Scrap Bag

We are very lucky to have Maria Cook coming to Ballarat Patchwork to teach a lovely Christmas Block of the Month. There will be ten, 2 hr classes, with the first class starting on March the 1st.

The blocks are made using hand applique with a minimum of 10 blocks which will be mostly different trees. You will start with simple trees to begin with but can be made more complicated by embellishment or returned to later as you skills advance.

Please contact emma if you are interested in attending this class, by either phone: 03 5332 6722 or email.

The class list is up on the web for you to have a look at. We have Michelle Yeo teaching two new classes and Trish Harper is coming back again to teach us her wonderful hand quilting technique using perle cotton. We also have a few new ones that Pam Jansen will be teaching  (check out her profile in the lastest Down Under Quilts Annual) – our beautiful Snowflake mediallion and the stunning black and white optical quilt!

Giant Dahlia by Michelle Yeo

Our last class for beginners “Star Sampler” has just finished and once again we are very proud of all our new patchworkers. Congratulations Ladies, your quilts look great!

This weekend just gone was the Ballaarat Quilting Weekend held by Ballaarat Quilters Inc. I was lucky enough to be on the organising committee for this event and I think everyone involved had a fabulous weekend. 5 different tutors over 2 days of classes, fantastic venue, great food and lovely company. The tutors this year were Annette Blake, Jenny Bowker, Sue Dennis, Helen Godden and Michelle Yeo. Friday night after dinner we got to meet all the tutors and they all did a show and tell. All of the quilts were amazing and it is such a treat to see them up so close. Saturday night we got to listen to a very interesting talk by Jenny Bowker and the Tent Makers of Cairo. She also brought lots of show and tell too!

I was lucky enough to spend a day in Michelle’s Ballarat Beauties class. I learnt a really great new foundation piecing method and between Mum and I we completed 5 of these quite intricate blocks.

The range of fabrics we were using were  Flutterby by Tula Pink, and we spent a lot of extra time fussy cutting the prints but we think it was worth it!

If you are interested in coming to this weekend, please email info@ballaaratquilters.com.au with your name, address and email address. You will receive an expression of interest in a couple of months.

I just had someone leave a comment asking about Michelle’s foundation piecing technique. (I very stupidly deleted the comment – sorry)  The technique was new to me but I am sure other people have heard about it. It is using freezer paper but not sewing on to it, you actually fold it back. It is an extremely accurate technique and if you are interested in learning this I would advise buying one of Michelle’s lovely patterns. She explains it all in great detail.

My mother Pam has just finished another 9 week beginners class. We are very impressed with this group, most of them got to complete their quilt top. I love seeing this quilt made in different colours and fabrics, and it always seems to look fantastic!

Richard

Linda

Jeanette

Dianne

Simone

Colleen

Marion

Rebecca

Katherine

We have just put up or new classes on our web page. Lots of yummy projects to get you excited!

Deborah Dorward’s Double Wedding Ring. Deborah has a blog too, check it out

I have also finished writing the patterns for the Little Crosses Quilt and the Bears Paw Quilt. Woo Hoo. Designing patterns is so much fun but writing patterns can be a little tedious, so I am always very excited to get them finished.

My mother Pam has been busy making beautiful oven mitts. The use of a restricted colour pallete makes these little beauties really shine! I think they are fabulous for presents or even to add a bit of colour in your own kitchen. Great way to use up left over fabric scraps and batting ends. We are teaching these as a class at the moment, but will definately have to create a pattern later on!

We have just finished our first set of classes teaching the Star Sampler. We are very impressed with their committment to getting the quilt top pieced. This means quite a bit of homework but how wonderful do they look.

Di Elshaug  and   Bec Whitehouse

Mandy Sharp  and  Jacqui Howse

This is my long awaited (especially to be finished) lone star. I started this quilt a number of years ago when Deborah Dorward taught it at our shop. Her original quilt was made with 1930′s fabrics which i adored, but I really wanted to make it out of Kaffe Fassett fabrics. I also changed the applique to suit the more contemporary style of the fabric and also added a diamond border. It was this border that held up the completion of the quilt, as i found the whole thing a little daunting. Now it is completed, I love it and I am extremely glad I persisted. The first photo is actually of my cat (Mr Pringle) who had decided that the lone star quilt was a lovely place to sleep. So now only the binding to go….yeh! Also should mention the beautiful quilting. This was done by Elizabeth Zabinski of the Quiltworks, Ballarat.

Just had to put these on to show everyone. We are always very pleased when our beginners get to the quilting stage, because it usually means they will finish! These two were made in our sailboat cot quilt class, but they didn’t want to make the boats as they wanted the quilt to be unisex. I love the sawtooth star, such a simple pattern, but always looks so effective. The green stars were completed by Faith Austin and the yellow and blue by Danielle Haynes.