Quilters Companion

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! Purchase includes the Digital Edition and News Service. Please stay in touch via our Facebook Page.

EDITOR’S JOURNAL

Quilters Companion • QC No. 139 Vol.24 No.3 MAY – JUNE 2026

QUILTY Treasures

ROAD TO CALIFORNIA 2026 • The Road to California Quilt Show is a major quilting conference and showcase that celebrates the art of quilting, held annually in Ontario California. It features world-class quilt exhibits, special competitions with over $56,000 in prizes and expert led workshops and lectures for quilters of all skill levels. 2026 marked its 30th anniversary.

Mixed Media Artistry with CHRISTINE LETHLEAN • Christine is a practising mixed-media artist with more than 35 years’ experience, recognised for her distinctive use of textiles and rudimentary stitch as tools for expression. Guided by intuition and experimentation, her work resists the conventional boundaries between craft and contemporary art.

POPPIES IN a pot

Stardust • This quilt celebrates the much-loved Kaleidoscope block. The palette of cool, warm and light-volume fabrics combined with 45-degree triangles create the optical illusion of curves and circles. The curves are extended into the pieced border with the addition of appliqué.

Illusion • This quilt is made in the ‘old’ way, using handmade templates and cutting from your scraps and leftovers. Wendy first saw this quilt in a book entitled Quilts of Illusion. She kept going back to the image, trying to work out how it was made. Finally, after much humming and hahhing, she worked out that it was a collection of half hexagons, put together in a light, medium and dark format. Wendy used fabrics from her collection of 1800s reproduction fabrics. There are a lot of red, brown and navy as the ‘darks’, pinks, greys, light blues and greens for the ‘mediums’, and for the ‘lights’ she chose pinks and yellows and some shirtings. Any type of prints would look good. You can use stripes, spots and checks too, but don’t overdo them!

Dear Jane & Her Babies • Thirty years ago a book by a then unknown author about a then little known quilt took the quilting world by storm. Jane Stickle’s sampler quilt, of 1863, became perhaps the most famous quilt ever known. It’s now widely known as the Dear Jane quilt thanks to the book that turned it into an international stitching phenomenon.

HALF AND half • This quilt is the very first project that Keryn designed for our sister magazine, Homespun, in 2009. She dug into her stash and designed a scrap quilt, resulting in this striking quilt featuring a beautiful selection of reproduction fabrics, assembled in pieced blocks with a Flying Geese border.

AUSTRALIA WIDE NINE

Efficiency in motion MASTERING THE ART OF TIMELY QUILTING

TRACEY’S ‘MUST-HAVE’ RULER TOOLKIT: From Domestic to Longarm • Over the years, I’ve tested hundreds of rulers. If you are looking to invest in tools that actually save time and improve accuracy, these are the ones I reach for daily.

Meditative Stitching with HELEN STUBBINGS • Helen is one of the most influential Australian designers in contemporary stitchery and quilting. Her approachable teaching, distinctive aesthetic and commitment to community have made her a beloved figure among quilters — especially those who enjoy narrative, meditative handwork.

A SONGBIRD Symphony • Give your home a feel-good vintage-inspired lift with this set of...