May 2019 Meeting Recap

Libs Elliott Trunk Show
We had a great meeting, even if it was a bit bright in the auditorium!  We had a fabulous trunk show from homegrown quilter Libs Elliott.

Libs shared the fascinating tale of her journey to quilting, pattern and fabric designing, as well as some interesting insights into her process of developing and using the mathematical algorithm that she used to aid her design process.

Libs showed us this great vintage quilt while telling us about growing up with antiques all around her and the beginning of her fascination with quilts.

Algorithm generated quilt!  

The result of crowd generated quilt top.

A cool hex quilt, a fascinating way of splitting up block shapes and fitting them together.  And a selection of some further quilts made with different designs and some of Libs' different fabric ranges.

Libs took some questions at the end of her talk, and we heard some interesting insights into the more economic aspects of the quilting business.

We had fun at the pop up shop that Libs brought along with her, I definitely did anyway, we'll have to see what I can make with Libs' excellent designs, and I'll look forward to seeing what other people do with theirs!

Misc Business

Our fearless leader, Karen, talked a bit of admin-

a) the block lotto is still ongoing-blocks due at the June (July 7th) meeting.  Instructions here, so there's still a bit of time to get in on this action!

b) Days for Girls sewing-don't forget to return your completed sewing to Rebecca Burnett

c) QuiltCon Charity Quilt ideas--the voting is now closed, but you can see the poll on the facebook page here.

Spotlight on.....Techniques in Applique

Yours truly spent a few minutes talking about basic tools and some different techniques of approaching hand sewn applique. Some useful things are applique glue: 

Best used very sparingly, but great for things where you want to drag them around alot. Other useful tools are strong needles (I like Hiroshima or Bohin), good, sharp scissors, applique pins.  Thread is another thing that is important-match your thread to your applique piece, I favour Aurifil 80wt thread (thin, strong, and doesn't break or tangle very much), I also like the Bobs donut, with lots of colours on bobbins, which also are very portable, but I find that I have to use a thread conditioner more often with them to keep them from fraying/breaking while I'm sewing.

Member and prize raffle

This months member raffle was won by Dale Shaw, and the prize raffle was won by Adrienne van Halem!  Lucky people......

Show and Share

    Shirley Dawson showed us this “Free Spririt” pattern she made with charm packs plus suplemental fabric.

      Sonya Elliot shared this Bargello Wall hanging done in shot cottons (I love the richness of shot cotton, don't you?)

     Next was this Rescue quilt, also from Sonya – she found it in a bin,and gave it a new lease on life!

3      Judy Kowalski showed us this interesting quilt that she originally started as part of a workshop by Al Cote, that she worked into a larger quilt in a  modified design.

      Catherine shared this quilt made with Japanese prints (UFO)-I loved the muted tones of it!

     Peter again shared a quilt with us, but wouldn't let me share any pictures--he's a bit of a tease these days with his quilts, but we wish him luck with getting his stunning quilts into the juried shows he's applying to!

    Last bu not least, Karen shared a mini-quilt made using charm pack that she designed using Pre Quilt to play with the colours. If you don't know much about Pre Quilt (developed by our own Laura Hennebury), you can find out more information about it at the link above.

     Well, I think that's it for me for this month. See you at the next meeting--Sunday July  7th!