Quilts in the Barn

On Saturday I visited Quilts in the Barn at Wonga Park in Victoria - a long trip for me but worth every bit of it! It is nearly 8 hours drive away interstate but what a good excuse for a road trip - two nights each way and lovely countryside to view en route.

A wonderful entrance view

There are a few different bloggers' posts on this wonderful event - so you may have seen a lot of these pictures already (apologies). Of course, if you are anything like me, can't get enough of a good thing....

First some of the Dutch reproduction quilts ( I think they are ones made by Petra and An) - a lot of the patterns are in their book Promenade dans un jardin Hollandais:

"Sisters" on the left

Below is the "Simon" quilt - very exciting to see Petra and An's version (all the way from the Netherlands) now that I am making one too!

"Simon"

Love how the blue sings in this one - "The Elephant"- also from Petra and An's book

"When Stars meet Hexagons" - 7/8" hexagons, stars and triangles

Lots of other quilts with a chintz theme - and I think they are the work of the Sisters:

What a beautiful red to frame the chintz.

Below is a lovely medallion by Dorothy Ramage - and I had the pleasure to meet her at the ticket desk:

Gorgeous fabric and quilting on this one

By Karen Styles - lovely block looks wonderful framed

Look at that broderie perse - sigh.

Stunning border and background fabrics - super blocks.

Hexagons made from antique fabric scraps - such little gems.

Love the fabrics and the fussy cutting - oh, and the perfect points.

It was a thrill to finally see Di Ford's 'Morrell' quilt in real life - and here are two of the most stunning (and difficult!) blocks:

Inspired fabric choices here - gorgeous.

It was wonderful to meet up with Carole and her sister at the Barn. We have both made a version of this quilt using Di's pattern so had to pose in front. Check out Carole's lovely blog for all her photos of her Barn visits too (she went twice!).

Me on the left, and Carole from Wheels on the Warrandyte bus

 Well ...I am running out of superlatives for all there was to see ...but there is more...

The antique quilts and fabrics brought here by Mary Koval - for viewing and purchase. Here is just a small sample that we could photograph. Some was not to be photographed (by request of the owner) - they were fragile but beautiful.

Purchases were made: When I went to pick up a copy of Chintz quilts from the Poos collection it was lovely to see the friendly face of  Meredith and so appropriate that her blog is called "Pomegranate and chintz"! I have broken into my sealed copy of the book now and it is wonderful stuff.  There are lots of pictures from the book now on different blogs.  

 I also bought a piece of lovely new chintz to be treasured - one I have not seen before - doesn't have a sheen to it and is normal patchwork weight and feel. Am assuming it is from the Netherlands as it says "by Prins and Kooiman" on the selvedge. 

I was so impressed by QITB - lovely venue, great refreshments, beautiful displays, many friendly faces and so well organised - thanks so much and please do it again!

To finish off a  lovely day Carole was kind enough to show me her local quilt shop - "Needles and Pins" in Warrandyte. She is a lucky lady. Warrandyte, on the Yarra River, is  a beautiful place to live and this is a very nice little quilt shop ...with my sort of fabric. 

It was also just wonderful to find that Di Ford was busy helping out that morning - so nice to meet her and have a little chat too!

Here are my purchases from the shop (including super bargain finds):

Just in case you haven't seen enough quilts.. on the way home I spent some time exploring Beechworth  ( historic country town in Victoria). With quilting and chintz very much still in the mind I spotted these: 

• In the local museum, along with a great display of gold mining and Ned Kelly memorabilia, was a  sweet child's "wagga" in a cot, and it looked to be made of chintz. 

• In an antique shop - several "much-loved", vintage quilts for sale:

Beautiful hand quilting designs on these

Back to sewing with renewed energy - hope you find all these quilts inspiring too!