Quilters Companion

editor’s journal

It has been so disappointing and frustrating that we haven’t had the opportunities to visit local and state quilt and craft shows and exhibitions for most of this year. The organising groups have been saddened and frustrated too, as all the planning for their annual or biennial quilt shows has had to be postponed to later in the year, or worse, cancelled. The good news is that there are quite a few going ahead in the last quarter of the year, so turn to Diary Dates to see if there are any planned near you. With the lack of these events, it has also been difficult for us to find Quilt Galleries to share with you in the magazine. However, I am sure you will enjoy the two that we have…

quilty treasures

Outback Quilting Tour — the highway is open With pandemic impacts including closed borders and a halt on international travel, Australians are turning to our regional, outback and coastal destinations. The highway beckons! Consider combining a few major destinations, seeking out the local patchwork shops and related museums, and heading off with like-minded souls on a road trip. Turn to page 78 where we take you on an armchair journey of one such adventure — and the best part is that you can actually sign up and experience the real thing with Michelle Marvig! Practical Precuts It is easy to be inspired by prettily packaged precuts; they are sure to contain coordinating fabrics, mostly from the same range, making your fabric choices that much easier. Precuts come in 2½in strips – the term Jelly Roll…

aloft: an exhibition of studio art quilt associates (saqa)

Steampunk Selfie Kestrel Michaud, West Melbourne, Florida 61cm x 91.5cm (24in x 36in) Artist’s statement: “In this steampunk fantasy world, men and women have taken to the skies on massive, steam-powered ships held aloft by hot air, ingenuity and luck. Most people would be satisfied to soar above the clouds, but not Faith! Her favourite pastime is bungee jumping off the side of her airship, accompanied by Bubo, her pet mechanical owl. This quilt depicts the photo Faith took on her latest jump to test her new camera and selfie stick.” Cotton, ink, liquid sealant, glue sealant. Free-motion quilted, fused appliqué, digitally printed. Dezi’s Joy Julie A. Bohnsack, Carbondale, Illinois 104cm x 76cm (41in x 30in) Artist’s statement: “My grandson had just learned to pump himself on a swing. He realised he could make himself go ‘aloft’. When…

snowball cushion

Finished size: 56cm (22in) square Patchwork FUNdamentals patchworkfun chris.jurd@bigpond.com Materials • 30cm (⅜yd) orange print fabric • Fat quarter black print fabric • Fat quarter aqua print fabric • 3in square pink print fabric • 40cm (½yd) each of four low-volume print fabrics (background) • 70cm (¾yd) low-volume fabric (internal backing for cushion front) • 70cm (¾yd) coordinated print fabric (cushion back) • Batting at least 65cm (26in) square • 2.5m (2⅛yd) of 4cm (1½in) wide black ricrac • 60cm (24in) square cushion insert • Freezer paper • Rotary cutter, ruler and mat • Sewing machine with ¼in and open-toe feet • General sewing supplies Note: If you can’t buy a cushion insert 60cm (24in) square, a quick and easy way to make one is to buy a larger one instead. Open one side, remove some…

a quilt for the litt le one

Finished quilt size: 184cm (72½in) square Finished block size: 6in and 12in square Made by Slade madebyslade@hotmail.com Materials • Two Jelly Rolls or at least 69 strips of assorted print fabrics, 2½in x width of fabric (large blocks) • Two Honey Buns or at least 54 strips of assorted print fabrics, 1½in x width of fabric (small blocks) • 4m (4½yd) backing fabric • Batting 204cm (80in) square • 60cm (⅝yd) red tone-on-tone print fabric (binding) • Rotary cutter, square quilter’s ruler and mat • Sewing machine with ¼in foot • General sewing supplies Large Terrace Floor blocks 1 To make one block, choose three 2.in strips, each cut from a different print fabric. Sew them together on their long edges to make a strip set. Press. The strip set should measure 6.in high from raw…

elizabeth humphreys

Elizabeth started working on her first-ever quilt in 1968 using surplus materials from her dressmaking, and applying sewing skills learned from her mother, who used a Singer treadle machine that had belonged to her mother. It wasn’t until 1975 that she began the first quilt that she actually finished — although completing it did take 17 years! Ambitiously, Elizabeth had decided to adapt a design she had seen in a women’s magazine pieced from hexagons. She made the necessary templates using discarded breakfast cereal boxes. She still has some of them and, as an aside, remarks that they tell an interesting story of dietary changes over the decades, as the family-favourite cereal now contains only half the sugar content of those earlier days when her children were much younger. The…