Rosemary Makhan's Trunk Show

Here is a sampling of the quilts that were part of Rosemary's trunk show.  The talk was focused on 30's quilts - the history and how that is translating to our current quilting styles.  Rosemary is a good speaker and shares lots of fun tidbits about the time period.  You can reach her through her website.

We also had a SURPRISE visitor.  A week ago I found another Caledonia Quilt Guild on the internet - it turns out they are from Caledonia, New York.  I contacted them through their facebook page to see if they would be interested in a wee cross-border challenge between the Caledonia guilds.  The gal I corresponded with was enthusiastic and promised to get back to me after their next guild meeting.  Well - they sent an EMISSARY to our meeting.  This is Margaret - she traveled 2 1/2 hours to meet us, and she's quite a character!

She smuggled brought 30 bottles of Mary Ellen's Best Press across the border as gifts for each of our members, and sold a bunch of tickets on their raffle quilt.  She came with her mom and was pretty thrilled that they were lucky enough to see Rosemary's trunk show.  They stayed until almost 9 pm, then drove home another 2 1/2 hours.  I hope on her next visit she will call ahead so one of us can make up a guest room for her.

Coming up on June 12 is our annual year's end POT LUCK SUPPER.  Bring your best fare, and don't forget your dishes & cutlery.  We will be eating at 6:30 pm.

what happened in April

April's program was a demo/talk about landscape quilts, by Debra Allen from the Hagersville area.  She came with lots of books, lots of samples, and lots of ideas.

At the end of the evening, after we've had our fill of the wonderful treats brought in by the current month's volunteers, the kitchen cleanup gets taken care of by a couple more gals who have volunteered for the year.

Happy/sad.  We lost one of our guild members to cancer.  We made a quilt in her memory and gave it to the family - about 10 family members came to accept our presentation.  There were a few tears shed...

And more happy/sad.  One of my customers gave me a large stack of fabric that she was cleaning out of her stash.  Who does that???  Anyways - I made up kits and several gals took them home.  Here is the first of what will eventually be 11 quilts made for the Juravinsky hospital in Hamilton, to be given to chemo patients.

Coming up in May:
Wednesday May 8th our guest speaker will be Rosemary Makhan from Burlington.  Check out her web site by clicking HERE.

March 13th meeting

One of the best parts of the guild meeting is always Show & Share.
A few years ago we ran a swap of half-square triangle blocks.  Charlotte brought in the quilt she made from her collection.

Extras went on the back.  Nice.

Our Program tonight was hands-on hand work.  OMG, isn't that beautiful?

English Paper Piecing of Hexagons.  I was excused because my arm is still in a cast.

Here is a panel all whip-stitched together.

Next, Madeline showed us how to make these.  After stuffing with a piece of batting they are slip stitched closed and quilted.

Then you whip-stitch them together next time you're on a road trip.

What's coming up at the guild?

MARCH 27TH - Extra UFO sewing day.  No meeting, just sewing & socializing from 9 - 5.  Bring $5 for rent, your project(s), and your lunch.

APRIL 10TH - Next regular meeting day.  Come and sew, if you like, from 9 - 6.  6pm is when dinner starts.  This is catered by the church ladies and you must register for dinner. Sewing day is $5 and dinner is $14.
The real meeting starts at 7:30.  Our program that night will be Debby Allen doing a demonstration on landscape quilts.

February - Quilts of Africa

Garnet Smalley came with his trunk show of the African quilts.  This is a preview he does of the June show - London International Quilt Show, June 12 - 15, 2013.  He brought over 20 quilts - this is just a couple of my favorites.

I wish I could be this happy!!!

Beautiful bowls.

Incredible border work.

Beading.

We also had our Valentines Bag Swap.  Being my usual incredible self, I did not make it over to the swap table in time.  We started with 20 or so bags to swap.

And, of course, our treats table.  Apparently the apple strudel we had for dessert (by the church ladies) was not enough.  We worked up MORE appetite. 

I can't give you any details about the upcoming March meeting - that is still a surprise.  But I have no doubt that it will be lots of fun and very informative.  So c'mon out on March 13th.

January's meeting

Here is the crowd, waiting for the church ladies to finish setting up the buffet.  These gals were hungry - many of them had spent all day sewing.  We had shepherd's pie, salad, rolls, fresh veggies, squash, dessert (which I cannot remember at this time).  Yum.

I presented the evening program.  It was a fun game, challenging teams to assemble puzzles of quilt blocks.  A word scramble of the block name accompanied each bag of pieces, and points were awarded for both the name scramble and the block piecing.

Stay tuned for our February 13th meeting when the Quilts of Africa team gives us a preview of their spring show at the London International Quilt Festival.

January meeting coming up...

Well, the first meeting of 2013 will be happening in two days.  Happy New Year to y'all.
Our Christmas pot luck in December was brimming over with food, as usual.  I was camera-challenged, again, so there are no photos.  For those of us who had to undo the button on our pants after supper, I guess that is a good thing.  ha ha.

Our program gal had us play a memory game, and did not give us a chance to practice first.  Mean Charlotte, mean!  It was fun though.  As usual we had lots of show & share to keep each other inspired.

I provided the members with a pattern to make this bag, from THIS tutorial.

Yeah, ok, I got a little carried away and have made 11 of them now.  This is for our MAKE A BAG, TAKE A BAG, VALENTINES SWAP which will happen at our February meeting.  If you make a bag, fill it with $10 worth of stuff.  Any kind of stuff - sewing things, cosmetics, food, gift cards, liquor, tea, whatever.  You will bring your filled bag, and take a different one home.

Here are my personal EXTRA instructions regarding the ZIPPER.  This will make sense when you are actually doing the zipper.

• Sew the first thingy on the TOP end, leaving the two metal bits exposed so you don’t hit them with the needle.  This will leave ¼” space at the folded end that does not have any of the zipper tape, and will not get in the way when you are grading the seam later.
• To get the other end with the same empty space – get out the pliers and rip off the metal end stopper of the zipper, so you don’t hit it with a needle or cutting blade.  Cut the zipper to a length of 7.75”, starting at the folded edge of the pretty thingy
• Sew the second thingy to the end piece, allowing ¼” space where the fold is.  The length should be 8” when you are finished.

This will eliminate a lot of the bulk at the zipper ends and makes it MUCH EASIER to turn these buggers right side out.

As for our January meeting on the 9th - I will be hosting a puzzle game.  We will split the attendees into groups.  Each group gets a set of quilt block puzzle pieces that they have to assemble.  I suspect we will discover some, um, NEW blocks.

Pot luck next week

Pencil in next Wednesday - December 12th for our Christmas pot luck supper.  Here - I'll just give you a clipping from our newsletter...

PROGRAM
December is our annual Christmas potluck supper. Supper will start at 6:30 pm, with meeting starting at 7:30 pm. Bring your own china and silver, along with your special potluck dish. Also this year, it would be nice if everyone brought their own Christmas placemat. We are also having a Christmas ornament exchange (bring one take one home). Ornaments must be handmade, sewn, knitted, crocheted, etc. At this meeting you will be able to sign up for our “Christmas in June” challenge. If you sign up in December, in January you will receive a Christmas Fat Quarter of fabric. To this you may add as much as you like of two other fabrics. (Backing/lining and binding do not count as “other” fabrics). Make something for Christmas and bring your creation to the June meeting to be voted on by your fellow members. If you do not bring your item back in June, there will be a $5.00 charge which will be donated to the guild. We will also have a demonstration of something “Christmassy” by Charlotte.

In January we will return to our regularly scheduled dinners by the church ladies.