The Gourmet Quilter
We were blessed with the delicious creations of the Gourmet Quilter- Susan-Claire Smith- in our February meeting.
Susan-Claire is well known for her “What’s in the box?” mystery quilts, and we got to see a number of these completed. They are full boxes with everything you need, and come up beautifully. Some, like the ‘Daily Dot’ she encourages quilters to customise to match their own family.
She is also well-known for her work with Hoffman California fabrics. They challenge her frequently to make a quilt with their new fabric ranges. She thinks outside of the box to make interesting shapes and concepts to issue her own challenge to quilters and to showcase the best of the fabric. One example she showed us was Horatio the Rhino quilt- a very cute little Rhino using a swirly grey fabric. She has also designed her own panel range through Hoffman California fabrics.
One of the yummy ways Susan-Claire quilts is with laser cut pieces where patterns are cut out on fusible backings ready to be appliqued. She told us some amusing anecdotes about designing some of her applique kit pieces by cutting each part out painstakingly by hand, presenting them to the team at Hoffman California and them pulling out the laser cutter in a ‘oh, I could have used that’ moment. She had us all laughing quite hard.
The end of her talk was perfectly in theme with laughter as she presented a twist on 'bingo with ‘Quilto’ where a story was told using the names of blocks sprinkled in.
In March Susan-Claire’s book ‘The Scrap Pantry’ will be published available in quilt stores and through Amazon. She has an email newsletter announcing that there will be a paid membership allowing BOM, tutorials, book clubs.
We have some calls to action this month as well
Nest Collective needs more cot quilts! They are a registered charity that works alongside social workers and other community partners to provide free packs of baby essentials for whānau in need. They have drop off points all across the city so check out their website for how you can help.
Volunteer sewers are needed by the Sustainability Trust’s curtain bank. Experience in making curtains is needed but lots of encouragement will be given. A morning or as much time that you can spare. Please speak to Jane Stewart Dickson if you are interested
We have several classes coming up so get your interest registered!
Anna Hicks -Sustainable Jacket 2nd June
Clare Smith -Boro Jacket (Boro techniques) 7th July
Susan-Claire Mayfield -Quilt as you go 11th August
Anna Hicks -Honeycomb quilt 24th August
Email, text or call Charlotte or Larrie to register interest
We also had a fantastic Show and Tell with plenty of refuge quilts as well
