Stay home and sew – March

Posted on March 29, 2020 by Waverley

All around the world quilters, knitters, spinners and weavers and other crafters are staying at home and getting on with the challenge of self isolation. Thank goodness for a well stocked stash.

The reality of social distancing really hit home in Melbourne this week. For Waverley Patchworkers we missed what would have been a fantastic workshop, followed by our March evening meeting. To make up for this regular quilty gathering we are doing the best we can with a virtual Show and Tell.

We hope you enjoy this small offering and find inspiration and amusement – watch out for Mariya’s response to panic buying.

Comments are welcome.

Original designs

Celebration of a Season reflects Christine’s love of the garden. She has added stitching and appliqué to a beautiful collection of fabrics to make this stunning little quilt that was to be finished just in time for our Quilt Show. It will keep until next year.

Karen McGregor will be teaching thread-painting later this year. Rainbow Lorikeet is the first of three pieces she is making to go into the Threadalicious Textile Exhibition at Stonehouse Gallery in Warrandyte in September.

Stitchery Quilts

Peggy has taken five years to complete this cross stitch adaptation of the Westbury Quilt. Just dove left to fill in. What an amazing achievement.

Jeanette has finished the first twenty blocks of CGT’s Field Journal. This is a three year project using these beautiful hand dyed threads and will be set with Liberty fabrics.

Another block of the month, this time Wishing You Well by Gail Pan. A most timely message. Peggy is three months into this one.

Quilts as gifts

Made for a friend’s new granddaughter, Linda was planning to deliver this in person in June. The friend lives in Washington State and this is no longer possible, so it will be posted instead.

Peggy made the bouquet for her niece’s wedding a few years ago. One thing leads to another and she is now making a baby quilt featuring similar flowers.

A different floral gift. Kanzashi flowers in a fabric vase made by Karen for her Aunt who has just had surgery. She loves Wilson’s Prom so the Ocean Flowers have shell centres.

Blocks by Peggy to make a Superhero Quilt for our Gift Quilt program.

Dianne is just started a new boat quilt for a new little person in her family. She is hand piecing and with all the time now available will get it done quite quickly.

Scrap Quilts

Christine is a member of the Scrapaholics group, here is her blue block for their current project.

Heather says she is mindlessly working on these Carolina Chain blocks. They are looking pretty fantastic.

With 64 of these little double nine patch blocks to make, Jenny is taking her time and going for accuracy. She says she has been preparing for years for this stay home and sew isolation.

Garden Frolic is Jeanette’s almost finished mystery scrap quilt. Just the pieced borders to add. The pattern is by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville and was freely available over summer. Bonnie is starting a Sew-in-Place Quilt Along on Monday. It will be scrappy like all her patterns, but not a mystery quilt. Perfect if you are needing a new project using just your stash.

Finally – Mariya has come up with a very novel use for her scraps.

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Important Notice

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Waverley

Given the current public health situation we are taking the precautionary measure of cancelling all activities run by Waverley Patchworkers for the months of March and April. The committee will review the situation in early May.

A call out is made to members to send photos of current projects so we can keep in touch through the website’s Show and Tell.

We trust that you all keep well and complete all those UFOs that are tucked away. If possible, support your local traders, it is going to be a very difficult time for them.

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Quilt Show update

Posted on March 12, 2020 by Waverley
Quilt Show Postponed

Our biennial Quilt Show is a major event for Waverley Patchworkers involving a lot of organisation and commitment of members.  As the major fund raiser for us and our contribution to the community of Monash, it also relies on people attending the show.

In light of the current Coronavirus situation, and the Victorian Government warnings that public events in the future may need to be reviewed, we are taking the prudent action of postponing our show.

While this is disappointing we feel it is a decision best made while we are still in the early planning stages. This ensures that we limit our risk in relation to a later cancellation and gives us plenty of time to communicate the change of plan. 

The new date is yet to be decided, but it is most likely to be in 2021. In the meantime we trust that you all stay healthy and virus free. With all the extra quilting time we can promise a bigger, brighter and better show than ever.

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Sugy Kim at Waverley

Posted on March 2, 2020 by Waverley

We were thrilled to have the very talented Sugy Kim as our first guest speaker for 2020. She spoke to a large crowd at our February Monthly Meeting, taking us on her journey from a diligent student in Japan to a quilting megastar.

Sugy Kim with Colourful Retina – Best in Australia 2018

Originally from South Korea, Sugy went to Japan after completing her Fine Arts Degree. She married an Australian but they continued to live in Japan where she commenced a rigorous three year quilting course.

First ever block resting on a recent hand quilted piece.

This was at the Chuck’s Patchwork School which has produced many master quilters. Each month a block was studied and then created according to the teacher’s instruction, all by hand.

These first quilts were made while at the school as was the very traditional sampler. Even the colours are influenced by the teacher.

Omoide – sampler quilt begun long ago, quilted in 2012

It is a tradition among Japanese quilters that they make one big quilt using one of the traditional blocks – log cabin, dresden plate or grandmother’s garden. Mavis’s Garden was started in 2009 and completed in 2018. It is made half size. The back should be as good as the front and it should last forever.

It is this strong foundation that Sugy has built upon and uses to create her amazing quilts. It was not until she moved with her family to Melbourne that she purchased a sewing machine. After visiting a quilt show she learned that if she wanted to exhibit she needed to be a member, so she joined Victorian Quilters and set about making a quilt to exhibit.

The Cosmos in Vigor 2013 – machine and hand pieced, hand quilted

This quilt earned Sugy her first ribbon, and she was thrilled. Now she was beginning to feel like a quilter.

Quilts designs are drafted by hand, the way she was taught. She draws the whole pattern and then considers how each part is going to be constructed as she colours her design. Grain, seam allowance, how points will be joined are all very important.

The next show quilt took eleven months to make. It won 5 ribbons including Best of Show.

A Journey to Nirvana – machine pieced, hand quilted

In making this quilt she learned a lot about handling little pieces. And managing bias, to always put it next to straight grain. This is all part of the planning. Her most well known quilt, Colourful Retina was three months in the designing, five months making and seven months quilting. The huge quilt was first drawn on paper, one quarter of the design at full size. As each section was made it was pinned to the design wall for further colour consideration. Then when all the piecing was finished all seam allowances were trimmed to make hand quilting easier.

The message we all learned from Sugy Kim is that amazing quilts do not just happen, they are the result of years of learning and practice, dedicated hard work and attention to every detail.

At the same time Sugy has fun with her quilting and also loves making bags.

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February Show and Tell

Posted on February 28, 2020 by Waverley

Click on an image to see a larger version and to read the description.

  • Dandelion Wishes – Lyn
  • Penguins for Chester – Linda
  • Koala Quilt – Sue
  • Koala Bag – Sue
  • Quilting Practice Quilt – Lyn
  • Bond Street – Carol
  • Rambling Roses – Ruth
Goldfish Table Runner – Sue

Joan is our featured member for the month of February. She joined Waverley Patchworkers in 2003 and finds her inspiration in all sorts of places. Like many of us, finishing is a challenge.

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January 2020

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Waverley

The new year started with a lively sit and sew evening complete with lamingtons and a challenging quiz. Highlight of the meeting was seeing the quilts of our President.

Heather is a very talented quilter who adapts designs and creates her own. Unfortunately there are no photos of her first quilt, made at the 1993 Waverley Symposium, so we jump into the quilts from the last decade.

In 2010 there was quite an interest in William Morris inspired quilts. Heather designed An English Garden using patterns from a book produced by the South Australian Museum. Being a South Aussie she is very familiar with the Boynthon family collection of unique William Morris items held in the museum. Her quilt toured the USA in the World Quilt Competition in 2011.

Free Spirit was made in 2011 for a Victorian Quilters’ competition using a pattern from Annette Gero’s book The Fabric of Society.

Always challenging herself, Heather’s version of Grace, a class at Somerset Quilts, has a background fabric that took her out of her comfort zone.

Enough of the reproduction quilts, more recently Heather has embraced the Modern Quilt movement. Tout Naturale was designed and made in 2017 for her daughter who had a particular colour scheme request as well as wanting flying geese. It is well used, and well washed, a good indication that the quilt made the recipient very happy.

The most recent quilt made by Heather is Family DNA. Again a family request, this time for a brown quilt. The idea comes from a quilt glimpsed in the 2008 movie Runs in the Family, so the idea took quite a time to come to fruition. Well worth the wait.

Show and tell

This is a Quilt Show year, so for the first half we will not see many quilts at our meeting. Members tend to keep them under wraps before the show or they are busy getting a quilt finished in time for the May event.

  • Norma – Blue Cascades
  • Norma – Free Motion Quilting Challenge
  • Jenny H – Zen Quilt
  • Jenny – Sweet Surrender
  • Rhondda – Bag
  • Hamish – Turtle
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Annual General Meeting

Posted on November 8, 2019 by Waverley

It is important for every organisation run by volunteers that members take their turn on committee. Those elected for 2019/2020 include some of our newer members along with others who started with Waverley Patchworkers decades ago. A combination of experience and fresh ideas will keep us on track for another successful and enjoyable year.

It was then time to thank Helen for coordinating our fantastic retreat, our annual weekend away.

We also acknowledge members who contribute behind the scenes with the Val Dale Award, this year won by Margaret for her work on the Gift Quilts Program.

You may have noticed that our featured quilt in the background is predominately pink and many members wore some pink at the meeting. That is because, being Breast Cancer Awareness month, our guest speaker Jasmine Koch was from the Zonta organisation. This service club sews cushions for the comfort of those who have had breast cancer surgery. We took the opportunity to call for donations of suitable fabric and of course an overwhelming amount was brought along to the meeting.

Gift Quilts

As at every meeting recent completions are shown to the members. In her annual report on this activity Norma listed the huge number of beneficiaries of this work, 284 quilts were given away in the last financial year.

Show and Tell

  • Jeanette – Devilish Details
  • Jenny – Quilted Coat
  • Gale – Friendship Birthday Quilt
  • Gale – Black and White 50th
  • Naomi – Lyra’s Quilt
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September stunners

Posted on October 10, 2019 by Waverley

So many stunning quilts and quilt tops were seen at our rather special meeting in September. We were treated to a most interesting lecture and small trunk show given by Maria Shell from Alaska. Maria had also conducted a weekend of workshop as part of our June Lyons Scholarship program. The results were amazing.

Maria talked about Building Community Through Quilts with stories of numerous group quilting projects as well as the benefits of these activities.

Her technique has evolved from everyone making a block and joining them together to a more planned approach including having a lot of suitable fabrics prepared with fusible backing for participants to use.

When blocks are finished she then joins them in a way that reflects the particular community and adds lots of her own filler blocks. When finished the quilt goes back for an unveiling, celebration and installation.

Maria’s own quilts were a visual delight.

Show and Tell

As always it is a treat to see members’ finished work.

  • Deborah – Chevron Quilt
  • Karen – Anzac Memory
  • Karen – Through the Garden Window
  • Krista – Black and White Shapes on mint
  • Rhondda – Passages
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Showcase ribbons

Posted on July 29, 2019 by Waverley

Congratulations to all Waverley Patchworkers members who exhibited at Victorian Quilters Showcase in July. There were lots of ribbons on show too, adding to the excitement and pleasure of viewing the exhibition. They were won for hand and machine quilting, appliqué, embellishment, piecing and by our youngest quilter, by a newish member, for a quilt begun many years ago, by a modern quilter and an art quilter. A true representation of our membership.
If you found it hard to keep track of the awards, here are all the Waverley winning quilts.

Excellence in Domestic Machine Quilting – Amateur
First Place, Small Quilts – Amateur

  • Modern Medallion

Excellence in Embroidery and Embellishment

  • Sea Change

Excellence in Hand Quilting – Professional
Judges Commendation, Lorna Freeman
First Place, Mainly Pieced – Professional

  • Fickle Pickle Clan

Judges Commendation, Stephanie Knudsen
Highly Commended Pictorial Quilt

  • Crustacea

Runner Up Mainly Pieced Amateur

  • Tenpenny Tearoom Stars
  • Family DNA

Highly Commended Modern Quilt One Person

First Place Long Arm Machine Quilters

  • May Morris Sampler

First Place Mainly Appliqué – Amateur

  • Celebrating Mary Brown
  • Turtle Topia

Runner Up Student Primary

Highly Commended First Time Entrant

  • Ballet with Kaffe Fassett
  • My Modern Quilt

Runner Up Modern Quilt Two Person

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A clever technique

Posted on June 20, 2019 by Waverley

The Waverley Applique Special Interest Group meets on the first Thursday of each month. From time to time members share tips and tricks, explain new products or show us something new they have discovered. It is a great way expand our skills and knowledge.

At the June meeting Krista showed us the way she is making a Dresden Plate quilt and everyone found it useful – so it is being shared here.

She starts by making half square triangles using the fabrics chosen for the plate. These are joined into a large pinwheel. You don’t need to be too fussy about the centre points matching as these are cut away to reduce bulk.

Using a template she has made of the final shape she places a piece of soluble stabiliser on the right side of the pinwheel. The placement lines line up with the seams. She traces the outline of the template and then sews on the line.

Trim the outside of the seam line using pinking shears. This is a very quick way of making a curved seam allowance that will turn smoothly. Cut out a circle from the centre of the stabiliser and turn it to the wrong side, smoothing out the curves.

Find the centre of the background using diagonal folds, pin the plate in place and hand appliqué along the curves. The final step is to make a circle using your favourite technique and appliqué it onto the centre.

We loved Krista’s bold background fabric and matching spotty centres. Having made two thirties quilts with white backgrounds she said she was ready for a change.

This technique makes eight blade plates stress free. Krista is a whizz with computer design software and she has also developed templates to make ten blade plates too.

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