Fall Retreat. October 3rd and 4th, 2025

Where do I begin?!!!

We had a very busy and productive two days. Our retreat was held in conjunction with Culture Days so we put all our quilts on display in the Sanctuary of the church as we had open house both days so the public could come and visit to see what we were currently working on, ask questions of the members and view our donation quilts. 

The Empty Bobbin Quilt Shop from Swan River was set up in the main entrance with fabrics, notions, patterns and kits so anyone coming in was able to purchase whatever they needed. 

We had our fall raffle quilt on display and were selling tickets for anyone who hadn’t purchased one yet as well as a sign up sheet for Learn to Quilt classes which will begin in November.

On Friday we had twenty-three ladies with their machines or hand sewing,  busily working away. At six pm there was a catered supper, turkey and all the trimmings. There were twenty-five present for the supper which was delicious, as usual, served by Tammy. Saturday saw two more sewers who could not attend the previous day. 

Marg brought seven quilts from her sister’s guild in Saskatoon which they had stitched for Denare Beach fire victims.

                                                       Quilt number one has assorted quilt blocks.

                                       Number two has a variety of animals in the squares.

                                                  Number three has a variety of blocks.

                                         Number four has a variety of grays and blues.

                                                     Number five has a modern feel.

                                      Number six is the one that was stitched by Marg’s sister.

                                            Number seven was built around a panel of deer.

 

          This is the guild that donated these lovely quilts. Thank you ladies, your gifts will be very           appreciated.

                             Rae donated this lovely quilt to be added to the Denare Beach bucket.

We put out all the quilts we have sewn to this point so that when the public came in for the open

house they could see what we have accomplished this year. At our meetings there is always a report on the number of quilts that we’ve sewn but it’s always amazing to see them all displayed!

Photos of our members working on their own projects:

And when it was time to take a break from our tasks, we had a fantastic assortment of goodies from which to choose. Thank you to all those who brought the special treats!

The Empty Bobbin Quilt Shop had a terrific assortment of fabrics, notions and patterns!

                             This beautiful sewing machine was for sale at a very good price!

Zoey took advantage of the special deal and purchased the machine. It was a great upgrade to her present machine and here she is being instructed about all its features and how to operate it. Congratulations Zoey!

We were very pleased to accept a generous donation of quilting flannel from Anita T. Thank you, Anita, theses fabrics will make beautiful quilts for people in need!

                                       Sandra D. was able to finish the piecing of this quilt top.

Patty applied the binding to finish this lovely quilt for her granddaughter. This quilt will replace the one she lost in the Denare Beach wildfire. Patty cut, pieced and stitched the top and Heather longarmed it for her.

Judy took this panel which her mother had embroidered and used it to make this lovely cushion. She had another peacock panel as well and made a second cushion.

This peacock had different colours in its tail so she used a blue for her second cushion. These turned out beautifully, a lovely way to preserve and showcase her mother’s needlework.

Sandra was also able to complete another block for a  block of the month (I hope I got that right!) project she is working on.

Our raffle quilt, made from fabric in Marg H’s stash, was on display during the open house and people were able to purchase those last minute tickets. At 3:00 o’clock on Saturday Marg’s daughter, Barb, joined us and picked the winning ticket from the tub.

                                 The lucky winner is Tammy Hedman. Congratulations, Tammy!

We were able to present one of the quilts from the Piecemakers to Cindy R’s brother and sister-in-law who lost their home at Denare Beach. 

                                   I’m sure they will enjoy the comfort and warmth of this quilt.

This brought our retreat to a close. All that was left was packing our things, clearing away the tables and chairs and heading for home! We will all be busy preparing for Thanksgiving and planning our next projects. 

Happy Thanksgiving and happy quilting!

Gladys

Guild Day, Tuesday, September 16, 2025

 Today’s work crew spent the day pin basting a total of eight quilts. Lynn was busy putting together the Chandelier blocks for one of the Christmas raffle quilts so it is now ready to go to the longarmer for quilting. In total we had sixteen members at various times of the day. 

                                   Laying out chandelier blocks to establish colour placement.

                                                         Time to stitch the blocks together.

 

                                                 More blocks being laid out for another quilt top.

                                                            The pinning crew is hard at it!

                                       Iris and Marg are hand stitching binding to two quilts.

These seven quilts are now ready for members to take home and machine quilt. These tops were sent to us from Eileen. Not only did she piece the tops but she also added backing and binding for each one. Thank you so much for your donation, Eileen.

Comfort Quilts:

The blocks for this quilt came from Marg H’s stash. They were put together by Rae and Sandra D. and it was then quilted by Heather.

These Five and Dime blocks were made from flannels in Marg H’s stash and put together by Susan. I believe Marg F. did the quilting.

                  Marg stitched this quilt from fabrics she found at Goodwill when she was in Arizona.

Each time a member shows a piece of work for Show and Tell, they enter their name in a draw. Marg won the last draw and received a fabric bundle. She took that bundle and added a few pieces to make this quilt. The curved pieces that make the pinwheels were cut using a curved ruler.

      Marg stitched this quilt from a package of batik fabrics made up by Susan, our master fabric sorter.

There were enough batiks in the package for Marg to make a second quilt. This one was made by the dryer sheet method in which you stitch strips of fabric on a used dryer sheet, trim them, add a sashing strip and join. You can use muslin or other light fabric rather than dryer sheets. That eliminates the scent and waxiness of dryer sheets.

                                          Zoey pieced this lovely star top from batik fabrics. 

            A number of years ago Audrey won some fabric and stitched this lovely soft coloured quilt.

                                               This is Audrey’s version of the Jellyroll Race quilt.

All these quilts are meant to be donated to Denare Beach wildfire victims. We will continue making these quilts as there are many wildfire victims in our area.

As well, Audrey had two more flimsies to be completed for emergency measures crews to use.

Show and Tell:

                              Lynn, Moira and Iris made this lovely Christmas quilt for a co-worker.

Heather has used this oversize bear paw pattern before in a different colour way. This version is meant for one of her co-workers and her husband. 

Rae made this quilt from five inch squares. The pattern is called Confetti. She will be donating it to the guild for donation. Thank you, Rae!

This quilt was made from a jelly roll and was used by Rae on her chair in BC because the chair always felt cold without it. The fabric patterns are well suited to Vancouver Island.

Every year Rae donates a quilt to St. Ann’s bazaar. This year’s offering is called Hocus Pocus and is very appropriate for the time of year. A beautiful quilt, Rae.

Sandra has again created an entry for Norva’s square foot category. She calls it “Spiralling Out of Control”. Very aptly titled Sandra!

Patty stitched this Lone Star quilt for her son and daughter-in-law. This is to replace the first Lone Star that was lost to the wildfire.

                         Cindy chose this table runner as her evacuation project. Beautiful, Cindy!

Quilter’s Corner:

Audrey demonstrated the Go Cutter the guild has. She showed us how the fabric is put in and went through the binder to let us know what dies we have. This is a quicker way to cut shapes when they are an unusual shape or if many pieces are needed. It’s a big time saver when making a rag quilt as all the snips around the edge of the block are already cut! Thank you, Audrey!

Program:

Susan demonstrated and gave us the instructions for the Folded Corners block. This block looks complicated but when broken down into its components it is quite simple. The background for this block will be white or beige with a light, medium and dark of the same colour to make the central pattern. Thank you, Susan, this is a block that several of us have wanted to try.

We closed our meeting with the membership draw which was won by Evelyn.

Our next gathering will be our Fall Retreat on October 3rd and 4th. On the 4th we will be making the draw for our Butter Tarts quilt!

If you want tickets on this beautiful quilt, we will be selling them at our retreat. There will also be The Empty Bobbin quilt shop in attendance with a wide variety of fabrics and notions. The guild will be displaying their donation quilts in the Sanctuary for everyone to see. We hope to see you there!

Happy quilting!

Gladys