I have just had a wonderful weekend quilting with Di Ford-Hall at a workshop organised by The Quilter’s Guild of South Australia. My friends know how much I love needle turn applique but Di has taken my love of this technique to the next level! Broderie Perse! Love it! Di will be coming to teach at Victor Harbor for me but dates have not been confirmed yet.

With all the rain we have had in the past few weeks one can guess that we are heading into a long winter. So, it is time to get those quilt tops out and off to the quilter. To help you along, I am offering “Mates Rates” on edge to edge/all over quilting. Members of The Quilter’s Guild of South Australia can have tops quilted for just $3.50 per square foot. Quilts can be booked in through my booking form.

Wow, was I honoured when The Quilters’ Guild of South Australia Festival of Quilts Committee asked me to quilt the raffle quilt for 2016. When I heard it was a New York Beauty with lots of open spaces I must admit, I was a bit nervous. How was I going to fill all those spaces? Pieced by the committee members in 2015 it finally arrived in my quilt studio in January 2016. I knew straight away the elements needed were feathers, beading and some Nemishing. Thanks Bethanne Nemish of White Arbor Quilting for this new background filler! The blocks were laid out in a barn raising pattern so I decided to quilt something different in each round. I started with the tiny feathers between each spike and as I worked through these my mind began filling with design elements for the other areas. Once I had completed the center I continually felt like I was looking inside a decorative basket and that each round was the sides of the basket. Crazy? I don’t know but I kept calling it my basket of beauties, cos there were heaps of them! After 58 hours of quilting I was so attached to this quilt it was very hard to hand it over! My goal in quilting this quilt was to ensure the Guild sold as many tickets as possible, however secretly I hope to win it back. How surprised and honoured (again) that the Festival Committee retained my name for the quilt, Basket of Beauties. Tickets will be on sale soon just $2 each.

Have you started collecting your fabric yet for Jen Kingwell’s seaside retreat in August? I am getting so excited that she is coming to teach at Victor Harbor. Jen uses some amazing fabrics in her quilts. The usual cream backgrounds are replaced with modern greys and black and white spots giving her quilts a fresh and cheery appearance. Add in her unique pieced designs and you have a stunning combination that makes for a beautiful quilt. What! You aren’t booked in yet? Jen will be teaching one of her most popular quilts, The Circle Game. This quilt has so many elements that beginners through to advanced quilters can gain experience in hand piecing with Jen gently guiding you. This is an opportunity not to be missed! Imagine yourself sitting in the lounge watching the ocean waves, perhaps a few whales playing in the bay. Home cooked meals are provided and beds are very comfy. In house shop with some lovely fabrics and Jen’s patterns for sale. A unique experience sharing out-of-class time with the tutor, all friends with a common theme. Quilting! What is there not to love! Don’t delay, there are still a few vacancies so bring a friend along with you. Go to my retreat booking page and send in your booking form with deposit to confirm your place.

Finally my fabric is arriving!  I returned home from France to find four large boxes of fabric waiting for me to unpack. How exciting. So now my boutique quilt shop is almost ready to open it’s doors! So, what is a boutique quilt shop? It is smaller than a regular quilt shop but bigger than a personal stash.  I found there was a huge gap in quilt fabric availability in my area so decided to rearrange my long arm studio to accommodate some extra shelving. I ordered fabric way back in November last year and just now it is starting to flow in. I still have a few things to do before I am ready for walk in customers so watch this space!

A few days ago I returned home from a wonderful holiday in beautiful France. Four weeks of trying to speak french was fun and I managed to learn a few more phrases! I will post a some photos of my journey once I upload them but just wanted to share these beautiful photos of my two furbabies. They missed me terribly. It was so nice to come home to them! Love you Toby and BJ!

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.

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.

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:

thequiltingroomblog.blogspot.com.au

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.