On Saturday November 26th, some of us had the pleasure of seeing Paul Leger again for a workshop. This 3-D block looked very challenging and that was the reason most of us took the class. Paul made the process easy with the help of specialty rulers and his easy going teaching. He was very helpful with advice and he coached us through a relaxed and fun day. The class was very pleased with the results as we were able to get a block or two done by the end of the day. -- Brigid Whitnall Click on an image to view it in full.
Christmas Stockings
CQA Big Quilt Bee Pieces of the Canada 150 fabrics were distributed for making the slab blocks for the Canadian Quilters' Associations Big Quilt Bee quilts for Ronald McDonald Houses across Canada. This project is in celebration of Canada's 150th birthday in 2017. Refer to the CQA web site for more information, including photos of sample blocks and instructions for the blocks using a “slab block pattern” compliments of Cheryl Arkison. Nancy Jossinet Trunk Show 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 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. Dana Szucs Hayden, of SeaSew has created a pattern for this Canada 150 birthday logo paper pieced block. Click on the image to download the pattern for free. Update January 17, 2017
We've received some feedback of confusion and errors in this pattern. Our president Brigid has now completed this block (thanks Brigid!) and she reports the following: There were two small issues, two of the pieces were not marked as far as colour, but when you look at the colour picture you know it's a purple and a white. The other thing with paper piecing is that you are working in reverse. The picture online shows the yellow and orange on the left, but the emblem is correct with those on the right like I have them. Here's a photo of Brigid's block. The chill of fall is in the air as we have launched another great year at the guild. Maybe this weekend I will get a chance to get some little project done for Halloween! I have a nice collection of fabric and every year the day just sneaks up on me and I don't get the projects done. At the very least, I need a new fall table runner! Or maybe a pumpkin wall hanging. Anyone say "squirrel"! I completely forgot to talk about the president's challenge for the year. It is to make something red and white for our Canada 150 themed quilt show. Those who won door prizes at the June meeting have a head start as they were mostly Canada themed fabrics. If your fabric is beige and red, that's ok too, a lot of the fabric companies used beige instead of white. I would like to encourage everyone to participate in the guild. There are challenges to complete, block of the month, our sew days and charity projects just to mention a few things. We also are still looking for volunteers to sell tickets... Penny and I have offered to sell tickets if people want to switch with us on the executive! :) Keep in mind that if you do put your name down to participate in an activity, we plan for that many people. As an example, the venue for our first sew day had prepared food for us and not many who signed up were there. One final comment on people's generosity and how we come together and make things happen. Thank you all who are making stockings, placemats and preemies. Our goal for stockings is a real stretch this year, if everyone pitches in, I think we can make it. Thanks to everyone who made blocks for the Canada 150 quilt. I will give an update at the October meeting as to what is left to do on that one and where people can help. Now I am off to finish something for show and tell. Happy quilting! Brigid Whitnall President We kicked off our 2016-2017 guild season on Wednesday September 29 with a great turn out to hear about the programs and challenges, to share what we've been making over the summer, and to enjoy a fascinating trunk show. The striking blue quilt that we'll be raffling off at our quilt show in April 2017 is now complete and was on display. The pattern was custom designed by Brigid Whitnall, blocks were pieced over the summer by Penny Carruthers, Chris Gordon, and Janet Brownlee, and it was assembled by Chris. Mary Stanton did an awesome job of quilting it and she also provided the thread and the perfectly coordinating backing from her stash. Thank you Mary for your very generous contributions. Show and tell was, as always, very inspiring and well received. You can see photos of all of the projects in OUR QUILTS. Paul Leger Trunk Show Our program featured guest quilter Paul Leger who presented a very entertaining and interesting trunk show. We believe that Paul brought 2 "firsts" to our guild - a male guest speaker, and a selfie! Paul started quilting 26 years ago when he was stationed with the Canadian Armed Forces in Victoria BC. He took his first course 4 years after starting to quilt. Until that point Paul instructed himself to quilt (with a little help from his mother.) Over the years Paul's quilting skills and styles have changed. He still likes traditional quilting but is now dabbling in the modern. Now Paul teaches, designs and gives presentations and is an active participant in the international quilting community. Paul's trunk show charted his quilting journey over the years. Starting from his first quilt, which was made from his shirts, we saw his unique and varied designs. Paul's thirst for new ideas and learning was evident throughout his show. He's always looking for something new and avoids repeating the same thing over and over. He also has a slight aversion to the "A" thing (applique!) Paul donated a quilt to the University of Moncton's Acadian Museum, which honours the families who founded l'Acadie and includes the names of 305 of the 800 founding families. You can see a photo of this quilt on Paul's web site. Here are some of the quilts that Paul included in his trunk show. Click on a photo to enlarge it. More photos of his fascinating quilts can be found on Paul's web site. -- Janet Brownlee
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