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!







Sunday, July 31, 2016

Minda Challenge quilts have been received

We were thrilled to receive so many challenge quilts this year that were delivered for judging last week. It is especially pleasing to see such a variety with excellent skills and stories to go along with them. It is a very special moment when you realise just how much heart and soul has been put into these and then to know that they have been donated to Minda for them to use to raise much needed funds to assist the intellectually disabled live lives of their choosing.

The top four finalists have been contacted last night to advise them of this and have been invited to our award presentation at the Cocktail Party from 4.30-6.30pm on Thursday 25th in Hall G of the Adelaide Convention Centre to receive their prizes from Minda Representatives and Horn Australia.

All our wonderful entries in the Minda Benefit Quilt Challenge, were judged on 25th July at Minda Inc, Brighton. We would like to extend our appreciation to Daryl Guidotto, Horn Australia for assisting in organising the venue. With the cooperation of staff at Minda and the following judges, a difficult day of judging was completed.


Judges (L to R)

Elisa Thompson, Quality & Client Safety Officer, Minda Inc
Maria Darby, Senior Manager Quality, Client Safety & Governance, Minda Inc 
Tony de Vries, Senior Manager Commercial Enterprises, Minda Inc
Tracey Browning, Director - AMQ Festival (non judge)
Rachelle Denneny, International Award Winning machine quilter.

The top 4 finalists (in no particular order!)

Lisa Barclay has been our coordinator for this challenge, keeping busy cutting and sending out over 70 kits across Australia. She has had the lovely job of receiving all the quilts and admiring them very much. The stories that go along with these are just delightful and impressed the judges immensely.

Thanks must again go to our sponsors:


Lloyd Curzon Textiles, who donated all the fabric to challenge you to make your quilts.

Horn Australia, who has provided the prizes for the top three quilts

AMQ Festival, who has provided complimentary tickets to the Cocktail Party and a goodie bag for the Judges Commendation quilt.

23 days to go! The countdown is on.....

Don't forget to check your schedule - just in case you want to fit another class in. Book soon to allow teachers to prepare notes for you to take home.

Have you got your Cocktail Party Ticket yet?? We will need to get numbers to the caterers before we commence, so let us know if you are coming.
One lucky attendee will be the proud new owner of this Tula Pink Bernina 350 Sewing machine donated by Otto & Penny's Sewing Centre in Walkerville. You have to be there to be in the draw!

Book your ticket now!

Until next time.....

Tracey



Thursday, July 21, 2016

Prepare for your classes!

Not long to go now, so it is time to start thinking about preparing so you don't miss out on anything at Festival this year.

You will need to bring your barcoded tickets with you to be able to pick up your registration bags, participate in classes and obtain entry to the Cocktail party with Claudia Pfeil's presentation, music, food, drinks, Challenge quilt winners and that Bernina machine door prize being drawn! You can still purchase tickets for this online.

The registration desk will be located between the Entry door to Hall F and Hall G at the Adelaide Convention Centre. It will open at 8am on Thursday 25th August for students to collect their registration bag full of goodies and name badges. This will be a busy time, so please be patient as we work through all of you! First classes start at 10am and priority will be given to those attending those classes. If there are any class changes at this time the $10 class change fee will apply, but we advise that staff will be focussing on assisting existing registrations first. Please allow time to make this happen.
This is a map of the Adelaide Convention Centre. The Quilt Show, Cocktail Party & main stage will be located in Hall G. The Vendors and all domestic hands on classes are located in Hall F. Access is strictly via the Entry to Hall F for all events except the Cocktail Party. Entry for the Cocktail Party will be through Hall G entry door next to Hall F entry door.
All the lecture/drawing and long arm demo/lecture classes are located immediately below these Halls in the four Riverbank Meeting Rooms and the Riverbank Boardroom. It is less than a 2 minute walk between these classrooms and the Quilt Show upstairs.

If you have misplaced your barcoded tickets - here are the instructions to reprint them.
Login in to the ticketing system on our website. http://www.amqfestival.com.au/index.php/classes/online-registration

You can view your order history on this page as well as reprint tickets. See what your upcoming events are as well as update/change your password.

Please check all classes to see if you need to bring a supply list! They are all available online when you click on the info button for each class. Plus some may have been emailed with your tickets just to make sure you get them.

Please note that for Helen Stubbing's Perfect Needleturn Appliqué class - there is some homework to do before class. You will be receiving instructions direct from Helen approx 3 weeks before class in the post to prepare, so that you can get the most from this class in time frames allowed. Only 5 seats left in this class...

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Have you booked your accommodation yet? AMQ Festival has negotiated special rates at 4 venues along North Terrace within 5 min walking from the Adelaide Convention Centre.
Full details, pricing and how to book can be found on our website.
Of course our location does mean that it is super easy to stay anywhere in Adelaide that has access to a train, tram or bus route as they will all end up at the Adelaide Convention Centre!

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Remember that when purchasing a Registration - this includes daily entry to the Quilt Show and Vendor mall. If you would like to bring along friends to go shopping and see the quilt show and special exhibits then you can either purchase tickets at the door OR pre purchase online at discounted rates.

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There is still plenty of time to book classes and have your friends come along for all the fun! Please forward our newsletters using the link below to any that you want to come with you. We only have this opportunity to learn every two years from the calibre of teachers we provide to you. We would love to show all these teachers how much we appreciate their preparation and travelling from near and far to share their knowledge with FULL classes. Future teachers rely on a successful show when they consider a possible trip to Adelaide to teach, so lets show them how much we want them here...

Happy quilting....

Tracey

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Bethanne Nemesh NEW CLASS



We are very excited that Bethanne Nemesh has made a very special offer to share a NEW CLASS with us. As it is a long time since submitting classes, we are aware that Bethanne has since written two more books, filmed online classes & has now developed new classes with new content.

She has offered to update one of her drawing classes with new content. All existing students have been contacted & are very excited with this news! There are still seats available in this classroom, so book soon to learn the latest from Bethanne...

Title: Feather Faster!

Love feathers? Yes! Frustrated by how time consuming they can be with lots of marking, planning, or rolling a quilt? Learn to feather faster. In this drawing and lecture class, Bethanne will teach you her unmarked, spineless, no-backtrack approach to one pass feathering, perfect for a mid-custom quilt.
Learn ten feather shapes that look amazing no matter how high contrast the quilting! Speed up your feathering without giving up that feathered look. Based on Bethanne’s new book, From Fast To Fancy: Feathers for Freehand Quilters, this class focuses on the type of feathers that partner perfectly with the concepts in the Sampler Quilt Smackdown design class!
Kit includes all handouts, black fusible birds and wall hanging quilt pattern for creating class sample on your own.

2hr class for $66 (no change in price)

Bethanne offered this to us so we can make the most of hosting her here in Adelaide with the best classes we can have!

STOP PRESS!! There has been a cancellation in the highly popular Nemeshing: A Freehand feather flourish hands on Domestic Machine class on Friday morning. Seat is available online now!
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Leanne Harvey has been busy preparing to present her two classes next month! Some more jaw dropping sample images have been provided to inspire you.

Get on My Quilt - Getting your custom designs onto your quilt top can sometimes be very stressful for freehand quilters. In this class Leanne will show you different tools and techniques to get your custom designs onto your quilt top while loaded on your frame. There will be discussion on Marking Tools, Handmade Templates and Design Inspiration. It's loads of fun and the only limit is your imagination......

 


 

Quilt it Quickly!... Taking Quilt As You Go to the next level !!! In this class Leanne will show you techniques to piece and quilt as you go on the longarm !!! It's heaps of fun and you get a finished quilt quickly. Use up all your scraps, orphan blocks and your stash.............even the binding will be stitched on !!!!!










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Do you have a thread stash?? I certainly do... almost embarrassing, but I would not give any of them up. I do love having so many choices at my fingertips when I want to quilt. 

It is going to be VERY tempting in our Vendor Mall this year with FOUR thread companies showing all their different ranges, styles & colours of glorious threads.


We welcome the following vendors...
Always Thread (Aurifil) 
Busy Quilting (Glide thread)
Tajima (Madeira Thread)
Wonderfil Specialty Threads

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Last Friday saw the draw for our $1000 giveaway competition! A huge congratulations to our winner...
Merril Gerrie, NSW
Your prizes are on their way to you now.
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Only 35 days to go.... don't forget to book your Cocktail Party tickets! 


Happy quilting....

Tracey


Monday, July 11, 2016

One more class added!

We are very excited to offer another class today.

TempLeeQuilt™
3hrs
Hands on Domestic Sewing Machine
Suitable for Confident Beginner


A NEW technique developed by Leonie West of Westalee Design.

TempLeeQuilt™ is fun, is incredibly creative and can be very relaxing

In this class Janet will teach you the process of TempLeeQuilt™ - an exciting NEW technique developed by Leonie West of Westalee Design.

TempLeeQuilt™ is new style of quilting and applique, where using Westalee Quilting Templates you can create applique (raw edge) and quilt at the same time using one stitching process.

Be one of the first to learn this innovative technique to create exciting new designs.
Pfaff Expression 3.5 Machines are provided.
For all the details and to book -click here

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A1 Quilting machines will have for the first time the

A1 Platinum Symphony package

Show Special US$12900- (normally $15,900-) at AMQ Festival


Included in this package:
  • A1 Long Arm Model 923 Elite Platinum machine head with Ergo-Grip Handlebars 
  • Symphony Table, Precision V-Track Wheel System 
  • 23” Elite Platinum Stitch Regulator with Needle Positioner, 17” quilting Space 
  • Batting Access Pivot 
  • Starter supplies included in this package: Bobbin winder, 15 bobbins, 1 package of needles, oil, T-pins, and manual, laser light and magnetic pin holder. 
  • 3 year warranty 
(Shipping is extra and is based on best quote from 3 carriers.) Set up as a 5’, 10’, or 12’.

Look for a very special demo model price at the show! Setup for the first time, it will have very low hours and can be ready to take the following week!

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Do you own an Intelliquilter computer system? Or would you like to learn how easy it is to install on your long arm quilting machine? Come & learn from two fantastic teachers, just how easy it is to create using this system. 
Helen Baczynski has shared some images of one of her classes recently that we would like to share with you! These are a few examples of what you can learn to do in her Rays & Echoes class!





Don't forget to enter our competition to win $1000- worth of products. It will be drawn at 5pm this Friday 15th July! Good luck to all who have entered. Click the image to enter!


Last of all today... earlier last week we had a FULL vendor floor plan, but life happens and one of our vendors has had to pull out. So this is an opportunity to grab the last remaining 2m x 3m booth at Festival this year! Contact me or apply online quickly to obtain this last space available.

Happy quilting
Tracey





Tuesday, July 5, 2016

NEW Classes added today!

We are thrilled to offer some new classes today....and welcome the amazing & vibrant

Sue Patten - Canada


Sue Patten is an award-winning longarm quilter. She travels throughout Canada, the US, Europe and the UK teaching her unique and innovative quilting styles to longarm, domestic and hand quilters. Sue is always filled with high energy, humor, stories and tips, ensuring her classes are non-stop education and fun. Sue is the author of Quilting Possibilities and Adaptable Quilting Designs published by AQS. She willingly shares her talents and has designed fabric, thread and stencils; machine, hand and redwork embroidery patterns; machine, hand and computerized quilting designs; innovative whole cloth designs; and a full range of training videos.
Over the last decade, Sue's work has been featured in dozens of magazines. She has appeared on The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims; America Sews with Sue Hausmann; Quilt It! The Longarm Quilting Show by QNNtv; and Linda Taylor's Longarm Quilting Show.
A mother of three, Sue resides in Canada when she is not teaching at shows, guilds and retailers.

Sue is presenting her classes in the same time slots as Myrna Ficken, as Myrna unfortunately can no longer visit us in Australia in August. All students who have already purchased tickets can rest assured that Sue will be presenting a similar topic at the same times. You will be receiving an email over the next week to detail what has happened with the opportunity to change if you choose. 

To see the new class titles & descriptions you can visit our website

Here are some of her samples to tempt you!








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Congratulations goes to Chris O'Brien for the 5th class of 6 presented on the Q20 Bernina sit down machines being filled this past week! There is only one class left with seats on Sunday morning on these machines if you would like to have 2hrs experiencing how to Free Motion Quilt - getting Started.

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Only 10 days until we draw the winners name for our huge giveaway valued at $1000- You have to be in it to win it! Click on the image to enter the draw...

many thanks again to these sponsors for the selection of goods that make up this amazing prize!
Toyota Home Sewing
Westalee Design
Wonderfil Specialty Threads
Cross Stitch Corner

Only 7 weeks until I drive to the city to start preparing for you all to arrive....
happy quilting!

Tracey