20-23rd September 2018
The Australian Machine Quilting Festival is dedicated to providing inspiration, education and encouragement to all machine quilters that own a longarm, midarm and/or a domestic sewing machine. Come & join us in our new venture to grow & learn about machine quilting!







Monday, May 30, 2016

Practice, practice then practice some more!

As a professional machine quilter, we learn early that we need to practice, practice & then practice some more to improve our skills & expand our repertoire of quilting designs.

Inspiration, education & learning can be found in many places now – especially with the Internet so accessible. When I first started machine quilting on my domestic machine & then on a long-arm 24 years ago, my main source of information was from books. Since that time we are now blessed to have so many books, DVD’s, online classes & YouTube along with amazing teachers that travel the world to share their knowledge.

A common theme between all these methods of learning is to draw. Doodle shapes, lines, and images on paper. Have notepads in the car, by the phone in front of the TV at all times. Continually drawing without lifting the pencil is similar to quilting on a long-arm moving the needle over the quilt top. It creates muscle memory & also your subconscious will learn which direction to go to fill an area without having to break your thread. It is just as important to allow you to free motion quilt on a domestic machine when moving the quilt under the needle as well.

You will be pleased to know that inside your amazing AMQ Festival backpack


 you will have the tools to get started with your doodling! A notepad, sponsored by Cross Stitch Corner & a pen from Malanda Quilting will get you started. There are a limited number of these bags being produced so it will be those that register early that will receive one! Hopefully I have estimated the right amount, but to be really sure you get this amazing bag you need to get yourself registered soon. Over $230 of value will be inside this bag for registered students.

So where do you start to learn how to doodle? We see some amazing designs out there, but honestly, I am blown away by those that have learnt the skills of Zentangle drawing & use those skills to transfer them to quilting designs. Getting started is the hardest part, but once you do you will be amazed by your own creativity.

Come along & learn the basics of drawing with Lee Vause in her Zentangle for Beginners class. You can build on this with a more advanced class from Lee as well.




Bethanne Nemesh is also presenting two drawing classes on more traditional quilting designs for sampler quilts & freehand organic designs. You will learn many designs & ways to draw them. 



Helen Godden helps you fill up your Doodle Diary with a new repertoire of free-motion quilting designs. Remember it's all about the practice!


Myrna Ficken will inspire you to draw designs specifically for blocks in her ‘Around your blocks’ class.


Myrna is supplying a kit of many paper drawn blocks to work through with so many designs that you will learn to draw in this class. 

So with all this education at your fingertips at AMQ Festival in August you will not be disappointed. Come & learn some new doodling techniques & create your own library of inspiration for your next project or customer quilt.

Until next time...
happy quilting
Tracey


Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Trip down memory lane today!


Do you remember in 2014 when we had Jenny Doan from the Missouri Star Quilt Co in Adelaide teaching her mystery classes? We had such a great time in that classroom and again over the weekend with over 125 people at her fantastic Trunk Show!!

This short film has been created to help us really understand the meaning of quilting.... enjoy!
Get a coffee and snack first though.

Happy quilting
Tracey

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

99 days & counting...

We are now able to repeat Heather Hopkin’s class ‘Magic Medallions with rulers’ after her first class being sold out in 7hrs 21min from opening registrations. Book now for Saturday’s hands on class being held from 4-8pm on HQ Sweet 16 machines.
http://amqfestival.com.au/index.php/classes/2016-teachers?id=67

We are also very pleased to have a NEW class from Narelle Morris. Her first one sold out pretty quickly & this one is perfect for beginners but will also provide many tips & tricks for owners as well.
Build Your Confidence with Sweet 16
2hrs
Hands on HQ Sweet 16
http://amqfestival.com.au/index.php/classes/2016-teachers?id=66

Suitable for all
Is the Sweet 16 on your wish list? Do you dream of becoming a proficient quilter?
Then this class is for you! If you are a new owner, a potential owner or just wanting to brush up on your knowledge and skills you will find this class most worthwhile!!

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There are many jobs to do when organising an event such as Festival for the quilters of Australia & New Zealand. One of the biggest & hardest ones is spreading the word to all quilters & sewing enthusiasts that we have so many classes & events to share! We have invested much in print media advertising with advertisements & articles across many magazine titles & newspapers as well.
Our Facebook page is used to provide quick information & share details of our wonderful teachers & what they are achieving so that you can get to know them better as well.
This newsletter is yet another service we provide to ensure you know what is happening so that you don’t miss out on these opportunities that we provide only every 2 years.
So now I’m asking all our subscribers to also help spread the word to your fellow quilters by forwarding our newsletters on to your friends & even downloading an A5 flyer to include in messages to your own networks. A successful Festival will ensure the next one continues & can grow & provide even more opportunities for us all to learn & share.
Please download our Festival flyer to share from here.

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Our Bernina Classroom is proving popular with Bernina 350 sewing machines being provided by Otto & Penny’s Sewing Centre again this year.
There is only ONE seat left in Bethanne Nemesh – Nemeshing: the freehand feather flourish hands on class and only FIVE seats left in her Devil in the Details hands on class.
http://amqfestival.com.au/index.php/classes/2016-teachers?id=50

The Bernina Q20 longarm sitdown classes are also very popular with 4 of the 6 hands on classes now full with Chris O’Brien

Bernina is our Class Catalogue sponsor this year & we are VERY pleased to have them supporting Festival yet again….

BERNINA Longarm Quilting Machines

are the fulfillment of a vision that was 120 years in the making. A long history of innovation blended with a wealth of quilting expertise has been brought together in these Longarm quilting machines that are meeting the demands of discriminating quilters everywhere.



See, touch, and fall in love with one at AMQ Festival this year and if you purchase one by December 31 2016, you could even win a Trip for 2 to Switzerland!

Happy Quilting
Tracey