WEQuilters at Their First Spring Retreat

     We have just returned from our first spring retreat. As usual we had a great time just like we do in the fall. This time thirteen of our members spent the weekend at Ermitage Sainte Croix. We had four first-timers, and I think they will all be back. We had sun and rain and mild and cold weather and there was still ice on the lake but inside the machines hummed.

The words for the weekend were Rip and Passwords. Did you know you could make Best Press with vodka and distilled water? Do you know how to get Apps free with no password? Who knows how to raise the thermostat in the hall or where the fuse box is? How many people were sitting on the floor which was very shiny? Who wants tea or is it "tea time"? Even with a lot of ripping, much was accomplished.

Mary, Barbara, Roz and Joan discuss Mary's table runner.

Allison contemplates how to position her blocks. This was not the preferred  composition.

Nathalie positioning blocks on her husbands Scottish Lion quilt.

Priscilla working on a baby quilt before removing all the white!

Anna hand quilting.

Sandra working on her last New York beauty!

Joan working on her grandson's quilt. Notice no machine. It is all hand pieced.

Mary's machine and her paper piece blocks but there was too much ripping and she's gone.

Laura working on a quilt she started many years ago. 

Nathalie sewing on her husband's quilt.

Barbara ironing.

A pile of work done by Rita.

Roz finishing blocks she started many years ago. This was her second project and it was hand pieced. She is now finishing it on her machine. 

Linda hard at work.

These are our Paint Chip Challenge squares. Sashing and borders will be added to make an interesting quilt.  One more square was made at the retreat by Joan but it's not here.

Admiring the squares.

 Here are some of the makers of our Paint Chip squares at our reveal at the guild meeting on March 29th. We had to choose two paint colours whose names started with our initials and make a 12 inch block. We could use one other colour and make any design. Stars were popular.

Nathalie

Allison

Barbara S.

Moishe

Rita

Mary S.

Laura

Mary T

Roz

Linda W.

Anna

Barbara M.

Linda F.

Monique

Jeannie

A Very Delayed Happy New Year!

It's after Valentine's Day and there haven't been any posts since before Christmas. That doesn't mean the guild members have been sitting on their hands. We have had meetings and everyone has been busy, just no reports. In January, Roz gave out instructions for a Paint Chip Challenge. We have to make a 12.5 inch quilt block of a pattern of our choosing with two paint colours whose names begin with our initials. We can use one other colour of fabric. It was fun looking though paint chips in the store. A wide variety of colours begin with M or S. At the end of March we will unveil the squares and try and guess who made what.

At the next meeting, Allison showed us how to use paint sticks in our quilts. She aptly demonstrated many ways to use paint on fabric. The paint sticks take a while to dry but leave the fabric surface soft and pliable unlike acrylic paints. This is a technique Allison enjoys as she loves to play.

At our last meeting, Barbara a new member showed us fast easy methods to make traditional piecing and blocks. There was a Flying Geese block with made with two squares, a rectangle and only one seam, Attic Windows with triangles, only one sewing line and no "Y" seams and a Pineapple block made easily by most people by cutting and flipping pieces. Barbara had cut out all the pieces ready for us to hand sew, to get the idea.

Flying Geese

Attic Window, with two triangles and a square folded in half

Pineapple: This quilter doesn't follow instructions very well
Top strip and bottom strip are upside down and one had already been taken out and redone.

We have had more show and tell, just not photographed. Last meeting Sandra showed us a quilt she had almost finished for a charity event hosted by her daughter's organization, Artistri Sud. artistrisud.org It was  free motion quilted and she is getting very good.

Our next meeting is our famous fabric exchange where all kinds of material gets a new home.

Board Basting and More

We had a great demonstration on board basting quilts by Marijke from Loose Threads and the Beaconsfield Guild. All you need are two boards and a table. She wanted a method to baste quilts that didn't require her to kneel on the floor. None of our knees are what they used to be. Check out her blog for lots more information: thedoodlequilt.com

As always was Show and Tell:

Barbara had a quilt made from Japanese silk and maybe not silk kimonos. She had sewn on pearls and was ready to remove them but we all thought they added to the effect.

Linda had a table runner made with a special ruler she was taking on a visit to Nova Scotia 

along with a lovely pastel baby quilt for her new great niece.

Allison missed the meeting with our first and last quilts so she brought hers along. This is her first quilt made in the 1970's and taken away to university. It was made with scrap fabric from sewing projects and lightly matching quilted. Even then Allison didn't hand quilt!

This is Allison's latest project. It was for an online challenge, pleated, buttoned and quilted.

Roz too, brought in her first quilt. She made it for a class taken at a quilt store that used to be on Westminster. The colours and blocks are great. Apparently the class was finished before they learned how to do binding. Roz had to improvise. 

See you all at our Christmas party December 8th for appetizers and desserts!

First and Last Quilt

 This week we were all showing our first and last quilts. Some people brought in one, some both and a couple could only talk about them. As quilters are prone to do, many people pointed out all the faults in their quilts, especially the first ones. The stitch length, the thread used and the fabric although not perfect are all part of their history. 

This is not Charlotte's first quilt it is her last. We had seen her first one before and in is now in Denmark. She was trying to figure out the binding as she didn't have too much fabric left. 

Laura brought her first quilt that she made a number of years ago while living in France. The squares were all hand pieced and it is hand quilted. This lovely quilt is used everyday on their bed. Her last quilt is a work in progress and again all hand pieced.

This is Moishe's first quilt. He certainly didn't start with a simple pattern. There are even rouched flowers in the central basket. He didn't quilt it himself but had it machined quilted.

This is Moishe's last quilt a very interesting log cabin pattern. The close up shows the composition in both the light and dark squares.

Monique made her first quilt for her daughter. It wasn't a simple one either and is all hand appliquéd and machine quilted. This was a much loved quilt so Monique now has some repair work to do.

 This is Monique's last quilt, not yet sandwiched and quilted. It is for a friend's daughter with bright pictorial fabrics and a number of cross stitched squares. 

Anna made this quilt in the 1980's. A group of friends would get together to do hand craft projects and they all decided to make squares for everyone. Anna gave them all the beige squares and they could do anything they wanted on it. There weren't sixteen of them so Anna made more squares herself.

 This is Anna's last quilt. She did some fruit printing after a demonstration Barbara did last year.  It is also embellished with embroidery, buttons and beads.

 Mary made baby quilts for all her grandchildren and then quilts when they turned 21. This is the last quilt for her youngest grandson who will be 21 in a couple of years. She received the jellyroll pack but didn't like the look with the squares all next to each other. She added narrow yellow and turquoise borders and everything came together. Now it just needs to be hand quilted but she has time.

 Barbara showed us her first and second quilts. Her log cabin is actually a rectangular wall hanging that she made without any knowledge of quilting. No matter what she says it looks great. She then took a quilting class and made this second quilt. 

This is one of Rita's first quilts. She made it for her father to take to the park. She pictured him having a nap with the dog but he thought it was too good to use and put it safely away.

This was Mary's first quilt. It was started in 1972 and finished in 1975. Unlike her last quilt it was made from fabric remnants from sewing clothes and not from fabric bought just for quilting. So each square has its story. Mary wasn't very impressed with her early quilting but the quilt is still together and has even been used.

We have seen all of Jae's quilts from her first to her last. She didn't have any to bring tonight as she has given them all away. Linda F. showed us her first quilt on new members night. She had pictures of all her quilts but in her rush to get to the meeting she forget them. Joan was busy at the meeting quilting on her last quilt a cute pink pattern for her granddaughter. Priscilla has also shown us all her quilts starting from mug rugs. Her latest project consists of small hand pieced blocks.

This was also IFFI pledge night. We were pledging to finish projects or "I Finally Finished It." Everyone could decide how many projects, how finished is finished and how much money would be pledged. We have until June and the money from any unfinished pledges will go to the guild.  

This is Moishe's paper pieced project for his IFFI pledge

he says he finishes everything and it is the only
unfinished project he has!

Rita had three finished quilt tops and a number of squares that she has pledged to finish for her IFFI. We know they will be sandwiched, quilted and given away before June!