January meeting

The weather here in South Leicestershire has been awful, and with the temperature gauge at -3C I wasn't sure how many people would brave the icy roads, not to mention the icy car park, but we quilters are made of stern stuff, and the hall was full!  We even had several new members, which is always lovely!  Sarah Showers had brought the Quilters Guild Contemporary Quilt Collection, in a suitcase!  The A3 quilts were on the theme of 'Childhood' and were fascinating.

As you can see, all the quilts were completely different, some pictorial and others very abstract.

Some people had lovely memories, of holidays, deckchairs, books, tv programmes, but others had a tough time, notably the girl who was sent to boarding school at five and three quarters and had a miserable time.  

Everyone enjoyed being able to inspect the quilts at such close quarters and discuss them.  With white gloves being provided we could also turn them over and stroke them, which isn't usually possible!

Sarah also made a plea for people to come to a workshop to make some book covers or book wraps for the Quilter's Guild Tombola at the Festival of Quilts in August.  The covers can be made from any technique and are really easy and fun to make.  The workshop will be on 9th March at the Walcote hall, so please come along if you can.  The money raised will go towards the Quilt Museum in York, a very worthy cause.

Lots of people had brought the last two blocks from the Mystery Quilt, and the next set of instructions for 'The Big House' was eagerly collected.  

Muriel and Liz had a Jelly Roll Race.  They did the method where you join the strips into a long string, take the two ends and join the halves together, then take the two ends again and join the two sets of two strips etc, until you have a rectangle.  (It's easier to see than explain!)  Liz had concertinaed her strips, while Muriel had rolled hers which tangled up and slowed her down, despite the services of Nik and Gill.

So the winner was Liz, who made the top in one hour!  Way to go, Liz!

June had some special raffle prizes (as usual) in a box decorated with crystal beads.  Very suitable for such a frosty night.

I started off show and tell with my Flutterwheels challenge quilt which has been two years in the making.  It's an homage to the Sundial Quilt in the V&A, and made in reproduction fabrics.  I love it.

I have been making another mystery quilt posted by Bonnie Hunter.  It's called Easy Street, and if you want to make it, the instructions are on her blog for free!  Click here here  and then click on 'Easy Street' on the top bar if you fancy it.  I have made half the blocks she suggests, as her quilts are always very big.

Nik went for the full size, and her greens are much gentler than mine.  A stunning quilt.  She'll be able to quilt it on her long arm - can't wait to see it finished!

I wasn't the last to finish my Flutterwheels quilt, as Bunty has recently finished hers.  (Stephanie is the last apparently!)  The earthy colours look gorgeous.

Bunty has also finished this quilt which has been waiting for a while to be quilted.  It's beautiful, but I hate her because she says she has no more UFOs!  What kind of quilter has no UFOs?  A very organised, talented and clever one!

Ruth saw this cute design in a magazine, and fell for it.  She hasn't got a child in mind as a recipient, but I'm sure there will be one coming along soon to enjoy it!

Paula found these Mile a Minute blocks in the Linus box and has bordered and made them up.  The wide border really sets the blocks off, and the yellow binding is a masterstroke.

This is Ruth's jelly roll quilt.  It was a Christmas theme, and looks very warming.

This lovely quilt is bound for a charity (I've forgotten which one! Sorry!)  Liz quilted it beautifully with feathers. Dorothy is so proud of it, she's still stroking it!

Di brought this quilt she made for her brother in law to prove that she can make big quilts.  She came under some flak for taking the quilt over the coldest weather of the year!  I hope they don't freeze to death without it!

And here is something gorgeous which Di has made.  It's a kit she bought from Brenda Walker, and has some cute sheep on it.  She says it was a joy to make, and such a useful size.

The meeting finished in good time, and nobody got stuck and needed a push.  Phew!

Mystery quilt

Here is a message from Andrea, Bunty and Ruth:

"Hi All,

We hope you had a good Christmas and New Year and are now raring to get back to your sewing!  We hope you have enjoyed making up your Letter Home and Hearts blocks but please, if you have any problems, do ring either of us so we can try and help.  We have some interesting techniques coming up in the next few months and hope you will enjoy them.   Please bring along any completed blocks to the meeting on 16th for a show and tell with everyone"

 

Trip to Duxford

Ruth has alerted me to the fact that an outing has been arranged to go to the Quilt Show at Duxford in March for members of various groups.

The outing is arranged for Sunday 10th March.
There will be pick ups in Lutterworth George Street at 9 o'clock, North Kilworth's White Lion at 9.10, Market Harborough bus station at 9.30 and Desborough at 9.45.
The cost will be adults £6/seniors £5 plus £12 for coach & driver's tip.
The coach will be leaving Duxford at 4.30.
Men are invited to join us.  Contact Ruth if you would like to book a place. 

Round Robin

Poor Di has started the new year off with a broken computer so I have been asked to put the information which would have been in the Round Robin onto the blog.
Wadding

Until the January meeting Lynda Hill has the polyester& Ruth Wallett the 80/20 wadding. Please contact them if you want some brought ready cut.  From then on Jill Doyle will hold both waddings so ring her on Tel: 01788 338014. It is much easier than cutting lengths cut at the meetings.  The prices are £6 a yard for 90” wide 80/20 & £5.50 for 120” polyester.

Mystery Quilt

We hope you have enjoyed making your two blocks over the last two months & hope you will bring them along for show & tell.
Workshop
The first workshop of 2013 is on Thursday 21^st February. Award winning quilt maker Alison Bramley will show us her method of working with silk fabric to make a Celtic letter. She will bring a pattern for your chosen letter & also has silks to purchase at cost price. If you’ve tried & given up on working with silk then do come along. The booking form will be at the January meeting.
Our first meeting of 2013 will be on Wednesday 16^th January.
We have hired the collection of almost 50 small quilts for you to look at. They were made by members of the Contemporary Quilt Group on the theme of “Childhood Memories”.
Sarah Showers is a member of the group & will be telling us a little more about them.
Muriel Goldschmidt is also bringing examples, books & ideas of the sort of projects that can be made using the very popular jelly rolls. If you have already bought a jelly roll but not used it here is a chance to see some examples & maybe encourage you to buy one or use the one lurking in your stash.
Subscriptions
Subscriptions of £20 are due in January but can be paid over two months if that suits you better. Please put the cash or cheque (payable to Piecemaker Quilters) in an envelope with your name, address, telephone number & e-mail address if you have one on the outside & drop it into the box on her table.  This information is only used for the committee to keep in touch with members & will not be shared with anyone else.
The 2013 programme will be ready to collect at the February meeting.

Christmas party

I was so intent on remembering my contribution to the tasting buffet, my buttons, show and tell, blocks for Liz etc. that I completely forgot my camera.  So sorry, no photos this time.  The party was lovely.  We started with 'Quilt Bingo', where everyone got a 25-patch of different fabrics, and used their buttons as markers.  I called out fabric types ('cream on cream', pink solid', brown geometric') and the first person to a row or a diagonal won a lovely prize of fabric! 
Then came the food and drink.  A super array of lovely food was provided.  And there was plenty of time for chat and mingling, which was a nice change.
Show and tell was good - as usual - and then most people went home.
I was in charge of locking up and had the opportunity to do something I haven't done in a long time!  Poor Ginny had parked on the grass at the side of the car park and was stuck in the mud.  Di and Gill got a cardboard box to put under the wheels to help with purchase, and they, Paula and I got behand the car and pushed!  I had really thought my days of pushing cars was over, but obviously not!  The good news is that we still had the knack, and Ginny edged steadily onto the tarmac and away! 
It just remains for the committee to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a very Happy and Quilty New Year.  See you in January!

October meeting - AGM

Unfortunately I had to miss the AGM, as we were on holiday (in sunny climes - lovely!).  However, I understand I missed a really good evening - just my luck!   To start with, the AGM part was carried out beautifully : everyone had the opportunity to find out whatever they needed to know about the running of the group and a chance to raise any issues they had, and it was all completed in under half an hour!  Perfect!  Then there was a choice of four different workshops.  This was Rebecca's, a strippy technique which looks as if it was right up my street!

 

 

Di showed how to make these fabulous fabric chocolates!  They look delicious.

 

This tabel were all making japanese folded patchwork.  This is a method of making an individual block  which is already wadded and quilted, and ready to join into an instant quilt.  Marvellous.

 

These students look completely absorbed in their task.  I don't know what they're doing, but it looks fascinating!

 

June spends a lot of time making sure that the raffle is a bit of fun, and with Hallowe'en just round the corner, she went to town with a scarey theme!  It's always a treat to see what she comes up with.

 

I also missed an opportunity to add to my stash.  Sian brought lots of gorgeous fabrics, which proved very popular - and why wouldn't they?

there has been a lot of excitement about our new mystery quilt, House and Home, designed by Andrea, and lots of people have already completed the first block.  How different they all look.

 

And, no, Bunty isn't playing the piano, but giving out the next set of instructions for a window block.

 

Show and tell was started with a bang by Gwyneth.  These heart blocks were all made by a local group and donated to be made up in aid of breast cancer charities.  Gwyneth joined them up and Liz kindly quilted it on her longarm.  It is absolutely stunning.  Well done to all who contributed.

 

These quilts look like Ricky Tims transformation quilts.  Beautiful.

 

Two quilts of the same design.  Don't they look different?

 

Muriel's magic tile.  Such lovely colours.

 

This quilt has a simple construction, but the pretty colours and lovely quilting make it look fabulous.

 

A lovely runner and place mat.  I'd like to have had a closer look at these.

 

Di is always very creative and this delightful bag is typical of her lovely work.

Jan has completed her 'tentmakers of cairo' applique.  Super colour choices.

 

And last, but certainly not least, here is Paula's handy workshop bag which is big enough to carry cutting mats, ruler and all the supplies we quilters need to take with us when on the move.

 

 

Thank you very much to Nik who took all the pictures and sent them to me.  Shame she didn't get people waving again, although everyone looks very happy!

September and vintage quilts

What a fabulous evening we had when Jane Cobbett came and brought not only her delightful son James, but also part of her wonderful collection of vintage quilts!  Here Jane and James are displaying a gorgeous Victorian crazy quilt.  It was beautifully embroidered. 

 

Some of the quilts were quite utilitarian, but still fascinating.

 Double wedding ring - always a favourite.

 

 Here is Sunbonnet Sue - love her or hate her! - either appliqued or in redwork.

And finally a Dresden Plate quilt in 1930s colours.  Charming.

There was a lot of excitement over the new Block of the Month quilt designed by Andrea.  Bunty was in charge of the organisation (and who better?) and gave out the instructions to people individually.  I'm waiting with anticipation to see some of the finished blocks next month!

 Now to show and tell.  The wet summer has certainly had an influence on people's output!  Paula was first with this lovely quilt which was made from Linus orphan blocks.  I bet the donors of these blocks are kicking themselves when they see how lovely they look now!

The Linus ladies have been rather taken with working with strings, and here is Paula's excellent use of blue strings.  Gorgeous.

Paula can work her magic with anything which comes her way!  Here's a pack of charm squares converted into a cute cot quilt for Project Linus. 

 
How can simple 9-patches look so good?  The white makes them look crisp yet gentle.

 And these 9-patches on point look completely different and quite jaunty!

 And lastly, here is Paula's version of the Rocheberie Mystery Quilt.  The colours are stunning, and although it is all straight seams, can you see the circles?  A super design!

 

Ruth had been busy too, and had hand quilted this lovely cushion.

 

 

She had organised a workshop with Yvonne Brown which included lots of burning and layering, based on medieval tiles, and had made up her samples into this fabulous quilt.  The colours are wonderful and very in keeping with the theme.

 

 

Ann and Doreen had both been to the same workshop, but had been more content to leave their samples as testament to a fabulous journey.  Fair play.

 

Sarah is a talented quilter who has won commendations for her quilts in national competitions.  This was a way of using up scraps - but with talent!  Amazing!

This is the quilt which was commended at Bletchley - and quite right too.

Gaynor had been to a summer school and made several lovely quilts.  This one was made from different sized strips, and was an interesting slant on Chinese Coins.  What fun.

Here's another use of strips called tenements (I think).  It looks really effective.

 
Here is a quilt which has been several years in the making.  Gaynor made all the teddy blocks a few years ago, and then they languished in the cupboard (we all have blocks like this!)  Then recently she realised that her granddaughter would be too old for teddies if she didn't get a move on, so the piano keys border was added and this is the result!  I'm sure the recipient will be thrilled!

Di was asked to make this Rennie Mackintosh rose for a friend.  I'm sure they'll be delighted.

She recommends buying backing fabric from IKEA (from the children's department) as it is 100% cotton, very reasonably priced and bright and cheerful!

This is the front of the quilt - simple, but very effective.

Another child's quilt from DI is this alphabet quilt.  She has bordered the letters with bright colours to make a vibrant and cheery educational aid come comforter!  Double purpose!

 More IKEA fabric on the back - gorgeous.

 

This super bag was made for a friend who loves sea horses.  This doesn't make any sense unless you could see the fabrics and embellishments, but believe me, it's gorgeous and completely appropriate. 

 

Rebecca had spent her time very profitably by working these lovely Sashiko fish on this top.

 

On the back were these lilies and dragonflies.  Rebecca particularly liked the dragonflies until she realised that their meaning in Japanese culture is 'dutiful daughter'!  None of us want to be lumbered with that!  (Although of course we'll do our level best!)

 

Next month's meeting will be the next block of the BOM, the AGM and mini-workshops.  You can't miss it!

 

Stop Press: is anyone going to the Quilter's Guild AGM in Nottingham, as Ruth would be interested in car-sharing.  Leave a comment if you are interested.