Real World Groups

SCQuilters began in the virtual world, with a small group of quilters who met on a US-based e-group. But it was only a short time until the group spilled over into the real world. Early projects were the SCQuilters logo, seen at the top of this blog, which was designed by Leanne McGill as a quilt block and soon became a car sticker. Soon afterwards, the first batch of SCQuilters badges were produced, so members could recognise one another at large quilt shows. No state show was complete without a gathering of SCQuilters, all wearing their badges or carrying bags with the SCQ logo. And then there were the local gatherings, Christmas parties, and picnics. A Tasmanian SCQuilter, Fran Williams, stayed with an interstate SCQuilter for the first time in about 1996, with many jokes in the group about the dangers of meeting axe-murderers through the Internet. 

In 1996, the first Christmas get together for Sydney SCQuilters was held at Jan Powell’s house, followed by a picnic the following year. In 1997, Melbourne had a Christmas gathering at the old Meat Market.


back row: Kath Reiper, Jeanette Holkner, Kate Irving, Jo Botherway,
front row: Cherry Jackson, Cynthia Hess , Gillian Nicholson, Hilly van Zuylekom

By 1998, the social life of SCQuilters was well underway. Bathurst hosted several Bun Fights over the years; there were regular lunchtime meetings in the city of Sydney; there were gatherings in the Blue Mountains, NSW, in different parts of Melbourne and on the Central Coast of NSW. SCQuilters were fascinated to find other like-minded people on the web and the first thing they wanted to do was meet them!