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by Gwen Pennings Thank you for the 16 wonderful quilted wheelchair lap quilts you made this past fall which I was very honoured to deliver for the residents of The Grove Nursing Home in Arnprior just before Christmas.  Wheelchair lap quilts at our December guild meeting     'Twas the night before Christmas, Quilters version
'Twas the night before Christmas, And the quilts were not made. The threads were all tangled, the cookies delayed. The stockings weren't hung, the pantry was bare. The poor weary Quilter, was tearing her hair. Stacks of fat quarters, tipped over in streams. Visions of Log Cabins, had turned into dreams. When what to her wondering eyes should appear, But a bus full of quilters with all of their gear. They went straight to work with just a few mutters, Sorting and stitching and brandishing cutters. The patterns emerged from all of the clutter, Like magic the fabrics arranged in a flutter. Log Cabins, Lone Stars, Flying Geese & Bear Tracks Each quilt was a beauty-even the backs. Her house how it twinkled, her quilts how they glowed. The cookies were baking, the stockings were sewed. Their work was all done, so they folded their frames, And packed up their needles, without giving their names. They boarded the bus, and checked the next address. More quilts to be made, another quilter in distress. She heard one voice echo, as they drove out of sight, Happy quilting to all and to all a good night! Author Unknown Donna Sheaves President We saw lots of quilts at this meeting from our guest speaker Sherri Hisey, our own members' show-and-tell, and completed preemie quilts, along with many participants in block-of-the-month and the decorative stitch exchange.  2 of the new preemie quilts And Mary deVries shared some of the work done at the recent sew day for the raffle quilt for our 2019 quilt show. Here are 2 completed "around the town" blocks designed by Mary. Read more about this very productive day in an earlier blog entry.   Sherri Hisey, our guest presenter is a quilt designer with her own company Border Creek Station patterns. Sherri shared with us the importance of balance in a quilt's visual space, how to keep it simple when decoding the math and some basic rules of thumb of quilt designing, and guidelines for setting quilts and borders. Getting it together in a unique and personal way is key to Sherri's distinctive teaching style-- there is always a way to process your creative thoughts and ideas into a finished project just let your imagination soar! We appreciated her very detailed hand out that documents various terms such as coping (the addition of fabric strips that build up or correct sizes of blocks, quilt centres, or borders to achieve a desired size), along with "quilt math". And her tips such as photocopying a quilt pattern in black, white and grey, to really see the design values, and volume (the difference between the lightest and darkest fabrics in a quilt to ensure sufficient contrast), and to help you decide where you need print and solid fabrics. Sherri's quilts showcased a number of her quilt patterns, many of which she brought along to sell.                    Click/tap an image in the gallery below to see it in full.  "Sea Side" Donna's happy place The leaves are gone, the sun beds early, and the snow is not far away. I have selected my images for the Presidents challenge, “Sea Side”, my happy place. I’m gathering my fabric and my pattern which I hope to show you soon. Here is the image I have selected from a magazine to inspire my quilt. I hope many of you will participate as well.
We are very excited about our guest speaker this month. Sherri Hisey will be at the meeting to speak about settings and borders as well as present a trunk show. You can read more in the programs section of this newsletter. We are pleased to see so many new members. Janet Brownlee has graciously agreed to take on the role of Ambassador to help our new friends get acquainted with the guild offerings and our group. If you see Janet with a new member, please introduce yourself to make our new friends feel more at home and find out about their interest in quilting. If we need to cancel a meeting due to bad weather, we will send out an email around noon to advise the members. Since many of you arrive with a friend, if you see an email about the cancellation, help out others that may not check their email often and let them know. If you personally feel the weather is not good for traveling, your safety must be the first priority, do not venture out to the meeting. Donna Sheaves President Fifteen keen sewers met at Island View Suites retirement residence in Arnprior for a Sew Day on Thursday Nov 16th. We worked at paper piecing wedge shaped blocks for the quilt we will be raffling in 2019. Mary DeVries and Rennie Hickey are the genii behind this project. 12 wedges will be joined to make a circle of buildings in the "community" this quilt represents. I worked on a school, church and house with a double window. The quilt will be a real eye-catcher. While working in the activity room our group of quilters were visited by many residents interested to see our work. We enjoyed pizza and salad from Mama Rosa's. Thanks to Island View for inviting us to meet without charge. We appreciate the generosity shown to our Guild. -- Chris Gordon    Click/tap on a photo in the gallery below to see it in full. The November 6-9 retreat at Providence Point Retreat and Conference Centre near Lanark was enjoyed by all. The food was great. We all worked on projects that we brought. We shared techniques with one another. Played a game of BINGO each night and enjoyed the camaraderie of fellow Quilters. I think I can truly say we all had a great time! -- Joanna Vlaming       Click or tap an image in the gallery below to see it in full. Our guild was in full swing at our October meeting.  Wheelchair Lap Quilts Many members have been busy making block-of-the-month blocks, blocks for the decorative stitch exchange, and for our charity outreach initiatives, little preemie quilts and wheelchair lap quilts.  Wendy Foster Birch Our guest speaker Wendy Foster Birch educated us on the usage of different types of threads and offered a multitude of tips and techniques for machine quilting. Wendy illustrated thread and machine quilting concepts with her entertaining and informative trunk show which featured her beautiful and creative art quilts and her love of free motion quilting. Her work is bright and is often inspired by nature. She uses a wide variety of materials in her quilts and all types of threads including cotton, polyester, metallic and her preference for varigated threads. Wendy kindly provided her detailed notes on thread usage and also a link to a Superior Threads Troubleshooting Guide.   Wendy's quilts vary from traditional patterns to modern and often with a whimsical touch.     
 
Wendy's personal quest for a wide variety of threads led her to become a Superior Thread supplier. Her threads were welcomed at the meeting!  More of Wendy's quilts are pictured in this gallery. Click or tap a photo to view it in full. Congratulations to our guild members, Mary deVries and Brenda Payer who have achieved tremendous success and recognition with their prize winning quilts. Well done! Mary deVries' "Something from Nothing" star quilt received Grand Champion at the Renfrew and Cobden fairs.  And Mary's "Granny's Stars" quilt received Reserved Grand Champion at the Renfrew Fair. Congratulations Mary!  Brenda Payer has had a very successful year with multiple awards. Her applique quilt was awarded Grand Champion at Carp Fair in September.   Brenda entered Northcott's 2 challenges in 2017. Her entry in the quilt of valour challenge placed second. This challenge was on display at Quilt Canada and the show visitors voted, This quilt will be donated to a veteran,  Brenda also entered Northcott's Trans Canada Block Party Challenge and was one of 13 finalists in the open voting on the internet.  And Brenda won Viewer's Choice at Quilt Canada for her entry in a modern quilt challenge. Congratulations Brenda!  Welcome quilters! As I write this, fall is upon us. The foliage is starting to change as well as the weather. I hope you are inspired to capture some of that autumn beauty in a quilt to admire all year.
Last month, the challenges were announced and they will be fun to make and to see at the end of the year. Planning a quilt around a theme or pattern is a creative way to stretch your quilting imagination. Read about them and please consider participating! I have started planning my President's Challenge quilt which I will share with you as I go along. This month I will share my magazine inspiration image. The beach is my true happy place which is why I have selected this image. I hope you are looking for your inspiration image and will participate in the challenge. Our first retreat is coming up and I can see everyone is looking forward to the event. This is the opportunity to get away and focus on your quilt work, get some tips and tricks from fellow quilters and socialize with new and old friends. There is still some room available so if you are interested in attending, you can see Joanna Vlaming at our October meeting. Please don’t forget to sign up to bring something sweet or savory for sharing with other members at a meeting. I am certain that, like your quilts, you all have something great you can share. Just see one of our kitchen volunteers and let them know what you could bring (preferably nut free). Looking forward to seeing all of you at our October 25th meeting. Donna Sheaves President Our 2017-2018 guild season kicked off with lots of information about this year's exciting and creative challenges, a new decorative stitch exchange, and the opportunities to contribute important charity projects. We enjoyed a fascinating and inspiring presentation by Krista Zaleski, a local creative pattern designer, and long arm quilter. Krista took us along her quilting journey from her first quilt to her latest modern designs.
   Linked Squares  Bulging Checkerboard     Krista's quilts often feature curves and circles - all pieced.    Krista is an active member of the Ottawa Modern Quilt Guild.      Building Blocks Krista frequently mentioned the inspiration she took from Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times blog. You can keep up with Krista's projects, read more about the quilts pictured here, and purchase her patterns on her blog. More of Krista's quilts are pictured in this gallery. Click or tap a photo to view it in full. |
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