March meeting

The daytime stitchers took a class from the U-Quilt-It shop in Smithville.

Here is the former owner of the shop, assisting with the evening trunk show.

Here is the new owner of the shop showing some of her quilts.

They brought goodies for sale.  Who doesn't like to shop?

These were the block-of-the-month blocks that were won by a lucky guild member.  Those chickens are just too darned cute!!

Join us on April 13th at 7:00 pm.  Our guest speaker will be Brit Dowson with her wool applique quilts.

coming up in March...

Wednesday March 9th - 7:00 pm

Come and see the trunk show by U-Quilt-It , a quilt shop located in Smithville, On.

Even if you aren't a member you may attend by paying a small visitor fee of $5.00.

Block Exchange and January Design & Stitch

For a year or two our guild was running a Block Exchange of half-square triangle blocks.  Currently, we are running an exchange of 4-patch blocks.

HOW TO RUN A BLOCK EXCHANGE

• Signup of members is required. 
• Pick a size and simple block (half square, 9-patch, 4-patch, etc.).
• Provide instructions - not everyone knows the difference between 'finished size' and 'unfinished size'.  Make it clear that fabrics must be 100% cotton AND must be prewashed.
• Set a guideline for the colours (ours was a light neutral AND an assigned colour each month).
• Every month you make one block for each member of the group (including yourself), based on the required colour scheme.
• Give your blocks to the group leader in a ziplock bag clearly marked with your name.
• The leader of the group marks off your package each month and sorts the collection into piles for each member that you can take home at the end of the meeting. 
• If someone does not bring their blocks they need to bring them the next month.  Also, the group leader would have to retain this member's blocks that were contributed by everyone else.
• If you want to collect blocks for the guild to use in outreach quilts, have all members make ONE EXTRA BLOCK each month, and this will go into the guild kitty.  These add up pretty quickly.

Our Program for January and February is making three outreach quilts, using our collection of blocks.  We were split into three teams and given large stacks of these half-square blocks.  They all need to be squared up because, well, you know, everyone's 1/4" seam is a little bit different.

We are having a 'challenge' to create the most interesting/attractive quilts and there will be prizes.  Everyone loves prizes, right?

FEBRUARY
On February 10th we will be continuing our work on these quilts and hope to have the tops assembled.  See ya there!!

the December Pot Luck

Twice a year our guild meeting is about food.  Who doesn't love food???

The church where we meet is nicely decorated for Christmas.

After the food we pretend to have a meeting and take care of a little business.

The December competition was an APRON CHALLENGE.  I voted for the apron that came with a bottle of wine in the pocket.  Ha ha... :-)

We capped off the meeting with a game of Trader's Dice.  Everyone came with three 2 1/2" strips.  You start by throwing one into the center, as the 'kitty'.

We had split into two groups who (apparently) were following different rules.  Pfft.  But we all had fun, and that's the important thing.

JANUARY 13, 2016
Oh, dear, the old memory isn't what it used to be.  I had to call one of the Program ladies to find out what the plan is.
We will design a quilt using half square triangle blocks.
"Why?"  you ask.  Well, for a while we were swapping half square blocks, and a set of 12 (or so) went to the guild every month.  So the guild has a zillion blocks and we need to do something with them.  This will be a great exercise in colour and design and creativity.  And these will be going into donation quilts which always find a home.

Until then:

Pauline Grondin in November, Pot Luck in December

Pauline Grondin is a VERY interesting woman.  You can find out all about her on her website.  She came to the guild for our November meeting and presented her talk on Piecing Together Canada's History Through Quilts.

December 9th will be our usual Christmas Pot Luck supper.

• We eat at 6:00.
• Bring your contribution AND your own dishes/cutlery.
• Bring three x 2 1/2" fabric strips for the game we'll be playing after supper.
• If you signed up for the Apron Challenge, it is due this month.

The Anniversary Party

The room was set up with the dining tables along both sides of the room, and the penny sale tables running down the center length.

Sue Patten (left) being introduced by our President Anne Jay (right).

Some of Sue's quilts.

Sue Patten is located in Port Rowan, On.  You can find her on Facebook and Blogger, and I'm sure many other spaces on the web...just do a google search.  Her talk was really entertaining and her quilts are stunning.

The program for November is Pauline Grondin and she will be doing a trunk show and talk entitled "Piecing Together Canada's History Through Quilts".
Remember, we will be meeting at St. Paul's Anglican Church again.  The Church ladies here don't feed us, so some of the members will probably go out for supper instead of having our usual catered supper. Honestly, who wants to cook???

For the DECEMBER meeting, please bring your fabric cuts you prepared for the September meeting: three 2.5 inch strips.

October & November Reminders

REMINDERS:

• There is NO REGULAR MEETING IN OCTOBER.  We are having a celebration luncheon at St. Paul's Anglican Church to mark our 10th anniversary and you must prepurchase tickets.  See the previous post for ticket and location information.

• The NOVEMBER meeting will ALSO be held at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Caledonia.  Our normal meeting location has an annual conflict because they are the hosts of the Holiday House Tour.