​Attendance has returned to normal with 87 members present and 9 guests.  

The presenter, Dorothy Fu, started out with fairly traditional quilts.  Immigrating from Taiwan, via Brazil, to Canada, she didn't begin quilting until the early 80's.  She liked her first quilt, intended for a friend's wedding gift, so much that she kept it and bought something else for the friend.  Even her early, traditional quilts are notable for intense quilting, all done on a domestic sewing machine.   But she quickly moved on to pictorial quilts and her whole cloth painted quilts (Greta Garbo, Mona Lisa with Da Vinci depicted on the back, Mother Teresa) drew gasps from the audience.  At the  conclusion of the wonderful trunk show, Dorothy spoke about creativity.  With the left brain mostly responsible for analytic thought and the right brain for creative endeavours, it is important to use the left body more to activate right brain activity.  She encouraged us to brush our teeth and hair, to eat, to bounce a ball,  all with our  hand. Da Vinci himself wrote with  his left hand from right to left.  Dorothy Fu presented a truly elegant talk and finished with a display of the butterfly quilts created by the class she led the day before (last photo in the gallery below).   

Dorothy's website here.

The following photos of are Dorothy Fu's creations: 

On another wintry February morning, we had a few (very few) making fidget quilts. Thanks to Libby, there were lots of supplies.  Jannet showed a few ladies how to sew fabric flowers so they could be glued together for the quilt show. Five members helped with this project and others looked on from time to time.
Marlene Stewart encouraged us to save our scraps at home when we trim off the quilt batting from our quilts, as this works wonderfully as stuffing for making bed mats for the homeless. These keep them off the ground and can be used to wrap themselves in. She also demonstrated how they are made in a small sample. Gwen and Susan were collecting and tagging the items brought for the Quilt Show Boutique.
It was a lovely time as usual and now that spring is just around the corner, we hope we’ll have more members enjoying this informal morning.

Traditionally the February meeting is dedicated to demonstrations done by members of the guild that offer examples or techniques others may not be aware of. Even though there were fewer numbers due to the inclement weather, those who attended were treated to the expertise of four members whose “mini” workshops gave us a look at what they have done to make quilting easier. We followed a round robin type of set-up of four stations.
Susan Van A. gave us the lowdown on the Schlep Bag. Her choices of bag fabrics were gorgeous and the bag is just what a quilter needs to “schlep” stuff around, shopping or to workshops.
Sue O. demonstrated how to make a pin cushion that fits around the body of a sewing machine. It was a 4” by 6” rectangle filled with either rice, crushed walnut shells or sand (which helps pins stay sharp) attached with elastic and Velcro.
Mary C. demonstrated using 1” x 3” boards to put a quilt together using “The RST Guide to Board Basting” method of Sharon Schamber. Mary also listed a few videos to watch: Colour Me Quilty and Stitchin' Friends. It showed how to make the quilt sandwich very taut and easier to work on with less shifting when stitching.
Eleanor N. showed how to create a “5 minute” block and variations of it. The end result had slightly curved lines with rolled bias edges in the block which could be assembled vertically or horizontally. A very unique method used to make a unique look.
The business meeting followed and then members showed and shared their beautiful creations.

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: