Arnprior & District Quilters' Guild Newsletter - December 2020
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President's Message
Happy December All! Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! I hope this newsletter finds you all well! Covid is going crazy and yet I see on the news today that Renfrew County currently has no active cases of Covid. Let's hope this continues. In personal news, my wife Paulette (our Guild Secretary) and I will be missing the December Meeting on the 9th because Paulette is getting her second knee replacement done that day. I hear that a lot of you are getting frustrated from Zoom and how it works. Trust me, I know how you feel. I am SO frustrated I am SPEECHLESS with frustration. Every time I try and speak on Zoom there is interference. I've tried every trick in the book. I'm not sure how much more of me you may be seeing this year as these tech problems seem to be impacting my ability to speak and be heard clearly. I am nearing the end of my rope and patience with all this tech stuff (and I'm a techie and retired IT guy). That's about all! I hope you all have a safe and happy holidays and a GREAT 2021! -- Frank McCarron, President |
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Program Notes
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December Meeting Our December guild meeting is on Wednesday December 9 at 7 PM. We hope you'll join us on Zoom. Watch your email a day or 2 before the meeting for instructions for connecting to this meeting. For the December meeting we thought it would be nice to do something different and so we ask you to be present with a beverage and let's have a Show & Tell. There are two ways to participate. You can simply show your quilts or you can take pictures of them, send these pictures to the guild and they will be shown on the evening of the meeting. You will be able to talk about your quilt at that time. And don’t think you have to show just one quilt. I’ll bet some of you are making Christmas gifts and that also would be fun to see. I know many of you who were not present at the park in early September will have finished your Black and White and Presidents challenges. Love to see them. And don`t forget, we have door prizes! Please send your Show & Tell photos to us at arnpriorquilters@gmail.com by Monday December 7. There's no need to re-send any photos that you sent us for the spring-summer virtual Show and Tell. We'll show all of those photos at the meeting, and we look forward to hearing your stories about them. Block of the Month The November Star block photo and instructions are now available on the Block of the Month page. |
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2020-2021 Meeting Dates are listed on the Schedule page
Advertisers
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Thank you to our 2020-2021 advertisers! Your support funds our Communications budget which includes the hosting of this web site. We are very grateful for this financial support. To our guild members, please support our advertisers. You can click/tap on any of the advertisements in this newsletter to access the vendor's web site. These vendors are also listed on the Links page. -- Janet Brownlee, Communications & Newsletter Editor |
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Charity
Hi everyone,
We have almost quilted our way through a very challenging year! I am sure there were a few more quilts made this year, can't wait to see some of them.
Thanks to all, we have collected 100 string bags! The ladies filling the bags at the Roman Catholic Church Parish Hall in Arnprior were very happy to receive them! They had all the supplies lying on the tables waiting to fill them. See the picture below. Once these bags are filled they are then donated to the Arnprior and District Food Bank .
We have almost quilted our way through a very challenging year! I am sure there were a few more quilts made this year, can't wait to see some of them.
Thanks to all, we have collected 100 string bags! The ladies filling the bags at the Roman Catholic Church Parish Hall in Arnprior were very happy to receive them! They had all the supplies lying on the tables waiting to fill them. See the picture below. Once these bags are filled they are then donated to the Arnprior and District Food Bank .
Vickie (centre) delivering the bags
We also quilted 46 placemats for the Arnprior Area' Meals on Wheels, which Jane (pictured below at left) has delivered to the Arnprior-Braeside-McNab Seniors at Home Program!
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Our guild members of West Ottawa Community made 18 placemats, and they were donated to the Western Ottawa Community Resource Centre for their local meals on wheels. Job well done everyone! Thanks for all the charity sewing and the spirit of giving! This will help make a few more lives enriched in our communities. I hope you have a chance to speak to family and friends over the holiday season and get a few gifts made before Christmas arrives. I have to start and finish a bed scarf for my mother-in-law. No pressure...don't we all work well under pressure? I do. Looking forward, we will keep you busy with a new charity project in January, and get more Pick Up Sticks blocks available to you as well. Take care and have a wonderful Christmas! Vickie MacNabb & Jane Wickware Charity Team |
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Library News
Snow falling outside, aromas of baked cookies and the hum of sewing machines – all sounds that Christmas preparations are underway; even if it will be a much different “celebration” this year! If you find yourself feeling a little down and sad, try remembering all the great times your quilting has brought: the fun of quilt retreats, sharing quilting skills classes with friends or just spending a day quilting with a friend. We are really fortunate to have our quilting to occupy ourselves and make us feel happy and comforted.
We have found two new books for you to look forward to borrowing! Both are by Melissa Marginet: “Walking Foot Quilt Designs“ and “Edge to Edge Walking Foot Quilt Designs”. The designs go from simple (why didn’t I think of that!) to complicated Wow!). One simple one was how to quilt a star in your quilt block. You measure the mid-point of each side and quilt from each corner to the mid-points of the opposite sides. (See diagram) I can’t wait to try it out! And, there are so many more to try once we get underway again!
Lucy and I wish you the best Merry Christmas of 2020, and a Happy, Better 2021!
Stay strong and Quilt along!
-- Nancy (and Lucy)
Has fabric ever changed colour in your quilt?
Has fabric ever changed colour in your quilt?
Many of the retreat ladies will recognize this quilt that I worked on last fall. It is showing up as more gold than lime green in the picture. I had just about all the blocks made for a queen size quilt when I put the rows on my designer board. I have daytime lighting in my sewing room. They looked the same colour.
Many of the retreat ladies will recognize this quilt that I worked on last fall. It is showing up as more gold than lime green in the picture. I had just about all the blocks made for a queen size quilt when I put the rows on my designer board. I have daytime lighting in my sewing room. They looked the same colour.
After I sewed a couple of rows together and took them upstairs to put across my bed to see if the width was right, I got a surprise. That is when I noticed that one fabric had changed colour on the outside border. It was the circle Robert Kaufman fabric. It turned a baby poop yellow. I didn't like it with the lime green. One suggestion I had was to put it together and donate it but then who would enjoy it?
So during our lockdown this spring, I took it out and ripped out all the blocks with that fabric in them. I have perfected my ripping skills! It wasn't easy to find something that went with this busy background. This may have been my first time to use such a background so that too was a learning experience.
This is a Sherri Hisey pattern called Cattywampus. I added 2 extra panels and a piano key border (not in the pattern) to get the quilt larger. It measures almost 100" x 100". It is quilted with Prickly Pear thread on black on the backing. I am very pleased with the pattern and plan to make black quilted shams to match. Pat Bell quilted it.
This is a Sherri Hisey pattern called Cattywampus. I added 2 extra panels and a piano key border (not in the pattern) to get the quilt larger. It measures almost 100" x 100". It is quilted with Prickly Pear thread on black on the backing. I am very pleased with the pattern and plan to make black quilted shams to match. Pat Bell quilted it.
Finished quilt
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Quilt back
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Covid had put a stop to many of our activities which we regret but it has opened up opportunities to time to finish our UFOs, make gifts from our stash, try new patterns, techniques, and play with free motion. We will never have this much time to just quilt again. Let's make the most of it! 😉
--Gwen Pennings
--Gwen Pennings
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Thank you Arnprior Guild and Merry Christmas!
Two years ago, this guild was very generous to my husband and me after we lost our house to a tornado. The money tree filled with gift cards and cash was a huge help in getting us back on our feet.
As I was writing Christmas cards to family this year, I wanted to reach out to all of you and express our appreciation and gratitude once again. Please know that your gifts were much more than their monetary value. You gave us hope at a very difficult time.
As many of us are visual and since we can’t have you here in person, I wanted to share a photo of our new house, complete with its new front porch and landscaping. The landscaping was partially completed this past summer and will continue in the spring, with the planting of perennials. As much as I love buying fabric, plants come a close second! 100 bulbs were planted with more to come.
Merry Christmas, be safe,
Brigid Whitnall
Thank you Arnprior Guild and Merry Christmas!
Two years ago, this guild was very generous to my husband and me after we lost our house to a tornado. The money tree filled with gift cards and cash was a huge help in getting us back on our feet.
As I was writing Christmas cards to family this year, I wanted to reach out to all of you and express our appreciation and gratitude once again. Please know that your gifts were much more than their monetary value. You gave us hope at a very difficult time.
As many of us are visual and since we can’t have you here in person, I wanted to share a photo of our new house, complete with its new front porch and landscaping. The landscaping was partially completed this past summer and will continue in the spring, with the planting of perennials. As much as I love buying fabric, plants come a close second! 100 bulbs were planted with more to come.
Merry Christmas, be safe,
Brigid Whitnall
Editor's Note: For a look back at Brigid's own words and photos of her tornado experience, refer to the October 2018 newsletter, and for photos of the $$$ tree see the October 2018 Meeting Blog Post.
Brigid on Ironing Stations
Pretty Ironing stations - what’s that!
Quilting requires a lot of ironing and pressing. For the sake of this article, I am going to use the term ironing for all that activity.
Over the years, I have upgraded my ironing area three times. This last time is because my last ironing board died a slow painful creaky death!
The area can be as small as a wool mat next to your sewing machine, or a Violet Craft roller to press your seams, to a larger stand alone piece of furniture that holds your supplies, your iron, and gives you ample room to iron those wide back fabrics.
I have opted for the latter. At a stretch, I can justify this with ergonomics, but honestly, it’s just making life more comfortable. In all versions of my ironing areas, I have always kept a certain distance from the sewing machine to the iron. I prefer to get up, walk a few steps, iron, stretch, then go back to sewing. It’s what works for me.
I started as most of you, with a basic $20 iron and a regular ironing board. I used to go through roughly an iron a year ... they would burn out and die. Dropping them from the ironing board to the carpet while they are plugged in and hot ... that likely doesn’t help either!
Back to my first upgrade, it was not an iron, but a topper for my ironing board which gave me a rectangular area 24x48. This is a really nice upgrade, it’s a DIY project, although at the time, Sue Hodgins' spouse was making these and I purchased mine. It’s a sturdy piece, built to nestle over an ironing board, the top is covered with batting and muslin. A primo ironing surface! I love this piece. It did however, break my ironing board’s back and legs! It is heavy and after years of use, the ironing board beneath it was creaking and groaning! The legs started to give out, so it was time to put the board out to pasture!
First though, let’s really do it in, by adding a heavy duty iron and more weight! My second and both the most and least expensive upgrade was to purchase a nice quilting iron. It was my most expensive because of the initial outlay of cash, it is my least expensive because I still have it after 3-4 years. Shhh let’s not jinx it! One thing I learned with this purchase is that if you have well water, it’s better to use distilled water in your iron. Ok, done! I keep a bottle of distilled water under the sink. A jug of water is less than $2 and lasts months and months. That’s cheap insurance. The iron is heavy, but glides smoothly and maintains good heat. It was well worth the money!
My latest upgrade was to retire that old ironing board and move to an ironing station! Once again, I thought I would buy something instead of creating another project .... this was a mistake. I looked up “ironing station” and mail ordered one from an online furniture store. So here are a few hints I was going down the wrong path ... it comes in just one box, it’s on sale for really cheap, I can carry that box myself .. down the stairs with no issues. Opened the box, took out the really really wobbly piece and thought it might not take the weight of an iron, let alone fabric and an iron ... back into the box, back to the retailer... too bad, it was conceptually a cute piece that had baskets under it for storage. Oh well, I will keep looking, something will turn up ... sometimes, you find things when you are not looking! While looking for something unrelated at Canadian Tire, this kitchen island cabinet was sitting there calling my name. Oh oh oh ... look look look ... it’s so pretty! And it too is on sale! Woo Hoo! SOLD!
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We adapted my ironing board topper to fit the top of this cabinet. I changed the batting and topper fabric to ironing themed fabric as it needed a refresh from years of use! The cabinet is on casters if I need to move it, it has storage drawers and doors. It holds my ironing supplies and the watering container for the iron and so much more! The drawers are great for my appliqué pressing mats, ziplock bags, lint brush and refills, and binding holder spool (another guild member’s spouse was making these). Talent must attract talent, our spouses are just as handy as we are! The cabinets below open wide, making it useful for various stabilizers, specialty batting, freezer paper, bottles of pressing fluids etc ... I think my long forgotten Scan-and-Cut is tucked under there too!
Storage and multi-functional pieces are great to have, no matter how big or small your sewing area is, space is always at a premium it seems. If I have left you scratching your head as to why I have certain items in my sewing area, don’t hesitate to ask. A number of items, tips and tricks are from guild meetings over the years.
Happy Quilting!
Storage and multi-functional pieces are great to have, no matter how big or small your sewing area is, space is always at a premium it seems. If I have left you scratching your head as to why I have certain items in my sewing area, don’t hesitate to ask. A number of items, tips and tricks are from guild meetings over the years.
Happy Quilting!
-- Brigid Whitnall, Past-Past President
Sashiko in Practice
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I came across this very practical application of the Sashiko techniques that we learnt about at our September guild meeting, in of all places, the New York Times! Lots of detail and photos. How to Sew Patches in a Traditional Japanese Stitch -- Janet Brownlee An invitation...
Do you have a story or a tip you'd like to share with us? Just send it along and I'll be delighted to include it in a future newsletter. And a VERY BIG THANK YOU to Gwen and Brigid for sharing their stories with us this month, and to Frank, Vickie, and Nancy for their guild updates. -- Janet Brownlee, Communications & Newsletter Editor ~~~~~ Merry Christmas! ~~~~~ |
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