JANUARY 2018
Reminder to everyone to bring your Row-by-Row projects to the January meeting for show and tell. The quilts or quilt tops don’t have to be complete – share  your progress!

We’re also looking for a new team to take on Programs. We’ve got the next few months arranged already, so anyone who volunteers will have an easy introduction to the job. Working with a team, Programs is both fun to do and a great opportunity to get to know people better.

January Program: Barb Mortell – The Power of Creativity
Barb Mortell will join us to give a presentation entitled The Power of Creativity. She believes that creativity exists in all of us in one form or another, and that we need to nurture it in order to live a whole-hearted life. A regular practice of art-making and doing creative things keeps us young and open minded. We will do some quick creative exercises at the meeting, so bring pieces of paper and pencils or pens. www.barbmortell.ca and www.artleap.ca

FEBRUARY 2018
2017 Birmingham Quilt Show in the UK with Rosalind Knight

MARCH 2018
Paul Krampitz Trunk Show
Paul Krampitz from the Vancouver Modern Guild will be giving us a trunk show on his journey from traditional to modern quilting, with examples of lessons he learned in traditional quilting and how he has adapted these lessons in making modern quilts.

Laurel Hickey, Norine McCaffrey, Betty Clarke, and Rosalind Knight, Program Coordinators

The food for our winter social was wonderful – yay us! Thanks to everyone who brought sweet and savoury treats. After a slow start, our Guess the Quilter game took off with guesses coming at a rapid pace. Special thanks to all our mystery quilters. And to Betty for both moderating and for providing the disguises. I had no idea who anyone was.

Our mystery quilters: Leslie Chatelain, Rita Douglas, Chris Gardner, Joan Elliot, Clarice Hobson, Isabelle Jenkins, Becky West, and Margaret Duckham.

Laurel Hickey, Programs Coordinator

If anyone wondered if just maybe we’d had enough of shopping in the double-whammy pop-ups of September, the answer proved to be a resounding NO! Carola brought a huge selection of pre-cuts, threads, and gadgets, including the new free-motion quilting rulers and feet. The crowds were such that sharp elbows were needed to get to the merchandise. I have sharp elbows. I bought and bought.

Despite the pre-meeting shopping and the shopping at the break and the time we left for shopping after Carola’s talk, there was still a lineup that threatened to take us past 10 pm, our pumpkin hour at the hall. Packing everything up in time took an (un)coordinated effort, dodging the throngs of shoppers still there. A special thanks to Linda Heese who dove right into the packing up alongside the Programs committee.

Even though we aren’t really set up for demos, Carola’s talk was a good introduction to the tools and techniques of using those special rulers for free-motion quilting. I’m going to give it a go in the new year… or when I can see my sewing table again for all the projects I’m trying to get done for Christmas.

Laurel Hickey, Programs Coordinator

This September, we welcomed Debbie Miller, owner of the ‘Needle and I Quilt Shop and Sewing Centre’ in Burnaby and Lorna Shapiro, owner of ‘Quilter’s Dream Fabrics’ in Vancouver. Their brief talks were full of insights as to what goes on behind the scenes of the two very different businesses. The shopping experience before the meeting, during the break and afterwards, was amazing. I spent every dollar I had brought with me and was sorely tempted to pull out the plastic. I wasn’t alone – we kept the pair hopping. Most of my money went towards re-stuffing my stash with Japanese yarn-dyed fabrics, a speciality of Lorna’s. I also got three colours of cork fabric from Debbie, real sewable cork you can make into real things. I’m thinking gadget pouches and change purses for holiday giving. Debbie recommends using baby wipes to clean the items.

From left to right: Betty Clarke, Suzanne Patchell, Debbie Miller, and Lorna Shapiro.

Lorna Shapiro’s selection of Japanese yarn-dyed fabrics, shot cottons, and silks. Oh my.

Debbie Miller’s wonderful assortment of fabrics and notions. Something for everyone.

Cork fabric from Debbie Miller.

OCTOBER 2017
Rulers Rule Talk by Carola Russell of Carola’s Quilt Shop
Learn everything you need to get started with free motion quilting rulers on your home machine: the foot, the rulers, the supplies and the techniques. She’s bringing loads of things from her store, so think about doing some early Christmas shopping, especially for yourself! Carola is also doing a ruler workshop with us in November and there will be an opportunity to order supplies for that. Note 15% discount on rulers ordered before the workshop. http://www.carolasquiltshop.com

NOVEMBER 2017
Winter Social & Guess the Quilter Game
By popular request, the ‘Guess the Quilter Game’ is back, keeping delicious company with our pot luck winter social. Be prepared for fun and prizes and good food. No signup sheet for the pot luck, just bring your favourite sweet or savoury treat to share.

In the NEW YEAR
We have lots planned for the 2018, including demos by our members, a tour through the 2017 Birmingham Quilt Show in the UK, and a couple of great trunk shows.
In January, we will display the results of the Row-by-Row challenge – this gives you some extra time over the original plan of showing them in November. Bring your completed work or work-in-progress.

Laurel Hickey, Norine McCaffrey, Betty Clarke, and Rosalind Knight, Program Coordinators

SEPTEMBER 2017
Panel and Pop-up Shops
If you’ve been good all summer, here’s a chance to be bad, but in a good way – even a great way. Yes, I’m talking about buying fabric. For the September meeting, we’re bringing back the popular panel and pop-up shop combo, welcoming Debbie Miller of the ‘Needle and I Quilt Shop and Sewing Centre’ in Burnaby, and Lorna Shapiro of ‘Quilter’s Dream Fabrics’ out in Point Grey. Hear the ins and outs of how they decide what fabric and notions to stock, what their best-selling lines are, who their favourites designers are and why – join in the dialogue. The third ‘popper’, Christine Hamilton of ‘Made by Me Sewing Studio’ in North Vancouver had to send her regrets.

OCTOBER 2017
Rulers Rule Talk by Carola Russell of Carola’s Quilt Shop
Learn everything you need to get started with free motion quilting rulers on your home machine: the foot, the rulers, the supplies and the techniques. Carola is also doing a ruler workshop with us in November and there will be an opportunity to order supplies. Note 15% discount on rulers ordered before the workshop. http://www.carolasquiltshop.com

NOVEMBER 2017
Winter Social & Guess the Quilter Game
By popular request, the ‘Guess the Quilter Game’ is back, keeping delicious company with our pot luck winter social. Be prepared for fun and good food. No signup sheet, just bring your favourite sweet or savoury treat to share.

In the NEW YEAR
We have lots planned for the 2018, including demos by our members, a tour through the 2017 Birmingham Quilt Show in the UK, and a couple of great trunk shows.
In January, we will display the results of the Row-by-Row challenge – this gives you some extra time over the original plan of showing them in November. Bring your completed work or works-in-progress.

There was a recurring theme in the fist groups of quilts shown: the courses that Catherine had taken over five years from City and Guilds of London in the UK. For those who might be curious, the vocational training organization was founded in 1878 and has had a close link to the arts from the start.

For many of the projects, the students first developed hand-made inspiration books, and from that, designed the quilt or quilts. I was particularly taken with the stamps quilt and the accompanying wooden box book. Catherine said it was built on the idea of friends and connecting with others.

She finds inspiration everywhere. The quilt on the right was inspired by the graffiti on the walls of a butcher shop.

Heads and faces from a trip to the UBC Museum of Anthropology, graphite and ink applied directly to the fabric.

Some of what looks like paper on her quilts IS paper on her quilts, from dictionary pages to road maps. She glues the paper directly on the fabric, admitting she has no idea how it will wear over time.

My favouites were for Vancouver’s Cherry Blossom festival, years of quilts, all beautiful, and all showing an aspect of spring on the coast and the transient beauty of the flowers. The white quilt in the second photo below shows cherry blossoms in a late snowfall.

On subject ‘less visited’ in quilting, Catherine combined her love of life drawing with quilting. Using an old drop sheet, she drew the figure directly onto the fabric. The quote is from Shakespeare.

I found Catherine’s work a wonderful example of disciplined creativity, how it is possible to not only bring inspiration to life through quilts, but to actively seek out the process by which that happens.

Laurel Hickey, Programs Coordinator

PhDs
You’ve done it – we’ve done it. Sewn and stitched, counted and recounted. And we have winners! Two winners of $100 each for most quilt inches overall, another $100 winner for most items completed, and four draw prizes for $50 each, plus some fun give-aways. We’ll announce who won what and do the draw prizes at the June meeting.

Of 286 items registered, 112 were completed, a whopping 19,060.50 inches in total. Note that each person can only win one prize, so if you are the winner of a ‘most inches’ or ‘most items’ prize, your name won’t in the hat for the draw prizes.

In addition to the above and as a special thank you, there are three $20 dollar prizes for the most community quilt inches. These prizes can be in addition to other prizes.

JUNE Social
As it’s our guild’s 30th birthday, we have a few special things planned for the evening. In keeping with that, for show and tell, please bring your special quilts and tell us what they mean to you. If you’ve signed up to bring cake or fruit, don’t forget. If you get inspired at the last minute, feel free to bring whatever you’d like.

SEPTEMBER
Panel and Pop-up Shops
Seeing as how popular the panel and shops were last year, we’re doing it again, this time looking behind the scenes in quilting retail. We have a diverse group: Christine Hamilton of ‘Made by Me Sewing’ in North Vancouver, Debbie Miller of ‘Needle and I Quilt Shop and Sewing Centre’ in Burnaby, and Lorna Shapiro from Vancouver. Bring money!

OCTOBER
Carola Russell of Carola’s Quilt Shop
Learn everything you need to know to get started with free motion quilting rulers on your home machine: the foot, the rulers, the supplies and the techniques. Carola is also doing a rulers workshop with us in November and there will be an opportunity to order supplies. www.carolasquiltshop.com

November 2017
Winter Social & Guess the Quilter Game
We’re combining the popular ‘Guess the Quilter’ game with our pot-luck winter social. If you’d like to be one of the quilters, let Betty Clarke know.

Laurel Hickey, Norine McCaffrey, Betty Clarke, and Rosalind Knight, Program Coordinators

Quilts are memories, Stacey said, and admits she has trouble letting them go. That turned out to be good news for us. The evening was fun and Stacey’s trunk show energetic, showing her passion for her quilting and design work, and for the community of people she interacts with, from fabric designers and manufacturers to fellow quilters. Be sure to visit her website for free patterns, tutorials, and where else to find her work.

Here are a few of my favourite quilts from the show.

I wouldn’t use the colours of the American flag for my version of this, but Stacey’s stars are so fun and fresh – and most importantly, simple to made and to scale. Four identical star blocks and some extras strips to make one larger block. Repeat as needed. I’m seeing baby quilts here, perhaps in green and grey with a touch of pink. The quilt shown here is ‘Red White and Free’ and is available as a kit through Craftsy. This was Stacey’s first Craftsy quilt pattern.

From the amount of clapping and questions, ‘Power Grid’ was an audience favourite. I love it for its graphic punch. Done using paper foundation piecing, it would be simple to replicate without using that technique. The fun is all in the arrangement of the simple striped and plain blocks. This quilt was part of the Modern Quilt Unlimited Summer 2015 challenge.

Heaven help me, but I want to use the word ‘mod’ to describe this quilt. And ‘cool’. Even without the trip down memory lane, I love the bright pops of colour and manageable curves. This is ‘Whirlpool Quilt’ which appeared in American Quilter Magazine in March 2015, and featured the fabric collection of a friend of Stacey.

Laurel Hickey
Programs Coordinator