Great Australian Quilts

Great Australian Quilts is a one-off magazine that highlights five award-winning Australian quilters to showcase their projects. Each project illustrates the quilters' unique style and technique, inviting readers an inside look into the different tips and experiences that they have to share in their quilt-making process. Great Australian Quilts gives readers the chance to practice these artisans work with the sample projects available in the magazine.

Editor’s journal

Great Australian Quilts • No.10 2019

Quilting Awards 2019 • Special awards are presented annually at the Australasian Quilt Conference Gala Dinner in Melbourne. The awards acknowledge individuals who have made an outstanding contribution in the area of quilting. There is also a Industry Hall of Fame awarded for an outstanding business person in the industry.

Best of Australia 2019 • At the annual Australasian Quilt Conference held in April, the Best of Show quilts from each state and territory guild show held in the previous 12 months are exhibited and judged to determine the winner of the auspicious Bernina Best of Australia award. This year that award went to Julie Adamson for her quilt The Apprentice.

Corroboree CUSHION • Twenty-eight years ago, Michelle opened a shop in the central west of NSW with her parents. Included in the opening stock was patchwork fabric. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever consider that this decision would change her life. In order to make samples to sell the fabric, Michelle went along to classes to learn how to make a quilt, and the rest is history. She was hooked from the first quilt. Now, hundreds of quilts later, she still loves sharing her fondness for quilting with others. She has designed five fabric ranges, published hundreds of quilt designs, hosted nine DVDs, edited Quilters Companion for one year, taught numerous workshops all over Australia, written four books and leads textile tours overseas with Travelrite several times a year. While her first love is machine piecing, she now finds hand piecing, whether English or American, very enjoyable and portable.

THE APPRENTICE • The Apprentice, made by Julie Adamson of Victoria, was recently awarded the 2019 Bernina Best of Australia. The quilt is made of silks and batiks and it is hand-appliquéd and hand-quilted with silk thread. We asked Julie if she could talk us through the process that she used to create this exquisite piece of textile art.

Hoffman CHALLENGE NZ

Colours of NINGALOO • Pat has enjoyed a career in mathematics education and has carried her love of geometry into her quiltmaking. After ‘retiring’, she enjoyed making bed quilts and then moved on to making art quilts. She is a founding member of the WA Inspired Art Quilters group, which has enjoyed quite a degree of success, culminating recently in the purchase of their 16-piece quilt set Noongar Country, Wetland Glimpses by the National Museum of Australia. This set and others by WA Inspired have depicted present-day landscapes that have been linked to Aboriginal history in booklets that accompany the quilts. Pat has enjoyed turning to history, a much-hated subject at school, in order to prepare the booklets.

SET OF 6 GARDEN LINES COLLECTION

Princess Gum TOTE • Leesa published her first pattern in 2004 and has published more than 200 patterns for quilts, bags, clothing and home decor since then. She designed six fabric collections over six years with an American manufacturer and recently took on the manufacturing herself, increasing her distribution to other countries.

CELEBRATE THE CULTURE OF AUSTRALIA’S FIRST PEOPLE

BANKSIA • Dijanne was born in the Netherlands and has lived most of her life in Australia, with short periods of time spent living in France. Her quilts are a product of a lifelong engagement with textiles, the mobility of the stitch,...