2016 QuiltCon Charity Quilt: NYE at the House

Improv quilting isn’t new, I reckon it is possibly the oldest form of quilting as fabric scraps and woollen off cuts were patched together to make the earliest form of quilts. And then there’s the fabulous improv quilts of Gees Bend, Nancy Crow and Gwen Marston. But improv with intent, is that a fairly modern concept in quilting? It relates to abstract art and music where the intent to convey an idea, image or concept drives the design process.

This year’s QuiltCon Charity Quilt Challenge was “to work collaboratively to create completed quilts using a predetermined color palette and improv with intent”. With that in mind we set about choosing fabrics and coming up with a design for this group project.

2016 QuiltCon Charity Quilt Colour Palette as set by The Modern Quilt Guild

We then brainstormed some ideas and finally settled on the iconic image of the Sydney Opera House sails and then decided that by adding the black as a sky colour and the brights as fireworks we could capture the magic of New Year’s Eve fireworks at The House. We looked at several images of the Opera House and tried to pick a minimalist composition that could be pieced.

We had several sewing days where members contributed improv blocks for the night sky with sparks of fireworks and the long improv braids from the neutral tones.

And then the real hard work of turning piles of blocks into a quilt top began! It wasn’t easy, group work often isn’t when there are many different approaches and ideas.

At one stage it didn’t look like it would be done in time, but as is also usual in collaborative group work, a few people drive the project and get it done. Just in time!

Congratulations to all the members who contributed blocks, fabric, thread and time towards this project. Extra special thanks to Kathy Thorncraft who took on the mammoth job of quilting and Catherine Butterworth for her super human effort to bind and prepare the quilt for display.

We are very proud of our efforts and look forward to seeing NYE at The House hanging at QuiltConWest, Pasadena from the 18th – 21st February along with all the other amazing MQG charity quilts!

Check out the stunning quilts made by some other Aussie Modern Quilt Guilds:

Brisbane MQG 2016 QuiltCon Charity Challenge Quilt

Melbourne MQG 2016 QuiltCon Charity Challenge Quilt

Tasmanian MQG 2016 QuiltCon Charity Challenge Quilt

And the #quiltconcharityquilt hashtag on Instagram for further inspiring work, well done everyone!

 

Karlee Porter Graffiti Quilting Workshop

Armed with their machines, colourful thread, a range of sharpies and a drawing pad, Caroline, Michelle, Jenna and Kathy headed down the coast to Bulli for a two day workshop with Karlee Porter pioneer of Graffiti Quilting.

Day 1 was fascinating as we learned all about the different techniques and symbols to use in the graffiti quilting style. We practiced in our drawing pads and Karlee talked us through the styles and her quilting journey. There was plenty of show and tell along the way! In the afternoon we got to practice on our machines.

    (Pictures – Kathy’s Sketch; Jenna’s Graffiti Quilting ; Kathy’s Graffiti Quilting)

Friday night there was also a special Trunk Show where we got to hear more stories about Karlee’s quilting story and more closely pet – I mean examine  some of her quilts. Digital Printing, different fabrics, paint, crystals and beading all make appearances in her quilts. We also heard about her collaborations with other artists such as her spectacular “Hear me Roar” quilt with the artist Patrick Seymour.

(Pictures : Karlee Porter’s and her “Hear Me Roar” quilt, front and back)

Day 2 we learnt about layouts and how to make our quilts flow nicely. Then we each decided on a layout and went to town on the free motion quilting!

 

(Pictures: Michelle’s Graffiti Quilt, plus the lucky door prize she won!; Caroline’s Russian Mosques Graffiti Quilt)

 

(Pictures: Jenna’s Russian Mosque Graffiti Quilting)

(Pictures: Kathy’s Russian Mosque Graffiti Quilting)

Karlee even designed a special Sydney Harbour Graffiti Quilting icon!

So thanks Karlee for the awesome workshop and a big shout out to the Wollongong Modern Quilt Guild for organising/hosting.

Sydney Quilt Show 2015

It’s that time of the year again- the 2015 Sydney Quilt Show has come and gone, faster than you can say “wait, they’re selling rotary cutters for how much?” Run by the Quilter’s Guild of NSW at Sydney’s temporary exhibition centre on Glebe Island (which is neither in Glebe, nor an island…) the event was, once again, a landmark event on the Sydney quilting calendar.

GWSMQG made a strong showing, with nine member quilts and one group quilt hanging in the show, and four members were rewarded with six prizes, most notably Catherine, who won three prizes: second prize in the ‘Traditional’ category, the ‘Creative Use of Colour’ Award and the ‘Best Original Interpretation of a Traditional Quilt’ Award for her riotously colourful ‘Carnaby Street’ quilt.

Lorena won first place in the ‘commercially quilted’ category with her beautiful ‘Wingdings: a variety of symbols’ quilt, a red and white vision of Chuck Nohara’s patterns (custom quilted by Michele Turner), while the teal version of her Opal Essences quilt, ‘Under the Sea’ was also hung.

Louisa, a first-time entrant, won third prize in the same commercially quilted category with her ‘Stargarden’ quilt, (quilted by GWSMQG member Jane Davidson), while her ‘Chardonnay and Shiraz’ quilt, made from the ‘Hexagons and Stars’ pattern by Catherine Butterworth was also hung in the red and white display.

Junior Member Sofia won fourth prize in the Junior Quiltmaker B (years 7-12) category with her ‘Itsy Bitsy Hexie Quilt’.

The red and white quilts category this year attracted a number of our members to enter the show for the first time: Hilary McFarlane showed her very modern quilt, while Kathy’s ‘Subdivision Quilt’, which you may remember having seen in black and white next to Ginevra’s colourful version at the Modern Quilt Show in Kiama recently, flew the modern quilting flag in red and white.

Sue displayed a fantastic large-scale gradiated chevron quilt, and the GWSMQG group quilt, ‘Break from tradition’, (made from foundation paper-pieced diamonds and custom quilted by Jane Davidson), attracted lots of compliments from show-goers.

 

GWSMQG members were also staffing a number of the stalls: Sue Miller with her Fabric Garden store, while Caroline Gunn and Narelle Morris were winning over hearts and minds (but perhaps not wallets) at the Handiquilter stand, where many members were spotted trying their hand at the Avante machine.

It’s always fantastic to see quilts that we’ve seen progress and develop over the year at our Sunday Sewalongs and Monday Meetups hanging and being admired by the general public. Congratulations to all entrants and award winners! And to all our members: now is the time to start planning for next year’s show!

2015 Modern Quilt Show Australia

On the weekend of the 30th-31st May, Australia had its second Modern Quilt Show presented by the Wollongong Modern Quilt Guild. It was held just south of Wollongong in a little town called Kiama in a gorgeous pavilion overlooking the ocean!

We had a number of guild members enter quilts into the show -and many were great talking points of the show!
Firstly, our QuiltCon Charity Quilt was awarded 2nd prize in the Group category.

and our junior member Sofia took out first prize in the Junior category with her “Frog Prince Reflections”.

and Lorena received a Judges’ Commendation for her #ihavethisthingwithfloors quilt.

Lorena also showed her “Squircles” Quilt which was started at QuiltCon earlier in the year in a Carolyn Friedlander class.

An interesting talking piece of the show were two quilts done by our members. Kathy entered her monochromatic “Subdivision” quilt and Ginevra made a version of it using a limited colour palette. They were hung together so it was great to see how two quilts following the same pattern can look so different.

Ginevra also entered a gorgeous improv quilt with fabric she hand printed. It is called “Improv no.1 (for Melissa)”.

It was a very inspiring show, and having some great stalls there helped feed the creativity! Our own members Kate from Kate Quilt’s and Sue from Fabric Garden both had stalls there.

A big shout out to the Wollongong Modern Quilt for organising such a brilliant show – Well done and we can’t wait for next year!

MQG Riley Blake Challenge 2015

The latest fabric challenge from the MQG is here this time using Riley Blake Fabrics! Some of our members are participating this round so be sure to watch this space to see what they come up with.

The rules are

* make something fantastic and quilted

* make something you have never done before

* challenge yourself to learn something new

* use only Riley Blake “The Cottage Garden” fabrics and coordinating Riley Blake basics and solids.

 

Modern Quilt Show Australia 2015

Wollongong Modern Quilt Guild are once again hosting the Modern Quilt Show Australia on the 30th and the 31st May 2015 – this time in lovely Kiama!

There is still time to get an entry in!

AQC here we come!

Have you heard that at the Australasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne April 16th – 19th there is going to be selection of Modern Quilts on display from the Australian Modern Quilt Guilds!

The showcase contains some amazing quilts from the Canberra, Tasmanian, Melbourne, Brisbane, Youth and individual Modern Quilt Guilds and members – and of course our own guild will have two quilts on display!

Lorena’s Opal Essence

and Kathy’s Subdivision

So if you are heading to the AQC be sure to check out the Modern Quilt display.

Thank you to Jules McMahon from the Canberra Modern Quilt Guild for coordinating.

Sunday Sewalongs and Monday Meetings 2015

We’ll be having our February Sunday Sewalong this Sunday, 8th February from 10am to 4pm. At this meeting we will be sewing our red and white blocks to make a group quilt for the Quilters Guild of NSW Challenge later in the year. Sunday meetings take place in a private room at Dooleys Waterview and you may bring your sewing machine and equipment. The committee will also be having a brief meeting from 11:30am. Further general information about our meetings is here . As we need to make sure we have enough room for all please let us know if you are coming along.

We would love to welcome you to join our first GWSMQG Monday Meeting for 2015. It will be held at Dooleys Waterview Restaurant, Silverwater on Monday 16th February from 7pm to 9:30pm. Our future Monday dates will be posted very soon once we have venue confirmation.

Each meeting has a topic (to be advised) and we usually bring some hand sewing or other hand work to complete whilst being social (the dining room light is not ideal so it can be handy to bring a portable light).

You are welcome to order a meal from the bistro, a glass of wine or coffee and cake!

We look forward to seeing you there! Please contact us should you have any queries.

Here’s the list of scheduled meetings so far, please come back to check later in the year for further dates:

Sunday Sewalong: February 8
Monday Meet Up: February 16
Sunday Sewalong: March 1
Monday Meet Up: March 16
Sunday Sewalong: March 29

Monday Meet Up: April 20

Sunday Sewalong: April 26
Monday Meet Up: May 18
Sunday Sewalong: May 24
Monday Meet Up: June 22
Sunday Sewalong: June 28
AGM: Monday July 13
Sunday Sewalong: July 19
Sunday Sewalong: August 16
Monday Meet Up: August tbc
Sunday Sewalong: September 13
Monday Meet Up: September 21
Sunday Sewalong: October 11

Monday Meet Up: October 19
Sunday Sewalong: November 8
Monday Meet Up: November 23
Monday Meet Up: December TBC
Sunday Sewalong: December 13

 

 

2015 QuiltCon Charity Quilt Challenge

The Greater Western Sydney Modern Quilt Guild’s 2015 charity quilt

Although we are a relatively small MQG, our members were very enthusiastic about the MQG 2015 QuiltCon Charity Quilt Challenge. More than half our members contributed a block or two, and many more worked collaboratively to put the finished quilt together.

The 2015 Charity Quilt Challenge is different from past years. We were challenged not only to work with a specified palette but to explore an alternate gridwork  design. We posted examples of the fabric colours to our Facebook group so our members could check their stashes, and then set a deadline for blocks to be collected.

We held an impromptu meeting to put the blocks together, and there were plenty of opinions about layout and design. Members Jenna, Sandra, Melanie, Sofia, Ginevra, Kate, Louisa and Lorena were involved.

Liberal applications of Moda Bella silver contributed important areas of negative space to the final layout. GWSMQG member Cath M undertook the top-quilting with a pattern called Water Drops, by Natalia Majors. Ginevra, a print maker, designed and hand-screen printed our label, Kathy pulled together our colourful backing, and another working bee with Lorena, Louisa and Kate completed the binding.

The excitement doesn’t stop here — this quilt is jetting from the sun and surf in Sydney for Texas-style fun at Quiltcon, Austin!

Michael Miller MQG Challenge Winners

Better late than never! We’re finally ready to announce the winners of the Michael Miller MQG/GWSMQG challenge! Here is our previous post explaining the rules for this guild challenge.

The three categories we had for this challenge were:

1. Best use of Fabric
2. Viewer’s Choice
3. Best quilting

And the winners are…

1. Best Use Of Fabric went to Hilary!

2. Viewer’s choice went to Michelle!

and 3. Best Quilting also went to Michelle! Congratulations, ladies!

Here’s our Pinterest board with all our contestant’s quilts!

The prizes up on offer were generously donated by both quilt shops local and international, plus a few guild members:

A half yard bundle of Joel Dewberry fabric, and a quilt magazine from Christa Quilts
$50 voucher from Fabric Garden via Sue Miller
$20 Kate Quilts voucher via Michelle Rossetto
Charlie Harper bundle from Kate Quilts
Liberty bundle from Jenna
Cottage Garden threads from Wendy
Mini quilt Kit from Caroline
and a jar of Lorena’s amazing marmalade!

A big thank you goes to Vancouver MQG and Brisbane MQG for helping with the voting process, and all our generous prize sponsors! And of course, a big thank you to the MQG and Michael Miller for the initial challenge!