Quilters' Circle - 12th December, 2011

At our final meeting for the year, there was a Christmas tree:

There were yummy goodies and a Christmas table-cloth:

It's a pity that blue container still had its lid on when the photo was taken, because inside were the cutest (and yummiest) mini Christmas puddings. And while there was way more food than the combined knitters and quilters needed for afternoon tea, all those mini puddings were devoured!

Some people dressed up for the occasion:

Gifts were exchanged:

Don't those Lindt teddy-bears look too cute to eat?

Marilyn surprised us with a visit, which was fantastic! She brought along her latest project for show-and-tell:

 

These blocks are part of a quilt called "Love Letters", but the designer's name wasn't on the information Marilyn had with her. If anyone knows, please let me know and I'll edit this post. Marilyn also showed us a photo album of the building of her house, which we were all interested to see.

And on top of all that, some people even managed to do a little sewing:

Well done to those people!

We were sad that Joy was not well enough to join us. We were thinking of you, Joy, and hope everything improves for you over the summer break.

To everyone who reads this blog, best wishes for the festive season! We hope to see you again in 2012. Our first meeting for the new year will be on 23rd January.

Quilters' Circle - 28th November, 2011

It was our second-last meeting of the year today.

Glennys was back, with good news about her grand-daughter's recovery. Today Glennys worked on a couple of the remaining blocks for her "My Blue Heaven" quilt.

This is one of them, and the other is a 64-patch block.

It was great to have Joy back again. She still isn't feeling great, but we were happy she was well enough to attend. During her illness she has done some sewing, and a couple of her long-term projects are now completed tops.  We look forward to seeing them at future meetings. Today Joy was sewing beads and shiny bits to this Christmas tree:

Vireya made a few pentagon shapes, and stitched together most of another sunflower:

Carol brought along this project which we think wins the prize for the oldest unfinished quilt (if there were such a prize). It is Carol's first quilt, which she began in 1995.

Today she did a little "unsewing" to fix a couple of blocks which were in the wrong place, while her lovely daughter Isabella had a look at everyone's work and entertained us with big smiles before taking a little nap.

Marie has added the roof and the garden to the house she showed us last time:

It looks great! She also embroidered the title banner for the top border. Today she was working on embroidered details for the bottom border.

Our next meeting is in two weeks, on the 12th December. It will be the final meeting for the year, and we will have a combined afternoon tea break-up with the knitters. Bring a plate if you are coming along!

Quilters' Circle - 14th November, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARIE!

Today we celebrated Marie's birthday with some afternoon tea and a few cards and gifts.

Marilyn remembered the day, and sent a lovely card and gift by post, which we all admired.

Glennys couldn't be with us because her little grand-daughter became very ill over the weekend, and is in the Children's Hospital. Glennys was at the hospital with her this afternoon. We all hope that the little one makes a full recovery quickly!

Marie showed this house she is making for a gift for someone:

It will get a roof and some garden next. I'm not sure we will see it completed though, as I think she may have to present it before our next meeting.

Today Marie appliquéd circles while drinking tea from her very appropriate mug:

I forgot to ask what the circles are going to become. We will have to wait and see.

The paper-pieced pentagons Vireya was playing with last time are turning into sunflowers. Today she finished stitching this one together, and most of a second one.

Very bright!

Mary dropped by and had afternoon tea with us. We tried to persuade her to come back, so maybe we will see her with some quilting next time.

Wendy is at home with a broken ankle. Hope you are back on both feet again soon, Wendy!

Special thoughts too for Joy, who has been improving but couldn't make it today, and Dorothy who celebrated a birthday last week.

We have only two meetings left for this year. The penultimate meeting will be in two weeks, on 28th November. Hope to see everyone again then!

Quilters' Circle - 24th October, 2011

A small band of quilters braved the conditions today for our last October meeting this year. Some of us were planning to come back next week for the 5th Monday meeting, but apparently the house will be shut for a long weekend. There's a horse race or something!

Last time Leigh showed us the completed blocks of her latest project, and today she came to show us how busy she has been since:

All the blocks assembled into a great-looking top! (The pattern is "Sparkling Gemstones" from the book Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott.) Now Leigh is considering her options for borders and binding.

Marie and Glennys brought along a few magazines for us to read.

Lots to look at in these magazines from around the world.

Marie has made some more miniature blocks since our last meeting:

Glennys has started quilting her train quilt, and today worked on the binding.

Vireya showed us some quilting she has started on her oldest UFO (unfinished object).

There is still a lot to do; there are 84 of those pink triangles, and 42 of them have no quilting in them yet. Then there are the dark hexagons in between, and the border to quilt. But Vireya is happy to be making some progress on this quilt which as been "maturing" for a number of years. Today she was playing with ideas for a new paper-piecing project, arranging these shapes in a few different patterns:

It will be interesting to see how they end up.

Our next meeting is not until 14th November. We hope that everyone can be back with us then, as it is Marie's birthday so there will be cake! See you then.

Quilters' Circle - 10th October, 2011

Welcome back to another meeting of the Quilters' Circle!

Joy couldn't be with us today, as she is still unwell. Joy, we are missing you, and hope things are looking up soon.

Carol has been busy making blocks for her grandmother's autumnal quilt. She has added some pieced blocks and an embroidered one. Today she cut some more squares while baby Isabella had a sleep.

Isn't it looking very warm and snuggly?

Marie has made some more miniature blocks since our last meeting:

There are some very teeny pieces in some of those blocks!

Today she worked on the next block, which is a vase of flowers done in broderie perse:

Extreme close-up, because these are actually very small pieces.

Vireya has been working on a larger scale. Since last meeting, she has made some batik 36-patch blocks, and today she brought along her machine and sewed the last seams

to complete this scrappy top.

Thanks for holding it up for the photo, Julie!

Julie showed us this baby quilt she has made in 1930s fabrics:

The combination of white and these small prints is such a classic look. But today Julie was working on something completely different:

Finishing a jumper for her grandson. Julie not only knitted this jumper, she also spun the wool herself! The colour is the natural fleece. It looks like a very warm garment, and when we looked outside and discovered the weather had turned to rain (not to mention the washing several of us had on our lines) we probably all would have liked to have this jumper in our own size to wear home.

Leigh came and showed us her latest project. She has made 120 of these blocks:

Now comes the fun part. These bright and happy batik blocks will be assembled to make a "human-sized" quilt for Leigh's spare bed. The pattern is "Sparkling Gemstones" from the book Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. Today Leigh was asking us all what we used for design walls to test the layout of such a large quilt. Inspired by Marie's method of pinning a sheet over her largest window, Leigh is now ready to test layout options.

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on the 24th October. Hope to see you then!

Quilters' Circle - 26th September, 2011

Here it is, the 4th Monday in September already.

We heard the news that Joy has been in hospital since our last meeting, and is still unwell. Joy, we all hope you are feeling better soon!

Julie bought along some hand-quilting to do:

It's a project she has been working on for a while. Each block (and there are 49 of them) takes about 90 minutes to quilt, which means in just a few months of Quilters' Circle meetings, the whole thing will be finished!

Marie showed us these miniature blocks she has made since last time:

She is planning to make them into a bag when she has enough. Today she made this tiny hexagon flower for the next block:

Since our last meeting, Vireya has made and attached the final borders on her quilt of somewhat larger hexagons:

Thanks to the two people holding it up for the photo! (Can you guess who they are?) Today Vireya cut the batting and backing for the quilt, but it needs a good press before it can be basted.

Glennys worked on the appliqué for her "My Blue Heaven" quilt, but had to leave early to go and look after her granddaughter, so we didn't get a photograph of it.

Carol cut some more squares of the quilt she is making for her grandmother, then showed us these bibs she is making:

She is embellishing them with appliqué and decorative machine stitches, then they will be finished with bias binding and velcro fasteners. Very cute!

Carol also showed us the progress she has made with her prairie points on the baby quilt:

They are all attached, and now Carol is up to the binding. Unfortunately none of us have done this sort of finish before, so we couldn't offer any advice about how the corners should be handled. Might have to do a little googling for that one! Meanwhile Isabella kept us entertained by smiling at us. The good news is that she is starting to occasionally sleep almost through the night, much to the relief of her parents!

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on the 10th October.  See you again then!

Quilters' Circle - 12th September, 2011

It's the second Monday of September, so that means it is Quilters' Circle day.

Today we were happy to have Joy back with us, still not feeling 100%, but much better than she has been.  We hope she is even better next time. We also had a lovely surprise when Marilyn arrived! We haven't seen her for quite a while, so it was great to catch up. We missed Julie, who has an assignment due later this week, so is very busy working out how to do footnotes and the like, and Wendy sent her apologies and hopes she can make it next time.

Glennys worked on the binding of this baby quilt she has made for a new arrival in her extended family, and got two sides stitched down.

Joy worked on this hanging which none of us have ever seen before. It's inspired by William Morris's designs:

Lovely!

Carol has started a quilt in autumn tones for her grandmother. Today she managed to cut and arrange some squares one-handed, while holding baby Isabella in her other arm.

That's multi-tasking!

Marilyn showed us this bag her sister made for her a while back. It has lots of room inside, and pockets and zips, and is very handy:

Marilyn's new home is at the frustrating stage when it seems nearly finished, but there are still lots of little jobs; floor coverings to be laid, heaters and kitchen appliances to be installed, and the like. She is really looking forward to moving in and unpacking all her belongings (including her quilting things). Today she worked on this cute little long-stitch teddy bear:

Marie worked on her hand-quilting, and brought along some interesting old quilting magazines that I forgot to photograph. We all enjoyed looking though them.

Vireya spread out her hexagon quilt and showed us how the border might look.

The general consensus is that there needs to be some triangles of the dark-greys and blacks included in the border. But because she is waiting for the optometrist to put new lenses in her glasses, marking dots on the back of the triangles for when she sews them together was about all Vireya could see to do today:

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 26th September. Hope we will see you then!

Quilters' Circle - 29th August, 2011

Today is the fifth Monday in August already. Where has the year gone?

Joy is still unwell and couldn't be with us today. Please get better soon, Joy! We are missing you.

Julie's collection of cute little hexagon flowers is growing. Here's one she made today:

Glennys showed us this quilt top she made for her daughter:

The quilt started at a workshop with Teresa Horsburgh, and is based on Teresa's design Floral Garden. Glennys's fabric choices make a quilt which is very different from the published pattern; in fact Glennys doubts Teresa would recognise it!  Will Glennys hand-quilt it?  She's thinking about it. Today she started appliquéing the 12th block of the My Blue Heaven quilt we have seen a few other blocks of:

Marie worked on some hand-quilting today, and contemplated her next project.

Carol managed to join us, an impressive feat with a five-week-old baby. She was even able to cut a few squares while Isabella was passed around the quilters.

The squares are for making prairie points to go around Carol's baby quilt, which we've seen before but which now has been quilted and is ready for binding:

The camera still doesn't like the lemon yellow colour, so you will just have to believe me that this quilt is lemon and green, not beige and green. The chenille squares add cuddly softness, don't they?

Vireya had to work this morning, then come straight from work so wasn't able to bring along anything to do, but she also is pondering what her next project will be.

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on Monday 12th September. See you then!