My excellent adventure!

I've just come home from teaching at the Australasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne. This was the venue - the Royal Exhibition Centre in Carlton Gardens. What a magnificent building. It is built in a cross layout and there were four of these wings coming out under the central dome. This was my view every morning walking the 5 minutes to "work".

And this was my office once inside. 10 classrooms were along the galleries on either side above the vendors and the quilt show and this was the view from the delegates lunch area each day.

Typical classroom set-up with classes ranging from 10-20 students. I had 18 over 2 days then 13 for the next two days - a lot of students I can tell you. Hi to Maureen and Pam who both love machine work SOOOO much.

There were spinning wheels everywhere over the four days with lots of different combos making for stunning results. 

Mercedes in the purple top on the far right was one lucky girl - she was in the lucky seat at the Gala Dinner on Saturday night and won a Bernina sewing machine! I think she now has four.

At the Gala Dinner I was honoured to be invited to join the NSW Quilt Guild table - "the table of knowledge"-  right up the front in the middle of all the action. What a great bunch of girls. We had a ball and danced our socks off til the band stopped around midnight. What they thought of these old quilters dancing with all and sundry we'll never know but we sure had a good time.

Here's my wonderful room-mate Kay on the left getting up-close and personal with Lois.

Kay was so kind and welcoming to me and we had a great time over the five days - she's such a lovely person with  a wicked sense of humour.

NSW quilters scooped the pool in the awards ceremony - on the left  is Judy Hooworth winner of the Rajah Award which is presented to a quilter who has made an outstanding contribution as an individual to quilting in Australia. Then we have Gary from Expertise Events the organisers of the Convention next to my dear friend Isobel Lancashire who received the Lut-Da Award which rewards a quilter who has used their quilting skills and knowledge to selflessly contribute to others in their local environment or quilting community.

Finally there is Merelyn Pearce who won The National Quilt Award which is presented to the maker of the quilt that is judged the best from the 'Best of Show Quilts' from the annual state guild shows around the country in the previous 12 months for her Preston Dreaming.

 

AND there was a special guest at the dinner! I'm sure it was really him and boy can he dance!

I had such a good time in Melbourne tho it was full on every day. Now it's back to reality and the countdown to the Springwood Quilt Show. But before that starts next week I'm off to Nowra for 2 days at Jukejema Quilting Barn - see you soon!

Remember the previous post? There were triplets in that tummy - isn't she clever!

Snake Gully!

This is the sight that greeted me on my arrival at Snake Gully - the venue for the Secret Sisters sewing weekend in Muswellbrook on the weekend. There were two girls waiting in the labour ward for the big event - we even thought it might happen while I was there but no such luck. I remember just how they were feeling!

Part of the beautiful property of my hosts which included 37 different varieties of fruit trees, cows, sheep, chooks, ducks, geese and guinea fowl - I'm sure I've forgotten some wildlife I saw on a whirlwind walk around the house paddock.

My friendly hosts Liz and Robert with Ellie. Do you know mum cooks her bacon and eggs for breakfast every day!

We had such a good time - I even got to practice for my up-coming role as a granny.

Great venue in a renovated shed on the farm - good lighting, plenty of tables, air-con and food to die for!

Dahlias were growing slowly.

Several girls were trying out the NYB blocks. They started off quite reserved but by Sunday afternoon fabric choices were hotting up and the results were amazing.

There was lots of show-and-tell from me and the students. Unbeknown to me quite a few had made my Mariners Medley quilt and brought them along to show. They were all different and looked great.

We even had a celebrity in the room. If you follow Barbara Brackman's blog about the Civil War quilts you'll know she posted a block a week last year and lots of quilters were making the quilt in all different styles. Leonie posted her blocks on Flickr. They caught Barbara's attention and  are to be included in her soon-to-be-published book.  

These are the three blocks chosen for the book. How exciting for Leonie whose sewing skills are fantastic even though she is vision impaired.

I have lots more pics but I'll keep then for the next post.

Off to AQC in Melbourne next week - can't wait and happy Easter to you all.

Pattern release!

Finally it's here! The pattern set for my Lots of Dots quilt.
It's now available in my etsy shop - over 100 pages of patterns for this quilt which won its category at the 2011 Sydney Quilt Show.
The set comprises patterns for the 26 different circle blocks in the quilt featuring foundation piecing, applique and english piecing. Each pattern features original foundations, templates, diagrams and extensive instructions for all the blocks in the quilt.

PLUS as a bonus you will receive a 50 page pack of light-weight foundation papers to start you on this project.  So if you're looking for a challenging but rewarding project this one is just for you.

The quilt is on exhibition at the Australian Quilt Convention in Melbourne in April as one of five "Best of the Best" from the NSW Quilters Guild - I'm also teaching there so come and check out the quilt and say hi as well.

Below  is Gaby's version of Lots of Dots in aboriginal fabric featuring - you guessed it - lots of dots!

Her fussy-cutting is amazing and the background fabric is just perfect for the blocks.

You can see both versions of this beautiful quilt at our Springwood Community Quilt Show the last weekend in April. We'd love you to come - check out the latest news from the show on our blog here.

AQC!!!

The program is finally released for next year's AQC in Melbourne in April - details here. The event is billed as Australia's largest event dedicated specifically to quilting.

And I will be one of the tutors! How amazing is that - finally playing with the big kids. There are 13 different tutors - 3 from the US, 1 from the UK and 1 from Japan as well as lots of famous Australian quilters. Hope I can keep up!

I will be doing 2 x 2-day classes on this quilt - Jacobean Star and two blocks from my Lots of Dots quilt.

 

Lots of Dots has been chosen as one of five by the NSW Quilters Guild to represent the Best of the Best from our state. I am so pleased to be part of this event.

The quilt has also been featured in the latest issue of Quilt Mania - pics were taken when they were at Darling Harbour this year. There is a write up on the Castlemaine Applique Group and Linda from Quilts in the Barn. It is a lovely issue and shows that Australia is keeping up or even surpassing the rest of the quilting world. Well done.