a common thread...

Needle Work Needle Play logo by MaricorMaricar

As there are both quilters and stitchers among us, I'd thought you might enjoy hearing about a new exhibition of artistic embroidery I came across recently.

Named Needle Work Needle Play, it is an exhibition featuring handmade creations from nine of Australia's best contemporary embroiderers. The exhibits include pieces made with coloured twine, soft sculptures, portraiture and jewellery.

For textile art lovers, here is a taste of work from some of the exhibiting artists...

a WIP shot of a gorgeous piece by Cat-Rabbit

softie by Cat-Rabbit

stunning stitches by Haeli Van Veen

Otus by Carly Altree-Williams

For more innovative and amazing behind the scenes photos, as well as interviews with the artists, I encourage you to go and take a look at their amazing blog.

Opening night is on Friday, August 10 at the Brunswick Street Gallery in Melbourne and runs until Thursday August 23.


Show details are:

Needle Work Needle Play
Brunswick Street Gallery
322 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
Opening 10th August at 6pm
Running from 10th - 23rd August 2012
Hrs: Tues - Sun 10am - 10pm

So many ideas and challenges

It has been ages since I have posted on our blog but there is a lot to catch up with especially the wonderful quilt show which I missed because of my travels. However I have heard glowing reports about the show and especially the quality of the quilts being exhibited so congratulations to all involved.  I was also disappointed that I did not get to see the amazing display on the stage (see photos)  -

 

Last weekend some of us attended the Quilt-in at Melton and were inspired by the guest speaker, Dijanne Cevaal.  Is there enough interest in her work for us to organise a workshop?  Go to her website for more information and inspiration - http://origidij.blogspot.com.au/

More library information next time. Glo :-)  .

Sneak peek

I have two show and tell quilts to show you.  These will be on display at the Sunbury Quilt show on 16-17th June so I hope you get a good look at them and all the other wonderful quilts then. 

Barbara bought the pansy fabric about 10 years ago, worked on it a bit and then forgot all about it.  Six months ago she stumbled upon the UFO and decided to finish it!  We've watched Barbara hand stitching the Drunkards Path blocks at our Tuesday meetings just about every week since wondering how she was going to put them together. Kerrie Thomas machine quilted the quilt with a pansy design to match the fabric.  Her contact details are on the The Drapers of Mt Macedon website.

Here's another "old" UFO!  Marlene bought the pattern Just Bein' Girls from Attic Crafts Bendigo a few years ago.  This will be a quilt for her 15 year old granddaughter, Jasmine.  Marlene quilted the quilt using variegated thread which looks really lovely with the colours in the fabrics used.  The embroidered designs are gorgeous so make sure you have a good close up look at them at the show!

 

Christmas in July

This year we will be meeting at the Hall for our Christmas in July festivities.  The Hall has been booked for sit and sew from 10am - 4pm and we will be walking down to the Olive Tree Hotel for lunch from there.

Just a reminder from the Christmas Elves to remember to bring your challenge projects to show!

Shirting

We had two fantastic quilts at show and tell this week.  Lyn and Annie participated in a shirting swap a few years ago where the group brought old shirts so there was a huge selection of different ones and then these fabrics were swapped amongst the stitchers.  It's amazing how different the quilts from similar fabrics can turn out.

Here's Lyn's Winding ways quilt.  Lyn added the floral border fabric to her stash of shirting fabrics.

Annie added the plain dark blue fabric to set off the blocks in her lovely child's quilt.

Flowers in bloom

Here's Bronwyn proudly displaying her Sunflower quilt.  The pattern is Autumn's arrival by 4th and 6th designs.  One of Bronwyn's friends bought her a batiks jelly roll while she was in NY so Bronwyn used that for the background in this quit.  It's been quilted by Patchwork of Essendon and Bronwyn is currently adding beads to the sunflower centres to create more texture and interest.

This lovely quilt has been made by Di.  She drafted her own pattern and named it Ohio in the garden because of the Ohio stars and floral fabrics.  Di started working on the quilt in 2010 and has taken it along to our quilt retreats for the past two years.  She'll need a new project for the next retreat now!