Guild Day, Tuesday, September 15, 2026

 We had an excellent turnout today with 20 - 21 members working on various projects. Our binding ladies were hand stitching, others were pin basting quilt sandwiches, some had machines set up to attach bindings, join blocks for quilts and doing machine quilting. The short version is that everyone was involved in all the things we usually do!

               These two ladies are the resident hand stitchers and do a great job with those bindings. 

                                 

                                        Rae is cutting binding for one of the pin basted comfort quilts.

Lynn is machine quilting one of the quilt sandwiches that was pinned today while Cindy is sewing the blocks together for the chandelier Christmas quilt we will be raffling.

      Lorna is pressing binding for one of the quilts. When multiple people are working on these quilts, it makes a lengthy process much, much shorter than one person doing all the jobs involved in quilt making.

Sandra is stitching together the fabric strips to make a binding for another one of the pinned quilt sandwiches while she is waiting for Lorna to finish pressing the binding for the green backed quilt on the table beside her.

Comfort quilts:

Audrey reported that we now have 49 comfort quilts in our buckets as well as one Hug Me quilt. 

These quilts, as well as any more completed ones handed in, will be on display in the Sanctuary during our 

Fall Retreat.

This poster gives you all the information you need to come and view the quilts we have worked on this year. Drop in to view, check on what we are personally working on, have a visit with our members or pick up something special from the Empty Bobbin shop here from Swan River. Julie will be happy to help you with anything you might need.

                                            This one is made of flannels, soft and cuddly!

Our Christmas raffle quilt for the Cranberry Portage Christmas sale was completed today. The quilting was done by Valerie Wasylciw. She very generously donated the backing and batting as well as her quilting time and work. Thank you, Valerie, from everyone in the guild! The flange binding was attached by Sandra D.

The top for the second Christmas raffle quilt, which will go to the Women’s Resourse Christmas sale, was also completed today so is ready to go to the longarm quilter. Most of the fabric for this top came from Marg H’s stash.

                                 Another comfort quilt was pinned, quilted and bound today.

This is the Arkansas Crossroads quilt for which the members pieced the blocks. If I remember correctly, Sandra and Rae demonstrated this block for us.

This study in purples was pieced by Rae and Sandra and quilted by Phyl, who also applied the flange binding.

In addition to what I have shared here, there were four more pin basted today.,

We have one quilt going to a house fire victim

Wildfire Quilts:

Audrey reported that we as a group have now completed our work and are finished with this project.

Rae very graciously donated a rotary cutting mat to our quild. Thank you Rae!

The Cranberry Portage Christmas sale will be on November 21st from 9:30 to 3:00. This is always a terrific sale.

Audrey will again be holding Beginning Quilter classes in November, December, January and February. She already has a list of people wanting to take part.

Donna presented to Audrey, a gift certificate, in appreciation for all she has done to share her love of quilting and encouraging others to learn. The certificate will allow her to purchase from the Empty Bobbin pop up shop during our retreat. Thank you, Audrey, for all your work with new quilters as well as those of us wanting to learn more.

Show and Tell:

        Susan stitched this pouch using a quilt as you go method. The fabrics were scraps from her stash.

Laurie, our new mom, stitched this handy mini diaper bag. It holds everything she needs for when William needs a change and it is easier to carry than a larger duffle size bag.

                          She practiced her appliqué skills making some banners! Great job, Laurie!

                            And another banner, you are doing an excellent job with your appliqué!

Cindy sewed this trick or treat bag which she will be donating to NORVA for their Smalls Under 100 silent auction fundraiser.

       This bag started as a fabric basket. Cindy wasn’t pleased with it so converted it to a bag instead.

Rae used a pattern from the Stripology Quick Quilt book to make this quilt. Sandra had given her five fat quarters for her birthday and it worked perfectly. The pattern is called “Vivian”. 

The Diamond Pop  top Rae shared with us recently has now been completed. The colours are beautiful!

This lovely quilt is Rae’s donation to St.Ann’s bazaar. This and the other two were all quilted by Michelle at Mami’s. Rae will have tickets for us to purchase for this quilt!

Before Lorna G. moved to PEI, she gave Sandra some scraps from her stash. When you have scraps you quilt! Sandra will donate this lovely little mat to NORVA for their silent auction.

Quilter’s Corner:

Lynn demonstrated a technique for making 32 HST’s (half square triangles) at a time. This works particularly well when your pattern needs many HST’s of the same colours. They have to be trimmed before using, but the upside is there are no bias edges.

Take two pieces of fabric and place them right sides together, then mark a grid as shown in the diagram.using two different colours to mark your grid makes it easier to distinguish between cutting lines and sewing lines.

                                                                    Here is the quilt math.

If you don’t like having to trim your HST’s there is another way of doing it. The downside is that there will be bias edges which have to be pressed, not ironed, and have to be handled minimally. If you have difficulty with bias edges, this method is not recommended.

Cut two strips of fabric the final size of your HST, place right sides together, stitch a 1/4” seam on both long edges. Use a right angle triangle to cut by placing the tip of the triangle at the top seam line and the base on the bottom seam line. It looked easy when Lynn demonstrated and I hope I’ve explained correctly. If your seams are at 1/4” you should not have to do any trimming!🤞

I will check with Lynn! If I haven’t explained correctly, I will edit!

The membership draw winner was Cindy! Congratulations!

Happy quilting!

Gladys

Guild Day, Tuesday, August 18, 2026

 Lo and behold, we are in August! Where has the summer gone? We had a great turnout of  members today with eighteen ladies coming and going as the day went on. Our hand stitchers were ready to apply bindings and the pin basters were preparing quilt sandwiches. Another group was cutting and stitching borders on one of the Christmas raffle quilts. Rae was making a list of all the quilt tops that were waiting for backings, some of which had been waiting for quite some time! We realized we would not have to demonstrate comfort blocks for a month or two!

Marg brought her scissors sharpening equipment so those of us with dulled scissors could get our tools tuned up.

                                             Things are all set up to sharpen those scissors!

                                                            The pin basters are hard at it.

                                               The binding is ready for the hand stitchers.

       

                                         Another quilt sandwich being prepared for pinning.

                                      Measuring the borders for this Christmas raffle quilt.

                                 Making binding for the quilt being donated to the Arts Council.

                                                                         Applying borders.

 Not actually a quilt thing, but our member, Sandra, was the lucky winner of the Early Bird prize at the Blueberry Jam music festival. Congratulations, Sandra! This win has made her son happy as he has plans to play!

Comfort Quilts:

                      I believe this was pieced by Marg and the quilting and binding was done by me.

                                              Susan pieced and quilted this baby quilt.

                                      I don’t know who pieced this one, but Lynn quilted it.

                                                   Marg quilted this attractive throw quilt.

                                                   Heather pieced and quilted this quilt.

                                Rae did the quilting and binding on this quilt that Susan pieced.

This Dresden plate quilt top was stitched by Marg H. We will have it longarmed and finished to be used as a Hug Me quilt to be presented to a member in our guild who is experiencing hardships as a reminder that they are loved.

 Our guild will once again be taking part in the Wild Things Market on September 19 and 20 during Culture days.

Our Fall Retreat is on October 2nd and 3rd. The Empty Bobbin quilt shop from Swan River will be the vendor. The draw will be made on the 3rd to determine the winner of our fall raffle quilt.

Show and Tell:

                                Karen now has the quilt for her Grandson Keaton completed.

                                       She ordered this special lable for the back of his quilt.

                                  The quilt for Keaton’s older brother has also been completed.

                        

Borden’s quilt also has a special lable. Karen ordered the labels from Quilter’s Legacy. She said the order arrived quickly and was reasonably priced. They certainly add a special touch!

Marg stitched this lovely quilt while she was in Arizona this past winter. The colour palette is lovely.

Bev created this wall hanging for her son-in-law. He requested an elephant in his favourite colour, orange. Initially Bev was hesitant about this project, but the shop she purchased it from talked her into it. The elephant is appliqué in several shades of gray. It is beautiful and the touch of orange in the flange binding is perfect!

Rae pieced this quilt from a reproduction line of fabric. The colours are very soft and feminine. The panto used is called Wallpaper Fan.

            Here Rae is attempting to reduce some of her stash. The maroon binding is the perfect touch.

We first saw this black and white creation several months ago when Rae was working on it. It finished beautifully, Rae!

This is Rae’s version of the Sweater Weather quilt. She and Sandra D. took part in the sweater weather project last winter and have already ordered the kits for this winter.

This is the colourway that Sandra choose for her Sweater Weather quilt. It’s always interesting to to see how colour changes can make a quilt look different even if the pattern is the same!

Heather chose the Whirlwind pattern to make this Hug Me  quilt for her friend. The fabric line is Ruby Star Society, Caladium. She used the Infinite Loop panto.

We were pleased to see Eileen join us today. She brought with her a number of projects she has completed since the last time we saw her.

           This table runner was Eileen’s project using prairie points. It turned out beautifully, Eileen!

Eileen’s second table runner was a challenge by Lori. She was given three fat quarters and challenged to make a table runner. I would say the challenge was successfully met!

                                       This quilt was using values of blue. Very attractive!

                Eileen stitched this pinwheel quilt using seven inch precuts. Lori Suss did the quilting.

            This second pinwheel quilt top is shades of green and is ready to be taken to Lori for quilting..

                  This is a top that Eileen has had for a long time. It incorporates many different blocks.

In 2020, before Eileen moved, our guild did a block exchange. These are the blocks she received plus a few she added along with the border. What an amazing job you did with this Eileen! 

Eileen’s sister sent her a picture of a quilt she had seen in Newfoundland. It was made from 1240 two and one-half inch squares. By the time her sister returned home, Eileen had the top partially finished!

There is another piece, a wall hanging she calls her mystery hanging, which I also call the mystery hanging because it’s a mystery as to what happened to the picture! I will share it with you when I receive the photo from Eileen. My apologies, Eileen!

Here is Eileen’s mystery wall hanging. She called it a mystery because she could not remember the fabric line or when she had started it. Now it is finished and is lovely, perfect to hang in a sewing room. Thank you for sending it to me, Eileen!

Sandra was doing an epic clean up and reorganization at her house after her daughter moved out and in the process uncovered and resurrected many hidden treasures. This little hanging came out of a box on her way to the bottom of a pile.

                     In the bottom of the box was this lovely framed cross stitch from her Aunt Mary.

      

       Another treasure is this framed piece of a quilt top which she believes was made by her grandmother.

Wrapped around the framed pieces was a quilt Sandra had made in 2011 from a charm pack with some additions. Cleaning and rearranging can be like Christmas, you never know what’s in the box!

Donna made this lovely lunch bag from intersecting circles for her daughter who lives in Winnipeg.

Our meeting concluded with the membership draw which was won by Karen! Congratulations!

Till next month, happy quilting!

Gladys