AMQF - New Year Updates

The countdown and preparations for AMQF 2014 are on in earnest now and we have some exciting things to share with you.

The prime reason for creating Festival, was to offer an opportunity for machine quilters to educate themselves and increase their skills through education, exposure and networking.  The time has now come to add a few more strings to our bow by offering extra components to AMQF for now and the future.

The Australian Machine Quilting Festival is for everybody and this year we will have piecing/patchwork classes, machine quilting on domestic & long arm machines, thread painting, colouring, appliqué, photography, drawing,  designing and much more.  All the classes on offer can be found here.

Missouri Star Quilt Company
Yes, that’s right!  We are so excited to announce that Jenny Doan, the Missouri Star Quilter, will be teaching classes here in Australia for the very first time.  Jenny has an enormous following on her YouTube Channel with over 22 million hits and you’ll have the chance to do a hands-on class with her.  Jenny’s classes are filled with fun, laughter and learning!  

As many of you would know Jenny has changed the way of piecing by making everything from a Dresden Plate to Half Square Triangles as easy as falling off a log.  She is extremely generous with her knowledge and her classes are filled with tips and techniques to encourage you to look at piecing a little bit different.  These “mystery” classes will use either a Jelly Roll, Layer Cake or a Charm Pack and further information will be released on the website closer to registrations opening.  For those that are lucky enough to get into Jenny’s classes you will also receive a ticket to her incredible Trunk Shows to be held on the main stage throughout Festival.

Last week the Missouri Star Quilt Company made the front page of the Wall Street Journal – that’s when you know you’ve made it!

Sponsors
We are very pleased to confirm some of our sponsors for 2014 and hope that you join with us by supporting them, and their businesses, for without them we simply could not stage Festival. 
Handi Quilter
Bernina Australia
Sue’s Sewing World
Wonderfil
Lloyd Curzon
Quality Always
More sponsors will be added to our website/newsletter/blog throughout the year and we thank them for their continued support!  If you’d like to become involved with us in the capacity of a Sponsor check here for Sponsor Opportunities.

Volunteers
Volunteers are another resource that we just can’t live without!  If you would like to be a part of Festival and support us in hosting this fabulous event we’d love to have you on board.  There are so many different duties that we need assistance with and they are all listed on the website – simply complete the Volunteer Form on the website and you’ll see all the positions that are available.  Your details will be added to our database and we’ll be in touch regarding times and duties in due course.  Our Volunteers are all rewarded in various ways.

Quilt Challenge
Our initial launch of the Alzheimer’s Benefit Quilt Challenge brought a great response and we thank you very much for your support.  We still have kits available and we would dearly love to be able to increase the donation to Alzheimer’s so please join us and support this wonderful initiative.  The kits are only $10.00 and you’ll receive “6 Fat Sixteenths” of gorgeous fabric courtesy of Lloyd Curzon.  The quilt you are required to make is no bigger that a metre square and doesn’t need to be completed until late July.  If you’d like to take part please register online – c’mon you know you want to!!!

AMQF Website
It has come to our attention that our lovely new website is not playing nice in older versions of Internet Explorer. If you are viewing icky pages with large pictures then please update your Internet Explorer to Version 11 here
OR use Firefox, Google Chrome or Safari as your browser.

I think that’s enough excitement for now – please support us in our efforts to make AMQF2014 bigger and better than ever.  Remember it is for Quilters, Patchworkers and Stitchers of ALL disciplines and if you know of anyone that may be interested then suggest they register for the Newsletter so that they can get regular updates as we move forward towards October 2014!

Quilt on!
Sharon and Tracey