CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Tuesday 11 December 2007

Sharing Our Legacy

QSGA Conference – October, 2008

The Southern Queensland Quilt Study Group is inviting us to Brisbane for the 2008 Conference. They have already had a lot of interest from local quilters and are looking forward to having a strong contingent from the south and west. The annual Queensland Quilters' Quilt Show starts the Wednesday following our Conference – so it would make a really nice week away in sunny Queensland – just packed full of all things associated with our chosen artistic outlet!!!

We have whetted your appetite – you want to know all the details – here goes – put these dates in your diaries.

Venue – WATERMARK HOTEL, Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill, Brisbane

Friday, 17th October – Drinks & Dinner (at your own expense) at the Watermark Hotel
Pre-registration available

Saturday, 18th October – Conference Room, Watermark Hotel – Speakers include:

Lorraine Cazalar of the Qld. Women’s Historical Society,
Gail Chalker on the Rosewood Redwork Quilt that is being reproduced by the South Queensland QSG members
Dr. Annette Gero – Gold Rush Quilts
Karen Barrett – Quilting Legacy of Ruth Stoneley & Denise Lawson (Brisbane Quilters)
Margaret Rolfe – Rajah Quilt & their descendants
Michael Marendy – Conservation of Quilts
Margie Creek – A Family’s Legacy of Quilts
Pam Holland – Topic to be announced

There will be a dinner in the evening at the Watermark (this cost is NOT included in the Conference cost), we will have a guest speaker and a Silent Auction that will benefit the Qld Women’s Historical Society.

Sunday, 19th – We plan to have the choice of three very interesting venues for you to visit.

Now that takes care of the Conference – you will have Monday and Tuesday to fill before the opening day of the Craft Show at the Convention Centre. This Craft Show includes the Queensland Quilters' Quilt Show. We are working on a couple of interesting outings that will take you to different parts of south-east Queensland. As these details are confirmed, you’ll be advised via the Newsletter, and Blog.

Accommodation will be available at the Watermark Hotel – they have set a conference price that is reasonable. Any accommodation bookings are to be done directly with the Watermark Hotel.

The Watermark Hotel is centrally located in Brisbane – just opposite the Roma Street Parklands, a short taxi ride to the Convention Centre for the Quilt Show – we are sure you will enjoy your stay there.

Bookings open in July, 2008 for members and then to non-members in August 2008. A registration form will be available in the next newsletter and we look forward to receiving lots of forms. As we said at the beginning, there is already a great deal of interest in the Conference by Queensland quilters. Start planning your week away in Brisbane, October, 2008.

If there are any queries, you can contact Sue Morrison (Convenor of the Conference) on mailto:ggodhabits@optusnet.com.au

Saturday 8 December 2007

AGM - March 15th 2008

Dr. Gero will discuss her extensive quilt collection - what she looks for when adding quilts to her collection and what is the current focus for her collection. She will also discuss why some quilts have left her collection as no longer relevant to it and what she does to document and store her collection. Her talk will be illustrated with many of the quilts in her collection.
Don't miss this treat!
Venue :Quilters' Guild of NSW Office
Level 5, 276 Pitt Street, Sydney 1.30pm

Friday 7 December 2007

Farewell to Alysoun Ryves

Karen Fail.
I can't remember the first time I met Alysoun. I think it was a Quilters' Guild of NSW function or maybe at the Hunters’ Hill quilt shows. It seems that she was always about. Her distinctive blue and white dresses and lavish silver jewellery matched her vibrant personality as she busied herself with whatever needed doing.
Her energy seemed boundless as she involved herself with many community projects and local protests. Her no nonsense approach meant that she led many of the committees she joined. Because of her ability to think clearly and quickly, she was able to cut through extraneous and irrelevant thinking and find solutions to problems others less able might struggle with. But she never flaunted these innate abilities, but always offered her services and solutions with quiet modesty.
I had the privilege of working with Alysoun on the QUILTS 2000 committee. Ten quilters from Sydney raised funds for the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games with this community project. The group worked together for 18 months, setting up the structure to sell 650 plus quilts through its website and were able to raise $500,000 for the Games. Input from Alysoun was vital to the success of this venture and it was always such a pleasure to watch her in action when there were complex issues to decide. She was able to identify the issues quickly and make such sensible recommendations that everyone held her ideas in high esteem.
When the committee was commissioned to produce several special quilts to mark the countdown of days to go to the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games, Alysoun was the first to volunteer, making 500 Days to Go which was purchased for $3000 by Pinworkx in the Rocks.
It was always evident that she was not only a wonderful organiser but also a fine and generous quilter.
More recently, Alysoun held the role of Treasurer for the Sydney Quilt Study Group when Sydney took over the management of the Quilt Study Group of Australia. Working closely with the then Convenor, Annette Gero, she effortlessly managed the financial side of the change in management, always providing clear guidelines for decision making on money matters and of course, continued to have valuable input on all matters relating to the group.
It seems that we always migrated to Alysoun’s home for the AGM of the Sydney Quilt Study Group. It was so much part of Alysoun’s nature to be hospitable to her friends. Even though we never really knew how many people we would get on the day, this never seemed to bother Alysoun who managed to welcome any number of people graciously and provide afternoon tea in style on her wide verandah overlooking the water.
Alysoun died peacefully in the arms of her husband, Carl on Saturday, 10th November 2007.
Farewell Alysoun.