June meeting

We were all very excited about the June meeting, as many of us had already seen the tentmakers of Cairo at the Festival of Quilts at the NEC last year, and were keen to hear more.  Barbara Chainey did not disappoint as she was extremely knowledgeable, enthusiastic and amusing - all attributes of the perfect speaker! 

 Here she is with one of her favourite blue 'quilts'.  (As she explained, the tentmakers don't actually make quilts, as they are not wadded, but look very much like quilts to the untrained eye!)   

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed her talk, and the wonderful eye candy, and as you can see, there was much interest in examining the work during the break.  The designs and colour choices were very interesting.

Since the meeting was in the queen's jubilee month, we had bubbly and cake to celebrate.  Thanks to Di for organising that so well.

Just a reminder that the group is now selling wadding.  The Hobbs 80/20 (80% cotton and 20% poly, the best of both worlds and my personal favourite) is 90" wide and sells for £6 a yard, and the polyester wadding (a very nice quality for children's quilts) is 120" wide and £5 a yard.  If you can leave a comment on the blog or let Ruth or I know, we can cut it ready for you.  Otherwise, it's no problem to cut it on the night.  Gaynor and Di were on the ball last week!

June was in the jubilee spirit with the raffle prizes.  They looked so attractive, and her track record suggests that they will all be things quilters would be pleased to win - no cheese knives or football calendars here!

I was first with the show and tell, and showed my latest Flutterwheels scrap challenge of Granny Squares.  Those of us old enough will remember crocheted granny squares from the 60s, and this is the quilted example.   It wa sgreat fun to make, and I love the result.

Alison had also been using scraps to make a Bonnie Hunter Scrappy Bargello quilt.  She has controlled her design to make it extra gorgeous.    

Rebecca had made and quilted this fabulous block but was unsure what to do with it.  She didn't want to make any more and was looking for (constructive) suggestions.  I think it would make a great centre for a medallion quilt.  Add a few borders and it would be stunning.  If all else fails she could donate it to Project Linus.  Hint, hint.

Here is anothe WIP of Rebecca's.  This Lone Star is beautiful, but she has made it all from flannels, and is looking for a source of more bright flannels.  If you can help her, leave a comment.  She can only find pastels.

Here is Ruth's Jacob's Ladder quilt.  This is the pattern for the beginners' workshop in the autumn.  It's made of four patches and half square triangles, so is pretty straightforward to make.  there are still places on the workshop if anyone is interested.

And the final show and tell is a Project Linus donation from Jan.  She had bought a quantity of ice cream fabric, and this is the last of it in a rail fence design.  Looks great to me. 

We were lucky enough to secure Barbara for a workshop, so look out for photos of that to follow.