August 2016 meeting: Passing the baton

August’s meeting at the TMQG was all about the transitioning of the Not-Really-Presidents leadership to our recently elected guild board and leaders. A chorus of heartfelt thanks and appreciation went to Becky, Andrea and Sheila for their tireless work running our rudderless guild these past few years. That was soon followed by a hearty “Good luck with that!” slap on the back to the new crew. Becky took us through her last guild housekeeping items <sniff> and we moved onto our newly-formatted meeting.

Tips & Tricks

Catherine endorsed two quilting aids: the No Math Quilt Chart & Formulas and a binding tool aptly named, The Binding Tool from TQM Products. Here's a great demo of the tool. I attest to being directionally challenged and am constantly buggering up the dreaded join and so I think I will add this tool to my arsenal and attempt the other binding tips that were offered up by some members.

Still on binding, prolific quilter Elaine shared some great machine binding tips which then got the ball rolling as other members piped in with their tricks. To say it became a one-upping sesh sounds barbaric. We’re too genteel for that.

New member Ludgera demo’d her ingenious use of freezer paper for when there’s no ruler big enough for the job. A great use would be squaring up blocks, something I rarely do. This might explain the quality of my piecing. Note to self: listen to Ludgera.

Karen displayed some adorable pincushions and specifically talked about the stuff you don’t see, the actual stuffing. One of her preferred fillings is wool roving. The inherent lanolin in wool is like a spa treatment for those sharpie sharps. So the next time you need to whip up a pincushion for a guild swap, stuff it with wool. Show some love and gratitude to the lowly implements that get the job done.

Masterclass quilter Becky shared an oldie but goodie tip for our new-to-quilting members: pressing seams to one side to enable seam nesting and therefore accurate matched-up seams. A contentious issue in the modern quilting movement (PC vs Apple springs to mind), an open-seamer practitioner (uh, that would be me) challenged the one-siders and expressed frustration at seams inevitably folding the wrong way once you started piecing your blocks. It got ugly. We took it outside. Police were called. Thankfully, no one got hurt. That aside, I promise to give it a go and piece my rows in a mindful, alternating fashion. Thanks Becky!

All said, whether you’re a novice or a pro, it’s a good time to be a member of a modern quilt guild when great stuff is shared.

Game Time!

Becky’s parting gift was an innocent looking, quilt-themed Jumble that sure kept us quiet for a while. And I thought quilting math was hard. ‘Nine Patch’ was the winning word Jumble and both Andrea and Sheila were claimed winners. 

Hmmm … I’m just sayin’ … I’m not saying anything … did I say anything?

Show & Tell

Lisa showed two adorable baby quilts. Phi’s Little Birds was chirpy cheerful and lovingly made for her grandkids. Rory’s Quilt, which she made a few years back, was tonally gorgeous.

Kat’s first attempt at a ‘big’ quilt was Under Another Cover, her take on Heather Givans Letters from Home. Kat works at the post office museum so those envelopes are in her DNA. Awestruck, we all imagined what we would stuff in those envelopes. One could easily hide a snack or two in there. Return to sender!

Elisa shared a few goodies including a sewing machine cover and a mini-quilt inspired by the colours of the Brazilian flag and of the recent summer Olympics in Rio. She’s one proud menina! She also shared a mysterious yet magical reversible quilt-to-pouch-to-pillow called a Quillow. Quilt… pillow… quillow. Get it? <nudge nudge> Always striving for the latest in napping technology, I will be adding a quillow to my quilty queue.

Elaine’s Tree Lines quilt showcased a machine quilting pattern that made me think I should give FMQ another go. The recti-linear motif shows up so beautifully in the negative spaces I like to live in.

Dia’s philosophical Meadow Quilt by Lizzie House is one for the textbooks. Not only does she get an A+ for the use of nerdy-science fabric, the quilting is extra-curricular. Longarm’d by Irene of Brayne Waves Quilting, she picked up on those science cues and mimicked a DNA strand. Makes me wish I studied harder.

A Meadow upon Meadow

Catherine’s April at Elmhust charm pack quilt was a reprieve from making too many pinwheels at this year’s SWO Mod retreat. Love the serpentine stitch quilting. She hopes to gift this to her imaginary grandchild.

Laura came in just under the wire with a freshly bound quilt for a highschool friend’s baby. Made up of kitten-y goodness HSTs, Scrappy Geese will be loved and cherished for years to come. I don’t know about you, but I’m a big fan of quilt labeling in the actual binding. So discrete. And I’m all about discretion.

Lisa’s mini quilt of HSTs in jewel-toned solids made me think I will attempt this one day. But like BIG. And NO prints. Wish me luck.

New member Sakina’s Bargello-inspired crimson beauty was, if I’m not mistaken, her first attempt at free-motion quilting. What the what?!

Housekeeping:

• A warm shout-out to some new faces this month - Leilani, Lisa, Ludgera, Nancy, Sakina, Susan and Xandra - WELCOME! And apologies if I missed anyone.
• Due to a conflict (ahem, that would be mine), Elisa graciously volunteered to become our new guild photographer. Yay Elisa! She’ll be shooting black & white in the po-mo pictorialism style on a medium format Hasselblad. JK, JK. I had to use up some of my art school knowledge before wifi waves zapped it all.
• Don’t forget our upcoming Sew Down at the Danforth/Coxwell library from 1:30 to 4:30 this Saturday, September 17^th. We’ll be working on the 2017 Charity Quilt Pattern. They’re forecasting rain so it couldn’t be a better time to stay indoors, indulge in some treats, and craft to your heart’s content.

See you on the 25th!

- Debi