March 2014 Friday Showcase

On Friday 7 March attendees at the Guild office will be hearing the many varied stories of quilt devotee  Carol Roberts.

 Carol is well known in the industry as being the creative lady behind Cherry Pie Designs.

It is now 10 years since Carol produced her first pattern, having stitched all her life and then been hooked by the P&Q bug in the early 90's.

She especially loves designing and then bringing those designs to life with fabric, usually by paper piecing and then hand quilting.

Carol is also the Hostess at many successful weekend quilting retreats in The Hunter Valley, runs a travelling patchwork "Boutique" from her home on The Central Coast, and attends several of the major yearly craft shows and exhibitions.

As such an enthusiastic player within this industry, Carol is sure to have many stories to tell and beautiful items to reveal at the next Friday Showcase of The Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc.

Date : Friday 7th March

Time : 10am start.

Venue : Guild Office

             Level 5

             276 Pitt St, Sydney.

All Welcome!

Sydney Quilt Show 2014 Button

Preparations for the Sydney Quilt Show 2014 are well underway and entries close on Friday, 14 March 2014.  If you would like to add the button to your blog, website or other social media, here is the html code:

<a href="http://www.quiltersguildnsw.com/"><img src="http://www.quiltersguildnsw.com/quiltshowbutton.jpg" alt="Sydney Quilt Show 2014" /></a>

If you have a Blogspot blog, go to Dashboard>Layout>Page Elements>Add Page Element. Choose "HTML/Javascript" as your page element, click "Add to Blog", cut and paste the code and click "Save Changes". On the "Add & Arrange" page elements page, you can drag and drop the button at the desired place in your side bar. The button should look like this.

Please contact the Guild Webmaster if you require assistance.

Volunteer Still Needed : Stitches & Craft Show

Can you please help on Thursday 6th March

Rosehill Race Course 6 - 9th March 2014

The Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc will once again have a presence at The Stitches and Craft Show.

Cath Babidge is calling for a volunteer to help man the Guild Stand for an hour or two on the Thursday.

Please email her directly for information about the specifics of this request. 

Thankyou.

Cath Babidge : cbabidge@bigpond.net.au

Quilt Show 2014 : Entry deadline

A reminder that all quilt entries for this year's Sydney Quilt Show will have an Entry form closing date of Friday March 14th.

Entry forms are available on the website, or can be uploaded here
Entry Forms are also included in the new issue of the Template, currently being delivered by Australia Post.

Please ensure that all parts of the Entry are identified, included and attached securely.

Workshop with Catherine Porter

There are still some places available in the next workshop to be offered by The Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc.

"Fabric Weaving - A new Dimension for Quilters" is the journey that Catherine Porter will lead attendees on.

Whilst giving the appearance of very precise piecing, this weaving, or "Meshwork" has no sewing involved until the piece is incorporated into a project, whether as background for applique, or to be used as blocks.

Please phone the Guild Office  ASAP if wanting to be included in this workshop, and to receive details of the kit fee required.

Date    : Tuesday 4 March 2014

Time   : 9.30am for 10- 4pm 

Venue : Epping Creative Centre, Dence Park

              26 Stanley Rd, Epping.

Cost    : Members $65; Non-members $100

Avalon Quilters : An Exhibition

Quilters and friends are invited to The Avalon Quilters Quilt Show 2014.

Of special interest is the Raffle quilt : an Antique American Quilt  c. 1870

Friday, 6th March 9am-7pm
Saturday, 7th March 9am-5pm

Avalon Uniting Church, Bellevue Avenue, Avalon Beach

Large display of members' quilts, craft stall, trader stall and raffle quilt.

Entry $5
Proceeds to charity

Stitches and Craft Show

Rosehill Race Course 6 - 9th March 2014

The Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc will once again have a presence at The Stitches and Craft Show.

Cath Babidge is calling for volunteers to help man the Guild Stand.

Please email her directly for information about the specifics of this request. Thankyou.

Cath Babidge : cbabidge@bigpond.net.au

Guild Meeting this Saturday

The first 2014 General Meeting for The Quilters' Guild Of NSW Inc. will be held this Saturday at Burwood.
Details are :

• Guest Speaker : Kate Haddock :  Copyright Issues 

Kate is an experienced copyright Lawyer and Partner in an  independent law firm specialising in Intellectual property, Media and Information Technology. Her Mother is a quilter, thus she is aware of many of the issues that face quilters.

• Demonstration : Amanda Daly. Well known and experienced Tutor and published quilter, Amanda will demonstrate her raw edge applique technique, and possibly show how decolourant is used.

• Featured Shop : The Remnant Warehouse, Alexandria. This shop claims to be the biggest Independent retailer of both Dress, and Patchwork fabrics.

Venue : The Dome
              Burwood RSL
              Shaftsbury Rd, Burwood
Date :    Saturday 15 February
Time :    11 am - Demonstration
                1pm  -  Guest Speaker

Please do not forget to bring your "Block of the Quarter" and items for "Show and Tell"

All welcome.

February 2014 Friday Showcase

The first Friday Showcase for 2014 of The Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc., will have Sydney quilter Beverly Hunter as Guest presenter.

Bev is a frequent attendee at Friday Showcase and is always complimentary about the creative pursuits of fellow quilters, however, as can be seen by these images, Bev is herself, an extremely accomplished piecer, applique devotee and hand quilter.

  

She particularly enjoys the peace and tranquility that hand work involves, having first raided her extensive scrap bag, considered her colours, and designed fresh settings and placements to traditional block designs.

This careful and methodical approach has resulted in her quilts winning prizes at the many quilt shows she enjoys exhibiting at.

Please come and share in the visual delight of Bev's Quilts ... as she says ..."Quilts do the talking"

Dates : Friday 7th February

Time : 10am start.

Venue : Guild Office

             Level 5

             276 Pitt St, Sydney.

All Welcome!

2014 Quilt Show Entry Form

The next Sydney Quilt Show runs from Wednesday, 9 July to Sunday 13 July 2014 (not June) at the Exhibition Centre at Glebe Island Expo facility (not Darling Harbour). Entry forms are posted out to members with the Guild newsletter in February. You can also download:

• 2014 Quilt Show Entry Form (460KB PDF) 
• 2014 Quilt Show Volunteer Form (94 KB PDF).

The closing date for entries is Friday 14 March 2014. Please direct any queries to the Exhibition Secretary.

To enter a quilt in the Sydney Quilt Show, you must be a member of the Guild for the financial year. Membership is due 1 July each year for the year ending the following June.  Download a Membership Application Form (196KB PDF).

This is an overview of the categories and awards for 2014. (And don't forget the Red & White Special Category next year in 2015!)

CATEGORIES
Amateur:
1.  Traditional – Includes wholecloth, crazy, partial appliqué, hand and/or machine pieced and quilted.  Minimum size 120cm x 120cm: maximum size 290cm x 290cm
  1.1  Predominantly Hand Quilted
  1.2  Predominantly Machine Quilted
2. Predominantly Appliqué - Hand and/or machine pieced and quilted. More than 75% must be appliquéd.  Minimum size 120cm x 120cm: maximum size 290cm x 290cm
3. Small or Wall Quilt – Minimum size 40cm x40cm. Maximum size 150cm x 150cm
4. First-time Entrant - First entry into any State/Territory Guild's judged exhibition or competition or any National/International     judged exhibition or competition.  Maximum size 290cm x 290cm
5. Novice Quiltmaker– First time entrant where the quiltmaker started quilting after 1 January 2010.      Maximum size 290cm x 290cm

Professional:
6.  Traditional – Includes wholecloth, crazy, partial appliqué, hand and/or machine pieced and quilted.   Minimum size 120cm x 120cm: maximum size 290cm x 290cm
7.  Predominantly Appliqué - hand and/or machine pieced and quilted. More than 75% must be appliquéd.   Minimum size 120cm x 120cm: maximum size 290cm x 290cm
8.   Small or Wall Quilt – Minimum size 40cm x 40cm. Maximum size 150cm x 150cm

Open:
9.  Mixed Techniques–Anything Goes! Including embroidery, crazy quilting, embellishment, painting, trapunto and felting.  Maximum size 290cm x 290cm
10. Miniature – may be either scaled down patterns or your own original design, including postcards.  Maximum perimeter 200cm
11. Art Quilt - to be of an original design.  Maximum size 290cm any one side
12. Pictorial Quilt - To be of an original design and a representation of a person, place or thing.  Maximum size 290cm any one side
13. Group/Collaborative Quilt – made by 3 or more people  Maximum size 290cm x 290cm
14.1 Commercially Machine Quilted Quilt:Large- the entrant’s top, commercially machine quilted by another. Maximum size 290cm x 290cm
14.2 Commercially Machine Quilted Quilt:Small- the entrant’s top, commercially machine quilted by another. Maximum size 200cm x 200cm
15. Modern - New Traditions From Old Favourites - Modern quilts including those inspired by traditional block structures but  reinterpreted using non-traditional layouts. Maximum size 290 x 290 cm

Junior Quiltmaker:
16.   Junior Member A (up to Year 6) – Maximum size 290cm x 290cm
17.   Junior Member B (Years 7-12 including Year 12 work from 2013) –     Maximum size 290cm x 290cm

Special Awards include :

• Best Of Show
• Bernina Amateur Encouragement Award
• Bernina Junior Encouragement Award
• Retaining The Tradition Award
• Best Quilt Inspired By An Antique Quilt Award
• Creative Use of Colour
• Contemporary Art Quilt Award
• Best Hand Made Quilt
• Best Use Of Dyes & Pigments
• Excellence in Quilting Awards: - Hand Quilting (Amateur), Hand Quilting (Open), Amateur Domestic Machine Quilting, Domestic Machine Quilting (Open), Long Arm Machine Quilting
• Viewers’ Choice
• Hangers' Prize

Block of the Quarter

A simple and graphic stash-buster : The Four H - 9 inch Block  

Utilising just reds, blues and white, the pieces for this block are easily rotary cut, with one unit taking less than 1/2 hour to construct.

Please refer to page 30 of The Template November 2013 for accurate piecing instructions.

Either :  Post your completed self-named blocks to the Guild Office by Tuesday 11 February 

      or :  Bring blocks to the Burwood Meeting on  Saturday 15 February and hand in at the Welcome  Table.

All blocks go into the draw, and winner takes all.

Welcoming in a New Year of Creativity

The Guild Office is once again "Open for Business", and visitors in the near future can treat themselves to the loan of these library books...

With "Modern" quilts being the buzz word of late, it is worth exploring just how some quilts are attaining this new label.

The 9-13 July 2014, Glebe Island, Sydney Quilt Show has a rephrased Open Category Exhibition component : Modern - New Traditions from Old Favourites.

How can we as exhibitors or attendees accurately interpret and appreciate the subtleties of these entries?

Here are some identifying features of a "Modern Quilt":

• Big boxy pieced shapes in fresh colour palettes
• Graphic and dynamic designs using solid colours with contemporary flair
• Think "Modern Art"
• Pared back colour schemes : Less is More!
• Off center design construction 
• Dominant shapes using bright pops of colour, to provide stark contrast against "new" neutrals

The Guild Library is bursting with ideas. 

"Old" and Traditional designs can become Modern and Dynamic, just with a shift in interpretation , and these publications can spin one's thinking into new directions.

Please visit!

Office Holiday Closure

The Office of the Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc will be unattended from 3pm December 13 2013 until 10am January 13 2014.

All postal mail will be kept back by Australia Post.
All phone messages to the office will be accessed periodically.
All Library books should be retained until the office re-opens.

Wishing everyone a Safe and Happy Holiday Season.

Cathy Jack Coupland Demonstration Report

Guild attendees at last weekend's year end General Meeting were treated to a Thread Painting Demonstration by member Cathy Jack Coupland.

Kismet - Cathy Jack Coupland,  Judges Commendation - Mixed techniques Sydney Quilt Show 2013

Cathy very generously shared the many tips and tricks that she has formulated over  the years whilst producing through freestyle machine embroidery, ever increasingly exquisite and perceptive Fibre Art.

Cathy at the helm of her Mother's very reliable 40 year old machine

Moving beyond sheer pattern decoration and shape and colour relationship exercise, Cathy's philosophy of 'Sense of Place and Belonging' is being explored in increasingly personal works. Inspiration evolves from varying sources and with a commitment to excellence, Cathy devotes many hours to the perfection of her design work prior to the commencement of final works.

The Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc is blessed to have a Fibre Artist of Cathy's calibre within their midst, and on Saturday presented her with a well earned Teaching Certificate.

Cathy is an accredited Teacher of Special Techniques.

Congratulations Cathy! 

Pearl Challenge on view

St Vincent's Hospital is once again supportingThe Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc with their display of one of the 'travelling suitcases' Challenge Quilts.

Currently on view in the first floor corridor between the Public and Private hospitals is the 2012 Pearl Challenge.

Mother of Pearls - Sally Hutton

Due to Display Case constraints, some of the heavily encrusted quilts have been unable to be included at this venue.
These quilts can be seen by the public until January 10, 2014.

St Vincents Hospital
390 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst.

New Year Resolution

A challenged, yet enthusiastic group of quilters met at Epping Creative Centre this week to be inspired by the colourful, patient and comprehensive instruction of Guild Teacher, Jane Gibson.

With careful attention to fabric pattern detail, sharp cutting and piecing, and the ever encouragement from the maestro of 'Miniatures', attendees were soon overcoming their fears to produce delightful teeny tiny blocks, complete with sharp corners and submissive seams.

'Tricks' and short cuts to construction prowess were freely discussed, 'finishing' foibles were addressed,  new insights into fabric selections were gained, and the perceived horrors of bias edged miniature triangles were soon dispelled.
This was an inspiring workshop and Jane ensured everyone had fun whilst creating stunning blocks for future Miniature Quilts.

Detail - Feathered Star Miniature - Jane Gibson

Rhonda and Isabelle enjoying every moment.

Accuracy is achievable!

Catherine's magical and minuscule Log Cabin "homework" with the fabric used in construction.

And the New Year Resolution?

Join other Guild Members in 2014 for a workshop. Companionship and Creativity guaranteed. 

Request for donation of quilting accoutrements

Need help de-stashing?

Then Guild Member Valerie Garton can help!
She is looking for donations of fabrics, batting of any size, and "bits and pieces" that can be refashioned into tactile quilts, specifically for Alzheimer Patient stimulation.

Called "Fiddle Quilts" these items are not your average quilt for warmth... they have zips, lace, buttons, shoulder pads, shirt fronts, velcro, pockets, elastic on toggles, buckles and other "fiddly" things sewn on for the occupational therapy of those who reside at The Uniting Church Nursing Home in Haberfield.

Valerie is aided in this worthwhile exercise by residents of the neighbouring Retirement Home.
Should any member wish to contact Valerie regarding specifics of the donation materials required, or delivery of such, then please contact her on Ph No. 02 97435718
She will also be attending the forthcoming General Meeting of the Guild on Saturday, and can accept donated items there.

Guild Meeting Nov 2013

The final 2013 General Meeting of The Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc will be held on Saturday 30 November.

Please be advised:

• A different way of conducting meetings is to be trialled. During the "Business" part of the 1pm component, an update of what the committee have been doing since the previous meeting will be briefed, with verbal reports from Committee and Subcommittee members being given only if there is something important to relay. All reports of a general nature will be displayed for individual perusal on a notice board at the function room. There will be opportunity during the meeting for matters regarding the reports, to be raised, if required. This format is a Trial Only. Fine tuning and changes can be made for future meetings.

• The Constitution Subcommittee  will be presenting the new Constitution and advising upon recommended changes, with any questions and queries to be addressed. 

Date : Saturday November 30
Programme :
                   11 am : Thread Painting Demonstration by Cathy Jack Coupland
                    1 pm  :  General Meeting
                    Guest Speaker : Sue Cody
                    Featured Shop: Fabric Garden
                    Guest Group : Rosemount Quilters
Venue : "The Dome"
              Burwood RSL
              Shaftsbury Rd, Burwood

All welcome!

Hexagon Hype - 2013 Guild Challenge

More than 60 entries were submitted for Hexagon Hype, the 2013 Guild Challenge that premiered at the recent annual general meeting.  Congratulations to the following prize winners:

• 1st prize Prue Noonan The Hex
• 2nd: Elizabeth Newton Red Rubber Ball
• 3rd: Margy Syrett Who’s Choosing the News
• Judges Commendations: Catherine Porter Illusions and Keiko Arita Garden Corner
• Viewers Choice: Sandra Lyons

     
You can view all of the entries in this slideshow or in the online gallery 2013 Guild Challenge

Draft Guild Constitution for Comment

A Guild subcommittee is working on a new constitution for the Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc.  The draft references the existing constitution, the model constitution under the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 (NSW) and the special requirements of the Guild. Guild members are invited to review and comment on the draft constitution.  Download:

• Draft constitution (225KB PDF)
• Summary of proposed changes to the constitution (100KB PDF)

The subcommittee will give a presentation on the draft constitution at the 30 November general meeting of the Guild and be available to answer questions.

Any comments on the draft must be submitted to the Guild secretary by 16 December 2013.

The Committee will then settle the draft to submit to members so that the constitution and resolution for approval will be sent to members with the Template quarterly newsletter in February 2014. The resolution will be tabled for approval at the April general meeting of the Guild.

Your input is welcome. This is an opportunity for members to participate in the development of the new constitution and to ensure the new constitution addresses the Guild’s current and future needs.