Scrappy Bear Paw Quilts - the big reveal

Wow!! We had 25 scrappy bear paw quilts on display at our meeting Saturday.  They looked fantastic hung around the hall.  We even ran out of room to display them all, but they all were admired.  Well done everyone.

PS - it was fancy dress for this meeting and the theme was "bling".  Please forgive the costumes!

Some close ups:

and some more that couldn't be hung on the rope:

Guild members really enjoyed making the same blocks as others in the group.  We might even choose another block for 2016.  Thank you everyone for supporting this 30th anniversary initiative.

Scrappy Bear Paw Quilts

Is your scrappy bear paw quilt almost ready to display at our Christmas meeting on 28 November?

by Wendy Welsh 

Some of our members have been working on scrappy bear paw quilts to celebrate our guild's 30th anniversary. The Bear Paw block was chosen as our guild's logo 30 years ago because of its meaning as the Hand of Friendship.

by Adrianne Reid

Some examples were shown at the first meeting of the year, and patterns were made available.  Members have been busy choosing their own fabrics and styles, and we're looking forward to seeing a wide variety of quilts at the December meeting.  We will hang them all around the hall and take lots of photos.

by Sheila Christensen

If you would like to make your own scrappy bear paw quilt, you can find the instructions for this oversized block here!

by Pat O'Grady

Upcoming speaker and tutor: Griet Lombard

We are delighted that Griet Lombard has accepted our invitation to speak to the club at our meeting on Saturday 27 February 2016.

Griet is a well known quilter, embroiderer and tutor, and lives in New Zealand (by way of South Africa).  Her quilts have been exhibited internationally and in New Zealand, and we can't wait for her to share her passion with us!

The club has also arranged for Griet to teach her Faded Roses class for members on Sunday 28 February 2016.  We know our members are excited about this because we have a full class (but those interested can still add their name to the waitlist in case there are cancellations).

Please visit Griet Lombard's website here to learn more about her and her work.

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What is Block of the Month anyway?

We love to share the blocks that members make from our Block of the Month patterns, but have you ever wondered exactly how it works?

The Quilters' Pantry block from earlier this year.

Each month, members receive a Block of the Month pattern designed by a guild member.  Previously, Jeanie O'Sullivan did a fantastic job of designing blocks our members loved to make, and at the moment, Adrianne from On the Windy Side is designing the blocks.  The pattern includes all the instructions members need to sew the block, and a description of the colours to use.

Trip Around a Warm Planet - another block from earlier this year.

We have printed patterns available at the meeting, and then a pdf version is sent around to members shortly after the meeting for those unable to attend in person.

Members have until the next meeting to make the block.  Participation is totally optional, and members are welcome to take a pattern even if they're not sure whether they will have time to make the block for the next meeting.

This was is called Networking and is made using applique rather than curved piecing.

All members who made a block bring them to the next meeting, and hand them in for display during the meeting.  Each member who made a block writes their name down on a list, once for each block made (often members who really want to win will make multiple blocks to increase their chances - very clever thinking!).

La Cabane Francaise - a quarter log cabin block made using French General colours.

Towards the end of the meeting, a member's name is drawn from the list, and that member will win all the blocks.  Sometimes if we have a large number of blocks, we will split them into two or more lots - the idea is to leave the winner with enough blocks to make a decent size quilt with.  Members are welcome to do whatever they like with the blocks - make them into a quilt for themselves, create a charity quilt, add them to the WIP pile...

Christmas in Ohio - our upcoming Block of the Month

Members also receive the pattern for the next Block of the Month, and the cycle continues!

Does your guild do a block of the month programme?  Does it work in the same way as ours does?  What do you like best about it and what do you find most challenging?

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Guild meeting 31 October

We had our guild meeting yesterday and it was great to see four of the jelly roll quilts totally finished, and ready to be donated to charity.  We will pass them on to Aotearoa Quilters, and they will put on a special label, and give them on to Cosy Kiwi Kids, for distribution via Social Workers in Schools.

We also received a donated backing which will be great to finish off another one.

Our Block of the Months looked fantastic on the wall. We started out with a few

and it grew to this:

We had 54 Dresden Plate blocks, so shared them out amongst 4 lucky people.

The patterns for our Christmas block were given out, and it's going to be very popular too. We even have permission to use sparkly fabrics!!

It will be drawn at our Christmas meeting on 28 November.

Jelly roll race

At our September meeting we had a jelly roll race.  That's where teams of quilters race against the clock to sew a jelly roll into a quilt top in less than 2 hours.

Our aim was to make some quilts for charity. We finished the day with 7 lovely quilt tops that will be turned into quilts over the coming months.  Our jelly rolls were very kindly donated to the guild. We had a wide range of fabrics to work with, including batiks, William Morris, and Bonnie and Camille.

The teams had a lot of fun sewing these quilts under pressure. Some even chose to dress up for the occasion.

Appliquing some simple shapes onto the jelly roll quilts really made a difference to their finished looks. Don't those cats look cute?

The rest of the guild had a hand stitching day while the teams raced against the clock to complete these tops.

This was a fun day, and I think even more people will be keen to take part next year.

Jenny Hunter guest speaker

Some months ago Jenny Hunter came to speak to our guild.  Jenny bought at least 50 of her quilts to show and tell.  Many of them were mini quilts, including her series of New Zealand native birds, which are published in the New Zealand Quilter magazine.

Here's some of the quilts Jenny bought to show us:

New Zealand Pohutukawa

 

After her talk Jenny ran a small stall, selling kits and fabrics to our members. She has an online store called Plume Arts Limited.

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September Block of the Month

 In September we made La Cabane Francaise blocks.

The idea was to keep them to red, white and blue.  They were quite quick to make, so most people made more than one.  Here's how they all looked together, set on point:

A lucky member took these home to turn into a quilt.

July Block of the Month

July is winter for us in New Zealand, so we made a very warm version of the Trip Around the World block.

A single block looked liked this:

but when we got them all together they looked liked this:

One of our lucky members got to take all these bright blocks home with her.

Next Meeting - 29th August 2015

Millefiori Quilts - Innovative Paper Piecing

Shirley Mooney and Wendy Welsh

Location: 1:30pm Saturday 29th August 2015 at Waterloo School, Hardy Street, Lower Hutt

Come see, hear and touch the latest global quilting craze! Our speakers will give us an insight into Millefiori quilts as inspired from the books by Dutch quilt artist, Willyne Hammerstein.

Shirley and Wendy will be bringing samples of their work to get your creative juices flowing and inspire you to take on your own project!

All visitors welcome!

2015 Change of Dates

 

Queens Birthday falls on our regularly scheduled club day, so club day has been rescheduled to allow for this holiday.

 

The "May Meeting" on June 6th will be our AGM!!! Don't forget to bring your 30th Anniversary Pearl President's Challenge Entry!

 

Normal (last Saturday of the month) club days will resume with the June meeting on June 27th.

 

Unfortunately, though Anzac Day also falls on the April club day, we are unable to reschedule this club day at this time. 

 

 

QSM Manawatu 2015 Symposium

The National Quilt Symposium, QSM Manawatu 2015, was held last month (January 2015) in Palmerston North. There were a fantastic array of quilts on exhibition, many wonderful classes on offer, and lots of fun time to interact with quilters from around the country and the world. Our own Christine Hartigan was one of the judges! What an honour for her.

Congratulations to the many winners from Capital Quilters!!!

• Jeanette Orr
• Bridget MacFarlane
• Jeanie O'Sullivan
• Adrianne Reid
• Tracy Carew
• Shirley Mooney
• Sandra Kennington (now of Auckland)