FABULOUS SATURDAY

Down Patchwork Lane from Penrith has a wonderful selection of modern fabrics for sale. Their display of fresh looking quilts look great hanging behind their stall. Mother and daughter team, Gail and Tamara work very well together and their enthusiasm for patchwork is evident.

Pictured are four very happy and obliging Year 11 Hospitality students. Being able to work in the Show Cafe is a wonderful opportunity and experience for the girls. The best devonshire teas in Springwood! Congratulations girls.

This group of visitors were shopping till they dropped. Home Patch from Bathurst always has interesting items for sale. Hope the stock lasts tomorrow.

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Saturday started with a drizzle of rain that soon turned to a down pour. Even bad weather won't keep a quilter from a show. Visitors were lined up before 9.00am to make a day of it, and those who attended certainly had no complaints. The show cafe is located in the foyer and the aroma of fresh coffee seemd to draw the early ones to indulge before viewing the quilts.

As the day wore on the sun came out and the crowd grew. The committee of the Springwood Community Quilt Show couldn't have been happier with todays result. The pictorial raffle quilt had to be seen in the flesh for some people to believe what Faulconbridge quilt artist, Petal Davies had done. Petal has a stall at the show and is always ready for a chat and happy to explain her techniques. Drop by and say hello.

The viewers choice of their favourite quilt on Friday turned out to be the same on Saturday. I won't spoil any surprises with a photo just yet. You will have to wait till Sunday around 3.00pm when the winner is announced. When marking your 'viewers choice award' nomination form, take time to write a comment. These slips are counted at the end of each day and all forms are given to the owners of the quilts, whether it is one nomination or one hundred. It makes interesting reading for the maker of the quilt what others think and why they voted for their quilt.

Tomorrow is the last day for the 2011 Quilt Show. Being Sunday we open at 10.00am till 4.00pm. With morning and afternoon teas, lunch and the announcement of the viewers choice awards together with the raffle quilt draw, it is a day not to be missed.

OPENING DAY

Susie Anderson, tireless committee member, welcomes Maree Gerbhardt, President of the NSW Quilters Guild. Maree said she wouldn't miss the Springwood show. The quantity and quality of the quilts is always inspiring. Well done to all the entrants.

One of the guest quilters this year is Karen Cunningham. This is a wonderful opportunity to chat in a friendly environment with her about her classes and workshops. Karen is happy to discuss any aspects of patchwork and quilting with you. Karen has brought with her a small selection of her favourite fabrics for sale.

Karen, from the Stitching Post in Katoomba has a stall full of wonderful fabrics and notions. Some are only available for the Springwood Show. Karen has brought along a couple of Bernina sewing machines which she will happily demonstrate. This is a good opportunity to ask any questions and have a go with the Bernina sewing machines.

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Thursday was a long day for all the committee members and the great volunteers. But we are not complaining!! 150 quilts were received between 10.00am & 12.00noon. By 6.00pm we were satisfied all quilts were hung to showcase them in the best way.

Today, Friday was the first day of the 2011 show. The weather has been kind to us, and the crowds today were very happy with what they saw. Stall holders were kept very busy, and over the weekend all the great stock should be purchased as must haves!

Today we were very fortunate to have the top hospitality students work their magic in the kitchen. The devonshire teas were the best. The choice of chicken or pumpkin soup along with the mixed sandwiches was more then enough to keep us satisfied.

Saturday hours are 9.00am - 5.00pm and Sunday 10.00am - 4.00pm. Grab a friend and come and spend a wonderful day at the Springwood Community Quilt Show.

FABULOUS STORES - FABULOUS FINDS

The Springwood Community Quilt Show is very fortunate to have a vast array of local traders who set aside the last weekend in April to set up their businesses around the Quilt Show. The following are the shows permanent traders along with Bygone Beautys display. In no particular order we have:

Alexandra Callow - specialising in home made goodies and craft with emphasis on vintage sewing. From Mt Victoria. Pictured above

Unique Treasures - Original patterns and kits. Fabric scrap bags, quilts and variety of bric brac. Chris Jurd t/a Patchwork Fundamentals - Blaxland. Pictured below. Anne Sommerlad Designs and Patching with Petal. Pictured below is Anne with her patterns and quilts while Petal specialises in textiles, her own patterns and fabrics.

Home Patch - Annie Downes from Bathurst.Fabric, patterns, kits, woven wool and special show gift ware. Always popular, see below. The Stitching Post- Bernina Dealer. Embroidery patterns and threads.Karen Kirk from Katoomba.

Fortunes & Fairies - Lots of bargain priced fabrics, wool felts and kits.Leanne Masters from Richmond.

Sew 'n Save - Brings all her haberdashery, clover products and Amy Butler fabrics. Sharon Slowery from Springwood.

Down Patchwork Lane - Hand dyed fabrics, unique patterns and quilting supplies.Tamara & Gail St Remy from Penrith.

Lily Vale Treasurers with a Past - Vintage linen & lace. Buttons, china, sewing related goodies. Colleen Balkema from West Hoxton.

Bygone Beautys - Display of tea pots and fine china. His theme this year is 'unique and quirky'. Maurice Cooper from Leura.

All these businesses continue to support the Springwood Community Quilt Show each year with their own specialities, along with a fantastic diverse range of patchwork and quilting goodies. There is always something for everyone. Each store owner has plenty of stock on hand throughout the event, so if you can't call in until Sunday - there will still be plenty to choose from.

When visiting the SCQS, we know you will be inspired not only by the number and variety of quilts on exhibit but the fabulous traders stalls.

Please allow time to visit and support the stalls. Call in and say hello to the owners who love to meet both new and returned customers.

Unfortunately, during 2010 three Blue Mountains patchwork stores have closed. The Patchwork Shop in Blaxland, Vintage Patch from Springwood and Ribbons & Rainbows at Blackheath. The committee of SCQS thanks all the owners from these businesses for their support leading up to and during the show over the years.

GLENBROOK BRIDGE BANNER

The Fletcher Street bridge crosses over the Great Western Highway between Glenbrook and Blaxland. This is one of the first R.T.A bridges that we were able to gain permission to hang one of many banners advertising the Community Quilt Show in Springwood. Looking at it now, you wouldn't think it is 5 metres long! (The banner that is).

Many cable ties later, committee member Vicki along with helpful nephew James let go of the banner while invaluable husband Graham, ties the final knots .

If you enlarge this photo, try and find the visitor. (A hint, look at the largest word on the banner).

Holding on tight - we'd hate to lose it now!

Many thanks to one of our new committee members, Tania, who has been responsible for the design and ordering process of our great banners. The R.T.A have very strict rules for banners before being approved. They have allotted us a two week block in certain locations. We will see how it all goes this year, and with any feed back you give us - we may be able to obtain different locations next year. So when driving around the Mountains over the next few weeks, if you see a banner advertising the Springwood Community Quilt Show, a big thank you goes to Tania.

ENTRIES CLOSED - THE NEXT STAGE BEGINS..........

Did you ever wonder why entries had to be submitted a month before the Quilt Show? Last day for submissions was 31st March - by the close of this day Suzanne's letter box was brimming over. Again the committee of the Springwood Community Quilt Show says a big thankyou to all the wonderful quilters who have submitted their entry forms and we look forward to seeing your quilts in April.

From now, Suzanne will work tirelessly transcribing all your data from your entry form onto a data base. Margaret then takes over by creating and printing the information of each individual quilt onto display cards, this also creates the entrant number. Margaret also does a splendid job overseeing the collection of the quilts on Sunday afternoon.

You may wonder why the dimensions of each quilt is required. This information, especially the width is critical in being exact for the layout of the hall. An extremely talented quilter and silent committee member, Marilynn, is given the dimensions and entry number of every quilt along with the dimensions of the hall. With this information only - she is able to do a layout plan of the show. Extra large width quilts are hung high on the perimeter walls. These quilts give the show the WOW factor when you enter through the doors. Marilynn never knows the colours or designs of the quilts, she works purely on a mathematical level. When she is happy all quilts have a place to be hung she hands the master plan over to Chris for the next stage.

Chris now orders all the stands and rods from the Quilters' Guild of NSW. Renting them is a large expense that we must recover from door takings. Thankfully, this always happens. As there are a lot of quilt shows all over NSW we always re book with the Guild for the same time the following year. Chris fine tunes our needs once Marilynn advises her on the quantity of stands and rods needed.

The Wednesday before the show our equipment from the storage facility of the Guild is picked up and delivered. All this arrives in bags - it is up to those wonderful volunteers to help with the erecting process. As we work off Marilynn's plan, armed with a small step ladder and shifting spanner we should see the job complete within a few hours. Like any construction zone - if there are any glitches, it just takes a few experienced heads along with Chris' years of experience to get it sorted.

Thursday is our exciting day. As you see on your entry form, we request your quilts to be delivered between 10.00am - 12 noon. Vicki is always there with helpers to welcome you and double check we have the right description card pinned to your quilt. This is the first time any of the quilts are seen, and it is exciting to have a quick peek if time permits. The entrant also receives their free entry ticket which can be used on any day, along with instructions of how to collect their quilts. As the quilts arrive and are identified, they are whisked away by 'runners', usually Suzie and Chris and remain folded - but placed on tables in the row where they will be hung.

The volunteers arrive after lunch - many are very welcomed return volunteers who enjoy this process and who can work quickly knowing what needs to happen. Under Chris' direction we start to see the wonderful quilts as they unfold and are hung. The largest are hung first on the perimeter walls. All the 'hangers' have no idea of design or colour of the quilts until their row is complete. It is always frustrating at this stage if your rod pocket is too narrow or worse still - doesn't have one! When all the quilts are hung we do a spot check just incase two of similar colour and or design are next to each other as this is the only opportunity to do any changes. By late afternoon the traders arrive and we need to be out of the way to give them their space to set up their stalls filled with all the goodies we like to purchase.

By the end of a very long day, Chris stands back and starts breathing again!

So if you ever wondered why your entry had to be submitted a month before the show, hopefully the above has given you an insight into the process.

To all the fabulous quilters who have re-entered our 6th Community Quilt Show - we look forward to seeing what you have been up to since last year - to our new entrants, welcome and we hope you enjoy seeing your quilts hung in a friendly environment.