Lots and lots and lots of handwork.

 Liz was working slowly, slowly on these ATC's... Erica was hoping she would get one in the same swap...  by the end of the day Liz was sticking to the same stitch rather than all those different stitches on the right, she hopes she gets enough done by the finishing date.

 Another one of Becks blocks.

 Anne-Maree is finishing off these blocks which will also see off the last of her 1930's prints.

 Glynis finishing the binding on this little beauty... what until Show and Tell!  It's very Wow!

 New girl who's name I think is Marianne working of a very pretty rose.

 Robyn is continuing with her lovely little dress up book for her granddaughter.

 Lyn is making slippers similar to the slippers Michelle W. made.

 Marilyn is working on another interesting quilt... this time with an Indian theme.

 Fascinating block of Rita's, sew almost all the way around two squares. Cut as directed and below is what you get!  Clever eh!

 Nice and clean colours from Stephanie.

 Very Wow fabrics of Shirley's.

 Another delicate block from Jean.

 More little Hexies from Sue.

 Finishing quilting of an oldie by Annette.

 Ruth, above and Erica below, are loving working on their Poems Wool rugs.

 I like this interesting block of Jill's, I'm wondering how big this quilt will be.

 Heather is working on another masterpiece, this is the first block.

 Joy busy on her handwork.

I wonder what's coming from these fabrics of Marianne's!

Show and Tell and yet more Show and Tell... Wonderful stuff.

Beck is knitting socks, she says one ball makes three socks!  Very useful, a pair and a spare!

A little Owl and the Pussycat quilt for a special Grandson's Baptism.

And now for something totally different from Liz... pretty little Umbrellas.

Ruth and Erica's wonderfully cosy woolen rugs.

A lovely fresh blueish and white quilt from Marilyn.

Jill has a super new red couch, so she made these two cushion covers to go with it... they look great don't they.

Wow!  from Joy... What a spectacular star quilt.

Another Wow from Marianne, just beautiful... I love that block.

It's Wow! all the way with this one as well... started in 1999 or was it 1992?  Anyway it's been a long time in the making.  Looks Great Annette.

LOL... Always a Wow! from Sue, such delicate colours making such a lovely quilt with the really fun backing below.

Isn't this little quilt just stunning!  Such delicate work for one very special child... almost too good for a child isn't it... But what if they sick on it! or worse?

Jean had a photo of her quilt on her iPad, I like that pattern it looks simple but the results are very Wow!

Shirley's WIP, she says it's just scraps, but when I challenged her she had to admit it was fabrics she had been collecting over the years and had decided to use at last :-)

Very pretty little quilt from Stephanie.

A little Canadian wall hanging from Christine.

Now there is a story to this Christmas panel quilt...   it's a bit long and a bit sad but wonderful that it's finished at last.

Several years ago Christine was making this quilt to brighten up her father's room, but before she could finish it, he died, so she just stashed it away in her sewing room.

A few years later Christine decided to finish off the quilting for her mother's room... but her Mum died before Christine could finish the quilting, again this quilt was stashed in her sewing room.

 Just recently Christine dragged this quilt out and decided she had better finish it off...  then just this week her Great Aunt died.

Christine has now finished off this quilt!  So all her relatives can breathe a sigh of relief!
We were a bit shocked by her story but we did laugh as well.  It's wonderful that Christine can tell us about it isn't it!

And to finish off another absolute beauty from Glynis.  Very special isn't it.
 

Food Glorious Food... just a couple this month...

 Some new things on the Menu this month... Joy's Calamari Sliders.

 My Chicken Liver Pate with Summer Pea Salad.

After a small Entree for lunch... guess what!   I had room for Dessert.  This is Salted Caramel Doughnut with Vanilla Custard, Vanilla Ice Cream and a Vanilla Malted Milkshake.... took me a while to get through but it was absolutely delicious!

The end of the day.... after almost 6 hours of quilting, chatting, showing and eating... this is all that's left! Lovely day once again :-)

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.

Quilts #2. The Cath Show and Tell. Cath makes lots of quilts for Charity, here are some little beauties.