Category: Events

The last meeting for the year was the Annual Christmas Party, when 20 members arrived promptly, armed with delicious plates of food to share.  Tables were set up and arranged quickly then everyone was treated to a glass of warming mulled wine or soft drink.  The evening’s festivities started with the Charity Game, kindly organised by Carol.  With much laughter some very interesting presents were swapped around the group.  As members chatted and enjoyed the refreshments a selection of clever and attractive Christmas Cards, made by members, were exchanged.  The Fabric Challenge attracted a varied selection of items for the 1p vote, which was won by Carol for her book cushion.  As the evening came to a close we said farewell to one of our members, Deborah Jarman, who was moving away from the area.  It was suggested that at some time in the future we might be able to twin with the new quilting group she had identified.  Everyone agreed they had enjoyed the evening and all that was left for us to do was tidy up before we went home.  Thanks go to everyone who helped with the washing up and stacking the tables and chairs away. 

As the programme for the year came to an end, 14 members attended the last sit and sew session for the year.  Accompanied with plenty of chatter and laughter it was interesting to see some clowns appearing from the last mini workshop meeting. Other members worked on their individual projects or worked hard to increase the supply of baby quilts ready for donation

Thanks go to Lindy and Adele for making the teas and to Adele, who provided us with some lovely homemade cakes. 

The Final Stretch, Completing a Quilt

It was pleasing to see that the first afternoon meeting of the Autumn season was well attended by members eager to hear what Frances had to tell us, and we were not disappointed.

Frances had brought along a selection of smaller quilts which she used to demonstrate various options for free motion quilting.  She explained that when you were ready to quilt you needed to decide whether you wished to enhance the patchwork or draw attention to the quilting pattern.   She explained that free motion quilting, which many of us found daunting, could be helped by practising a design with pen and paper or a whiteboard in order to imprint the design on our brain before we started sewing on our actual quilt.  Then using her whiteboard she demonstrated a method for working a feather design.  Various samples of fabric were passed around to demonstrate the difference between the cotton fabric used for piecing and the extra wide backing fabrics. She had brought along several quilts which were also passed around enabling members to take a closer look at the quilting patterns.  Everyone agreed it had been a very enjoyable and interesting evening and Frances was thanked for all the useful hints and tips she had given us.  I am sure that with all the information Frances had given us it would enable many of us to improve our future free motion quilting skills.

Thanks go to Jane and Sally for making the tea and coffee and providing the delicious cakes.

The evening started with Alyson showing us her quilt and reminding us we still had time to make one for Christmas.  She said she hoped to see a forest of Christmas Trees displayed at our Exhibition next year.  Val showed her quilt, with patchwork ornaments, which she had adapted to hang on a door.  Chris had been busy and showed us one of the two quilts she had made.

Sue displayed the clowns that she would be showing us how to make at the mini workshop on the 5^th November.  Members interested in taking part in the workshop were asked to add their name to the list circulating.

Kate advised that a Wake, for our late member Maggie Farmer, had been arranged for the 6^th October, anyone wishing to attend was asked to let her know. 

A letter received from Leominster Wellness Club asking for a small donation to enable them to take their members out for a Christmas lunch was considered and it was agreed that a donation of £100 should be made to help with this.

A cascade list was being prepared in case it was necessary to contact members in an emergency.  Members were asked to let Maureen know if their telephone numbers had changed.

As everyone sat and sewing Maureen reminded them that 2026 was an Exhibition year and several items were discussed following the feedback from the previous Exhibition.  It was gratefully noted that Alyson had been able to organise storage for the Exhibition Stands, thank you Alyson. Thanks also go to Marion and Chris for serving the refreshments.

Looking forward to a day of sewing members and guest participants began arriving early ready to set up their workstations. When all members were ready and Crafty UK had their sales table organised Andy and Jo were able to start their workshop.

Andy gave us a detailed explanation of the Hexagon ruler we would be using and showed us the different patterns that could be made.  We were then shown how to use the ruler to cut our fabric in order to make a block.  Amidst much chatter and discussion members moved to their individual spaces to begin their project and helped each other, some of us taking a little longer to get our heads around what we had been shown.  By lunch time most members had been able to finish their first block, whilst others had made several and were well on their way to a finished project.  As members enjoyed their lunch Andy explained how he had developed his acrylic templates to help make traditional blocks more easily.  With the help of Jo they then showed us a wide array of quilts that had been made with the aid of his various templates.  Everyone agreed they had thoroughly enjoyed the day and many said they would like Andy to return and run another workshop.