The Quilt Show - Part 2

Back again to finish off my report of the quilt show. Well, I hope to get it done this evening because I will be off down the highway in the morning.

Once the quilts were up, the judges arrived from Adelaide to work their way through them all.......

Friday morning people started arriving, .............

Our local paper, the borderchronicle reporter came to the opening and took lots of photos which you can see if you click on the link. I have borrowed some, with his permission to include with those that I took.

Our Assistant Secretary introduced Rachelle Denneny, who opened the show, and gave us a very moving speech.

Here is our President, Juanita, left, with Rachelle.

Following the opening by Rachelle, the category winners were announced, and there were some very surprised people. Marie was so shocked, she made a speech!

The winners were then able to pin their ribbons to the quilts.

Unfortunately the Best of Show winner Margie Crombie, was unable to be present, so here is a photo of the judges pinning the ribbon on her quilt, which was hand pieced and hand quilted. (I can't imagine even doing one block by hand).

 Pat was awarded a Judges Commendation by Raelene for her Cleopatra's Fan entry.

Sue received a Judges Commendation from Jill for her quilt, and was very surprised.

 Here she is with her quilt, and winners are grinners!.................

.................but just compare this photo with the one I took the day before, that I had not posted, but now have decided to show you! In this pic she was telling me in no uncertain terms, not to take the photo!! (Can you see that tongue?)

There was a display of 5 of Rachelle's magnificent quilts, and here is Michelle in the photo with Rachelle....................

................and this is Michelle standing in front of the same quilt when it was entered into the Paducah show in the US, in April 2018.

As we are the Gum Tree Quilters, our theme for the show is usually Among the Gum Trees, and this is one of our decorations.....................

...................and other items scattered around the hall................

The local Painting group had a display with some for sale.................

The Angels had a display of some of the quilts they make for those who need to know someone cares.

The Local Men's Shed had some of their wares to tempt us..................

There were toys on sale........................

.................And a few other shops in our district had their goods for sale...............

Arts on Ormerod, from Naracoorte..................

Sandy Tonkin from Culburra..................

Fleur, from Little Desert Quilts, just over the border..............

.......Louise from Lucy Purls..............

Marie from Holly Hand Dyes....................

................yours truly had some packs and fabrics for sale............

and Raylene had some lovely baby blankets for sale.

This was our raffle quilt, and I heard today that the tally was over $1900 worth of tickets sold, which will be donated to the local hospital Ladies Auxiliary, so we are very pleased with this.

More pics from around the show................

 Sue and her sister with Kerryn, who is the convenor of Quilt Encounter, a Guild week long retreat, which is where Sue attended the class to start her quilt.

Another of Pat's skills is jewellery making, and she had some here to tempt us.

Fleur gave a cutting demonstration.

This lady came up to me and said that she didn't expect a blog post today due to me being busy at the show. I have now met another of my blog readers, and it was lovely to meet you Lola. I love it when my readers come "out of the woodwork".

After all the work of the set up and getting quilts ready in the lead up to the show, it really was a great social occasion meeting up with customers and other quilters.

Jan was also unable to be at the presentation on Friday, so was surprised to find a ribbon on her quilt.

I think I have to give the award for spending the longest time checking out the quilts to these 2 ladies, who spent a lot of time looking at and discussing each quilt.

This quilt had the most amazing hand embroidery and candlewicking done by Pat. She used Michele Hill's William Morris applique patterns. I will do a post another day with closeup photos of this quilt.
This quilt was equal first for the Viewers Choice award, with the Best of Show quilt by Margie Crombie.

Being in the basketball stadium, the stands between the courts gave us a lot of seating for just sitting to view, or a chat.

Sandy won her first ever ribbon, and was pretty pleased,......

 and here she is checking out Rachelle's quilt, so I asked her if something like this would be her next show entry!!

 Just outside the entrance to the show we had organised a coffee van which was well patronised.

 Helen made bunting to hang up at the entrance to the car park, and it was a good attention getter......

....and each day a car was covered with our "quilt" to advertise the event by the roadside........

This was a new venue for us this year, and was reluctantly made due to circumstances, but it has turned out to be a good move. The parking is great, the venue spacious, the lighting amazing, and I have to say the toilets would be very fitting at the Taj Mahal!! We will see what happens in 2 years time.

 

Overall we were very pleased with the show, and attendance figures were around 480, and as I said the local hospital has benefited greatly with the amount raised with the raffle quilt.

Time to finish off this post, as I need some "beauty" sleep to be ready for a 6am departure in the morning. Today has been "recovery" day and putting things away and answering mail and sending quilts off, and watering the garden. It has been an exhausting few days, although great fun, and last night's sleep was interrupted with a 2am phone call from my neighbour who was very unwell.  I needed to call the ambulance and Raylene and I returned to bed at 3.30am to get some more sleep. My fairy returned home this morning, and I need to give her a BIG THANKYOU for all she did to help this week. My house sitter is here for the rest of the week, and I will be back on the weekend. Going to be grandma for a few days, and have lots of cuddles with Miss Billie and her new brother, little Jett. (My phone is still dead, and I have a borrowed one with no contacts!!)

Blessings, From Jude

The Quilt Show - Part 1

What a week it has been! My last post moaned about my dead phone, which has taken up a few hours trying to sort out things with the phone company. I did manage to get a couple of edge to edge quilts done with Max, and a few quilt kits were cut and packed ready to sell at the show. Thankfully I have had my fairy here since Sunday, and even another fairy who called in to help.

As I said lots of quilts had been dropped off at my place, so these were all checked to make sure they were labelled and had sleeves. Then they were packed into our wheelie travel cases ready to be taken to the venue. It looks like we are going on a trip, doesn't it? (As an aside I will mention that we could have been preparing for a trip as the Aussie Quilters Abroad group that we travelled to Paducah with last year, are leaving again on Sunday morning for Houston. Consideration was given to joining this tour, but I decided that as it clashed with our exhibition I was not going with them. Probably just as well as Jett Daniel arrived 3 weeks ago!)

And this was our "easy to prepare" evening meal one night this week after a big day, or two, or three, or more!

Thursday morning we were at the Basketball Stadium by 7.30, ready for a big day.

The quilts all needed to by signed in by the owners, and this was my job. Here you can see my assistant, who filled in for me when I was not at the desk.

The labels with the name of their quilts and the story were pinned to the right side of the quilts and they were all laid out in category groups before hanging.

Meanwhile, the frames which we hire from the Quilters Guild of SA, were being erected by our volunteers.

                                  Time for a break, and a quick sit down.

Then the hanging commenced. ............................ 

.................................until it looked like this. We are using the local Basketball Stadium for the first time this year, and there is so much more space, and the lighting is fantastic. This is only one side of the stadium.

Once the quilts were all hung, they were judged by members of the SAQG Judging Panel, who arrived just after lunch.

There was a full house at Number 8 on Thursday evening as the city visitors stayed, and we all enjoyed an evening with members of the Gum Tree Quilters Committee.

Day one of the exhibition was great, and included the opening by Rachelle Denneny. I will be back with another post and a full report of the whole weekend, in due course. It's time for a shower and to get ready for Day 2 of the show. Hope to see you there.

Blessings, From Jude

Mobile Phones!!!

This post is just a rant about modern technology as my mobile has died today. Isn't it scary just
how we rely on them?? I am so glad I still have my home phone, and I could ring the company to talk about my problem. Every device these days is supposed to be smart, but maybe they are not really so smart.

Fortunately I save my photos to the computer often, so that I can blog, but my contacts are not saved.
I do have an old phone, so hoping for some help to see if the sim card will fit into that one.
As we have our quilt show this week, it could not have come at a worse time for me. And I am planning a trip to Melbourne next week, so needing my phone to tell me where to go!

Enough moaning, better get back to cutting another kit that I hope to sell at the show. I have 2 fairies here who are helping sew sleeves and fold and pack quilts into cases ready for checkin day on Thursday. I am so blessed to have good friends. This house seem to be the local drop in point for those who can't get their quilts here on Thursday, and I think we might need to hire a truck because there are about 37 here being packed up!!! (I was a bit surprised when I just counted all those up, and it's a wonder the bed hasn't collapsed!!)

Be back soon, and hope to see some of you at our quilt show on the weekend. Meanwhile I can be contacted by email of home phone.

Blessings, From Jude

Out and about in the sunshine............

Today was the day to take off one of those "hats" that I have been wearing and posted about earlier this week. I finally finished that quilt that I had been working on for tooo long. (Well, it's finished except for taking out the basting stitching that I did before I unzipped it from Max, to do other quilts. I love having the zippers on my leaders, so that I can take a quilt off and put it back on quickly if necessary.)

For the last couple of days, I have been inside working and looking out the glass window at the blue sky and sunshine. Except to pick the daily paper up from my front porch, I have not been out of the house for days. So I decided that I needed to be "out" in that spring sunshine for just one day, and it was well past time to visit with family. I phoned my mum to see if she would like a day out, and drove up the highway early this morning. 

It was just the best feeling to be out and about, and enjoying the signs of spring. The wattle flowers are out in full bloom in our district, and I would have loved to stop and take a picture, but borrowed one from the internet instead. I love the smell of the flowers, although I know some people think they are too strong. The wattle is Australia's national flower, and there are many varieties.

Our district is still lovely and green, and the natives are flowering, and I noticed a few bottlebrushes coming out. I should have one of these in my own garden very soon. There were paddocks of hay being cut, which has a lovely smell as well. As I drove further north, the countryside was drier and golden, until I arrived in the Barossa, where it was still quite green. Tis a land of many contrasts, and there is still much I have not seen. DD1 and family have recently journeyed to the centre of our country and here is a photo of them in front of a very Aussie landmark, Uluru, or Ayer's Rock as it was formerly known.

We enjoyed a lovely chat outside in the garden, listening to the local birds, and enjoying the many scents of spring flowers in the local gardens.

A visit here with DS and family and hasn't Mister Tate grown so quickly. 

A few months ago Miss Bridie entered a colouring competition for the Adelaide Zoo, and I posted some photos of her drawings back then. She was fortunate to win a Family Pass to the Zoo for her efforts, and this colouring book arrived in the post this week.

.
......... and what should appear on the top of the next page??...........

............but the picture that she drew! Perhaps we have an artist in the making?

So it was a lovely spring day out, and great to catch up with some of the family, and spend some car time with my mum. She is still adjusting to being on her own, now that Dad is in full time care. From being one of 10 children, to being married for 66 years, it is quite a change. Fortunately there are lots of family still living close, but it's not quite the same as someone always being there.

While I still have that loooong list of preparation to do before the quilt show, which is only days away now, a day out was just what was needed I think. And I am even managing to fit in another treat tomorrow, which I will tell you about another day.

Blessings, From Jude

Wearing too many hats??

I know that certain people have been checking my blog for another post, and am conscious that it is 8 days now, so this morning I will catch up, so that I can cross that off from my LOOOOOOONG list of "to do's". And then I will stand with Max and continue with this quilt that I started a "sometime" ago, but had to baste and unzip to get exhibition quilts done. (I can tell you there are lots of triangles in this quilt!!) I thank this customer for being so understanding and patient.

As I reported not so long ago, my mind has been whirling in a lot of directions, and things have not calmed down yet. You think that after this, or that, life will settle, but then something else comes along to take it's turn in the queue, so I wonder if things will change? Perhaps I am wearing too many hats, or is it this "getting older" thing, and slowing down, that we don't fit as much into each day?

Some of the "hats" I have been wearing, and what has occupied my time recently..... being a new grandma and a quick Melbourne trip to visit,.....being a longarm quilter and finishing customer quilts.......finishing local girls quilts ready for our exhibition.......squeezing a couple of my own quilts into the queue.....being on the committee and attending meetings to plan the quilt show.......also being Publicity Officer for the group and getting the word out about our show......being on the SAQG Appraisal Panel and attending a day in the city, followed by a visit to mum and dad.......planning and some cutting for the next Mystery retreat that is coming up in 4 weeks time.....spending some time in my very neglected garden, and pulling weeds that have grown so high!........general household duties (which is a long way down on my priority list, and looks like it too!)........ planning next term's KYB meetings which start next week..........and fitting in other general things like shopping, doctors appointment, car service and a funeral.

There are other things that I am conscious of that I should be doing and haven't, but hopefully people will understand. There are emails that i have not replied to, and phone calls I need to make. I know that I have missed a few birthdays and need to catch up with those.

My back yard, and you can see I have done half of the vegie patch so far, .....

..... and even found some sweet peas just starting to bloom.

Thanks to our Assistant Secretary for these great signs, which appear at the entrances to our town. We would love to see you visit our show, and I will remind you in a few days time again!

A couple of photos from the Melbourne family!

Some pics of quilts that my quilter managed to fit in on the weekend. Bindings and hanging sleeves are in the process of being done. Our nights are still very cold, but I have not lit the fire in the lounge, as I would be very tempted sit in front of it each evening. My plan has been to use the small heater in the front sewing room, and watch TV sitting at the tables there, while hand stitching the bindings, until bed time.

This is Cabin Fever, which is one of the Pick a Case Mystery quilts that I cut a few of. When I need a piecing "fix" therapy weekend, I can grab one of these to sew. One friend asked me who it was for, and I told her that I don't need a reason to make a quilt. I just do it because I enjoy making them. 

There was a certain amount of "reverse" stitching on this quilt. As you can see the backing is made up of 3 different fabrics to use up what I had. (Thankyou Jean for sewing this for me!) When the quilt was trimmed, there was enough of the dark blue to make the sleeve, which I duly stitched on before the binding was machine sewn. Then I started hand sewing to the back, and part way around, I realised that I had sewn the hanging sleeve to the matching fabric, but this was the bottom of the quilt!! As you can see from the photo above, I wanted the smaller on point square to be at the top left! So after my unpicking and redoing the sleeve it is now where I need it to be. The sleeve fabric does not match the backing now, but does it really matter, as it is my quilt, isn't it??

 This is my Dream Big panel that I purchased in Paducah last year. (Did I say last year?? It seems like years ago now.)

This is a small scrappy quilt that finishes at 48" square without borders. Little cases of these kits will be for sale at the exhibition, with the pattern, and this is my sample. The binding is on, and will be sewn down while we are spending time at the show.

This is my Celtic Knot quilt, that is 15 years old, and almost finished! (Just the binding and sleeve to do!) I started this in a workshop with Gina Burgess, and we were to design our own celtic pattern. (Note, one pattern!!) I enjoyed doing this and decided that I would do 9 of them and make a large quilt!! I made 3 blocks, as shown, and stored them away in a box, with the fabrics and notes, and I might have started a few other projects over time as well?? A few years went by, and not sure how many, and I pulled out the box and decided I had been a bit lot ambitious initially, and that finished would be good! So I put the blocks on point with setting triangles, and added side borders to make it a more useful size and added it to the pile of tops waiting for my quilter!!!?? I even had the backing and wadding prepared. And of course I had some starry quilting planned "in my head"! That starry quilting turned out to be much less than was originally planned, as once again, finished was good.

In the class we had to design our own pattern and also make our own bias tape. This is the fabric that I purchased, and we used the Clover bias maker to make our tape, and added strips of vliesofix to the underside.

I found the box this morning with all the notes and patterns etc from that class. (And of course, it was the LAST box I looked in wasn't it?)  This is my sample of stitching down the bias strips. We used a twin needle and monofilament thread. While this is great because you can't see the stitches, it was my first and last time using this. It is so fine you can't see it, and I had a lot of machine troubles after that, where it would "bind" up, and I am sure some of this "plastic" stuff got down into my machine?? Might be wrong, but that's my story and I 'm sticking to it.

The pattern I made for one of the blocks!

And my binding is all prepared ready to sew on, one evening this week.

Some strips cut ready for another mystery kit.

A bundle of fabrics that arrived recently.

Well, this has turned out to be more of a marathon post than I thought, and now it's time to get back to those triangles. Bye for now,

Blessings, From Jude