A friendly group learning and developing skills through talks, workshops and visits.
On March 2nd, 16 members attended a one day workshop entitled "Free-Motion Stitching and Fusible Appliqué" given by Janet Clare. We learned how to write our names, draw faces, penguins and chairs before finally sewing a scene with trees, flowers and appliqué cottages. Janet gave us plenty of help and advice and by the end of the workshop we had all produced scenes, in addition to gaining a lot more confidence in free-motion sewing.
Another well attended meeting, at which Caroline gave a very interesting talk, illustrated by pictures and slides, about hand quilting. She explained the history of quilting, the types of quilts typical of different places and techniques of sewing. There were also lots of lovely premmie quilts in Show and Tell:
There were also some Linus quilts donated by Penny and Heather
Some more work shown at the meeting:
This must have been our best ever attended meeting, with 38 members and guests present. Cat launched the "Perfectly Pieced" Block of the Month programme, showing the completed 9 block quilt top which was designed to use up scraps, along with a "base" fabric to unify. The blocks are easy enough to be attempted by everyone, but the challenge is to get all the points correct, no mean feat.
There was also some lovely work in "Show and Tell"
December's meeting is traditionally a social event with a "pot luck" supper. The Christmas Challenge Sketchbooks were on display:
There were also Show and Tell items:
At November's meeting we had an update on our presence at the Mencap sewing event in the Kennet Centre and welcomed two new members who had heard about us there. Publicity for the event was better this year but there were still some issues to resolve. The next event is due to take place in February but we have decided not to have a presence at this one. We managed to raise over £50 for Mencap.
Rita demonstrated how to make a Christmas Angel - photo below.
This month there were some beautiful items in Show and Tell.
Our AGM was held in October so we did not have a Show and Tell. 27 members attended. All the present members of the committee are continuing in post and Jane S is joining the committee, a very welcome addition.
In January, a new list of members and committee list will be issued, along with the programme for 2024. If you are interested in joining us, come to a meeting, or, for further details please email us on [email protected].
The remainder of the meeting was taken up by a talk entitled "The Sewing Room" given by Heather, a suitable spooky tale for Halloween.
A well attended meeting with lots to show and tell after last month's social.
Jenny Rayment Workshop - places are still available at the workshop with Jenny on Saturday 14th October from 10am at Woolhampton Village Hall. We will be guided to make a "Scrappy Zappy Do" quilt top. The cost is £30. If you would like to go, please contact us via the email address marketsquarequilters.co.uk or contact Sue Cuff or Teresa Clark directly.
The Christmas Challenge was launched at the meeting. This year's challenge is to make covers for the ideas spiral bound hard backed notebooks which were given out at the meeting. Here are some ideas of what to do with the cover:
Some of those who had attended the make your own jacket workshop also showed their final efforts. Very stylish and well fitted.
Here is some of the work shown in Show and Tell
Here you can find details about some of the Textile Treasures in the Quilters' Guild suitcase which were shown at the meeting: Textile Treasures. You can see our photographs of a few of them below.
At our recent meeting, some lovely work was shown. There are more details about some of the items in our quarterly newsletter which can be found using the link above. There are also some useful links as well as information about future events.
Our recent meeting was a little different from usual. After the business and the raffles, we were treated to a very interesting talk by Janet Clare, acclaimed quilter , designer and teacher, ably assisted by her husband Tony, her business partner.
The title of the talk - "She believed she could so she did" - illustrates Janet's approach which is summed up by "you can do anything if you put your mind to it". Wearing her signature Artisan Apron (a bestseller), Janet took us through the journey of her quilting business, from finding time to work whilst running a busy household through to writing books and designing fabric for Moda. Every aspect of the talk was illustrated by a beautiful quilt, photos of some of which can be seen below.
The accompanying stall gave us an opportunity to browse Janet's patterns, books and fabrics designed for Moda. The colour palette was in the blues/creams/grays spectrum, the colours with which she designs for Moda, other designers having their own colour ranges. Many of us took the chance to treat ourselves!
Thank you to Janet for a very enjoyable evening! We can now look forward to a workshop tutored by her next March.
Some MSQ business: The newsletter will now be produced 4 times a year instead of the current 12. We now have photos of quilts from Show and Tell on the website so this will avoid repetition and lessen the burden on Caroline, who does such a splendid job producing our newsletter.
The NEC trip on August 4th is going ahead because we have paired up with Basingstoke Creative Stitchers to make it viable. Pick up with be in Chieveley.