Quilters World

Jandowae Arts & Craft Day

With the Jandowae Cottage Craft Group hosting a Leukaemia Foundation Fundraiser on Wed 8 July and Thurs 9 July 2009, it's a great time to see what "our country cousins" have been creating.

The special Jandowae Arts & Craft Day will feature a Quilt & Craft Display, Minature Quilt Challenge and Decorated Shoulder Pad Competition. Also planned are local craft stalls, including woodwork and jewellery, and a Bring & Buy Stall.

With the first prize a Patchwork Quilt you'll want to get some tickets on the raffle. There's a Devonshire morning tea, light lunches and afternoon tea available.

Jandowae Arts & Craft Day
Wednesday July 8 & Thursday July 9 2009
9 am – 4 pm each day
Venue: Jandowae Uniting Church Hall, George St. Jandowae
Adults $2 entry /Children under 12 free

The peaceful little country town of Jandowae is located in the Wambo Shire of Queensland. Situated on highway 82, it's 48 km north of Dalby, en route to Mundubbera.

While in Jandowae you can check out the the Dingo Barrier Fence display, and visit historic Athlone Cottage, the Boomerang Factory and Jandowae Dam.

Emu Park Crafty Chics

 
Ladies from all over visited the recent Biloela Quilters Gathering. Bev Hamilton from Emu Park won some Quilters World DVD's for her and her craft group to enjoy.

Traditional Ideas with a Twist

Mother and daughter quilters, Annette and Jody share a passion for designing and creating quilts. 

They've made many quilts from others' patterns, but were always searching for something striking and unusual that would make their quilts a bit more special.

That's why they started designing their own!

For years now they've been creating quilts from their very own designs.The great comments and praise from friends, family and their quilting group encouraged them to share their unique quilt patterns with others. 

They discovered that by making the designs fit the traditional idea of a Block of the Month Program, they were able to break down the patterns into much more manageable chunks, making it easier for everyone to create their own fabulous quilts.

That's how the Quiltblockofthemonthclub.com began!

The online club has a fabulous range of exclusive quilts we think are just wonderful. Quilters who appreciate a slightly different sense of style, a twist on the classics, or something more "arty" will want to check it out.

Would you like to get the latest quilt patterns, cheaply and easily, delivered right to your desktop? Find out more about the Quilt Block of the Month Club.

 

  

Clover 18mm Mini Rotary Cutter

The 18mm Clover Rotary Cutter is ideal for cutting delicate pieces and shapes from fabric to use in applique, crafts and patchwork. Slender and easy to hold you can easily cut out a curved pieced - just like drawing a line with a pen.

Make Your Own Bias Tape

For unlimited choice, you can make bias tape from any fabric print you like with the Clover 6mm (1/4") Bias Tape Maker. Excellent for use in projects that use bias tape - stained glass quilting, celtic, and applique work.

Denise Vanderlugt Workshops

Textile artist Denise Vanderlugt specializes in hand stitched pictorial quilts. Working with a variety of applique techniques, Denise has created a method called "Fabrique - constructed images in fabric". Another love of Denise's life is making coiled baskets from recycled material.

Denise is also an award-winning children's author and illustrator. The artwork from Denise’s book “Where Rainbows Live” and examples of her baskets will be on display at the Toowoomba City Library from 6-10th July. She'll also be visiting the library and will be offering a children's workshop, as well as two-day workshops in Fabrique and creating Coiled Baskets.

The Children's Workshops will take place at the library on the 6th of July. Denise will read from her magical book “Where Rainbows Live”. The children will be able to get a up close look at the original artwork from the book and create their own mini-book. There will be two sessions - the first one for ages 4-7 from 1-2pm and the second for ages 8-12 from 3-4pm. The cost is free but bookings are required. Please phone the library on 4688 6678.

FABRIQUE
2 Day Handstitching Workshop
CONSTRUCTED IMAGES IN FABRIC
Date: 9 & 10 July
Ages: 14 - Adult
Time: 9.30am - 5.00pm (if people are interested
Denise is happy to negotiate times and stay until 8pm)
Where: Toowoomba City Library
Cost: $150 morning tea and lunch included
Class Description
This method of construction is derived from existing traditional applique techniques. A realistic or abstract effect can be achieved. Instruction will be given using Denise’s own method of working on paper as a ground
instead of on a background fabric. The paper is
covered with fabric, as a painter would cover a
canvas with paint, and, when the image is formed, the paper is removed. There is discussion on composition, colour, overall design and how they apply to this method of working, with consideration to designing the quilting that will eventually enhance the constructed image. This workshop concentrates on the student’s own ideas and personal inspiration and, will translate
these ideas onto fabric. Denise has produced two patterns if you get stuck coming up with your own idea,these form the basis of the samples she will bring to class. This method is the same as the illustrations in
her children’s book ‘ Where Rainbows Live’.

COILED BASKETRY
2 Day workshop
Using Recycled Material
Date: 7 & 8 July
Ages: 14 - Adult
Time: 9.30am - 5.00pm (if people are interested
Denise is happy to negotiate times and stay until 8pm)
Where: Toowoomba City Library
Cost: $150 morning tea and lunch included
Workshop Description
Participants will be given a short introduction to the
history of Coiled Basketry and its place in our society,
as humans we love containers! Each student will then
learn to make a Coiled Basket using recycled material
as the core, then wrapping over that core with leftovers
from other sewing projects or old clothes etc. to form a
basket of their choice. There is no going back over
your work to finish off, it is finished as you go.
The workshop will include the following:
• Beginning the coil
• Various Stitches
• Adding colours
• Shaping
• Finishing the end of the coil

For more information or to make a booking phone the Toowoomba City Library during office hours on 4688 6678. Spaces are limited.

Lesson on Bindings

Quilt binding is the finishing touch to your quilt. Once your quilt top is pieced and quilted it's ready for you to sew on a binding... or is it? Here are a few steps you'll want to take to successfully bind your quilt.

Trimming Borders after Quilting
When you're finished quilting you should even up your quilt edges, as borders can stretch quite badly during the quilting process. 

Use your long 6½” ruler, lay the edge of ruler in the last seam line and find a measurement you desire to use and mark with marking pencil on outside edge of your quilt.  We recommend the Karisma pencil for marking as it glides smoothly on fabric. Trim back to this pencil line. 

Measuring  Your Quilt
Using a tape measure, measure the length of your quilt in three places – centre, left side and right side. Make a note of these measurements.

Let's pretend we measure a quilt and what we have is: Left = 68 ½”, Centre = 67 ¾” and Right = 68 ¼”. Your binding for the quilt should be the same as the smallest measurement. So you now know you need to make your left and right hand borders 67¾” long.

Next measure the width of your quilt in the same way and write the measurements down. Our pretend quilt has these measurements: Top = 43 ½”, Centre = 43” and Bottom = 44”. This means the binding for the top and bottom needs to be made 43” long.

Adjusting Border
Now that you know what size to make your binding you need to adjust your border. To do so find the half way and the quarter location of your quilt and mark with pins. 

Using a sewing needle and thread, start from the middle. Wrap the thread around the centre pin in a figure 8.  Now run a small gathering stitch to the next pin, unthread needle and re-thread.  Wrap around next pin in figure 8 as before, repeat to end.  Then repeat from centre out in the opposite direction. 

You now use each of these threads to pull your border into the chosen measurement (67 ¾”), repeat on other side.  Repeat on top and bottom until this measurement is 43”.   When you pull up each section, wrap the thread around the pins in a figure 8, this will hold the threads very secure while you stitch the binding on.

Preparing the Binding
Cut your binding 2 ½” wide across the width of the fabric. The length you need is twice the length and twice the width of your quilt plus ten inches. The extra ten inches accomodates all the joins, and the start and finish.

For this example you would have:
67¾”+67¾”=135½” and 43+43”= 86” for a total of 221½”
Plus the additional 10" for a grand total of 231½” of fabric.

How much fabric do I need to buy?
We know we need to make our binding 231½” long. To calculate how much fabric you require, depends on the wide of the fabric. We'll use 42" for our calculation as it is a common width for quality quilt fabric.

Required length divided by width of fabric equals the number of strips you'll cut.  For our example: 231 1/2"/ 42 = 6 strips

So we'll be cutting six strips 2 1/2 inches wide. There's just one more quick calculation to make. The number of your strips times the width of the strip.
6 x 2.5" = 15"

If your quilt shop sells fabric by the meterage you'll want to convert from inches to centimetres. You can use an online conversion tool to do the math for you or multiply by 2.54.

For our example we need 15" of fabric, which is equivalent to 38.1 cm. Therefore we'll purchase 40cm of fabric for our binding.

Making the Binding
Sew all your 2½” strips together into one continuous length, using a 45º angle join. Trim seams and press open.  Fold one end of binding strip over at a 45º angle and fold and press the entire binding fabric in half down the length, wrong sides together. 

Adding the Binding
On most quilts you'll stitch your binding to the top side of the quilt. Begin at the center of one edge of your quilt top. Place the binding so its raw edges meet the raw edges of the quilt.

Stitch through all layers using a ¼” seam. Stitch to a quarter inch from the corner and turn the corner. To do so leave the needle in the down position, lift the presser foot, rotate the quilt, lower the presser foot and backstitch  ¼”, fold the binding back to the corner so that the folded edge is at the top and the raw edge lines up with the raw edge of the quilt. Repeat this process at each corner.

Turn your binding to the back of quilt and hand stitch using a blind hem stitch.  Don’t forget to add a label to masterpiece.

Biloela Quilters Gathering

The Annual Quilters Gathering is on again!

A grand time was had by all the attendees of last years Quilters Gathering held in Cabarlah. This year the event is hosted by the Biloela Quilters on Saturday 20 June. Biloela's a friendly country town located 120km inland from Gladstone in Central Queensland.

Guest Speakers
With the doors opening at 9.30 am it's sure to be a fabulous day. Quilters will be treated to two entertaining talks by the guest speakers - Ruth Bloomfield and our very own, Pauline Rogers. As one of our DVD presenter's we could possibly lay claim to Ruth also! One thing is sure - both these ladies are knowledgeable and fun, so you're guaranteed to have a good time and will probably learn something very handy.

Ruth Bloomfield
Ruth has just had a quilt accepted for exhibition at the International Quilt Festival in Houston. In 2007 Ruth not only exhibited at Houston, but her quilt was choosen as a finalist. She'll tell you about her visits to the Houston Quilt Festival, and share with you her wonderful work and unique techniques.

Pauline Rogers
Pauline's extensive knowledge of patchwork and quilting covers nearly every facet of the craft. She'll show you how tools can help you achieve better results while using your time more efficiently, what tools are essential and which ones are just nice to own!

The Biloela Quilters have busy planning a great day . You'll surely want a raffle ticket on their exquisite quilt.

A Fun-Filled Day
There will also be a quilt display put on by the Biloela Quilters Group, Show & Tell (so bring your own quilts), a delicious morning tea and sit-down lunch, opportunity for some retail therapy, plus chances to win some fabulous prizes.

The gathering runs until 3.00 pm at the Biloela Civic Centre, so come along for a day of fun. It's a great time to catch up with your quilting friends and meet other like minded ladies for a good gossip! You may even win a prize.

Book Today
Entry is $25 per person and bookings are essential. Contact Gwen on 07 4992 2265 or Fay on 07 4992 3959 for tickets.

Brisbane Stitches & Craft Show

Quilters World will be at the Brisbane Stitches & Craft Show from 29 April to 3 May 2009.

You'll find Pauline in Stand 62. Drop by for a demonstration of some very handy tools and you might even learn a few useful techniques. While you're there make sure you see our latest arrival - the Karisma glue pen.

Also featuring at the Quilters World stand is the creative queen herself, Ruth Bloomfield. This is a great opportunity to see Ruth work her magic with her amazing confetti technique.

Why don’t my points match?

Check your tools. Do your rulers all measure the same? Different brands are not always the same measurements. If you start making a quilt with one ruler, you need to stick with it all the way through. 

Does your ¼” foot of your sewing machine measure the same as the ¼” on your ruler? If they are not identical ¼” you’re going to have problems. They need only be ½ a thread width different and your points won’t be accurate.

How do I get my seams to match?

To get your seams to match pressing is the key. When you finish a row of stitching lay the iron on top of the stitching line and press.

On the wrong side turn fabric over and gently press seam towards the darker fabric. If you don’t press the stitching line first you run the risk of the thread stretching which will cause seams to not line up.

How often should I change my cutting blade on my rotary cutter?

How often you change your blade depends on how you treat it. If you hit the side of your ruler or run over a pin, you will create a dead spot in the blade. It will need to be replaced.

Cleaning and oiling your blade on a regular basis will give you a lot longer life. After every project you finish, pull your rotary cutter apart and wipe the build up of lint away. Put a few dabs of machine oil on a soft cloth and wipe blade. Reassemble your cutter.

Brisbane Craft & Quilt Fair

Visit Us at the Fair

Stand B15

Wednesday October 22 to Sunday 26, 2008
Open 9am - 5pm daily
Brisbane Exhibition Centre
     Cnr Glenelg & Merivale Streets, South Bank

Where In the World Are They?

You must wonder what these two are up to? Gerry and Jane, who were hard at work back in the Cabarlah office certainly do! They were under the impression that Patty and Pauline were toiling away at a Quilters World Schoolhouse.

Hmmmm... where in the world are they?

Social Saturdays

Join us one Saturday a month in the country for a carefree day of sewing and friendship. The venue for two of our most popular classes will be the Cabarlah Hall, on the New England Highway: Block Party on Saturday 25 October from 9.30am-10.30am Cost $15 (includes kit) In this demonstration only class you will learn how to make a new block each month.  At the end of the program you will have enough blocks to make a fantastic quilt.

After you've finished Block Party and had a chat over a free morning tea, you can stay on for our ever popular Anything Patchwork Goes class from 11am to 3.30pm.  Choose your own project to work on with help from our experienced tutor who will ensure that you can finish your work with confidence. You can bring along whatever you wish to work on be it a piece of hand work or something done on the machine (don't forget to bring your machine if you need it)!

Anything Patchwork is $30 for the day. If you book into Block Party and Anything Patchwork you pay only $30 for the whole day! That's a savings of $15.

Phone us on 07 4696 9825 or email info@quiltersworld.com.au to book in.

Viewers Choice

Congratulations to Karen Klein of Toowoomba whose quilt Oak Leaves received the Viewer's Choice Award for Quiltfest 2008. With 100 stunning quilts to choose from, visitors to the exhibition voted for their favourite with Karen's lovely creation coming out on top of the poll.

Relatively new to quilting, Karen was "over the moon". We're really proud of her here at Quilters World... Karen was one of our students.

Where In the World?

Patty and Pauline have been travelling about, presenting the popular school house program. Can you guess where this photo was taken?

Head to the Hills For Quiltfest

It's spring... time to get out and about, and the perfect place to head is Toowoomba, for the Carnival of Flowers. Much more than a festival celebrating flowers, the carnival celebrates beauty and creativity.

With over 40 events there's lots to see and do. For quilters one of the highlights is Quiltfest held at Downlands College on Ruthven Street. Running from Saturday 20th to Wednesday 24th, Quiltfest's venue is also a prize winning garden.

The Quiltfest quilt exhibition is always popular and features over 100 awe-inspiring quilts. There are traditional quilts, art quilts, kids quilts ... quilts large and small... and definitely more than one which will stop you in your tracks. You might have a bit of trouble deciding which one you should vote for "Viewer's Choice"... there's just such an amazing assortment.

Gerry's been busy! It's not such a bad job having to deal with a hundred or so quilts.

An important part of the exhibition, the Margie's Quilts of Hope Challenge display is a special show of hope and dreams. It showcases the winners of this years competition as well as all of the 2008 entries.

For the first time at Quiltfest, you'll also be able to purchase a Margie's Quilts of Hope Quilt. Although this years quilts are not for sale (as of yet)... there is a wonderful selection of Margie's Quilts of Hope Quilts on offer. Remember every cent raised in the sale of a MQH goes to charity to support the fight against breast cancer.

Another featured display is the Goonellabah Quilter Quilts & Fibre Arts Exhibit of Bra Quilts. You just have to see it! There will also be a special show of Outback Tour Quilts. You'll be surprised at what quilters can create while travelling around Australia on a coach.

You'll also want to check out the delightful winners of the Fresh Hope Pincushion Challenge. The pincushion challenge is a fundraiser for Fresh Hope, a special organisation that helps mums with addictions. To help support this worthwhile program they'll also have items for sale.

After viewing the incredible quilts on display you'll need to stock up on some supplies. Quilters World have patterns from Kay Meale Designs, along with some must have tools and those fantastic DVD's. Patchwork Paradise from Rockhampton has amongst the gorgeous fabric a few great kits. The Country Quilt Co. stall boasts some lovely patterns with their fabric stash. Then there's the Thread and Ginger Patchwork Boutique with more wonderful fabric, books and patterns.

In the market area you'll also find Ruth Bloomfield and her unique designs. She has new block of the months available for those who'd like to explore their creativity. You also must check out what Annette and Jody from the Quilt Block of the Month Club have on offer. For something a bit different check out Val's Bits & Bobs - she has a fabulous collection of antique buttons. 

They'll be tool and technique demonstrations throughout the day. With morning tea and light lunches available you can spend the whole day browsing amongst the quilts and merchant mall.

If you'd like somewhere really fun to grab a bite to eat try Colours of San Cris. It's about a ten minute drive out on the New England Hwy in Cabarlah, but the food is delicious and you can browse amongst the South American arts & crafts while you wait for your meal. If you're looking for something a bit more indulgent visit Weis Restaurant in Margaret Street for their seafood smorgasbord.

After visiting Quiltfest... we recomment that you take in the Toowoomba Quilter's Quilt and Fine Art Exhibition at TAFE on Bridge Street. 

With two Quilt Exhibitions, all the lovely gardens and much, much more happening at the Carnival of Flowers... if you can visit... you simply must!

Quilters World Classes with Donna and Monica

We are very excited to be able to offer you the choice of two well known tutors and designers who will be with us for our Quilters Gathering on Saturday 4th October and who will both be teaching workshops on Sunday 5th October.

Donna Ward, one of New Zealand's top machine quilters will teach her Fearless Freemotion Quilting workshop.

Are you tired of quilting the same designs on your quilts.  This workshop is for the student who has master the basics of free form machine quilting and is looking to try new and innovative quilting designs.

Donna will teach you how to quilt designs without marking.

At the end of the day you will have a collection of quilting samples for future reference and the confidence to tackle more exciting quilt designs for your own quilts.

We are also happy to welcome Monica Poole, well known to many of you as the designer of the   Moonshine pattern range of exciting quilts and bags. 

This exciting workshop explores six of Monica's favourite machine applique methods used frequently in her designs.  Techniques include: 3 dimensional applique, satin stitch and machine embroidery, invisible machine applique, applique with crazy patchwork, sketchy applique and bias applique. 

Truly a valuable workshop with loads of information passed on to you to assist with your future quilting and best of all Monica will be there to answer all your machine sewing questions.

During the workshop, you will make 6 difference floral applique 10" blocks and join them together using a quilt as you go method.  This quilt will be the ultimate scrap quilt, which will make it simple to continue making more blocks if you wish.

Both workshops will take place on Sunday 5 October at the Cabarlah Hall from 9.00am until 4.00pm.  The cost is $75 which includes morning tea. 

The first 30 customers who book for both the Quilters Gathering and one workshop will each receive a $25 voucher to spend on fabric or tools on the weekend.

For bookings please ring 07 4696 9825 or email info@quiltersworld.com.au

Happy 20th to the Gold Coast Quilters

The founding members of the Gold Coast Guild

Last week the whole crew from Quilters World visited with the Gold Coast Quilters. Pauline and Patti had gone down to the coast the night before, so that they could get an early start. Some think they were really trying to escape from the cold weather up here in Toowoomba.

We love surprises and the Gold Coast quilters had two big surprises for us. The first surprise was apparent the minute we arrived. Having expected a group of 20 or so... we were greeted by about 100 quilters. It may have been such a large group as they were celebrating a milestone - their 20th birthday. We hadn't expected a party, and we were honoured to be there on this special occasion.

It was a fabulous day and the cake was ever so yummy! Thanks to the guild for having us.

Quilters from way back	Happy 20th Birthday
Patty the entertainer	A bit of retail therapy

It really was a lucky day.

Beautiful weather, great company, lots of fun ... and we even got extra time to sit back and relax.

That's right we stopped for a coffee on the way home and the car wouldn't start again.

We we're just wondering what to do... when Mr RCQ man appeared. Although he was there to tow another car, he did send for someone to give us a boost.

Sights from the OBT 2008