It’s our Birthday month and members have been enjoying free entry to all activities. We also celebrate with cupcakes at our Sit and Sew meeting on Monday September 24.
It is also time to renew your membership. The renewal form has been sent to all members, but if you cannot find it, download from our Forms page.
If you want to join Waverley Patchworkers, the form and all details are on the Join page.
We had a most interesting return to the Mount Waverley Community Centre in August. Members were very keen to see the renovations and inspected all areas thoroughly.
It was a very cold evening and it was noted that the heating system was not completely operational.
Even our guest speaker Christine Lethlean stayed rugged up while telling her fascinating story of growing up on a farm in Western Australia. It was here that she learned to value every scrap of fabric. She has transformed this ethos into beautiful textile art.
Christine now lives in Clunes where she has her studio. This, we learned, is named after her parents Margie and Bert She is currently working with machine appliqué creating mainly framed works.
The hall has been changed dramatically and as the stage has gone displaying quilts for show and tell was difficult. A portable stage is part of the promised equipment, but it is not yet ready. So apologies for not being able to show the large quilts in their entirety.
Hamish at 11 years, is our youngest member and had to be at school when awards were presented at Victorian Quilters Showcase in July. He won Runner Up in the Student Quilts – Primary category for Rainbow Ladders.
We can now update our photographic record with a photo of Hamish and his ribbon. Congratulations Hamish for this terrific original design.
Our other award winners are here.
Wool felt hanging – Denise
The renovations to Mount Waverley Community Centre are almost complete and we will be back there for our August meeting on Monday 27. The set up will be a little different, and still no library, but we will still have a fantastic meeting.
Our guest speaker is Christine Lethlean, originally from Western Australia but now a studio artist in Clunes, central Victoria. Christine has a distinctive collage style of working in fabric and includes a lot of preloved and discarded elements as well as embroidery, thread painting and printing. The Margie and Bert Studio is her work space and Christine is also the driving force behind the annual Textile Palette Exhibition in Clunes.
The skills, creativity and hard work of our quilters was on display at Victorian Quilters Showcase. Many were fortunate to have been awarded ribbons in their category or for an individual award. Congratulations to all members of Waverley Patchworkers who had a quilt in this annual show.
Anne Andrews –Narelle Grieve Award for Excellence in Hand Quilting Amateur for New York Double Dresden.
Krista Black – Best Contemporary Quilt Award and Highly Commended in the Modern Quilts category for Slashed with Red.
Linda Steele – Excellence in Use of Colour and First in the Miniature Quilts Traditional category for Autumn Dance.
Desley Maisano – Matilda’s Own Longer Machine Quilting Award for Version 3 – Black.
Jan Smart – First in the Traditional – 2 Person Amateur and Professional category for Okehampton. Desley Maisano was the quilter.
Anne Andrews – First in the Mainly Applique- Amateur category for A Circle a Day.
Hamish Kerle – Runner Up in the Student Quilts – Primary category for Rainbow Ladders.
Naomi Hynes – quilter of Bloom by Julie Fenn, First in the Wall Quilts – 2 person category
Linda Crouch – Highly Commended in the Wall Quilts – Professional Category for Feathers and Pearls.
Linda Crouch – Highly Commended in the Pictorial Quilts category for Early Bird.
Naomi Hynes – Highly Commended in the Miniature Quilts – Contemporary category for That Chick!
We had the full multimedia experience when Neroli Henderson spoke at our July Meeting. Her quilts are not overly large but she was able to show us the detail on screen as well as seeing the quilt ably held by her assistant, Taylor.
Neroli is an artist who has come to working in textiles from a painting background.
She has a lot of experience in painting on fabric and then stitching and this will be the approach taken in her workshop in August. Her most recent work uses her photography, particularly of the human form. She has it printed on silk then quilts densely with machine stitching, often including text, as these pieces contain a message about the human experience.
At the end of the meeting members were keen to see these small works up close.
We learn a little more about one of our members each meeting and this month Margaret bought a selection of her quilts.
Margaret does her own quilting and shared a few tips she has learned at various workshops. The first is to draw the quilting design on to lunch wrap, pin it to the quilt sandwich and stitch through. The second is how to create a quilting design to fit perfectly along a border. Cut a strip of paper the size of the border, fold in half and repeat until it is the size of the element you want to use. Draw the design, stitch through all the layers with no thread in the needle. When opened you have a pattern that will fit your border exactly.
We had a most interesting presentation at our meeting from Sisterworks. This is a not-for-profit that exists to help women migrants, asylum seekers and refugees become financially independent and happily settled in Australia. Luz Restrepo told us how when she arrived as a political refugee in 2010 with her life in tatters and no English she felt frightened, isolated and disempowered. She realised that she was not alone and worked to found the organisation that has as its main premise Work Empowers Women.
There was a sample of the products made by some of the 171 women from 55 countries that are supported by Sisterworks. These proved to be very popular and members were very pleased to see what amazing use would be made of the fabric they had brought to the meeting to donate.
A comment heard over and over again at the Waverley Patchworkers Quilt Show was ‘what a talented group’. One of our very talented members has had great success at the Sydney Quilt Show.
Congratulations to Linda Crouch for your beautiful quilt Feathers and Pearls which we first saw at our own show. The quilt received the Excellence in Quilting Award, Stationary Machine (Professional) and also First Prize in the Professional, Other Techniques category.
It will be no surprise to those who came to our May Meeting to hear that our speaker Julie Adamson was awarded First Prize in the Professional, Appliqué Quilt category and also the Excellence in Quilting, Hand Quilting Award for Victorian Lace.
Thanks to Linda Steele for providing the photos of these two very happy winners.
The full list of Sydney Quilt Show 2018 Prize Winners can be viewed here
Want to learn the basics of patchwork and quilting or know someone who does? We are running a series of four classes in July for just $10.
Participants will learn how to construct a nine patch block and will be shown examples of half square triangles, chain piecing and the use of tools. This leads on to a discussion of the varieties of batting, making a quilt sandwich and attaching the binding.
Fabric and basic equipment will be provided. BYO needle and small scissors.
The classes are on Saturday mornings at Bellfield House, Glen Waverley.
Email info@waverleypatchworkers.com.au to register or for more information.
A reminder to everyone who picked up one of our brochures at Quilt Show 2018. 
Join now and receive four extra months membership.
Our membership year ends in September, but if you join now your first year will not end until 30 September 2019.
That gives you plenty of time to get to know the group and find out all the benefits membership brings.
Didn’t pick up a brochure? Download a membership form MembershipForm
Visitors to the Waverley Patchworkers Quilt Show were invited to vote for their favourite quilt from all on display. There were lots of complaints about this as it was to difficult to choose just one quilt from all the fabulous entries!
Decisions were finally made and the viewers choose A Time for all Seasons an original design by Linda Steele, she also did the quilting.
The voting was so close a Runner Up was awarded as well. Liz Willing took inspiration from Mary Brown’s birds for the centre block of My Heart is Yours, an extremely popular quilt.
This year the 51 entries for the Birds of a Feather Flock Together Challenge were displayed in the cafe. This gave viewers lots of time to think about their choice over a cup of tea and a scone. Again they complained – too hard!
The ultimate winner: Number 227 Eastern Spinebills by Jan Smart. Again a runner up was awarded. It went to Number 223 by Naomi Hynes. Congratulations to Mariya Waters who organised and displayed this very successful challenge.
The beautiful raffle quilt Floral Flight was won by ticket number 2986, and we are assured it is going to a good home.
Second prize, the quilt kit Tribute to Mrs Williams was won by ticket number 0317 and we hope the recipient is someone who will enjoying making this lovely quilt.
