There are so many reasons to belong to a quilt guild, especially a modern one, being able to meet contemporary quilt designers is just one of the perks.
Kathy is an American who moved to Australia years ago, it was there she was introduced to quilting. She has since opened a store in Sydney called Material Obsession. Being far from the traditional quilting world she has really developed a style that is all her own. 
She is here in the States for 6 weeks, her husband came along, and two of her three sons are in the States right now. More on them later.
I can really relate to her colors and combinations. What is wonderful here is that the stripes aren’t pieced, she has used a Kaffe Fassett print. She uses many of his fabrics, which are often very busy.
Here is an example of using just solids, which is rare for her. This is one of the things I love, she has a certain style, but she experiments and tries all kinds of things, so that her overall style is very comprehensive. It is not just a very narrow approach.
Her husband was holding up all the quilts and giving us color commentary along the way. I can see why she moved to Australia for him! Also, this is just one of three boys – good job mom!
Back to the quilt, solid with an Ikat border, combing some print with the solids.
A close up of her quilting, most of her quilting is by hand with pearl cotton. Today many quilters are doing this, but she came up with this on her own in Australia, not being exposed to the very fine 15 stitches to an inch hand quilting that many of us learned 30 years ago. Both are great options. With her bright colors, this quilting just enhances the whole quilt.
My friend Irene mentioned that she either uses prints or solids, but doesn’t really combine them in a quilt. This is where taking pictures gives a much fuller image of her work. Here is a great example of using both print and solid in a quilt. She spoke about getting high contrast, which happens in the solid triangle bands.
The quilts are all huge! This was the class she taught on Saturday. I’m sorry I missed it, what with not knowing exactly when Cameron would be born, I didn’t sign up. 
Kathy took part in a red and white challenge, only two colors! She said it was soooo hard for her! At least here we see the adorable husband and son as well as our secretary hard at work taking notes. Hi Tess!
I can really relate to this ability to work only with very busy prints and yet get real contrast.
Or playing with only stripes and polka dots! With some added appliqué. 
Here are chic Kisses on a large scale. I took this class with Jenny Pedigo, I didn’t have very good success in the class, but seeing this version makes me want to go back and try again. 
Take a close look at the quilt, in creating the girls, Kathy made sure to have some kind of half circle in the print to create the hair! That is really working with the prints.
A more traditional layout of blocks, also, notice the growing pile of quilts! She brought 5 suitcases from Australia with the quilts alone! I’m wondering where they fit in their clothes, 6 weeks of travel can’t happen with just a carry-on.
Wonderful use of fabrics, I think this is what really draws me to her work.
This is made with her own line of fabrics, I understand the need to use one line in a sample. This is a big way of selling the fabric, but it’s missing contrast, other prints thrown in here would have made this sing.
A whole cloth quilt with broderie perse. This is her newest line. Showing how to work it as a whole cloth. There were also examples of how the print looks when it is cut and pieced.
What a wonderful evening, I have to go back now and really look at some of these images. There is so much I can learn from Kathy. Which is what the creative world is all about – learning from one another.
Leah