Wintry weather meant there was a slim turnout this morning; however, the goal for the morning was to make curtains for the quilt show and that was accomplished! Thank you to the ladies who braved the icy roads!

Our first meeting of 2019 on a wintry January morning was well-attended with 77 present. Our guest presenter, one of our own expert quilting members, Chloe Truman shared her story, starting from age eight when she first held a needle and thread, sewing under her mother’s guidance.  Chloe developed her skills by attending classes and workshops and has the ability to visualize patterns, figure out the dimensions and draft her own patterns. As an adult, Chloe was employed at a local quilt shop, Quilter’s Supply for several years.
Her quilts include Japanese, Amish, Traditional, Appliqué (including some dimensional appliqué), English Paper Piecing and miniatures.  She shared that doing a miniature is a great way to try out a new pattern and then go on to a larger project.  Her quilts are beautifully all hand-quilted with evenly spaced tiny stitches.  She takes her time to do a good job and enjoys the journey.  Many are a result of guild challenges, classes and workshops that she has attended in the past.
Chloe recommends keeping records of your work.  She has photo albums with pictures of her masterpieces and information related to each one.
One especially endearing item was a miniature double wedding ring quilt made for her friend’s dollhouse bed.  You will see this and much of her beautiful hand work in the photos below.

Our morning began with our President, Ellen James, welcoming everyone and expressing her gratefulness for our guild and for all those in the guild who have contributed in any way. Our business meeting proceeded.  One of the highlights was an announcement by the Outreach Coordinators that this year we have already received a large number of fidget quilts and several baby quilts. Here are some samples:

Gwen also thanked members for their generosity towards My Sisters Place.  So many articles are donated each time that she needs to visit them after almost every meeting, laden with goodies.
Next everyone enjoyed our Christmas brunch of delicious items contributed by our membership.

An early blast of icy, wintry weather led to smaller numbers this morning.  However, there were lots of supplies available to work on Fidget Quilts and some worked on those.  Others pinned quilts together, worked on personal projects or browsed in the library looking for a new project.

At our November meeting 94 were in attendance and our members and guests were inspired by a Trunk Show by Michelle of Kallisti Quilts. Her shop in Waterloo sells imported Japanese and African cotton fabrics, kits and patterns.
Numerous quilts using yarn dyed or indigo dyed fabrics were displayed.  The neutral pallet consisted of many variations of taupe and gray. In contrast indigo dyed cottons were vibrant and colourful.  The colours and designs shown gave many a new appreciation of quilts made from fabrics of other countries. 
Along with her regular stock that she brought with her, smaller panels of printed African designs were available for purchase. You can see Michelle showing one of the guild members these panels, plus one of her quilts below:

Display of our quilts of our members at Show & Share:

Upon entering the room, you could just feel the energy in the air as members interacted with one another, working on personal projects, pinning a quilt and checking out the library.  Chloe demonstrated her method of English Paper Piecing and answered lots of questions to a very attentive group.  Projects were laid out to inspire us all towards making items for the boutique in our upcoming quilt show and Jannet was available with some fidget quilt ideas. And coffee, tea and light snacks were available to round out the morning.  A few photos below:

Our guest, Judy Lyons, Quilt Appraiser & Lecturer began the morning by presenting examples of colour theory, and throughout her presentation, she illustrated how colours, patterns and fabric quality have all changed throughout the years and how these traits help in identifying the era in which a quilt was made. Her samples included quilts made with fabrics such as crimplene, printed feed bags, cigarette silks and men’s suiting. 
Judy’s passion for Canadian quilts and original Canadian quilt patterns shone through.  She shared samples of wartime quilts such as the Patriotic Victory Quilt, a Canadian Centennial Quilt and shared several books that served as great resources.
Among other things, Judy explained the difference between an Insurance Appraisal and a Market Appraisal. We really learned a lot today about quilt quality and quilting history from a very knowledgeable expert!
Enjoy some of her beautiful creations below.

Our business meeting followed and included an introduction of our full slate of Quilt Show Committee members plus one of our favourite parts of the meeting, Show & Share of our members work.  See those samples below:

We had an excellent turn out for our Let’s Quilt Day September 26th. A prairie points demo by Jannet Trewartha was the featured activity and our members showed a lot of interest in this technique.
At another table, pieces of a Kaleidoscope Quilt were laid out by Deb and many members (perhaps too many) stopped by to offer an alternate arrangement. Susan helped with verbal encouragement.
Gail had lots of help pinning a quilt, making it ready for machine quilting. We should see it soon at Show and Share.
Our president had a private lesson in needle turn appliqué. This is a real example of how help is always available at these casual meeting days. Don’t be afraid to ask for assistance if needed.
The library was very busy as often we don’t get time to browse on regular meeting days. Barb has already purchased two new books that were recommended by our September presenter, Joyce O’Connell. They will be ready for borrowing in October. Always lots of older books and magazines available for purchase too, with profits directed right back to the library.
Of course we had tea and coffee and a choice of four treats including some melon pieces which was rather special.
 

     Our guest presenter this morning was Joyce O’Connell, a national and international award winning quilt artist. She began by sharing her personal journey through quilting, beginning with a “Quilt in a Day” Eleanor Burns workshop which resulted in a beautiful queen-sized log cabin quilt. Following this, Joyce then went on to do a Lone Star quilt and did her first Bargello. She encouraged us to try new techniques, explaining her own journey to developing new skills and interests.  
     Assisted by her husband, Mark, Joyce displayed many of her creations, including quilts of significance such as a commissioned quilt for Stephen Lewis’ “Grandmothers to Grandmothers” initiative, and others relating to Britain and the war years.
With 103 in attendance at this morning’s meeting, we were all blown away by her work. You can find our more about Joyce on her website here.
See more of her creations below:

Many of our members were busy over the summer finishing quilts and quilty items. See their work below:

We started our morning listening to our guest speaker, Trina O'Rourke, owner of The Cotton Harvest Quilt Shop in Seaforth. Trina explained, with the use of slides, her journey into owning a quilt shop, from purchasing a property and renovating it into the thriving business it is today. Bringing in the Van Gogh Cherrywood Exhibit last November was a major feat and coverage on the news really contributed to a great attendance and has put the quilt shop on the map. This story inspired us and after her presentation, we were able to purchase her beautiful quality products. At this point, Trina's shop is the only distributor of the Cherrywood Hand Dyed Fabric here in Canada and she reminded us that her store is only 40 minutes north of Masonville.   She is pictured above with her assistant, Janice Dunbar. 
Following this presentation, the members enjoyed an extended coffee break and brunch, followed by the business meeting with lots of numbers drawn for plants and some Cherrywood fabric and the fun "Name that Square."