Linda Steele Quilt Blog

Merry Christmas 2024

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Sat, 21 Dec 2024 06:36:00 +0000

It's taken a couple of years but I think I have taken back control of my life. I have been over committed for a while and discovered that it takes the joy out of things. A car accident in the middle of this year was the last straw and I realised that something had to change. It is really hard to say no.

I have resigned my job as Head of Exhibitions and Convenor of the Victorian Quilt Show and stepped down as the leader of the Waverley Art Quilters after 14 years.

It is a relief and means that I can concentrate on one job, President of Ozquilt Network, which is the Australian and New Zealand Art Quilter group.

Our last two subjects for the Waverley Art Quilters was Tomma Abts, a German born abstract oil painter who lives in London and Andy Warhol, an American modern pop artist.

Andy Warhol was known for his depiction of Campbell Soup cans, so I chose a jar of Vegemite which is a popular spread in Australia.

Vegemite

I noticed that Tomma Abts used shadows in her work, so I used organza to make shadows in my quilt.

Tomma Abts

I hope to get a lot more sewing done next year, seeing as I have shed some responsibilities.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Bye for now,

Linda

Galla Grotto Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 09:03:00 +0000

A couple of months ago, I flew up to Urunga in New South Wales for a workshop with Galla Grotto. Galla is a Russian quilter who lives in France. I went with Sue de Vanny and we stayed at a lovely place that was an easy walking distance to the venue where the class was being held.

The photo below was the view from our apartment balcony, my photo does not do it justice.

Urunga

Galla speaks very little English so we had an interpreter named Tamara who is a Russian living in Australia.

Here is a photo with Sue, Galla and myself. We do look a little worse for wear but it was at the end of the day and the weather was quite warm and humid.

Sue, Galla and me

Galla's work is absolutely beautiful, so precise and perfect. Here is a photo of the class samples.

It was three days of precise cutting, folding back the edges of the applique pieces and placement, we didn't get to do any sewing.

Here is my nearly finished top.

My top

I had a lovely time up there. Sue and I walked to the venue and had a coffee at the local cafe and had walks along the river. We went out to dinner every night and I loved the warm weather.

The class was hosted by Caroline Sharkey, who also provided delicious morning and afternoon teas and lunches. I highly recommend doing any of the workshops that Caroline hosts, she does them well, you are truly looked after.

Bye for now,

Linda

Chihuly Glass Exhibition

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 09:17:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I was over in Adelaide for the Ozquilt Network Inc. AGM and opening of the Australia Wide Nine Exhibition. The following day we went to the Adelaide Botanic Gardens to see the Dale Chihuly glass exhibition. Chihuly is a famous artist from America and is most known for his wonderful glass work.

The entrance to the gardens

It was a lovely warm day and just perfect to wander around the gardens.

The beautiful gardens

The glass sculptures were spread all around the gardens. There were also night time sessions where you could see the sculptures lit up. We walked around during the day, went out for dinner and then came back in the evening to see them under lights.

Here is one called the sun and underneath I have a photo of it with lights.

The Sun

The Sun at night

Here is another called Lime and Red by day and night.

Lime and Red

Lime and Red by night

They were amazing during the day and magical at night.

Sunken garden

Vivid Lime Icicle Tower

Cobalt frog Feet

Float Boat

Red Reeds on Logs

My photos do not do them justice, I felt very inspired.

During the day, we had the lovely sunny weather and luckily the evening was still warm and there was music playing creating an exciting atmosphere.

We also walked around the city and saw the lovely jacaranda trees and had coffee in the heritage Adelaide Arcade.

Jacaranda Trees

The Adelaide Arcade

We only had two days in Adelaide but we certainly made the most of it.

Bye for now,

Linda

Australia Wide Nine Opening

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 08:34:00 +0000

I recently flew over to Adelaide for the opening of Australia Wide Nine. It is the biennial exhibition run by Ozquilt Network Inc. (OZQN)

I am the President of Ozquilt Network, which promotes art quilts for Australian and New Zealand art quilters. We met earlier in the day for our AGM, it was a bit more tricky than usual because the AGM was held in person as well as via Zoom. It all went well and I was elected President for a second year. A visitor took a photo of us after the meeting.

OZQN AGM

After the meeting, Zara Zannettino kindly gave us a talk about photographing our quilts. Then it was time for the official opening of AW9.

The opening was held at the newly renovated gallery Fabrik, in Lobethal Adelaide. Lobethal is in the Adelaide Hills, I think it was about a 45 minute drive from the city.

The quilts are 40cm x 40cm square or about 16 inches, they were beautifully displayed and the gallery provided us with a delicious spread of finger food. I missed out on the food because I had to give an opening speech and then I was busy talking to guests. We had over 50 people at the opening including quite a few interstate people.

Here are a couple of photos of the crowd.

I took some photos of quilts with the artists, but I missed out on getting a photo of everyone who was there. Too much talking I suppose.

Here I am with my quilt Tropicana.

Me with Tropicana

Still Surching by Zara Zannettino

Bandicoot on Damask by Julie Haddrick

Ode to Bundanon by Linda Balding

Lorinda Freeman

Here are some other quilts that I admired.

And the Wheels go Round 4 by Sue Reid

Blossom and Buzz by Tracey Barelli

Configuration by Alison Withers

Kangaroo Grass Study 2 by Alison Charlton

Mr. Roo 2 by Ann Head

After the opening we had a dinner at the Lobethal Bierhaus which is the restaurant next door. Unfortunately, the power went out in the area and in the end we were dining by candle light. Luckily we had ordered wood fired pizza for dinner. The staff were frantically trying to cook and serve us, it was slow but everyone understood.

It was much more stressful being the organiser for the event rather than a guest, but it went well I suppose. My husband came with me, so that made it a little holiday for us and it was good to catch up with some fellow quilters.

Bye for now,

Linda

Houston 2024 Win

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 06:05:00 +0000

I woke up at 6am on Saturday to watch the award ceremony for the Houston International Quilt Show and was absolutely thrilled to win second Prize in the Pieced section for my quilt Citrus Zing.

Below is a screen shot from my computer.

2nd Place Houston

Another Australian won a prize too. It was my friend Tania Tanti who won the Master Award for Innovative Artistry for her quilt The Naughty Corner.

The Naughty Corner by Tania Tanti

Best of Show went to a miniature quilt. I would love to see it in person, it must be amazing. It was made by Chen Jing from China. The quilt is only 17" x 18".

Still Life by Chen Jing

Houston is on at the end of the month, it's a shame that I won't be there to see it.

Here is a better photo of my quilt Citrus Zing.

Citrus Zing by Linda Steele

It's been quite a popular quilt. It was used to advertise the Golden Textures Exhibition last year.

This year it is being used to advertise the AQIPP prize for next year.

I suppose the colours are unusual.

A couple of weeks ago the prizes for the Sydney Quilt Show were announced and Ocean Dance 2 won a Judges Award.

Ocean Dance 2 by Linda Steele

It has been a lovely end to my year when I think that also got into Quilt National for the first time. Quilt National will be opened in Ohio next May and I am planning on going.

Here is a small detail photo of my Quilt National quilt.

Communication Breakdown detail

I know it is not all about prizes etc but they are nice to receive.

Bye for now,

Linda

One Step Further 2024 and good news

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 01:12:00 +0000

Last Saturday, I went to the opening of One Step Further in the charming town of Kyneton, Victoria Australia.

As usual with these events, one of the most enjoyable experiences is catching up with friends and meeting new people. I managed to catch up with quite a few who I only know by name and have never met before.

The quilts were of a high standard too, I think the exhibition was even better than the last one in 2022. One Step Further is on every two years and is organised by Victorian Quilters Inc.

Here are some of the photos that I took.

Windswept by Anna Brown

Goddess by Grace Di Muzio

Joy Shines Through Life's Blurred Lines by Judith Oke

Earth Blanket- Leaf Litter by Judy Hooworth

Cicada 2 by Julie-Anne Rogers

Heat Stress by Sally Swan

There were two Highly Commended prizes and they both happen to be on the Ozquilt Network committee of which I am President, so I was really thrilled for them.

River Bank by Linda Balding

Eucalyptus 1 by Julie Tasker

Julie Tasker lives in Queensland and she made the trip down so she could visit her brother at the same time. She didn't know that she had won a prize when she organised her tickets.

Second prize went to Zara Zannettino.

Full Circle by Zara Zannettino

The winner was Bree Thomas, one of the judges, Lynda Worthington did a talk and said that this work went Two Steps Further!

New Beginnings by Bree Thomas

I heard Bree talking about her quilt and she said that the rolled fabric behind the butterflies were old quilts that she didn't want anymore. What an innovative idea.

The Old Auction House Gallery is at 52 Mollison Street, Kyneton and there is a large art supply shop attached to the gallery. Oh my goodness, I had to be strong and only bought two things.

The exhibition is on until the 14th October 2024, so plenty of time to get there.

Someone took a photo of Julie and I together.

Julie and I at OSF.

I didn't have a quilt in One Step Further because I was busy trying to make an entry for Quilt National.

This morning I got the email saying that I was accepted!!

I still can hardly believe it. Quilt National is the most prestigious contemporary quilt exhibition in the world. People try for years and never get accepted. It is held every two years and I tried in 2020 and 2022 with no luck.

I guess it was third time lucky!

Bye for now,

Linda

Working in a Series- Seasons

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 07:02:00 +0000

In our Art Quilt group, we have decided to try working in a series again. This time we were to do a series of four quilts over four months. I chose The Seasons. I wanted to start doing some fabric printing again and thought it would be a good way to begin.

I started to print some PFD (prepared for dyeing fabric) in various oranges, yellows and reds using the gel plate and some fabric paints. I was planning to work on Autumn first.

Then Charlotte Scott from New Zealand came to our group to run a class on printing leaves and painting organza to make an art quilt. I enjoyed the class, especially as I had been meaning to get back into this type of work. I made a small quilt, that I called The Wetlands in class.

The Wetlands

Well, you know what it is like when you do a class, afterwards you pack everything away and forget what you did.

I changed my mind and decided to do my little series using her technique, so I could remember how I did it.

I printed leaves or a stencil on white fabric and overlaid some painted organza and some appliqué to create each one.

I started with Summer.

Summer

Then I tried Spring, I couldn't help but think that the organza dulled the quilt down a bit, so I added more little pink blossoms to try and brighten it up.

Spring

Next came Winter, I didn't use leaves this time, I stencilled on some winter trees with bare branches.

Winter

Finally, I did Autumn, the season that I was going to start with and I used some of those fabrics that I had printed for the autumn leaves.

Autumn

It has been a busy year and to tell you the truth, it was a struggle to get these little quilts done. They are only 12inches square.

Today, I listened to a talk by Jane Dunnewold, near the end she said that if creating the work does not give you joy, then why are you doing it?

I have lost some of my joy because I have too many commitments. I have decided to cut out two of the responsibilities that I have next year. I have to be brave and say no.

I have some good news, I have won a prize in the Sydney quilt show. I looked at flights to go there for the day, but it would have been so expensive and travelling to the airport and back is an ordeal so I have decided not to go.

Bye for now,

Linda

Beth and Trevor Reid Exhibition

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 03:55:00 +0000

My husband and I travelled up to Kyabram to the opening of the Beth and Trevor Reid exhibition.

Beth and Trevor are husband and wife artists from Canberra in Australia. I have seen one or two of their quilts before in exhibitions but absolutely loved seeing their collection. We were greeted by amazing colour and design. What a feast for the senses.

Here are some of my favourites, but really I loved everything.

Hot Lava by Beth and Trevor Reid

I loved how they spoke about their work and told us the secrets of how they made them.

Diversity Waterways

Here is a detail photo but really my photos do not do them justice.

Diversity Waterways detail

Checkmate by Beth and Trevor Reid

I love how they create by combing quilts and art techniques.

Degree of Difference by Beth and Trevor Reid

Griffen Legacy by Beth and Trevor Reid.

There are actually 20 leaves in this collection but they only had three of them on display. I actually bought the one on the left. So it will come home with me when the exhibition closes.

Elements by Beth and Trevor Reid.

As I said before my photos do not do them justice and you will be blown away by the full gallery of their colourful work. I wish that I had taken a photo of the room, so you could get an idea of the visual feast.

Luckily the exhibition is on until the 4th October 2024.

It on at the Kyabram Town Hall Gallery in Victoria, Australia.

Bye for now,

Linda

Victorian Quilters Showcase 2024

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 10:27:00 +0000

The Vic Quilters Showcase was on at the end of July and although last year was supposed to be my final year as Convenor, the person who was taking over got sick and I had to do it again.

There is a lot of work in the lead up to the quilt show but the actual show is the fun part, where the prizes are awarded and you get to catch up with friends and do some shopping.

Here we are getting ready for the awards.

Best of Show went to my friend Linda Crouch for her quilt, A Magical Winter Garden.

A Magical Winter Garden by Linda Crouch

Here is a detail photo of the quilt.

Runner Up to Best of Show was won by another friend, Sue de Vanny for Sound of Silence.

Sound of Silence by Sue de Vanny

There is a bright spotlight on both of their quilts which really doesn't do them justice in the photos.

I won the Runner Up prize in Innovative/Contemporary quilts for Ocean Dance 2.

Ocean Dance 2 by Linda Steele

I loved the embroidery on Australian Bush Antics by Catherine Howell.

Australian Bush Antics by Catherine Howell

Here is a detail photo.

Australian Bush Antics detail

One of our member groups AQA, had a display of their red and white quilts to celebrate their 40th Birthday. Red and white quilts make such a great display.

North, South East and West, There is no Place Like Home by Jan Baker

Tree of Life by Shirley Lodington

I had to take a photo of this gorgeous miniature that won First Prize.

Blooming Lollipops by Yumi McKey

I urged someone from our Art Quilter group to enter her quilt and she was absolutely blown away to win First prize. She's a new quilter who has never entered anything before. It was such a thrill.

Ocean Walks by Connie Russo.

Our profile a Quilters this year was the multi award winner Eileen Campbell. Her display was jaw dropping.

Eileen Campbell in front of her quilts.

Every quilt she makes is a masterpiece.

The Unicorn's Garden by Eileen Campbell

I can relax now that the show is over and although I have lots of people who have offered their help nobody will take over the running of the show!!

Bye for now,

Linda

Waverley Patchworkers Quilt Show 2024

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 10:33:00 +0000

Waverley Patchworkers had their quilt show earlier this month and it was very successful as usual with lots of visitors.

The standard of the quilts is always very high and with lovely shops and cafe selling delicious food, no wonder it was a popular show.

Waverley does not have a judged show but they do present a few prizes.

The President's Award is named the Dawn Burrows Award, named after our first President and founder.

The prize went to Allison Stevens-Spink for her quilt Singing in the Rain.

Singing in the Rain by Allison Stevens - Spink

It was a lovely quilt because it also won Viewer's Choice.

Cheryl Meyer won the June Lyons Award with her quilt Kelmscott. The sun was shining on her quilt and so it was difficult to get a good photo of it.

Kelmscott by Cheryl Meyer

The First Time entry for a quilter of less than 5 years experience went to Heather Stephens for Dresden Plate- Same but Different.

Dresden Plate- Same but Different by Heather Stephens

There was also a challenge called A Touch of Blue and the overwhelming winner was Heather A Woods for Leunig's Lullaby.

Leunig's Lullaby by Heather A Woods

It is only small and my photo does not do it justice.

I like some other challenges as well.

Eileen Campbell

Jill Abery

Lyn Nethercott

The Waverley Art Quilters also had a small display of some of our work.

Waverley Art Quilters Display

Below is the work we had done after studying Brazilian Artist Carmen Hererra.

Carmen Hererra

Industrial

Landscape

Memories of France and Rex Ray

We could have had a display three times the size but we could only use a small space but it still gave an interesting look at the work that the group has been doing.

The Raffle quilt called Symphony in Blue was a gorgeous focal point as people entered.

Symphony in Blue

Bye for now,

Linda

Annemieke Mein - A Life's Work

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 09:49:00 +0000

The Annemieke Mein retrospective exhibition has now finished, people are still talking about how wonderful it was though. I am sure that it could have gone on for longer.

You can read my post about the Exhibition here

I purchased the new book, called Annemieke Mein- A Life's work. It is a large hefty book and has all the work that was in the exhibition and more.

The book is not a 'how to' but rather a look at all her work to date. There are a lot of essays from various people about Annemieke and her work.

I actually haven't read the book yet and as I usually read books in bed, I am not sure when I will. The book is too heavy for bedtime reading. I have glanced at some of the articles and it is interesting, so I'll have to try and read it during the day.

Here are some of the pages.

I looked at the gallery website and some of the merchandise is still for sale. You can see it on the Gippsland Art Gallery Website here.

Waverley Patchworkers Quilt Show

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 28 May 2024 07:03:00 +0000

The Waverley Patchworkers Quilt Show is on again this weekend. I don't run this event anymore but I do understand all the work that goes on behind the scenes to make it a success.

The raffle quilt is absolutely gorgeous this year. Unfortunately, I took this photo at one of our meetings where the lighting is not the best, but it is magnificent.

Waverley Raffle Quilt 2024

The quilt will be on display during the show and tickets are $2 each, all the money raised goes to a charity.

Here are a couple of detail photos.

As well as all the beautiful quilts, there will be a display of the Waverley Art Quilters work.

The Show is held on Saturday and Sunday, the 1st and 2nd of June 2024.

Saturday 9am to 5pm

Sunday 9am to 4pm.

The show is held at the Mulgrave Community Centre.

355 Wellington Road,

Mulgrave

Melbourne. Victoria

Australia

There will be quilt displays, shops, a cafe and demonstrations.

I will be helping set up on the Friday and will be at the show all day on Sunday.

Hope you can come.

Bye for now,

Linda

Annemieke Mein Exhibition

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 21 May 2024 04:42:00 +0000

Two friends and I travelled down to Sale, in Victoria to view the latest Annemieke Mien exhibition. It was a three hour drive, so we decided to stay overnight, so it was not such a demanding travel day.

It was worth the trip, it was a retrospective of all her work from the 1970's to today. There was work that I had never seen before and it was displayed beautifully. The gallery is a stylish, modern building and the display took over the entire gallery, there were many rooms of her work.

Her most well known work took up one of the walls as you went in.

Freedom by Annemieke Mein (1986)

There was also a room showing her early work, you can see how she started and how her ideas had progressed.

Starlings (1978)

I loved the way she has kept meticulous sketches and samples for her work. They were all on display too. Below are an example of her progress with baby birds.

She can even make a fly seem compelling.

There were many display cases like in the photo above showing the drawings, fabrics and threads.

I decided to take a lot of close up photos because there are many pictures of her entire pieces but I am interested in seeing the detail.

Of course, I had to take a photo of one of her fish. The date says 1993 - 2021, apparently during Covid Annemieke decided to finish some work that she had put aside.

Queen Snapper (1993 - 2021)

Here are some of the other photos that I took.

They even brought her furniture and items from her studio and set it up in the gallery.

Annemieke Mein has just celebrated her 80th birthday but she is still working. Her latest work features labels, apparently she put the call out for people to send her clothing labels.

Here is a close up photo showing the labels. Isn't she clever?

It was a very inspiring exhibition.

Bye for now,

Linda

100 Day Project

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 14 May 2024 09:24:00 +0000

Have you heard of the 100 day project? I have heard about it for the last few years but never participated because I am always so busy. But, guess what? I will always be too busy.

This year, I read that you only need to do something for 15 minutes a day to participate. I have wanted to try watercolour for ages and have dabbled a little but found it very difficult.

I had recently bought a book called Creative Abstract Watercolor by Kate Rebecca Leach. I set up some paints and some paper and made the commitment to paint for 15 minutes a day and follow all the projects in the book.

Creative Abstract Watercolor

I was hopeless at first, I didn't know how much water to have on my brush or how much paint I was supposed to use but I persevered and I started to get the hang of it. I didn't give up, I kept reminding myself that I am a beginner.

Not only did I keep going, I really started to enjoy it.

Here are some of the pages that I have done. Don't be too hard on me, I am a beginner who is teaching herself.

I have finished all the projects in the book and now have bought an online course called Sketching for Watercolour. I am loving it so far and some days I spend much longer than 15 minutes.

One of the things that I am enjoying about it is that it is such an easy clean up compared to acrylic painting. I love painting in a compact sketchbook.

I started this adventure on the 1st March and so I suppose the 100 days will finish in June.

It is quite amazing how you can improve by just trying for 15 minutes a day. You have no idea how bad I was in that first week.

I love learning a new skill too, it's supposed to be good for us!

Bye for now,

Linda

More Good News

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 09:09:00 +0000

I am having a run of luck lately. One of my quilts is touring around Australia with the Ozquilt Network, AW8 exhibition. A lady saw it while it was displayed in Launceston, Tasmania and wrote a lovely email to me, asking if she could buy it.

Of course, I said yes, what a lovely compliment. The quilt was my 16" x 16" Ocean Dance Quilt.

Ocean Dance

The touring exhibition finishes in July this year and then I will post it to the lady who bought it.

The other good news was that Simply Moderne Magazine wrote an article about the SAQA Red exhibition and they chose my quilt Autumn Song to be in the article.

Simply Moderne Magazine issue 36

Here is the page with my quilt, Autumn Song at the bottom.

It was hard to photograph because the pages are quite glossy.

Here is what the quilt really looks like. This quilt also sold at Houston Quilt Festival last year. I told you I was having a lucky run!

Autumn Song.

Bye for now,

Linda

AQC 2024 Winners

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 10:05:00 +0000

AQC is over for another year but there were some prizes given out. Every year there is a challenge and this year the theme was 'Oh My Stars'. There was a huge variety of quilts, people can be very imaginative. The winners was Soul Dance by Elizabeth Dubbelde.

Soul Dance by Elizabeth Dubbelde

It was made of recycled jeans but the photo does not do it justice.

Viewer's Choice was Balthazar's Camel by Julie Tasker.

Balthazar's Camel by Julie Tasker

Best of Show in the Australian Quilt Show was Tathra Wharf by Gloria Loughman.

Tathra Wharf by Gloria Loughman

Here is a photo of Gloria with her big cheque. Fancy winning $10,000. She could hardly believe it.

Susan Sheath won Best Modern quilt with Mexican Hats.

Mexican Hats by Susan Sheath

I was so busy working on the Bernina stand this year that I didn't take many quilt photos, but I did manage to take some that caught by eye.

I liked two quilts that were in the SAQA Red exhibition.

Finding Neverland no. 8 by Jan Soules

The Implication of Red by Hsin-Chen Lin

The Implication of Red detail

I liked some of the quilts by the tutors.

Ceramic Portals by Julie Haddrick

Journal Quilts by Gillian Travis.

I went to a lecture by Gillian Travis and she explained how she makes little quilts inspired by her travel photos and then stitches them together to make wall hangings. I think it is such a good idea.

I think that AQC is the best quilt show in Australia and we are so lucky that it is held in Melbourne every year.

Bye for now,

Linda

AQC 2024

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 03:18:00 +0000

AQC or the Australasian Quilt Convention is over for another year. I am so lucky that it is held in Melbourne where I live because it means that I can go every year.

This year I was the guest artist on the BERNINA stand and it was a fabulous experience. The stand was 12 metres long so it was hard to get a photo of it all. It was a great honour to be asked.

Bernina Australia stand

I sat down at a Q16 sewing machine and demonstrated quilting and talked to visitors at the show for four days. People were so kind about my quilts and I received many compliments.

Demonstrating the Q16

I even managed to sell a couple of machines, which was a highlight. It was an easy sell though, I have the Q20 and I love it. The Bernina people were lovely to hang around with too.

I also had a quilt in the SAQA Red Display. It is the quilt that sold in Houston last year, so it will be the last time that I see it.

Autumn Song by Linda Steele

I took some more photos of quilts that I liked.

Two Ponies and a Dog by Jocelyn Trembath

Australian Flora by Bev Butler

Conundrum by Belinda Betts

I also escaped from the Bernina stand on the first day to have a catch up with some SAQA members from all over Australia.

SAQA Oceania catch up

I took some more quilt photos but I'll put them in the next post.

Linda Steele on Bernina Stand

Bye for now,

Linda

AQC Time

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 08:41:00 +0000

The Australasian Quilt Convention (AQC) is on again this week. It starts on Thursday 11th April and finishes on the Sunday. I will be there on Wednesday with other Victorian Quilter members to set up the quilt show.

The exciting news is that I will be on the BERNINA stand everyday as their Guest Artist. I will be spending my time quilting on the Q20 and talking to visitors. I will also have a display of some of my quilts at the stand.

There will be lots of quilt exhibitions and one of them is the SAQA Red exhibition and my quilt, Autumn Song was used for the front cover of the catalogue.

This quilt sold at Houston last year, so I am very grateful that I will get to see the quilt one more time before it goes to its new owner.

Autumn Song

Autumn Song was the first Improv quilt that I made.

If you are coming to AQC please come and say hello to me at the BERNINA stand.

Bye for now,

Linda

Exhibition Closed

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 07:39:00 +0000

My exhibition called Of Land and Sea that was on in Warburton closed a couple of weeks ago. I went up before it closed to catch up with a bus load of quilters from the Westernport group. They were a lovely group of women and I had the chance to answer all their questions and have a lovely catch up.

I took a photo of some of them, not all wanted to be in the photo in case I put it on Facebook.

Westernport Quilters

Then I asked someone to take another photo so I could be in it as well.

The curator Bronwyn, said it was the most successful exhibition that they have ever had! They had so many positive comments from visitors.

The good news was that I sold one of my quilts to Elenna.

I got a photo when she came to pick up the quilt after the exhibition closed. She was in her gardening clothes because she didn't expect a photo opportunity, but I didn't mind, I just wanted to be able to remember her.

Elenna and I

She bought Life on the Reef.

Life on the Reef

That was a positive experience and I thank all involved in the Yarra Ranges Gallery group, especially Warburton.

Bye for now,

Linda

Quiltcon and Ocean Dance 2

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 06:05:00 +0000

Last week the Modern Quilt Guild Exhibition was on in America, it's called Quiltcon. I wasn't there but I made a quilt for the fabric challenge and it got accepted.

Challenge Fabrics

I loved the fabrics so I signed up to do the challenge. Unfortunately, I didn't get a prize but I saw the prize winners on Facebook and they were amazing. The winners were actually what I would call a Modern Quilt and mine was more of a contemporary quilt, so I was surprised when it was accepted.

Ocean Dance 2

I actually took some progress photos, it's good to see where I started and where it ended up.

beginning the quilt

Making progress

I sometimes wonder how I manage to sew it all together! Here I am doing the quilting.

Quilting Ocean Dance 2

Here is a detail photo.

Ocean Dance 2 detail

Here is a link to the Winners 2024

I have a lot of fabric left over, so I think I will make another smaller quilt for an Ozquilt Network exhibition that is coming up using the same theme. Time is the problem, I had better get sewing.

Bye for now,

Linda

Memories of France

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 05:19:00 +0000

The Waverley Art Quilters were supposed to meet this month for the first time in 2024. Unfortunately, there was a big summer storm which took out a lot of people's power. I had to cancel the meeting at the last meeting because the venue had no power. I emailed everyone and messaged as many as I could but unfortunately four people turned up anyway. It seems that not everyone checks their emails regularly.

Our Christmas holiday challenge was called Memories of France. I had bought the challenge fabric at the European Patchwork Meeting in France last year. The fabric is called Eclectic Elements by Tim Holtz. We all had a different colour accent strip to use, mine was Olive Green.

Challenge Fabric

This year I have decided to work in a 12" x 12" square format for a change. I wasn't happy with my first attempt, it was too brown, busy and dark.

Memories of France 1

I had printed photos of a door and some windows and flowers from my photos of France, so there were plenty of memories but it didn't remind me of France.

I stared at it for a month or two until I finally decided to try again. This time I simplified the design and used pink instead of brown.

Memories of France 2

I like the second one much better. It is light and pretty and reminds me much more of my time in France last year.

A member of my sewing group has moved down to the beach and we decided that we would all drive down and spend the day with her during the holidays. They have Magpies, Kookaburras and Parrots visiting all the time, they seem so tame. I loved having the opportunity to take some close up photos.

I've always loved birds, maybe I will make some quilts inspired by these photos!

Bye for now,

Linda

Of Land and Sea Opening Event

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 01:21:00 +0000

My favourite month is January, the busy festivities of Christmas are over and there are no commitments or meetings to go to. I feel so free to do what ever I want which is mainly sewing and catching up with family.

February started with a bang with the opening of my Of Land and Sea exhibition last Saturday. The exhibition is in conjunction with Michael Hammer, who does nature based art that ventures into the surreal.

Here we are before the visitors started arriving. You can see an example of Michael's work in the background.

Michael Hammer and I at the opening

I had my Coral Reef series on display.

Me at the opening

The afternoon went really well and we had between 35 and 40 people come to the event. I asked my son to take photos of the visitors but the photos were mainly action shots that weren't very flattering to people.

My friend Clare, who I met in Morocco in 2022 and went to Europe with last year came and we took a photo together.

Clare and I

I had made a new work for the exhibition and here is my grandson looking at it.

Jack liked the idea of an exhibition so much, he has decided to have an exhibition of his Lego at home later this year and he is planning an entrance fee! At first he thought $40 but I said that maybe $5 would be a better price.

My new work is called Snapshots of the Reef.

Snapshots of the Reef

It is double sided but I only took a photo of the front when I was planning the hanging arrangement.

Planning Snapshots of the Reef

When I get them back, I'll have to take a photo of the second side.

I love this photo of some visitors getting close and personal with my work.

Visitors

We served Sparkling wine and orange juice, sandwiches, cheese platters and scones. There was a lot of food left over as usual, but it's is hard to know how much to serve.

Here is a photo of us with some friends after everyone had gone home.

After the Event

The opening went really well, it was a lovely, warm afternoon and everyone made the effort to come. We had some short speeches that went well. I got a bit emotional when I thanked my husband for his continued support! Silly me.

The exhibition is being held at the Warburton Arts Centre, 3409 Warburton Hwy, Warburton. Victoria. Australia.

It is open Wednesday to Sunday from 12 midday until March 25th 2024. Entrance is free!

Merry Christmas 2023

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 23:45:00 +0000

As I look back on the year, I realise that it has been busy. I have had lots of fun and successes as well as catching the flu and Covid.

I thought my concert going days were over but I went to see Ed Sheeran and Paul McCartney.

Ed Sheeran

Paul McCartney

My European Holiday was the major event as I went to Zurich, France, Germany and Denmark for the first time which included the wonderful European Patchwork Meeting and the Rhine River Cruise.

Morning Tea in France

I also stayed at Create in Harcourt for a friends 70th birthday in April.

I got 2 quilts accepted into the Australian Quilt Show and Life Goes On won Best Abstract Quilt and Best machine Quilting.

Life Goes On

My Sailing quilt won 2nd prize in the Innovative/Contemporary section at Victorian Quilters Showcase.

Sailing

I won the top prize in the Ozquilt Network's Art Quilt Australia 2023 with Moroccan Magic. That was completely unexpected, it was something that I never thought I could win.

Moroccan Magic

I was accepted into Golden Textures with Citrus Zing. I am smiling in this photo but I have just recovered from the flu and was lucky to have been well enough to go.

Citrus Zing

I sold two quilts, an Art Quilt when I was guest speaker at Mornington Peninsula and Autumn Song at Houston International Festival.

Autumn Song

I also Judged AQIPP (Australian Quilts in Public Places)

AQIPP judges 2023

I thought it was my last year as Convenor of Victorian Quilters Showcase but the person who came forward to take over my job resigned a couple of months later. So it looks as if I still have that job, I'll have to do a lot of delegating because I also became President of the Ozquilt Network.

Ozquilt Network is Australia's premier Art Quilt group and we have members in New Zealand and overseas as well as Australians.

I have an exhibition in February and March next year of my Coral Reef quilts, so I'll enjoy the break of the Christmas holidays before I am back into being busy again.

Merry Christmas everyone and thank you to those who read my blog and take the time to comment.

Bye for now,

See you next year!

Linda

Create Whimsy and Good News

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 21:38:00 +0000

I did an interview with Lynn Woll for her online website Create Whimsy. I think that she did a lovely job compiling all the different styles of work that I have created over the years.

Here is a link to the article about Linda Steele.

I also have some more good news. I made an improv quilt for the Quilt Con fabric challenge using the required six Artisan Solids.

Fabric Challenge

I have never participated in a fabric challenge before but I loved those fabrics that reminded me of an under the sea type of quilt.

I didn't expect my quilt to be accepted because it was more improv than modern but I wanted to make it anyway.

Well, I received an email saying that my quilt was accepted and I have posted it off to Quilt Con. I think Quilt Con will be held in February. Unfortunately, I won't be able to be there and see it hanging.

Here is a photo that I took when I first started it.

Here is a detail of the finished quilt as I am not sure if you are allowed to post photos of the entire quilt.

Ocean Dance 2 detail

It's the first time that I have been in Quilt Con!

Bye for now,

Linda

SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly

noreply@blogger.com (Linda Steele) — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 01:18:00 +0000

My quilt called Autumn Song which recently sold at the Houston International Quilt Show was featured in the SAQA publication called Art Quilt Quarterly, issue 33.

Art Quilt Quarterly issue 33

There are 40 quilts in the RED exhibition so it was an honour to be featured.

Here is a better photo of my quilt.

Autumn Song by Linda Steele

I have recently found out that the RED exhibition is coming to Australia next year and so I will be able to see my quilt at the Australasian Quilt Convention (AQC) again before it goes to its new owner.

Speaking of exhibitions, I went to see the Archibald Prize exhibition at the Mornington Gallery recently. It is Australia's premier portrait prize and the amazing thing is that a textile piece won first prize! What a massive step for textiles. Julia Gutman won with her work called Head in the sky, feet on the ground. There was no controversy about her winning either. There was trouble a few years ago when a charcoal drawing won and people complained that charcoal wasn't painting. Times have changed!

It was quite wide and there were a lot of people looking at it so I had to take the photo on a angle.

Head in the sky, feet on the ground by Julia Gutman

Here are a couple of detail photos.

Bye for now,

Linda