March meeting

March's meeting was lovely and relaxed. All there was on offer was a mug bag demo, the sales table and a display of the balloons which have been made for the group quilt (apart from show and tell, of course!) However the highlight of the evening was the presentation of a cheque for £200 to the Air Ambulance and a visit from the local press photographer, more of which later. A quiet meeting in comparison with some, but the chance to chat and catch up with the latest happenings -and gossip- were very welcome.

Carolyn showed how to make an attractive yet practical bag to carry your mug to meetings.

Paula was demonstrating too, so that everyone had a chance to see the method easily.

Sylvia manned the sales table, which appears to have been stripped by now, giving her time to joke with Nik.

Everyone taking part in the group quilt had returned their balloons - what a lovely variety there is. (The duck one is Stephanie's - what a clever idea!)

At the beginning of the meeting, we had all been given a slip of paper with the name of a season on it, and before show and tell, Di announced what it was all about. The committee had decided to give a small gift to all the members to say thankyou for all their support over the last year. Everyone was able to take a bundle of four fat quarters and some toning thread! What a lovely idea! And was I pleased that my 'Summer' bundle contained a piece of beautiful lime green fabric! Ruth had a summer bundle too, but chose one without lime green; why would she do that?! Thank you committee.

Show and tell had the usual variety of treats. Three people had completed their Jennie Rayment Sudoku quilts. All very quick workers!












Fran had been on a workshop which needed a Layer Cake as supplies and found this pile of co-ordinating squares made a very attractive quilt.This whimsical Hen House is a Mary Mayne design and make a perfect Easter (or spring) hanging.Paula is tireless in her work for Project Linus. She made two Mile A Minute quilts with cream sashing. They look fresh and clean in this arrangement.One of Nik's friends has had a baby in the ICU and was pictured lying on a quilt. Nik thought it must be a Linus quilt, but now the baby is safely home, the quilt stayed in the hospital. Obviously not a Linus quilt, as they belong to the child, not the institution. So the family didn't feel deprived, Nik made this jaunty sailing boats quilt, and called it 'Your not-Linus quilt'! Fabulous!

Group quilt evening

Bunty and Andrea were waiting with some trepidation to see how many people had managed to complete their blocks for the group quilt which will be displayed at the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in August. 25 people had taken kits (which would make a lovely 5x5 block quilt) so they were hoping for 25 blocks back - or at the least 24, no less! They need not have worried, all the blocks bar one returned (and that one is promised asap) and they were magnificent!

Every one was individual, with applique, beads, sequins, embroidery, embellishments, buttons and lots of other clever ideas too. It was easy to identify each season, even if you couldn't spot the labels, as eveyone had worked so hard at interpreting their theme. Now Bunty and Andrea have the difficult job of putting them together. They haven't exactly decided how to do this, and there will be a lot of playing, rearranging and auditioning of sashing fabrics to be done before they make a final decision.

They have decided to put them together using 'quilt as you go'. This is a great method for those not confident enough to machine quilt a whole quilt, as each section is quilted individually and then the blocks are joined together afterwards, making the whole process much simpler - especially if it's Bunty and Andrea who are doing it!

Andrea gave a demonstration for those who didn't know the technique, or those like me, who had forgotten how to do it!

There were two more demonstrations. Jill showed how to do trapunto, a method which stuffs extra wadding into certain areas, to give them an extra defined look. Why did it look so easy when she showed us how to do it?

Sharon showed easy crazy pieceing. She used a piece of fabric as a foundation, and sewed the scraps onto the backing. What a clever idea! It makes the whole block easy to handle, and ensures that it lies flat when completed. She brought some beautifully embellished examples for all to drool over.

A very popular feature of this meeting was the sales table (or tables). This photo shows one of the tables after the mass had descended! There were lots of goodies for all - fabric, books, patterns, kits, gadgets, bags, bowls, notebooks and for those who could really smell a bargain, I had brought a rummage box of bits and bobs, hoping to get donations for Project Linus.

Paula, Jill and I were so busy with the sales table that I completely forgot to take any photos of the show and tell (which was fantastic as usual and included all the beautiful boxes and stunning Tiny Treasures). When we came to count up the money, and then had taken off 10% for our charity, the Air Ambulance, we found that we didn't have enough money to pay everyone, never mind have anything over for the charity! Back to the drawing board, and much scratching of heads, as we recalculated all the sales labels. Hooray! We found a mistake. We owed Bunty another £1, which made the situation even worse! We were beginning to despair, and Paula even took her shoes and socks off to help with the mathematics, when we discovered a £20 note which had managed to hide itself under the chair. Phew, the relief was palpable! That meant that everyone got their money, and we made 17.60 for the charity. The Project Linus box made £10. 35, so everyone, buyers and sellers, went home happy!