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Tuesday 23 June 2015

Mini break

I'm back from a fun mini break in Sydney - visiting the Quilt Show followed by a Sydney city hotel stay with my daughter, meals out and shopping. So many exciting experiences crammed into a short stay! 

I took 101 photos of the Quilt Show but due to the strict publishing rules cannot show individual quilts without permission. The collection of red and white quilts were so pretty en mass. There are pics on the Quilt Guild blog  and Instagram (sydneyquiltshow2015) and here is one of mine.

There was so much inspiring work among the general entries too.  I got permission from Wendy to post photos of her stunning quilt - just love it. Hand quilted beautifully - well done Wendy! 



The quilting adds so much and it was exciting to see how many of the quilts that I loved at the Show were hand quilted - loads of them. It was interesting to see the variation in size of stitches, thread weight, density of quilting - great to study up close. The quilting was just as effective and attractive with larger stitches - especially when it suited the style and scale of the quilt, and was even in size and spread. I have made two collages of tiny quilt snippets from the Show (so small as not to give anything away re design I think)  but they are all different quilts, and different styles, all I admired, and all hand quilted. 



I know not everyone can manage to hand quilt - and I was one of those for many years. And sometimes you just need to finish a quilt quick! But just saying ...how lovely it looks and feels. 

Talking of which - I have made a start to hand quilting Ann Randoll. I meant to use larger quilt stitches but the smaller looked better against the scale of the saw tooth border so I think I am stuck with it now.

I forget how exciting Sydney can be ..in small doses. 
Here we are heading out from our hotel for the night - me getting a crash course in 'selfies'
We had an entertaining and truly delicious dinner out at Chef's Gallery near Town Hall - where all the talented chefs are on view in a glass gallery kitchen - amazing. We could have reached over and literally had a hand in the cooking ..if there wasn't the glass wall!
Modern Chinese - best beans I've ever tasted.


Oh and I might just have bought a Mother-of-the-bride outfit - thanks to David Jones, Anthea Crawford  and my daughter's keen eye. 
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21 comments:

  1. Flickenstichlerin23 June 2015 at 12:01

    Wonderful pictures, I love handquilting too, the quilts are so pretty.
    Greetings,
    Sylvia

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  2. Karen - Quilts...etc.23 June 2015 at 12:27

    I agree such great photos, the hand quilting looks great - nice to spend time with the daughter I bet!

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  3. Kyle23 June 2015 at 13:16

    Enjoying a big city can be fun, but like you said, in small doses. The quilt show looked awesome and I'm surprised there were so many hand quilted quilts. I went to a show in my area recently and out of 130 quilts only a handful were hand quilted. Great beginning with AR and it sounds like you can cross off getting a MOB dress. That's a lot of time and pressure gone.

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  4. Raewyn23 June 2015 at 15:26

    Sounds like you had a wonderful time... thanks for sharing the snippets of quilts that you could - they do look lovely and the links too. The hand quilting you are doing on your own quilt looks great - what sort of batting are you using? It has a lovely wee puff!

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  5. Janet23 June 2015 at 15:31

    Loads of handquilted quilts!! Oh Hilda, that sounds incredible! Your photos of Wendy's quilt are beautiful - lovely to see the details and stitches :0) It sounds like the whole trip was a load of fun! Wonderful to share this with your daughter :0) I'm loving the stitching so far on your Ann Randoll.

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  6. CecileD23 June 2015 at 18:02

    Thank you so much for the photos !! What a big and awesome work for the Wendy's quilt !!
    I guess you had a wonderful time in this show !
    Happy quilting with your Ann Randoll quilt !
    Hugs !

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  7. Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow23 June 2015 at 20:44

    Wendy's quilt is gorgeous and it will be enjoyable to see your progress on the lovely Ann Randoll quilt!

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  8. Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow23 June 2015 at 20:45

    Wendy's quilt is gorgeous and it will be enjoyable to see your progress on the lovely Ann Randoll quilt!

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  9. Barb23 June 2015 at 21:49

    Stunning quilts - thanks for sharing your photos.
    I love love love to see hand quilting - just beautiful

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  10. Nancy23 June 2015 at 22:01

    Thanks for sharing the pictures you could. I would love to see more of the Red and White exhibit .
    It’s wonderful to see hand quilting making a come back. Wouldn’t it be great to see a beautifully hand quilted quilt win best of show at one of the big shows in the States.

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    Replies
    1. Every Stitch24 June 2015 at 08:52

      Wish I could have shared more photos. It was great to see the extent of the hand quilting - even among a lot of modern quilters. I do hope it is a come back!

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  11. Kath23 June 2015 at 22:20

    How lovely to see all your photosl I love the Ann Randoll quilt. I am relatively new here and have not seen it before, but the snippet looks fabulous.

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  12. Wendy Caton Reed23 June 2015 at 23:08

    Thank you so much for showing a close up of Wendy's wonderful quilt. I can't believe it didn't win a ribbon. It is stunning. I'm so happy to hear there was lots of hand quilting in the show. Interest in hand quilting seems to be waning here in the states. I'm not afraid to be the final holdout here, but I would enjoy a bit more company. Your Ann Randoll quilting is beautiful!

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  13. Carla A Few Of My Favorite Things24 June 2015 at 00:25

    Your lovely small stitches are perfect! It may take a bit longer but oh my that quilt is going to be a stunner! Are you using wool batting?

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  14. Ageeth Dorsman24 June 2015 at 01:00

    Must have been a great event, the Sydney Quiltshow, and the red-and-white quilts are beautiful. Also very beautiful is Wendy's quilt. I love the handquilting details you show, and although it takes much longer, I really prefer handquilting for the look and the feel of it, whether the stitches are small or somewhat bigger. But here in Holland more and more quilters bring their quilt to the longarmer for quilting...
    Speaking of stitches... your quiltstitches on Ann Randoll are really beautiful and I am sure this quilt is going to be amazing!!!

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  15. Karen H24 June 2015 at 03:42

    There seems to be a resurgence in hand quilting. I love both hand and machine work; they produce very different results. I do like the feel of a hand quilted quilt!

    The quilt show looks amazing!

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  16. audrey24 June 2015 at 04:21

    Oh I just love your pictures! The texture of hand quilting is simply irresistible.:)

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  17. Diane24 June 2015 at 06:28

    Thanks for sharing those great close ups of the hand quilting. I do love the variety of styles that hand quilting offers and its always so interesting to see the design choices on the patchwork. It's hard to see those details in most photos, so I really enjoyed these pictures. Cute selfie!

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  18. Dawn24 June 2015 at 09:35

    Thank you for sharing the snippets from the show! Wendy's quilt is beautiful. I love the texture from the hand quilting, while the quilt remains soft. Great color choices too.

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  19. Lori24 June 2015 at 13:03

    Looks like a great show and even better with so many hand quilted.

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  20. Susan25 June 2015 at 19:22

    Looks like you had a wonderful time at the show and catching up with your daughter. I agree that there seemd to be more hand quilting this year, and quite a variety of styles and skills, all with that lovely hand stitched feel and effect. How exciting to have found your outfit, now you can relax a little and enjoy the wedding preparations.

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