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!