September means a new year of quilting begins and everyone is happy to be back in person at Centennial Hall. The weather is hot and steamy and the mood is buoyant as old friends meet each other at the evening and daytime meetings at Centennial Hall.

It certainly looks like its going to be a busy year. Our theme this year is “Curiouser and curiouser”, inspired by Alice in Wonderland, and the exciting new program aims to broaden our horizons. We have been instructed to “look outside of the box” and discover new techniques and new ways of looking at old favourites.

The meeting included an overview of the new look website as well as details of the upcoming challenges retreats and workshops. Several members displayed their projects completed during the past year and pictures of these are available in the photo section of the website. Also the “Pickle Jar” made a welcome reappearance and several members went home with some swag! Delicious treats were enjoyed by all (remember your mug for future meetings) and some took the opportunity to borrow library books or browse through magazines and some archival photos.

In addition to all of this activity, we were introduced to “Quilty Icebreakers”. These were a lot of fun as many admitted to having collections of quilting related items. The categories were irons, scissors and sewing machines and it seems you can never have too many of any of these. The winners confessed to having 11 irons, 42 pairs of scissors (strictly for quilting) and 14 sewing machines of various ages and types. Wow! Thank you for sharing these pictures of your collections.

Here’s what Amazon has to say about it: “You’ll learn how exciting (and easy) it is to sew curves in your patchwork projects. Quilting with Curves has 20 geometric-patterned quilt projects, from basic curves to complex combinations. Award-winning quilt designer Daisy Aschehoug shares a unique style of pattern writing, allowing you to combine curves of different sizes with other geometric elements. Beginners who have never quilted curves can easily follow along with the projects, and all quilters can take away valuable tips on creating original designs. Advanced quilters can challenge themselves by combining several curved techniques.

• An essential book for those who wish to experiment with both curved piecing and modern quilt design.
• Projects range in difficulty level and are doable for quilters of all skill levels.
• Take away essential skills and techniques to make your own beautifully patterned curved quilts.”

This is book BQG #462 – Let Christine know if you’d like to borrow it!

Take a sneak peak here: link to Amazon

Over the summer the website team has made a few changes to the look and content of your BQG website. Here is a brief rundown of the major changes:

• The new theme and layout was chosen to give the site a more modern and clean look.
• More information is made available to non members, for example details of guild activities, meetings etc. and the updated resources tab.
• Most of the page names remain the same although member-only pages only appear in the menu after guild members have logged in.
• The login link has been updated and it is now much easier to reset passwords and retrieve forgotten passwords and usernames
• The photos and newsletter pages have been simplified by including only the last two years of information. A link is provided for archived material.
• The library page now includes an online bookshelf of our library holdings in alphabetical order by title using book covers. By clicking on the cover of the book you can obtain information on the title including the keywords, author etc. A further link will take you to the Open Library record giving more information and further links to other websites. This list is fully searchable using both keywords and author name. By using our unique BQG number the book may be requested for loan.
• Finally, the website address will be changing later in September as we are moving to a new host. You will need to update your favourites with the new web address when everything is finalised.

If you can spare the time, please take a few minutes to check out the changes.

With the new guild year fast approaching, the website and newsletter team is happy to announce the launch of an updated and refreshed website.

The launch is planned for the beginning of September.

To enable a smooth transition the website will not be available to members for a few hours on Sept 1st. Further details will be provided in the newsletter.

We are looking forward to sharing the new features with you in September.

Since the pandemic started in March 2020, many of our quilters have found either purpose or solace in their sewing machines. We started out by making masks, and more masks, to support our health care workers. This was before the manufacturers of masks knew what hit them. After making and distributing over 22,000 masks at no charge over six months, we figured we could leave the masks to the professionals and get back to our quilting.

Since then, our Outreach Coordinators have made several donations to local organizations thanks to the many members of our guild who continue to sew for the benefit of others. Over the past few months, Outreach was very pleased to be able to make the following donations:

• 18 bed-sized quilts to AJOI for a young adult residence in the West Island, brightening up the very white decor
• 15 lap-sized quilts to Ronald McDonald House (see picture below)
• 24 placemats and 5 tote bags to WIAIH, a center in the West Island for people with intellectual disabilities
• 5 quilts and 2 quilt tops (including batting and backing) to Quilts for Survivors, a group offering quilts to survivors of residential schools
• 24 placemats to Meals on Wheels serving Pierrefonds West and Ile Bizard
• 12 baby quilts for the NICU at the Children’s Hospital