Christmas is on the horizon!

In November we always have our Christmas meeting.  It usually involves a little sewing project and a try and taste buffet.  How suitable!

I forgot to take a photo of the buffet, but it was perfect.  Lots of different savoury and sweet delights, and very tempting!  

The sewing project was organised by Pam, and was a lovely surprise! 

We had to bring green and red 6" squares, and nobody knew what they were for. 

Everyone was up for this project, and had a good time. 

It was a gorgeous pointsettia brooch (you can see mine on the left of the picture) which will be very appropriate for the forthcoming celebrations.  Pam was very generous and provided all the yellow fabric for the centres - already cut into circles! - so thanks to her for that.  

June had done a great job with the raffle, and even had an extra mystery prize!  I didn't win anything, so don't know what any of them were, but everyone seemed very happy. 

Show and tell was quite busy.  It started with this gorgeous Scottie dog quilt.  The alternate squares are very intricate. 

A birthday gift for a brother who likes pirates, even at a mature age!  I'm sure he'll love it. 

Ruth has been making Linus quilts, all from the same pattern.  It's nine patch with a patterned square. Nice and bright. 

The same design with a plain square. 

The green fabric has footballs on it.  Super. 

Here is s two colour version of the same design. 

Here is another space quilt, looking good. 

This quilt started from a grandchild's request, and a grandparent's response of, 'tell me which one you'd like'.  It caused a lot of head scratching, but was well worth all the effort.  Fabulous. 

Here is Sian's 'Grand Illusion' quilt, made from a Bonnie Hunter mystery.  If you would like to use some of your scraps, a new mystery is starting over on www.quiltville.com on 23rd November and is based on a lavender field in Provence, and uses purples, lilacs, mauve, yellow, grass green and neutrals.  Have a look, but if you fancy it, only make half the blocks Bonnie suggests, as her quilts are huge! 

Here is a tree skirt made by Gaynor.  It's not quite finished, as she's waiting for instructions on how big to make the central hole. Apparently a previous one was too small, so was attacked with scissors - she'd like to avoid that happening again if possible. 

A finish for Gaynor of double Irish chain started at a retreat.  A good scrap buster. 

A beautiful Christmas table runner.  Red work looks even better in blue! 

Here is a Linus quilt ready to bring joy to a child. 

Here is Olive's quilt which won a 'Highly Commended' at the FOQ this year.  Quite right too. 

Ann knows someone who is expecting twins, so she is making these quilts for the new arrivals.  The twins are non-identical, but beyond that, nothing is known, so Ann wanted the quilts to be gender neutral.  

The Australian quilter Sarah Fielke has been running a Block of the Month this year, and the central portions are now completed.  This is Ann's. 

This is Maria's. 

This is Janet's. 

And although I didn't bring it to show and tell, for your interest, this is mine.  All looking so good, and all so different!  This design is still available to buy, or you can wait until next year when it will be published as a book.  Sarah is doing another BOM next year so check out her website if you think you might be interested. 

I would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, and I'll look forward to seeing you all again in February.  

A hectic meeting!

October sees our AGM, but while AGMs usually mean a thin crowd, that doesn't happen at Piecemakers!  We keep the formal part of the meeting short, a celebration of the last year, looking forward to next year and, most importantly, a chance for members to air any issues they want to.  This year, the only issues were how much people had enjoyed the meetings, and how welcoming and friendly everyone is!  

The meeting was hectic because we had all the Brown Bag quilts unveiled, a sales table and an opportunity to cut out Accuquilt shapes, facilitated by the talented June Farmer. 

There was a lot of interest in using the Accuquilt, especially with the lovely examples June had brought along. 

The sales table was popular too - we all love a bargain! 

The display of Brown Bag tops was stunning.  I wish I had taken pictures of them individually, but I'll be able to do that once they're all finished!  

The one on the left is Maria's (I know, because I worked on it) and I think the other one is Julie's. 

It's hard to believe that they resulted from the same instructions! 

The one on the left is mine.  Great final border! 

A very large one.  There were no size instructions, so the tops have ended up at different sizes. 

A beautiful autumnal quilt.  The rounds complement the centre perfectly. 

Not a very good view of these two, but the best I could do. 

Two tops with circles as centres. 

Another large one.  You can't beat blue and yellow. 

This photo doesn't do the top justice.  Sorry.

This one looks almost Aboriginal to me.  

Love the cheeky bear appliqué. 

Debbie's Mariners Compass is a great centre.

And then we had show and tell.  A baby quilt made by Ruth.  

This is Ann's Christmas candle wreath.  Very clever. 

Maria used the bonus triangles from her snowballs as a border.  How clever is that!  

Gaynor made this at a workshop.  She's more of a hand quilter than a machine quilter, but this proves that she can do both beautifully. 

This is a Bonnie Hunter design using up 2" scraps made by me.  Very colourful. 

I'm trying to finish projects, and here is another scrap quilt.  I love log cabin. 

Work in progress from me.  Scrappy snail's trail, with at least two mistakes.  Oh well, it'll still have the same snuggle value. 

This is Di's sew a row quilt from 2008!  A finish is always a result.  Well done! 

I'm not the only one to bring a work in progress.  The green fabric has footballs on it, and Ruth has used it perfectly with the solid 9- patches.  Can't wait to see it finished. 

Pam made these great free form blocks and then used this bright yellow to complement the purple.  Snazzy. 

She also found a great use for this floral panel.  She used black bias strips to make a window to frame it.  Lovely. 

What a great meeting!  The next one will be our Christmas one.  You will need a sewing kit, as Pam will have a little project for us, plus a small plate of finger food, a mug and glass.  See you there! 

September meeting

I think everyone was glad to be 'back to normal' as the hall was full last night, and we had a few visitors too.  They had a lovely evening, as there were goodies to buy, techniques to learn and inspiration and laughter given by our speaker, Sue Kershaw. 

Here she is, looking a bit self conscious. She certainly wasn't self conscious while speaking as both her words and quilts were excellent.  Everyone enjoyed the evening very much. 

And here she is demonstrating her easy, no hand sew piped binding technique.  It looked very nifty, and what's more, she was selling piped fabric by the metre so you didn't even have to make your own! 

She and her husband brought lots of goodies for us to buy.  There seemed to be quite a bit of interest in them! 

The raffle was suitably Autumn themed, with richly coloured fabrics, fallen leaves and a little broom to sweep them up or take a flight on, as you wish. 

The show and tell was very good.  Some people have been sewing rather than lazing in the garden! 

This is a Linus quilt made by me using up some hexies I made from an article by Micky Dupree.  I was never going to make a whole quilt of them and was delighted to use them up! 

This beauty should be seen in close up.  The circles are all hand sewn seeded shapes.  Gorgeous! 

This space themed quilt looks fabulous.  I love the alternate purple and lilac squares. 

This is a simple rail fence made by Julie and finished for Linus by Paula.  Very effective. 

Another Linus made by Paula from scraps.  Very colourful. 

Here are some fiddle cushions on their way to the Sutton in the Elms Care Home. 

Denise had been on a workshop and produced these little pieces, 

And this beautiful larger quilt.  It was completely pieced, nut bonded at all!  I love the foreground and the rich colours. 

A very large quilt, in lovely fabrics. 

Gill made this quilt while she was off her feet for a while.  It's beautiful. 

This is Asians Grand Illusion, a design by Bonnie Hunter.  She knew it was going to be big, but not quite that big! 

This is another quilt which needs closer study.  The elephants are beaded and sequinned, and the colours of the quilt all tie together.  Stunning. 

And here is a picture of a quilt which didn't actually make it to show and tell.  It was made by member Olive Millichip, entered into the FOQ and won a Highly Commended ribbon!  Well done Olive, and we look forward to admiring it in the flesh soon.