Quilting at the Blue Gum on the First of September.

 Now this is what we've been waiting for!   Liz has been making these blocks for a few years now, actually I think it's what she's been doing since she started coming along to the Blue Gum.  This is the sort of quilt you need hours to pour over, piece by piece, block by block... isn't it spectacular!

 Look how much Liz loves the back!  :-)  actually I think she was a bit shocked to see it like this.

 Becky was cock-a-hoop over her Sue Spargo block, just look at all those different stitches, wonderful stuff! 

 And the back!  Two backs in fact.

 Claire was putting the border on this stunner!  I love the look of this quilt and I guess it's not as difficult as it looks... just a lot of planning.

Now this one is a wonder... I'll let Heather tell you what it's all about.   Good Luck with your deadline Heather!
  
Convict Quilt (aka The Maria Challenge by Margaret Rowe)

 Hunters Hill is celebrating their 30th birthday this month and as part of the celebration we were set a challenge to make a quilt under the same conditions as a convict coming to Australia.   This time last year we were each given a 2 lb bag of fabric (the same as the convicts).   On my bag was a tag with my convict's name, her sentence (life) and her age (20) and occupation (Milliner).   Our challenge is to make a coverlet (no batting) with just the fabrics we have been given, needles, pins, thread (embroidery and sewing), a tape measure and 1 pair of scissors.   We are NOT allowed to use - irons, rotary cutters, pencils, paper, ruler, etc.

 I was short of one of the border fabrics so I inserted a plain piece of fabric into the border and embroidered the name of my convict, Mary Gildersleeves, plus the name of the ship - Maria I -Sydney 1818.   One of the fabrics in my bag had been previously cut on the bias, so I knew that this had to be part of a vine.   As each round progressed I put aside my bias fabric, as I knew there was plenty, until I got to the border and appliqued some leaves and flowers to go onto the vine.

 All the calculations had to be done in my head and I now find that I have miscalculated the backing by 1/3 of the finished size of the quilt.   Right now I am madly sewing together bits of leftover fabrics to make up the missing 1/3.   I still have to hand sew the back to the front and the quilt measures 66" square - I think I got a little bit carried away !!  Thursday, 13th September is the deadline.