 Hello everyone,
I am watching the snow blow around as I write this. Isn't February just a great month to quilt! Our quilt show is only a few months away ... yikes ... better get some items ready! That also means that spring is only a little while off. For those who may have started to see the Canada 150 passports around Arnprior, please note that the only part of the quilt show which is free is entrance to the tea room and special Canada 150 travelling exhibit. Admission to the show is still $6.00 and includes the market mall. Did you get some great ideas from our demo night last month? I know that I walked away with a couple of tips that I will implement. Now if I can get someone to volunteer to come fold my fabric neatly .... haha I have a better chance of getting the new executive in place by March!! I have actually started and have two shelves out of 12 done! This might take a while. I am really looking forward to our February meeting when we will assemble some tops for the CQA big quilt bee. We have enough quilt blocks for 8 quilts now and may have enough for 10 by the end of the month. Don't forget to bring in your finished blocks. Happy Quilting, Brigid Whitnall President  The February 4th "slab block" workshop was a resounding success! In a few hours, 12 guild members produced 134 blocks for quilts destined for Ronald McDonald Houses across Canada as part of the Canadian Quilters' Association's Big Quilt Bee in celebration of Canada's 150th birthday. Quilt guilds from across Canada will be making and donating 12 1/2 inch blocks incorporating at least one piece of a special Canada fabric. Our guild is delighted to participate in this exciting project.
 Brigid Brigid reports, "We had lots of fun and laughs .... although the room would also get very quiet at times when everyone was hard at work. We had lots of the residents drop by to see what we were doing and they all enjoyed having us there as well. It was a great day of socializing and teamwork... not to mention how productive we were. I had no idea how many blocks we would have." And from Beth, a guild member and resident of Island View, "I enjoyed the day and I also learned a few more things about quilting. Several staff have said they would like the quilters back. They were impressed with the idea of helping people with the quilts."  That makes a total of 187 slab blocks which we'll begin piecing together at our February 22nd guild meeting, "hands on" charity night. Refer to the Canadian Quilters' Association (CQA) web site for more information and instructions for the blocks using the “slab block" pattern” compliments of Cheryl Arkison. The recent ruler bag workshop led by our guild vice president Chris Gordon was a very productive day as participants constructed this custom carry all bag for multiple rulers, patterns, and quilting tools when sewing away from home. Photos follow bag construction through to some completed bags at this awesome workshop. Our guild recently donated a quilt to The Grove Nursing Home in Arnprior for their palliative care room. Guild members made the multi-colour blocks, which we originally used for a game of "Quilt Bingo". These bingo blocks were then subsequently included in the "Bingo quilt" along with the pinwheel blocks. Anne Cruickshank, on behalf of the Arnprior & District Quilters' Guild is pictured at left presenting the quilt to Wendy Barkley, of Arnprior Regional Health, which oversees The Grove Nursing Home, the Arnprior & District Memorial Hospital and other local health partners.  Our Canada 150 Quilt Our guild's Canada 150 quilt has been completed! Designed by Brigid Whitnall, it features ideas submitted by our members - trilliums (Ontario's flower) in the centre, red and white log cabins and a connected diverse community of women. The blocks were made by guild members and it was beautifully quilted by Mary Stanton. This quilt will be featured at our quilt show on April 29-30, as part of an Eastern Ontario Interguild Canada 150 travelling quilt show. The collection of approximately 16 quilts will visit about a dozen area quilt shows, and at fall trunk shows. Tips and TricksTo kick off the new year our January meeting focused on tips and tricks for improving our quilting. We rotated through 5 demo stations manned by our own creative and talented guild members and came away with tremendous new ideas. Mary deVries showed us how to reduce bulk in our seam allowances, and how to use scraps while at the same time eliminating thread ends, saving time and thread.
Joann Vlaming showed us a great method for accurately sizing half square triangle blocks, including a tip to trim them before pressing them. And there's a ruler that can help with this.  Pat Campbell demonstrated a clever method for making continuous prairie points, and tips on attaching bindings. 
Chris Gordon showed us how to attach a 2 colour binding with a narrow flap of "faux piping". Chris provided these notes on this technique. This is a binding made with 2 colours – the faux piping colour is the wider width. One strip is 1 5/8 “ wide, the second is 1 3/8 “ wide. If the length is long make a full length of each colour before you combine the 2 colours. Stagger the joints.
A website with a tutorial is www.littlemissshabby.com/2013/11/scrappy-faux-piped-binding-tutorial. Her binding is 1/8 “ wider in each colour, but the technique is the same.
Fidget QuiltsFidget quilts are small lap quilts that provides sensory and tactile stimulation for the restless or "fidgety" hands of someone with Alzheimer's or related dementias. They provide sensory or tactile stimulation through the use of fabric colors, textures, and the use of accents or simple accessories such as pockets, laces, trims, appliques, buttons, secured beads, ribbons, braids etc. Sue Shute invited us to help make "fidget quilts" for local residents afflicted with Alzheimers disease. She's hosting drop in hands on quilting sessions on the last Tuesday of every month from 10 AM to 2 PM at Quilting Quarters in Almonte. Quilts will be distributed in the Arnprior and Almonte areas.   Happy New Year!
I was reading my resolution for last year to keep things simple and finish more projects. I think I made a little dent in my projects, but may have bought more than I finished. Oh well, better luck this year! As I write this, I am getting ready to leave for the January retreat. Here's hoping I can start the resolutions off nicely. I brought a few easy projects to get done. Our quilt show is only a few months away and I would encourage every single member to enter at least one quilt. If you have attended our show in the past, you know that we welcome all skill levels. If you want some inspiration, check out the pictures from the last show. Also, I hope that all of you are working on a Canada 150 project. It would be wonderful to have a red and white filled arena. Our elections are coming up as well, please don't hesitate to inquire about the various positions available. I would like to have a vote at the May meeting which means having more than one person interested in each role. The current exec laughed at me here... let's prove them wrong! I will have a box available for people to drop their names and ask any questions. Have a great 2017, filled with success in achieving your resolutions. Happy Quilting, Brigid Whitnall President |
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