-02-20T19:11:00.022+11:00

Yesterday was the third Saturday of the month and it looks like normal service has been restored with lots of new projects started, or work on old ones resumed, by the Sisters.

First up from Barb, the outer border of stars for the Burnt Quilt is under construction. Love the fussy cutting.

Julie has always been a 'one project at a time' person but finally it looks like she has succumbed to temptation with two, or did I hear her say three, challenging projects started.

Here she is with the almost finished centre panel from A Tribute to Mrs Williams. The pattern is by Corliss Searcy of Threadbear.

And below, the centre panel from Deb's Not Quite Telling the Truth. Photos never do colour justice, the background fabric is from Moda's Luna Notte range, it is a beautiful pale green.

Next up, on the left is a small sashing Sue is making for her Art Deco inspired creation. More photos of this 'quilt under construction' can be found here.

Below from Chris, the beginnings of a quilt she is doing in a class at Somerset. My apologies but I forgot to get any details from Chris.

Di brought along a quilt top I remember from early days at Primarily Patchwork. It is a four patch Baltimore. Imagine our surprise when Di started unpicking it and removing the sashings (just peaking out from under the block). Why? Because she no longer 'loved' them. In her opinion, the sashings were too heavy and so off they came. This is one of the blocks, sans sashing. I can't wait to see how Di puts the blocks back together again.

And last, but never least, from our most industrious Sister, Merri, a completed set of blocks for Linda Bear's Best of Friends - reverse applique. All that is left to do to complete the top are the sashings. Merri is one of those quilters we all envy as she has the focus and commitment to finish projects.

And a few close-ups of some of the many blocks.

Until next time,

Meghan

"Another year over, a new one just begun"

2011-01-23T11:07:00.007+11:00

Well not quite - after all we are now almost at the end of January!

Before logging on to write this post I was trying to think why it has been so long since the Sisters updated their blog. Apart from Deb, I think we are all in quilt hibernation following the huge effort put in by all to get quilts completed for Quilts in the Barn.

There has of course been some activity, so here are a couple of photos,. The first is of Ann working on a wedding quilt for her daughter. At last count I think Ann said she had 90 days to finish the quilt before the big day.

Barb has started the Burnt Quilt. This is one of the inner borders, which are now all completed and attached. Sorry there is not a more recent photo to show you, rest assured it is beautiful and Barb's hand sewing is perfection (as always).

Me, I have pulled another UFO/WIP from the cupboard. This one, 19th Century Flower Baskets, is another of Di's beautiful patterns. I started it at a class with Di in 2005 when Primarily Patchwork was still open. It became what I call my 'travel' quilt.

Why? At the time of starting the quilt, I was travelling a lot with work and it involved a lot of long haul flights. Because of the size and shape of the applique pieces I would prep a block before a flight and take it with me, sewing mainly while in the air. Work was always demanding so I don't recall getting much sewing time once on the ground.

I have now finished the four centre blocks. The background is a lovely old gold toile that I purchased in the USA during one of my trips.

I have also finished one of the inner prairie point borders and prepped 3 more. Still lots of sewing to go but I am enjoying it.

Until next time,

Meghan

Saturday Sewing

2010-11-21T17:23:00.014+11:00

Yesterday was the most perfect late spring day in Melbourne. It was also the third Saturday of the month and time for the Sisters to gather, this time at Deb's, for a day of sewing and chatter. For the first time in ages all ten of the Saturday sewers were present as Barb and Kerry are back from their travels. It was not one of our most industrious days as there was so much to catch up on. In addition to hearing about Barb and Kerry's trips, Di has also been away, somehow managing to fit a visit to Houston in her busy schedule.

I took along a recently finished quilt top to show the girls. The top was started at Patchwork on Stonleigh's Summer School in January 2008. I took a class at Summer School with Karen Cunningham. She called the original quilt, Miss Emma.

As I am making it for my niece Erin I consulted her on colours. She wanted something 'black'.

After the initial burst of enthusiasm that marks the beginning of any new project, I had got this far. It then disappeared into my cupboard, not to see the light of day until 4 weeks ago.

I have done mostly hand stitching for the past 2 years, lots of needleturn applique and hand piecing. It was a nice change to get out the sewing machine to add the final 3 borders.
This little pile was destined to become 24 10inch blocks.

According to "Carrie Hall Blocks" by Bettina Havig, they are called Godey's Lady's Book Block. Such a mouthful! There must be a better name for it!

And here is the finished quilt top. As you can see, it is very black! (And very big, 94 x 94 inches.) These are not my natural choice of colours and therefore it was a bit of a struggle to finish. The Sister's assure me that I will like it more as more time passes.
Because of the darkness of the quilt top, I have made some alterations to Karen's pattern; removing the soft, rounded blocks that are in the original and replacing them with blocks that have more angles. I think I also need to rename the quilt. So, in deference to its original title I am calling it Miss Emma's Husband So much more appropriate don't you think?

Until next time,

Meghan

A big thank-you...

2010-10-28T21:43:00.006+11:00

From left to right, Sue, Julie, Di, Clare, Meghan, Merri
Absent: Ann, Barb, Deb, Kerry and Chris

On behalf of the Sisters I would like to say thank you to everyone who visited Quilts in the Barn and for all the wonderfully kind and overwhelmingly complimentary comments we have received, both on the days of the show and following via this amazing online quilting community.

When we were first invited by Linda to be the featured exhibitors we were very excited and rather flattered to think we were going to have our very own quilt hanging. After the show all I can say is how humbled we have been by your reaction to our quilts.

To my fellow Sisters, a big thank you as well. I began my patchwork and quilting journey in 2004 to try and counterbalance a hectic working life that saw me frequently traveling overseas and sometimes away for extended periods of time. Little did I know that this creative passion would bring in to my life an amazing group of women, all unique, who quickly grew to become friends.

From meeting other quilters and from the many blogs I read, I know my experience is a common one. How lucky we all are!

Until next time....

Meghan

Quilts in the Barn

2010-10-05T15:16:00.005+11:00

Hi everyone,
Sorry for the long delay in posting. The sisters have been working their fingers to the bone, trying to finish quilts for the upcoming Quilts in the Barn exhibit which will be featuring our quilts this year.

If you have been to Quilts in the Barn before, you will know that Linda puts on a fabulous event with beautiful quilts, in a glorious setting. All monies raised are for breast cancer research. If you haven't been before, now is your chance! There will be afternoon tea available, Corliss from Threadbear will have a stall there and Di will have some of her patterns for sale- what more can I say? Oh yes - we have a raffle quilt

beautifully quilted by Helen Hayes. It is called the Sisters Peony quilt - we all love it so much we want to win it ourselves! Again all money raised goes for Breast Cancer research. Raffle tickets will be on sale at the exhibition and some local quilt shops also are selling them.

If you are reading this blog, and you can get to the exhibition, please do say hi to one of the sisters, we'd love to meet you and put a face to the names. Linda has a selection of around 100 quilts to choose from - I think she hangs about 70 depending on size, so we'll wait and see what goes up.

So where and when?

If you click on the poster it should enlarge so you can read the details.

Hope to meet some of you there and raise some money for this worthy cause.

Deb

Edited to add: In my haste to get this post out before something else happens at work - I neglected to say - "and of course say hi to Linda" who so generously hosts this annual event. In the meantime go check out her blog Quilts in the Barn

Rediscovering Mary Brown

2010-08-29T19:06:00.007+10:00

Having finished two quilts in the past month there was a small hiatus in my sewing. That is until I looked deep into my UFOs and pulled Mary Brown out of hibernation. This quilt is a reproduction of a gorgeous pictorial quilt from 1851 made by, who else but Mary Brown. A history of the quilt can be found in 'A Maryland Album', published in 1995.

I finished the top about 2 years ago and started hand quilting it. I had never hand quilted anything before and really struggled with it. I tried almost every possible quilting tool but eventually found not using a hoop was the best for me. I am sure you all agree that how you hand quilt is a very individual thing. Anyway, at the time I ended up getting quite dispirited by how the back of the quilt looked (it reminded me of chicken scratchings in the dirt) and cast Mary Brown aside.

But this is one quilt that deserves to be finished. And a second look at the back made me think it wasn't that awful.

I am echo-quilting the applique and then will do a simple cross hatching to complete the task. So far I have almost managed to finish the echo of the central diamond applique. Not that you can tell from the photo below, the quilting is virtually invisible.

This is obviously going to take a long time and my current enthusiasm for the task will surely wain over the coming months, particularly when summer arrives. But at least I have rediscovered Mary and won't leave her alone and neglected for so long again.

Until next time,

Meghan

PS. The pattern for Mary Brown is available from Patricia Cox.

A little show and tell.

2010-07-25T14:13:00.022+10:00

Last Saturday was the regular gathering of the Sewing Sisters, this time at Sue's. The day got off to a bit of a false start for myself and my fellow travellers. It was my turn to drive and after collecting Ann, Deb and Kerry, I headed off to the Western Highway via every route but the correct one. After a major u-turn we eventually headed off in the right direction. And we arrived on time - a pretty amazing feat given the detours!

And what a sewing day it was! First up we photographed the Morrell Quilts for Deb's blog special. (I wonder what you call such a group of quilts - an association, a gathering, a panoply?) Then followed show and tell. The Sisters have been busy and here are some photos of the finished quilts brought along.

First up is Barb's beautiful version of another of Di's patterns, Antique Wedding Sampler.

Barb's work is so precise - her broderie perse blocks are done by hand with the finest buttonhole stitch you will ever see.
Below are two of my favourite of the pieced blocks in the quilt. The 'fussy-cutting' is a sight to behold.
Julie has finished her Burnt Quilt. Talk about a labour of love - Julie added extra borders to make this quilt fit a king-size bed.
My favourite part of this quilt are these rather quirky broderie perse peacocks.
Di's contribution to show and tell was this new quilt (sorry, I am not sure what name it has been given) that she has designed for a class at The Ballaarat Quilter's Weekend .

The centre of the quilt is a combination of broderie perse and appliqued hexagon flowers. I am rather envious of the folk that managed to get a place in Di's class at the retreat.

Sue has started putting together her Art Deco inspired work - the colours are so rich. And isn't the lady and her dog so reminiscent of the period! Oh and don't worry about the blank spaces - Sue has made life difficult for herself by sewing together some of the finished components, but eventually these blanks will be filled with applique scenes as stunning as the first.

And this is my contribution to the day - an almost finished Turkish Tiles Reinterpreted. Just two sides of the outer chevron border to go.

And back from Helen Hayes, a beautifully quilted Deb's Not Quite Telling the Truth Applique for Beginners. I just love the feathers around the centre. Now for the binding - not my favourite task.
Most if not all of these quilts should be on display in October. For those who have asked, "Quilts in the Barn" will be held on October 15th, 16th & 17th. Opening hours, 10am-4pm. The address is 23 Hartley Road, Wonga Park.

Looking forward to seeing you all there,

Meghan

The Daughters of Sarah Morrell

2010-07-18T19:51:00.010+10:00

Way back when the Saturday chapter of the SSS still met on Saturday mornings at PP, we were thinking about our next project. As we have said before, we originally met to do a class with Di and just decided to stay together. We had completed two projects and then Merri and Di started discussing quilts that thy liked that might be suitable for our next project. Of course it turned out that the quilt they both loved was the same one; the Sarah Morrell quilt. The original quilt was made in Pennsylvania and New Jersey around 1843. It is an album quilt which alternates pieced/applique blocks with broderie perse. Well at first we thought it was a bit daunting - but of course none of us would ever admit to anything being too challenging so we all decided to give it a bash. Here's the original

Some of the blocks are really gorgeous, some of them quite damaged.

Well we launched into the project and Di decided that the centre block needed something a bit more definite, so drafted a new block for the centre. Here is Di's version of the quilt.

Beautiful, yes? I would like to show you some close ups, but this daughter of Sarah is currently sojourning in Amsterdam! The pieced and applique blocks were relatively straightforward to do. Choosing beautiful fabric for each piece helps with the overall look of this quilt.

The next version is Merri's. Merri chose a beautiful pale ice blue background fabric.

The broderie perse blocks challenged our skills as floral arrangers, and our fabric stashes. Most of us didn't have a lot of large scale floral pieces to use.

You will see as we go through, that some fabrics appear in many quilts. Many of our sessions were devoted to sharing our fabrics and arranging these blocks.

Designing vases helped to fill the spaces.

The scale would suggest that these are the biggest flowers you have ever seen - but hey - it's not real life is it? We all love Merri's version. I think this now lives with her mum. I think Merri did her BP by hand - very dedicated.

Next up we have Meghan's quilt.

Meghan's background is a neutral with some strong blues throughout.

She has used some interesting figures in her quilt blocks.

And some bird life.

I'm not sure where Meghan's Morrell resides - and I don't know if it's hand BP'ed. I'm sure the girls will let me know and then I'll edit the post. Here is another way to incorporate a vase.

My quilt is next. Well actually it is still a quilt top - rather than a quilt.

Wow - I like it better in the photo than in the flesh! Here are a couple of close ups of pieced and appliqued blocks.

The background of mine is from the original Charleston collection.

Some bright blue from the first Smithsonian collection - it was one of my favourites. Sorry about the wobbly photos. The quilts are big and I couldn't get far enough away - or get the girls to stand far enough apart to get a straight hang.

Another luminous blue. I hope I have some more.

My BP blocks are machine appliqued. I love my Bernina and have no patience to do it by hand.

Each of these flowers is a separate bloom but look they are painted on.

The possibilities are endless if you can find the right fabrics.

My Morrell currently resides in a cupboard in my study. It will see the light of day one day.

Here is Sue's. It is a similar colour scheme to Meghan's.

Sue's quilt lives on her bed - that's a strange place for quilt Sue! Here is a beautiful red block.

And a couple of her BP blocks. Again not sure but I think Sue did hers by hand too.

I love these blue flowers

And another appliqued block.

Kerri's Morrell is still a work in progress. Here are some of her blocks.

I love the one embroidered with her initials. There are plenty of places in the quilt where embroidery can be added. Pulling out these blocks has spurred Kerry on to finish a few more blocks. So when she' s done I'm sure she will show you.

Here is a close up of the centre.

Now last but definitely not least is Ann's Morrell. As you can see this is very different. Ann made this quilt for her daughter and she asked for a yellow and blue quilt. It is not Ann's colour scheme of choice, and of course this palette limited the fabrics Ann could use. She's done a fabulous job in spite of the difficulties. Have a look.

Isn't it stunning?

Qhite different isn't it?

Don't you love the teapots?

Very French provincial colours.

Well I hope you like the variations. I think some of these will be at Quilts in the Barn for closer inspection.

The pattern for this quilt is now available at Threadbears, and for European readers, at Petra Prins Patchwork and Quilting. I hope these pictures give you some inspiration and ideas to design your own version of Sarah Morrell.

Cheers

Deb

Art Deco Inspiration

2010-06-29T20:05:00.006+10:00

At our last Saturday meeting at Julie's place there was quite a sense of industry happening. What happens when we all get together is that we pass on advice about new books, products and of course, fabrics. Someone often has a bright idea about a new pattern we might all launch into ( as if we need any more UFOs). It is such a great source of inspiration for us all.

On of our "less published sisters", Sue, is a great creative thinker. She is often working on things a little out of our "thinking square". At Julie's, we were lucky enough to see the evolution of her latest project. I don't think it has a name yet but it is inspired by the Art Deco period. Luckily, another of our dear sisters, Barb , is a member of the Art Deco society ( is that the correct title Barb?) and she has been able to help with books and papers for ideas and inpiration.

Sue has chosen a lovely colour palette of deep maroon reds, burgundy, blacks and some softer pale creams and apricots for the backgrounds. Di is always on hand to lend wise guidance about placement and the overall cohesion of the pattern. It is so unusual to see a pattern 'evolve' like this. It is a great credit to Sue's ability to see the ideas in her head then get them onto the fabric.

Of course, the rest of us just chime in with ideas and advice of a more general nature. We can all be depended upon to have an opinion to share.
Oh, and did I say that she is making it to give as a wedding gift. How generous is that?

This time I did not take the photos - left that to Sue so will incude them to share with you all.

Also in the photos you will see Julie's version of the Burnt Quilt(on the left). It is a treasure in the making. Her colours a so controlled and cohesive, tieing the various frames or borders together to frame each section. I wish I had her control! You can see the difference when side by side. By the way, Di was working on her new centre for the BQ. and it is to die for!!!! ( pardon the pun). Perhaps she will share it soon.

By the way, did you all see Deb's vibrant Not Quite telling the Truth quilt ? It is "WOW". Check it out on her blog.
Enough from me now
As always, happy sewing
Merri

PS. someone asked about the quilt on our banner - it is after Frederica Josephson (out of A. Gero's book, The Fabric of Society) made by us all with great love for Di.

A sneak peak....

2010-06-20T18:09:00.009+10:00

The Sisters are getting a little excited (and a little anxious) about our invitation by Linda from Quilts in the Barn to be the featured quilters at her annual quilt hanging. Excited because we get the opportunity to share our quilts with lots of folk and anxious because well, let's face it, we just hope that all who attend like what they see.

To add to the sense of excitement, those of us who could, gathered at Merri's recently for a 'photo shoot' as Linda needed some photos to send to Australian Country Crafts (I think) for some pre show publicity. Now doesn't that sound important! Not really, it was very much a family affair with Di's daughter Nicci (a professional photographer) pointing the lens at us and our quilts. We were very grateful for the help of our honorary Sisters, Pat and Brian, who came in quite useful (and earned their keep - a slice of cake baked by Di) by holding up the quilts so that Nicci could take the photos.

That's Pat on the left and Brian on the right holding up one of Barb's quilts.

The photo above shows Merri and Deb with Merri's "Deb's Not Quite Telling the Truth, Easy Applique Quilt"

The quilt below is Ann's work. This photo really does not do the quilt justice. In real life it is a stunning combination of red, black and tea-dyed fabrics (for some unknown reason we all find it hard to use white in our quilts and often resort to tea).

At the moment October seems a long way off but I am sure it will be upon us before we can say "Jack Robinson". In the meantime, we are all working hard on getting one or two of the UFOs finished to add to the choice of quilts to hang. And we are all very grateful for the wonderful Helen Hayes who is working tirelessly on her long arm quilter to help us meet the deadline. Helen does beautiful quilting and always comes up trumps with gorgeous designs to complement our work.

Helen has just returned to us the raffle quilt for Quilts in the Barn that we have made. I hope you like it. We have called it The Sister's Peony Bouquet. It is a reproduction (what else) and while we all contributed blocks it was Di who put it all together and made the flying geese border.

I am not sure when tickets will be available but when they do please buy up big as all proceeds will go to Breast Cancer Research.

Looking forward to meeting those of our blogging friends who can make it to Quilts in the Barn later this year,

Meghan.

A long time between visits...........

2010-06-09T10:49:00.006+10:00

It has been some time since my last foray into blogland but have been stitching away like mad to get some UFO's finished for, you guessed it, Quilts in the Barn( QIB). The raffle quilt for QIB
has gone to Helen Hayes for quilting so will be wonderful I am sure. ( see Di's previous entry)

Last Thursday we car-pooled for the foggy journey to Sue's at Daylesford. Sue, as usual did not disappoint with her wonderful parsnip, celery & fennel soup and wonderful honey, date & ginger cake. I think we kept her so busy feeding us she did not sew a stitch! I made the soup this week and it was a big hit with the family, thanks Sue.

All of us sisters have been diligently sewing - Julie is surging ahead with her broderie perse blocks for the Burnt quilt, as am I. Barb has wrestled with, and got control of, that central border of triangles and is on her way. She had her beautiful version of Wedding Sampler to show us and it is ready for quilting now. Another one for Helen I think.

Di unveiled a new addition to the Burnt Quilt pattern for those who can't find a central panel or just love applique. We have all come to expect Di's applique to be beautiful and this one did not disappoint. I will leave it to her to share more later.

Clare was stitching bindings on three of her wonderful quilts (Jane Austen, Avignon & ????), having just returned from Katrina Wilson who did a wonderful job ( as usual ) quilting all three. She is a great quilter who has a real talent for it! Clare was suffering a little from sore hands - I think we all know that feeling after sewing the binding on large, heavy quilts. Surely this is not age????? Is it? Katrina also has my wedding rings so her quilting machine must be busy.

Ann was knitting her lucky grandson a lovely blue scarf and was on a deadline so she "click-clacked" all the way there and back. Kerry was working on a UFO - was it Flower Baskets or Mary Brown? Chris has just had eye surgery but was with as again and sewing but not sure what it was.

I have just put all my Burnt quilt pieces on the floor to check colour, placement, balance etc. I have a few snaps to show you but still haven't go a camera of great quality but you will get the idea. I have about six broderie perse/applique blocks to complete and still the half lozenges around the half star border. Nearly there though.
Good sewing everyone
Merri

Last but not least....

2010-06-02T17:56:00.007+10:00

My holiday is becoming a rapidly fading memory as work and life in general take over again. (I cannot believe it is nearly 4 weeks since I left Paris and began the journey home. ) So what have I got (photos aside) that helps keep the delight and enjoyment experienced while travelling alive?

For those that have been reading my earlier posts, you will note a distinct lack of information on purchases of the fabric variety. Well all I can say is that I have been saving the best to last! The Sisters have long been aware of the beautiful reproduction Dutch Chintzes from Den Haan & Wagenmakers. In fact Di has designed the Burnt Quilt around a tree of life panel from D H & W that we purchased from Threadbear. And, over the past few months, Di has developed a business relationship and friendship with Petra Prins, who in partnership with Nel Kooiman, owns D H & W.

So one of the first things I did when I arrived at Pour l'Amour du Fil in Nantes was to find Petra's stand and introduce myself to her. Petra is one of life's beautiful people - she exudes warmth and laughter and was so welcoming. I was delighted to meet her in Nantes. And completely fell in love with those wonderful chintzes! I determined then and there that my lasting memory of the holiday would be a purchase of said fabrics to make a quilt using ideas sparked while drooling over the exhibition at the V&A.

We were to meet Petra again in Veldhoven where Bev, Irene and I were welcomed like long lost friends. In between we also visited the D H & W shop in Amsterdam where Annelies was equally welcoming. And this is where I let the moths out of the wallet.

First purchase was this stunning border print.
Then came a beautifully presented box of strips of over 60 fabrics from the D H & W chintzes.
Don't you just love the pin cushion at the heart of the box. And finally a wonderful selection of the solids to complement all these gorgeous florals.
The photos really don't do the fabric justice as the colours are rich and saturated and, being chintz, all have got that wonderful polished finish. By our local standards, the fabrics are expensive although they are 60 inches wide. But really,when you see something so beautiful, and can turn memories into something to love and use for the rest of your life, who cares!

So for anyone travelling to Europe, and Amsterdam in particular, please, please visit D H & W. Or if you find yourself in Zutphen drop in at Petra Prins Patchwork and Quilting. You will not be disappointed.

Until next time,

Meghan

Open European Quilt Championships (OEQC)

2010-05-28T17:04:00.021+10:00

It is almost the end of our holiday and Bev, Irene and I find ourselves in Amsterdam and scheduled to attend the OEQC on Friday April 30th in nearby Veldhoven. As we approached the venue for the OEQC all 3 of us were a little concerned about how we could possibly spend a full day at the show. From the outside the hotel and conference centre complex looked small and had few signs of activity. Imagine our surprise when, after entering at the main hotel reception, and walking what seemed to be 'miles' of corridors, we found ourselves in a series of alcoves and halls that housed displays of over 300 quilts, multiple workshops and nearly 50 stalls. Attendance was high and over the next 7 hours we spoke to quilters who had travelled from far and wide.

The show was divided into 3 sections: special guest quilters, quilts from 14 different countries who are members of the European Quilter's Associations and finally the competition quilts.

Of the guests, the quilts of Penelope Roger, were the ones that captured my imagination the most. Penelope uses a technique she calls Traboutis, a combination of Boutis and Trapunto to produce beautifully textured quilts. Initially I thought that she used a sewing machine but the quilts are all hand stitched using a tiny backstitch. The Alphabet quilt on the left is about 110cm x 50cm. And just look at the exquisite detail of her work in the turned back corner. Here are a few more pictures of her work - some close-ups from a stunning double wedding-ring quilt

There were many beautiful quilts on display from the various EQAs. While I am not a fan of blue and white, this quilt from Hungary is rather stunning. Apparently the quilt is reflective of Hungarian folk tradition, both in its colour and design.

Once again the workmanship was exquisite as you can see from the close-up photo I took of one of the other quilts from Hungary.

Now to the quilts entered into competition. I took lots of photos but am only going to post a selection from the prize winners that hints at the variety of style among the quilts. The theme of the competition was Rhythm, and each quilt entered had to reflect this.

Best In Show: Nautilus by Hilde van Schaardenburg from the Netherlands
Machine pieced and quilted, size 110cm x 110cm from cottons and silks
Judge's Choice: "Leven op het ritme van de bloemetjes en de bijtjes" (I am not sure of my translation but I think this roughly means 'the story of the birds and the bees')

Ann Pletinckx from Belgium, Machine pieced and quilted in cottons and silks. Size is 120cm x 98cm.

First Prize: Advanced, Malague by Grace Meijer from the UK. Machine pieced, appliqued and quilted. Size 80cm x 73cm.

And finally, 2nd Prize: Advanced. Perpetuo Mobile by Rachel
Covo from Israel. Machine pieced and quilted. Size 101cm x 148cm

So there it is, the final post on the quilt events Bev, Irene and I attended on our travels. But not the final post about the trip. Coming up next, Petra Prins and those wonderful reproduction chintzes from Den Haan & Wagenmakers.

Until next time,
Meghan

Pour l'Amour du Fil

2010-05-22T13:57:00.013+10:00

I had fully intended to write this post last weekend but as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men do often go astray.

After leaving London, Bev, Irene and I headed to France and our first stop in Nantes where we were looking forward to attending Pour l'Amour du Fil. This exhibition is a relative newcomer with this being just the second year it has been held. It covers all things textiles but with a focus on patchwork, embroidery and knitting. Pour l'Amour du Fil is also a little different in that it does not have an associated competition. The quilts and crafts on show are from invited guests. In 2010 these included Sue Spargo, Sarah Fielke and Reiko Kato from the patchwork and quilting world and Françoise Marchadier, Sue Hawkins, Cécile Franconie, Yves Loyer, Christine Demenais and the Association "Broder la Soie" represented the embroiders.

Immediately on entering the main hall your vision was drawn to this absolutely huge quilt that hung over the whole exhibition. I must apologise for not having any information on the quilt. Despite looking I could not find any write-up on it but can only assume it is the work of a group. My best guess on size would be 3m x 5m. Each square is unique and most are appliqued with the setting being pieced.

The fair was very busy and the many booths well patronised.
What did impress me about Pour l'Amour du Fil was how the invited guest's quilts and crafts were displayed. Each exhibition space was dressed as if a room in a house with quilts and embroideries placed around the room.

Unfortunately quite a few of the workshops were cancelled due to the artists, including Sarah Fielke, not being able to travel because of the shut down of air travel in Europe. Drat that volcano! However we did spend time talking with Sue Spargo. She is just delightful and had brought many of her beautiful folk art quilts with her. One trend I noticed walking around the Fair was the amount of wools being used in quilts, something that Sue has really pioneered over the past few years.
In direct contrast to Sue's colourful quilts was the more restrained style of Reiko Kato. Her use of taupes is so typical of many Japanese quilters.
Other than the quilts, what else took my eye? Firstly were the linens available, both for quilters and embroiders. I purchased two pieces of the same print (different colours) from Au Lin d'ACB
www.lin-acb.com and have a great pattern for a bag which I think I will use them in.
There were also gorgeous embroideries and tapestries with lots of kits to buy. I was very restrained and did not buy (apart from a very small kit for a pin cushion). If you are interested in tapestry take a look at www.plaisirs-tapisserie.fr They have wonderful designs and will also create an original for you if you provide the brief.

And last, but by no means least, were the stunning reproduction dutch chintzs from Den Haan & Wagenmakers on Petra Prims' booth. But more about these in my next post!

Au revoir, mon amis
Meghan

Pussy cat, pussy cat where have you been?

2010-05-13T20:13:00.008+10:00

I have been to London to visit...the V&A Quilts 1700-2010. And to Nantes for Pour l'Amour du Fil and to Veldhoven for the Open European Quilt Championships. Oh it was wonderful! A feast for the eyes and lots of stunning quilts.

Before starting to describe my adventures and the wonders I saw in the V&A I would like to say to my 'almost' fellow travellers from the Quilts Down Under's "Quilts & Flowers" Tour - I am so sad that you missed out on a truly delightful trip. Of the 16 booked for the holiday, 13 were stranded in Australia due to a little volcano in Iceland that decided to erupt and fill the northern hemisphere with volcanic ash that subsequently shut down air traffic. However there were 3 lucky souls (Bev, Irene and myself) who had travelled to London in advance for personal reasons and so the tour was on! All 3 of us became Tour Director as well as Tourist. The next 14 days were to prove to be full of fun and challenges as we arranged and booked alternative transportation to France and connected with our guides and drivers at the various locations on the trip.

I am going to divide the trip into 3 separate posts, the first stop the V&A.

The V&A exhibition was everything I expected and more. Beautiful quilts, and related items such as needle cases, pin cushions and installations that included audio extracts from recorded oral histories of women employed to make quilts by the Women's Institution and Rural Industries Board in the early 20th century.

Sadly, there are no photos to post as photography was not permitted. However I am sure many of you have read Janet's many posts at http://aquiltersjournal.blogspot.com/ where she was one of the very lucky ones to attend the press preview and allowed to take photos. I also thoroughly recommend the book that accompanied the exhibition - Quilts 1700-2010: Hidden Histories, Untold Stories. My personal favourite of all of the wonderful exhibits, the 17th century bed hangings made from chintzs and ribbon in an all-over clam shell design. I spent ages looking at each shell, the fabrics used and the quality of the workmanship. The fabrics are still as bright today as when first sewn together; the ribbon used to divide the clam shells into sections retains its vibrant poison green. Just stunning!

The V&A, as ever when holding special exhibitions, produced a raft of products (this time with a quilting theme) for sale in the museum shop. These included a series of limited edition fabrics. Sadly there was not enough room in my suitcase for all of them so I limited my purchase to just a few. Aren't they rather lovely?

After London, it was off to France via the Eurostar to Paris and then a local train to Nantes. Nantes was the location of Pour l'Amour du Fil, an exhibition organised by the Sisterhood's favourite magazine, Quiltmania.

Just a little to tease you about what we saw, a photo of Di's Morrell Quilt on its European holiday. As you can see it was not really a holiday for the quilt, lots of hard work hanging up there for all to see.

Until next time,

Meghan

A border for Phebe

2010-05-01T17:09:00.005+10:00

Just a quick note to show you my first Phebe border.

It's coming along on schedule - I'm trying to get it ready for our show in October.

You may have noticed that I am starting to add some links on the sidebar. I'm trying to include blogs of people who are working on Phebe so that you can go and check out some alternative versions. If you are working on Phebe and would like to have your blog mentioned, leave me a comment and I can add a link.

I have some photos from the quilt show (AQC) that I will put on me website tomorrow.

Have a lovely weekend

Deb

2010-04-14T08:11:00.009+10:00

A Spendathon Road Trip.

On a crisp and sunny autumnal Saturday morning in mid April, nine of the the Sewing Sisters met bright and early, well, eight were bright and early- there was one straggler... for a trip up the Calder Highway to Castlemaine (Meghan was in the UK visiting the V & A quilt exhibition).

Our first stop was at the Malmsbury bakery, full of delicious goodies to eat, where we met up with our country sister, Sue. Of course we had to restore ourselves; we had been chatting for an hour or so and it was taking it's toll, so coffee & tea, cakes, tarts and slices were devoured in between more laughs and storytelling.

Why Castlemaine? Well, remember that we are all patchworkers, and by definition, we all have this uncontrollable urge / need to replenish our fabric stashes whether they are dwindling or not. Castlemaine is where Corliss and Kurt of "Threadbear" call home, and this way we get to visit with great friends and fulfil that fabric addiction in one trip.

A hive of activity ensued once we arrived, fabric was all over the place, many "oohs" and "ahhs", lots of "I'll have some of that, please, if you're not taking it all", I even heard a "Di, can you help me ????". I really do pity anyone else who decides to shop at "Threadbear" on the days when we are there en masse. I don't think anyone left with out a purchase, some even went back for seconds!!!

What did we do next? Eat, of course!! We bundled our cherished pieces into the car and headed off to "The Bold Garden", where we had a delicious meal, and lots of chatter.

Time to go, so after cheery goodbyes and "keep stitching"s it was back on the road for another session of solving the world's problems.

A great day out; I was glad to arrive home safe and sound, and happy to have spent a day out with the Sisters.

Although I've been patchworking since 1987, I don't usually get to escape on Saturdays to spend time with the Sisters, as I have 2 boys who play lots of sport and need their mum to drive them from one venue to another (besides, I like to watch them play basketball; they'll be grown before I can blink, and they won't need me so much then). This weekend, however, I left my husband in control and disappeared into the wild.

As you are all probably aware, the Sisterhood is exhibiting at "Quilts in the Barn" later in the year, and I, like all the others, am trying to complete one more quilt. My current project is a quilt "Home Sweet Home" by Barb Adams & Alma Allen. I've now got all the nine house blocks completed and 2 of the swag borders, so with a bit more work, it'll be ready to send off to be machine quilted.

Here are the first 6 houses. It's taken quite a while, I keep getting distracted with new projects, but I'm back on track again, and it'll be quilted and ready in time for the exhibition.

Writing on this blog, my very first attempt, has been fun, but if I'm to get this quilt finished, I'd better go and get some stitching done, till next time...

The Morrell's European Holiday and tomorrow is Thursday Secret Sewing.

2010-03-31T21:11:00.012+11:00

On Monday I felt like a Mum sending her beloved child off to camp ! I have lent the Morrell Quilt to Petra from Petra's Patchwork and Quilting in Zutphen and Den Haan and Wagenmakers in Amsterdam. I feel like I have known Petra forever so know the quilt is in excellent hands. She is displaying it on her stand at the Pour L'Amour du Fil Quilt Show in Nantes in France and The Open European Championships in Veldhoven. It will be back home again for Quilts in the Barn later this year.

Tomorrow is Thursday Secret Sewing and we are heading down to Clare's holiday house at Barwon Heads. This passion takes us far and wide !! We don't mind what distance we have to travel for a day together. I've just been baking some chocolate cakes to take but was also trying to organise a new baby quilt for Maggie to start tomorrow...... got a tad carried away and from my sewing room could smell burning chocolate in the kichen. The thermostat on the stove must of had a hissy-fit and low heat became full on. The smell filled the house...absolutely foul. Our food addicted Springer Spaniel, Flic, got all excited thinking the mess would go to her instead of the bin ! The look on her face when I told her she couldn't have chocolate was very sad. Fortunately, due to my chocolate addiction I had another block of choccy and could start all over again. This time staying in the kitchen ( but I did move the fabric I was playing with into the kitchen with me !)

Maggie's quilt was going to be very simple....or so I originally planned. I have so many UFO's ( see one of Merri's earlier blogs re the no. of these we each had ) to finish as well as 2 Significant Pieces of Work... SPOWS....for Quilts in the Barn ,another time consuming project seemed out of the question and I also thought 5 week old Maggie would like it before her 21st birthday!

I was teaching up at Threadbear on Sunday and bought some gorgeous "pretty" little girl fabrics from a 30's Collection by Lecien (2nd photo) then added a few from the stash ( I must confess I did lightly tea dye the new ones... they were a little fresh for me. (1st photo) I now can't decide whether to do a minature Granny's Flower Garden or a mini version of the quilt I'm doing for Ballarat. (last blog ) I think this might be a decision for the sisters tomorrow.I'll keep you posted.

Getting back to our UFO's , after I read Merri's blog re the same, I went searching to see what I could finish for the show. The no. was a bit staggering and it was kind of like Christmas finding all this old stuff!! ( I used to be well known for not finishing...LOVED starting ) I did find my daughter Nicci's unfinished 21st Birthday Quilt.... she is Jake and Maggie's Mum and is now 37!! Sorry Nic. But it's now on the list. Most of the fabrics look like I made it yesterday, I'm just going to change the set in triangles.Machine piecing will be a welcome change from all the applique of late.The Aussie girls reading this may recognise John Farnham's signature in the top block!!!! After my gorgeous Brian, no.1 son and grandson and no.1 dog ,John is my very favourite male person and of course the best performer in the whole world !!

My next UFO to get stuck into will be my Baltimore... more on that next time.

Di.

PS I will master the photo positions 1 day!!

Edited by Deb for photo placement - I hope I put them in the right place Di!

The "Secret Sewing Saturday" March edition!

2010-03-31T12:49:00.007+11:00

On Saturday 20th. March, 2010 several suspects carrying rather large bags and sewing paraphenalia began arriving at ther designated address.
The following is just one account of how the actual event unfolded and names may have been changed to protect the innocent!
Well, maybe not so innocent!! Especially when it comes to the patchwork and quilting we al love.
Or, should I say share with a passion! I just love those Saturdays when we all meet and share our lives, our quilts and our ideas!
This time it was my place and the time just flew by!

We may have even got some sewing done! in between the show and tell and the eating bit!
Speaking of "show and tell" bit here is Ann (top) with another masterpiece nearly complete!
Deb (on the left) showing her work in blue, white and yellow!
Merri also had a beautiful piece to show....originally inspired by Kim McLean's "Turkish Tiles" but radically different and unique! Merri? Does your quilt have a name as yet?
Have you noticed something about this group? We seem to all make rather "big" quilts!
That's it for this post..but stand by for some really exciting news about a rather stunning quilt that some-one out there may get to keep!
Cheers!

2nd Edition 21st March...I pushed the wrong button and published the first bit too early !!

2010-03-21T21:53:00.006+11:00

I am very computer illiterate,therefore it is mildly amazing I have acheived what I have so far. I have just learnt what button not to push at a certain time but still not how to get the photos in the right position. DEB....HELLLP!

The top ph
o

The top photo is the raffle quilt for Quilts in the Barn that we are all working on. It is a repro of the quilt on page 75 of Quilts of the Oregon Trail.Yesterday was Secret Sewing Saturday so we layed all the blocks out to work out their order,then we'll stitch it together and turn it over to Helen Hayes to weave her majic with the quilting.

the next photo is one of the new quilts I'm working on .I've designed it for a class I'm teaching at the Ballarat Quilting Weekend in August this year. It has a Broderie Perse and Hexagon centre with small diamonds making up the bulk of the quilt then more borders to finish.I'm hoping for an English Frame Look.

I'm now starting to ramble a little so will save the next bit of news till next week (yes, I do mean next week !)

Happy Piecing

Di.

21st March 2010 Finally !! My 2nd Blog.

2010-03-21T21:14:00.004+11:00

Having told myself I would update weekly ( I figured this meant that no matter what ,I would stitch like crazy each day ,no matter how bad the house or the garden looked!! ) 2 months have flown by. But I do have a really good excuse......I've been very busy becoming a Nana for the 2nd time. Maggie Grace was born 3and a half weeks early on the 22nd Feb.We were lucky Mum and Bub very healthy. Maggie is tiny and just back to birth weight this week.Sooooo cute. Oh I can feel another Quilt coming on!!! Almost 11 year old Jake is very proud of his baby sister. Life is great and now (hopefully) back to what we call normal.

We had our Secret Sewing Thursday on the 4th March at Barb's .Barb's show and tell was her Antique Wedding Sampler (AWS).The only words to describe it are stunningly spectacular.It is a series of pieced& appliqued blocks with lots of Broderie Perse. Barb's Broderie Perse has to be seen to be believed. She even changed the colour of the thread every time there was a change in the fabric shades. Just beautiful.We are all gobsmacked!! Hopefully it will be finished in time for the Quilts in the Barn at Wonga Park mid October this year ( those who read Deb's blog Needles, Sticks and Hooks will know how excited we were to be the exhibitors at the next show ) Photo shows our very proud Barb with Merri taking in the quilt.

A cacophony of sound & riot of colour

2010-03-06T09:08:00.005+11:00

You can all see that we are not great at blogging updates but I think that's because we are all so busy sewing.

Many of us met on Thursday at Barb's ( who cooked us beautiful lemon cake and spinach quiche). Ann was well into her DNQTT and it is looking splendid with its paisley greens, pinks and other "murky" ( I mean this in a kind & loving way) tones. Chris was working on her piecing, I think for Mrs William ( but I might be wrong about this). Kerry had her C19th Flower Baskets, Barb was onto the Burnt Quilt (yeah, another one of us), Clare has returned to Primarily Patchwork's Border of the Month quilt so was sewing green leaves, Julie was doing large stars for the outside border of the Burnt Quilt. Di had her beautiful applique for the Poppy's quilt, (a Primarily Patchwork pattern) and I was doing more wedding rings.

Of course, when we meet there is an initial cacophony of sound as we all share our glad tidings & catch up on each other's news. Our meetings have taken on some sort of lovely ritual now , so there is the greeting phase, followed by the "show & tell" phase, then the sewing phase, the eating phase & perhaps sewing again until home time. Not that any of us gals are easily contained by routine! There is lots of "colour & movement" when we get together. Chatting, sharing fabrics, swapping ideas and patterns It is such fun!

This week, Barb had her Antique Wedding Sampler ( a beautiful pattern from Di Ford's Primarily Patchwork) all ready for us to look at and help her in the placement of the squares. Of course Di has a great eye for this, so by the time we left Barb had it ready to do the sashings.
Di took photographs & will update you soon with pictures.

I had my newly returned Turkish Tiles back form the quilter for my show & tell. Katrina Wilson did the quilting & I was sooooooo happy with the look she achieved. She is a very talented quilter. Now for the binding - once again my "sisters" had some advice for me about colours for this job.

More from us soon.
Happy stitching
Merri

It has been a long time..

2010-02-21T13:43:00.003+11:00

..between posts! And all because there has been 5 weeks, not the usual 4 between our Saturday Sewing dates. So imagine what it was like as the girls gathered after such a long break. Lots and lots of chatter catching up on who's been doing what over the past month. There were also 2 birthdays, Deb and Sue's, to celebrate. Our hostess with the mostess, Ann, baked a beautiful, multi-layered birthday cake. I won't tell you how many candles, let's just say that the combined flames burned brightly! Our rendition of happy birthday may have been slightly off key but was sung from the heart.

Julie, Merri and Di were all working on the Burnt Quilt. Julie has taken on an enormous task with her quilt as she is adding an extra row of blocks to bring her quilt up to king-size. If anything is going to tempt me to add to my UFOs it will be the Burnt Quilt. I am just starting to hear its siren call in the dark recesses of my brain. Any suggestions on how to resist the temptation?

Ann was working on DNQTTT and Kerry on 'Mary Brown'. Barb was unhappy with one of the blocks she had made for Antique Wedding Sampler so was busy pulling it apart and adding new boderie perse to it. Deb brought along Phebe as did I. Sue is working on a quilt of her own design which is destined to be a wedding present to a lucky niece. It is art deco in style and will be gorgeous when finished.

And finally a photo to show the progress I am making with Phebe. I have finished the centre medallion and started working on the 2nd border.

My courting couple are yet to get features on their faces. I am not the most competent of artists and worry that I will make a mistake that cannot be undone.

Until next time,

Meghan

PS. I promise to take a camera to the next sewing day and take a few photos of the girls at work!

How time flies!

2010-01-31T14:46:00.010+11:00

Here we are already at the end of January and I doubt if any of us have had time to draw a line under 2009 yet, let alone get ourselves organised for another year. The weather however, has been relatively kind and conducive to sewing, today excepted!

Over the past two weeks I have been working on the centre medallion of Phebe. It is a little lopsided but I am getting there. See what I mean?

I have also been hand piecing a few more octagons for a quilt that was inspired by Kim McLean's Turkish Tiles.

I wasn't sure that I liked the centre of the quilt so designed an alternative for the girls to sew using a pair of plates purchased while on holiday in Turkey and some photos from a book as my inspiration.

From here, the pattern was supposed to revert back and follow similar lines to that of the Kim McLean original. Having just finished the Morrell Quilt I wasn't ready to do more sampler blocks so decided to complete the quilt with a large border of pieced octagons.

In total there will be 736 of them (not that I am counting). And I will end up with a quilt that is completely different to the one we all planned to do.

Merri has completed her version of Turkish Tiles and it is another gorgeous quilt. I think it is just waiting to be sent to the quilter. Hopefully she will post a photo for you all to see.

Enjoy sewing on Thursday girls, wish I could be there

Until next time,

Meghan

My version of Phebe

2010-01-26T15:32:00.006+11:00

Well to tell you the truth - the thought of making this quilt was a little daunting. After all - I did see Di working on this quilt......her amazing eye for controlled cutting not to mention her enviable fabric stash were given a pretty thorough workout. In my opinion - whatever that's worth, Phebe is Di's masterpiece to date. If you haven't seen a photo of the completed quilt, have a look here. I hope my version will do hers justice. I'm going to replicate the fabric choice where I can just to keep me on track. I try every now and then to go for "subdued" but my natural tendency is for a lot of colour, so I have to keep dragging myself back.

Here it is so far.

A couple of people have already asked about the backing fabric

Wasn't sure about it at first, but I think it's working for me. It is a Windham fabric called Valley Forge. I love their fabrics, what a great addition to the market they have been. This one is adding a lot of texture and dimension to the background which I just love.

Next I added some greens

nice lime ones - my favourite. Two are from the Tanyard creek range, the one with the red dot is from Miss Jump's scrapbag, one is very old, and the second from the top (like a stipple pattern) is gorgeous, but I don't know the name. If you do - please let me know because I think I could buy a bolt.

When I have a quilt at this stage I always think about skeletons, do you? The stems are like the bones that you can hang things on. As you can see - I don't mark my fabric - except for a line where the stems should go. I use an overlay and slip the pieces underneath. How do you prepare your fabrics for applique? I don't wash anything either - yep, I like to live on the edge!

So now I'm waiting for some fabrics to arrive - never seem to have just the one I want, at least that's my excuse for buying some more gorgeous pieces of repro fabrics.

I hope you are enjoying seeing some of these gorgeous things by my quilt buds. Believe me - this is just the tip of the iceburg.

Happy stitching,

Deb

The U.F.O Challenge

2010-01-20T20:19:00.004+11:00

My daily exercise routine consists of an hour long walk along the Scotchman's Creek path, sometimes with my friend Nola ( a fantastic bespoke tailor), sometimes with my dearly beloved partner but often I ramble alone. The reason I am telling you this is because the quiet walk is a fantastic opportunity to draw breath and ponder the wonders of the world. Often it is the quiet time I relish to think of what colours will go with what and how I will approach which quilt pattern next. ( some might say I don't have enough to worry about).

This week my thoughts have been of the U.F.O.s that are inhabiting my cupboards and which of them most deserves my undivided attention. Some have not escaped for quite a long, long time. As a result I have "liberated" my Wedding rings quilt which has been languishing in the dark recesses of the cupboard. I just can't bring myself to get it done! I have decided to do another row of rings to make it bigger - it's single bed size just looks too small to me! I was going to do a solid, straight edged border but now think the scallop edge will look more appropriate.

Of course, this got me thinking .............if I have a "few"UFOs, how many would my dearest friends in the Sisterhood have? So here is the challenge. How many would each of us have tucked away in our quilting cabinets? It is possibly just too scary to answer but I thought it seemed like a fun challenge. And of course there are no prizes for the winner with the most ( or least). Not sure if you can measure our enthusiasm for starting new projects in win/loss terms.

The reason for such a challenge is that many of us are attempting to finish projects for the Quilts in the Barn which is later this year. More information on this will follow but, in the meantime, there is a lot to go on with.

Oh, and speaking of projects, I have included a progress photo of my work this far on the Burnt quilt.

Look forward to your tally
Merri

Ps. I haven't quite mastered the art of photo shopping will keep trying!

Who remembers...

2010-01-17T17:35:00.006+11:00

...the original Mickey Mouse Club? Before Britney (Spears) and Justin (Timberlake)? When our heroes were Annette, Darlene, Bobby and Cubby? Each day had a theme and Tuesdays were always special guest day. The Mouseketeeers would sing "so roll out the carpet and sweep the place clean" as they prepared for their visitor(s).

So where is this leading to? And what has it got to do with quilting?

As you will have read from Di's post, yesterday was the second sewing day of the month for the Sisterhood and I was host. So in between working, I was busy with preparations. I may not have rolled out the carpet, but I did bake a cake and I swept the place clean! And surprisingly the mood of industriousness carried into the sewing group. All of the girls had busy fingers and we manage to complete a considerable amount of stitching - or in Merri's case, a lot of cutting out of little triangles for the Burnt Quilt.

Julie was also working on her version of the Burnt Quilt. It is really quite lovely.....I am sure you will agree.

I continue to work on Phebe and am making steady progress on the centre applique medallion. Some of the pieces are so tiny to sew, particularly the sheep's legs. (What were you thinking when you designed this one Di?)

For those who are also making Phebe, Di and I had a little chat about the sheep's ears. I noticed that while Di has marked them on the pattern they are conspicuous by their absence in her finished quilt. It would seem that as she was making Phebe, Di went for a little drive to check out the Black Suffolk sheep in her area and decided that you cannot really see the ears. She promptly decided to leave them out of her quilt. A VERY wise move when you consider the size of the pieces!

So with the weekend drawing to a close, it is time to say goodbye in true Mouseketeer fashion...
MIC, c you real soon, KEY, y? because we like you ,

Meghan

Another Fabulous Secret Sewing Sisterhood Saturday

2010-01-16T16:40:00.005+11:00

This is my very first blogging experience, so, please girls be kind! Today the Secret Sewing Sisterhood met at Meghan's for another fabulous day of companionship and stitching. Great food and a surprising amount of stitching done today but best of all, great company.

I count myself so lucky to be a member of such a wonderful group of friends.

I backed up the car this morning and headed for the "burbs". We live on 12 acres in the Upper Yarra Valley in Victoria about 65 km east of Melbourne. Brian and I share the property with our two precious Springer spaniels, Flic and Fletch and 4 very spoilt horses, Isley[pronounced Eye-lee], Robbie, Chelsea and Heidi. The photo at top is of our Illawarra Flame Tree, which looks spectacular in the backyard at the moment . The other photo is of Isley wearing a little "Jane Austen"number!! Don't mind leaving paradise for one of our sewing days.

Now for the "quilty " bits . I was the incredibly lucky recipient of the quilt at the top of the Secret Sewing Sisterhood Page. There were lots of tears that day. What a group. And I had absolutely no idea. I have included a photo of the quilt in it's temporary home hanging behind our bed. It will be hung in our Living Room when it is repainted, can't hang that quilt in a tacky room! [The photo was meant to slot in here.....but as you see it's up the top. I will get the hang of this...one day.]

Now time to get back to stitching. Two new quilts started..one for a class I'm teaching in Ballarat in August and the "Burnt Quilt" that Merri spoke about. Will post pics as I progress.

Di.

Secret Sewing Stuff!

2010-01-10T22:40:00.009+11:00

Greetings to everyone.......like most in The Secret Sewing Sisterhood...I am new to this side of the "Blogging" game, but could be a very quick learner as I do love browsing those wonderful quilting and patchwork blogs!
There are many very talented people out there designing and stitching away!
Happily I belong to one such group, The Secret Sewing Sisterhood.
It is always a pleasure to meet up with Di, Sue, Meghan, Deb, Julie, Chris, Clare, Ann and Barbara twice a month and sometimes we may even sew a few stitches......most often we are too busy admiring everyone's "show and tell" or planning the next project, or the one after that, or even the one after that!
"Ode To Mary Brown" is one of "those other projects" which I just had to begin. I can't remember who actually put it on "THE LIST", but I do know that Meghan has completed her version. Me?, I just LOVE the process and have lots of projects on the go!! so my "Mary Brown" is slowly taking shape!
I am including a photo of my version, so far........just so you know that occasionally we do stitch!
Standby for future posts and future pics( if I can ever get this down-loading right!) of my progress!
Happy Stitching
Kerry

The Burnt Quilt

2010-01-09T17:10:00.005+11:00

Well, this is an experience girls. My first real posting on a blog! A Luddite no more am I.
Meghan is correct, Thursday was food for the soul. After spending the day with the "gals" I felt I had to start something new so the Burnt Quilt it is.

What is the Burnt Quilt you ask? It is a beautiful pattern designed by Di to use the centre panel shown on my picture. The panel comes from Corliss at Threadbear and was calling for some purpose ( aided by Kerry's beckoning) so Di got to it and designed this lovely quilt It is correctly labelled the Tompins/Gwathney quilt and it's provenance is discussed in Quilts of Virginia.
Of course, Di has included many of her "flourishes" to make a beautiful pattern. The original quilt was used to put out flames after its owners daughter's clothing had caught fire. It was never repaired, hence the nickname. Quilts do serve many tremendous purposes.

Julie is making this at the moment & I have been watching it grow. She is doing a lovely job & her colour selection is great. How could I resist starting this treasure? I hope Julie will share hers with you soon. Di too is starting this and is into the stars for the outer border.
My fabric stash is being raided as we speak auditioning fabrics for the many triangles in the two centre borders. I have many possibilities but think I will stick with the blue, reds, beige, a hint of purple & yellow and of course murky browns. ( the tea dying has begun in earnest). I did audition some greens but not sure about that - what do you all think????????

I must pass on my tremendous shopping experience as well. (Thanks Meghan for the Spotlight info). All the fabrics on my right side of the picture hail from Spotlight for less than $8 per metre. You know my motto, you have spend to save!

I am off to paper piece the first triangle border now, if I can just decide which fabrics........
Good sewing
Merri

PS. a few Civil War Bride blocks to go on with.

Soul Food

2010-01-07T20:01:00.013+11:00

After a very busy December that left me feeling a little flat it was time to feed my soul. And is there any better way to find nourishment other than spending time with the "Sewing Sisterhood". The Sisterhood meets twice a month, but due to work commitments Deb and I rarely attend the Thursday gathering. Today however, both of us were wonderfully, gloriously free and able to join the gals. Unlike Barb, Sue, Clare and Ann whom are all regulars but absent today for various reasons. We missed them but it is only 10 days to our next sewing day and I look forward to seeing them all then.

Our sewing days could never really be labelled industrious. There are always good intentions to be productive but things just seem to get in the way. You know how it is when friends gather - lots of chatter, many a laugh (sometimes to to point of tears) and if needed, a caring ear to confide in. It is this that makes the day so delightful and truly food for the soul.

Of course there is a little sewing! Merri has brought along her 'Civil War Bride' blocks to work on and Chris her 'Tribute to Mrs Williams'. Both are patterns from Threadbear in Castlemaine. Kerry looks like she has raided her pile of UFOs and is working on 19th Century Baskets, one of Di's beautiful reproduction designs. While Deb has started work on another one of those gorgeous Mary Mannakee blocks.

Julie has embraced hand-piecing and is stitching together one of many 8 pointed stars that are part of a new quilt that Di is designing. I am having a senior moment and can't remember the name that Di has christened it with. Julie is the first of the group to start this particular quilt and we all just love her choice of colour and fabric.

And me, well I have sewed the first stitches of Phebe. There is not a lot to look at yet, just the skeleton of vines for the centre applique medallion, but here is a photo of what I have completed so far anyway.

I know, I know, what about Di? What is she working on? Di was our host today and somehow seemed to spend all her time doing hostessy (is there such a word?) things. Well almost all of her time! As you can see this is a new blog and, as there are a few Luddites among the Sisterhood, Deb took some time out to show us all how to create posts and publish them. Di was the number one pupil.

The last task of the day was to take a photo of my completed DNQTTT quilt top. So, as promised, here it is!

If you are followers of Deb's blog, Needles, Sticks and Hooks, take a look at Merri's version in the Flickr Photostream. Same quilt but as you will see, it has a very different look.

I really have to / want to acknowledge Helen Hayes as it was her award-winning version of Homage to Sally Ann, Best of Show at Jeff's Shed in 2005 (I think) that inspired me with my colour choices and gave me the courage to use a red fabric for background.

So with the soul refreshed, it is time to finish up and say goodbye,

Until next time,

Meghan

A New Year and a New Quilt!

2010-01-03T13:21:00.009+11:00

How else does a quilter begin a new year other than start a new project!

I have been working hard to finish "Deb's Not Quite Telling the Truth Applique Quilt (for beginners)" and sewed the final stitches last night so am now rewarding myself by starting "Phebe". Never mind that behind the cupboard door you will find any number of UFOs!

I have chosen one of the French General Rounneries range for the background and then spent a pleasant morning going through my stash and auditioning fabrics. What do you think?

Now the real the fun begins and I can't wait to start the centre medallion. But first all the preparation: tracing the design, cutting the templates and checking the colour placement.

Who knows how long it will take to finish but I promise to post regular progress reports.

Until next time,

Meghan

PS. I will upload some photos of DNQTTT after our next sewing day. It is soooooooo big I cannot take any decent pictures without help.

Once upon a time

2009-12-30T18:39:00.004+11:00

in a town, not so far away, called Canterbury, there was a place called Theatre place. In that place there was a shop; Primarily Patchwork, where gals would come from miles around to OOOH and ARGH over the beautiful fabrics for sale and the quilts made from them.

And although from all walks of life and largely unknown to one another, we gals sat around that most inclusive Primarily Patchwork quilting table and talked and laughed and sewed and laughed some more. And as the weeks went by, we got to know each other better so that when our classes finished we just couldn't stop the fun. So the "secret sisterhood" was formed. Of course many quilts have been made and many more are "works in progress" ( we all have just a few UFO's) .

Over the years we have shared many hours of creativity, some fabulous food, lots of laughs and sadly, a few tears. We always have more plans for "our next new quilt" than we could possibly achieve in a lifetime. We meet once a month, some of us meet twice. Sometimes we get some sewing done, but it is not a requirement.

We hope that we can share some of our creations with you through our blog.

Happy 2010 everyone.

Deb and Merri