This brightly coloured quilt can hardly fail to provoke a reaction. Attractive. Very bright. Fussy? Busy? Love it? Too much, perhaps?
Whatever your reaction, it might change when you read Maria Shell’s description of the quilt’s journey. The thoughtfulness involved in the construction.
Once you know exactly what it represents, it’s difficult not to see. When you learn about the meanings behind it, will you view it differently?
While I am alone during the day in my studio, I almost always listen to National Public Radio. In the fall of 2009, I was stitching on my long arm quilting machine and listening to the Democratic Party select Barrack Obama to be their candidate for the President of the United States of America, and my heart filled with joy.
I–like so many others–wanted to in some way celebrate this moment. I had just done a bang up job on cleaning my studio. I had abandoned many old projects that were never going to become quilts on their own. These half finished quilts were now officially what I call “bits”–potential filler for community quilts or kitchen sink quits.
I had an idea. What if I take all the star blocks I’d made over the years and used them to make a new version of the American flag? A version of…
I am afraid I am rather late with the follow up of last weeks meeting.
If you missed the meeting you missed a treat. Valerie Wilson gave a talk about the Museums textile collection accompanied by pictures. She them showed us a quilters dozen of the most extraordinary quilts from the Museum’s collection.
There was one made from shirt fabric and ties by some of the workers from the shirt factories in Londonderry and one made from pyjama material. There were contemporary designs, a beautiful wall hanging that had been made specially for the museum, a fabulous very old plain one coloured quilt that was hand quilted and corded.
The last quilt she showed us was a large quilt that had been hand appliqued with flowers that were stitched on with tiny blanket stitches and must have taken a very long time to make.
Lastly she showed a small suitcase that had been donated which contained hexagons that had been hand sewn into larger hexagons, you could still read some of the printing on the papers.
Hopefully you will have seen the pictures posted on facebook, including this one – sampler made by a former NIPG member.
I am sure you are all aware that Roma had a fall at the guild and had to go to hospital. Well she has a fractured pelvis and is on crutches. I spoke to her during the week and she sounded cheerful although she is in a lot of pain. I have sent her the guilds best wishes and hope we will see her at the April meeting.
There will be another Friday Workshop on the 12 May 2017 in Orangefield Presbyterian Church. The tutor this time will be Valerie McKeown who will show us how to make an appliqued dragonfly with free machined wings. (Photo shows Valerie delighted to win at the Clogher Valley show in 2014. Paula will have a picture and the requirements list at the April meeting.
Another month of grey skies, rain and storm Doris is nearly over, so great sewing weather.
Although it has been mild my garden is springing into life with daffodils and camillia’s.
The March meeting is next Saturday in the Folk Museum, doors open 10.00 a.m. with the meeting starting at 10.45 a.m. The speaker is Valerie Wilson who is the Museum’s Textile Curator, she will talk about the museum’s quilt collection and show us some of the quilts.
Sunday’s workshop is Mad March Hare with Paula Ellis. I am not sure if there are any places left but if you are interested you could give her a ring. Her number is on the back of your membership card.
Quilts are to be handed in on Saturday. Please make sure that your quilt has a hanging sleeve and pole with eyelets. Mary McCormick will be taking them in and has asked me to remind you to have your form fully completed and you name, address, telephone no and NIPG on your carrying bag.
Alex will be there with Blue Bird Fabrics. She has asked me to let you know that all Fat Quarters are £2, Remnants £3 and yardage will be 1/2 price.
Anne James is still looking for articles for the magazine.
Are you interested in dressmaking; Several of us go to a class in Orangefield Presbyterian church – it’s not that we can’t sew but we need help with fitting. The teacher Pat Hughes is hoping to start a new class on a Wednesday night from September and if you are interested please speak to me on Saturday. I will give you her telephone no. so that you can find out more.
But, but, but girls we really do want to know about the projects you started, finished, or moved on to another level.
Hints have come our way, looks and sounds as if you were all industrious, with reports of great fun too.
Well, we understand that we’ll probably never hear about what you got up to outside of working hard on quilts and bags and other projects. That doesn’t stop us really, really, really wanting to get some photos of your achievements, however small or large.
A huge thank you to Adrienne for organising this great outing this year and every year.
Ruth’s machine almost has steam coming out of it. No time to look out the window.Jayne’s bag just makes you feel happy. Very practical too.Linda Hamilton says: “Wonderful weekend at Glenada, meeting new friends, getting lots of tips and help from the lovely Guild ladies. Thank you. See you soon!”
Quilt by Mary McCormick. Sparks flying from Anne’s machine, while Esme uses a beautiful quilt as an ironing board cover!
Wondering about Glenada – set in Newcastle, County Down at the foothills of the Mournes. A great retreat and conference centre.
The January meeting was so successful and busy that we did not have time to mention workshops! Here are details of the next 2 workshops. If you are interested or want to know more, please contact us. Visitors welcome!
February
Turning Japanese with Yvonne McAtamney of Village Fabrics
The design shown here is called
‘Autumn Blossom’.
Techniques used in the workshop are- machine piecing
3D prairie points
needle turn
machine stitched appliqué
sashiko stitching.
Requirements:
Two contrasting fabrics for background 6½” x 22″and they really do need to contrast
Another contrasting fabric for the circle. The fabric for the circle needs to be 10″ square and also contrast with background fabric.
The appliqué uses three co- ordinating fabrics -10″squares enough 5″ width of fabric for binding Backing 12″ x 22″
Wadding 12″ x 22″
Bondaweb
Sewing machine and bobbins
Threads to match fabrics
Also embroidery threads
Usual sewing kit pins, hand sewing needles, small sharp scissors
Cutting mat, 6½” x 24½” ruler
Don’t forget your glasses!
March – Mad March Hare with our own Paula Ellis
The photographs show the project in two different colourways.
The techniques used in this project are:
machine appliqué
machine satin stitch
the use of light boxes.
A variety of coloured tweed combinations can work for this project
I am writing this in Long Beach, California in 80F heat so I don’t know what the weather is like in Northern Ireland!
I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas and are looking forward to a new quilting year.
The next meeting is on the 7th January in the Parochial Hall. We will have four
demonstrations by members and two get-to-know-you tables.
There will also be a charity table in aid of the Chairman’s charity ‘Reconnect’. There will be lots of books, some fabric and ribbons etc. Please bring any fabric etc you no longer want. It helps whoever is managing the table if you price your articles for sale.
A Big Reminder –
Hands Across the Border
We are hoping for lots of new Quilts for this exhibition which will be on show in Northern Ireland in June 2017 in the Island Centre, Lisburn. The theme this year is Aurora. The quilts should be no larger than one metre square. Quilts need to be ready for the March meeting. We will post the information and form on the web site.
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 […]
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.
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.
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..
The last quilt she showed us was a large quilt that had been hand appliqued with flowers that were stitched on with tiny blanket stitches and must have taken a very long time to make.
Happy New Year to you all!
And finally, a special thanks to Brian McKenna for photographing the quilts for us, you’ve done us proud!
