Tuesday 27 February 2024

Guild Day Tuesday, February 20, 2024

As usual, we had a productive day. Twelve members came out to help with our latest projects. Completed quilts were turned in, comfort blocks were handed in and plans are under way for our raffle quilts for the fall and the Christmas craft sales. Lynn shared with us the fabrics she purchased to fulfill part of our wish list as well as fabrics for our raffle quilts for which she also had the patterns.


Nadine quilted “It Takes a Village” which we are donating to the pool fundraising committee. She also provided the batting and backing. The pantograph she used sets off the little houses beautifully!



Patty was busy piecing a backing for a baby quilt. Thanks to all the flannel donations we received, we will have a good number of baby quilts in November.


                                        Moira, Iris and Evelyn were busy stitching bindings.


                                      Lynn and Beverly were busy cutting for more projects.


         Evelyn, Judy and Audrey are stretching and clamping a quilt in preparation for pin basting.
                                         A total of four quilts were pin basted today.


                    Lynn prepared the kits for these blocks which will be used for our fall quilt raffle. 


This is the quilt the three members pin basted. When completed the quilt will be donated to the emergency response teams in our communities. We hope to complete twelve quilts, six of which will be donated this year and the other six will be held to replace any that have been given out by the teams. A big thank you to Audrey who is spearheading this effort and putting together the tops.


                                        Beverly completed this three yard comfort quilt.


                                Iris put together this rag quilt from the flannel stash we were gifted.


        This rag quilt was put together by Lynn. These baby quilts were kitted up at our last guild day.


     Another completed baby quilt. Unfortunately none of us could remember who stitched this one!


We had a fairly small Show and Tell this month. Heather started it with her tragedy. She stitched this lovely quilt for a friend who is fighting cancer. The pattern is called Nomad. When she completed it, she washed it before gifting it. When she was taking it from the dryer, she heard popping sounds. Upon investigation she realized that her threads were breaking. She made some sample patches and quilted them with different thread brands and pulled them this way and that, no popping. Then she examined her quilt more closely. Many of her blocks are bias cuts and all her quilting is also on the bias. The stretching of all these bias lines is making stitches pop with each tug! She demonstrated! Scary! Now she has to decide how she can stabilize the work. A lot of work and expense, truly a tragedy!


Heather’s second piece was the lovely Trailing Star. She had some difficulty with the background pieces but got it solved when she realized the pieces had been cut wrong. The fabrics are beautiful!


Heather’s final piece was a body pillow she made using the Berry Bushel block that was demonstrated by Myrna.


The final Show and Tell was a quilt I put together from a fat quarter bundle gifted to me by my son and daughter-in-law. The pattern is called Three Step and was purchased from Annie’s. The narrow strips are navy and set the colours off nicely. The binding was supposed to be navy but I was short on fabric so used 5” pieces of block fabric to make a flange. Because the flange is fairly wide , I top stitched it down. All in all I was quite pleased with the end result!

Our next UFO/beginner’s class is Saturday, March 2nd. Don’t forget our Spring Retreat, May 3rd and 4th. Tammy will be catering the supper.

Gladys




Monday 29 January 2024

Guild Day, January 16, 2024

 It’s hard to believe another year has passed and we must now write 2024! I remember clearly the world wide panic about Y2K and all the terrible things that could happen at the turn of the century. Truly, a lot of terrible things are happening but none of it has anything to do with Y2K!

We had a good turnout for guild even though a good number of our members have departed for warmer climates. After a day like today, I’m quite happy to be here in Creighton/Flin Flon!

We were able to complete six quilts today that were in various stages, some needing quilting, others binding and so forth. Three quilts were unpinned and then repinned  using the new clamping system that makes them so much smoother to quilt. It made for some extra work but is well worth the effort.

Most of the afternoon was spent sorting through flannels and cutting pieces for more baby quilts. A big thank you to those who destashed and donated to this effort.

Lorna and Audrey worked on some Thimbleberry blocks to go with the blocks we had. There should be enough blocks for another comfort quilt.

    

 Judy and June are cutting and preparing flannel to make up kits for members to take home.


                                Susan is sorting flannel squares into colour/pattern piles for kits.


             Sandra is quilting the last of the batik quilts. This was one of the quilts that was repinned.


A baby quilt of flannel was stitched and quilted by Sandra and had the binding hand stitched by Moira and Iris.


This three yard quilt had been pin basted for quilting and was taken home by myself for quilting. I attached the binding totally by machine. This is done by sewing it to the back of the quilt then folding the binding to the front and top stitching it. We have been using this method more frequently as it is quicker and less labour intensive.


This is the quilt Sandra was working on. She was able to finish the quilting and do the binding before end of day. 


Sandra completed this three yard quilt at home since the last guild day. She used variegated thread and a decorative stitch on her machine. For the binding she added a flange for extra interest. Very attractive!


I must confess I do not remember the details of who completed this three yard quilt. This is a beautiful pattern. The three yard quilts are easy and quick to sew. They are not overly large so are much easier to quilt.


This is not a three yard quilt! Marg gave us a lesson in cathedral windows and this was the result. Sandra did the quilting and binding on this one as well. She has been a busy lady!


Lynn was the lone member who had a show and tell to share with us. These beautiful cushions were meant to be Christmas gifts but time ran out so now she has a head start on next year!

Our next UFO/Beginner class day is February 3rd. The dates for our Spring Retreat are May 3rd and 4th, 2024. We will be having a catered supper and hope to have a vendor in attendance. Mark your calendars!

Gladys



Sunday 24 December 2023

Guild Day/Christmas Party December 19, 2023

 This guild day was an exciting day. Everyone had their challenge pieces handed in, ready to be voted upon, cookies or dainties were accumulating in the kitchen for the evening’s consumption and people were constantly coming and going so I have no idea how many members actually attended. 

We did accomplish a number of things. Three quilts were pin basted ready for quilting. Sandra D. brought a set of clamps and demonstrated how to use them for stretching the quilt backings so they would be very tight and make it easier to pin. Because the quilt sandwich is pinned more tightly the quilting will be more efficient with the result being a smoother backing. Every quild day we learn a new technique that will make us better quilters.


Sandra D. stitched this 3 yard quilt top and quilted and bound it ready to put on the donation list.


                      This baby quilt and the one following were also quilted and bound by Sandra D.








                                         I did the quilting and binding on this baby quilt.


                     Sandra S. completed the free motion quilting for this one and applied the binding.


          This heart quilt had been quilted by Sandra S. previously and today had the binding completed.

After lunch the silent auction items were set up ready for perusal. Thank you to the members for their donations which make the silent auction possible. There was also a fabric bundle for which we could purchase tickets for two dollars each.


                                             So many articles! Which one to chose for a bid?

A catered supper was served at 5:30 and was enjoyed by the members. Tammy W. again presented a lovely meal. Thank you Tammy.


After our meal, members and guests enjoyed Christmas punch and dainties while visiting and also checking the auction items. One has to watch the bidding very closely if there is an item you want to win!

At 7:00 pm we held a short meeting with Show and Tell and the year end report on our comfort quilts. This year we had a total of 64 quilts. This number included the raffle quilts and those donated to various organizations and individuals.

At the Community Choir Christmas concert, members provided some of their own quilts and hangings for public display. We take every opportunity that arises to make our community aware of what we do at guild. 

For Show and Tell we were given the option of showing newly completed work or bringing in some of our earlier favourite work to share.


Judy had a 3 yard quilt to share with us. She had purchased the fabric from the vendor at our fall retreat.


                              Judy also shared with us this hockey quilt she made for her grandson.


This is Sandra’s “Underground Railway” quilt. During the days of slavery in the US it was said that people used quilts as signposts. The blocks would represent directions of travel or indicate if there was safe haven available for example. Truth or fiction? I don’t know if anyone knows for sure.


                                   This quilt has machine embroidered scenes of the Nativity.


Sandra made a new Christmas quilt for herself. She used all her bits and pieces of leftover fabric and quilted it herself. Beautiful, Sandra!


And, of course, she had to stitch a bag. She used charm squares and it’s a good size to carry her quilts for Show and Tell!


Rae’s project was a quilt sewn from Tilda fabric, the Hibernation line. She used the Home Quarter pattern from Highway 10 and purchased the fabric from the vendor at our fall retreat. She says the Tilda fabric is a beautiful fabric to work with. These fabrics have a very retro look. Lovely, Rae!


Patty used her skills to make these little holders for gift cards or money for her gifts. She found the pattern in one of our library magazines. Cute!


Iris made this lovely dinosaur quilt for her new great grandson. She had Nadine do the quilting for her. He is going to love that quilt!


Susan was lucky enough to find this whimsical little wall hanging at a garage sale! Great find,Susan!


Sandra lets nothing go to waste. She created this placemat from bits and pieces leftover from other projects. Her motto is, No scrap too small!


Audrey made this wall hanging some years ago. It is an old favourite of hers and reminds her of the Neufeld side of the family.


This table centre was made from all the leftovers of placemats, table runners, tree skirts, etc. that she had made for various family members and had made nothing for herself. Fortunately there were enough pieces left for this!


Myrna constructed this weekender bag to use when she travelled south for the winter. It’s big enough to hold whatever she needs till she gets to her destination.


                        Lynn shared her first and only Christmas quilt. She sewed this one about 2008.



My Show and Tell was not physically present as it had already been mailed out in the Christmas parcel. These hangings are a gift for my daughter-in-law with the idea of making a set for each season. We’ll see how that plan works out! The hanger was made by my husband. Thank you, Glen!

I’ve saved the challenge pieces for last. They were hung so that members could study them through out the day. Names were not included so we didn’t know whose work we were looking at, then in the evening each person claimed their piece and gave some background on their inspiration, etc.


#1 belonged to Heather. She challenged herself by doing appliqué which was new for her as well as using small Dresden pieces to construct her tree. She is using the piece as a cushion cover.


             #2 belonged to Sandra D. The truck is bringing home the tree as well as a tiny hitchhiker!


                    #3 belonged to Iris. Her circle of snowmen was all appliqué with embellishments.


#4 was mine. The centre was a counted cross stitch piece which I enlarged with borders and appliqué to continue the design.



#5 belonged to Lynn. She appliquéd the ornaments, used extra batting to make them stand out and added free motion embroidery to embellish them as well as adding the tree boughs.


#6 was Patty B’s. She took her inspiration from a Christmas card she had received. She recreated the card, added some embellishments and the greeting. The whimsy of the card was what attracted her.


#7 belonged to Judy. She had completed the top and when putting on the backing decided to dress it up a bit with the red star. She decided she preferred the back to the front so echo quilted around the star and decided that was her front!


#8 belonged to Sandra S. The pattern was from Missouri Star quilting and the fabric was a gift. She made a few changes to the gift box sizes and the ribbons so they would fit the parameters of our challenge.


#9 belonged to Myrna. It was her second attempt as she was not at all pleased with her first choice of subject. She appliquéd the gnome and tree and added some embellishments. The little star on the tree top is double sided and swings freely.

Throughout the afternoon and evening the membership cast their votes for what they considered the best. I was honoured to have my piece chosen by the members. Thank you all for your votes. My prize was a mini stripology ruler. I’m sure I’ll be using it often!

The last event of the evening was a Right, Left, Centre game using three 2 1/2 inch strips each. We had two large tables of players. Sandra S. was the winner at one of the tables, Cindy at the other. Cindy was also the winner of the fabric bundle from our raffle. Congratulations, ladies!

This concluded the evening and also our year. We will meet again on January 6, 2024 for our first UFO day of the New Year.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and may the New Year bring you good health and happiness.
Gladys