Here we are in the middle of summer! I hope everyone is enjoying our nice weather and doing lots of outdoorsy things.
We had twelve ladies out to our work day, some staying the day, some only a partial day, everyone was helping!
Our hand stitchers are making good use of the new Ott lights. It’s so much easier to work with good lighting.
Sandra is using the new Juki machine for free motion quilting. The larger throat space along with the large quilting table make the task easier. This machine has a different approach to free motion than most other machines, the quilter works from the end of the machine rather than the side.
A big thank you to the Flin Flon Credit Union for granting us $2000.00 through the Credit Union Community Enrichment Program which enabled us to purchase the lights and the machine. This will help us immensely in our efforts to give back to our communities of Flin Flon, Creighton, Denare Beach, Cranberry Portage and lake subdivisions.
The second little house quilt is now at the border stage and the blocks for the gray and yellow friendship stars are being joined. Once we get the rest of the blocks from the members we can complete that top. If anyone has a kit out for those blocks and doesn’t have the time to complete it, please bring it in at our August guild day and someone will finish it up.
We had three guests at our meeting, Susan came out in the afternoon and then came to the meeting and joined our guild. Welcome, Susan, we’re happy to have you with us! Also present was Randi, Dallas’s daughter-in-law. Randi is not a quilter but does a lot of sewing of clothing and accessories. She does the sewing to showcase fabrics for various fabric companies. Our third quest was honourary member, Darby, who accompanied her mother. Always nice to have you here, Darby!
Rae gave us an update on the Ukrainian refugee families for whom we stitched and donated quilts. There are two families who now each have their own homes and are working in their community. They are very thankful to our guild for the quilts we gifted them. We are happy to hear that they are doing well. They plan on staying in Canada.
Rae stitched this flannel quilt for the guild and Sheri did the quilting. We are focusing on children’s size quilts this time around as there always seems to be a need for these.
This one was completed today by our hand stitchers.
My apologies to Myrna, she stitched and quilted a lovely baby quilt and I neglected to get a photo. I will get one next month!
This little elephant quilt is the second one we’ve completed. Lorna did the quilting on this one and again, the hand stitchers did the binding.
This is one of two ice cream cone quilts we put together. The ice cream cones are paper pieced and were a good opportunity to practice that skill. Rae brought a number of cones in for us to use that she had left over from her projects. Thank you, Rae.
This is another of Rae’s creations for the quild. This is a three yard quilt pattern. These patterns are fairly easy to put together and as the name implies, only take three yards of fabric to complete a top.
Rae is one busy lady! During Show and Tell she shared this quilt with us. It’s a free pattern called Cute as a Button. It takes two charm packs and some background fabric to complete. We will likely be making some of these for our childrens’ quilts!
Sandra is another busy lady! She and some of her lady friends are going on a trip to Scotland so she was busy making bags for herself and her friends.
A better look at the bags. Very attractive, Sandra!
You can’t travel without luggage tags so of course she made some of those as well!
This is a quilt Sandra made for the friend who helped her when she had her surgery.
This is a unique way of making the dragonflies. It uses a technique we employed when making the cathedral window block.
And the grand finale is her Salem Witches Quilt Guild piece! This is one she worked on while escaping winter in Flin Flon. The witches panels are drawn out, traced onto fabric, coloured (with crayons), and then embroidered. A true labour of love! Beautifully done, Sandra!
Phyl has completed her Sugar Bear quilt and had it longarmed by Lori Suss. Beautiful work, Phyl! The quilting pattern sets off the piecing very well. We’ve now seen several of these quilts from our quilt-along and every one of them is unique. It’s amazing how differing colour ways can change a pattern.
Randi shared one of her projects with us. Her bag is one she sewed with some of the fabric she showcases. The colours are very vibrant and are excellent for a cheery summer, backpack type of purse.
Sheri and Darby showed off their special Halloween wall hanging. This was a quilt-along from the Fat Quarter Shop. It’s called Haunted Halloween Mystery.
Closing out our evening were Sandra and Rae with our next comfort block. It’s called Twists and Turns and is really quite simple to make.
You need four 2 1/2 inch brightly coloured strips and one light beige or white 8 1/2 inch square. When completed the block will make a half square triangle and can be joined in numerous ways. We look forward to seeing what we can create!
Another busy day has come to an end! When we come in the morning we never know what we will be able to accomplish. Every guild day is an adventure!
Gladys
