Saturday, March 21, 2015

Report on 7 March 2015 QSG of NSW talk by Judy Day



Judy Day was The Quilt Study Group of NSW’s first guest speaker of the year on Saturday 7th March 2015. 


Judy’s mother was a dressmaker and a sewing perfectionist, whose skills Judy believes she inherited. Judy loves handwork and has been a quilter for over 25 years. Her miniature quilts range in style from antique reproductions to Hawaiian, 1930’s, 19th Century red and green quilts and copies of early cot quilts. Judy shared more than 30 of her beautiful miniature quilts with us and described in detail what inspired their creation and exactly how they were made.


Judy has won many prizes for her quilts at quilt shows in Australia, as well as a number of prizes at The American Quilter’s Society quilt shows in USA. Two of her miniature quilts are exhibited in the “Oh WOW! Miniature Quilts Gallery “ in The National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky USA.



Judy believes that patience, attention to detail and precision is important in making miniature quilts. She loves antique quilts but said she couldn’t hope to reproduce as many as she would like to in a lifetime, so by making them in miniature she can produce more. 



Judy’s advice for those wanting to make miniature quilts included sharing details about the threads, needles, fabrics and assembly techniques she uses.   

Most of her quilt patterns are taken from pictures of old quilts found in books. First Judy enlarges the picture using a photocopier (usually 300%) and then she drafts the pattern by using tracing paper. To select the most appropriate fabric Judy studies those used in the original picture using a magnifier. Nowadays she tends to appliqué her quilts as a whole cloth on muslin – even a beautiful clamshell quilt she showed us was made by this method. 

Please join us for the next QSG of NSW talk on the 2nd May 2015. Trudy Brodie will talk about all types of Strip Pieced Quilts.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

War Quilts Exhibition at Manly 3 July to 22 November 2015




WAR QUILTS EXHIBITION

Curated by Dr Annette Gero 
Venue details: Manly Art Gallery & Museum, West Esplanade, Manly NSW 2095
Exhibition launch: Friday 3 July 2015, 6 - 8pm
Exhibition dates: 3 July - 22 November 2015
Open: 10am - 5pm Tuesday- Sunday
Entry: Free

This year marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. Gallipoli (2015) is a particularly significant event in the Australian WW1 memory. 

To mark this event, Manly Art Gallery and Museum has taken the initiative by putting on an exhibition of War Quilts from all wars.

Waves of migration have resulted in many people from all over the world bringing their own quilts from their home countries when they have settled in Australia.  These visual masterpieces date from 1770 through to the end of World War 2, and include many Crimean War Quilts including one made from 15,000 pieces. The quilts have been made from a variety of textiles, ranging from soldiers uniforms through to “mum’s make do” quilts made here in Australia after the war from blackout fabric.

Dr Annette Gero will give a talk about the history and story behind each of the quilts in the exhibition at the Gallery on Sunday 12th July 2015 from 2 to 3pm.

The War Quilts Exhibition will also be published as a book, about the same size as “The Fabric of Society”
E mail annettegero@bigpond.com to reserve your copy at 30% discount