The December meetings were action-packed! These are some highlights:

• Absolutely fascinating presentations were given by Shelly Miller at both meetings. Shelly is a Montreal-based artists who, among other focuses, creates art inspired by quilts, often for public spaces. Hearing about her process and inspiration as well as seeing examples of her creations was a treat.

• The Sunbonnet Sue challenge unveiling took place. So many unique interpretations! Thanks to Lauma for organizing this original challenge. Some fun stats: 30 “Sues” were created by 21 members and inspired by 26 different artists. Viewer’s Choice ended up being a 3-way tie, all representing Canadian artists!  We then did a draw for the final prize:  2 passes to the Musée des Beaux Arts Montreal. The winners were: Valerie Baylis (inspired by Lawren S. Harris), Cathy Bonneville (inspired by Norval Morrisseau) and Linda Glasspoole (inspired by Tom Thomson). More news to follow on where our Sunbonnet Sues will travel and be seen next.

• Outreach: Tuesday, December 3, was Giving Day so it was very fitting that on that day Christine and Dawn delivered nine quilts to the West Island Palliative Care on behalf of our guild. Thank you to all our guild members who helped make these beautiful quilts.
  

• last but not least, there was food, lots and lots of food, accompanied by socializing and exchanges among our members…. what a vibrant community we are lucky to be part of!

Our guild can look forward to more learning, fun, sharing and community- and friendship-building in 2020, starting with a workshop and retreat in January as well as our usual monthly meetings.

On October 19th, the guild hosted a “Fantasy Butterfly” workshop taught by our very own Louise Charlton. Did you know that a group of butterflies is officially called a kaleidoscope? I love that name: it really captures the many varied colours and symmetry at play in real-life butterflies and in the lovely creations made during the workshop.

This post is dedicated to the all the butterflies that will be fluttering through our Guild Show & Tells over the coming months… Here’s the first batch to emerge from their cocoons:

Stay tuned for more butterflies as they emerge from their cocoons 😉

During our November meetings, Carole Prevost, guild member and Cricut product representative, gave very informative presentations about the Cricut Maker. She created quite a stir within the guild as members realized the many possibilities this machine can do for our hobby!

The tool can be used first to design your project and then to cut it in a range of materials: fabric, vinyl, plastic, tissue paper, wood… Several lucky members won some wonderful prizes: fabric packs, irons, scissors, rulers, mats and a cutting tool. The grand prize – a Cricut Maker – was won by Colleen Paul.

Show & Tell this month featured some beautiful creations including a completed top for Outreach, a few butterflies created during October’s workshop, some sew-along blocks as well as a number of beautiful individual creations.

Remember to share your butterfly pics – any & all stages of progress welcome! – for a special ‘butterfly’ blog post: deadline to submit photos has been extended to November 17^th: prize will be drawn at December meetings.

Our October day and evening meetings both featured Monique Wilson of Apple Hill Quilting. Monique shared over 30 quilts in a range of styles from traditional to modern. One common thread is that all the quilts featured accomplished quilting.

Here’s Monique showing the quilt design visible from the back of one of her pieces:

In addition to Monique’s trunk show, Show & Tell was a highlight at each meeting. Check out José Berthiaume’s rainbow cushion cover:

See you in November!

The guild season is off to a great start with 2 lively meetings under our collective ‘belt’ for September J.  The calendar of events was shared: there is so much to choose from!  New this year: day & evening programs will be more closely aligned so that everyone benefits from similar programming.

Many new members were welcomed: guild membership now stands at 120 members.  Hello new members: we are so glad to have you among us!

Here’s a flavour of what’s in store for the 2019-2020 season:

– instead of a mystery quilt, we will have a sew-along this year

– sign-ups took place for an “Eye Spy/I Spy” block exchange

– there will be a design challenge: create a placemat or table runner

– a design challenge to make a modern version of ‘Sunbonnet Sue’ was discussed

– 4 exciting workshops are being offered, 2 by our very own members Pat Bradley and Louise Charlton and 2 by invited guests

– there will be 2 retreats: a day retreat in September and a sleep-away retreat in November

– the Outreach team has new patterns for us to work on: note that Sew Days are moving to Thursdays

– last but not least, there will be an IFFI (I finally finished it!) challenge: bring your finished quilt (started at least 2 years ago) to the December meeting.

There is so much to choose from that it could be overwhelming, except that we have the newsletter as a reference with all the details. As usual, Show & Tell was a highlight; at least one new member jumped right in and shared some quilts at the evening meeting. Until next month, here’s some Show & Tell ‘eye candy’ for you to enjoy: