2023 COUNTRY FORUM
Country Forum is a bi-annual get together, in Adelaide, of delegates from our Country Member Groups hosted by SA Quilters. It is a day of fun, friendship, information, shops, show and tell, lucky draws and more. The day has a theme with guest speakers to complement the theme.
The alternate year an SA Quilters affiliated country group hosts a similar day called Rural Roundup. Follow updates on 2024 on the Rural Roundup page at RURAL ROUNDUP
For more information, email: saquilters@gmail.com
2023 COUNTRY FORUM REPORT
28th October 2023
On 28 October 23, 160 ladies came ‘up’ to Adelaide, ‘over’ to Adelaide or ‘down’ to Adelaide for a special event known as Country Forum, some of them arriving as early as 8.30am from their distant locations. Participants came from as far as Bordertown, Cleve, Pt Pirie, Yankalilla and the Riverland. Good job we had the kettle on ready and waiting for them to enjoy a lovely morning tea upon their arrival!
It was a fun day, even though the venue was a bit squishy! It was great to have so many ‘Show and Tell’ quilts – that is real inspiration, to see what others are making, and to have a couple of shops right there to help you get started! Thank you to everyone who brought something to share.
Throughout the day we had five guest ‘Show and Tells’. Zara Zannettino, who talked about Art Quilts, Sue Knuckey talked and showed us her traditional quilts, Bronwyn Cant showed us her story quilts, Kay Calder showed us and talked about her machine quilting and in the afternoon, Jeanne Treleaven showed us her modern approach to quilting. Such an inspirational day!
How do you make a decision about what you will make next? Often it depends on what’s in your stash to create or to play with! PennyLane Patchwork and Quilters Quarters were the featured shops on the day and provided all the supples we needed to take home to continue our quilting journey.
Thanks to Peg and her kitchen team we all enjoyed a delicious and healthy plate of fresh cooked chicken and salads for lunch, and bottomless cups of tea or coffee! Plenty of people to talk with over the lunch break, plenty of shopping to be done and the four demonstrators: Jill Radcliffe, Carol Sanderson, Jill Radcliffe and Michele Hill… were wonderful close-up learning experiences. Thank you too, to those four ladies for sharing their skills and talents with us.
Many of you took home a lucky draw prize, everyone took home a goodie bag with a divine little inspirational bee to remind you of the day. Caroline Chapman, now of Adelaide but previously of Mt Gambier, won the Bee Quilt raffle draw. Michele Hawthorne won the second prize basket full of goodies and Joyce Chapman won the giant crochet bee. Thank you to our quilting friends who donated such wonderful prizes.
It was fabulous for everyone to meet Heather Ford, President of SA Quilters, as she chaired the event. During the day she talked about quilt evaluation, how the team work together to give a monetary valuation to each quilt which is assessed, and the importance of this process. Heather also talked about how the Judging Panel works and their availability to judge at Country exhibitions.
We are hoping that all the ladies who came had a bee-inspirational and memorable ‘quilty’ day, with ‘quilty’ old and new friends.
Thank you for being part of Country Forum 23. We value your feedback, which you can email to: events.saquilters@gmail.com
Click on the following presentations to enjoy videos and slideshow at Country Forum:
June Yam
Events Team Leader
SA Quilters
Enjoy a collage of random photos taken throughout the day in the fun Country Forum “frame”
2021 COUNTRY FORUM REPORT
Saturday, 30th September 2022
Theme: Unmasking the Future
A huge thank you to Jane and Cindy for organising and hosting an informative and interesting Country Forum on behalf of SA Quilters. Guest speakers, demonstrations and SA Quilters member shops were there to entertain, inform and cater to everyone. It was a wonderful opportunity to do some retail therapy and catch up with friends.
And thanks to our member shops: Brenda and Tracey from Widebacks and Christina from Melann’s.
Below are a few photos taken on the day.
Helpers left to right: Cindy and Jane; Michael and Christine; Peg and Gaylene. And our congratulations to Rhonda, the winner of the Country Forum raffle.
Demonstrators left to right: Jill, Candy, Chris, Margaret
And thanks to our member shops: Brenda and Tracey from Widebacks and Christina from Melann’s
And we asked Sonia Holton from Gawler Quilting Circle to give us her impressions of the 2021 Country Forum event. Here is what she had to say:
After what had been a pretty ordinary week it was great to be able to attend the Quilters Guild of SA Country Forum that was held at the Adelaide West Uniting Church celebrating the theme “Unmasking the future”
From the moment I arrived at 9am along with at least 16 other members of our group I was welcomed with smiling faces and some friendly banter. All attendees received a durable cotton duck calico coloured bag brandishing the Guild Logo with goodies and the days program along with a beautifully made quilted pouch/ bag.
After collecting our goodie bag and name badge we were thirsty for a hot cuppa and were not disappointed with the beautiful morning tea that was presented in cute little boxes – so many choices in this little box it was hard to know what to eat first – compliments to the kitchen staff for this fab morning tea! Naturally after morning tea there was a bit of time to check out the shops in attendance; Widebacks with Brenda, Tracey and Rachelle and Melanns Sewing Centre with the enthusiastic Christina – whom I believe is the future of sewing in SA. It is such a delight to see such a young person so passionate about sewing!
Retail therapy is always so good for the soul and the mind, if only I could sew and create as quickly as I can shop. Oh well, I am always happy to sit and look at my purchases for a while before using them.
At 10am we were asked to take our seats ready for the first part of the presentations, we were welcomed by Cindy and Jane who were the organisers of this event. The Forum was then officially opened by Guild President Heather Ford followed by a roving microphone and introductions from the various groups in attendance. The excitement continued with the first of the lucky draws. Several members of our group were lucky to receive a prize in this draw, little did we know that all attendees were going to be collecting a lucky prize sometime throughout the day. Following this excitement, the IT talk began. This was a great introduction to many about the use of social media platforms and other technologies that bring us together despite the physical distance between us during Covid times. The guest speaker for the day was Suzanne Gummow, I particularly loved the YouTube video that Suzanne shared of the Dolce and Gabbana Runway Fashion Show that was full of patchwork inspired clothing.
Show and tell was a plethora of beautiful quilts, some large, some small but all beautiful, there are some extremely talented people with whom we share our passion. This is often great inspiration for a new project or the encouragement to complete a project that you may have started but lost your way to finish. It was time to eat again, lunch was an assortment of sandwiches and wraps which were delicious, along with bottomless tea or coffee. During this break there were demonstrations from various guild members, more shopping opportunities along with the chance to chat with people you know or would like to know.
The second part of the day was a chance to ask questions and get answers, more show and tell and another round of lucky draws. Every player won a prize! My heartfelt thanks to this amazing group of people who managed to host Country Forum. I know that it takes many hours and a great deal of team work to make it happen.
Of course, I could not finish this piece without mentioning the perfect end to the afternoon, scones with jam and cream and another cuppa! Just the sustenance needed to make the journey home. Thank you once again…
Sonia Holton – Attendee (Gawler Quilting Circle)