Quilters World

Out of the Past - Colourful Class

This workshop which was part of Quiltfest in 2006 seems to incorporate a new form of calisthenics. Can you identify the tutor? Or her student?

Coolatai Quilters

 
Over the years Pauline has taught in many different venues, including community halls, private homes, business boardrooms, shearing sheds, caravan parks, schoolrooms, coffee shops, outside beneath a shady tree, and on an Outback station.

In Coolatai NSW the ladies just push the tables together at the local pub when they have Pauline visit. It does help that the publican is a quilter!

 

A New Arrival

 

It doesn't seem that long ago we were announcing the arrival of Lannah and yesterday she became a big sister!

On Wednesday 10 February at 11:39 pm we became the proud grandparents of Dean Garry Rogers. He weighed in at a healthy 6lb13oz. Mum and bub are fine, dad and big sis are excited and we're ... grand!

The Travelling School House Comes Home

With a second grandchild due at any time Pauline has been staying close to home lately. We'd  some requests from local ladies for a get together so we decided to host a school house at Pauline's home in Cabarlah. It was such a great day (thanks to all the ladies who attended including five enthusiasts who drove up from Brisbane) that we will certainly be holding another one in the future. 

There was time for a cuppa and chat before Pauline gave her talk. If you've attended a school house before, you probably know Pauline enjoys experimenting with tools. After hearing and seeing her demonstrate her favourite tools you also realise how much she improves upon each tool. We're not sure if the manufacturer themselves realise how versatile their gadgets are!

Plenty of inspiration was provided by the attendees too - such as Robin sharing her idea of incorporating a rubber backed curtain as the bottom "fabric" with the chenille technique to make a bath mat. Mary having won the door prize took home additional inspiration in the form of Kay Meale's video Pattern Matched LeMoyne Star & Fan.

Pauline also introduced some new products that she's been trialling for the last few months, including the fun Texture Magic, a steam activated shrinking fabric.  Pauline loves adapting techniques and she's been very busy, creating unique blocks using the Texture Magic and a few of her other favourite tools.

For quilters in the Toowoomba area, if you missed this School House, please send us an email with your expression of interest and we'll notify you when we schedule the next local one. Some of the ladies are also planning on hosting a LPO workshop in Toowoomba so keep an eye on your email for more news.

Ballina Quilt Group

Travelling around Australia presenting her school house program or tutoring workshops, means Pauline gets to meet so many wonderful women while seeing the sights of our great country. One great place she's been recently is Ballina.

Pauline has relatives that live in the area and the coast is stunning with the beaches and picturesque headlands. What she really enjoyed though where those fun and friendly ladies of the Ballina Quilters!

Books We Love - Stack n Whack Quilts by Bethany Reynolds

Just as kaleidoscopes kept us spellbound as children, a Kaleidoscope quilt will keep you in awe with the creation of each unique block. 

At one time, Kaleidoscope quilts  required a lot of tedious planning and cutting with a special template. Then along came Bethany Reynolds with a technique that simplified the making of these magical quilts.

Her revolutionary method of measuring and marking pattern repeats on the fabric, then cutting all the pieces for the kaleidoscope at once, is more precise, and much less time consuming and wasteful.

Stack N Whack is a fun and exciting way to create a stunning quilt... but do be warned as it can be addictive. One of the side effects of a Stack n Whack addiction...you'll never look at fabric the same way again!

Magic Stack-N-Whack Quilts is definitely in our library and we highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in this technique.

Black Magic Quilt Block

The Black Beauty block is not a traditional block. Kay Meale based the design on the "Fifty Four Forty or Fight" block to introduce the use of templates into her students repertoire. She added a touch of magic by changing the corner units to chevron log cabin from the usual four patch. This block looks complex but it's not really that difficult.

Level: Advanced beginner
Size: 12 1/2" unfinished

FABRIC REQUIREMENTS
Colour One 16" x 10", Colour Two 21" x 5", Colour Three 8" x 8" and Colour Four 5" x 13"

TOOLS
To make this block you will need the usual tools - rotary cutter, mat, acrylic ruler and sewing machine. You will also require material to use for making templates. There are various types of plastic available for this purpose. With so many seams to sew we recommend an awl (it can make a huge difference when stitching small pieces). It's also important to press seams as you go. This task can be made easier with a finger presser.

TEMPLATES
To make your templates for the side blocks download the template pattern and print it out. You will place your choosen template material over the pattern and trace. It's fine to use your karisma pencil on the template plastic but don't use your good scissors (or your rotary cutter) to cut it out. Don't worry about adding a 1/4" seam allowance as it has been accounted for in the pattern. Do mark the template so you know which is the right side up.