Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue #97 2019 i Quilters Companion

The weather may be dull outside for those of us in the southern hemisphere, but the contents of this magazine are warm and vibrant! From the vivacious colours and textiles of India through to eight stunning quilt projects, you will find lots of inspiration and motivation. It was a pleasure to write the Armchair Travels of a Textile Lover for this issue. I headed off on my own armchair journey as I researched all the wonderful textile activities that can be seen, learned and purchased in India. We started in Delhi, India’s capital, and moved south through Rajasthan, a beautiful region filled with India’s age-old opulence and grandeur and well known for its textiles. We then headed for Gujarat, India’s western-most state, and Ahmedabad, where the Calico Museum of Textiles…

Chris is well known for her foundation piecing techniques. In this quilt she uses freezer paper templates for the four centre machine-pieced blocks and the border hexagons are English paper pieced. After she created the hexagons and stitched them together, they were then hand-appliquéd to the borders. The central four blocks are a traditional vintage block that is named Progressive, and using lively fabrics in the blocks and hexagons makes this quilt look modern. Chris has used fabrics from her stash to create this gorgeous quilt — you can dig into your stash too! Finished size: 166.5cm (65½in) square Finished block size: 19in square Designer — Chris Jurd Patchwork FUNdamentals @patchworkfun chris.jurd@bigpond.com Stash Buster Materials • 16 squares, 5in of assorted print fabrics (A shapes) • Fat eighth of four…

Michelle has used a traditional block called Spinning Triangles, but has finished it at one round less than the original one, and has named it 'Fireworks'. She has fussy cut the black and white striped fabric in the middle section of the blocks to give an interesting secondary pattern. She used a Perspex template that she designed especially for cutting the triangles needed for this project with a rotary cutter. However, if you don’t have this template, you can use a 45-degree triangle ruler. If you chose to use neither method, simply trace the triangle shape from the Pattern Sheet onto template plastic. Label it and cut it out smoothly and accurately to be used as the template for cutting your fabric pieces. In the assembly of the quilt top,…

The traditional Schoolhouse block has been updated with the contemporary colours and prints of a new fabric range, Garden Club by Brenda Ratliff for RJR Fabrics. You will make 21 house blocks using a combination of regular and paper piecing techniques, and 27 pieced cross blocks. Yes, it’s a big quilt! But you can modify the size by making as many or as few Schoolhouse blocks as you wish. Did you notice that the cross blocks represent ‘fences’ around the community. Cute hey? Any type of House block can be tricky – they have many components that make up the one block. However, the effort to keep them organised and make one at a time will pay off with a gorgeous traditional yet modern quilt at the end. To find…

These patterns, and hundreds of others created by the team at Quilters Companion and Homespun magazines are available at: www.cosyproject.com…

Each year, the American Quilter’s Society (AQS) stages quilt exhibitions throughout America. Over these three pages you can see a few of the winning quilts from 2018. In an upcoming issue of Quilters Companion we will be featuring more of the winning quilts from QuiltWeek Shows. You can see more winners, and find further information at: www.quiltweek.com AQS QuiltWeek Show — Grand Rapids, Michigan Best Movable Machine Workmanship Award Champagne Supernova, 198cm x 198cm (78in x 78in), Marilyn Badger Techniques: Hand appliqué, machine appliqué, beading, crystals, embellishments, hand embroidery, free-motion quilting, fabric painting, paper piecing and machine piecing. AQS QuiltWeek Show — Virginia Beach, Virginia Best Use of Colour Award Pear Drops, 203cm x 203cm (80in x 80in), Cheryl Kerestes Techniques: Hand appliqué, beading, hand embroidery and machine piecing. It…

Armchair travels of a textile lover This issue’s Armchair Travels of a Textile Lover takes us to India. We start in the northern city of Delhi, venturing south to Mumbai, stopping along the way to visit Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, Ahmedabad and Burj. Words by Deborah Segaert, Photographs by Travelrite International Located close to the Old Delhi Railway Station we find the Chandni Chowk (Moonlight Square) markets. Built in the 17th century, the area was once divided by canals (now closed) to reflect moonlight and remains one of India’s largest wholesale markets. The markets are h uge and they are organised into various sections. At the famous Chandni Chowk cloth section they sell everything from clothes to home furnishings. The fabrics range from cotton, chiffon, net and georgette to sheer and…

16 Fat Quarters Ph: 0447 732 795, email: info@16fatquarters.com.au A1 Craft and Quilting Ph: 0438 877 664, email: normabradley@bigpond.com, website: www.a1craftandquilting.com.au A Little Patch of Country 63 Princes Highway, Trafalgar Vic 3824. Ph: (03) 5633 2311, email: sales@littlepatch.com.au, website: www.littlepatch.com.au Asia Discovery Tours Suite 1302, Level 13, 370 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000. Ph: (02) 9267 7699, website: www.asiadiscoverytours.com.au Batik Australia (wholesale) Ph: 0408 401 553, email: chill159@bigpond.com, website: www.batikaustralia.com.au Batik Otereo (Dyeman P/L) 3/11 Nevin Close, Gateshead NSW 2290. Ph: (02) 4943 8808, email: Sales@Dyeman.com BeBe Bold Contemporary Japanese Textiles 25 Elton Street, Lismore NSW 2480. Ph: (02) 6621 9188, email: bebebold@bigpond.com, website: www.bebebold.com Bernina Australia Unit 10, 15 Carrington Road, Castle Hill NSW 2154. Ph: 1800 237 646 or (02) 9899 1188, website: www.bernina.com.au Brother Australia Ph: 1300…

At first glance this looks like an easy quilt as the basis of the quilt is one block repeating. However, care needs to be taken that you continue the colours in the right places to ensure you don’t ‘break’ the chain, making this quilt challenging for an advanced beginner. The quilt will look equally as gorgeous, of course, with the links being scrappy if you can’t get your head around matching up the sections to complete your links/chain or don’t have enough lengths to make a whole chain link in one colour. Finished size: 168cm (66½in) square Finished block size: 13in square Designer — Sue Belleli Quilted Hugs By Sue sbelleli@bigpond.net.au Jelly Roll Friendly Materials • One Jelly Roll; Sue recommends looking for one that has three contrasting colours or…

When did you first conceive the idea for the quilt pattern? How long did it take to complete it? I usually complete one traditional-type quilt a year, but Orange Orchard Trails evolved over more than two years. Although it was started in 2015, I experienced some periods of uncertainty, including a time when I put the top away for some months until I felt able to resolve a design issue. My designs evolve organically as I proceed. Usually I just work with what I have on my design wall. In this case I started with the Snail Trail blocks that form the background, using orange and blue fabrics from my stash. The border blocks are all orange, so the lines continue into the border but the colour becomes solid orange.…

Quilts with an Angle: New Foolproof Grid Method & Easy Strip Cutting; 15 Projects with Triangles, Hexagons, Diamonds & More By Sheila Christensen Learn to measure, rotary cut and machine piece 60-degree shapes with ease — triangles, hexagons, diamonds and more! Triangle quilts are actually easy to put together when viewed as individual blocks on a grid. Take your quilts to the next level with simple strip piecing and learn triangle grid basics so you can design your own angled blocks and quilts. No matter how you arrange your blocks, you can sew them together in straight rows. Sew 15 quilts from triangles, hexagons, trapezoids, jewels, diamonds, parallelograms and strip-pieced blocks. The instructions to sew these quilts do not require templates, y-seams or paper piecing. Any 60-degree triangle ruler (or…

The inspiration for Deirdre's original Bon-bon block came from an old quilt pattern called Hearts and Gizzards, that had curved shapes appliquéd into the corners of half-square triangle units, which were then sewn together to form a square. Deirdre pieced half-square triangles into a square first, then cut the pieced square into a curved shape and appliquéd this shape in the centre of a plain square. When finished, Deirdre thought the block resembled a bon-bon dish, hence the name. These blocks are then set on point, al ternated with Broken Dishes blocks, another of her favourites. The appliqué pieces have been made using appliqué paper, which is left behind the shapes as they are stitched to the background fabric and breaks down when the quilt is washed. Deirdre machine stitched…

Cosy up with this gorgeous wool appliqué cushion! Kim Schaefer has been a quilter for decades, owns a shop, designs fabrics and is the author of a number of books. Whimsical Wool Appliqué: 50 Blocks, 7 Quilt Projects is her latest release — and this cushion features as one of the seven projects. Kim is known for her whimsical contemporary folk art and this shines through with the pattern featured here, which is just one of the 50 appliqué patterns featured in the book. The pillow front is cotton fabric and the appliqué shapes are cut from felted wool. The appliqué shapes are fused in place and then hand embroidery is added to complete the design. Finished size: 62cm (24½in) square Finished block size: 6in square Designer — Kim Schaefer,…

Queensland Quilters holds its annual quilt show in October. The 2018 show was one of the largest quilt shows in Australia, with more than 600 quilts hung across 19 categories and a prize pool of over $25, 000. The theme for 2018 was Medallions. You can find all 2018 winners at: www.qldquilters.com/2018-quilt-show Save the date: 2019 Quilt Show, October 16—20 Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre Bernina Best of Show Feathered 5iever, 193cm x 196cm (76in x 77in), Lyn Crump Artist’s statement: “This pattern is a green linear quilted star galaxy exploding out of a white outer space, imploding with circular quilting designs spiralling in. Splashes of green in clusters of five are scattered throughout. Feathered 5iever is my fifth Feathered Star quilt. Made with Kona Cotton Solids.” Best Hand Quilting…

wendyenutt@icloud.com @quiltamour “Realising I could choose not to follow the rules too is what really propelled me forward into the world of improvisational and art quilts.” Originally attending a local quilting group to support a work colleague, Wendy Nutt could never have imagined the passion she would develop for improvisational quilting. “Laity (my friend) was quite ill and I found this quilting group was the perfect way to support her,” explains Wendy. From that first introduction, Wendy jumped right in, designing a queen-size quilt for her daughter’s birthday as her first project. “After perusing books at my local quilting store, I decided to make a French Braid quilt,” she explains. “As is my habit, I found it difficult to stick to the chosen pattern so I used it as a…

Images of folk art birds were the inspiration for this stylised chook; string piecing complemented the quirkiness. Megan believes we are all a bit quirky and differences are to be celebrated and embraced — hence the name of the quilt. It is quick and easy to make — simple foundation-free string piecing creates the ‘fabric blocks’ from which the appliqué shapes are cut. Then the pieces are applied to the background using needleturn appliqué. Finally, hand quilting with Perle 8 thread adds to the texture and fun of the quilt. Finished size: 142cm x 123cm (56in x 48½in) Designer — Megan Manwaring @meganmanwaring Strip Piecing & Appliqué Materials • Scraps of assorted print fabrics (string piecing) — see Megan’s String Piecing Tips • 1.2m (1¼yd) yellow spot print fabric (applique…

There are numerous rotary cutter brands on the market. Twenty years ago, my first rotary cutter was an Olfa. Since then, Fiskars and Clover have embraced the quilting market and, more recently, a number of smaller manufacturers have started offering these products. I have added a number to my tool collection over the years, including the Olfa Exclusives Calantha Plum (the only reason I ‘needed’ this one was because it’s pretty!) and an Olfa Ergonomic. You will notice that I have the pinking blade attached — this allows me to cut shapes that won’t fray. I also own a straight stick Fiskars and a Fiskars Titanium Softgrip® Comfort Loop Rotary Cutter. While all I expect from my cutter is to cut, and therefore the blade is important, the most significant…

There are a lot of pieces to create this delightful quilt, but the combination of soft colours and interesting shapes make this a stunning project. Cheryl has fussy cut the appliqué shapes to increase the visual impact of the design: she cut the larger petal shape from exactly the same position on the same print fabric to feature a printed motif. The Sentimental Star blocks consist of a number of components: Square in a Square, Flying Geese, Four Patch, Arrows and HSTs. Simply follow the steps to prepare the units, and then stitch them together to form the block. The corner blocks are an extension of the central block. Add some lovely wide borders — and wow! Finished quilt size: 184cm (72½in) square Finished block size: 18in square Designer —…

New Standard in Computerised Quilting IntelliQuilter is the new standard in computerised quilting. This after-market item can be added on to your existing machine as it fits most makes and models. Features include: computer mounted on the machine, at your fingertips, touch-screen control, driver motors engage/disengage automatically, easy to use, menu-driven system, help on every screen, integrated graphic editing including copy, repeat, combine, rotate, scale, automatic pattern fitting in blocks, including sizing rotation and flipping, automatic pantograph editing, including offset, interlocking, flipping and clipping at borders, recording function to capture hand-quilted patterns, paper pattern digitising, “stitch in the ditch” support, whole-quilt composition and saving, pattern download via USB drive. Constantine Quilts Phone: 0448 256 214 Email: sales@constantinequilts.com Website: www.constantinequilts.com TrueCut Rotary Cutting The ultimate cutting system, TrueCut is a unique…