Wednesday, 29 October 2025

Guild Day, October 21, 2025

 It seems the days go by very quickly and before we know it we are at the next Guild  Day! This month we had fifteen members coming and going throughout the day. As usual everyone was busy. Judy and Audrey were going through the quilts and sorting the ones for our usual donations from those meant for Denare Beach wildfire victims. Those that hadn’t been cataloged yet were photographed and measured and checked for labels.

The winner of our fall raffle quilt was able to come in to pick up her prize. The winner was Tammy Hedman and Cindy sold the ticket to her.

Tammy was thrilled to receive the quilt and was super pleased that it would fit nicely on her king size bed!


Susan is cutting the batting for the square in a square quilt. Audrey had demonstrated this block to us.


Everyone is working on various tasks involved in assembling a quilt. It’s amazing how a group of people can complete a quilt top in a day!


Lynn is pinning a quilt that requires only twenty seams to assemble the  top. Nadine generously donated some pieces of focus fabric that are perfect for this simple pattern.

                                                 Fabric is being cut for another quilt top.

                            Okay, the backing is pieced and pressed, so where is the batting and top?

                  We received a number of quilts that were donated for Denare Beach wildfire victims.

                                             Lynn donated this lovely Lone Star quilt.

  
                   Lorna donated this lovely musical quilt which she had been fortunate enough to win.


This quilt is one that I pieced and quilted. The pattern is Mahjong and works well for focus fabrics.  This is my donation to the Denare Beach collection.


This lovely Highway 10 designs quilt was donated by the Empty Bobbin Quilt Shop from Swan River along with several others. 

     
                                                            Empty Bobbin number two.

    Empty Bobbin number three, Super Heroes quilt for a boy.


Empty Bobbin member four,  Super Heroes for a girl.


Empty Bobbin number five.


Empty Bobbin number six.


Empty Bobbin number seven.


The final Empty Bobbin quilt is the Meadowlands pattern. Thank you, Julie from the Empty Bobbin, for your generous donation.                                                                                                                                                       


Kathy Schwartz of Tamarack Shack Longarm Quilting who is a former member of our guild, also had some generous donations for Denare Beach. This is her version of a quilt pattern that she and Lori Suss of          Highway 10 Designs created and wrote.                                                                                                           



Another of Kathy’s quilts, Traction, also a Highway 10 pattern.    


                                    Kathy’s third quilt is constructed with half square triangles.


Kathy’s fourth quilt is another Highway 10 Design pattern called Simply Dashing. Thank you so much for your donations, Kathy!

The final Denare Beach donation is from our guild to Patty B’s son. He and his family were one of the hundreds of people who lost their home. The scope of the destruction in our area is very disheartening and we hope that the quilts we are able to gather, make and donate can make a small difference to all the families affected.

Comfort quilts:


                                                This is one of Rae and Sandra D’s creations.


                             This quilt top and backing came from Eileen and was quilted by Lynn.


                                Another of Eileen’s creations, this one quilted by Sandra D.


                                        More from Eileen, this time quilted by Sandra S.


                                              An I Spy from Eileen, quilted by Sandra D.


                                            A flannel baby quilt pieced and quilted by Susan.


                             A quilt top from Marg H’s collection, quilted and completed by Heather.


Eileen had demonstrated the blocks for this quilt, the members stitched the blocks, Eileen completed the top and Heather did the quilting.


This is a Reverse Pinwheel quilt, pieced and quilted by myself  as a result of cutting errors I made when demonstrating the block. The fabric was NOT supposed to be wrong sides together when cutting but because I was trying to get the kits ready in a hurry, oops! The members did get kits cut correctly but as my penance, I pieced and quilted the reverse ones!


This quilt was truly a collaborative effort, cutting and piecing, Marg, pin basting, Susan and her crew, quilting and binding by me.

We now have fifty-seven comfort quilts completed.


Our raffle quilt for the Women’s Resource Centre Christmas craft sale is the Twinkling Stars quilt. We will be using the Chandelier quilt for the Cranberry Portage Christmas sale. I will have a photo next month as the quilt is now at the longarmer’s.


Our Quilt of Valour recipient this year will be Stephen Baschuk. The presentation will be made in November, on or near Remembrance Day.

Show and Tell:


Judy shared her retreat project. Her mother had embroidered these peacock panels so Judy incorporated them into cushion tops. The fabric colours she chose set off the handwork beautifully.


Lynn completed her Sparrows quilt. These colourful little birds will brighten any room they are in!


        Lynsie stitched this happy Santa cushion top from a kit she purchased from The Empty Bobbin.


The pattern for this quilt is Silent Night but Rae prefers to call it The Light in the Forest as the star seems more sunlike to her.  She will be making one for her daughter-in-law using Neutrals fabric.


Judy shared her counted cross stitch work. The pattern was created from a photo and is stitched on 18 count fabric. There are many shades of floss used to get the variations in colour including using two strands of different colours to make blends. She will give the finished work to the mother of the girl in the picture. Beautiful work, Judy!


This is a quilt which Sandra S. started in October of 2003 and completed in October of  2025. It began as a Block of the Month with on going squares and ideas, varied log cabins, varied sizes of blocks and a more complicated type of block placement than the usual quilt. Sandra had to make decisions on backing, decisions on quilting, block placements and so on.  Now that it’s finished it will be going to her sister in Winnipeg.


Audrey attended a retreat at which she was given a fat quarter bundle and told to create something! No pattern or further instructions included. This is what she created. Pretty good creation I would say!


Another of her creations is this Barn Quilt which will actually be her shed quilt! The paint she used was outdoor paint so there was no need to seal the design with anything. What every well dressed shed needs!


The guild donated these embroidered squares to the Threads of Friendship hand quilting group and this is what they created. The shades of pink and rose set off the squares beautifully and the hand quilting gives it such a lovely old fashioned feeling. 


             A closer view of the squares and the hand quilting. Thank you for sharing with us, Donna!


Program:


Sandra and Rae demonstrated the Arkansas Crossroads block for us but decided it would be called Manitoba Crossroads for our guild. This block is made from 8 four patches and 8 patches with snowballed corners.


          The blocks are colourful and scrappy and the cohesion comes from the single background colour.


The Membership draw was won by Susan.

Happy quilting, everyone!
Gladys




Friday, 10 October 2025

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