Binding a Quilt

I came across Sharon Schamber's video on binding a quilt quite a while ago and didn't take much notice of it.
Today, I had to bind a quilt and thought I would give it a go, seeing that so many of my long arm friends in the States had tried it and loved the result.

I AM A CONVERT! I will never go back to my old method. This is fantastic - but you HAVE to follow the steps.

We can't get Elmers school glue here so I tried a Bostick washout glue stick. Not quite as good as the Elmers Glue in that Elmers Glue is liquid and thus easier to apply but the glue stick worked.

"Square Candy" Workshop

Quilt Academy held the "Square Candy " workshop this Saturday. Hanlie Burger shared a simple method to create a beautiful quilt with a block that looks like a square in a square. All the ladies enjoyed making their blocks . There were so many different colour combinations. Some of us used Batiks and Amafu dyed fabrics while others used florals , stripes, darks and brights. One quilter actually bought some fabric from a friend at the course because it was one of the colours she was using in her quilt.

The best news of all is that we had TWO little quilters both under the age of 12 at the workshop. They were Navashthra Ramadu and Kelsey De Rose.
Navashthra is Vijay Ramadu's granddaughter and Kelsey is Twig's daughter.

 

These are my blocks. I cannot believe I've already made 42 blocks, I couldn't  stop making them. Now I need more batik fabrics!!!! Waiting for the next Kwazulu Natal Quilters meeting to shop , shop , shop!! 

Hanlie is  a soft spoken , pleasant teacher who was so willing so share tips and tricks to make sure we completed our blocks.

At lunch time Thavi provided meals for the ladies. Vegetable lasagna and Chicken a la King were on the menu.
We really enjoyed this workshop.

Sisters Exhibition at St Matthews

We went to St Matthews Church in Pietermaritzburg , today for the annual St Matthews Sisters Quilt Exhibition.I hope you were able to come as if you didn't, you missed something special.


Marline Turner and her team were up at crack of dawn this morning- and that's DARK and COLD in Pietermaritzburg on a winter's morning!- setting up the quilts in the church and out in the grounds of St Matthews.


We were supposed to have been there at 7.30 am but were delayed due to the usual truck accident on the N3- this time under the bridge at Hammarsdale.


This is what greeted us as we drove in to the grounds:

Spread around the grounds were rows of quilts all suspended from washing lines strung between the trees.

There were all sorts of quilts : from king-sized bed quilts down to knee quilts and cot quilts and anything in-between.

There were applique quilts - this one is,I think, Marline Turner's quilt.














And puff quilts, and pieced quilts and more applique quilts of all descriptions.












Sampler quilts and Pinwheels on the fences and in the grounds as well as in the church.












Here are two I found in the church, both beautifully made.

Then I found this one which I loved.


Luscious Little Layerings  was also there with Beth Barkus, the convenor, with lots of examples of journal quilts.We are hoping to see many Luscious Little Layerings come into being as a result of Beth's enthusiasm at Sisters.


Amafu, Nimble Fingers , Quilt Studio and Nicky Mommen were there, together with the MACS ladies,representing the quilt supply vendors and, of course , the teas and eateries were supplied by the able ladies of St Matthews.

Luscious Little Layerings and Sisters Exhibition

Quilts on the fence at St Matthews June 2011

The Luscious Little Layerings team will be at the Sisters Quilt Exhibition at St MAtthews Church, Hesketh Drive, Hayfields, Pietermaritzburg from 9.00 am till around 3.00 pm.

Please come and see us when you come to the exhibition. We would love to show you the Journal Quilts and the Luscious Little Layers we currently have.

Luscious Little Layerings

This is a new fund raising venture by Natal Quilters Guild to raise funds for the 2015 festival here in Durban.

It's modelled on the "Little Gems" project from the U.K., whose originators graciously gave us permission to use their idea for our own project.

Beth Barkus

We think it has lots of potential and we hope that you will join us by contributing your own "Luscious Little Layering". Here is the link:
Luscious Little Layerings

We have put up some photos of journal quilts from various South African quilters to give you some inspiration. If you don't know what to do there are FAQs and guide lines but pretty much anything goes as long as its made of fabric, has three layers and is stitched.

First person to tell me what year these quilts were on display at the Sewing, Knitting & Craft Show - wins a small prize!

Blast from the Past

This is a Flower Quilt that Tollgate Members made as a Raffle. Each flower is unique as we only had geometric shapes to use to create the flowers - all thanks to Vereker Munro.