MONDAY MEETING CANCELLED

Regrettably because of the adverse weather conditions the regular Monday Meeting tomorrow 20th December has been cancelled.  It is unfortunate as this was going to be our Christmas Party but in the interests of safety it has been decided to cancel.
We would like to take this opportunity of wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.!!

Just to remind you that the usual Monday meeting will be on 24th January 2011 when there will be a Flip and Sew workshop led by Sheila Lloyd..  Anyone interested in joining in with this workshop is asked to contact us for the requirements list.
SOUTH WEST QUILTERS .  It had been intended to invite interested members to form a sub group to make a new Hardy Quilters Banner to be hung on the South West Quilters stand at Shows etc. We think that this is a great idea and a way of bringing notice to the Group.
PROJECT LINUS.  This project is going to be added to the programme for next year.  Everyone will be invited to take part and will be asked to bring fabrics etc. to start making quilts on 'Sit and Sew' days.  For those of you who are not familiar with Project Linus it is a  children's charity that looks after sick children while they are in hospital and donates home made quilts and blan kets to them.  It is a 100% volunteer organisation whose aims are :  to provide a sense of security and comfort to sick and traumatised babies, children and teen agers through the provision of new home made quilts and knitted/crocheted blankets.  Have a look at the website if you are interested for more information. www.projectlinusuk.org.uk

OSMINGTON ART & CRAFT SHOW

 

These are pictures of our stands at today's Art and Craft Exhibition at Osmington Village Hall.  We had a lovely day talking and selling to lots of visitors who were very interested in the Group and the work on show.
Hopefully we may have a few more new members on the strength of today.

Monday is the regular monthly meeting and we look forward to welcoming Ann Brock, the  Guest Speaker.

OSMINGTON ART & CRAFT SHOW

There is an Art and Craft Show at Osmington Village Hall on Saturday 16th October 2010.  We have been lucky enough to be invited to have a stand there.  This will be a great Showcase for the Group and there will be a mini exhibition of members' work as well as two trading stands.  If you are in the area please come and have a look.  You never know you may be tempted to join us!!  We are always eager to enrol new members.  All skill levels are welcome and we have many knowledgeable and experienced members who are only to happy to pass on their skills.  At the same time we welcome the opportunity to gain new members with new ideas and skills to pass on to others.

Hope to see you there!

NEW QUILTING YEAR

Our Annual General Meeting was held on 20th September and so brings a new and exciting Quilting Year with many new and varied activities planned.  Below is our Programme for 2010/2011.  This is not written in stone as there are bound to be various unplanned anomolies cropping up during the next 10 months.  Any changes will be notified here.

 THE HARDY QUILTERS

Programme for 2010/2011

18th October 2010                      Speaker :  Ann Brock

                                                      Miniatures and Postcards

15th November 2010                  Workshop : Liz Drake

                                                      Feltmaking

20th December 2010                   Christmas Party

                                                      Mini workshop, Quiz, Raffle.

                                                  ............................................................................

24th January 2011                      Workshop:  Flip and Sew with Sheila Lloyd

21st February 2011                     Speaker:  Jean Phillips
                 

21st March 2011                          Speaker: Rocky and his bag of Miniature Quilts

18th April 2011                             TBA

16th May  2011                             Speaker : Jan Tillett.
All Day                                          Talk a.m.    Workshop p.m.


20th June 2011                              OPEN DAY & 20TH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION


19th September 2011                    Annual General Meeting
                                                         

                                                        Show and Tell                                                    

 

NEW YEAR

The new year starts for Hardy Quilters on Monday 20th September 2010.  This meeting will be the Annual General Meeting when all are welcome.  The Meeting starts at 10 a.m. with Tea/Coffee on arrival.


   All are welcome.


After the business has been concluded there will be a Show and Tell of Member's work.

ALICIA MERRETT

Yesterday was the day of the long awaited visit by Alicia Merrett.  Alicia was with us all day - giving a talk about her quilting journey and showing her wonderful quilts in the morning and teaching a workshop during the afternoon session.  Alicia's work is full of the most vibrant colour and intricate piecing, and those of us who were staying for the afternoon workshop wondered what was in store for us.  We were going to be taught how to piece a free cut curved line and also how to insert a very narrow curved piece.  Alicia gently guided us through the process and we all managed to master the technique in our own ways.

As usual it is fascinating to see the results of different people's interpretation of the same technique.  We all worked quietly away with Alicia being on hand if we needed her.  She is a no nonsense kind of teacher who quietly and gently gets her message across in a calm sort of way without overcomplicating things.  Very important for a process with the end result of looking very complicated. 
















These are some of the results of the afternoon's work.  As you can see each one different and some more complicated than others.  We all had a great day and felt we had achieved something at the end of it.  Everyone managing to finish several samples and some even starting to plan future pieces of work using this technique.                                              


This was our last meeting until we resume again on 20th September.  This will be our Annual General Meeting day when all are welcome and we look forward to plenty of completed pieces of work for the ' Show and Tell'.  In the meantime have a great summer and carry on quilting.  As for myself and a couple of other members we are off to Birmingham NEC in August for three days at 'Festival of Quilts'. 

CHRISTINE RESTALL

What a fabulous morning we had with Christine Restall.  Christine brought with her all the quilts that she had to hand, some have been sold and some are in Exhibitions, including the very first quilt she had made.  She has made such an interesting quilting journey.  Virtually self taught, with a 'just go for it' attitude.  How exciting for some of   us at Hardy Quilters to find a kindred spirit.!!  I have long been a fan of Christine's work and imagined that she would work in a very orderly way.  However, she is a true artist -  painter and textile.  She gets an idea and it plays on her mind until she decides to make a start - and that's it!  No frills or fussing - just do it!!   Of course it helps if you have a great sense of colour or design!!  Christine grew up in a family of artists and stitchers and always had either a paint brush or sewing needle in her hand but has had no formal Art training.  She is a true inspiration to anyone who  would like to put more 'Art' into their quilts but does not have the confidence because they don't have the Art training.

Christine's visit was like a breath of fresh air and the members and visitors who had come to see her were not disappointed.  She was willing and eager to answer any questions that they might have - and there were many.  I think everyone found the morning exhilerating and many left wanting to go home and m ake a start on something, I know I did.

EXETER QUILT SHOW

Last Friday four of us travelled to Exeter to the Spring Quilt Show where there was an exhibition of work by South West Quilters.  The first photograph is of Dell Whitfield with her American Feed Sack Quilt.  It is always a pleasant excitement to come upon a piece of work by a friend or yourself at these big Quilt Shows.  The other two quilts that were on show were made by Mary Watson.  Another of our members.  Well done girls!!  There were some very interesting quilts on Show there .  My famous last words on getting out of the Coach was ' I am not going to buy anymore fabric!!'  Needless to say I fell by the wayside! and of course I bought books as well!! 

AMERICAN BEAUTY

It was our usual meeting this Monday - a sit and sew day - plus a workshop given by one of our members, Sheila Lloyd, on piecing the American Beauty block.  I found this quite labour intensive.  The templates had to be drawn on to iron-on vilene and then ironed to the fabric and stitched around the drawn lines. There are four components to the block, each one executed in a different fabric.  We needed a selection of light, medium and dark fabrics.  The photographs show Sheila's samples that she had prepared prior to the meeting.  The morning seemed to fly by as we were all so industrious - some doing their own projects and some  working with Sheila. 

Next month we have Christine Restall coming to talk to us about her Quilting Journey  - something we all are looking forward to very much.

Forthcoming Events

I have added a 'Dates for your Diary' column at the side of the Blog. We have an exciting programme this year with two International Quilters booked to visit. In April CHRISTINE RESTALL is visiting us to talk about her quilting journey. There are links to Christine's website in the sidebar together with a link to 'By Design' the Textile Art Group to which she belongs.

In May local Textile Artist and one of our members - KATE DOWTY - is giving a mini workshop. Full details of this will be posted when I have all the details.

In June we welcome International Quilt Artist ALICIA MERRETT. She will be talking to us in the morning and after lunch there will be a workshop. More details will be posted nearer the time.

Non members are invited to join us as guest members for these days. Please email if you would like to be included for any or all of these days. Cost will be notified nearer the time.

First Meeting of the New Year.

Today we had the first meeting of the New Year. We were visited by Jill Pyne who gave us a very interesting talk and hands-on workshop on Candlewick Embroidery. She told us a little about the history of the technique and then gave a demonstration. She had brought with her a beautiful quilt she had made for her mother and a lot of smaller things including cushions.

This is a form of embroidery reputedly originating in North America, from the pioneer women. As they travelled out west, they had no materials with which to embroider in the traditional style of their homelands. With ingenuity, they chose to work with the thread used for wicks when making candles, on the easiest fabric available i.e. the hessian of flour and seed sacks; stitching traditional motifs. As time and light would be restricted, the need for simple motifs and stitchery was necessary. Consequently, the work relied for its effect on the texture of the different stitches used, and the attractive designs made, especially as they did not have the use of colour. The peasant motifs from Europe are often very obvious, but nowadays there is much variation in designs and materials used.



Jill had bought along some of her kits so that anyone who was inclined could have a go. Needless to say most of us did and her two boxes of kits quickly emptied.
This last photograph shows some of our efforts.
We all agreed that it was a thoroughly enjoyable morning and we were all so engrossed with our stitching that we almost ran over our time. Do have a look at her website www.pyneneedles.com
This was more an embroidery technique than quilting but after seeing Jill's quilt it showed its versatility. Like Redwork it can be integrated into patchwork and quilting and is an ideal project to take when travelling or while sitting by the fire in the evening. Working on one square at a time.

Before I sign off I must tell you about the result of our Alzheimer's Project. Our selling Exhibition raised £1,400 for the Charity. A very grateful thank you to all of those people who spent time sewing and donating. Thank You All Very Much.