Great Australian Quilts Issue#9 2018

This special annual edition of Great Australian Quilts is focused on the Australian identity that runs through our quilting industry. As Australians, not just as quilters or textile lovers, we are influenced by what we interact with around us. In this magazine we applaud and share the success and accomplishments that Australian quilters have achieved specifically in this past year. From national awards to Australian fabric designers and their new range releases, to favourite Aussie authors and their books, to personal achievements, profiles, galleries and more — every page shows what is great about Australian quilts, quilters and quilting. We start off by sharing some of the annual awards that recognise national achievements by individual quilters. These occur at the annual Australasian Quilt Conference and are sponsored by Expertise Events (organiser of…

Rajah Award This award acknowledges an outstanding contribution to quilting, whether it be a contribution as a quilting teacher, designer, author, historian, guild worker, retailer etc, or a combination of work in several of these areas. The name of this award is in tribute to the historic Rajah quilt made by convict women en route to Australia in 1841. This year’s winner, Julie Haddrick, is a multi-award-winning quilter and artist who has had a significant impact on many people over a lifetime of designing, teaching and mentoring. She is described by her community as a supportive, caring and reliable friend, a knowledgeable leader with tremendous ability, and a generous, talented, thought-provoking and knowledgeable teacher who can take her students to new levels with the knowledge and confidence she imparts through her workshops. A…

Artist’s Statement The eye is the window of the human body through which it feels the beauty of the world and also the sorrow of the world. What a human eye sees is an illusion of what is real. It is the retina of the eye that converts the light into neural signals and sends these signals on to the brain for visual recognition and interpretation. My quilt is the perception of a beautiful life seen through a colourful retina. Having a colourful retina will always see the bright side of human life. Material & techniques: Hand appliqué, hand and machine piecing, hand quilted. My own original design. Artist’s Statement This was inspired by free-motion quilting designs made from bias binding appliqué. Material & techniques: Cotton fabrics, appliqué, domestic machine quilting. Artist’s Statement Town and…

Kerry Graf kerrygraf@gmail.com Artist’s Statement This quilt is one of a series of quilts exploring the Australian landscape. The original idea came from a request to submit a quilt based on the theme 'Desert Dreaming'. Maps and satellite imagery were the inspiration. Materials • Fat quarter each of medium blue and red/orange tone-on-tone print fabrics (creek and foundation)• Assorted scraps of tone-on-tone print fabrics in red, orange, yellow, olive green and medium and dark brown. Each piece only needs to be about 2in x 4in• 4in x 10in rectangles of tulle in grey, black or dark green and in orange, red or yellow• 10cm (⅛yd) solid black fabric (binding)• Fat quarter backing fabric• Fusible web (or fabric glue)• Machine threads in gold, orange, brown and dark green• 15in square of medium- or heavy-weight tear-away stabiliser•…

Jenny Bowker began her working life in the scientific field, with little interest in textiles. After marrying a diplomat, she and her husband initially moved to Syria and then on to various other posts in the Middle East. “Living in Syria was a real struggle at first, given the language barrier and unfamiliar surroundings, but then I settled and really started to love it,” Jenny recalls. Her new lifestyle, however, meant Jenny could no longer work in her original scientific field. After moving to Jordan, Jenny took a drawing and painting course which sparked her interest in the arts. “Sitting in an apricot orchard, surrounded by beautiful flowers, goats and countryside, I thought, I could teach people how to do this!” she says. Upon returning to Australia, Jenny undertook a Fine…

In past issues, three pages of techniques and equipment were included. The Basics provided information and explanations about tools and techniques required to make a quilt. Many of the items needed are general sewing supplies, and the specialist quilting tools can be found at your favourite patchwork shop. From this issue forward, The Basics Guide will be available as a free downloadable document that you can refer to as required. You can download it and save it to your computer and/or print it out for easy reference. You will find your Free Basics Guide here: www.cosyproject.com/blog/quilting-guide…