Chatham-Kent Quilters' Guild

Quilts for Nunavut

2011-03-01T21:12:00.000-05:00

The quilt guild sent 48 quilts to a birthing centre in Nunavut in February. Why Nunavut some would ask? It happened this way. Thanks to some very ambitious members the guild had more cuddle quilts than the local ambulance, police and firefighters needed. Someone at an executive meeting last fall suggested we share with others less fortunate that are usually forgotten – the Inuit’s in the far north. Luckily, my oldest daughter, Maryanne, happened to be manager of Indian and Northern Affairs for the federal government at the time and she was able to provide lots of information. It was Maryanne’s suggestion that instead of sending the quilts to a settlement we should consider sending them to a hospital with a birthing centre so the newborns would go home with a new quilt. If we send them to a settlement there would be some children without a quilt which would be heartbreaking.

So, we contacted Iqaluit, Nunavut, and they were thrilled to receive such a gift. They have between 300 – 400 births a year but we only sent 48 quilts. At least 48 mothers will know that someone cared enough about them and their babies to make their baby a quilt. The mothers have to be flown into Iqaluit from all outlaying settlements to give birth and according to my daughter, they are very poor and these quilts will be so appreciated.

So, now we need more cuddle quilts – which are now called comfort quilts. Be sure to pick up a kit at the monthly meetings. I just made one of these and they are super easy and quick to make up. You can have the top done in one afternoon. Everything is cut to size. You just open the kit and start sewing! Don’t you wish all your projects came this way!!!! Oh, and don’t forget, if you have any metal shelves you are not using, Elise needs some to store our fabric on.

Violet Verhoog

Some fun websites

2011-02-06T21:24:00.008-05:00

A few websites for you! (disclaimer – none of these are sponsors, simply sites where we’ve found interesting things)

patsythompsondesigns.com – lots of quilting designs - be prepared for a long visit- she has lots!
zeffiesquilts.com/Patterns another site with tons of quilting designs, both sketched and a sample photo of the design in a quilt
Quilterstv.com – free online shows with lots of variety and top quilters
Youtube.com – enter search terms like ‘quilt binding’ or ‘strip tube quilting’ or ‘easy tube pillowcase’
Electricquilt.com – I EQ – do you EQ? Their website is a treasure trove of samples, lessons, fabric swatches, mystery quilts, designs of the month!
Fabric manufacturers often have free patterns! Try ModaBakeshop.com for lots of ideas!
quiltuniversity.com – online quilt classes
longarmuniversity.com – interested in Longarm quliting? Good research information here!

Lots of talk recently about organizing our quilting and our stash – check these out:

allpeoplequilt.com/projects-ideas/decorating/organize-your-sewing-room_ss1.html - organize your sewing room!
stashmanicure.blogspot.com
trueup.net/how-to/10-steps-to-a-decluttered-stash
sewtakeahike.typepad.com/sewtakeahike - Continuous Prairie Points - a different take on a golden oldie!

Nifty tips!

2011-01-26T19:38:00.001-05:00

Members love sharing handy little tips and tricks!

Grip-It products - the non-slip product - comes in little rounds, marketed as Plate and China Protectors - ideal for stacking to help prevent chipping - come in packs of four. One member likes to place these Grip-its under her machine's foot pedal. Since they are packaged in 4, she puts 4 on the floor (no, not the manual transmission gearshift) and just peels away the dirty one, when necessary.

She also likes see-through, scented tote boxes to keep scraps. When snooping, later, it's very pleasant digging for just the right snippet!

Co-opting gadgets

2010-12-29T23:43:00.000-05:00

Once you get the quilting bug, it just seems that quilty things can be found everywhere. On my recent visits to my husband's favourite tool toy stores, I've been seeing lots of things that I can use in my quilting ...
- a suction cup dent puller makes a really great rotary cutting ruler stabilizer!
- magnetized saucer-type thingies for pins
- tool caddy for keeping all my gadgets organized at my sewing table
- clamps! there are so many clamps in so many sizes
- air duster canisters

Kinda makes me want to look for excuses for a road trip for more tools :)

Quilted Thanks to the Troops

2010-11-06T19:38:00.001-04:00

This article appeared in the Chatham Daily News Nov 3 2010:

DIANA MARTIN photo@chathamdailynews.ca
Phene Richardson, left, Violet Verhoog and Virginia Travis
are just three of the women involved in quilting for soldiers
fighting in Afghanistan

Spread across Chatham-Kent Quilter's Guild member Phene Richardson's kitchen table are approximately 100 quilt squares. Unlike most squares, these will not be joined to create a larger quilt -- well not directly.

Richardson hopes they will unite Canadian Forces members serving in Afghanistan this holiday season.

"We're hoping to ship them within the next two weeks en masse so they can get them for Christmas," said Richardson.

There are upwards of 30 members working to create the quilt blocks, each the size of a sheet of paper. Each block has a design -flowers, Canadian flags, beavers, moose, and even a camouflaged turkey or two. On the back, the women have penned their thanks and best wishes; others have sewn on poems. Each carries a genuine message of gratitude.

Richardson said the project started in late spring and gained momentum when she made contact with a woman at Canadian Forces Base Trenton who has a son serving in Afghanistan.

Ideally, they want to have 200 squares finished -one for each member of the troop -before they bring them to Trenton, where they will be delivered to the soldiers.

The guild has done quilt projects to remember those who have given their lives, but this year they wanted to change the focus.

"We thought, why shouldn't we remember the ones who are serving now?" said Richardson.

She hopes that the quilts trigger a happy memory of home for the soldiers and a realisation that although they are far from home, they are close in the hearts of the Chatham-Kent Quilter's Guild.

Reprinted with permission

Getting excited about Nov 2010 gathering

2010-11-05T23:34:00.000-04:00

Nov 17 - last year's Christmas dinner was fabulous, this year's event planners have been very busy making preparations for another wonderful evening. Our guild's celebration of the season ... lots of fun, great food, treasured fellowship and inspiration of 'show & share'. Hope you all have your tickets! See you there :)

What a night!

2009-11-19T20:05:00.002-05:00

All I can say is, "WOW!"

This was the first "Annual Christmas Dinner Meeting" that I've attended with our guild, and it was fabulous! I really liked the pot luck dishes everyone has - it's great to sample everyone's favorites :) And the turkey and trimmings were just wonderful.

The paper piecing displays were spectacular ... lots of fun with the ornament exchange ... what a lot of ingenious creations out of the little square of blue ... and the show and share is an inspiration each and every meeting :)

Well done, everyone!

What quilting sites do you visit?

2009-11-10T21:56:00.005-05:00

Do you have favorite quilting sites? You can add yours by posting a comment to this post.

At the end of this message, click on the 'Comments' and you'll be able to enter any info you'd like to share!

Here are a few of my favorites:
www.canadianquilter.com - Canadian Quilter's Association - be sure to check out their Member Shops

Our guild sponsor websites:
Cedarview Farms - www.cedarviewfarms.org
River Place Mercantile - www.riverplacemercantile.com
Pastime Pieces - www.pastimepieces.com
Sitting Pretty Quilt Fabrics - www.sittingprettyquiltfabrics.com

Neighbouring guilds:
London Friendship Quilters Guild Blog - lfqg.blogspot.com
Sarnia Quilters Guild - www.sarniaquiltersguild.org
Windsor Quilters Guild - www.windsorquiltersguild.8m.com

Find other guilds: www.quiltguilds.com/canada.htm

And a few of my other favs ...
www.quiltersclubofamerica.com - subscribe to QNNTv, Fons & Porter, free patterns, online show & share
www.quiltingboard.com - a quilters discussion forum
www.fabshophop.com - I like being able to search for fabrics from all the vendors!

Your turn! Add your favorite links by adding a 'Comment' to this post!

Annual Christmas Dinner/Meeting

2009-11-10T21:47:00.003-05:00

Wednesday, November 18, 2009
5:30 pm - Appetizers
6:00 pm - Dinner
St Paul's Congregational Church

We will be enjoying Roast Turkey, Dressing and all the trimmings, along with Pot Luck dishes each member is bringing. What to bring? If your Surname starts with:
A to D - bring appetizers (please arrive before 5:30)
E to J - bring vegetables
K to R - bring salads
S to Z - bring desserts!

(dinnerware & cutlerly provided)

The room will be decorated with your Paper Piecing projects and any Christmas quilted items you bring! These will make great items for Show & Share.

Things to bring for this special evening:
- your name tag
- pot luck dish for dinner
- paper piecing project
- show & share items
- Christmas Ornament for exchange
-"Small Blue Square" challenge
- Loonies & Toonies for Christmas RAFFLES!
- Library books/magazines
- Your SMILE & Sense of Humour :)

Binding quilts

2009-09-29T21:11:00.001-04:00

Discovered this video demonstration on doing very precise and professional binding ...
http://sharonschambernetwork.com/free_area/videos/binding_angel/index.html

I'm off now to buy some glue :)
Linda

Call for Participation!

2009-07-24T23:10:00.001-04:00

Our goal is to build the blog area into an excellent resource library.

Want to talk about your favorite new method, a treasured quilting book, your latest quilt-related tour? You can share all this, and more, right here!

Interested in becoming a guest blogger?

It’s easy – email webmaster@chathamkentquiltersguild.com, we’ll get you started!

Chatham-Kent Quilt Guild Banner History

2009-05-17T10:55:00.004-04:00

Dear Quilters,

In 2000, a small group called the "Around Town Quilters" decided that we needed a banner for our quilt guild, which you can see on the stage at our meetings.

There were 12 of us and we each made the 4 ½” squares of different patterns. Each block was made 12 times for each lady. We ended up with 49 different squares in all. Some of us have made small wall hangings or small lap quilts with them and yes there are some UFO's still. I wonder who?

The letters were enlarged, cut, appliquéd and then bordered with the smaller squares before being quilted.

It was great fun and fellowship, and we came home with something … memories and blocks.

Some have moved away and some are still here. We can't forget these ladies. They are: Donna Landry, Joyce Martin-Bruce, Connie Abel, Alma Kuni, Denise French, Barb Slavik, Joan Jane, Lise Foster, Lina Demattia, Kathryn Steadman, Donna Kendall and Alice Silcox. This is the history of how our banner was made.

Have a look at it and you can see our names printed on the blocks!
Submitted by Connie Abel

President's Message

2009-05-17T10:32:00.003-04:00

I would like to thank all those that participated in our first Quilt Show challenge. We had 31 entries. ( Outstanding response) The winners were Beginner 1st- Mary Horne. 2nd-Shirley Davies, 3rd-Violet Verhoog. For the non beginners 1st- BJ Edgel, 2nd-Donna Ward, 3rd-Phene Richardson.

Congratulations to all. Don't forget to save your challenges for the quilt show. We will be displaying them all then. So don't give them away yet. I will be announcing the next challenge at the general meeting. With what I saw submitted in this last challenge I believe that these winners will have a tight competition if they want to get another ribbon. We have some very talented members to give you a run for the money.

I have been doing a lot of travelling in the last week. Connie and I went to the Burlington Quilt Show at the royal botanical gardens. There were lots of vendors; some even had full bolts of fabrics not just fat quarters. We participated in some of the demos. We learned how to make pillow cases with no raw edges, and how to do a binding with one fabric on top and another on the bottom. If you are interested in these techniques let me know and we can arrange a demo before a meeting. The next day we went to Mary Maxim on the way home, and of course spent more money. They had a nice assortment of fabrics, buttons, beads and my big weakness cross-stitched patterns. Yes I ordered one. Not sure when I'll get around to it, or where I'll put it, but does that really matter? If you need it you buy it. Next we went to Lens Mills in London. If you haven't been there lately you should go. They have the neatest food fabric. Each bolt is a different food. Bananas, tomatoes. potatoes, oranges, limes, strawberries, cherries. You name it they had it. One lady bought some of each to make grocery bags.

Thursday Connie and I took off again to the London Embroidery Guilds Show. This was excellent. All different techniques of embroidery. And it was free. Only cost was for the tea room. I would recommend that you attend the next one. We also checked out the new Cotton-by-Post in north London. Very nice store. Don't forget that they are having the Irish Quilters this years. If you are planning to attend the banquet, do it soon as the tickets are almost sold out. Connie showed me how to get to the Quilt store in Mount Forest; another nice surprise.

My last trip was to the Windsor Quilt Show on Saturday. This was an outstanding show. It was far better than Burlington. The quality and variety was wonderful. I have picked up some ideas for our show next year. We will have to work hard to equal their show, but I have no doubts that if we all pull together that we can make this our best one yet.

So needless to say I have to confess that I didn't get much quilting done this month. But on the upside I have increase my stash and projects to do list. Does the list ever get done? If any one has an idea as to how to finish all these projects, please H E L P.

Janice
Chairperson