Cancer Fund Raiser Morning Tea

Last Patchwork Day,
Kerry organised a coffee morning to raise funds for Breast Cancer Research. Guests were treated to cups of coffee with sponge cake and other goodies on the menu.
Patty kindly presented us with special fabric to make bags for sale at this function.
Raffles were held as well, with all funds raised going directly to Breast Cancer research.
The bag sale is still continuing with them on display at the Mt. Perry Post Office.
Will post photoes later if the camera made it to the morning.
Check back to our blog archive of October 2006 for our bra efforts.

We are already planning the fund raising item for 2008. Looks like it might be a quilt.

Two Similar Quilts

This is Sandra's quilt made from a japanese print fabric in autumn tones. The hexagons looked like a bunch of Australian Wildflowers grouped together. Sandra originally designed this quilt to hang horizontally but once again , the quilt seems to control the story and it decided that it likes to be hung vertically.

Ruth unknowingly chose the same print as Sandra but in a different colourway. We find small ways to make our Exhibition interesting and her quilt seemed to end up with more light areas in it than Sandra's. Ruth also added some boxes and sections to add some visual impact to her quilt.

It has been interesting that only some people noticed that the fabric similarity existed.

Who are these Mt Perry Quilters?

We have been showing you our quilts, so it's about time we showed ourselves.
Here we are posing for the cameras in the Art Gallery. Don't we look a happy bunch. Fay and Patty were absent that day so there are actually 9 of us. Annette ( the tutor) was present for the opening. She was glad to see all the quilts actually finished. We still have more to show you yet.

Now our attention has turned to Christmas and the holidays and what exciting activities can we plan for these events. A shopping trip to the coast is on the agenda.

More Exhibition Stories

Kerry has produced a stunning example of a kaleidoscope quilt with her "Lost at Sea" quilt. The original fabric had ships floating in the sea all over it.

This is made for her eldest son's bed so he has had considerable input as to the placement of the hexagons. Somewhere in the sea is a hexagon of the original fabric. Another tricky aspect which can be added to this type of quilt. The border has been constructed from some hand dyed fabric coloured by Kerry along with her left over hexagons. She also dyed the fabric used for the back of the quilt. She learnt these skills at an earlier workshop on dyeing held in Mt. Perry.

Her son has patiently waited while it was displayed in the Art Gallery. The Exhibition is now over and all the quilts returned to their owners so he should at last be enjoying the new quilt for his bed. Next winter he will certainly be pleased to be under it.

The Bloomin Lot Story

Faye is one of our most prolific quilters with usually a few projects on the go at the same time. This was a busy french provincial type of fabric print originally to be used as a centre for a double bed size quilt. Once again quilts have a habit of dictacting what happens in their construction.
Faye felt she had a bunch of disconnected hexagons that were impossible to put together hence the name for this quilt. With the addition of her boxes and changing it to a wall quilt size , the result is very enjoyable to view.
She certainly is a prolific quilter as she squeezed in a trip to Canada during its construction and still managed to meet the deadline.
Her next projects have included a horse quilt for a beloved grandson, and there was another one already in the workbox last patchwork day.
A medical emergency involving a snake prevented her from attending the official opening so she missed the good comments about her work.

P.S. The emergency all ended well if you are wondering.

The Haircut Story

Amazing what can happen when you leave your patchwork session for a short while to visit the hairdresser. Kath had been agonizing about how to place her hexagons and left it hanging on the design wall. 2 little elves came along and suddenly the hexagons had all swapped places. The basic arrangement stayed put and Kath came back, picked it up and went home and sewed it up. She added the borders and finished it on time.

Her fabric had very little value contrast between colours and a narrow distance between design repeats. Her hexagons were a bit of a challenge to arrange. This unfortunately is the only photo we have at present to show you. The addition of her boxes and the wide borders have certainly made her quilt stand out.

Kath also has not been quilting for very long so she has learnt a lot about colour and value.

Well done Kath.

PS : The quilts are only in the gallery for another week, so call in or you'll miss out.

The Bath Mat Story

Every quilt has a story about it. Patty's pineapple fabric has been waiting patiently for years for her nimble fingers and clever mind to work out what to do to make this fabric into something wonderful.

During the workshop all Patty could seem to say was " Are we there yet? " Reminescent of the tv ad.

She had to race off early for another appointment somewhere as usual, that day, so did not get a lot of sewing finished. Turns up a few weeks later with her finished top and announces , this is my new bathmat. In the tradition of patchwork, the wadding consists of her daughters old towelling nappies pieced together ( the youngest daughter is 14 this year so she has been hoarding them for years) and she has also appliqued some of her many yards of pineapple fabric onto matching bath towels.

A fine example of a true patchwork tradition. Well done Patty.

Compare these two quilts.

In our previous post we promised you some more photos.

It was interesting to note one of us decided to use the same fabric as the tutor. After much deliberating about where to put the boxes, a helper decided to arrange them.

This quilt is aptly titled "Lost in Space" those boxes certainly do look like they are.

The tutor's quilt is of the same fabric with different features.

Naturally they are much better to view hanging in the gallery so make sure you visit before they move on.

From the Exhibition

Here is an update on our current exhibition which runs till the 14th October. This first photo (left to right) shows the quilts of Sandra, Ruth and Fay hanging along one wall of the gallery.

The second photo (left to right) is of Annette's (Tutor), Narelle's (2 narrow ones) and Margaret's. A clearer picture of Margaret's quilt is further below. You may notice that Margaret chose the same fabric as Annette's with a totally different outcome. The end result is all in the eye of the creator.

This third photo (left to right) shows the quilts of Narelle, Margaret and Sandra again, with Patty's Pineapple ensemble arranged in the corner. Patty chose to make her kaleidoscope into a bath mat and matched it by embroidering pieces from the print onto some towels.

More photos on our next blog.

After the Exhibition Deadline

It was back to 'normal' for the ladies who attended patchwork today. We had a very successful opening of the exhibition on Wednesday and would like to thank all who attended. It was lovely to see everyone enjoying the kaleidoscope of colours.

Two girls have moved onto their next projects while two are completing current projects. I've decided that my next accomplishment will be to finish my bed quilt that I started 2+ years ago. It's almost finished but other ideas keep jumping the queue. Not this time, I'm determined, I hope.

If you are in Mt. Perry, we hope you have an opportunity to view the quilts while they hang in the Pat Augustine Cultural Centre till the 14th October. We will continue to post photographs along the way.

If you look back to the August 24th blog, you will note the unfinished kaleidoscope quilt and here it is completed. The quilt to the left is a Bargello which was from another workshop earlier in the year.

There's nothing like a deadline to keep you on your toes.

Kaliedoscope Exhibition Opening

A second kaliedoscope quilt keeping the walls of the Gallery warm.

The " official opening " is on around 4pm Wednesday September 12 2007.

Why don't you come along for a dose of colour, wine and whatever else may come your way.

Kaleidoscope Quilts Update

Most of the kaleidoscope quilts are finished. Now for the hanging and unveiling of the hard work .
September 5 they will be displayed in the Mt Perry Pat Augustine Centre.
Here's a sneak preview of one of them.

This is an early photo of the half kaleidoscope pieces. After some necessary alterations .

Most of the finished quilt. You cannot see the top border piece ( went missing in action)

The gallery hours are Tuesday mornings, Wednesday ,Thursday and Friday afternoons. Contact Perry Shire Council for more details. Should be well worth a visit.

Plans are ahead for the next adventure. Why don't you come and join us?

One Month to Go

We were so busy sewing and basting on Friday that we almost forgot to take any photos of the works in progress. Here are a couple of photos of the last two ladies to leave.

Narelle's was all sandwiched and ready for quilting. She has hit a few stumbling blocks with the quilting and has gone with free motion of a jungle type leaf repeated over the quilt.

Kerry got her hexagons altogether and is ready to sew some borders around to enhance her very ship shape creation. Sorry about the lighting, the late afternoon sun was bursting through.

One more patchwork day before we get to hang the quilts.

DON'T PANIC YET!

Kaleidoscope No. 8

Here is the last of the works begun at our workshop. I am pleased to say that they have all come a long way since that day and as the deadline for the exhibition draws near, hopefully everyone is nearing completion.

This very colourful jungle print produced some very bright hexagons.

Because of the variety of colours, I have divided the hexagons into three separate wall hangings. Stay tuned for the end results.

Kaleidoscope No. 7

How about turning these Asian dragons into

swirling pools of gold. A two colour combo can be

just as dramatic.

Ladies showed their progress at our last patchwork day. Our deadline has stopped creeping closer and is now at a run as our exhibition date draws near.

Kaleidoscope No. 6

How about those Pirates of the Caribbean? If you

like to spend time on the open see then these

nifty naughtical hexagons will be just perfect for you.

Just need to complete two more cubes.

Kaleidoscope No 5

If you have a passion for pineapples then you'll

adore the sweet hexagons that have been

created from the fabric below.

Long Service Leave Quilts

Here is the latest update on my quilts I started while on Long Service Leave at the end of 2006.
Numbers 2 and 3 are finally complete.
This one used 5" floral squares from a fabric club and was constructed using the "Shabby" style. My niece received it for her second birthday.








In this one I used the remaining 5" squares from a fabric club. I cut two squares in half and joined each opposite, then cut in half again and rejoined to get 4 patch squares. Matching colours I came up with the twelve blocks separated by a 1 inch sashing but I wasn't happy with it. Have you ever placed out your quilt blocks, stood back and thought "Oh, how on earth can I fix it?" So I bundled them up, took them into our next Patchwork get-together and said "Help!" There's always someone who can come up with the perfect solution. Kerry suggested the narrow cream sashings within each block and I think its turned out very well.

Number 4 is sandwiched and awaiting quilting, in among my other partly completed projects.
Narelle

Kaleidoscope No. 4

These lovely hexagons above were created from the

oriental fabric below. This arrangement has since been

re-designed and all will be revealed at our exhibition

to be held in September/October.

All the ladies are progressing along with their kaleidoscope quilts.

Kaleidoscope Number 3

If purple and greens are your favourite colours

then you'll love these stunning hexagons

with see through blocks added in.

Stay tuned for more revealing pictures.