AMQA Show 2014

Due to an overwhelming demand, the entry date has been EXTENDED!!!!

AMQA Inc. has received many requests to extend the entry date for this show. We understand that life just gets busier for so many of us and many quilters are so close to finishing their quilts. We have listened and are extending the closing date. The new entry deadline is midnight, 14^th August 2014 for online entry. If you are going to post your entry-form in, then it needs to be postmarked no later than 10th August 2014. If we have not received it by the 14^th we will not be able to accept your entry due to printing schedules.

We acknowledge those entries who adhered to the original date for entry and thank you for your promptness.

If you had considered entering but did not complete the entry, you have a new deadline. Enter by the 14^th August 2014 to be a part of the AMQA Inc. Quilt Show.

There are wonderful prizes from our many sponsors and you will have to opportunity to show case your talents to hundreds of visitors. This show only happens every 2 years so don't wait until 2016. You can find all the rules here. Entry forms can be downloaded here OR you can submit an electronic form here.

See you at the show!

THE Premier Machine Quilting Show in Australia. Several categories are available

1. INNOVATIVE CUSTOM Large: Minimum of 240”, maximum of 480” perimeter. Heirloom/Show quilts have been specifically designed as quilt show entries and/or not intended to be used as functional bed quilts. Fibers, fringe, crystals and embellishments of any other kind are permitted.

2. INNOVATIVE CUSTOM Small: Minimum 60”, maximum 240” perimeter. Heirloom/Show quilts have been specifically designed as quilt show entries and/or not intended to be used as functional quilts. Fibers, fringe, crystals and embellishments of any other kind are permitted.

3. WHOLECLOTH: Minimum of 100” perimeter, maximum of 480” perimeter. The entry must be a single piece of fabric or minimally pieced from the same fabric to increase size only. The Wholecloth piece should be designed to highlight the many quilting techniques of today’s machine quilters, including, meandering or background quilting, straight lines, feathers, continuous line and non-continuous line designs. The quilting must be the dominant feature of the Wholecloth and the quilting should encompass the entire quilt. Painting or other embellishments are not permitted in this category.

4. TRADITIONAL CUSTOM LARGE: Minimum of 240” perimeter, maximum of 480” perimeter. This category is for those functional bed quilts that we do for ourselves or for our customers that are meant for daily use but have been machine quilted with high quality custom quilting techniques. No embellishments, metallic threads or thread painting of any kind are permitted in this category.

5. TRADITIONAL CUSTOM SMALL: Minimum 60”, maximum 240” perimeter. This category is for those functional quilts that we do for ourselves or for our customers that are meant for daily use but have been machine quilted with high quality custom quilting techniques. No embellishments, metallic threads or thread painting of any kind are permitted in this category.

6. THREAD ART /PICTORIAL: Minimum of 100” perimeter, maximum of 280” perimeter. Involving thread play and/or a mixture of mediums and embellishments. All embellishments must be firmly attached and quilt must be able to be hung conventionally and with minimal care required. All quilts entered in this category must be the original design of the quilt maker and not made under the direction of another person in a workshop/course situation.

7. MACHINE EMBROIDERY: Minimum of 240” perimeter and maximum of 480” perimeter. The quilt must incorporate machine executed embroidered blocks or machine embroidered appliqués or motifs as a significant design element. Hand embroidery, while beautiful, is not allowed in this category. Specialty threads and embellishments are allowed. The quilt will be judged equally on the quilting and machine embroidery.

8. EDGE-TO-EDGE: Minimum of 240” perimeter, maximum of 480” perimeter. An all-over-the-quilt pattern which is continuous-line derived from a pantograph or freehand quilting. The quilting design must cover the quilt completely from one edge to the other. Painting on fabric is permitted in this category.

9. MODERN: Maximum of 480" perimeter. This category is for those quilts which encompass the Modern Quilting style. Modern quilts are functional and can display features such as solid &/or bold colours, simplicity, minimalism or improvisational piecing. Features can include asymmetry, the use of reinterpreted traditional blocks, the use of modern prints and negative spaces. No embellishments permitted.

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An Article by Veronica Prendergast

One of the quilt shops here in Townsville held an Airing of the Quilts recently instead of having a morning tea for breast cancer. (everyone was morning tea’d out) The following is a story from the shop (Sunlit Blooms) regarding the airing of the quilts.

Äs part of Sunlit Blooms Sewing regular breast cancer donation, it was decided to hold an airing of the Quilts’. Many generous ladies shared their quilts for the day. A vast variety arrived at the shop during the preceding week and all made for an interesting and motivating experience for all who attended. A special thank you to all the generous ladies for the loan of their quilts.’

Entry was by gold coin donation and they raised $150. I loaned them 2 quilts. As you can see from the photos it was held behind the shop in the car park, no extra expense involved.

Veronica Prendergast, Treasurer/ Membership Secretary AMQA

Butterfly Quilting

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Notice of the Annual General Meeting of the Australian Machine Quilters Association Inc

To be held on: Wednesday 20th August 2014 at 8.30pm AEST, 8pm SA time,
6.30pm WA time, 10.30pm NZ time
Location: 136 Depot Road Warwick Qld 4370 with Skype link up for members
Skype contact - thomasnraylee for link up - REMINDER - Please set up this link a few days before the AGM.

Business to be conducted at AGM

Presentation of AMQA Inc. Reports, as outlined in the Agenda. An electronic copy of all reports will be available for view in the file section of the AMQA Members Yahoo Group. If you wish to receive a hard copy of this report, please contact the Secretary.
Election of members of the management committee
General Business: items for discussion at the AGM must be received in written form by 26th July 2014.

Candidates Wanted for Management Committee
Enclosed is a link to a candidate Nomination Form for positions on the AMQA Management Committee. If you are interested in what is involved in being a member of the committee, please take the time to read the enclosed “Job Descriptions” page. If you feel you have skills and time to contribute, please feel free to nominate for any position. If you are a “newbie” to machine quilting, this does not exclude you from being on the committee. Experience is not a necessary requirement for all the committee positions. Please contact the Secretary for further information if you are interested. Maybe you are unable to serve on the committee yourself but know of a fellow member who in your opinion would be ideal in one of the positions. Please lobby them. The ultimate decision is up to the members, not the committee. Nomination forms need to be returned to The Secretary by 26th July 2014.

List of Candidates
A list of candidates will be posted on 27th July 2014 on the Yahoo Members Group and also emailed to members.

Proxy Forms
If you are unable to attend the meeting either in person or via Skype link up, two proxy forms are enclosed. Complete Form 1 if you wish a member present either in person or via phone link to vote at their discretion. Or, complete Form 2 to enable your nominated proxy to vote how you have indicated. Please complete and return to the Secretary by 26th July 2014.

Kind Regards

Barbara Cutmore
Secretary AMQA Inc
136 Depot Road Warwick Qld 4370

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Congratulations to Belinda Betts "Eucalypt Ridge Quilting" for receiving the award for "Excellence in Longarm Quilting" at the NSW Quilters Guild Exhibition in Sydney in July.

"Data Garden"

Belinda Betts

Get-Together Southern Style

Hi Everyone, The Canberra Quilters Exhibition is coming up and I'm hosting a Get Together for anyone who'd like to come on the 22nd August 2014.

This is open to all and there will be plenty of tea coffee and even hot chocolate. Discussion will be lively and entertaining and even educational.

I will have food available but please bring anything you'd like to contribute. Let me know if there are any dietary requirements, I know a few are Gluten Free.

It is cold in Canberra, so bring some warm stuff.

Hope to see you on the 22nd..

Raylee Bielenberg.

Teacher Profile AMQF:

Emma Evans has been our official photographer for festival since our first festival in 2010. She has produced great photo DVD’s for everyone to remember & be inspired by and her photos have graced the pages of National & International magazines. This year she is also going to present two classes for you to learn how to take a great photo of your quilt, how to style your shot & also how to use your automatic or DSLR camera, plus some tips & tricks on using Photoshop Elements to enhance your photos.

Emma has always loved photography from a young age. From running into Grandma's garden (which is amazing!!) and taking photos of all her amazing roses and flowers to the fast paced action of her sister's love of motocross.

Even though she loved photography she never thought she'd be able to make a career out of it, so she set her eye on Mechanical Engineering. Doing the necessary classes in her final year at school she still managed to squeeze in photography. In doing so she won the photography award that year, along with winning the design competition where her design was used for the school yearbook. This art piece was created from a photo she took and then spent many hundreds of hours manipulation in Photoshop. It won a major prize for Emma.

This got her thinking....

At the last minute she transferred into a Bachelor of Design (Visual Communications) instead of engineering.

From there everything changed.

She began the course and gained enough knowledge to know that her heart still cried for photography over design. The following year she transferred into a photography course at TAFE SA.

From here she really jumped at her dream. Landing a job in Real Estate Photography meant she was committed full-time to this new passion.

She enjoys every second behind her camera and can only hope you will see that joy when joining her in her classes.

Bell Photography & Design is her business and is where you can also purchase previous copies of our Festival Photo DVD along with pre-ordering 2014 Photo DVD. You won’t want to miss out on having this to be inspired by the amazing quilts in the AMQA Quilt Show and have a reminder of the great times had with like minded quilters!

Emma has also produced a fantastic book – Quilt photography for Beginners – that can be ordered and collected at Festival. Students have the opportunity of purchasing this optional resource at a discounted price when purchasing either of her two classes.

Lee Vause

Lee runs her business, Threads and Tangles, from a brand new studio that houses 2 longarm quilting machines, an industrial embroidery machine, a number of domestic machines and an area for teaching - this is all located in Langwarrin, Victoria. Lee has been quilting since 2006 on a domestic sewing machine and started longarm quilting in 2012. She loves the modern negative space and geometric quilting and enjoys having the opporutnity to custom quilt in these styles. Lee gets her inspiration from anything and everywhere including such things as fauna and flora, carpet, curtain, architecture and many of those things that surround us everyday. Zentangle is one of Lee's great loves and this has been a major inspiraton in terms of her quilting style and she finds it a terrific vehicle for enhancing eye to hand coordination and skills. Lee has been teaching and public speaking for many years as part of her professional background. Over the past 2 years she has concentrated on teaching all things that relate to Zentangle, Free Motion Quilting (Domestic) and Machine Embroidery. Lee loves quilting for customers and is seeking to grow this side of her business wherever possible. The classes Lee is teaching at AMQF can be found here.