The Crocus Quilt Guild had the annual December Social on December 6 with members enjoying a delicious turkey dinner. It was a very cold night and it was unfortunate some members were unable to come. There were four members on Zoom.
Show and Tell
Following the brief meeting, we enjoyed viewing various items. First there were eight completed Guild Mystery Table Runners, a 2022 Guild Challenge. They were all made with a variety of colours, most with scraps, and or with charm pack squares. Thank you to Shelley G. for organizing this Challenge!
Closer views below show the quilting and variety. Shelley G. and Diana showed contrasting looks with Shelley’s Christmas colours and Diana’s pastels. Diana has lots of pretty feathers in her quilting.
Jaynie also used Christmas colours and interesting quilting with circles echoing her squares. Eileen J.’s runner shows spring colours and she used her scraps.
Dorothy B. also made a Christmas runner and she showed the back that also used her scraps. It is like a reversible runner.
Leanne A. made a very colourful runner that is just a bit smaller than the others as she did not add the outer border. Bonnie added an inner border to her pretty runner to give a different look.
Marg’s Christmas runner has a totally different look as her background fabric is directional and therefore looked better with the lines running all the same direction. She cut the squares just like the others, but she arranged them in a different pattern. She would like to make a runner just like the others were made!
Following the Mystery Runners, members showed the Fidget or Sensory Mats that they have made. Charity arranged this Challenge for us and the mats will be delivered to Alzheimer patients. They are fun to make but they also take time to do. Members gathered items from their sewing rooms and other odds and ends. It was interesting to see the creativity and see different items that were used.
Leanne showed two that she had made, one for a male and one for a female. Shelby L. also sent two mats that she had made.
Dorothy B. showed three she had made. The first two she showed last month and gave us ideas for what possibilities we could try. The third mat has a sporting theme.
Bonnie showed two mats she finished. The first one has an old T-shirt that has lots of embellishments.
Following the Sensory mats being shown, members showed a variety of items. Eileen J. showed a set of very pretty Christmas placemats that she has made for herself using the “Take Four” pattern, even though her daughter strongly admired them!
Eileen J. also finished a pretty lap quilt that is a gift for her daughter-in-law who loves aqua and yellow, the colours she had used for her wedding. Eileen found this pattern that was a Challenge on a quilt show on the computer. Colleen did the curly quilting.
More pretty Christmas placemats! Dorothy B. purchased a kit to make six placemats, but there was so much fabric left over she was able to make two small runners. She plans to use them for herself.
Diana has finished two lovely table runners. The first picture shows her completed 2019 Mystery Challenge from the Doug Leko pattern. The second runner is a very pretty design and she used Christmas fabrics. Terry Whitman did the quilting.
Barb H. went to Mesa, AZ in October and while there she took a half day class to learn paper piecing. It was a lot of fun and when she came home in November, she finished this beautiful Christmas Log Cabin wreath wall hanging that she had started there. She did the quilting herself.
Deb. G. keeps busy making Christmas gifts and she has finished five of this very cute appliqued table runner, A Gnome with a Home! She did her own quilting.
Deb also made two practical gifts for a quilter. She made a sewing organizer to put under a sewing machine, and also a scissors holder.
Trudi G. showed three interesting items. The first one, a table runner, was created from a piece of linen that she accordion-folded and then coiled it like a cinnamon bun before “snow-dying” the linen. She quilted it herself. She also showed a hand-dyed bag that she made using the same fabric. It has an interior zipper. The second photo shows a red and blue oversized batik bag that has machine and hand stitching. This bag has zippers and inner pouches and is Trudi’s own pattern.
Leanne A. has finished a pretty winter wall hanging that was a kit. It was a UFO and spent a long time in the closet, but she has completed it and it will be a Christmas gift for a friend. She did her own free motion quilting.
Another UFO was finished by Jill! She had the Oriental brown and teal fabric for a LONG time, and she built the blocks for this Shadow Box single quilt, but she wanted to make it bigger. Sadly she struggled to find more fabric so this is as big as it could be. It was long-arm quilted by “Quincy’s” in Leduc.
Eileen W., a long time quilter, showed her beautiful lap quilt that will be her final quilt due to health reasons. This quilt was hand embroidered by her sister, Gloria, and it is for her sister’s husband. The quilt was pieced by Eileen, but finished by Leanne A. Terry Whitman did the long arm quilting. What a beautiful gift for a fisherman!
Eva has been exceptionally busy! Eva showed seven quilts she has finished. The first one is a cute appliqued quilt. The second quilt is a cute panel, Peace on Earth. Eva does her own long arm quilting.
The two quilts below were made with cute winter panels.
Eva has grandsons who like dirt biking and so both of these lap quilts will be suitable for them.
The seventh quilt that Eva showed is for a great-grandchild that is soon to be born and she isn’t sure if it will be a boy or girl. This will be Eva’s sixth great-grandchild. Eva used the same cute animal block patterns that she used to make a baby quilt for her daughter when she was a baby. Her daughter will be the new baby’s grandmother.
More creativity! Shannon J. has always wanted to print her own designs on fabric, and she had a chance to do that this year. She sent her design to an art fabric location in Quebec. The design was printed on organic hemp. The cats have the word “cat” in the swirl design. She plans to make the fabric into a wall hanging for her son. Well done, Shannon!
Colleen placed a beautiful Christmas queen-size quilt on the blog. This quilt is 95″ x 102″. It is a mystery block of the month that was created by Gudrun Erla from GE Quilt Designs. It was a 14 month program. Colleen was given a block each month which represented a European Christmas tradition. Each month they were given an explanation about each tradition and then a “how to” video to construct the block. In October the layout was revealed. Colleen wanted a Queen-size quilt so she added four extra borders to increase the size. The backing she purchased was too small when she decided to increase the size so she expanded it with an insert in the middle with left-over fabric from the top plus a bonus wall hanging project. Colleen also needed to add red at the bottom and she just worked with what she had left-over. Colleen quilted it herself with a digital design called “First Snowfall”. This is Colleen’s first Christmas quilt and what a success! Colleen pointed out the various interesting Christmas traditions illustrated in the quilt and the European countries from where they originated. An example would be on the top left there is a flaming Yule Log which is Nordic from the winter, and on the top right there are two Christmas Crackers from the UK. What an interesting quilt and what a lot of work, Colleen!
The two photos below show the backing with a close up of the centre of the backing.
Below, the two photos show the pretty long arm quilting design.
Marg finished a baby quilt for a new great-niece, Sarah Stewart, who lives in Calgary. It is flannel with a pale yellow minky backing. The pattern is “Hopscotch”, and the flannel fabric line is by Riley Blake called Juvenile Flannel purchased at Peachtree. Colleen did the long arm quilting with a cute “Stars and Moon” design to go with the stars and moons printed on the fabric. To save on postage, Marg took the quilt to Mexico to give to little Sarah’s grandparents, who were holidaying with Marg there, and they then could deliver it to Calgary.
The next Guild meeting will be January 3, 2023!
Merry Christmas to all and Best Wishes for a very happy, healthy and safe Holiday Season! Happy New Year!
Weyburn Crocus Quilt Guild 