Symposium here I come!

Guess what arrived in my mailbox yesterday?

 Leafing through the registration book will have you drooling!  Mine's already well-thumbed. 

It's not too late to register your interest in attending.  Click on the link in the left sidebar to go direct to their website.

  And if you've already registered and your book hasn't arrived yet - start waiting, it'll arrive any day!

Snippets from the September Newsletter.

September Activities – Quilts for Kids 9.30am to 4.00pm. Each year our Club sets aside a day when we bring along our sewing machines and sewing equipment to put together quilts for children in need. We need cutters, sewers, basters, quilters! Fabrics and patterns will all be provided – these are bits and pieces and scraps that have all been donated to the club. This year our fabulous organiser Daryl (who must be applauded for the amount of work she puts into Quilts for Kids) has asked if anyone has any surplus quilting cottons of any colour they would like to donate – particularly variegated. Please bring them with you on September 28th. You will notice we have extended our Club day to 4.00pm so we can maximise our efforts.

Bernina Day – Monday 18th October. Cushla and Robyn from Itch to Stitch Bernina, Whangarei, will be holding a Bernina Day in Kerikeri on Monday 18 October from 10am till 3pm. This is open to all Bernina owners and is to help people get the most from their machines. Jane will be taking names of interested people at the meeting on September 28. Space would allow probably about 20 people.

October Activity – Bag Lady Day!! Daryl has a heap of furnishing fabrics that we can use to make cushions, totes, ruler bags – anything that takes your fancy. If you don’t want to bring your sewing machine you can just bring some scissors and cut out on the day and sew at home. Please bring any patterns that you might like to share, and any spare zips or large buttons for cushions. We thought it might be a nice idea to make one for yourself and one to donate – probably to Women’s Refuge.

Donations needed – The club is looking for donations of approximately fat-quarter sized fabric in plaids, country, naive styles for the 2012 (don’t laugh, it’s not that far away!) exhibition raffle prize quilt. You may have seen the quilt we are planning at last month’s meeting – it’s mostly hand applique, so we need plenty of time to organise and stitch. See Carol if you have anything you think might work.

Fabric Painting Workshop

Ten lucky ladies got together for a fabric painting workshop with Sonya Prchal last Saturday.  We got to admire Sonya's intricate painted whole cloth quilts and then we got to experiment with some paints ourselves.  Fun!!  Sonya makes it look easier than it is, of course, but I think we all ended up with beautiful and expressive sunsets and night skies.

One of my favourite parts of the day was watching Shirley take the plunge and try free-motion quilting.  You go girl!  And I'm looking forward to seeing Carol's piece when it's finished.  She used the painting time to experiment on a background for a landscape piece she was already working on. 

Here is as far as I got.  You can tell I was a little more hesitant with the paints than others!  I really had fun experimenting with a free motion zig-zag.  If you've never tried it before - grab a couple of scraps and have a go, it's a fantastic way to build up texture.  I've put extra wide borders on mine because I'm thinking I'll turn it into a cutting board bag. 

See you next time.

Cotton Theory Series.

Just a quick note to say that Valerie's quilt, shown in the last post, was made from a pattern in Betty Cotton's 'Cotton Theory Series - Book Two'.  You can find out more here.

August Show and Tell Bonanza!

Terri showed off a bright little cot quilt started at our last all day madness.

Judith's Crazy Cats is so fantastically vibrant it just about jumps off the wall.

Christine showed us a beautiful appliqued quilt.

Bia hand quilted this beauty.

Stephanie's masterpiece is not done justice by this photo.

Jane's Christmas themed table runner. 

Suzanne was very glad to finish the machine quilting on this lovely piece.

Beatrice thought we might be interested in these pieces after we had a talk by the weavers and spinners a month or two back.  The centre cardigan, made in the 70's, is dog hair!

Carol was wanting a quick project, but got a little carried away.  Beautiful autumn colours.

Valerie's masterpiece for her daughter.

Here's a closeup.  It's a quilt as you go and it has an intricate 3D texture.

And everyone was fascinated!  I had to take this pic of everyone crowding round to get a better look!

Suzanne's daughter's first composition - I see a new masterquilter in the making.

Julie has been very productive and had several lovely little projects to show.

This is a bag of Julie's.

Julie's again.

And there will be no mistaking who is sewing behind the door that this hangs on.

These are funky little containers made by Beatrice.

Margaret made this just for her!

And she made us all laugh with the tale of how this wall hanging came about.  Yes, those Minties are fake!

This is a quilt top I've finished, but hopefully it will have been quilted and sent to it's new owner by the next meeting.

Wow.  That was quite the Show and Tell.  I guess it's coming towards spring and all those rainy days of winter have been put to good use.  Happy quilting everyone!

Summer Fun in Wintertime.

Just a preview for those who didn't see them at the last meeting.  Here are eight of the jandal blocks for the second prize children's quilt "Jaunty Jandals" for our January 2011 exhibition.  There is one more to add and I'll be getting that at the next meeting. 

Exhibition Dates: 

Friday 14th January 2011 to Monday 17th January 2011

Kingston House, Kerikeri

Mark your diaries everyone!  And group members - have you thought about your exhibition entry yet?

Snippets from the Newsletter

These are some snippets from the newsletter with important info and dates for you!

October Retreat – 8th, 9th and 10th October - This is a fun weekend away from 10am Friday to after lunch Sunday where all you have to worry about is your quilting, eating, sleeping and generally having fun. It will cost you $20 plus your share of the food. You need to pay to seal your place. It will be first in first served. So you can either forward your cheque to Ingrid or pay her at the August meeting when you will be advised of your share of the food.

Not quite the view from retreat - but it's still like having a holiday!

Christmas Party/Luncheon – Only a few months now until Christmas. So here is a date and a bit of information to put in your diary. Tuesday 23rd November, Kingston House, $15.00 per head. Beryl and her team are starting preparations for this fun event. More information in the September Newsletter.

Fat Quarter Block of the Month – Hope you are all going well putting your last blocks together. At the August meeting Suzanne will have her book and we can all bring our blocks and have a group meeting to get ideas for setting these blocks out. We are planning to have the big reveal of quilt tops at the September meeting. Suzanne has a prize for the person with the least amount of pieces left over and we will have a mini-exhibition for all the Club members to vote for viewer’s choice who will win a copy of the book! Get sewing, everyone!

Here's a couple of my blocks from the Fat Quarter Block of the Month.  I decided to do two quilts the same, but in different colours (what was I thinking!!)

See you all on the 24th August for our next meeting!