November meeting

The November meeting functions as our Christmas party, as we don't meet in December, and this year's party was very successful. We decided to have a Faith Supper - where everyone brings something to eat, and you have to have faith that not everyone's contribution will be sausage rolls! As you can see, there was a fabulous variety of foods, and lots of choice for everyone. There was a free raffle with lots of beautifully wrapped parcels, and the Christmas theme was continued by Gill, who demonstrated how to make some lovely Christmas decorations. Lots of people made them on the day, and others took the pattern home to make at their leisure. The show and tell was varied. Beth showed this brightly coloured quilt made from strips. Gill had made this ball for a new baby. Di had been on a Mary Mayne workshop and made this winter scene inside a churn dash block. Ruth had also been on a workshop about making coiled fabric bowls. She had really enjoyed it, and made some lovely items.Do you remember the Half Square Challenge we had earlier this year? The resultant HSTs have been used to make Linus quilts, of which this is one. The blocks are Dutchman's Puzzle, and Di put it together and quilted it beautifully. This is a clever arrangement for just 5 blocks. Another way of making a small piece of fabric go further is to frame the blocks. Ruth has made a piece of fabric with cars on it into this wonderful quilt. How clever is that!

Here is another example of clever framing of motifs Only six little blocks plus frames have made a cute little quilt.

Gaynor had been to New Zealand and brought back lots of novelty fabrics with fauna and flora on them. She designed this way of displaying them all, while bringing them together at the same time. The background fabric is perfect for the job! Sometimes a fabric combination calls to you, but when you've made the quilt, you wonder what you're going to do with it? Well, this was true for Chris's quilt. It's stunning, but not a very useful size. It would be perfect for Linus, but the colours aren't very child-friendly. Chris quilted traffic images on the back, and hey presto! it's perfect for Linus. In fact it's already gone to a child in one of the Leicestershire refuges. I'm sure it will be treasured. Another quilt to treasure is this Twisted Log Cabin. What fabulous colours!

Doreen had started this quilt some time ago, but never finished it. Liz kindly offered to finish it for her, and here it is! The quilting is superb, as you can just see in the borders.

Blocks on point always look good, and these cute flower and birdhouse blocks are no exception. The scrappy blocks inbetween look like windmills, don't they. These aren't items from the buffet, but little embroidered truffles made by Gaynor. They're so realistic that one of her grandaughters tried to eat one!
And finally, the Birds Raffle Quilt. It was won by Betty, who, as a talented quilter, really didn't feel she could appreciate it as it deserved. She had heard Nik's Nan saying how gorgeous it was, and generously decided to offer it to her instead. As you can see, Nan is delighted to have the quilt on her bed. A great outcome for all!