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The fall retreat at Providence Point Retreat and Conference Centre near Lanark was fully subscribed and tremendously enjoyed by the participants. I dropped in on Wednesday November 9th and despite all appearances of a "sweat shop" I quickly realized that this was very happy, creative and focused group in a very pleasant, bright setting with lovely outdoor views. I took this opportunity to not very discreetly check out the various projects underway - several Christmas gift and decorative projects, evidence of Sherida Giddings curved paper piecing Desert Sky October workshop, and also some of our guild challenges. We look forward to seeing completed projects at upcoming Show and Tells and in our 2017 quilt show. -- Janet Brownlee  Chris Gordon's I Spy quilt
Click on gallery photos below to enlarge.  Thanks to everyone for making items for our various charity projects. It is very much appreciated by the organizations we support and the final recipients alike. Don't forget to bring your finished items to the November meeting. The stockings will be picked up at the November meeting by the CWL, who then fill them. The placemats will be going to Meals on Wheels in early December.
For those who missed it, in October, we received a plaque thanking us for our donations of preemies. It will be on the publicity table for everyone to see. We had the first of our retreats in early November and it was a productive few days for everyone. I benefitted from the time change a few times at the retreat as I forgot to change the clock in my car and kept thinking I was late getting places until I realized the clock in the car was wrong. I gained a couple of hours with that trick, it's changed now and I am back to being in the correct time zone! It's going to be a busy year with our various ongoing projects as well as our special projects over the next year. The Canada 150 quilt is coming along and will hopefully be at the quilters by early December. Our raffle quilt is done and it's now time to get tickets sold. They make great stocking stuffers or Christmas card inserts so don't forget to sign some out. If everyone takes a few booklets, we'll sell out in no time. Drop by the library table and have a look at the book I purchased on modern quilts, it's called World of Quilts, 25 Modern Projects. I will leave it with the library for the next few months. I had to look twice to see that the cover was not a mistake. It is somewhat of a history of patterns and the content comes across as traditional instead of modern. Maybe it's like that dress from last year - is it blue or gold? Modern or traditional? At the end of the day, if you like your project it does not matter. Have a great month sewing, quilting and finishing, Brigid Whitnall President Attendees at Sherida Giddings' October 26th workshop came away enthused after spending the day working on the Desert Sky paper pieced blocks that highlight curved piecing. Gwen's block that she completed at the workshop is pictured here.
Our meeting began with special guest Trish McEachern, a registered nurse in the Rich Little Special Care Nursery at the Ottawa Hospital, presenting our guild with a plaque recognizing our support of their unit. For several years our guild has been making and donating little 24 inch square "preemie quilts" to the unit. Each baby who is cared for in the nursery receives a quilt and last year we donated over 150 of these little quilts to the nursery. Trish explained how meaningful these little quilts are to the families of the babies, and she thanked us for our time, energy and talent in making these quilts. She also showed us several photos of the little babies with their little quilts. For more information about our preemie quilt initiatives, see the Charity page.
Canada's Big Quilt Bee
Sherida Giddings Trunk Show Our guest speaker was Sherida Giddings, a certified teacher of Judy Niemeyer, and an expert in paper and curved piecing. She shared highlights of her quilting journey with us and she described the extensive and demanding 2 year certification process with Judy. Prior to the meeting, Sherida conducted a workshop in Arnprior on the Desert Sky paper pieced pattern. At the meeting's Show and Tell, Gwen Pennings showed the block she pieced at the workshop, pictured here.. Here are some of the quilts Sherida included in her trunk show. Click on a photo to enlarge it. More photos of Sherida's quilts can be found on Sherida's Web site and on her Quiltworx Bio page.  During the summer we received an email message about a little 3 year boy who had received a preemie quilt as a newborn from the Rich Little Special Care nursery at the Ottawa Hospital. The boy is still very attached to his little quilt, so much that he had chewed off all 4 of the corners! The label on the little quilt led the boy's foster mother (and about to adoptive mother), to our guild. Would it be possible, the lady asked, for her to buy a replacement quilt for him? And could it be as similar to the chewed up quilt as possible? We were very touched by this story and resolved to give him a replacement. First quest was to see if we could obtain more of the original fabric. Our guild president, Brigid, identified the quilt as one that her mother had made. So off her mom went to the shop in Cornwall where she had purchased the fabric. Sadly, but not surprisingly, that fabric was not available. Nor could it be found on a web site for purchase. We did find a similar blue background print in an Ottawa shop. Chris, our guild vice president, who is also responsible for our charity projects, had some orange flannel in her stash for the backing, and she quickly produced a brand new quilt. Off it went in the mail. We soon heard back that the little fellow was thrilled with his new quilt. "He adores it. He walks around with both and always shows everyone his “new” blankie!!!! You ladies rock." We were delighted to hear that one little quilt was loved and appreciated so much and equally delighted to provide a replacement that may or may not get chewed! Here are photos of the top and back of the new quilt, and below, more photos of the original quilt. |
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