Quilters' Circle - 31st January, 2011

It was our bonus fifth-Monday meeting for January. It was hot outside, but fortunately the cooling inside stopped us from melting.

Welcome to Jenny, who found us through the Sussex course pamphlet which was delivered to her letterbox.

A couple of our regulars couldn't make it this week. Joy, we hope your ankle is feeling better soon, and Marilyn, we hope your house move goes smoothly this week! We also missed Debbie who came along last week. Hope you can make it next time, Debbie!

Marie showed us the QAYG blocks she has made this week for the Oz Comfort Quilts appeal:

 Don't they look great? And she intends making some more between her other projects.

Vireya has also made a few blocks this week:

Today Carol did some appliqué work on this cute butterfly, who is for another charity quilt appeal.

She used "Glue-Baste-It" to attach the pieces before stitching them in place. Some of us hadn't seen this product before so were interested in the tips and advice the experts could offer ("keep it upright" seems to be an important rule).

Jenny also appliquéd. She is working on a Robyn Falloon design, Tea and Scones , which features lots of lovely appliqué on a subtle pieced background.

Beautiful!

Glennys showed us her "mystery quilt". It is not a normal mystery quilt, this one is a mystery because she doesn't have the pattern for it at all. She has lots of squares, in a range of sizes, in a colour pallet that is not really her preference.

So, what to do with them? She had some fun playing with arrangements. Maybe something like this, with the smaller squares surrounding the larger ones?

But what about the middle-sized ones? It will be interesting to see how it all comes together.

Marie today did some hand-sewing so finalise the assembly of a quilt-as-you-go project of a different nature:

She pieced and quilted this colourful quilt in four sections before joining them together. I think it was just about done by the time we finished today. Love all those brights, and the amazing range of "boy" themed prints!

As a special bonus, here's a picture of some beach-themed cushion covers Marie made before Christmas, but which couldn't be shown then because they were gifts:

Unsurprisingly, the recipients loved them!

While we were stitching we had many interesting conversations, and met some visitors from another neighbourhood house who were touring the premises.

Our next meeting will be in two weeks, on 14th February. However, before that, there is a working bee tomorrow, 1st February, from 3:00pm to about 7:00pm, to make some more QAYG blocks for flood victims. If you can come along for any part of that time, you will be very welcome! Please bring some nibbles to share. Lots of backings, wadding and strips have been cut ready to be sewn, so you won't need to bring any. (But if you want to, feel free!) What we will really need is your machine and some neutral-coloured thread. But even if you can't bring a machine, there will be things to do like ironing and trimming blocks, so there will be ways you can contribute. Hope to see you then!