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Current Issue: Issue #139 2026
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Excellence in patchwork and quilting
Quilters Companion is the definitive patchwork and quilting magazine. Published since 2001, Quilters Companion provides readers with exciting quilting projects. These projects are accompanied by easy-to follow instructions and accompanying pattern sheets, stunning styled shots and interesting stories about the featured projects. We pride ourselves not just on being an instructional publication — we are a good read as well!
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In This Issue:
EDITOR’S JOURNAL
In this issue, we turn our attention to the textile practices of two outstanding Australian makers, Christine Lethlean and Helen Stubbings. Where one builds energy through layered cloth and freemotion lines, the other finds clarity in meditative pattern and restrained stitch. Both Helen and Christine share a project that celebrates their style, along with the stories of their textile journeys.
Thirty years ago, a book by a then unknown author about a little known quilt took the quilting world by surprise. Jane Stickle’s 1863 sampler quilt – once an obscure historical curiosity – became one of the most celebrated quilts in the world. Today it is universally recognised as the Dear Jane quilt, thanks to the book that transformed it into an international stitching phenomenon. In this issue, Jo Cooper…
QUILTY Treasures
READY, SET … STAR!
Longarm quilter and patchwork pattern designer, Jess, has written wonderfully detailed instructions to help you master a foundation-pieced Feathered Star block. It’s a beautiful but complex block that is typically a showpiece for advanced quilters.
By her own admission, Jess “has a thing for star quilts. You might know me as the Feathered Star lady. I realllllly like using fun and modern colour combos for this traditional block. I’ve kind of gone overboard in writing instructions for a bunch of different sizes of feathered stars for both paper piecing fans and non-paper piecing fans.” Her free block pattern, which includes instructions to make the block in a number of different sizes, is available to download from www.threadedquilting.com/no-y-seamfeathered-star. If you’re a visual learner, she’s also produced a…
ROAD TO CALIFORNIA 2026
Best of Show
Happy Days, 127cm x 127cm (50in x 50in), Aki Sakai
Artist’s statement: “I’m thankful to spend happy days making quilts. The design was based on my favourite things and family memories. I like doll houses, so I designed the house in the middle. I also like to make cute and small sampler quilts.”
Outstanding Artistry
Sahara Lion, 239cm x 152cm (94in x 60in), Lys Axelson
Artist’s statement: “The Sahara lion is a subspecies of the now extinct Barbaray lion, known for its magnificent dark mane and is unlike the robust lions of the Serengeti Plains and other sub-African habitats with their large prides, lounging in the shade, watching over herds of prey. The Sahara lion is lithe and handsome and adapted to the desert, where prey and water are…
Mixed Media Artistry with CHRISTINE LETHLEAN
ABOUT CHRISTINE
QC Tell us about where you live.
CL I grew up on a farm in the eastern wheatbelt of Western Australia, on Njaki Njaki Country, and that landscape still lives deeply within me. In 2014, my husband Phillip and I relocated to regional Victoria, and I now live in the historic village of Clunes, in the Central Highlands and Goldfields region. While Clunes is now home, my heart remains connected to the wide-open skies and mallee country of my childhood. That sense of place, shaped by farming life, pioneering parents and a close-knit rural community, continues to inform my work.
QC What is your studio like?
CL I work from an intimate studio at my home in Clunes, where all my artwork is created. In 2015, I opened…
POPPIES IN a pot
www.christinelethleanartist.org
@christinelethleanartist
@christinelethleanartist
This project is ideal if you want to explore the creation of a textile artwork using fabric scraps from your stash.
This contemporary design features a pot of naive poppies and introduces layering and raw-edge appliqué techniques while composing a two-dimensional still life using simple principles of composition and perspective.
Both hand and machine stitching may be used interchangeably throughout the project, including free-motion machine drawing and hand-embroidered embellishment. There is no right or wrong approach. Be playful, experiment with colour and placement and allow the artwork to evolve in your own way. Raw and frayed edges are encouraged to create texture and visual interest.
Note: As each layer is added and stitched, the artwork will gradually become thicker and more textural. This build-up provides a stable…
Stardust
patchworkbliss3@gmail.com
@patchwork_bliss
Finished size: 209cm (82in) square
Finished block size: 9in square
MATERIALS
• 50cm (⅝yd) each of seven print fabrics in cool colours (Blocks A and B and border)• 20cm (¼yd) each of seven print fabrics in warm colours (Block A)• 60cm (¾yd) each of seven lightvalue print fabrics (Blocks A and B and border)• 70cm (⅞yd) burgundy tone-on-tone print fabric (Block B and appliqué)• 40cm (½yd) dark navy tone-on-tone print fabric (appliqué)• 80cm (1yd) navy print fabric (border setting triangles)• 80cm (⅞yd) deep pink print fabric (border setting triangles)• 70cm (⅞yd) blue print fabric (binding)• 2.3m (2⅝yd) extra-wide (274cm/108in wide) backing fabric• Batting at least 220cm (90in) square• Template plastic and fine permanent-marking pen• Freezer paper• Pencil or erasable fabric-marking pen• White ceramic pencil (for marking dark fabrics)•…
Illusion
@legendandlace
willywd200@gmail.com
Finished size: 191cm x 161cm (75¼in x 63⅜in)
MATERIALS
• Assorted scraps of print fabrics to total about 6m (6⅝yd) — your fabrics should include equal amounts of light-value, medium-value and darkvalue prints• 60cm (⅝yd) black and white stripe print fabric (binding)• 3.6m (4yd) backing fabric• Batting at least 210cm x 180cm (82in x 71in)• Template plastic and fine-point permanent-marking pen or 2B pencil• Fine thread in a neutral colour• Milliners needle: size 11• Chalk pencil or wash-out fabric marker• Perle 12 thread and large-eye hand quilting needle, such as a chenille needle• Sandpaper board (optional)• Rotary cutter, ruler and mat• Sewing machine• General sewing supplies
PREPARATION
1 Trace Templates A and B from the Pattern Sheet on to template plastic with a fine-point permanentmarking pen or 2B…
Dear Jane & Her Babies
Brenda Manges Papadakis, a mathematican and quiltmaker, wrote a book about Jane Stickle’s quilt to share her joy of its intricate geometric patterns. Dear Jane: The Two Hundred Twenty-Five Patterns from the 1863 Jane A. Stickle Quilt became a publishing hit, with an anniversary edition recently being reprinted by Paper Pieces. This edition is dedicated to “the friends of Jane Stickle in all corners of the world”.
“I never dreamed Dear Jane would travel worldwide and touch so many lives,” Brenda writes. Many versions of Dear Jane made by the quilt’s followers are included in the recent edition of the book with the reproductions known as Baby Janes. Pictured here are two more versions, one made in solids by Jodi Spillane, the other made by Paper Pieces. Both have been…
HALF AND half
@kinquilting
quiltingtwin.blogspot.com
Finished size: 208cm x 223.5cm (82in x 88in)
Finished block size: 6in
MATERIALS
• A total of 2.5m (2¾yd) of assorted scraps in light print fabrics (pieced blocks and Flying Geese)• A total of 2.5m (2¾yd) of assorted scraps in dark print fabrics (pieced blocks and Flying Geese)• 2.9m (3¼yd) brown print fabric (sashings and Borders 2 and 3)• A total of 30cm (⅜yd) of assorted scraps in dark print fabrics (sashing corner stones)• 65cm (¾yd) cream tone-on-tone print fabric (Border 1)• 10cm (⅛yd) red print fabric (Border 1 corner stones)• 60cm (⅝yd) rust print fabric (binding)• 4.7m (5¼yd) backing fabric• Batting at least 235in x 220cm• (92in x 86in)• 2B pencil• Rotary cutter, ruler and mat• Sewing machine with ¼in foot• General sewing supplies
CUTTING
From each…
AUSTRALIA WIDE NINE
Australia Wide Nine is a touring exhibition showcasing small textile pieces, 40cm x 40cm (16in x 16in) made by members of Ozquilt Network. It started in October 2025 at the Kyabram Town Hall Gallery, Victoria and has visited Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales. It was also exhibited at the internationally-acclaimed Carrefore Patchwork Meeting in Alsace, France 2025.
You can catch the remaining exhibitions at these venues: Louis Joel Arts and Community Centre, Altona, Victoria – May, Cannery Arts Centre, Western Australia – June 18 – July 16 and Busselton, Western Australia September 2026 – dates and venue to be announced.
You can find out more about Australia Wide Nine and where it is being exhibited at: www.ozquiltnetwork.org.au/exhibitions/australia-wide/aw9 Many of the artworks are for sale: you can find…
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