The NIPG, as we are affectionately known, welcomes anyone interested in any aspect of patchwork and/or quilting, in whatever form. Beginner, advanced or in between.
The Guild usually meets on the first Saturday of the month in the Parochial Hall of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Cultra, Co Down, Northern Ireland. Contact us for more information.
Meetings open around 10.30 am with tea/coffee for which we charge a small visitor's fee. This is quite informal.
The meeting proper begins with 'housekeeping' - various announcements relevant to our members. Often we will have engaged a speaker of note, which is sometimes followed by a workshop/ sew-in. Full day workshops are held on Sundays.
We have had speakers and teachers from USA, Germany, Holland, England, not forgetting the excellent people who are locally based.
Contact us or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/nipatchworkguild for further information.
Thanks to all who attended our Christmas meeting in Ballygilbert.
We had a great time and everyone enjoyed the games, Stand Up Bingo and the
handbag game.
Many thanks to Jean Openshaw and Joanna Warwick and their volunteer helpers
for the lovely mince pies, shortbread and mulled punch.
There was a good entry for the Christmas challenge, lots of ballot prises and the Secret Santa.
The show and tell was brilliant with so many new items. There were several items from Jennie Raymond’s workshops, several new quilts that are being made for family members and celebrations
and lots of other beautiful items. Well done ladies you never fail to show your skills and delight our members.
The entries for the Christmas challenge showed a great variety of interpretations on the theme ‘Winters Tale.’
First prize went to Gillian Barr
and the second to Valerie McKeown. Well done.
Our next meeting is on Saturday the 7th January in our usual venue at the folk Museum. There will be 4 demonstrations and conversation. We always enjoy the demos and craic as well as benefitting from sharing techniques and sparking ideas and inspiration! Hope to see you all there.
Don’t forget that the programme for the meetings and the workshops for the year are listed in your membership cards.
Letter from our Chair, Brenda. Sunday 27th November 2016.
Members and Friends
December is nearly upon us and that means that Christmas is just around the corner. How the year has flown.
I am sure you are all getting ready for Christmas, I am getting ready for another trip to America and sunny California. So why not have a break from the shopping and come to the December meeting.
The December Meeting is in Ballygilbert Presbyterian Church on Saturday the 3rd December.
We will have non-alcoholic mulled wine, mince pies and shortbread. Please bring your own cup. There will be the usual show and tell when we hope to see lots of new work especially things from the workshops. Also bring your PHD’s and UFO’s.
There will be the usual Secret Santa. Please bring a wrapped sewing-related present to the value of £7.
Don’t forget your Christmas challenge. You still have time to make something if you haven’t already done so. The challenge is any article depicting ‘Winters Tale’. Prizes for 1st and 2nd.
There will be the usual ballot, however as I told you in last month’s notice, Denman will not be providing a hamper so are appealing for items for our hamper. Please let me have any contributions as soon as you arrive.
Directions to Ballygilbert Presbyterian Church. The church is on the main A2 Bangor Road between Ballyrobert and Clandeboye going in the direction of Bangor. It is on the left hand side shortly after entering the dual carriageway and has a large carpark.
Hope to see you all at the Christmas meeting.
Brenda
Here’s the link to La Ruche des Quilteuses site…
Une Lune grosse, ronde et brillante — La Ruche des Quilteuses
“A big moon, round and shiny”.
Great ideas on how to portray that exceptional moon that we witnessed recently.
[Written in French, if viewing from our Post, use the right click of the mouse to access Translate. Or go straight to their website and click on Translate in the menu on the righthand side.]
Si vous avez la chance de ne pas avoir de nuage ce soir, où que vous soyez dans le monde, regardez par le ciel : la Lune sera pleine et extraordinairement grosse et brillante ! Des explications sur Sciences & Avenir. Les plus belles beautés sont dans la Nature, nous l’oublions trop souvent ! Je […]
It was lovely to see so many of you at the November meeting we had over 60 people to here Jennie Rayment.
Jennie is full of life and gave us a very informative and entertaining talk. I was particularly interested in her microwave dying and am definitely going to try it. I was able to attend both her workshops on Saturday afternoon and Sunday. On Saturday everyone went home with 2 cushion panels of different designs all we had to do at home was add the bindings and backs. On Sunday we were all were all able to complete a ‘Scrappy Zappy Do’ wall hanging perhaps you have already scene the photographs on facebook.
The competition for a new Guild Banner is still open. The idea of a new banner is to bring the Guild a bit more into the 21 century and have something to display at exhibitions etc. Please keep your entries coming and it would be helpful if you coloured them in. Lets have some more for the December meeting.
Just a couple of reminders;
The Christmas challenge is any article depicting ‘A Winters Tale’
We are still looking for contributions for the Christmas Hamper please bring them to the December meeting.
Secret Santa this has been a long tradition in the Guild when everyone brings a wrapped present to the value of about £7 these are then put in Santa’s Sack and you get to pick something. It should ideally be connected to sewing and something you would like to receive yourself.
We were very fortunate to have Jennie at the NIPG such a treat to have he entertain us as she showed off her quilts which you can see to the let and below. I thoroughly enjoyed her afternoon workshop which was a change to machine sewing and piecing large pieces of fabric.It felt very therapeutic to…
Thank you Jayne, your post really gives a flavour of the day and Jennie’s infectious and fun personality. Gorgeous photos too.
Looking forward to the Stack ‘n Whack workshop being given by Ann Blachford on Friday 18th November.
Our next meeting is on Saturday 3rd December. Please get in touch if you’re interested in joining us for the first time.
We’ve joined Pinterest, our name is nipatchwork, you can find us at NI Patchwork. We have created lots of boards already with suggestions for seasonal projects and recipes. As we’re coming up to Christmas, we’re adding a section called ‘Notions: what I’d like for Christmas’. Hope you can find us if you’re a Pinterest user. If not try it out. Any ideas on the best use of Pinterest would be very welcome. Not just welcome, but very welcome. 🙂
Also, we’ve changed the menu somewhat. Home is still home, but we’ve added a section about ‘Hands Across the Border‘ and would love to hear how you’re getting on.
Another new section is ‘Current Projects’.
Find out what Brenda has chosen for her Charity this year.
Get the pattern for the Cuddly blanket, a project for the babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. This is a wonderful project instigated by our Chair, Brenda Richardson to give back to the Community.
Please get in touch if you have anything you’d like to add, suggest etc. Would love to hear from you.
[If anyone is willing to take a few photos and provide an update of our events, please contact us.]
The September meeting was called ‘Reaching Out’, referring to our interaction with communities.
Lydia Black, who is taking her A-levels this year, talked about her trip to a village and school in Uganda to help local girls. Lydia’s group provided the Ugandan girls with with much needed clothes. She also brought with her reusable sanitary protection, which Brenda Richardson and I had helped to make.
Wave Quilt
Angela McCormick and Pat Pauley facilitated the making of the Belfast WAVE quilt.
Instead of making one large quilt, they decided that a triptych worked much better. Each panel shows the thoughts and concerns from the women who took part.
Chair’s Charity
Each year the current Chair can nominate a Charity of their choice. At every meeting we have a Ballot, and the money is collected at the end of the season.
So, this year we were delighted to present a cheque for £650 to Elizabeth DIckson, Chair of the Board of Quaker Service to be given to the Quaker Cottage, a cross-community family day care centre in North and West Belfast.
–Show and Tell, was the usual riot of colour and quilts! Sadly we weren’t able to take any photos, but if anyone would like to submit photos of recently finished quilts, we’d be delighted to post them here.
Folk Museum’s Craft and Skills Sunday.
On the Sunday, Jan Kirkwood and I demonstrated patchwork at the Folk and Transport Museum. We were busy all day and really enjoyed showing the visitors what we do.
Jan had brought a hand-operated Singer sewing machine with her, which proved very popular with children!
Here’s a message from our Chair, Brenda Richardson.
Hi Everyone
Well the summer is almost over and I noticed the other day that the nights are also drawing in.
I hope you have all had a good summer and got lots of sewing done.
The new Guild year starts on Saturday 3rd September in the Parochial Hall at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.
Following some of last year’s comments, the committee have decided to have an earlier start to our meetings. Doors open 10.00 a.m. and the meeting will start at 10.45a.m. with the speaker being introduced at 11.00 a.m.
The theme for our first meeting is Reaching Out. We will hear from:-
Lydia Black about reaching out in Uganda
Angela McCormick and Patricia Pauley will talk about helping with the Belfast WAVE quilt.
There will be the ever popular Show and Tell, so please bring along your new work to show.
We will be presenting a cheque to Quaker Cottage in respect of last year’s charity collection.
You will hear about the workshops up until Christmas.
So come along early to catch up, pay your fees (still only £30) and see what’s new about the 2016 / 2017 year. The membership form is attached
Don’t forget to bring your cup and wear your name badge. If you haven’t already made one you have a few days before the meeting!
Looking forward to seeing everyone,
Brenda
NB This form is an image, so you can’t complete it online. However, you can print it. Using the right click on your mouse select, “Save Image as”…. whatever you like. Current members will have received the form in the email which Brenda has sent everyone. If you haven’t got that email, or if you have a question, please get in touch.
Quick note to add to this post. Patrick’s Olympics didn’t end with a medal; only a few may win medals, but Patrick certainly won our hearts and we are tremendously proud of his achievements.
Summer’s nearly over and joyfully our 2016 -17 season will kick off on Saturday 3rd September. Post will follow soon.
Time to update you on Joy McCormick’s Grandson, Patrick Huston, and his Road to Rio.
Patrick, a former award winning quilter, (albeit achieved when he was ten), definitely has our support. Wishing you every success in Rio, but most of all enjoy this experience for which you have worked so hard.
Belfast to Sambódromo 5,879 miles
Sambodromo is the traditional venue for carnival samba school parades, but is opening its doors to archery and the marathon during Rio 2016.
First up for TeamGB will be Patrick and fellow archer Naomi Folkard. Their ranking rounds are scheduled for 5 August, the day of the opening ceremony.
Aim of the game
Rio 2016 Archery Cat.
Archery has a simple but far from easy objective: to hit the bull’s eye on a target from a distance of 70m.
Why is it important ?
From Robin Hood to Legolas, there have been many iconic archers in literature and film: at the Olympic Games you can see all this skill and heroism in real life
Here’s a new email from Joy, Patrick’s Granny:-
I don’t know if you get the Belfast Telegraph, but I’ve sent you a link to a long article on Patrick going to Rio.
In it you may notice that the NIPG has been transmogrified into
” granny’s knitting group” !
Just wanted to say that is not what Patrick would have told them. He knows better! I suspect it is the work of some ignorant male sports reporter who probably thought it sounded more comic. Joy
An interesting and fact packed article, containing the following sentence:
I’ve had messages of support from my granny’s knitting group
One little sentence, sadly incorrect. Calling us ‘granny’s knitting group’ creates an impression of a group composed of grandmothers, though some of us are.
Love how Joy says, referring to Patrick ‘He knows better!’
Perhaps ‘Patrick’s Granny’s Knitting Group’ would have scanned better and eradicted false impressions. What do you think? Of course, it should have read ‘Patrick’s Granny’s Quilting Group’.
In spite of our fabric souls being transmogrified into wool, it is wonderful to have main stream media taking note of Patrick and hard-won achievements.
NB Images are courtesy of Rio 2016 where you’ll find everything you would want to know about the Olympics 2016, including the Olympic torch journey.
An exciting announcement was made at our AGM, Joy McCormick’s grandson, Patrick Huston had just been selected to represent Team GB in Archery at Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND – MAY 29: Patrick Huston of Britain shoots during the Men’s Recurve Gold medal team match at the European Archery Championship on May 29, 2016 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Nigel Roddis/Getty Images)
Patrick, born in Belfast, attended Campbell College and was a founding member of the East Belfast Archery Club. He now lives in Shropshire where he coaches while training full time with the Olympic Squad at Lilleshall National Sports Centre. Patrick began archery in 2004 and made his international debut in 2012. [For those who know about these things, he is right handed and his arrows are 29.25″ long and his draw weight is 50 lbs.]
Click here for a BBC interview with Patrick made just after he had qualified for Rio, in which Patrick describes his achievement as ‘amazing’. He also admits to being a bit of a “show off”.
However, we think that he’s entitled to be that and more.
As if being three time world champion archer at junior level wasn’t enough, he’s a former Festival of Quilts prize winner, ca 2006.
Here’s what his proud Granny says:
“In his younger days he enjoyed sewing – was quite good on the sewing machine. I am attaching two photos of a quilt he and I worked on together which was exhibited at the NIPG summer exhibition at the Folk Museum, in the days when they used to mount a craft exhibition.
Patrick aged 7 concentrating on his quilting.
One is of young Patrick hand- piecing the quilt. The other is of the quilt hanging at Cultra with him, his older brother and myself. I see by my PC they are dated 2003, so Patrick would have been 7.
I believe it was in 2006, when he turned 10 that he made a small wall-hanging which I put into the junior competition at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham. The topic was “The Northwest Passage”. Patrick created his hanging out of re-cycled materials. It won second prize.
2006 Patrick Huston (aged 10) 2nd Prize, Festival of Quilts Birmingham. Made from recycled materials.
Patrick came home to see his parents just after our AGM, as he trains full-time in England. I told him I had mentioned his early career as a quilter at the Patchwork Guild. He was really amused to hear his achievements had been mentioned at the NIPG meeting and laughed.
In fact he was trying to bully me into making him an “Olympic” quilt to celebrate his getting an Olympic place.
NO PRESSURE! “
When asked if Patrick would mind us writing about his quilting career and posting photos of him quilting, Joy said:
“I know Patrick won’t mind. He has had to put up with his mother putting on Facebook a photo of him aged about 4 trying his hand at archery at a fun day in Stormont grounds.”
Patrick wearing the Stella McCartney Olympic Uniform Tshirt. 29/06/2016
“Yesterday (Wednesday 29th June), he was kitted out with his Stella McCartney designer gear to wear in Rio. Three suitcases full! This photo is hot off the press” Joy McCormick, June 2016.
Patrick, we’ll all be glued to the television, supporting you and willing you on. Most importantly, enjoy every second of the experience.
Here’s a wee bit about the sport of archery, taken from the official Rio spectator guide.
Considering that hunting is an activity strongly connected to the beginning of our civilisation, archery can be considered one of the oldest sports in history. The practice was made official in the 16th century with the organisation of tournaments in England. Its debut in the Olympic programme was in Paris 1900. In St. Louis 1904, the sport became one of the first to allow women to participate.
ABOUT THE COMPETITION The distance between the archer and the target (1.22m of diameter) is 70m. The target score varies from 1 to 10, according to the proximity to the inner circle. The archer has 40 seconds to shoot each of their six arrows. In the finals, the archer has 20 seconds to shoot each of their three arrows. In the air, the arrow can travel at more than 240km per hour. In the knockout system, any mistake can rule the athlete out of the competition. In individual events, archers with the best results after five series of three arrows go through to the next phase. The same rule applies to team events, but the best teams after four series of six arrows go through.
The ‘Memories’ exhibition at the Flax Gallery, Mossley Mill was wonderful! Our members did us proud producing 38 beautiful quilts. [Check out the Memories Quilt Page on our site] . The theme obviously sparked inspiration in so many directions – the variety of quilts and the diversity of techniques was phenomenal, and the quality of the work was tremendous.
The exhibition was very well received by the visitors, whose comments in the book were very complimentary indeed! I visited the exhibition three times, with various friends, and I found it a very great pleasure on each occasion. Well done to everyone who produced a quilt for the exhibition. The quilt voted favourite by the visitors was Clare Taggart’s ‘Rathlin Island’. Congratulations, Clare!
And finally, a special thanks to Brian McKenna for photographing the quilts for us, you’ve done us proud!
On Saturday 4th June we will hold our Annual General meeting at the Folk Museum. The Chairman and the Treasurer will present their reports for the year and the arrangements for next year’s committee will be finalised. Then we will have the patchwork postcards, the apple pie and the chat!
We are asking members to bring along two fabric postcards – 6” by 4” – in any design they choose. We will display the postcards, then members will receive two postcards from the collection. Esmé suggests creating the postcard on wadding or wadded curtain lining, then sewing it on to a card backing. Good luck and we’re looking forward to seeing all the cards! Anne James.
Ideas for Postcards with links to interesting sites.
Here’s a link to Postmark’d Art a great site all about Fabric Postcards,
Sue Reno’s Postcard and link to her Blog
from a group inspired by an article in Quilting Arts about a group who were making 4″x6″ fabric postcards and mailing them to each other!
Fabric Postcard from Carol Logan Newbill
These little art treasures were being sent to complete strangers just for the thrill of sharing art. There was an invite for those who interested to “click here” to join a round of card trading. Enough people clicked that Postmark’d Art was born and a new group of people were “stalking the mailman!” Today the group consists of close to 50 fiber arts junkies from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, The Netherlands, United States, Wales, England, Denmark, and Singapore, all happily experimenting with new techniques and products, sharing ideas, and their art.
Another site worth a visit is Art2Mail which predates Postmark’d Art and was found through them. It began on the Quilt Art Mailing List with Kathy Loomis’s request to receive postcards from all 50 states sparked Jackie Moravcik’s idea of making the actual postcards – mini pieces of art where the messages and stamps were part of the art itself. Thirty-eight people from 21 different states and 5 different countries were intrigued and eager to experiment with the idea. Within a couple weeks, small works of art began arriving in mailboxes across the country. That was in 2004 and is still going strong.
Lastly, for anyone not sure how to start to creat your postcard. Here’s one of many ‘how to’ sites you’ll find on the web by Marelize Ries from South Africa.
Delighted to have Jayne’s permission to link to her blog post on the NIPG Gail Lawther workshop.
Jayne is doing her City and Guilds Part 2, in which she has to study designers, so it was a happy coincidence that the Guild had invited Gail. Jayne is also an accomplished artist and is constantly adding to her range of craft skills. Her posts are really interesting and how could you not fall in love with Smudge?
Really appreciate this posting Jayne, but would be equally delighted with any other additions to the Gail Lawther workshop in the form of photographs or comments from those who attended the workshops/talk. If you have any, please send them to us.
All Quilters welcome. Our membership encompasses the lone quilter to local groups, with our Mariner’s Compass logo representing the span of our membership. Each and everyone has a place in the Quilter's Guild of Ireland. Join us..
We’ve joined Pinterest, our name is nipatchwork, you can find us at 
Also, we’ve changed the menu somewhat. Home is still home, but we’ve added a section about ‘Hands Across the Border‘ and would love to hear how you’re getting on.
Click here for a BBC interview
And finally, a special thanks to Brian McKenna for photographing the quilts for us, you’ve done us proud!
Welcome to the NIPG Website 