Guild Day, Tuesday, May 21, 2024

We welcome our rainy weather! It should help our dry conditions considerably.

We had a good turnout for our work day and as a result were able to get a number of projects closer to completion.

Three quilt sandwiches were pinned, one of which was quilted before day’s end. Several flimsies were in need of borders and are being worked on and some kits were prepared.

The SUN retreat will be held in the Creighton Community hall starting on Friday, May 30. Mama bears Quilt Shoppe will be there with fabrics, patterns and notions on Friday and Saturday from 10 - 4. All are welcome to come and shop.

Once we have enough comfort blocks returned by the members, the blocks have to be placed in a pleasing colour pattern. Lorna and Susan are working on arranging the Shoo Fly blocks.

Sandra is working on quilting a three yard quilt that was sandwiched and pin basted this morning.

Evelyn is hand stitching the binding on a comfort quilt. Moira and Iris were hand stitching earlier, as well.

This is the quilt that Sandra D. completed. She stitched the binding by machine which is considerably faster than hand stitching.

This three yard quilt is called Roman Holiday. It was pieced and quilted and machine bound by me. Thank you to the members that helped with the pin basting.

Another comfort quilt completed from a panel. I’m sorry I don’t remember who pieced this one, but it is a beautiful job!

This is our Vintage Fall Quilt for our quilt raffle. Guild members completed the blocks which Lynn had cut and made into small kits and then the blocks were joined and borders put on at our last quild day. Nadine did the quilting for us and now we are ready to sell tickets. Cindy will have the tickets at our June guild day. They will sell for $5.00 each and will be available from members. We will also be selling at the Cranberry Artisans Market on July 6th and at the Wild Things Market here in Flin Flon.

Some comfort quilts were donated to a family who lost their home and possessions in a house fire. They were very happy to receive quilts from us.

We now have 27 quilts in our donation buckets. There are 5 completed EMS quilts and three tops that need to be pin basted. Audrey is spear heading the effort on the EMS quilts and doing an awesome job!

Show and Tell:

                          Heather stitched this pillow top from a kit. The colours are very attractive.

The embroidered bird houses were from a donation to the guild which were offered to the members to use in a project. Heather created a set of beautiful pillows!

This is the quilt Heather stitched for her friend to replace the one she called the “rippy” one. If you recall, she had stitched a beautiful quilt with bias seams and bias quilting which ultimately popped its stitching with any amount of stretching. 

I enjoyed the Economy block, (square in a square block) that Audrey demonstrated and decided to make some new potholders and hot mats for my kitchen.

Patti E. shared her retreat project with us. This is the Mondo bag made by fusing many 2 1/2 “ squares onto a fusible backing, then stitching on the fold lines and joining the four resulting pieces. The finished product is very attractive! Her choice of fabrics with a bit of bling is quite eye catching.

Susan found the pattern for this Rainbow Scrapbusting Basket in a magazine and decided it was just what she needed to have beside her machine for thread bits, scraps, etc. She stitched this at our retreat as well as practising her free motion quilting.

Cindy purchased a kit with this fabric but didn’t care for the pattern that came with it so she chose a different pattern which resulted in this lovely creation!

Audrey finished this topper for her washing machine that she had been working on. One problem, she has since purchased a new washer! Oh well, there will be other uses for it!

This is Audrey’s One Block Wonder Christmas quilt. You begin with seven panels all the same, then use the stack and wack method to make the other blocks. It makes for a very interesting effect and a beautiful quilt. 

                             Her backing material is beautiful enough to make the quilt reversible!

Our program was presented by Lynn and was a simple block made by foundation piecing. Yes, this block could be sewn in the usual way but a number of people wanted a review of paper piecing and this is a simple block that will allow people to practice the basic steps. 

Happy quilting, everyone! See you next guild day!

Gladys

Spring Retreat May 3rd and 4th, 2024

 We had a good turn out for our Spring Retreat. The weather wasn’t great so being inside sewing with friends was a good way to spend two days. There were 21 members busily working on assorted projects, some new, some needing finishing touches , all beautiful. 

Lorna was working on a 3-yard quilt which she was doubling in size. These patterns start with the basic design and then show you how you can make larger sizes as well. Lorna started with a main colour and then chose pieces from her stash to make a scrappy version of this pattern.

Betty was laying out the pieces of what looked like a challenging pattern. Lots of curved lines! So far I’ve steered clear of piecing curves! Betty made it look easy.

       Judy, Audrey and Lorna G. were working on quilt tops while Donna was quilting a cushion top.

Patti was putting together a Mondo bag while one of our beginner quilters was putting together her quilt top.

Beverly was piecing a top she had started at our fall retreat while Susan was practising free motion quilting in preparation for quilting her cushion top. Later in the day I saw the top she was working on and the quilting is beautiful! Bev B. was taking a moment out as Lynn was pressing.

Bev’s ta-daaa moment! She worked on the quilt top while she was in Arizona for the winter. She used the Five and Dime ruler and vibrant prints which really pop with the purple border that she added today.

Sandra is working on another memory quilt for her sister. The last one was black and grays while this one is blue tones.

Pressing is a very important part of quilting. Audrey is making sure that everything is well pressed so that points match and everything fits.

Betty has more to add yet, but this gives us a good idea of what the finished piece will look like. This will be a stunning quilt!

On Saturday at eleven, Lynn had a small project prepared for us. We made up these attractive key fobs which took about ten minutes to make. What a terrific idea for stocking stuffers or any last minute gift! Thank you , Lynn!

On Friday at six, Tammy had a delicious supper prepared for 21 members. The menu included mushroom chicken, baked potatoes, carrots, broccoli salad, Caesar salad, buns and dessert. Thank you, Tammy, we thoroughly enjoyed everything.

By 4:00 PM on Saturday everyone had their equipment packed and ready to head home! Some projects completed, some well started, and a good two days of comaraderie! 

See you all next guild day!

Gladys

Guild Day April, 16, 2024

 Today was one of those rainy, turning to slushy, snowy spring days for northern Manitoba/Saskatchewan. Despite the bad weather, or maybe because of it, we had a good turnout of up to 14 members during the day. Too rotten to work outside, let’s quilt!

We sewed, hand-stitched, pin basted, and whatever else came along.

These ladies were busy hand-stitching the binding on several of the comfort quilts. We now have a mix of hand stitched and machine stitched quilts. The hand stitched bindings are beautiful but the machine stitched ones are much quicker. Everyone has their own preference.

The Juki machines were both busy. Audrey was working on “Frankenbatting” and Bev was back from her winter holiday. Welcome home! I expect we will be seeing more returnees next month.

Susan and June were busy pin basting a three yard quilt. If you like this pattern it’s called Roman Holiday and we have it in the guild library. This pattern was also used as one of the choices for the beginner’s class.

Lynn and Sandra are laying out the squares for our fall raffle quilt. Members took home kits made up by Lynn and stitched the various squares. After the squares were laid out, Lorna sewed them together. By day’s end the top was complete except for one border.  Welcome back from your winter holiday, Lorna!

             At our evening meeting we had quite a number of comfort quilts to share with members.

This is a baby quilt that Audrey stitched. The cotton lace eyelet ruffle she sewed into the binding added a lovely bit of interest to a simple quilt. I’m sure she’s given us ideas for other embellishments we can use. It’s a good way to use some of those odds and ends that are kicking around our sewing rooms!

Here she has another idea for embellishing a simple quilt. Audrey has added a strip of rickrack to every plain row on this quilt top. Do you have some rickrack hidden away in a corner that you thought you have no use for? Put it on a quilt top!

This is another of the Emergency Services quilts that Audrey has been working on. It is now complete and ready for donation.

A good way to use strips and scraps is this Jelly Roll Race quilt. This is another Emergency Services quilt complete. We also pin basted another for the same purpose which I am sure we’ll see next month. Audrey is a prolific quilter!

Bev pieced and quilted this baby quilt from flannel which was donated to us. It’s such a bright and happy quilt.

This creation of Bev’s started with a panel which she sliced into strips and added some other matching fabrics and voila! A very creative and interesting child’s quilt. Great work, Bev!

I demonstrated a block called Circle of Friends last fall. I must admit it was not the best of choices for a block as it had many seams and HST’s but everyone struggled through it and we had enough squares to make up this twin size quilt. The yellow and gray coupled with a white background worked out well. I was pleased with the final result after I finished the quilting and machine binding. I have to admit that hand stitching binding is not my favourite part of constructing a quilt. Thank you to the members that completed blocks.

We now have six completed Emergency Services quilts and twenty-four comfort quilts. Our members have been doing fabulous work! We should have a good number for donation by November.

Show and Tell:

While in Arizona this winter, Bev completed her paper bag quilt. This is one she started quite a number of years ago and wasn’t sure how to finish. Marg F. helped her out and she was able to complete it. A lady in Arizona did the longarm quilting for her. Beautiful!

Bev’s husband, Randy, created his own version of a quilt. He was learning wood burning techniques and this is his quilt! Congratulations, Randy, you learned well!

Audrey made this table runner with a Block in a Box which she had purchased from Faktor’s and added onto.

                                        Audrey used Christmas fabrics for this star pillow. 

Lynn presented a program on straight line quilting. She had lots of good tips and all those who have tried this type of quilting added to it from their own experiences. All in all, it was very helpful. 

It’s nice to see so many of our members trying their hand at machine quilting. 

A reminder that there will be no UFO on May 4th as the 3rd and 4th are our retreat days. If you want to attend the catered supper on May 3rd, please let Lynn know by April 27. Lynn will have a small project for us to work on Saturday at 11:00 am.

See you all on May 3rd!

Gladys

Guild Day, Tuesday, March 19, 2024

 Our turn out today varied from eight to ten members throughout the day. Many of our members are still on their winter break. Even though our numbers were small we accomplished a good deal. As a matter of fact, I got so involved in pinning and making binding that I forgot to take pictures! Shame on me!

Sandra S. was working on quilting a previously pin basted quilt and Moira was hand stitching binding with Evelyn. I was making binding for the gray and yellow Circle of Friends quilt while Bev and Audrey were preparing quilt sandwiches for pin basting.

During the day we were able to pin three comfort quilts as well as two emergency services quilts. June, Susan, Patty B. and Donna were lending a hand with the various projects. 

Donna updated the inventory and a copy has been put in the library.

Unfortunately we were unable to get a vendor for our Spring Retreat on May 3rd and 4th. Lynn will have a small project for us to work on at the retreat. Tammy will be catering a meal for us on the Friday evening.

We had a good number of Show and Tell items.

Audrey stitched this comfort quilt from poly/cotton strips. She added some rick rack strips for interest.

This quilt was started by Val Whitbread. She was unable to complete it so Audrey finished it up and Val graciously donated it as a comfort quilt.

                             The emergency services quilt from last quild day is now completed.

Another quilt for emergency services is ready to go. In total, Audrey has 11 quilts in various stages of construction. She is one busy lady!

Susan put together this Propeller block that caught her eye. This looks like something that might work well for a comfort block in the future!

Sandra was going through her trunk and found examples of various types of projects she had done in different stages of her life. This one is an example of liquid embroidery.

This example is stitched with embroidery floss. I’m sure most of us remember embroidering tea towels and pillow cases, dresser scarves and quilt squares!

This project is one Sandra is currently working on. It is a memory quilt she is making for her sister using t-shirts which belonged to her sister’s husband who has passed away. She incorporated the shirts as well as a sheet which belonged to her mother. 

                              The back of the quilt shows off the machine quilting Sandra has done.

              Charlene is one of our beginner quilters. She did a fantastic job with her three yard quilt!

For backing Charlene used the picnic table cloth she got from her mom. Cutting, piecing, basting and quilting, great job, Charlene! Welcome to the world of quilting!

          Patty shared her wall hanging of the Station Museum and the old train. Beautiful work, Patty! 

My great grandson is seven months old now so I stitched an I Spy quilt for him. We are going to see him on Easter weekend so will be able to gift it then. Thank you to Evelyn for passing on a set of object blocks to get me started.

We completed the day with Audrey’s program presentation of the Economy block, a square in a square block which will result in another beautiful comfort quilt.

                                                                       Thank you, Audrey!

Our next UFO day is April 6th and next guild day is April 16th. We look forward to seeing you then!

Gladys