Guild Day, Tuesday, December 17, 2024

 Today was our last Guild Day of 2024 and also the day of our Christmas party. We started the day much as usual with work being done on quilt tops from comfort blocks we had worked on throughout 2024. Myrna had demonstrated the Berry Bushel block and one group was working on the assembly of the blocks. I was working on borders for the Squiggle block I had demonstrated while Iris and Moira were hand stitching bindings. 

Sandra is working on joining some Twinkling Star blocks, Lorna is joining Berry Bushel blocks and Zoey is machine quilting her quilt from the Beginner Quilting class.

Members were coming and going throughout the afternoon. Items for our silent auction this evening were being brought in and Lorna and Sandra were setting up the tables and putting out the items and bid sheets.Along with silent auction items members were also bringing in cookies , candy or squares. Visiting was also a priority!

At 5:30 Tammy catered a turkey supper with all the trimmings that was much enjoyed by everyone.

After supper was served everyone spent some time relaxing, visiting and browsing the silent auction table.

At 7:00 PM we held a short meeting to wrap up the year end business and then had our Show and Tell.

Sandra, Heather, Rae and Lynn displayed their Ghost Party quilts. They had taken part in the Ghost Party Sew-along which was an online event. It took several weeks to get the instructions for each ghost block and once done there was an option to share and enter to win prizes. There was a very large number of people taking part so getting a prize was somewhat problematic! The ladies did get their quilts all completed. It’s amazing how differently they turned out!

Rae also completed a lovely Christmas wall hanging. The pattern is The Night Before Christmas from Designs by Susan Clark.

                                 Sandra stitched this Santa cushion to add to her Christmas decor.

Another project was this beautiful zippered holder for sewing items, hand sewing, art supplies or whatever you might choose. It has zipper compartments that can safely hold large or small items. A handy little item to carry when travelling!

This little quilt was an excellent way for Sandra to use black, white and grey fabric pieces from her stash. The yellow sashing and borders add a bright pop of colour.

Sandra started working on this quilt quite some time ago when she said she did not feel comfortable with the techniques that were being taught, but now took it out and completed it as well as doing all the machine quilting. Beautifully done, Sandra!

                                                   The back of the quilt shows off the quilting.

Working on the quilt for one of our Christmas raffles, inspired Lynn to make one for herself. The plaid design works well for Christmas or any time of year.

                                            She used this lovely floral for backing her quilt.

Also on Lynn’s completed list are a bag for her granddaughter made of waxed canvas with a compartment for her laptop, a water bottle and anything else she needs for classes. The smaller case is for sewing supplies or whatever else one might want. Very nice, Lynn!

Charlene’s Christmas quilt is made from a jelly roll with a white backing. It’s perfect for snuggling in front of the TV or fireplace.

                       This snowy forest of evergreens makes the perfect backing for Charlene’s quilt.

                    Lynsie fashioned this Christmas table runner entirely from half square triangles.

Myrna chose a palette of whites and greys for this quilt she sewed for her girlfriend in Yuma who has been diagnosed with cancer. The fabric is from the Rust and Steel collection with the rusts taken out. I’m sure her friend will love this quilt.

Sandra had a kit for this table runner. The kit also contained orange fabrics but she is not a friend of orange so left those colours out.

BUT, then she decided there was a lot of fabric left over so decided to make another runner this time using the orange. I think this is very attractive (but I am a friend of orange)!

After assessing the fabric situation, Sandra concluded she still had too much left so made a rectangular runner. She is a master at using up bits and bobs!

                   A complete change in colour palette resulted in this lovely runner in shades of blue.

The fabric for Sandra’s sweater quilt came from the 440 quilt shop in Saskatoon when her daughter was going to school near Saskatoon.

This lable and the next one will explain her next quilt. She spent many UFO days putting together the blocks after very carefully matching and choosing colours and then laying out the squares the way she wanted them to be assembled.

And here is the result of all her efforts, her pineapple quilt. It turned out beautifully, Sandra! All the work was well worth it.

If you enlarge this photo, you can see the detail of the machine quilting. Sandra used a variety of thread colours on the top of the quilt to match the colours in the blocks, but used white in the bobbin thread.     

    This is my bird quilt, There’s a Bluebird on My Windowsill. The bird block was my choice for my president’s quilt and I wish to thank all the members that sewed these blocks for me. Because I have a ‘thing’ about sewing small quilts, this one ended at 100” x 100”. Not only did I make it large, I chose to miter the corners, use a scalloped border and then had to make a continuous bias binding. The binding went on very easily and I was able to do it all by machine.                                                                        

After we finished the show and tell, the draw for the Show and Tell entries was made. Eileen was the lucky winner of a fat quarter fabric bundle. For those unfamiliar with this draw, everyone who takes part in Show and Tell, enters her name as many times as the number of pieces she shows. Each month more people add their names for their pieces. At the end of six months a name is drawn for a prize.

Bidding on the silent auction items was in full progress after the meeting. A lot of checking and rebidding was going on as we were trying our best to get in that highest bid on items we wanted before Sandra D. could close down the bidding! There was also a lovely fabric bundle for which we could purchase tickets.

After all the auction items were closed we went on to play the Left, Right, Centre game. We used three jelly roll strips in lieu of money. Two tables of players took part with the eventual winners being Jill from one table and Moira from the other. The draw for the fabric bundle was also made. Congratulations to Patty E.! She already has plans for using the beautiful solid colours in the bundle.

 

This brought our evening to a close. Everyone gathered up their purchases or winnings, helped clear away tables, etc. wishing each other greetings for Christmas and the New Year before heading for home. 

Wishing all who read this blog a very Merry Christmas and may 2025 be filled with good health and happiness.

Hoping to see you all in the New Year. First UFO day is January 4th, 2025.

Happy quilting,

Gladys

December 7, 2024 Meeting from November 19, 2024

 Today was the UFO day for December as well as the make-up meeting from November 19 which we had to postpone because of blizzard conditions. We began our meeting at 2:00 PM with a good attendance. The beginner quilter class attendees had an excellent opportunity to take part in a meeting since they were working on their projects that day.

We finalized the plans for our Guild Christmas party to be held December 17th as well as heard reports on what we have accomplished the past year.

The guild members completed 78 quilts in 2024. One was donated to the Aqua Centre fund raising committee, while another three were raffled by the guild to raise funds to continue our community work. Thirteen were donated to emergency measures groups (ambulance, fire departments, RCMP) in Flin Flon, Creighton, Denare Beach and Cranberry Portage. Four quilts were donated to house fire victims and the remaining fifty-seven were donated to community services agencies.

We are already working on the quilts that will be donated in 2025. Audrey reported that the blocks for 3 EMS quilts are ready to be assembled. Our aim is to have quilts to be put in every police cruiser, fire truck and ambulance to be used for trauma victims. Then of course, replacement quilts have to be on hand when the current ones are used. There will always be a need.

Comfort quilts:

This panel was in the materials donated to us by the Harrower family. Heather put on the batting and backing and practiced her quilting skills, which are getting very good!

This is another quilt made from the strawberry blocks demonstrated by Sandra and Rae several guild days ago. This was also quilted by Heather.

Show and Tell:

Patty stitched this quilt for her young grandson who spent much of his young life watching the construction going on outside their apartment window. Patty did her own quilting on this one. 

                                         The superhero backing is very appropriate for a youngster. 

       Patty’s second quilt is for her granddaughter, a very striking arrangement of log cabin blocks.

                                           A lovely backing for the granddaughter’s quilt.

Heather sewed this quilt for her sister. It is made from many HSTs of varying sizes. She did the quilting on the longarm machine she shares with her mother.

This is actually the backing Heather constructed for a friend who brought a quilt to her for longarming. This could very easily be a reversible quilt!

The meeting ended with the membership draw won by Zoey!

See you on December 17th!

Happy quilting!

Gladys

Guild Day. Tuesday, November 19, 2024

 Well! Wasn’t that a blizzard for you! We were all expecting a snowfall but didn’t really want half a winter’s worth in one big storm.

The day began fairly normally. It wasn’t too bad when 16 members came out to work on our various projects. This was the day when the 57 quilts we completed were sorted and assigned to one of the seven agencies to which we donate. We had an opportunity to view the quilts as they were on display while Judy and Audrey were deciding on what went where. 

      

                                                    Evelyn is helping Judy sort quilts.

          Bev is folding quilts to assure there is enough room. Each pew holds quilts for one agency.

                                    Seven pews of quilts ready for packaging and delivery.

Stacks of comfort blocks that have been sewn by members, ready to be assembled into quilts for the 2025 donations. 

                 Sandra is working her free motion magic on a quilt destined for our 2025 donations.

                              Lorna is stitching together the blocks for the Twinkling Stars quilt top.

      

   Susan is pin basting a quilt sandwich in preparation for quilting. A total of four quilt sandwiches were pin basted today.

                               Moira and Iris are working on hand stitching binding on a baby quilt.

Patty, our Librarian, is organizing and cataloguing some quilting stencils we received in the donation from Marg H. We have quite an extensive library of books, magazines, patterns, rulers, stencils and quilt related items that our members can sign out and use. This is much simpler than trying to build your own library, though I must add that many of us have quilt libraries in our homes which are perhaps quite large. With all the material that is available one can never have all of it!

On November 2nd, at the Women’s Resource Centre Christmas Craft Sale we raffled this quilt called Santa in the Trees, to help raise funds to continue our work. The winner of the quilt was Tommy Barr. Congratulations, Tommy!

By the time 4:00 pm rolled around the storm was getting very serious, so the decision was made to cancel the evening meeting thus allowing people to reach home safely and sparing a trip for anyone considering coming out for the evening. A full membership meeting will be held Saturday, December 7th, at 2:00 pm. This day is also UFO day and beginner class lesson day. At this time final plans for our Christmas party will be made. There will be a catered meal at the party. If you wish to take part in the Christmas meal, please contact Lynn. The cost will be $27 which can be brought to the UFO day.

If anyone can help with raffle ticket sales at the Cranberry Portage Christmas sale this Saturday, November 23rd, please contact Audrey.

Happy quilting everyone!

Gladys

Guild day, Tuesday, October 15, 2024

 We are working hard on our various ongoing projects and preparing for our donation day in November. So far we have 52 quilts ready to go to various organizations in our area.

Eighteen members were present during the day. Perhaps the biggest job of all was the organization of the storage closet to make room for all the fabrics and projects. After next month there will be a good number of empty bins waiting to be refilled in preparation for next year.

The pin basting crew had a busy day. They pinned a total of six quilts ready for the machine quilting!

A top waiting to be sandwiched.

Sandra is piecing a backing and readying binding for the churn dash quilt.

The hand stitchers are completing the binding on the quilts we will be raffling at the Christmas craft shows in Creighton and Cranberry Portage.

Checking the block layout for the squiggle quilt.

The Churn Dash quilt is complete. Sandra machine stitched a flange binding that finished it beautifully.

It’s now a completed comfort quilt.  

This quilt will be raffled at the Cranberry Portage Christmas craft sale. The pattern is Upscale Plaid.   

                                                                                               

We had ten people sign up for our Learn to Quilt classes at the open house on October 4th and 5th. The first class will be held on November 2nd which is also our next UFO day.  This is also the date of the Women’s Resource Centre Christmas Craft sale in Creighton. Santa in the Trees quilt will be raffled there.

Show and Tell:                                                                                                                                              

                               Susan’s retreat project was this lovely cushion.                         

 One of Marg’s retreat projects was this Blue Jays bag. She is planning on using it as a gift at Canada Day in their Arizona snowbirds park.                                                                                                                    

Another of Marg’s projects was a set of placemats with matching runner for her granddaughter.

I’m sure her granddaughter will be very happy to receive these!

Another of Marg’s creations. This is such a happy looking quilt!

Heather loves Halloween! This quilt is all made with HST’s. 

This cactus flower quilt is for Heather’s friend, a very happy looking quilt with its bright colours!

            Sandra stitched this quilt using a pack of charm squares she received from Maxine Long.

This was Donna’s retreat project. She has promised that she will teach us how to do the border she used! Lovely fall colours, Donna!

I sense a theme here! Audrey’s retreat project was also a cushion. She had a pack of 2 1/2/“ squares from the strawberry lemonade line of fabrics and made this cushion using English paper piecing. 

Program:

Donna had a very interesting presentation for us on the history of the Underground Railway in the southern states in which quilts and songs were used to help direct escaping slaves find their way to freedom. Thank you for sharing your research with us, Donna!

This brought our day to a close. Next UFO is November 2nd, dig out a project and come join us for a day of sewing and fellowship!

Happy quilting!

Gladys