Victorian Quilters Showcase 2023

 The Victorian Quilters Inc. Showcase was on last week and it was my last one as Convenor. Everything went well, the show looked good and we had many compliments on the layout and the beautiful quilts.

I will be a quilt show consultant next year to make sure that the hand over to the new Convenor goes smoothly.

Best of Show went to a beautiful applique quilt by Mariya Waters called Floral Symphony no. 2.

Floral Symphony no. 2 by Mariya Waters

Here are a couple of detail photos.

Floral Symphony no. 2 detail by Mariya Waters 

Runner Up to Best of Show was a Pictorial Quilt by Sue de Vanny called Long Tall Sally.

Long Tall Sally by Sue de Vanny

There was another lovely pictorial quilt in the show with an Alice in Wonderland theme.

Curiouser and Curiouser by Michelle Bardwell

We had a display of 20 quilts by the Melbourne Modern Quilt Guild and one particularly caught my eye.

Fan Fold by Caroline Headley

There was also a display of a series of quilts by Jan Preston about her Father in Law in World War 2.

After finding memorabilia in her Father in Law's belongings after he had passed away, Jan went about researching his story. Below is a photo of a section of the display

Courage and Determination by Jan Preston

The display touched many hearts and visitors recounted their own family stories, quite a few tears were shed.

Jan Preston is a wonderful artist and you really need to see the work and appreciate all the different techniques in person. Photos do not do it justice.

Courage and Determination by Jan Preston.

I was also lucky enough to win 2nd prize in the Contemporary section with my quilt called Sailing.

Sailing by Linda Steele

Well, that is the end of an era for me, I have been Showcase Convenor for 6 years and did three Waverley Quilt Shows before that, as well as being President of Waverley Patchworkers for two years.

No wonder I feel a bit burnt out.

I really need some down time to concentrate on my own sewing.

Bye for now,

Linda

Good news

 I have been very busy for a long time but I can finally see some light.

One piece of good news is that I made a quilt inspired by my wonderful trip to Morocco. I have just heard that it has been accepted into the Art Quilt Australia 2023 exhibition. It is a requirement that the quilt has not been seen or exhibited before, so I can only show a detail photo until August this year when the exhibition opens.

Moroccan Magic detail

I saw the fabric for the Modern Quilt Guild challenge and I really liked it, so I trawled online for ages until I found the correct fabrics. You could easily get the fabrics from America but hardly any of the shops post to Australia anymore because of the cost. I found one fabric at one shop and the postage costs were way higher than the the fabric, so I didn't go ahead with the purchase.

After much searching, I found the required 6 fabrics from 3 or 4 different shops in Australia.

Challenge Fabrics

I have already started, it's another improv pieced style quilt that I am really enjoying lately.

beginnings of a quilt

To tell you the truth, it is probably not the sort of quilt that the Modern Quilt Guild is looking for, but I don't mind if it isn't accepted, I am just happy to be inspired to make it.

I have saved the best news for last. I have been the convenor of the Victorian Quilt Showcase for a few years now. It is our most prestigious show and is held at the Exhibition and Convention Centre in the city.

The Show opens on Wednesday at 10am and closes on Saturday at 4pm. I have been working hard on this for months.

We have a modern Quilt as our raffle quilt this year, it was made by members of the Melbourne Modern Quilt Guild. It is very different from our usual raffle quilts and it has been very well received.

Positivity by the MMQG

The good news is that someone has come forward to take over my job as Convenor!! I wanted to finish last year but we couldn't get anyone to do the job.

I will still be helping next year but as a guide and Consultant.

I will be at the show everyday this week, so I hope to catch up with many friends. It will be good to have a quilt show again.

Bye for now,

Linda

Bendigo Art Gallery

 After we had finished our little mid week holiday, the week before last, my friends and I went a bit further north to Bendigo.

Our first stop was to Maree St Clair Quilt Shop. The shop is quite large and it was busy because a group from Ballarat were having a sewing day there. There was a lot of very traditional fabric, which I don't use anymore but there was some Kona cottons that I wanted.

My Fabrics

The tartan fabric on the left is enough for a quilt backing. Maree had very kindly donated a voucher to the Vic Quilters Quilt show and I was the lucky recipient.

Then we drove onto the Bendigo Art Gallery. There was an Australian Women's Weekly exhibition to celebrate their 90th Birthday. A massive achievement.

When we entered they had some of the beautiful clothes that had been on some of the covers. My favourite was the black dress called Snow Maiden by Paolo Sebastian.

It was worn by singer Tina Arena in Evita. I thought it strange that it was called Snow Maiden but I still thought it was gorgeous.

Snow Maiden

Here is a close up of the bodice. It looks see through but in the photo of Tina Arena wearing it, she had a black lining under it.

Snow Maiden detail.

When my children were young, the Women's Weekly magazine published a birthday cake book. My children loved it and it was a huge best seller. They had a display of photos of people and the cakes they had made from the book over the years.

It was a long wall but there were so many people looking at it that I could only take a photo of the middle section

Birthday Cake wall

There were some of the cakes on display too.

Train Cake

There was also an Australiana exhibition.

I remember Jenny Kee was very trendy in the 1980's and 1990's, she was especially known for her knitwear.

Jenny Kee Display

There was also lots of other clothes on display from various designers.

Australian Fashion on display

I took lots of photos. When I got home it was back to reality, cooking dinner etc. But it was refreshing to have those days away.

While I was gone, one of my quilts arrived home from exhibition. I hadn't seen it since 2021.

Reef Revelations by Linda Steele

Bye for now,

Linda

A mid week get away

 Last week, I went on a short holiday for a couple of nights with my sewing group friends. We stayed at Create at Harcourt which is a couple of hours drive near Bendigo. It was one of the coldest weeks we've had so far, but luckily we had heaters in every room. It was a very relaxed couple of days, just sitting and sewing, chatting and eating. We can do it well!

I took a couple of photos of the retreat but I should have taken them during the day when the blinds were open! 

Create at Harcourt

I knew I had found the right place when I saw the quilt pattern out the front. That bay window up the top is where we spent most of our time.

Sitting space

Sewing table

We all had our own room with quilts on the bed of course.

My room

All the decorations were craft related, even my bedside lamp reminded me of some gel printing I have been doing lately.

Bedside Lamp

Here is my gelli plate printing that I had done the week before. Even the colour was the same.

My Gelli printing

There was a wonderful general store, bakery and café next door, where we managed to spend a bit of time. Before we left we asked someone to take our photo.

Our happy group

We took the long way home and had lunch in Bendigo and visited the Art Gallery. I'll show those photos in the next post.

Bye for now,

Linda

Golden Textures Contemporary Art Quilt Award 2023

 Last Saturday, my husband and I drove to Maryborough for the opening of the Golden Textures Contemporary Art Quilt Award opening. It was held at the Central Goldfields Art Gallery, which is a lovely venue that has recently been renovated.

It was the first time I have ever entered and as there were only 21 entries accepted it was quite an honour to be included. 

My quilt was on the flyer.

It was a two and a half hour drive to get there and luckily we arrived in time with 10 minutes to spare!

The winner was Sandra Champion with her quilt Ancient Pathways 15.

Ancient Pathway by Sandra Champion

Here is a detail photo of Sandra's quilt.

Ancient Pathway 15 detail by Sandra Champion.

The judges gave a talk after the presentation and said that Sandra's quilt won because of the innovative use of various materials like paper, silks, scrim and inks.

The Runner Up prize went to Dianne Firth for Red Shift.

Red Shift by Dianne Firth

The judges said that she won because of the gradation of the red fabrics and the impeccable workmanship.

I have never been at an opening where the judges spoke about why they chose the prizes, it was interesting. Maybe I haven't been to many openings!

I took some photos of some of the others that I liked.

Canopy 24 by Anna Brown

Golden Valley by Sue Dennis

Sunbathing by Beth and Trevor Reid

Stuff of Dreams V by Judy Hooworth

TaniaTanti was also there, so I took a photo of her in front of her quilt made of wool

Tangled up in You by Tania Tanti

My Husband took a photo of me in front of my quilt.

Here is my quilt without me in front of it.

Citrus Zing by Linda Steele

My quilt is completely improv pieced. I have no pattern, I just cut and sew as I go. I was thinking about juicy fruits on a plate and  cool and refreshing drinks on a hot summer's day. I am trying to express how I feel when I think of them.

I enjoyed making it, but it did look very different to all the other quilts.

By for now,

Linda

Australian Tapestry Workshop

 I haven't done a blog post for a while, I was so concentrated in getting my latest quilt finished before the deadline. I did get it finished with a few days to spare but I haven't heard if it has been accepted or not. It is a contemporary, different sort of quilt so it might not suit the exhibition that usually has a very Australian type of theme. At least I have a quilt finished.

I belong to a local group that goes on outings every month and last month we went to the Australian Tapestry Workshop. It is internationally renowned for producing contemporary tapestries that are commissioned and displayed all around the world. It is in a beautiful old building from 1885 and was built as a drapery but in 1893 it became a knitting mill.

Demo area

Before we entered the work area we were taken to a room where we were given a talk about the history of the Australian Tapestry Workshop and learnt that the weavers are trained thoroughly for many years and are master weavers. We were told about the wool that is used and how it is especially dyed for each project.

Then we were taken to the gallery where we could watch the weavers at work.

Old Media by Emma Biggs and Mathew Collings

The picture above is the painting that they are recreating in tapestry. Next, you can see them working on it and get an idea of how big it will be.

I find it amazing that they all work on their sections and it all works out in the end.

Here you can see the samples that they make before they start.

Test samples

Look at all this thread that has been produced for it.

Cones of thread

I managed to get a closer photo of them in action.

I don't think that I would want to sit there all day working with a mask on, but they must enjoy it. The tapestries cost thousands of dollars.

Unfortunately, I will miss our outing next week because I am busy doing something else.

On the weekend, I am off to the official opening of the Golden Textures Contemporary Art Quilt Award. They have used my quilt in their advertising which is an honour.

Bye for now,

Linda

New Sewing Space

 One of the rooms that received the new carpet was my sewing room, so even though I have used this same room for years, it feels nice and fresh and new, because we painted it as well. I changed the set up a bit too.

I took some photos, while it was still relatively neat! My Q20 that I use for quilting and free motion thread painting, is still in the same corner. It's a nice light area.

My quilting and designing templates are stored in this white chest of drawers. The brown sets of drawers on top hold the Madeira embroidery threads that I love.

My domestic sewing machine is in a different spot and along side it is my computer area.

My new purchase is a combined cutting table and ironing board.

I really love my new set up, it's working so well. What I have noticed when I looked at the photos that I took was that I haven't hung any work or pictures on the walls yet, so it is looking a bit bare. That's the trouble when you paint the walls, you don't want to mess them up.

I have started a new quilt, it feels so good to be inspired again. I actually did a bit of really traditional patchwork for the first time in years.

I sewed some strips of fabric together.

Then I cut them and resewed them into squares.

I don't like having to be so precise, I find it a bit tedious, so luckily I don't need much of it.

Here is a sneak peak of the quilt that I have started, I was inspired by my Morocco trip.

I am the guest speaker at the Patchwork and Quilters Guild on Saturday, they want me to talk about Art Quilts. The good thing about it is that I don't have to bring all my big quilts for a change. I last spoke at this group many years ago, so it will be good to see them again.

Bye for now,

Linda