Last November Meeting 30/11/17

As the year quickly slips away, we continue to go about quilting business.
A very successful and stimulating Show Meeting started off the morning, with Meg ably leading her crew! Planning is all on schedule, and early next year things will really start to move. I hope everyone has their show quilt well underway, and I know some people have theirs finished already!
Don’t forget to start working on your sensory mats for the special challenge display at the show. We will have a share and swap table at the Christmas Party (our last meeting day) on December 14th. Bring along any extra braids, baubles, interesting pieces which you won’t need, but which someone else might find useful.

Latest examples on show on Thursday

This coming Thursday Susie M will be leading a workshop on ‘Denim Waggas’ for us. She showed part of one in progress to demonstrate what’s to come. It’s a ‘quilt as you go’ project, so very portable and fun. Bring along any spare denim you have lying around or old discarded jeans which can be chopped up! You might also have some corduroy or thick wool fabric which could be used for batting. Thank you so much for undertaking to do this for us  Susie. It certainly looks promising.

The Template magazine arrived, with a small article about the new retreat venue we are considering. Our previous place in Blackheath is operating no longer as a venue in the style we require sadly.
The Kurri Kurri one sounds very nice however.

We had feedback from Community Services that the quilt we donated to them to raffle at the local art show made $850. They were thrilled with that result.

We also heard from Hunters Hill Council that our Community Grant Application was successful to the tune of $400.

I’ll handover now to Iris who will cover the Show and Tell section of this blog
Enjoy the rest of the week, and see you Thursday.
Cheers, Elva

Show and Tell   ...

A community quilt from Marie G:  I've called it 'Marie's Blue Diamonds'. 
Hand pieced and quilted  using mostly fabrics from our stash cupboard.

Marie K just can't stop producing  ...   latest top is a 'Beryl inspired' design using black and white:  I understand that others are on their way using the cut out circles.

Marie K also finished  this cute baby cot  quilt to add to the growing stash for the next delivery to the  Grace Centre.

Walking round the room,  I spied this wagga in progress on Doreen's table ...

and just as we were packing up,  I saw this from Marie K ... a kitchen essential !

Enjoy your week, keep sewing,    Cheers Iris

Stitching and chatting

Elva was visiting family in South Australia,  so Judy was our leader for the day.   And she had lots of news:

• Reminder of the Show Committee Meeting next week at the Baby Centre:  Kerry has distributed the agenda for the meeting.
• After many years, Redleaf is no longer operating as a suitable location for our annual retreat, so our booking for the May retreat has been cancelled.   Judy is working on an alternative in Kurri Kurri and has 'penciled' in the last weekend in May.
• Colleen has had to cancel her visit to our Christmas party.  However,  the celebrations will still include,  good food, glasses of bubbly, fun with 'June', and all the good cheer of the season with good friends.
• Sue reminds us that the morning tea roster is ready for next year - don't forget to add your name.
   
• Meg, her daughters and her granddaughters featured in an article in last week's Sunday Life magazine about girls' weekends:  'The Moodie Girls Weekend'.   Good reading.  I liked the bit where granddaughters had to wait until they were 21 before being allowed to join.

Show and Tell  ...   and there was lots:

Beryl's Circles:  worked on at our last retreat and now at quilting stage

Laurel showed us her latest finished top:  a scrappy Japanese design made for a friend.   Delighted to have a visit from Laurel after her move to the Southern Highlands.

Sheila had this beautiful quilt to show,:  check out the fabulous fabrics,  use of stripes and the detail in the quilting.

Lindy has just finished this cute 'Rocket to the Stars' design

Not a quilt 'show and tell',  but a fashion show:   Doreen rescued this cape from the wagga wools and decided that it was perfect for Akiko.    

and just as everyone was packing up, I spied this block by Narelle.   A simple way of making an eight pointed star without the dreaded multiple seams in the centre that never seem to line up properly.

Have a fun stitching week  ....  cheers Iris

Gorgeous Weather At Last - 16/11/17

What a lovely day to be together at the hall again, doing what we all enjoy.
There was an excellent turn up, and plenty of ‘Show And Tell’ items to share.
No new news really, just a reminder of dates for the rest of the year etc.
Show Meeeting - November 30th
Christmas Party - December 14th
Return 2018 date - January 11th
AGM 2018 - February 15th

I’m happy to report that the Hunters Hill/ Ryde Community Services raffle of our donated quilt at their art show went very well indeed. It was prominently displayed at the door, and therefore they sold many more tickets than expected. Stay tuned for news of the winner.

Enjoy the Show and Tell below.
Cheers, Elva


Show and Tell: 

Marie K. has been prolific - three fabulous quilts for our Community Stash - all hand quilted.

Gypsy Swirl

Snowball Flowers 

Snowball Family tree

Elva has finished this cute 'animal' quilt:  a present being delivered soon.  

'Over achiever' Grace finished this wagga ready for our show:  the picture does not do the hand quilting justice

and last, but not least  ...   the story of two quilts.   Sally has been working on her quilt for some time.  Sheila takes inspiration from Sally's work and in a weekend produces her 'Sally Inspired' quilt.  Both on display.  Sheila did explain that her quilt did not have all the authentic Japanese fabrics that Sally had.  

That's all the pictures for this week  ...   enjoy - Iris

A Quiet Start! 9/11/17

Yes, the day started with many empty seats for some reason, but as the day wore on people rolled in as usual.
Perhaps girls have started to get some Christmas shopping in before the rush. It’s hard to believe that we are into November already. Only five more Thursday meetings before we finish the year on December 14th. This of course will be our Christmas Party day, and a reminder to bring along a plate of party food to share, plus a glass for beverages. We are also suggesting anyone who has extra ‘bits and pieces’ for the sensory mat challenge, please bring them to the party to swap and share.
Colleen will be running her traditional shop at the Christmas Party for a change. The perfect time to get a few last-minute gifts for friends and family.

We had another table of Cheryl fabric to browse through, and many girls found gems they can use. This should be the last of it though, at least until next year I think.

I visited the Art Exhibition at the Gladesville Shopping Centre on the weekend, and once again the ladies from the Hunters Hill and Ryde Community Services were gushing with thanks for the donated quilt. In addition, many passers-by were showing interest and buying raffle tickets, so it looks as though it will be a huge fundraising success.

Grace, along with Gil and Doreen, have been invited to do a showcase for the Guild Quilt Study Group next May. The topic will be the history and making of Waggas , so these three girls will be a mine of information to share. Congrats to you all.

Six beautiful Community Quilts were chosen and prepared for donation to the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Women’s Shelter. You can see the ones chosen below.

Cocktail Strings by Jenny

Hexi Garden by the Green Group ( Ellen. Lin and company)

Stained Glass by Narelle and Iris

Windows by Ros and Narelle

Paris in the Pink by Kerry and Helena 

Orange Crunch by Narelle and Ros and the Orange Group

Delighted to see a very lovely post on on our face book page from the Hornsby Shelter,  thanking our generosity.

Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy this perfect weather. See below some other items of Show and Tell.

Cheers till next Thursday, Elva.

Show and Tell:

We saw Grace's winning quilt 'in the flesh'  - even better than the pictures - and heard the story of the inspiration behind the design.

Susie showed the progress of her current project - great colours and fabrics

See you next week ...  Iris on pictures 

November Community Day 2/11/17

Spectacular Workshop Effort!
We were visited again today by the Days For Girls group, who ran a workshop with us to help manufacture their products.
The response from our membership was outstanding! Almost every member who attended today participated in the work with energy and enthusiasm. Workshop leader Janelle was overwhelmed by the amount of work produced, and the compassion our girls expressed for the cause.
Tired as we all were by the finish and pack-up, it felt wonderful to have been able to contribute in such a practical and substantial way.
Thank you to all the girls who participated. It knocked the visitors out to see such a response, and showed clearly what the ethos of this group is all about. (See shots below)

The sewing table  ...

The template and cutting table ...

The wonderful 'teachers'  from Days for Girls ....

Sewers and Trimmers  ....

Congratulations to Grace who has been out there winning awards for her quilts again! This time it was at the Modern Quilt Exhibition at Petersham Town Hall. A first place for a spectacular hexi quilt which obviously impressed the judges. Well done Grace.

Grace's Winning Quilt - picture 'stolen' from Facebook

Enjoy the wet weather and watch gardens come to life over the weekend. See you all next week.
Cheers, Elva

Show and Tell and more Community Work ..

To further support the Days For Girls group, we presented them with a community quilt to raffle. This quilt was worked on by many members, and features hand-appliqué done by many girls during the last show.

'Stitching Lounge Vases' 

Baby Cot Quilts  ...   three from Carolyn, using her distinctive fabrics and colours

and a more great colours from Beryl B

as well as the community work for Days for Girls, another community quilt in progress by the Blue Team  ....

Pictures by Iris  ...  happy sewing.   Cheers

Another Busy Day 26/10/17

Yes, there was the usual active hall full of happy quilters this week.
 More fabric spread on the table from Cheryl’s stash, which seems endless! I’m sure ladies will put it to good use, both in community and other quilt projects. Watch this space....!
Sue D handed out the new rosters for next year! Very efficient Sue. Staying well ahead of the game.
Fill in your preferred dates as soon as you can so that we know each week is taken care of.
We had a lovely message from Laurel, who plans to see us at the Christmas Party (14th Dec) if not before.
Remember that next week is our community day workshop for Days For Girls. Bring your small machine if you can, and we can get stuck in to some serious stitching for this worthy cause. Thank you for your participation everyone.
We had three visitors who came to receive our donation of this year’s quilt for the Lord Mayor’s Picnic. They were overwhelmed by this year’s effort, and no wonder. It was an unusual and outstanding one. Can’t be shown yet, but eventually we will be able to display it on the blog once the Picnic is over. It must be kept secret till then!

In the meantime Iris will put up some shots taken from this week’s busy day. Thanks Iris, and have a lovely weekend everyone.
Cheers, Elva

 Moina's 'Mrs McGregor's Flower Garden ...

and the detail  ...

Sheila's 'Happiness is ..'   for her daughter

... with the detail on the back

Robyn S has finished this quilt - made mostly from fabrics she won at a retreat 

the applique detail ..

A top the I put together using spare blocks and left over scraps from Hayley and coordinating fabrics from my stash:  confirms we have similar preferences.  A little bit more applique to be added to the corners.   This will be a community quilt.

and two cute cot quilts:  pastels from a friend of Robyn S and bright circles from Judy G.

A final word from me, the Community Page on the website has been updated.    Check it out.

Happy sewing ...   Iris