February meeting!

 We had another fun meeting this month (ok if I do say so myself haha)! 

We met on Monday February 13 2023 at the Keswick Ridge Community Hall.

We had a 'getting to know our members' segment where four of our members introduced themselves and told their own story.  

Gisele, Amal and Toni - I really enjoyed learning more about you and your quilting story! I hope we keep this segment up as the months go on.  

Our show and tell was beautiful - as usual.  Please note that these are not in order as my computer didnt upload them in order and....well I think we will be ok!

Betty made this beautiful quilt!  Bettty quilted this on her domestic! Such a gorgeous job!

Betty got on the Project bags wagon and made one 

This is a sort of 'mystery' quilt that was done by the Elm City Retreaters - each morning of retreat they were provided fabric and a 'piece' of the pattern - by the last day - they had this quilt top! For example on day 1 they received the middle pieces to put together.  (as I understand it)

Another project / technique from the Elm City retreat - hand turned appliqué technique! 

And another retreat project!

Diane Kelly was working on this one at retreat as well.  It uses the drunkards path template.  Diane was saying that the color placement was the challenge with this one.  Just a gorgeous quilt!

Here's another from Diane - it was a block of the month from 'A Quilting life' blog

Start Here - A Quilting Life  Note that each year they offer a 'free' block of the month(BOTM) - the following January the block / patterns move to her etsy shop for purchase.  This years BOTM looks great too!  

She used a polka dot in the background of the blocks and it really looks great.

Woohoo! Kathy H. finished her Tea time placemats! She recommends a youtube tutorial review before binding.  It seems to go a bit easier.  

here is one version (please note that I just googled this - I have not reviewed myself)

 https://youtu.be/cXs6tsyw2wY

Kathy bought this project bag from Andrea and put it together!

Most people would consider Kathy pretty handy at applique.  When she saw this wallhanging she had to have it! After she opened it up - she realized-  IT WAS ONE PIECE! she simply had to line it up and press it down!! no fiddling!! (or maybe not much) ! Looks great!

Elizabeth's two grandchildren are making a Minecraft quilt!    They love going to her house and beg to go and sew with grammie! We all thought she was pretty blessed! (I'm not going to try to name them all here as I would get it really wrong! but they look terrific don't they??

I did a quick search and you can find one version of the pattern here:

Minecraft Quilt | My Rainy Day Designs

This is a Pokemon character pillow - this is Mew

A beautifully embroidered Christmas quilt by Elizabeth!

Heres a small quilt that Elizabeth made - she liked it so well she decided to frame it! What a great idea!

Here's another quilt by Elizabeth - so pretty!

A table runner that Elizabeth took from her daughter if I recall correctly!

Debbi made herself a purse - she'd hesitated to make this purse because it looked too small.  Upon further inspection it was the right size!  She'd been looking for a bag to hold her new Coronation Street themed wallet!  It turned out very professional looking Debbi! Great work!

Debbi found this fabric at Fabricville for a great price too!  It is going to make a beautiful quilt that Debbi is planning on donating!  Very kind!

This massive quilt was made by one of our newer members, Corrine! The border looks so great on it! She planned on doing a basic 'piano key' border but thought it too plain - so she cut into the piano keys inserting a piece just to the left - it looks great! What a great idea!  She is so creative!

This quilt made by Debbie H from  - none other than Ella's batik leftovers from her wallet making.  

Not including the piano key border there are NO DUPICATE fabrics on the inside blocks.

A gorgeous charm pack quilt - Debbie actually washed the charm pack and she's living proof - they aren't 5" and they aren't square haha.

Cherie and her friend made this on their embroidery machine - it is fantastic and has so much detail!

What a sweet quilt that Cherie made for her sister!

Gisele showed us her Sunflower wall hanging! how beautiful is this!

Carlinda showed us this Jelly roll race quilt that didn't quite turn out as she expected - we all agreed it turned out just great!  Looks good in our eyes!!

Here's another one made by Carlinda - this one I think she said was made with a charm pack or layer cake but she wanted it to be one color so she went with it! We think it looks great!

Amal is a newer quilter and she brought us a few to look at tonight!

This is her first quilt that she made and her favorite one as well!  It's a great one!

the back of this one:

This one is also made by  Amal - a great  Quilt that she made using 'all the stitches' on her machine.  The pictures really don't do it justice!  The flowers at the bottom of the quilt are crocheted! So sweet!

This is the back of the quilt - you can see the pretty texture.

Another to get the idea of the size!

Amal's hen basket! What a cute one!

Marilyn showed us this pretty blue quilt - her granddaughter picked out the fabrics during a trip to Marden's one summer!

Marilyn was scrambling for a Valentines day quilt so she put this one together!!! it's really sweet! she hopes to quilt feathers inside the heart!!

A beautiful bag that was made by Ruth and given to Marilyn! look at the details!

Jodi made this sweet heart day hanging!

This was a kit she picked up while at retreat!

PS this was her first retreat and she loved it!

Doreen started this quilt a while back and it was intended for a couple as their wedding gift.  Well Doreen sort of set it aside and when she went back to it found that half of the blocks were missing. 

She decided to go ahead and make a twin sized quilt - so she bought some more fabric to finish it up.

Well lo and behold - after the quilt top was finished - she found the 'other half'!! isn't that the way!!  Now to find the border fabrics again!!

Heather C caught the project bag bug (from Melanie) and made herself a project bag!

here's a few more!

Christa G made this gorgeous quilt! She was approached by the bee keeper next door to make a quilt and wow did she ever deliver!

someone said - if that bee looks fuzzy - its because it is!

This is a lovely colorful quilt made by Linda D -

 she made this at retreat and got a great tip - if you turn every other block - no seams to match up! (except columns and rows) - You can see this here - the seams of the blocks dont have to nest!

And some placemats - also made by Linda!

Well that was another night of show and tell!

What gorgeous work ladies!!!

 

Retreat 2023 by Carlinda Daigle!

Another guest post by our good friend Carlinda!    Anyone wanting to submit a blog post - you are welcome to do so at krquilters@gmail.com!

 

On the road to retreat!  

The ladies got together at Villa Madonna in Rothesay earlier this month (Feb. 1 – 5) for the Keswick Ridge Quilters annual quilting retreat.  If you have never been to one here is a little insight to hopefully entice you to join us next year.

The most important thing to do once you have decided you are going is to make lists – a list for projects, a list for clothing and a list of what to take from your sewing room at home.  There are numerous ways to get ideas for a packing for retreat list.  

Every road trip starts with Tim Horton’s, so Carlinda and Jodi had to stop for a beverage and a donut – drivers’ rule. 

 

When you arrive at Villa Madonna there is a table with the room layout and which room you were assigned.  This was Carlinda’s room for Thursday to Saturday night.  It was close to the wheelchair accessible washroom/shower, a one-person washroom and the dining room.  She said the room was just the right size because she spent most of her time sewing.  The twin bed was comfortable.

        

 

All of the ladies were upstairs in the same boardroom.  Each person had one table for their working station as well as two irons and ironing boards set up.  There were two cutting tables for everyone to take turns using during the retreat. 

                         

 

                       

  

 

As you can see anything goes, bring your own chair, bring your sewing table from home, bring one project or many projects to work on.  The natural light was nice to have as we watched the snow fall from a distance. 

 

Carlinda was working on a quilt for her bed in shades of her favorite color – Purple!  The pattern she was following was a Fabric Café 3-yard quilt named Modern Charm.  This pattern has one solid block and one block with a churn dash.  The picture with the stacks is the 180 half square triangles which is half of what is needed for her queen size quilt. 

                          

 

 

 

Now the quilting retreat isn’t all sewing and quilting.  A few of the ladies decided to take a ferry ride over to K & P Studio Quilting on the Kingston Peninsula (which is where the K & P comes from in the studio name).  The ladies timed it just right and drove on and off as soon as they arrived.  K & P Studio is a little spot in Lisa Mosher’s home where she has fabric and a few notions as well as her long arm quilting machine. 

                                    

 

Now K & P Studio wasn’t the only quilt shop that the ladies visited while on the retreat.  Town and Country Quilt Store in Rothesay was offering a 20% discount if you were at the retreat so we made sure to keep them busy and take advantage of the deal.  Tina and staff were great helping us spend our money.

 

Now if you were working on a detailed project and needed a break for your eyes and brain there was something for that as well.  There were a couple of puzzles with a quilt theme to them that was brought by one of the ladies.  It was nice to be able to put a quilt together quickly… piece by piece.  There was also a crossword puzzle from the New York Times for those that aren’t puzzle people.

 

                                    

 

Now you may be asking “What about the food?”  Well the meals were great.  All three meals were served in the dining room which was cafeteria style.  There were more than one option for each meal.  Some of the meals that were served – chicken pot pie, chicken with potatoes and vegetables, soup and sandwiches for lunch, desserts, coffee and tea included.  Snacks were brought by a few members.

 

 

 

A fun activity that we did together was the “Left Center right” dice game.  The game consisted of three dice and you rolled all three to begin with.  If you rolled an L you gave one of your fat quarters to the person on your left, the same applied for R to the right and C for center.  We went through the game in about a half hour leaving four ladies with about 18 fat quarters each.  A great stash builder.

 

On lunch on Sunday was the signal of the end of a great retreat.  Everyone packed up their belongings and sadly packed up the vehicles, some of them were loaded pretty darn snug with three ladies travelling together.  One of the ladies was enjoying herself so much she was a day behind and was surprised when we told her it was Sunday.  That is how much fun these retreats are for everyone. 

 

The retreat is a great getaway for the middle of the winter and if you start saving now you can have enough for February 2024.

thanks Carlinda! Sounds like a great time!

Comfort Quilts! A binding machine!

Well that got you wondering didn't it ??

No - we don't have a binding machine, *I* am NOT a binding machine - however Joyce our Comfort Quilt Queen is!    (I just made that title up - not the real title - though not a bad idea!) !

This quilt was made by Joanne Cavanaugh, quilted by Giselle Carr and bound by Joyce! I love the colors - so well placed! 

This quilt top, made by Ruth Tracey, quilted by Giselle Carr and - once again bound by Joyce! 

Finally this one - we're not sure who pieced it, I believe it was quilted by Giselle Carr, and binding...well the one- the only - Joyce! 

It certainly takes a village to keep a guild active!

Thanks to all the members who contributed! 

BRRR its cold out there!

 We wouldn't be in Atlantic Canada if we didn't mention the weather!

Today we have a bit of treat - a 'guest post' by Carlinda Daigle to share with you!

If ever YOU TOO want to write something up and send it along - I'd be more than happy to share it here!

Thanks Carlinda-  you are such a blessing to our guild!

Here are a couple pictures of the view the ladies had at our workday on Saturday, January 28. Christa Gunn, Natalie Duncan, and Carlinda Daigle started the day off and later joined by Evelyn Dunphy and Gisele Carr. Heather Olmstead stopped by for a quick visit and a coffee as did Linda Dykeman. The day was filled with talk of the retreat and who was going and what projects they were going to work on. We also spoke of the tea time placemats from our October workshop and it was agreed that the dessert sky was far easier. A good time was had by all and happy to finally get a workday in January.

Signing off for now! Enjoy the retreat this year ladies! I'll be missing you!

Dont forget our meeting on February 13 at the community centre!

Susan

December 2022 Show and Tell

 Our December meeting was a dinner at the Kingsley Road Church - it was delicious!

Elaine showed us two wall hangings she had made, one with a white background and the other with a dark background - this was from a workshop she had delivered to us in the fall.

 

Sweet aprons made by Linda - I believe for her grandchildren.  So sweet!

A cow pillow made by Susan A for her daughter from a Lori Holt pattern!

Hope everyone had a merry Christmas!