Welcome to October everyone!    Please click on the link to read this month’s message from our president!

October President’s Message

Hello everyone!

Hopefully you are enjoying the summer weather!  Please refer to the following link for this month’s “Presidential Message!”

Click here:  President’s Message – August 29

Please click on the following link to see this month’s message from President Schweda! 

President Message – July 2013

Summer has finally arrived ! It was a while coming, but the heat is here. What better time to retreat to a cool spot in your sewing room to escape the heat and get some quilting done ?​

At the July meeting:

Quilt Show, 2013: Thanks again to everyone involved in making this our best quilt show yet ! We’ll have a brief review of the show and our finances, with the complete wrap up in August when all of our receipts are in, our bills are paid and Judy C. returns from her holidays.

Supplies for the July meeting – In keeping with our Christmas in July tradition, we’ll begin work on our quilted postcards. If you’d like to participate, please bring a 5×7”background fabric, scissors and any special fabric you’d like to include in your card. We will have lots of seasonal fabric (thanks to Ann V) to choose from as well as the basic supplies, some design inspirations and work stations available.

Potluck: July is also our potluck supper. Be sure to bring along your place setting as well as a dish to pass.  Thanks to Eugenia for volunteering to be our hostess while Judy W. is away.

Irmgard’s Interesting Indian Itinerary: (and Germany)Irmgard has graciously agreed to share the highlights of her recent trip and talk about the contacts she made regarding sister guilds/kindred groups.

Also at the July meeting:

My Sister’s Place presentation of Comfort Quilts

Colour Theory resumes

If you made a Grandmother’s Flower Garden patch and have no further plans for it, please bring it along with you – someone else might want to collect them to use

Quilt Show Member Feedback Survey

Volunteer Sign-ups for Snacks and Set up

Sunbonnet Sue Registration Continues – $ 2 to participate – receive the background fabric and applique pattern. The completed blocks will be compiled into one or more sets and the set(s) will be drawn for. Participants will receive a draw ticket.

Peggy F is still looking for 15” squares of batting, or smaller bits she can piece together. July is the last opportunity to bring them before she leaves on her trip. Peggy has also agreed to share highlights of her trip at the September meeting.

Raffle Quilt – Ticket sales continue. See Ann V to turn in completed books or sign out more tickets to sell

Ongoing events: Martha Schellingerhoud trunk show in August, International Sunbonnet Sue begins in September, work continues on our plowing match blocks to be revealed in October (bring your extra fabric – someone else might need it),

New Password: Please note – our website password has changed. See an executive member if you need the new password.

Don’t forget for the July meeting: Dish to pass, place setting, comfort quilts, name tag, postcard supplies, batting, raffle change, raffle tickets, show ‘n tell items

 Thanks to Sally for sharing her AQS Adventure and to the demonstrators for the May meeting: Sally, Senora and Judy C., and to Nancy for sharing her quilt journey and her wonderful quilts.

THE QUILT SHOW IS ALMOST HERE ! Our June meeting will be dedicated to final preparations. Bring your quilts for the show, including challenge and workshop items, quilts for the bed turning and penny raffle items. A reminder – ALL ENTRIES MUST HAVE A LABEL IDENITFYING THE OWNER, ALL BED QUILTS MUST HAVE A HANGING SLEEVE AND ALL WALL QUILTS MUST HAVE A HANGING SLEEVE AND ROD. If you need to add a hanging sleeve to your quilt, check out this Fons and Porter tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NO70_ENjQk&feature=youtu.be

If you haven’t already signed up for your volunteer hours or items for the tea room, please do so at the meeting.

We’re still hoping for a few more quilts for the BED TURNING – if you have a vintage or modern quilt that has an interesting/historic/amusing story to tell, we’d like to include it in the bed turning. Please email the quilt’s story to Senora before the June meeting, and bring the quilt along to the meeting. THESE ITEMS MUST ALSO BE CLEARLY LABELLED.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed items to the Penny Raffle. If you have an item you’re finishing up, please bring it to the meeting, too.

Judy has promised final details regarding the show. Floor plan, volunteer schedules and equipment/set up material assignments will be available.

Also at the June meeting:

Grandmother’s flower garden kits will be available to work on (no charge). Please bring needle and neutral thread, scissors and a few pins. We’ll also have the usual Show ‘n Tell, Raffle and Snacks.

COMFORT QUILTS: Don’t forget that we need to finish up our Comfort Quilts for the July meeting. If you are able to take a kit for quilting, please do so at the June meeting.

Colour theory is on hiatus and will return in July when Analogous Colours are on the agenda. Thanks to Senora and challenge participants for their flexibility.

Raffle Quilt – The raffle quilt is finished. Thanks to Eugenia, Stephanie, Dianne and Judy C. for their work completing this project, and to all the members who kindly donated fabric. Raffle tickets are available from Ann V. Completed ticket books and payment can be returned any time, but let’s hope to wrap this up by the November meeting as we draw the winner in December. A reminder from Eleanor – if you take three ticket books, you will have enough to sell them all in groups of 3 for the 3/$5 price. AND – as an incentive for members who sell three or more books of tickets, a prize draw will be held! Details at the June meeting.

Peggy’s Kenya Trip – Peggy thanks everyone for their generosity. She’s also received a certificate for FabricLand, but is still asking for batting – either 15” squares, strips or bits she can piece together. Peggy leaves in July, so if you wish to send anything along with her, please bring to the June meeting. I’m happy to report that Peggy has promised us a presentation about her trip later this year.

COMING EVENTS: We have been fortunate to secure permission from AQS and the author of International Sun Bonnet Sue to use the book as the basis for a guild challenge. We’ll have a sign-up sheet at the June and July meetings and hope to launch the challenge in September. Entry fee is $2, which will cover the cost of background fabric and a pattern. We will reveal the blocks in December and will hold a draw for the completed blocks. THE SET OF COMPLETED BLOCKS WILL BE AWARDED TO THE DRAW WINNER OR WINNERS, WHO WILL BE OBLIGATED TO PROVIDE PATTERN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AS SPECIFIED BY THE BOOK’S PUBLISHER: AQS.

JULY MEETING: It’s our summer Pot Luck Supper, Comfort Quilt Presentation to My Sister’s Place, and a special presentation from Irmgard with highlights from her recent trip. Colour Theory will continue and we’ll have new sign-up sheets for snacks, set-up and Sun Bonnet Sue.

CHRISTMAS IN JULY: As part of our Christmas in July tradition, we’ll be starting work on Quilted Post Cards. If you wish to participate in this activity, please bring a 5×7” piece of fabric to use as your base. Other materials, instructions, and pattern options will be available at the meeting.

JULY HOSTESS: Our regular hostess, Judy W, will be taking a well-deserved holiday in July. We need someone to fill in for her at the July meeting only. As this is our Pot Luck, cold drinks such as Lemonade, will be sufficient for the evening and should mean a minimum of preparation and clean up. If you’re able to fill in, please let us know.

PLOWING BLOCK CHALLENGE: Just a reminder that we’ll have a reveal of the challenge blocks at our October meeting. If you’ve finished your block and have some fabric left over, please donate it to our scrap bag for any member who may run short.

AUGUST 10-11 – QUILTS AT THE CREEK – Black Creek Pioneer Village in partnership with York Heritage Guild. Marketplace, advanced workshops and quilt appraisals. http://www.blackcreek.ca/v2/events/quilts.dot

Websites of Interest: This pins tutorial from Threads Magazine might be of interest:

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3830/a-pin-for-every-purpose

Things to bring to the June meeting: Show quilts, including bed turning, challenges, workshop quilts; needle, thread, scissors and a few pins (or your own hand sewing), name tag, items for Peggy’s trip, show ‘n tell, mug, raffle ticket money and completed ticket books.

It must be spring at last ! The green garlic shoots are up and looking good (with only a few bunny nibbles) and the robins are busy feathering their nests.

It’s a busy time for guild, too, with final preparations for our QUILT SHOW.

ENTRY INTENT FORMS should be forwarded to Eleanor/Cathy without delay. They have the responsibility to prepare all the paperwork and signage before the big day. Please get your forms in as quickly as you can.

The VENDORS are set and ready to go.

Remember, SHIRLEY IS LOOKING FOR 5” CHARM SQUARES (pinked edges if you can), to serve as favours for show attendees.

Shirley also has the VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP SHEETS and Judy W. and Ann V. will have FOOD DONATION SIGN UP SHEETS at the May meeting.

PENNY AUCTION: Items continue to come in for the penny raffle. Everything from potholders to pin cushions to place mats to purses. (Your item doesn’t have to start with “P”). Handmade items for the sewing room, kitchen, home décor or gift giving are welcome. The more items we can collect, the better our display and the more profit we can generate. We appreciate every contribution ! Keep them coming !

RAFFLE QUILT: The raffle quilt is almost completed and tickets will be available shortly. (Many thanks to Judy C. for completing the quilting). This is an important fundraiser for the guild, which also supports My Sister’s Place and Matthew’s House. Only 1000 tickets will be printed. If each member sells just two books of ten tickets, we will easily reach our sales goal. If you have any questions, please see Ann V. who has graciously volunteered to oversee ticket sales.

MAY MEETING HIGHLIGHTS: It’s DEMO NIGHT at guild. (Chatelaines have been moved to November). Our demo theme is “FINISH IT UP”, with four stations to help with those last steps to completing our quilts for the show. Senora will demonstrate continuous bias binding, Sally will have tips on labelling (including printing on fabric), Judy C. has a binding tool to show and I will discuss mitered binding corners.

Also, we look forward to Nancy S. who will be our Quilter of the Month. She made her first quilt about 34 years ago. After that single quilt, her interest was reawakened in 2003 when her sister became interested in quilting and Nancy took a machine quilting class. Both her mother and grandmother had been quilters, but both were hand quilters. Her proudest quilting accomplishment is a baby quilt made for her great niece in Montreal. Nancy enjoys quilting in her basement studio with full height windows where she opts for batiks and their jewel tones. She is currently working on her One Block Wonder Challenge and will soon be hard at work in her garden which, on her 10 acre property, takes most of her time during the summer months. (Actually, Nancy mentioned something about needing a machete). She belongs to three bridge groups and is active in her church and at a retreat centre in Orangeville. Nancy hopes to complete some individual quilts to donate to Singing Waters Ministries. We are also grateful to Nancy for the special comfort quilts she has donated for our guild use, some of which we have earmarked to be used as raffle quilts should any local charities ask for our assistance.

Her QoM presentation promises to be a highlight of our May meeting.

Also featured at our May meeting – Colour Theory continues, Sally’s Awesome AQS Adventure in Lancaster and more !

JUNE: Final show prep and quilt intake. Most of our evening will be taking in, measuring and documenting our quilts, final volunteer assignments and committee meetings. We’ll also have an evening of hand sewing – kits for Grandmother’s Flower Garden blocks will be available (no charge). Please bring needle, neutral thread, scissors and a few pins. If you have other hand sewing projects to work on, bring them along, too. We’ll also continue Colour Theory, Secret Siblings and the usual Show ‘n Tell, raffle, etc.

LOOKING AHEAD – The updated program has been posted. July is our potluck and presentation to My Sister’s Place, Martha Schellingerhoud is our special guest in August and our International Sunbonnet Sue Challenge will begin in September.

Spring Events:

CREATIV FESTIVAL – April 26 and 27 – Toronto, www.csnf.com

QUILTS BY THE BAY – April 27 – 28, North Bay www.quiltsbythebay.ca

MOUNT FOREST SPRING QUILT SHOW – May 3 and 4 www.fourcornersquiltersguild.com

FEELINGS IN FABRIC – May 3 – 5, Peterborough, Contact: kqg2013@live.ca

QUILTS IN BLOOM – May 4 – 5, Newmarket, www.regionofyorkquiltersguild.ca

BRAMPTON QUILTERS GUILD SHOW – May 4 and 5 – http://bqguild.wordpress.com/show/

GOOSE ON THE LOOSE SHOP HOP – May 9 – 11 – http://www.lilaclanequilts.com/shophop.html Participating Shops: Cobwebs and Caviar, Country Concessions, Lilac Lane Quilts, Sew Jax and Quilter’s Line

QUILTED TREASURES – May 25 – 26, Lindsay, Contact: quiltshow13@gmail.com

OTHER THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND:

PEGGY F – Peggy sends along her gratitude for all the generous donations for her Africa outreach. When asked what else she might still need, she’s looking for scissors, bright solid fabrics or batiks, rulers and pieces of batting, either 15” square, or 15” strips.

PLOWING MATCH BLOCKS – due for reveal in October. If you’ve completed your block and have extra fabric, please bring it along in case someone else has run short.

SIT ‘N SEW – We had another productive and fun-filled day together on the 13^th with our best ever turnout. Thanks to Sally and everyone who came early or stayed late to set up and take down, or who brought snacks. By day’s end there were at least 10 completed tops and several more well on their way. There are also some top/batting/backing sets available to be quilted. Again, our thanks to everyone who came to the Sit ‘n Sew, others working on their own, the long arm quilters and binders, fabric donors, sorters, cutters and storers, and special thanks to Senora for overseeing and documenting this important initiative.

MEMBERSHIP: If you have not renewed your membership, please remember to see Maxine at the May meeting. You must be a member in good standing in order to enter your quilts in the quilt show.

NEXT MEETING: MAY 7^TH – Things to bring to the May meeting – Show ‘n Tell, Secret Siblings, membership renewal, comfort quilts, mug, raffle change, name tag

President’s Message:

It’s the start of another new quilting year ! Once again, we send our thanks to Judy C and Eugenia B for their service on the executive and welcome Sally B. and Maxine H. and returning executive members back for another year. We don’t want to forget all the others who help make our guild work – thanks also to Senora for her in-depth 3-D and Colour Theory Studies, Michele W. and Senora for keeping our website up to date, Judy W. in the kitchen, Ann V. for serving on the SCQRC Show team, members of the Program Committee, Judy C. and all the volunteers working on the Quilt Show and the raffle quilt,members who have worked on comfort quilts and outreach projects, and other members who have provided snacks, or who have helped with setup and clean up. It quickly becomes clear that our guild has many important projects continually on the go.The old adage of many hands making light work certainly applies to making our guild a success.

We’ve heard you – even if you’ve had trouble hearing us. There have been some technical issues with the microphone/audio system that we’re trying to iron out with the church. We hope to have it up and running and in use at all the meetings and apologize for this inconvenience.

Quilt Show News – the committee continues to work towards a successful show. Volunteers will be needed for many areas: white glovers, admission, tea room, raffle quilt, penny auction, set up and take down. Please give some thought to the areas in which you’d prefer to volunteer. Shirley F. will have a volunteer sign-up sheet available. Volunteers are needed from Friday, June 7 thru Sunday, June 9.

Please remember Intent Forms are due on or before the April 2nd meeting. Remember, this is only an intent form, but Eleanor and Cathy need time to process the entries and create the signage and other necessary paperwork. Please remember that your quilts will need a hanging sleeve, a label (see the entry form for specifics for each quilt type), and please remember to give full credit for pattern source, quilter, etc. A short paragraph detailing the quilt’s history is also of interest to the viewers.Details may include the quilt inspiration, recipient, colour choice, or any other information that would be of interest. If you are able to make your submission electronically, it means less work for Eleanor and Cathy.

Please keep those penny auction items coming !!

Quilt Outreach – A reminder of Peggy F’s quilting outreach in Africa. We hope that by providing an additional skill/source of income, we can bring about a very positive change in the lives of those women and their families. Peggy is finalizing specifics as to what she can take, but suggests gifts of thread, scissors, thimbles, rulers, needles and threads (sewing, quilting, or embroidery). She also needs solid colour fabrics, but will have to confirm her weight/size limit. Items need not be new – if you have extra supplies in your sewing room, they could be of use tothe Africa women. Bring any donations to the meeting.

Program – There’s lots on the go in upcoming months. (See the program page for full details).

April 2nd – Gizmos, Widgets, and Whatnots. Four of our local shops (Barrie Sew and Quilt, Country Concessions, Lilac Lane and Thrifty Threads) will present what’s new in their stores for Spring, and we’ll have a chance to do some shopping. Arlene G. will demonstrate her used needle storage system, Senora has Colour Block 4, and Secret Siblings begin. We will have a table for Secret Sibling exchanges, so bring any exchange items in a labelled bag and we’ll try to keep our identities a secret until next March. If you missed the program survey at the March meeting, please take a moment or two to fill one out in April. Membership renewal continues in April. If you haven’t yet renewed your membership, please see Maxine. What to bring: Show ‘n Tell (including Colour Theory), Secret Siblings,membership renewal, mug, raffle change, Penny Auctiondonations and items for Peggy.

April 13th – Sit ‘n Sew, Living Faith Presbyterian Church, Baxter. Doors open at 9 am. Work on Comfort Quilts or items for the quilt show. Comfort Quilt kits will be available. Bring your own lunch. Morning snack and coffee/tea will be provided.We’ll work until about 4, but if you only have a few free hours, please join us for as long as your schedule allows.

May 7th – Nancy S. is our Quilter of the Month, Sally will present another adventure – this time to the AQS Show in Lancaster, PA, Karen will have patterns to cut out chatelaines along with a demo, Colour Block 5, Quilt Show news, Show ‘n Tell, and raffle.

Sister Guilds – Irmgard has volunteered to be our emissary on her upcoming trip to India and Europe. She’s taking some guild pins, fabric, and a letter of invitation and hopefully, she’ll return with a sister guild. Here are links to the contacts she’s made so far:

www.groebenzeller-quiltgruppe.com (Germany)

http://desi-quilters.blogspot.in  (India)

The program committee will get to work on some internationalinter-guild activities if she’s successful. If you have any ideas, please let the program committee know.

Thanks to Irmgard for all of her efforts on the guild’s behalf. Have a safe trip !

How Far Can you Stitch ? Final numbers are in for this CQA Challenge. The goal was 307,929,600” and Canadian Quilters completed 307,929,687.5”. Made it by 87.5” ! CQA promises more challenges to come.

Program – As always, if you have a suggestion regarding our meeting program, please let anyone on the executive or program committee know. It takes a fair bit of effort to organize themonthly meetings while trying to provide something of interest to all the members. You don’t need to be a member of the program committee to submit an interesting idea.

It’s National Craft Month, so the only patriotic thing to do is get to work on our quilting !

Happy Sewing !

Donna

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2013!  I hope everyone had a great holiday season with family and friends.   Now onto another year of quilting projects and events.
It is an exciting year for QCG , as we prepare and look forward to our second Stitching Among Friends Quilt Show in the spring.  The committee has been working on advertising and securing vendors.  They will be looking at subcommittees and volunteer tasks over the  next couple of months.  We will need members to help out with a wide variety of tasks to culminate into a successful show.  We will also put out a call for a commitment of quilts to be proudly displayed by members as well.   And, don’t forget to make some small items for the penny auction.
The program committee is meeting the first week of January to plan activities and events for the upcoming months.  It takes a lot of time and effort outside of each guild meeting to ensure we have a full roster of varied program items to fill each two hour guild meeting.  We need your input and suggestions to help us out.  If you know of speakers, workshop presenters, techniques or challenges you would like to see – send the info to Donna or Senora before January 8th!
Check out the new pics added to the gallery from the November workshop and our December meeting.  You can always post a comment or suggestion on the website.

You can also sign up to have an alert sent to you when new items are posted to the QCG website – so you are always up to date.  To sign up, refer to the right sidebar on the home page and enter your email address where it says “Subscribe by Email”
Remember, there is no guild meeting in January.  See you on February 5th, 2013.

In stitches,

Senora

Time sure flies by! Yesterday was our One Block Wonder workshop.  Although I did not make it, I understand a good time was had by all.  Thanks to Shirley for her leadership and all of those who assisted with set- up, snacks and clean up.  Please be sure to bring a sample of your blocks…or your completed top…to our December meeting for everyone to see how different each quilt will be.  Toss in some of the original fabric as well.

Christmas is almost upon us…our December meeting is about socializing…please bring an item for our potluck supper and some loonies and toonies for Quilt Bingo – proceeds to the
local food bank.  Also, remember your quilted stockings, Santa sacks and Comfort Quilts for My Sisters Place.  At the moment we have 27 quilts, 33 sacks and 36 stockings packed and ready to go.

Last month we gave  instructions for the first block of the fabric Colour Theory series.  Finish up your colour  wheel and bring it along.  Remember to bring your Yo-Yo ornaments from Christmas in July and any Christmas Show’n’Tell you have.  Donna is still collecting measurements for the CQA challenge too!  We will present the last of the 3-D Block series – looking forward to the reveal in March, when we hope Christie will be able to join us and see what she has inspired.

We had a great turn out last month for the Quilts of Israel presentation, where we heard lots of stories and saw an amazing sample of quilts from the upcoming spring show.  Another destination to put on your calendar.

See you in December…

Senora 🚗

School is in, the mornings are cooler and Thanksgiving is fast approaching.  How fast the time flies by.  Over the last couple of months we have had the pleasure of seeing Nancy Trott’s quilt journey, the Fibre to Fabric process with Patti Carey – including several of her beautiful quilts, and the opportunity to visit the Simcoe County Quilt, Rug and Craft Fair.
October brings the art of embellishment to guild with Mariposa Beads.  We will not only see a variety of beads and ways to use them, we will be able to purchase beads for our own creative uses.  We will continue with our 3 D blocks, #13 & #14.  Remember to bring your blocks to share.  It is always interesting to see how one idea can look so different just by changing fabric, setting or embellishments.  We are hoping to see lots when we do the 3D block reveal in March when we expect Christie, the original designer, to visit us again.  We will also be introducing a series on Colour Theory, in response to to requests on our feedback survey.
Remember to join us on October 13th for our next Sit n Sew in Baxter.  It’s a great opportunity to work on Comfort Quilts or join the group working on the raffle quilt for our show next June.
With the evolution of our website, we are considering moving away from a separate newsletter, since all of the information is now posted on line.  If you have suggestions for either the website or guild meetings, please let us know.
Senora

Stitching Away…