My Comfy Chair Just Got Comfier, Again.

Another cushion for the comfy chair!
I made this one while I was a t the Mapleton Quilt Show a couple of weekends ago. I realized I'd forgotten to prepare anything to do/sew while I was sitting at my stall, so I opened an extra large Yo Yo Maker, a pack of Moda Charm Squares and a skein of Sashiko thread, and started hand sewing. By the end of the weekend, I was giving demos on how to use the Yo Yo tool ( which I'd never used before...it's that easy!)
I'd been dying to use these Sugar Pop fabrics for a little project and this turned out to be it.
I finished the cushion with some chocolate solid fabric as a backing, a scrap of lime for the border and two different sized rick- racks.
I like the jumbo one on the edge as a finish.
Anyway, I thought it was very cute and intend to make a quick a pattern for it. Meanwhile, feel free to come in and try it out when you browse the fabric shelves!
This weekend is the inaugaral Quilt Show of the Maleny Arts and Crafts Group to be held at Maleny Show Pavillion. There will be some amazing quilts there as there are some very tallented quilters in the group, so make Maleny a destination this week end.
See you there.
xo xo Ann.

An Australian Country Quilt Show

Australian Country Quilt Shows are unique and special events. A few weeks ago now, I was lucky to attend the iconic Peachester Quilt Show as a stall holder. Peachester is a little country town in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland and its biennial quilt show is renowned for its wealth of talent, rustic charm, and delicious country hospitality . The Mountain Quilters certainly boast some more than their fair share of well known quilters and artists.
From Maleny, the drive takes you through the the picturesque Glasshouse Mountains,
past Bald Knob (!),to the community hall where the show is held. This year the show was called "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" and featured displays of antique and retro handwork. Look at this beautiful Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt. It was all made of silks and fine fabrics, and becoming very fragile.
There was also a display of embroidered aprons. Remember those? I know I've used a few more worn ones in patchwork quilts. Love that kangaroo one!
Then just on the other side of that screen was a display of the exquisite works of Bernadine Hine, world famous art quilter who is one of the Mountain Quilters. Here she is explaining some of her techniques to an admirer. Bernadine's award-winning pictorial quilts feature in many exhibitions around the world.
A feature of every Peachester Quilt Show is the famous "Challenge". This year the fabric was a shiny gold lurex type. This is one of the quilts, with the fish being made of the challenge fabric. I loved this one.You can see the kind of interest generated by the Challenge! There is a constant crowd of people looking, admiring, and voting for favourites. The variety and quality of entries is quite amazing. One of the winners (not sure whether it was first or second) was the long, elegant quilt,with the appliqued work and black border, on the far right.
There were some lovely display quilts too. This one by Barbara Groves has a beautiful tree of life interpretation as its centre panel,and I loved this opulent, colour saturated Oriental quilt by Lyn Hargreaves.
Martin, the group's president conducted the event with a green bag full of raffle tickets and a steady stream of lucky draws throughout the weekend.
Peachester is famous for its warm and generous country hospitality, and here are the ladies with the welcoming spread of morning and afternoon teas, and lunches. We stall holders certainly weren't hungry.
Just a friendly country warning adding to the rustic charm!The floral offerings, made from flowers from the members' gardens, were as spectacular as the quilts. I loved this Grevillia arrangement which decorated the bathroom. How beautiful is that?And finally, the stall holders. There was a good spread of local traders represented at the show, and we all had a great time as well as a profitable one. This is quite a new thing for me, and despite the effort involved in preparing and taking everything, I love meeting the people and connecting with other quilters and shop owners. That's my stand, Quiltopia!Design, at the front and next it is Appatchy Quilting with Joan and a customer chatting.
Some handmade porcelain button badges - I bought one of the little sewing name tags
The weekend over and all packed up, a lone quilter makes her way home with her bundle of quilts and perhaps a few goodies she's gleaned through the day...
It was a lovely weekend and I'm looking forward to the next one in two years time.
I went to The Gympie Quilt and Craft Fair the following weekend... but more about that another time.

xo xo Ann.

Maleny Quilt Show and a New Quilt.

This is one of my latest finished quilts. (Actually my latest is The Sewing Circle - the quilt featuring whimsical retro 1950's themed embroidered blocks... but more about that in a later post.) This one is from Julie Wallace's pattern, Floral Maze. I saw the original quilt at the Melbourne Quilt Market last November and thought I could do something with it. It's another pattern using the Lanterns of Light Ruler and hexagon shapes, which I've formed a sort of love for. These are big so you get to see a fair bit of the fabric, and I like that too.
I decided to use a selection of lovely floral fabrics with the main criteria being " beautiful fabrics that haven't sold well"! So I just went to the shelves and picked out 12 lovely fabrics that for some reason, people haven't been buying. I put them together and, voila! A beautiful quilt was born.It's quite a small quilt, but easily enlarged with in multiples of 6.
I used a gorgeous Valerie Wells floral on the back, quilted the heck out of it and bound it in that other lovely turquoise Valerie Wells print. Love this one and it's going to stay with me.

I took it to the Maleny Quota Quilt Show a couple of weeks ago and here are Annie and I with it at my stand.

It was a lovely country quilt show, set up in the Maleny High School Indoor Stadium. There were some beautiful quilts but you'll have to be satisfied here with the pics from the traders' area. In the foreground is Kimz Patchwork, The Gympie Patchwork Factory, then Shirley's Buttons, Me and on the other side, Van Coutens Drapery, and Palmwoods Ats and Crafts. It was a small show, but lots of lovely quilts and fun.

Last weekend I took Quiltopia! to the Mountain Quilters' Show, Silver Threads and Golden Needles... but more about that in a longer newer post. I was a lot more relaxed there and took the opportunity to wander around and look at things! Next week I'll be at The Gympie Quilt and Craft Spectacular... sounds really big and scary to me, but when you look at all the blogs about Quilt Market in America now, it definitely puts things in perspective!
Till next time - Happy Stitching,

xo xo Ann.