Fairholme Quilt Show - seven sleeps to go!

The Fairholme Quilt Show is on in one weeks time ! Yes . It is on!

This show has been two years in the making. Literally! The Fairholme Quilters have been sewing up a storm making the most inspiring quilts for everyone to see and admire. 100 quilts will be on display.  If you are free on April 8 - 10 please stop by. There will be superb quilts on show, including a challenge quilt section. Displays of quilts and bags made from workshops will also be on display, and Studio Artes is putting on a display of their art works for all to enjoy.

Of course there will be the famous Fairholme Quilters Craft Stall and this year Rosyln has worked her magic to make it a fabulous Boutique . The Fairholme Quilters are talented indeed. Everyone has donated fabric or handmade items for our Fairholme Craft Boutique.These goodies won't last long. 

In the final week leading up to show there is much activity.

The raffle quilt is currently on display at Cottage Quiltworks in Warriewood. Raffle tickets are for sale .

The pop up shop owners are all busy preparing their wares for sale at the show.  There will be something for everyone. You can meet Gerri from Cottage Quiltworks, Carol from Cherry Pie Designs, Karen from The Stitching Post, Kate from Kate Quilts and Rosyln from Grandmas's Treasures at the show. Studio Artes members will be manning their display and their pop up shop too. Stop by for a chat with this creative group. Here is work by Megan and Emily ...

Our Fairholme cafe will be open throughout the show. Fairholme quilters are known for their delicious home baking. My husband and my Dad have found that going to The Fairholme Quilt show is a great day out. They enjoy the home baked treats ( a lot!) and a cup or two of coffee together, while Mum, my sister and I buzz around the show. They also love the quilts of course. Last time Evan even used white gloves to admire them! 

Behind the scenes this week at Fairholme .....

quilts are being prepared, display labels are being typed, cooking is being done, banners are being displayed, raffle tickets are being sold, name badges are being found, Facebook is being navigated, display frames are being picked up and advertising is under way.  I am excited! I hope you are too. 

I look forward to welcoming you to the Fairholme Quilt Show on April 8  - 10 , at Thornleigh Community Centre. Doors open from 1-5pm on Friday 8th and from 10 am - 4 pm on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th.

As always a great day out for everyone! 

Happy sewing, love Miriamx 

Happy Easter

I would like to wish you all a very Happy Easter. Thank you for your support of this blog. Our lives are busy, so I am delighted that you are taking some time  out to drop by. You are always welcome!

To celebrate Easter I thought I would share with you a bunny pincushion. If you look closely you can see little bunnies chasing each other around the centre and more bunnies frolicking around the edges. 

To bring in the centre I have added a delightful thimble button that I found in my button collection. 

The pincushion has 42 pieces and was hand stitched using fussy cutting and paper piecing techniques. I spied the bunnies on a beautiful fat quarter given to me by a wonderful friend Margaret. It is a new Tilda fabric. I used a whole piece on the back of the pincushion.

The pincushion measures 4 inches along each side. For those of you who love colour like me, it is  Carmine Red. It was a delight to make especially because it uses fabric given to me by a dear friend. How generous of spirit are quilters !

Have a wonderful Easter break. May  it be filled with family, friends, and the occasional chocolate egg! 

I am laughing now, as every time I type Easter I accidentally type in Eatser.  Enough said! 

Happy sewing, love Miriamx 

Where it all Began

This is what started it all.  This is the quilt my talented Mum made in 1973. It has just had a wash and airing at my home . Here it is drying on my clothes line.

Mum made it from 1& 1/2  inch hexagons. It is paper pieced and entirely hand stitched. I can remember her painstakingly cutting out the paper templates. Mum was meticulous about the accuracy of those hexagons!  I can also recall my friends'  Mums giving her pieces of left over fabrics from dresses that they  had made their daughters. Even a piece of my old school uniform is in this quilt! Those were the days when our Mums all made our school uniforms. This quilt is really quite the time capsule. It is a treasure trove of 60s and 70s fabrics and childhood memories.

Part of its charm is the fact that the central hexagons have faded over time, from when it used to adorn my bed as a child. Lucky me! And dare I say 43 years on it still is a favourite quilt of mine. Truly a scrappy sensation. 

Who knows, but hopefully some of the quilts we make today for our families will live on for decades too.  The quilts we make do not have to be perfect. They can be scrappy and eclectic as we all know that a quilt is more than the sum of its parts. A quilt is a reflection of our lives and the times we live in. 

So here is to quilts that pass the test of time, no matter how worn and loved they become. I wouldn't want my quilts to grow old any other way! 

Happy sewing, love Miriamx

Quilts on Vacation - Part 3

Welcome  back to Sewmiriam. It is always a pleasure to have you visit. I have saved a very special quilt for Part 3 of my Quilts on Vacation series. The quilt featured this week is Rousillon - the Fairholme Quilters 2016 Raffle Quilt.

You can read more about the quilt and its name at The Fairholme Quilters  blog by clicking here. 
Here the quilt is at Point Clare in NSW taking in the sea air.

An exquisite French Touille is on the back, so the quilt is reversible.

After a hard days photo shoot, Rousillon has taken up residence at Cottage Quiltworks in Warriewood for the next few weeks.

 If you visit the shop, there are raffle tickets available for purchase at the counter. This year proceeds from the raffle quilt will be going to Studio Artes - a wonderful Hornsby based programme for the disabled that focuses on life skills, performing arts and visual arts. You can read more by clicking here.Their fibre arts programme will also have a display at our show. Be prepared to be blown away by their talent.

Then  Rousillon is  going to the Fairhlome Quilters Biennial Show on April 8, 9 and 10 at the Thornleigh Community Centre. I will be there with my Fairholme Quilting friends, so I hope you will join us for what is always an excellent display of quilts made by our members. 

Please save the date in your diary, and please say hello to me there. I always love meeting my blog readers! 

Happy sewing, love Miriamx 

Quilts on Vacation - Part 2

Mt Gibraltar lookout near Mittagong, NSW is spectacular. The perfect location for a quilt vacation!

Here is my latest quilt enjoying the views.

I had a wonderful time designing and creating this pattern, using brown fabrics that no one cares much about these days,  and mixing them with modern graphics to create a fresh, new look. It has an authentic Australian feel to it, don't you think!

 It is machine pieced, hand appliquéd and hand quilted using Aurofil 12 thread. If people are interested, I am happy to run a workshop at Cottage Quiltworks in Warriewood on how  to create this quilt. It is fast, fun and a great stash buster. When I was making this quilt, I felt that I was giving old fabric a fabulous makeover!

The Australian bush provided the perfect location to photograph this quilt and really complements the earthy tones of the quilt. 

I hope your week has been filled with joy and some time for gentle stitching!

Happy sewing, Miriamx