Wow is all I can say! What a fabulous weekend sixteen lovely ladies have just spent with Wendy Williams teaching at one of my seaside retreats at Victor Harbor, South Australia. Wendy’s style is unique in that she integrates colorful 100% wool felt and beautiful threads into her quilts. Her designs are extremely appealing. This retreat was all about being festive so Wendy offered three choices for the project. The most popular was her Oh Christmas Tree quilt. Measuring 54 1/4″ x 61 3/4 ” it would be a beautiful center piece for a Festive decor. I think quite a few of the ladies thought they would just have to do Flocks by Night as well. This is the cutest table runner depicting a snowscape with village and Christmas trees together with a flock of sheep on the horizon. Measures 25″ x 53″. Last but not least is Wendy’s Partridge in a Pear Tree cushion. Measuring 23 1/2 ” x 23 1/2″ it is a substantial size with the cutest partridge perched among pears hanging from a primitive Christmas tree. I was so lucky to have Wendy design these last two pieces for me to release at this workshop. So, hot off the press I can now offer the patterns for sale from my website. Each pattern is $20 or you can purchase the felt packs with pattern. Oh Christmas Tree kit including pattern is $75 , Flocks by Night and Partridge in a Pear Tree are each $62 and include the pattern. All prices are plus postage. Email orders with your address to Helen Campbell and I will send you a Paypal account.
A Weekend with Jen Kingwell
I have just spent one of the most relaxing weekends sewing with Jen Kingwell at Hettie’s Patch, South Australia. Jen resides in Victoria and is the proud owner of Amitie Textiles in Gardenvale, Victoria. Set against backgrounds of soft greys and black polka dots Jen’s scrappy quilts are an amazing mix of colours, using geometrics and florals, handpiecing and applique that quietly say touch me, love me, use me! Jen has just released her first book Quilt Lovely from which we worked on Spring Fever. Another delight to work with is Jen’s fabric range Gardenvale. Jen has given me permission to post photos of her quilts here. Please do not copy these but instead, buy her book. You will not be disappointed! More excitement is that Jen is teaching for me at Victor Harbor in August 2016. Bookings are open so go to my retreats page to book in. We have not chosen a project yet but believe me you will love whatever we do.
New Blog Page
Hi everyone. I now have a new Blog page that I can access easily on the go with my Samsung Tablet . That means I will blog more often and you can follow me. Please go to:
What a scoop!
I am so excited, two of my quilts won first and second awards at the Royal Adelaide Show this week plus a third and fourth award in the two person category for the quilts made by Sue Prothero and quilted by me.
Ruffled Roses won First prize in the machine quilting category and Sedona Star received the second prize. If you missed seeing them at the Royal Show, they will be hanging at AMQF in October.
My good friend Jill Christian won Best of Show with her Bird Dance Quilt designed by Sue Spargo (mine is still on the go).
Airing of the Quilts Special
I know it has been a while since I last blogged. I have been very busy with my Airing of the Quilts special which is almost about to finish. This price will never be repeated so make sure you grab this opportunity to have your quilts professionally quilted at a ridiculous price. This special applies to mail order quilts as well so make sure you send them in time to reach me by 30th September.
Australasian Quilt Convention (AQC)
After a very busy day at work, I finally arrived in Melbourne on Friday night for AQC. My 6.40pm flight from Adelaide was delayed and eventually took off at 9pm arriving at our destination at 10.30pm local time. My loving sister and her husband were patiently waiting to take me home for a much needed rest.
On Saturday morning I caught the tram from St Kilda and headed off to AQC to see all the beautiful quilts from around Australia and to stand proudly next to my quilt. Wow what an honour!
The challenge quilts were amazing. The theme was ten as it is AQC’s tenth anniversary. The winning quilt was “10 Together Equals Teamwork” by Alison Withers. So clever, her ten men in a boat looked like skittles supporting each other as they navigated past obstacles.
The display of quilts by the 2013 Rajah Award winner Jenny Bowker was awesome. We have all seen her beautiful quilts on her website however to see them in real life was amazing.
I was looking forward to attending the Gala Dinner on Saturday night where awards are presented and we get to catch up with friends we have made over the years but rarely see. Wow, was I in for a surprise. The night started with a bang. We had a drum band performing on stage and that was followed by wait for it…a Kylie Minogue impersonator and two gorgeous pink winged angels!
Then came the highlight of the night! The awards. Janet Treen from NSW was awarded the Bernina National Quilt Award for her Best of Australia quilt “Rings and Roses”
Excitement in the room as Gary spoke about the 2014 Lut-Da winner. Wow our very own Faye Packham! The South Aussie table were on their feet for a well deserved win. Congratulations Faye you are an inspiration to us all for your fun loving nature and dedication!
The came the prestigious Rajah Award. How could the South Aussie table contain themselves as Gary began describing our beautiful Michelle Hill! The look on Michelle’s face as her name was announced was priceless. Congratulations Michelle! So well deserved.
Airing of the Quilts
Are you a “topper”? Then this special is for you!
Now that winter is here it is time to pull out those finished quilts tops and get them off to the quilter.
Book your quilts in for Edge to Edge quilting at The Quilting Room between 1st July 2014 and 30th September 2014 and pay only $2.95 per square foot!
Some conditions do apply so read on:
You must quote the code AOTQW14 for the discounted rate. Online bookings please include the code in the coupon/code box on the booking page.
Quilt tops must be received before 30th September 2014.
No other discounts apply
Minimum cost is $50
This is an amazing discount and will not be repeated so don’t miss out!
Jane Austen annual event at Victor Harbor
Last weekend I had the pleasure of Katrina Hadjimichael’s company at Victor Harbor as she conducted a workshop on one of her beautiful Jane Austen quilts, “Rosings”.
The lovely ladies who attended the weekend worked late into the night on Friday and Saturday to get as much of their Georgetown Circle completed so they could move onto the applique.
This is my friend Bron with Katrina working on her foundation piecing.
Katrina is a very dedicated, generous and talented quilt designer/tutor. Her Jane Austen quilt series are beautiful and she keeps adding to the series, each quilt unique. We had a sneak peek at the next one that is almost ready to go to Veronica Appleyard for quilting. Sorry, no show and tell here, you will need to visit Katrina’s blog for her release.
The most exciting news is that Katrina has agreed to make this an annual event for The Quilting Room and to extend the workshop to three days. Next year she will be teaching Pemberley. This is the first quilt Katrina made in the Jane Austen series. Stunning!
Which means I need to get a move along with my Rosings quilt! To keep me on track, I will post my progress. As you can see from this group photo I am way behind all of the others but someone had to do the cooking! That’s me standing at the back next to Katrina.
The following photos are where we stay and the beautiful views while we sew. This is the 1920’s Beach House in Victor Harbor.
These are the beautiful views. My apologies for my car spoiling the scenery.
The yatch club opposite sets sail on Sunday
The other exciting news is that we now have a Jane Austen club that will meet every three months. This is a support group for people working on one of Katrina’s beautiful quilts. Katrina does not sell patterns for her Jane Austen quilts so you will need to attend a workshop with her first to be eligible to join this group. She does have other patterns for sale and is currently running a block of the month. We will be meeting at Hettie’s Patch, thank you so much Lorraine. Chris O’Brien is coordinating this group and I understand she has some fun things in mind. Please contact me for Chris’s details. Katrina has also hinted she will be having some input into the group. Mmm sounds interesting!
Mystery Quilt for Gawler Quilting Circle Biggest Morning Tea
I know it has only been a few days since I posted, I must be getting the hang of this blogging! Anyway, the group I belong to, The Gawler Quilting Circle, participates annually in The Biggest Morning Tea which is a fundraising event across Australia to raise money for cancer research. This will be the second year that I am teaching a mystery quilt. I just love sharing skills and techniques. Those of you who knew me in my pre quilting days will know that I taught Folk Art for many years from home and in local shops. So I get a great thrill in helping these lovely ladies at Gawler unravel the mystery of the quilt during a one day workshop. We all have heaps of fun and eat yummy food while the foot is on the pedal to get as much sewing done in the day. For those of you doing this workshop, sorry, I am not about to let the cat out of the bag. I am happy to share my fabric choice with you.
I purchased some of these beautiful fabrics by Marcia Derse from Hettie’s Patch some time ago and then I was very privileged to meet Marcia in person at Houston International Quilt Convention in 2011. How could I resist… had to add to my stash. I have been saving this fabric for something very special and this quilt just begged for it. Marcia hand dyes her fabric and uses items from nature to inspire her patterns. Her website is worth a visit as she regularly releases new ranges. Lorraine still carries a good range at Hettie’s Patch. I used the black as my background fabric to showcase the beautiful colours Marcia uses to create her unique fabrics. The requirements list asks for a minimum of 16 x 1/4 yard cuts across the width of the fabric but the more the merrier! Visitors not doing the workshop will have to wait until the end of May 2014 to see the finished quilt. There will be a special quilting rate for edge-to-edge quilting of this quilt which I will release at the workshop.
Happy sewing until next time
Helen
How Time Flies
Wow, here we are half way through February already, how time flies. I keep meaning to post blogs and then get waylaid with other activities. I did spend Australia Day weekend with my friend Chrisee in Port Lincoln. She has a long arm quilting machine like mine and needed a bit of assistance so a quick 40min flight on a plane and I was in relax mode. This is Chrisee standing behind her LA. Sadly Chrisee and Jeff’s home was destroyed in bushfires about four years ago and they are now settling into their new home.
Jeff has recently finished building a wood oven so I was treated to some yummy wood oven pizza and amazing bread. Jeff has a great set up and devotes most of the day to getting the dough and ingredients ready and firing up the oven.
Port Lincoln is one of South Australia’s main fishing ports and is famous for it’s tuna farming. You can see the large white circles in the ocean as you fly in and out of the town. These hold the nets suspended deep into the water that contain hundreds of tuna. They are harvested by very strong men who swim amongst the fish, catching and tossing them up into a nearby boat. Amazing. Anyway, on the weekend I was there they had Tunarama which is when the town celebrates by having a parade and festivities. One of the activities is the tuna tossing competition (on land). They use rubber tuna these days. The main event was won by a young Japanese man who travels around the world with his friends entering these types of competition. I guess you could call him a professional tosser, Lol! He was a very nice man and fun to watch as he hurled these big fish down the beach. The parade was heaps of fun with vintage cars and tractors and lots of dress ups. These are Chrisee’s two grandchildren dressed up for the parade.
The local ladies also got involved…either hopeful or runaway brides! Love the thongs and sunnies ladies.
So, did we solve Chrisee’s problems with her machine? Not quite but it was great to catch up and meet all of the family. I left Chrisee with some problem solving homework which she is doing diligently.