Happy New Year!!

May 2016 bring you much joy & inspiration in all areas of your lives…


We are thrilled to present to you our Minda Benefit Quilt Challenge fabrics. This year’s fabric is a selection of the beautiful Color Movement range of fabrics by Kona Bay Fabrics and has been kindly donated by Lloyd Curzon Textiles

We appreciate your support in this quilting challenge and look forward to raising much needed funds for such a worthy cause. If you don’t know about the fantastic work that Minda do please check out some of the fantastic stories from the “our stories” section on the website at www.mindainc.com.au but here is a short overview.

At Minda, we create an environment where people with intellectual disability can embrace and enjoy the experiences of life.

Minda is at the forefront of the disability sector, offering support and opportunity to approximately 1,700 people in the areas of accommodation, supported employment, lifestyle services and respite.

We are committed to creating a dynamic environment where people can live lives of their choosing.

Due to the onset of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Minda must diversify its revenue streams to ensure that its future is sustainable and the highest quality of service and care can continue to be offered to people living with intellectual disability. Any funds raised through fundraising activities will help us to provide more services to people living with intellectual disability.

You can now order the challenge kits online quickly & EFT the funds to avoid Australia Post delays. You can find this page here

See you in 2016!!

Tracey

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very

 MERRY CHRISTMAS

and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year 2016

Also a quick reminder that the AMQ Festival show pin design competition closes January 4th! Get your entries in now…. can be a hand drawn, or digitally drawn image.
All ideas welcomed! It has been exciting to see the entries already received.
Winner will receive a complimentary show pin and ticket to the Cocktail party (value approx $72-) plus bragging rights.

See you in 2016!!

Tracey

A quilt challenge is launched!

We are thrilled to partner with the most wonderful, generous people in this industry.

AMQF 2016 Minda Benefit Quilt Challenge

AMQ Festival is proud to join with Lloyd Curzon Textiles & Horn Australia to present to you a challenge to assist us in raising much needed funds to support people living with intellectual disability live lives of their choosing.

Theme:  “Celebration...”

Create a quilt that shouts out the theme of celebration. It could be a special achievement in your life or someone else’s. A goal that has been reached that needs to be recognised. It could be a new beginning, a reason to say thank you, or giving thanks for just being here. Rejoice in life and show us what it means to you.
Each entry is to be accompanied by a story of why or what you are celebrating, no longer than 250 words.
All quilts will be donated to Minda Inc to be auctioned with full proceeds being used to support people living with intellectual disability live lives of their choosing. The top thirty finalists will be selected for display at AMQ Festival 2016. All entries will receive a certificate of appreciation.

Rules:

1. All quilters are invited to submit an entry into the Minda Benefit Quilt Challenge run by Lloyd Curzon Textiles, Horn Australia and AMQ Festival for 2016.
2. Application forms are available on our website to enable you to purchase your fabric kit to start your challenge. Entry forms will be included with your kit to submit with your completed quilt.
3. There is one category only. Entries can be based either on a traditional or a contemporary design that reflects and interprets the theme ‘Celebration!’ and must use at least a recognisable portion of each of the challenge fabrics provided by Lloyd Curzon Textiles (Colour Movement fabric range by Kona Bay exclusive to Lloyd Curzon Textiles)
4. All entries must be original. An entrant may apply any techniques including piecing, appliqué, embroidery, painting, inking, colouring, embellishing and/or manipulated fabric, etc.
5. Each work must measure a maximum of 100cm on each side with no minimum size.
6. The quilt must be machine quilted. This includes long-arm, short-arm or domestic machines. The quilt may be quilted with thread(s) of choice.
7. A label with ‘AMQF 2016 Minda Benefit Quilt’ and the entrant’s name & address must be attached to the back of the quilt.
8. Announcement of the winners will be announced on the AMQ Festival Blog & Facebook on Jul 31st 2016. It will also be announced in Link Magazine by Minda and on the Minda Facebook page.
9. Anyone can enter! An entrant’s quilt may be the work of more than one person as long as all parties who contribute to the quilt are nominated on the entry form as being the entrant. There is no limit of entries per person or group.
10. Other fabrics may be added to the quilt.
11. The fabric challenge kit consists of 6 fat 16’ths of fabric and costs $10 including postage.
12. A ribbon will be awarded to each winning quilt and a certificate to each participant.
13. The prizes awarded are based on the interpretation of theme, excellence in design and craftsmanship. The deadline to send in completed quilts with entry forms is June 30th 2016.

Please email any questions to AMQF or Ph:08 88256214
DOWNLOAD the application form and complete it to get started on creating your work of art to benefit Minda Inc
The entries will be judged by a panel of judges from sponsors involved. The top 30 quilt entries will go on display at AMQ Festival if space permits.

First Prize: Value $1000+   : Your choice of Horn furniture valued up to $1000- plus a ticket to AMQF Cocktail Party
Second Prize: Value $750+  
: Your choice of Horn Furniture valued up to $750- plus a ticket to AMQF Cocktail Party
Third Prize: Value $500+  
: Your choice of Horn furniture valued up to $500- plus a ticket to AMQF Cocktail Party






Don’t forget our Show Pin Contest! Design our 2016 Festival Show Pin for the chance to come along to our cocktail party!

 

I'm looking forward to all your entries!

Until next time...

happy quilting

Tracey

A Contest...

 

AMQ Festival needs all your collective creative juices flowing to come up with our 2016 collectible ‘show pin’!

Each Festival we have had a unique ‘show pin’ as a souvenir for all attendees. This has become a collectible item and we wish to encourage everyone to participate in making our 2016 Show Pin special! Last year's pin was designed by the amazingly talented - Jane Monk, Tasmania.

AMQ Festival is the result of a combined effort from many individuals,groups, vendors and sponsors that has ensured it is more successful each time. We appreciate how all involved get behind this event and look forward to 2016.

Entry form and designs to be received by 9pm 4th January CST (South Australia) 2016.

All entries must contain copyright-free art or art released for entrant’s and public use. No unauthorized use of any copyright images, text, or other material will be accepted.

To enter the Contest, eligible participants must:

1. Download and complete the Official Entry Form. The form is available for download here. 
2. Create a ‘Show Pin’ design that is approx 50mm in diameter though it can be any shape you desire. It can be hand drawn and coloured, or digitally drawn and coloured. Three colours maximum. Can add ‘bling’ if you choose. No limit to number of entries per designer. 
3.  Must have the words Australian Machine Quilting Festival 2016 or the acronym AMQ Festival 2016 on the design. 
4. Please submit the design via email to info@amqfestival.com.au in .png, .jpg or .psd format (Resolution of 300dpi) or as a .pdf file (less than 10mb) If the design incorporates non-standard fonts, you must be able to provide us with the font should your design be selected. 

Prizes:

There will be one winner that will receive a complimentary show pin and ticket to the Cocktail party (value approx $72-) plus bragging rights. All entries will be judged by a panel appointed by AMQ Festival Pty Ltd. The winner will be notified by telephone or email. The panel’s decision will be considered final with no exceptions.

So get your thinking hats on and your coloured pencils out. Come up with a unique Show Pin design that everyone will want to collect and keep with all the other pins they have.

We still have the opportunity open to be the 2016 Show Pin Sponsor as well. Download all the sponsorship opportunities here and together we can promote your business and the industry of machine quilting.

Vendor applications are starting to flow in, so if you were thinking of coming it might be prudent to get yours in soon. The floor plan for this area will be provided to Sponsors in order of priority to choose their preferred position and thereafter to vendors in order of receipt of deposits.

I look forward to seeing all your entries! There may be extra surprises for the winning entry yet… ;)

Tracey

Announcing our 2016 teachers!

We are very pleased to announce our 2016 faculty for AMQ Festival. Please visit here to start planning and saving to join us for some fantastic classes and experiences.

It is so exciting to have ALL our teachers sharing their knowledge and inspiration and we will endeavour to highlight them all over the coming months in regular newsletters and magazine articles.

Please share this news with all your friends so that they don’t miss out on the opportunity to meet and learn from the best of the best.

Introducing the amazingly funny, talented and inspirational

Mark Lipinski

You will be hard pressed to find a more entertaining lecture
 and enjoyable quilting class than one taken with international
 quilt teacher and quilt fabric designer and creator and 
 Executive Editor of Quilter's Home magazine, Mark Lipinski’s Fabric Trends and Mark Lipinski’s Christmas 365 magazines.
 Mark's no holds barred, brutally honest, riotous talks 
are half about quilting, half show & tell, and all stand-up comedy.

Mark introduced The Slow Stitching Movement to quilters in June 2014 with a twice record-breaking webinar, and with that success, expanded the concept of Slow Stitching to knitters, crocheters, and the needle arts in November 2014.

Currently, Mark hosts a series of “DIY quilting videos” available on CraftDaily.com, and has recently appeared on Iowa Public Television’s Quilts of Valor Special hosted by Marianne Fons, along with special guests, Eleanor Burns and Alex Anderson. That appearance led to a becoming a featured celebrity guest on Quilt In A Day’s webinar series and is featured in the latest Eleanor Burns book, All Star Quilts, featuring Marianne Fons, Nancy Zieman, and Alex Anderson. For the last six years, Mark has sat on the Board of Directors for the international Quilt Alliance.

As a designer, Mark's work has been seen in and on the covers of magazines such as McCall's Quilting, Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting, Quilty, McCall's Quick Quilts, Just Cross Stitch, Quiltmaker, American Patchwork and Quilting’s Quilts and More, The Quilter, Irish Quilting, Fabric Trends 
magazines, various special interest publications, as well as patterned designs in all of his own titles.

Mark will be presenting a number of classes on domestic machines - some quite exclusive with small numbers to ensure a highly personalised experience. These will fill fast, so you will need to be prepared to sign up quick to ensure a seat!

Vendors

Festival will be again held at the Adelaide Convention Centre but we will be moving to Halls F and G in 2016 to take advantage of the magnificent ambience and views of the River Torrens and parklands and have the classrooms in closer proximity to vendors and quilt show. Applications are open for you to request booth space at this event. A floor plan has not been finalised as yet. Sponsors will be given priority in choosing their position, thereafter all vendors will have the opportunity to choose their position in order of receipt of their applications. Booth space will not be guaranteed until a contract is signed and deposit is paid.

Sponsors

A show this size would not be possible without the financial and equipment commitments of the companies, business and individuals that love being involved. Please show them your appreciation by visiting their booth during festival and visiting their websites throughout the year. To become a sponsor and have your logo on this page & more, please contact us. You can download the Sponsor opportunities information to view how you can benefit by a relationship with us.

Accommodation

We have negotiated special rates with four hotels located on North Terrace, situated very close to the Adelaide Convention Centre. All are now taking bookings ready for Festival. Details can be found on our website.

As always, the success of an event like this is all due to our attendees! Please share our newsletter amongst your social networks to help us make Festival the best ever in 2016!

Happy quilting…

Tracey

11 days left for Class Submissions

It is exciting to see the classes being submitted for 2016 Festival! It is going to be a great line-up for 4 days of learning & inspiration…
Don’t be shy in submitting your classes if you are interested in doing so. I will work with you to fine tune them to make them attractive to students & to fit with our schedule & variety of choices that we would like to offer.
We have some amazing new teachers interested in coming to Festival next year which I’m sure you will be lining up to register with when the time comes. We always love having our local teachers share their knowledge & skills as well.
There are only 11 more days left to submit classes. Please encourage your favourite teachers to do this so we don’t miss out on including them.
Happy quilting…
Tracey

Class Submissions are now open

Do you have a class that might be of interest to AMQ Festival students?  Present your class proposals using our submission form.

Deadline for class submissions for Festival 2016 is August 14th 2015.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions and I look forward to seeing your proposals.

AMQ Festival will be delighted if you choose to share your expertise with our students. If you are new to teaching, our festival loves to encourage new teachers; give it a try...... you have nothing to lose! Please try to offer new material if you are a returning teacher.
Please read and make certain that the requirements are completely understood.

• Please submit ONE form for each class. The online submission process will give you the opportunity to submit multiple classes. 
• Be sure to fill in this form COMPLETELY.  Incomplete forms will be rejected.
• If there is a field that does not apply to your specific class, please put N/A on the line. 
• There is no limit to the number of class proposals. Again, ONE CLASS per form.
• Consider offering a variety of class formats (i.e. lecture, lecture\demo, drawing, hands-on and/or trunk show).
• Please note that 2 hour classes in the past have been more popular than longer ones. Our students only get the opportunity to take these classes in Australia every two years and love to experience a variety of techniques to perfect when they go home to their own machines. Good content and plenty of it is paramount.
• Be mindful that class titles and descriptions will make or break a class
• Contracts will be issued by 1st October 2015

The submission of class proposals is not a guarantee of a teaching contract.  
AMQ Festival reserves the right to select or decline class proposals.

I can’t wait to see what we can offer in 2016!

Until next time…

Tracey

2016 AMQ Festival Dates are confirmed!

I am thrilled to be able to finally let you all know that dates have been secured for Festival in 2016.

Please run to your diaries and block out the following dates for the best time ever….

Thursday 25th - Sunday 28th August 2016

Adelaide will once again be the ultimate destination for learning, inspiration and shopping that is presented every two years only, to both Australian and Overseas quilters.

The Adelaide Convention Centre has completed part 2 of its huge building project and we will be enjoying some new features because of this.

Festival will be moving to Halls F & G for 2016 to take advantage of the magnificent ambience and views of the River Torrens and parklands and have the classrooms in closer proximity to vendors and the quilt show. 

Our focus will continue to be machine quilting with amazing teachers from Overseas & Nationally to enhance the learning experience for all genres of machines. We continue to attract more domestic machine owners to classes & to come shopping at Festival where we can highlight all the machines & accessories that marry together. The exposure given to Machine Embroidery in quilts was quite outstanding and we will continue to encourage this trend. 

The Australian Machine Quilting Association Inc is working hard to again present a magnificent show with the absolute best amazing quilts from Australia and the world here in Adelaide. Stay tuned for updated categories to be announced from this group so you can ensure you have a quilt ready to enter.

The word is definitely spreading that AMQ Festival is going to yet again be a fantastic event for vendors and attendees alike!

Please note that a new, fresh website is under construction and I am working as fast as I can to get this operational. The old 2014 site has been updated to reflect the current status with basic information on it. The new one will be more reliable and operational as soon as I can get it done.

Teachers please note: start getting your class submissions ready as we will be opening applications on July 15th and closing these on Friday 14th August. 

Students: This is the time to encourage all your favourite teachers to submit classes that you would love to attend! There will only be 4 days of classes to schedule, so we will be choosing them carefully to ensure a great variety is on offer.

I do encourage you to contact us via the contact form on the website if you have any suggestions, requests or simply your personal wish list of what you would like to learn.

Accommodation options will be advised in the near future once some great deals are secured. They will be announced in this newsletter and be detailed on the website as soon as they have been confirmed.

OK back to work for me…

cheers

Tracey