Podcast - Sew Crazy Quilters Exhibition - Queensland Australia

I spent the last two weeks of September and into October in Australia.  We had a couple of family birthdays and had managed to organise gatherings around the celebrations.  It was a full on couple of weeks and most of it was spent with family, but I did sneak in a couple of quilt related outings.

I got to meet up with some lovely SAQA members (Studio Art Quilt Associates).  From left to right is myself, Rebecca Staunton, Ali George and Kate Oszko.  A yummy lunch and some great conversation.

My stepmother and I visited Lynette Anderson's shop, called Little Quilt Store.  It's only little, as the name suggests, but it is crammed full of Lynette's fabrics, plus some others, and if you like Lynette's style, you'll love this shop.  I came away with a little something in the form of some half-metre cuts. My stepmum bought a some Christmas charm squares and I showed her how to make coasters - she was a whizz at it!

I also got to a local quilt group's exhibition, the Sew Crazy Quilters from Helensvale, Queensland.  In a delightful coincidence, Lynette Anderson had donated the fabrics for their raffle quilt and a prize for their viewer's choice.

The Sew Crazy Quilters were great sports about me whipping out my voice recorder and asking them questions about their quilts for my podcast.  Scroll down to the media player at the bottom of the post and see if you can distinguish between the Aussie and the Kiwi accents ;-)

My first interviewee was Carleen Condon.  Her quilt is called 'Living in Town', from a design by Wendy Sheppard.  Carleen has made this quilt for her son and his fiancee for their new apartment.  It was machine quilted by Manisha Hunt (who appears later in this post).

My next guest was Jodie Nelson, who invited me to the exhibition through Facebook - the power of the internet!  And she is lovely in real life too.  Jodie's quilt is a Piecemakers pattern and is called 'America, America, God Shed His Grace on Thee'.  

Chris Gordon is a past president and made this lovely Rose Window quilt inspired by a book on rose windows from cathedrals.  Chris designed her quilt from the rose window in the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.

Chris also talked about the challenge entries - the theme was Home.

Thadia Lawson kindly answered some questions for me about her quilt 'A Touch of Contemporary'.  This quilt is for her Grandson and it was quilted by Stephen.

Maureen Foote's quilts caught my eye with their innovative techniques and interesting subject matter. 'The River Runs Dry' is on the right hand side and 'Australia Fair' is on the left.

This quilt 'Something Fishy' was also one by Maureen.  

My last guest, just before my batteries on my recorder ran out, was Manisha Hunt.  Manisha Hunt is a professional machine quilter for hire and had some of her beautiful quilts on display.  Her website is here: http://quiltandcraftstudio.com/quilt-gallery/client-quilts/  where you can see some of her lovely work.

Thanks again, you were all lovely to chat to!  

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Across the Ditch

Hmm, what to write about first?  Well, I guess I better explain where I've been for the last few weeks.  My Dad turned 70 this year and we decided it was time for a family get together.  We haven't all been together in the one place for about six years!  All my immediate family live in Australia now - I have to break out the passport to go visit my brothers and sisters :(  So our little family crossed the ditch (that's what we fondly call the Tasman Sea) and spent ten days on the Sunshine and Gold Coasts of Australia.

The kids were extremely excited to be having a plane ride - they can't remember their last one.  And the first plane we ride on is a little one from Kerikeri to Auckland, just one seat each side of the aisle, which makes is a bit more exciting.

We had to spend a day in Auckland due to a passport issue.  (Warning: check your passport expiry dates CAREFULLY!  It is not good for stress levels to find out you have an expired passport the day before you fly.)  But we made the most of it with a trip to the museum and a trip up the Skytower.

Dad's party was a great success.  The log cabin quilt I've been working on was presented to him.  My eldest sister made half the blocks and on the back are blocks from members of the family with names, handprints and pictures.  He loved it!

This is my Dad, my step-mum and all my immediate siblings.  I don't know how my half-brother managed to get out of this photo, and my step-sister was the one taking the photo.  Of course there were plenty of little children - all cousins - running around too.

We had a trip to Australia Zoo - the home of the late Steve Irwin.  Not cheap, but really worth it for the kids.  Lots of animal experiences.

And a great show where a 4-metre long croc named Graham (not sure if this is a great name for a crocodile) tries to eat his keepers.

Later in the week we borrowed my parent's camping gear and headed to Great Sandy National Park with two of my sisters and their families.  I got to see a snake in the wild.  I think it's a carpet python - not poisonous.  It was hanging out in a tree where we were waiting for the ferry at Tewantin.

Camping at Great Sandy National Park is only accessible by 4WD because the beach is the highway - a little bit different!

We camped and swam and ate and saw a whale and lots of birds - and cleaned out about 2 tonnes of sand from our belongings when we got back.  So much fun.

And there was the obligatory theme park visit.  But I had cut a deal with Hubby!  I took the kids to the zoo while he went swag (a kind of iconic Australian camping bed and tent all rolled into one) shopping, and he took them to Dreamworld while I went fabric shopping.  I reckon I got the better deal!

Phew!  That's enough photos for one day.  I'll show you the few fabric goodies I picked up another day.  We visited my husbands cousins as well so we really filled up on family on this trip.  Now we are getting back to reality.  It's school holidays for the next two weeks so it's an easy transition really.  It's nice to be home, just a little bit cooler!