Thursday, 4th December 2014
Blogger: Louise
Our final meeting of the year, the Christmas Social, saw 36 members arrive for a very busy evening indeed!
Elaine gave us some final numbers from the exhibition. We had an amazing 445 visitors over the weekend. The raffle and name the doll competition both raised a considerable amount so that we were able to provide substantial cheques to our two chosen charities; The Butterfly Garden and the Cobalt Unit. Very well done folks!
Our first activity of the evening was a bit of a brain teaser; in teams, we were to complete a list of blocks – fill in the blanks style. Always entertaining as people always know more than they think they do. Of course this could be how new blocks get named, finding names to fit the blanks!
Vanessa’s table won that round and were rewarded with their prize of sweets just as Chris from The Butterfly Garden arrived to receive the cheque from the exhibition and also tell us a bit about what they do and how it all came about. Never has the phrase “from small seeds great things grow” been more appropriate and Chris apparently never says “no” when he can say “why not?”. We were utterly entranced and are delighted to be supporting this great project. Please find out more here: http://www.thebutterflygarden.org/
We took a pause for refreshments here and were treated to a winter punch from Sheila, ably assisted by Bailey. This was not only very popular, but also beautifully presented with the serving area well attired for the season! To go with the punch were an assortment of treats and nibbles provided by our members including homemade cupcakes, Gretas, sausage rolls, mince pies, crisps...all sorts of goodies which clearly went down a storm from the number of requests for more plates!
While we were tucking in, forms were completed for membership renewal for 2015, the new programme is now available, so if you missed out this time, bring your chequebooks and a pen next time!
Apologies for the poor quality of the photos or if I've left anyone out..... I was having such a good time I nearly forgot to take any photos at all!
Blogger: Louise
Our final meeting of the year, the Christmas Social, saw 36 members arrive for a very busy evening indeed!
Elaine gave us some final numbers from the exhibition. We had an amazing 445 visitors over the weekend. The raffle and name the doll competition both raised a considerable amount so that we were able to provide substantial cheques to our two chosen charities; The Butterfly Garden and the Cobalt Unit. Very well done folks!
Our first activity of the evening was a bit of a brain teaser; in teams, we were to complete a list of blocks – fill in the blanks style. Always entertaining as people always know more than they think they do. Of course this could be how new blocks get named, finding names to fit the blanks!
Vanessa’s table won that round and were rewarded with their prize of sweets just as Chris from The Butterfly Garden arrived to receive the cheque from the exhibition and also tell us a bit about what they do and how it all came about. Never has the phrase “from small seeds great things grow” been more appropriate and Chris apparently never says “no” when he can say “why not?”. We were utterly entranced and are delighted to be supporting this great project. Please find out more here: http://www.thebutterflygarden.org/
We took a pause for refreshments here and were treated to a winter punch from Sheila, ably assisted by Bailey. This was not only very popular, but also beautifully presented with the serving area well attired for the season! To go with the punch were an assortment of treats and nibbles provided by our members including homemade cupcakes, Gretas, sausage rolls, mince pies, crisps...all sorts of goodies which clearly went down a storm from the number of requests for more plates!
While we were tucking in, forms were completed for membership renewal for 2015, the new programme is now available, so if you missed out this time, bring your chequebooks and a pen next time!
Apologies for the poor quality of the photos or if I've left anyone out..... I was having such a good time I nearly forgot to take any photos at all!
A quick shuffle of the furniture into a circle left us ready for a Show and Tell of items produced or completed since the exhibition. That would be last month. I only mention it as we are a seriously hard working group, judging from the items on show. Yes, one of our members really has almost completed an eight foot quilt in just over two months – while working full time no less!
At this point I have to admit to having been quite productive myself, having brought in one complete and one partially complete Christmas triptych and a few papercraft cards to show.
Also on show were two machine covers, and a vast quilt brought in by Bailey looking for advice on how to finish it, a very pretty ring cushion (which oddly the bride didn’t like!) and a quilt completed after 20 years. There was also a quilt made using redwork pictures started in one of our demonstration evenings. Clearly the dark evenings are good for getting some sewing done!
The last game of the evening “Mincepies for Santa” was extremely entertaining, if only for the chaos caused by none of us knowing our left from our right! Much laughter ensued and everyone went home with a present.
There was also another of Sheila's well-organised raffles with yours truly winning the first prize ("yay"!"), Margaret won the 2nd prize of 2 fat quarters and a fob, Patrick won one of Sue's coveted MQ pincushions and Maggie won a pack of Oakshott fabrics.
By then the evening was getting late, so Janet closed the meeting, wished us well and let us know we would be meeting again on 15th January when Sally-Anne will be demonstrating how to make her Mother’s bag. Sounds like sewing kits are required as the programme says there will be homework!
See you in the New Year but until then, Season’s Greetings and happy stitching!
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
At this point I have to admit to having been quite productive myself, having brought in one complete and one partially complete Christmas triptych and a few papercraft cards to show.
Also on show were two machine covers, and a vast quilt brought in by Bailey looking for advice on how to finish it, a very pretty ring cushion (which oddly the bride didn’t like!) and a quilt completed after 20 years. There was also a quilt made using redwork pictures started in one of our demonstration evenings. Clearly the dark evenings are good for getting some sewing done!
The last game of the evening “Mincepies for Santa” was extremely entertaining, if only for the chaos caused by none of us knowing our left from our right! Much laughter ensued and everyone went home with a present.
There was also another of Sheila's well-organised raffles with yours truly winning the first prize ("yay"!"), Margaret won the 2nd prize of 2 fat quarters and a fob, Patrick won one of Sue's coveted MQ pincushions and Maggie won a pack of Oakshott fabrics.
By then the evening was getting late, so Janet closed the meeting, wished us well and let us know we would be meeting again on 15th January when Sally-Anne will be demonstrating how to make her Mother’s bag. Sounds like sewing kits are required as the programme says there will be homework!
See you in the New Year but until then, Season’s Greetings and happy stitching!
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Thursday, 20th November 2014
Blogger: Louise
First and foremost I must echo Margaret’s comments from elsewhere on this site; well done to everyone involved in the exhibition. It was a great success and clearly very much enjoyed by all involved and those who visited.
And, whether you made it or not, don’t forget to check out the photos. They can be found from the homepage by selecting the following: more... > Gallery> Exhibitions> Exhibition 2014
The exhibition brought us two new members so altogether attendance for the evening was 41.
We had quite a few notices to start us off, with the exhibition obviously being top of the list. Related to which Janet advised that on BBC1 on Friday afternoon at 3.45pm (or on the iPlayer now) ‘Gardens from Above’ included a piece on The Butterfly Garden, one of the charities supported by the exhibition.
Don’t forget we are also supporting Beads for Courage, if anyone has any spare time. Brenda has made sample bags if anyone wants to see what they need to be making.
Julia gave us an update on the Oakshott website and their blog, Shotthrough, which includes lots of downloadable patterns. For those feeling less technical, Julia has printed copies for anyone who is interested. I will also mention briefly that there is a newsletter you can sign up for on the site for more info on the latest news.
Tonight’s speaker was Sally Ablett with her talk “You’ve Got Three Weeks” and she delivered a very entertaining talk full of anecdotes from her long career designing quilts.
Sally is the person that fabric companies turn to with their latest fabrics and ask her to turn them into a quilt, for magazines and shows. Hence the title, as sometimes they are required in incredibly tight timescales. Tight enough to make most of the room gasp as the three weeks in the title seemed to be the longer end of the deadlines given!
A great deal of use is made of computer software to produce designs for the quilts, but clearly Sally has an endless supply of inspiration, as well as skill and ability, judging from the examples we were treated to.
Sally also provided us with some interesting ideas on what she suggested were shortcuts, cheats and workarounds for some of the more nervousness–inducing patterns. Particularly curves and triangles! She teaches workshops on these and the speed she gets students sewing proves she really can take the fear out of some of the areas most of us usually avoid due to seeming too difficult. I think she also got a few of us thinking hard about free motion quilting...
Here are just a few of the beautiful quilts Sally had brought along.....
Blogger: Louise
First and foremost I must echo Margaret’s comments from elsewhere on this site; well done to everyone involved in the exhibition. It was a great success and clearly very much enjoyed by all involved and those who visited.
And, whether you made it or not, don’t forget to check out the photos. They can be found from the homepage by selecting the following: more... > Gallery> Exhibitions> Exhibition 2014
The exhibition brought us two new members so altogether attendance for the evening was 41.
We had quite a few notices to start us off, with the exhibition obviously being top of the list. Related to which Janet advised that on BBC1 on Friday afternoon at 3.45pm (or on the iPlayer now) ‘Gardens from Above’ included a piece on The Butterfly Garden, one of the charities supported by the exhibition.
Don’t forget we are also supporting Beads for Courage, if anyone has any spare time. Brenda has made sample bags if anyone wants to see what they need to be making.
Julia gave us an update on the Oakshott website and their blog, Shotthrough, which includes lots of downloadable patterns. For those feeling less technical, Julia has printed copies for anyone who is interested. I will also mention briefly that there is a newsletter you can sign up for on the site for more info on the latest news.
Tonight’s speaker was Sally Ablett with her talk “You’ve Got Three Weeks” and she delivered a very entertaining talk full of anecdotes from her long career designing quilts.
Sally is the person that fabric companies turn to with their latest fabrics and ask her to turn them into a quilt, for magazines and shows. Hence the title, as sometimes they are required in incredibly tight timescales. Tight enough to make most of the room gasp as the three weeks in the title seemed to be the longer end of the deadlines given!
A great deal of use is made of computer software to produce designs for the quilts, but clearly Sally has an endless supply of inspiration, as well as skill and ability, judging from the examples we were treated to.
Sally also provided us with some interesting ideas on what she suggested were shortcuts, cheats and workarounds for some of the more nervousness–inducing patterns. Particularly curves and triangles! She teaches workshops on these and the speed she gets students sewing proves she really can take the fear out of some of the areas most of us usually avoid due to seeming too difficult. I think she also got a few of us thinking hard about free motion quilting...
Here are just a few of the beautiful quilts Sally had brought along.....
Following the talk came every quilter’s dilemma; Sandra and Hazel had put the kettle on and treated us to some indulgent chocolate biscuits but should we first check out Julia's information on the Notice Board table or have a closer look at Sally’s quilts or, as Sally had also brought along a big bagful of material together with some of her patterns for us to buy, where to start first?!
Fortunately there was plenty of time for all three, before the evening came to a close!
Don’t forget folks; next meeting, 4th December is the Christmas Social. Janet is organising some members to make us some nice nibbles but, please, can you make a pincushion and wrap it, or failing that a small wrapped gift to exchange. See http://tipnut.com/22-free-pincushion-patterns/ for ideas.
Until then, in case I didn’t mention it already! Don’t forget to check out Margaret and John’s photos from the exhibition and Margaret’s blog post about it (below) for more info.
PS Julia O has asked that I mention"Karen Nyberg quilting on board the International Space Station" which you can find at http://tinyurl.com/nmoy6th
Julia also asks that I pass on this quote:
"If you are making MISTAKES, it means you out there doing SOMETHING. Neil Gaiman
Fortunately there was plenty of time for all three, before the evening came to a close!
Don’t forget folks; next meeting, 4th December is the Christmas Social. Janet is organising some members to make us some nice nibbles but, please, can you make a pincushion and wrap it, or failing that a small wrapped gift to exchange. See http://tipnut.com/22-free-pincushion-patterns/ for ideas.
Until then, in case I didn’t mention it already! Don’t forget to check out Margaret and John’s photos from the exhibition and Margaret’s blog post about it (below) for more info.
PS Julia O has asked that I mention"Karen Nyberg quilting on board the International Space Station" which you can find at http://tinyurl.com/nmoy6th
Julia also asks that I pass on this quote:
"If you are making MISTAKES, it means you out there doing SOMETHING. Neil Gaiman
Montpellier Quilters' Exhibition Celebrating 30 Years, Saturday 15th and Sunday, 16th November
A huge vote of thanks are due from the entire membership to Joan and her team for delivering a first class Exhibition to mark our 30th Anniversary.
Over the weekend we hosted some 400 visitors, who, judging by the very kind comments they made, thoroughly enjoyed their visit.
Several visitors commented on our excellent signage, with one visitor even hoping we could point him in the direction of the manufacturer! Well done, Sue, for your work with the ladder!
Our traders for the weekend were Abigail's Crafts and Cornerhouse Crafts, both popular choices from the number of customers clustering around their stands.
Vanessa and Rachel, together with a team of willing helpers, were doing a terrific job in the cafe keeping everyone supplied with Ploughman's lunches, a large variety of homemade cakes and biscuits and plenty of tea and coffee.
Maggie and Charlotte, also with a team of willing helpers, were kept busy behind a very well-stocked and popular sales table heaped with a huge variety of handmade items.
Next to the sales table there was a "Guess the name of the doll" competition, the beautiful doll having been made and donated by Maggie.
The Exhibition itself consisted of a huge variety of more than 120 items, showing everything from wall-hangings, quilts, cushions, embroideries to Brenda's amazing hand-stitched chair cover and stool. There was also a walk down memory lane series of display boards showing the history of our group.
Late Sunday afternoon saw Janet giving a vote of thanks to everyone for their hard work and for making the Exhibition such a success and presenting Joan with a huge bouquet.
Following that, the winner of the "Name the Doll" competition was revealed when Maggie opened the sealed envelope and announced Monica Donelly as the winner.
Next came the draw for the 6 quilts being raffled. Proceeds from the raffle will be divided between the The Butterfly Garden and Cobalt 2014 charities. Sally-Ann drew the winning tickets for Janet to announce the lucky winners as:
1st - Monica White of Cheltenham
2nd - Rick Plummer of Cheltenham
3rd - Liz Wife of Churchdown
4th - Veronica Hall of Cheltenham
5th - Peggy Readings of Cheltenham
6th - Maggie Lothian of Cheltenham
And so to the winners of the Visitors' choice favourites: the prizes were generously donated by Abigail Crafts and Cornerhouse Crafts. It was probably no surprise to anyone that the winner was Vanessa for her black and white bargello quilt "Ticking the Boxes". The runner-up (and an enormous surprise to yours truly!) was Margaret for her quilt-as-you-go sampler "Out of the Blue". Both of which you will shortly be able to see, together with most of the other exhibits, on an Exhibition page on this website. (Unfortunately, I have to confess that despite John W's and my best efforts with our cameras, I don't think we managed to quite capture everything - so sincere apologies to anyone whose item we have left out.)
Following all the excitement it was time to take everything down and put all back to rights in the two exhibition rooms - a much quicker process than erecting it!
See you all on Thursday for Sally Ablett's talk "You've Got 3 Weeks!".
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Thursday, 6th November 2014
Blogger: Louise
With 39 attendees, including 1 visitor and 1 new member, there were plenty of hands (and needles) ready to help with the preparation for the exhibition. Did we mention it’s on 15th & 16th November?
Several of our members were interviewed about the exhibition for the Gloucestershire Echo. Here’s a copy of the article – don’t take too much notice of what it actually says as some of the facts are not quite correct as there are certainly more than 3 quilts to be raffled!
Blogger: Louise
With 39 attendees, including 1 visitor and 1 new member, there were plenty of hands (and needles) ready to help with the preparation for the exhibition. Did we mention it’s on 15th & 16th November?
Several of our members were interviewed about the exhibition for the Gloucestershire Echo. Here’s a copy of the article – don’t take too much notice of what it actually says as some of the facts are not quite correct as there are certainly more than 3 quilts to be raffled!
Hazel had brought along the last quilt for the raffle - this brings the total number of quilts to be raffled to 6!
Several members had brought along their finished folded fabric boxes from Lesley Conning’s workshop at the previous meeting and they will be on display at the exhibition!
Sue wanted to say thank you to all those who kindly helped out with the Brownies morning; Sheila, Joyce, Angie, Joan H and Brenda (apologies if I missed anyone). Their goodies will be on show at...you guessed it ...the Exhibition!
Also on show were the House Blocks with Attitude produced at Katherine Guerrier’s recent workshop. We were pleased to host two members of Highnam Quilter’s for the workshop.
Janet showed us Brenda’s sample 'Beads of Courage' bags, so we know what we need to be making, if anyone has some spare needle time they would like to donate you would be making, bags for a very worthwhile cause.
The final event of the evening was the raffle.
Margaret won first prize – the Goose Chase voucher
Sandra won second, which was two Christmas fat quarters
Diane won the pin cushion, which was third prize
And your blogger, Louise, won fourth prize a book of Christmas designs.
That pretty much closed the evening, but we look forward to seeing you all at the weekend .......at the Exhibition!
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Margaret won first prize – the Goose Chase voucher
Sandra won second, which was two Christmas fat quarters
Diane won the pin cushion, which was third prize
And your blogger, Louise, won fourth prize a book of Christmas designs.
That pretty much closed the evening, but we look forward to seeing you all at the weekend .......at the Exhibition!
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Thursday, 16th October 2014
Blogger: Louise
This week saw us doing something we all seem to enjoy best; making things! This was evident from the 38 members and 1 visitor who grouped round the tables with sewing kits, materials and lots of enthusiasm!
Before we got to the sewing, we started with a few notices and requests;
Janet advised everyone to bring their chequebooks next time as she will have the sign-up sheet for Georgina’s “Patchwork for Christmas” workshop on 29th November – see the Workshops page for more details of all the lovely items you can choose to make.
Kate was looking to acquire a spare sewing machine for an orphaned asylum seeker who had developed a love of textiles and is currently working towards his textile GCSE. Thanks to Anne M who very kindly offered to donate a machine and also help him out with some items for his stash.
Sue P showed off the Christmas decorations she is hoping to make with the Brownies at their workshop on Saturday 25th October and reminded us all that she is still needs volunteers to help thread needles, etc.
And so to the main event: we were about to learn how to make folded fabric boxes with Lesley Conning.
Instructions had been provided in advance as homework had to be done before the session but, unfortunately, a few of us misread them and folded the material incorrectly. We were very glad that Janet had organised irons and ironing boards so that this could be rapidly rectified!
Lesley had a great deal of patience, coming round to each table and answering endless questions, but we are a bunch with a lot of enthusiasm and it all made for a most enjoyable evening.
You could tell how engrossed we all were from the unusual reluctance to prise ourselves away from our folding and stitching even when a cup of tea and a biscuit was on offer!
Thanks this time to Alison and Jo for providing the refreshments and slaving over the washing up.
After this we had a mini-Show and Tell as Joan took possession of the beautiful quilts that are now finished and will be raffled next month at the Exhibition. (You can see photos of them all on the Advertisements page.)
It was a later than usual finish to the evening as there were still an awful lot of “how do I...?” and “just show me again...?” before Lesley left and we packed up. With so many of us engrossed it will be a pleasure, next time, to see how everyone got on ... so make sure you bring yours along and show off your results! I wonder how many of us will be bringing along a completed box?
Several of us are planning to visit the Autumn Quilt Festival, Malvern, at the weekend so there is likely to be a wealth of new inspiration (and plenty of discussion of the quilts we’ve seen) to be talked over at our next meeting when we will mainly be discussing the final plans for our Exhibition.
See you all then!
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Blogger: Louise
This week saw us doing something we all seem to enjoy best; making things! This was evident from the 38 members and 1 visitor who grouped round the tables with sewing kits, materials and lots of enthusiasm!
Before we got to the sewing, we started with a few notices and requests;
Janet advised everyone to bring their chequebooks next time as she will have the sign-up sheet for Georgina’s “Patchwork for Christmas” workshop on 29th November – see the Workshops page for more details of all the lovely items you can choose to make.
Kate was looking to acquire a spare sewing machine for an orphaned asylum seeker who had developed a love of textiles and is currently working towards his textile GCSE. Thanks to Anne M who very kindly offered to donate a machine and also help him out with some items for his stash.
Sue P showed off the Christmas decorations she is hoping to make with the Brownies at their workshop on Saturday 25th October and reminded us all that she is still needs volunteers to help thread needles, etc.
And so to the main event: we were about to learn how to make folded fabric boxes with Lesley Conning.
Instructions had been provided in advance as homework had to be done before the session but, unfortunately, a few of us misread them and folded the material incorrectly. We were very glad that Janet had organised irons and ironing boards so that this could be rapidly rectified!
Lesley had a great deal of patience, coming round to each table and answering endless questions, but we are a bunch with a lot of enthusiasm and it all made for a most enjoyable evening.
You could tell how engrossed we all were from the unusual reluctance to prise ourselves away from our folding and stitching even when a cup of tea and a biscuit was on offer!
Thanks this time to Alison and Jo for providing the refreshments and slaving over the washing up.
After this we had a mini-Show and Tell as Joan took possession of the beautiful quilts that are now finished and will be raffled next month at the Exhibition. (You can see photos of them all on the Advertisements page.)
It was a later than usual finish to the evening as there were still an awful lot of “how do I...?” and “just show me again...?” before Lesley left and we packed up. With so many of us engrossed it will be a pleasure, next time, to see how everyone got on ... so make sure you bring yours along and show off your results! I wonder how many of us will be bringing along a completed box?
Several of us are planning to visit the Autumn Quilt Festival, Malvern, at the weekend so there is likely to be a wealth of new inspiration (and plenty of discussion of the quilts we’ve seen) to be talked over at our next meeting when we will mainly be discussing the final plans for our Exhibition.
See you all then!
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Thursday, 2nd October 2014
Blogger: Louise
The Indian summer continued with another lovely warm evening which saw 38 members and 1 visitor arrive for the evening’s activities.
Janet started us off with a few notices;
Four more challenges were brought along, bringing us up to 29 with one more in progress.
There are still spaces available for Katherine Guerrier’s workshop “House Blocks With Attitude” to be held on Saturday, 18th October, details available from Janet.
More members are wearing their own name badges, which is great, as with lots of new members it’s good to know who’s who. Printed sticky name labels are available for those who forget to bring theirs, but we love the homemade badges best!
Sue P told us she would like volunteers to help with another workshop session with the Brownies on Saturday, 25th October. It would also be helpful if anyone could donate fabric, embellishments or even ideas/suggestions for things to make.
Our first activity of the evening was a very inspiring talk and demonstration from Maggie about working with dissolvable fabrics and making fabric bowls. There were plenty of questions from the floor as this seemed to be a technique new to a lot of us and one of those things that looked scarily off-putting! Seeing Maggie’s finished pieces, many of which were handed around for closer inspection, showed how this technique can be used in a variety of ways, giving a number of us ideas for potential future projects.
The attire (or lack of it!) of Titania, Queen of the Fairies, the doll who won Maggie first prize in last year’s Summer Challenge, also inspired some very raucous laughter from the front row, but we’ll gloss over that….!
Thanks to Fiona and Janet W who both worked hard in the kitchen to providing us with tea, coffee and delicious biscuits before Joan H told us more about the Exhibition plans – all of which are obviously Top Secret!
The evening finished off with the raffle, organised by Sheila. Linda won the first prize of a Goose Chase Quilting voucher for £10; Kate won the second prize – one of the much coveted pincushions made by Anne U; third prize went to Joan W, a Halloween design book and material and Joyce won the fourth prize of a pretty fat quarter.
At our next meeting, on 16th October, Lesley Conning will be showing us how to make folded boxes – make sure you have checked out the instructions in Janet’s email as there is homework required before the session!
See you then!
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Blogger: Louise
The Indian summer continued with another lovely warm evening which saw 38 members and 1 visitor arrive for the evening’s activities.
Janet started us off with a few notices;
Four more challenges were brought along, bringing us up to 29 with one more in progress.
There are still spaces available for Katherine Guerrier’s workshop “House Blocks With Attitude” to be held on Saturday, 18th October, details available from Janet.
More members are wearing their own name badges, which is great, as with lots of new members it’s good to know who’s who. Printed sticky name labels are available for those who forget to bring theirs, but we love the homemade badges best!
Sue P told us she would like volunteers to help with another workshop session with the Brownies on Saturday, 25th October. It would also be helpful if anyone could donate fabric, embellishments or even ideas/suggestions for things to make.
Our first activity of the evening was a very inspiring talk and demonstration from Maggie about working with dissolvable fabrics and making fabric bowls. There were plenty of questions from the floor as this seemed to be a technique new to a lot of us and one of those things that looked scarily off-putting! Seeing Maggie’s finished pieces, many of which were handed around for closer inspection, showed how this technique can be used in a variety of ways, giving a number of us ideas for potential future projects.
The attire (or lack of it!) of Titania, Queen of the Fairies, the doll who won Maggie first prize in last year’s Summer Challenge, also inspired some very raucous laughter from the front row, but we’ll gloss over that….!
Thanks to Fiona and Janet W who both worked hard in the kitchen to providing us with tea, coffee and delicious biscuits before Joan H told us more about the Exhibition plans – all of which are obviously Top Secret!
The evening finished off with the raffle, organised by Sheila. Linda won the first prize of a Goose Chase Quilting voucher for £10; Kate won the second prize – one of the much coveted pincushions made by Anne U; third prize went to Joan W, a Halloween design book and material and Joyce won the fourth prize of a pretty fat quarter.
At our next meeting, on 16th October, Lesley Conning will be showing us how to make folded boxes – make sure you have checked out the instructions in Janet’s email as there is homework required before the session!
See you then!
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Thursday, 18th September 2014
Blogger: Louise
Our first evening back after the summer break was a busy evening in more ways than one. We gained four new members and welcomed three visitors, giving us a total of 40 attendees!
Janet and Joan started us with notices regarding the upcoming workshop with Katherine Guerrier and the 30th Anniversary Exhibition (Exhibition entry forms should be returned to Janet by 16th October). A number of members had brought along their finished challenges, which will be on display at the Exhibition. I will say no more, other than we are an awfully talented and inspired bunch! (Exhibition details can be found on the Advertisements page of this site.)
While we do have printed name labels available, Janet reminded us that if we have a homemade name badge, to please wear it as they are much more fun than a sticky label. There are a great variety of styles and designs amongst those of us have made our own and with lots of recent new members it’s great to know who’s who! There was a further reminder that our exclusive enamel "Montpellier Quilters" badges are available from either Margaret or Louise for just £5 so come on members, wear your badge and let the world know you are a member of our group!
Our speaker for the evening was Jaz Ishtar, whose talk 'Aussie Dreams' told us about the history of textile design by aboriginal artists.
This talk was well illustrated by many photos, examples of fabrics and some of Jaz’s own quilts, made using the aboriginal prints. It was well researched, with explanations as to the meanings of symbols used within the designs and how they varied within the various aboriginal settlements. These were supplemented by photos, taken by Jaz, of the fabrics being printed in the actual workshops and with some of Jaz's own quilts made using the fabrics.
Grateful thanks to Pearl for holding the quilts up.
Blogger: Louise
Our first evening back after the summer break was a busy evening in more ways than one. We gained four new members and welcomed three visitors, giving us a total of 40 attendees!
Janet and Joan started us with notices regarding the upcoming workshop with Katherine Guerrier and the 30th Anniversary Exhibition (Exhibition entry forms should be returned to Janet by 16th October). A number of members had brought along their finished challenges, which will be on display at the Exhibition. I will say no more, other than we are an awfully talented and inspired bunch! (Exhibition details can be found on the Advertisements page of this site.)
While we do have printed name labels available, Janet reminded us that if we have a homemade name badge, to please wear it as they are much more fun than a sticky label. There are a great variety of styles and designs amongst those of us have made our own and with lots of recent new members it’s great to know who’s who! There was a further reminder that our exclusive enamel "Montpellier Quilters" badges are available from either Margaret or Louise for just £5 so come on members, wear your badge and let the world know you are a member of our group!
Our speaker for the evening was Jaz Ishtar, whose talk 'Aussie Dreams' told us about the history of textile design by aboriginal artists.
This talk was well illustrated by many photos, examples of fabrics and some of Jaz’s own quilts, made using the aboriginal prints. It was well researched, with explanations as to the meanings of symbols used within the designs and how they varied within the various aboriginal settlements. These were supplemented by photos, taken by Jaz, of the fabrics being printed in the actual workshops and with some of Jaz's own quilts made using the fabrics.
Grateful thanks to Pearl for holding the quilts up.
Anne and Gloria provided us with refreshments, including some delicious homemade biscuits. These were enjoyed while we all had a good natter and caught up with our various summer activities, admiring the challenges and getting a closer look at Jaz's quilts.
Our next meeting to look forward to is on 2nd October when one of our own members, Maggie, will be telling us all about making fabric bowls and working with dissolvable fabrics. See you then and happy stitching!
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Our next meeting to look forward to is on 2nd October when one of our own members, Maggie, will be telling us all about making fabric bowls and working with dissolvable fabrics. See you then and happy stitching!
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Thursday, 4th July 2014
Guest Blogger: Louise
Thursday night saw our last meeting of the summer, which meant it was time for the Summer Social and one of the favourite events of the year; the Show and Tell.
It was obvious how much we were all looking forward to it, as 38 members came along, including two who joined last night following their previous initial visit - welcome Julia D and Patrick!
We were also delighted to welcome four invited guests, including previous and founding members – one of whom has been kind enough to donate the majority of the material used in the charity quilts the housegroups are currently producing for the Exhibition raffle.
Before we got to the quilts however, we had a few notices to get us started:
· Oakshott’s sale is on Friday 4th July and Saturday 5th July www.oakshottfabrics.com
. Joan H was kind enough to send a card thanking us for all her birthday wishes, and Janet’s wonderful cake celebrating her 90th birthday at our previous meeting.
· Joan, who is chairing the Exhibition Committee, then gave details on entering our work in November and provided entry forms. Don’t forget the Exhibition will be on the weekend of the 15th and 16th November.
· Sue briefed us on this year’s Summer Challenge, which should keep us full of mischief and stitching until our return on 18th September, which is the deadline for entries. Instructions and entry packs were handed out by Sue.
Click on the photos for a larger image.
Guest Blogger: Louise
Thursday night saw our last meeting of the summer, which meant it was time for the Summer Social and one of the favourite events of the year; the Show and Tell.
It was obvious how much we were all looking forward to it, as 38 members came along, including two who joined last night following their previous initial visit - welcome Julia D and Patrick!
We were also delighted to welcome four invited guests, including previous and founding members – one of whom has been kind enough to donate the majority of the material used in the charity quilts the housegroups are currently producing for the Exhibition raffle.
Before we got to the quilts however, we had a few notices to get us started:
· Oakshott’s sale is on Friday 4th July and Saturday 5th July www.oakshottfabrics.com
. Joan H was kind enough to send a card thanking us for all her birthday wishes, and Janet’s wonderful cake celebrating her 90th birthday at our previous meeting.
· Joan, who is chairing the Exhibition Committee, then gave details on entering our work in November and provided entry forms. Don’t forget the Exhibition will be on the weekend of the 15th and 16th November.
· Sue briefed us on this year’s Summer Challenge, which should keep us full of mischief and stitching until our return on 18th September, which is the deadline for entries. Instructions and entry packs were handed out by Sue.
Click on the photos for a larger image.
The Show and Tell was in two sessions due to the number of members in attendance and the sheer number of wonderful, and wonderfully varied, items being displayed. For the non members/non attendees reading this, the projects that were on show make visiting the Exhibition an absolute must!
We took a pause between sessions to enjoy Sheila’s very popular Summer Fruit Punch together with strawberries and cream served with scrumptious shortbread biscuits kindly baked by various members.
Sadie’s session last time seems to have inspired a number of members, as a few people brought along their completed 'Redwork' as well as additional similar style pieces completed since.
We took a pause between sessions to enjoy Sheila’s very popular Summer Fruit Punch together with strawberries and cream served with scrumptious shortbread biscuits kindly baked by various members.
Sadie’s session last time seems to have inspired a number of members, as a few people brought along their completed 'Redwork' as well as additional similar style pieces completed since.
Following the second session of the Show and Tell, the raffle was drawn with Ren winning the first prize of the Goose Chase voucher, Kate, myself, Julia D and Sandra winning prizes which included fat quarters, drinks, chocolates and two of the much coveted pincushions made by Anne!
This closed the evening's entertainment, but much discussion followed about member’s displayed works, the Exhibition and the Summer Challenge as we all headed off for the summer break.
Looking forward to seeing everyone in September, with their completed challenges, in the meantime, happy stitching all!!
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
This closed the evening's entertainment, but much discussion followed about member’s displayed works, the Exhibition and the Summer Challenge as we all headed off for the summer break.
Looking forward to seeing everyone in September, with their completed challenges, in the meantime, happy stitching all!!
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Thursday, 19th June
Guest Blogger: Louise
So far this year we have had some great speakers which I have very much enjoyed. However, I was particularly looking forward to this evening, having seen Sadie’s work at The Cotton Reel in Worcester and at the Malvern shows. It one of those things you look at and think “that is FAB” followed by “I could do that...”
Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself. I clearly wasn’t the only one looking forward to our evening as we had 35 people in attendance, including four visitors.
Janet started us off, as usual, with a number of notices:
· Bailey is involved in a Textile Bazaar at Hellens Manor, Much Marcle, HR8 2LY on 2nd and 3rd June so go along and have a play with the various techniques on offer (for more details download the pdf file on the Advertisements page on this website).
· Oakshott are having a sale at the beginning of July - full details are on the noticeboard or go to www.oakshottfabrics.com
· The next meeting will be the Summer Social on 3rd July and will feature strawberries, shortbread, punch and a whole evening of show and tell – an evening not to be missed!
Janet then handed us over to Sadie Yeomans of www.cornerhousecrafts.co.uk who came to talk about, demonstrate and let us have a go at Redwork.
Being a warm evening and having such a great turn out we had the doors open, which meant Sadie had to battle against some very loud local sheep and the Amateur Dramatics group next door singing ‘Let it Snow’ molto forte.... fortunately It didn’t put our intrepid speaker off, but it did cause a few giggles...
Sadie was taught needlework (and other crafting skills) by her very patient grandmother, which led to the production of her first quilt at the age of 16!
A large number of projects were handed round, examined and discussed with great enthusiasm – possibly a bit much on occasion as we were in danger of drowning out our speaker! Projects included angels, cats, dogs, Sunbonnet Sue (and Sam!) as well as Christmas designs on mini stockings. Some included beads, some buttons and all some beautifully worked stitches. I was surprised to learn that redwork isn’t just backstitching, although I did know it isn’t just worked in red, which makes for some striking effects.
The photos show just a tiny fraction of the many pieces that were handed round.
Guest Blogger: Louise
So far this year we have had some great speakers which I have very much enjoyed. However, I was particularly looking forward to this evening, having seen Sadie’s work at The Cotton Reel in Worcester and at the Malvern shows. It one of those things you look at and think “that is FAB” followed by “I could do that...”
Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself. I clearly wasn’t the only one looking forward to our evening as we had 35 people in attendance, including four visitors.
Janet started us off, as usual, with a number of notices:
· Bailey is involved in a Textile Bazaar at Hellens Manor, Much Marcle, HR8 2LY on 2nd and 3rd June so go along and have a play with the various techniques on offer (for more details download the pdf file on the Advertisements page on this website).
· Oakshott are having a sale at the beginning of July - full details are on the noticeboard or go to www.oakshottfabrics.com
· The next meeting will be the Summer Social on 3rd July and will feature strawberries, shortbread, punch and a whole evening of show and tell – an evening not to be missed!
Janet then handed us over to Sadie Yeomans of www.cornerhousecrafts.co.uk who came to talk about, demonstrate and let us have a go at Redwork.
Being a warm evening and having such a great turn out we had the doors open, which meant Sadie had to battle against some very loud local sheep and the Amateur Dramatics group next door singing ‘Let it Snow’ molto forte.... fortunately It didn’t put our intrepid speaker off, but it did cause a few giggles...
Sadie was taught needlework (and other crafting skills) by her very patient grandmother, which led to the production of her first quilt at the age of 16!
A large number of projects were handed round, examined and discussed with great enthusiasm – possibly a bit much on occasion as we were in danger of drowning out our speaker! Projects included angels, cats, dogs, Sunbonnet Sue (and Sam!) as well as Christmas designs on mini stockings. Some included beads, some buttons and all some beautifully worked stitches. I was surprised to learn that redwork isn’t just backstitching, although I did know it isn’t just worked in red, which makes for some striking effects.
The photos show just a tiny fraction of the many pieces that were handed round.
A top tip for the evening was that inspiration for designs can be found on the internet, using Google images and the subsection line drawings (being careful to check they are free of copyright). Although with the designs available for us to try and the projects being handed round I think there was quite a lot of inspiration on hand already!
After the talk and closer examination of her work, Sadie provided us with a brief demonstration and a quick run through of what to do and then provided us with materials and full written instructions to have a go ourselves, all of which was greeted with gusto! Supervision, assistance and advice was on hand for the bemused and as usual some of our members rattled away and others had barely started, but we couldn’t be dragged away for refreshments until after 9pm!
After the talk and closer examination of her work, Sadie provided us with a brief demonstration and a quick run through of what to do and then provided us with materials and full written instructions to have a go ourselves, all of which was greeted with gusto! Supervision, assistance and advice was on hand for the bemused and as usual some of our members rattled away and others had barely started, but we couldn’t be dragged away for refreshments until after 9pm!
Before Liz and Angie very efficiently provided us with a cuppa, Janet provided a birthday cake complete with candles and led a chorus of 'Happy Birthday' for Joan, one of MQ’s founder members, who turns 90 on Sunday. Best wishes of the day Joan!
Sewing continued while cake was munched and tea drunk, and there was also Sadie’s shop to peruse as lots of goodies had been brought along for us to stock up on.
So...since we were all such keen sewers and next time is the show and tell, get stitching folks and make sure you bring the finished results to our Summer Social on 3rd July!
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
So...since we were all such keen sewers and next time is the show and tell, get stitching folks and make sure you bring the finished results to our Summer Social on 3rd July!
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Thursday, 5th June 2014
Guest Blogger: Louise
Demonstration evenings do seem to be quite popular; 29 members and 1 visitor turned out to see Helen demonstrate creating “Happy Villages”. We are obviously keen to learn new things!
Talking of which...if there are any techniques you would particularly like to learn next year, please let Margaret know so that she can add it to the programme.
Before getting to the demonstration Janet had a few notices for us, as it seems to be exhibition season – lots to get out and see and be inspired by!
· The Cotswold Embroiderers' Guild are holding their Summer Party on Saturday 14th June at The Reddings Community Centre
· Bailey’s show is still on in Nailsworth until Saturday
· Highnam Quilter’s have their exhibition this weekend
· There is a quilting exhibition at Tewkesbury Baptist church Saturday 14th June & Sunday 15th June
· Sue Plummer and her bark cloth shoes were featured in ‘Quilting for You’ magazine, which also had a piece on Shipton Quilters’s Exhibition, who count one of ours (Vanessa) among their members
· Our (MQ’s) summer social ‘show & tell’ will be split into 2 sessions due to our increasing number of members, with refreshments being served in between sessions (perhaps members would like to bring along the item(s) they intend displaying at our Exhibition in November?)
· Margaret S provided more fabrics for members to select from, before her move away, which went down very well and raised £37 for MQ funds
· Lastly, Janet provided a reminder to members to check the requirements list for Sadie Yeomans' Mini-Workshop at our next meeting on Thursday 19th June
There was also a small display of finished pansy cards from Georgina Oldham’s demonstration of 'Shadow Applique' last time together with Sally-Ann's own original and unmistakable take on the pansy card. Also on display was Helen's version of the folded box demonstrated by Sue B after the AGM earlier this year - complete with cute tassels. (Thanks to Elaine for holding it up for the photographer!)
Margaret brought along her completed bag, based on Eleanor Marsden’s designs. This was started following the cancelled workshop, which became a fun sewing day at Sue P’s! Your blogger may be a little biased, but I think it is really rather fabulous and features some fantastic colours.
Guest Blogger: Louise
Demonstration evenings do seem to be quite popular; 29 members and 1 visitor turned out to see Helen demonstrate creating “Happy Villages”. We are obviously keen to learn new things!
Talking of which...if there are any techniques you would particularly like to learn next year, please let Margaret know so that she can add it to the programme.
Before getting to the demonstration Janet had a few notices for us, as it seems to be exhibition season – lots to get out and see and be inspired by!
· The Cotswold Embroiderers' Guild are holding their Summer Party on Saturday 14th June at The Reddings Community Centre
· Bailey’s show is still on in Nailsworth until Saturday
· Highnam Quilter’s have their exhibition this weekend
· There is a quilting exhibition at Tewkesbury Baptist church Saturday 14th June & Sunday 15th June
· Sue Plummer and her bark cloth shoes were featured in ‘Quilting for You’ magazine, which also had a piece on Shipton Quilters’s Exhibition, who count one of ours (Vanessa) among their members
· Our (MQ’s) summer social ‘show & tell’ will be split into 2 sessions due to our increasing number of members, with refreshments being served in between sessions (perhaps members would like to bring along the item(s) they intend displaying at our Exhibition in November?)
· Margaret S provided more fabrics for members to select from, before her move away, which went down very well and raised £37 for MQ funds
· Lastly, Janet provided a reminder to members to check the requirements list for Sadie Yeomans' Mini-Workshop at our next meeting on Thursday 19th June
There was also a small display of finished pansy cards from Georgina Oldham’s demonstration of 'Shadow Applique' last time together with Sally-Ann's own original and unmistakable take on the pansy card. Also on display was Helen's version of the folded box demonstrated by Sue B after the AGM earlier this year - complete with cute tassels. (Thanks to Elaine for holding it up for the photographer!)
Margaret brought along her completed bag, based on Eleanor Marsden’s designs. This was started following the cancelled workshop, which became a fun sewing day at Sue P’s! Your blogger may be a little biased, but I think it is really rather fabulous and features some fantastic colours.
On the subject of colour....this evening’s demonstration was very capably presented by Helen who started off by showing us her colourful, and rather beautiful, completed Happy Village.
The project was inspired by the book Happy Villages by Karen Eckemeier, which can be purchased from: http://www.quilted-lizard.com/ and provides all the details for producing a number of villages.
Having made several pieces Helen was able to act as the voice of experience and advised that tweezers are a necessity and sneezing at any point during production can cause major problems!
The suggestion of using travel magazines for inspiration was fantastically illustrated by some of the examples Helen brought with her. All the pieces, and the books, were passed round for closer examination – producing many “oohs” and “ahhs”.
The question is; which of our members will be the first to produce their own?
The project was inspired by the book Happy Villages by Karen Eckemeier, which can be purchased from: http://www.quilted-lizard.com/ and provides all the details for producing a number of villages.
Having made several pieces Helen was able to act as the voice of experience and advised that tweezers are a necessity and sneezing at any point during production can cause major problems!
The suggestion of using travel magazines for inspiration was fantastically illustrated by some of the examples Helen brought with her. All the pieces, and the books, were passed round for closer examination – producing many “oohs” and “ahhs”.
The question is; which of our members will be the first to produce their own?
While we pondered and discussed this question and rummaged through Margaret’s materials tea and a deliciously interesting choice of biscuits were provided by Carol and Sue B – thank you ladies!
And thanks to Helen for a fascinating and inspiring evening.
Don’t forget your sewing kit, masking tape and red embroidery thread for our next meeting on Thursday 19th June.
On a separate subject: members may be interested to have a look at this webpage http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/29681regarding an altar frontal embroidered by recovering soldiers from World War I and, if any of you are in London, perhaps you will be able to visit and see this work for yourself.
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
And thanks to Helen for a fascinating and inspiring evening.
Don’t forget your sewing kit, masking tape and red embroidery thread for our next meeting on Thursday 19th June.
On a separate subject: members may be interested to have a look at this webpage http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/29681regarding an altar frontal embroidered by recovering soldiers from World War I and, if any of you are in London, perhaps you will be able to visit and see this work for yourself.
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Thursday, 15th May 2014
Guest Blogger: Louise
Thursday evening saw 32 of our members and 1 visitor arrive for Georgina Oldham’s demonstration of 'Shadow Applique'.
Georgina was very well organised, with kits made up of all the items required to make a pansy card, including the card and envelope. The only things required were a needle and enthusiasm as Georgina had even brought a selection of threads and the required Pritt stick!
After a brief demonstration of how to make our pansy we all dived in. The instructions were fairly straightforward but, as ever, we all had the battle with bondaweb (which is the right side? Which side of the material do we stick it to? Which bit do we cut out from which colour of material?) fortunately Georgina was on hand to keep us all on the right lines and even provided baking parchment to stop us accidentally sticking our material to the iron...well, it is very easy to do!
There was a general murmur of conversation, but it was somewhat more subdued than normal as we all got stuck in...perhaps ‘stuck’ is the wrong word when discussing bondaweb... anyway, we all had a go, with some racing away and even finishing their card on the evening.
Guest Blogger: Louise
Thursday evening saw 32 of our members and 1 visitor arrive for Georgina Oldham’s demonstration of 'Shadow Applique'.
Georgina was very well organised, with kits made up of all the items required to make a pansy card, including the card and envelope. The only things required were a needle and enthusiasm as Georgina had even brought a selection of threads and the required Pritt stick!
After a brief demonstration of how to make our pansy we all dived in. The instructions were fairly straightforward but, as ever, we all had the battle with bondaweb (which is the right side? Which side of the material do we stick it to? Which bit do we cut out from which colour of material?) fortunately Georgina was on hand to keep us all on the right lines and even provided baking parchment to stop us accidentally sticking our material to the iron...well, it is very easy to do!
There was a general murmur of conversation, but it was somewhat more subdued than normal as we all got stuck in...perhaps ‘stuck’ is the wrong word when discussing bondaweb... anyway, we all had a go, with some racing away and even finishing their card on the evening.
Once we had all made as much progress as we were going to for the evening Rachel and Elaine provided us with a well earned cuppa and a much enjoyed homemade biscuit.
Georgina brought lots of other goodies with her and while we imbibed we were able to check out her many other cards and also her designs, which she very kindly provided copies of for us to take away and try at home. This has inspired a number of us to think about potential Christmas card designs for later in the year...
Georgina brought lots of other goodies with her and while we imbibed we were able to check out her many other cards and also her designs, which she very kindly provided copies of for us to take away and try at home. This has inspired a number of us to think about potential Christmas card designs for later in the year...
...which was quite fitting as we also got to have a good investigate of the items that we will be able to have a go at later this year when Georgina returns with a Christmas workshop. I think there might be a queue for that one as there were quite a variety of lovely items to choose from, catering to all tastes.
For those who have finished their cards, please bring them along to the next meeting, for us all to admire!
Thank you Georgina, for a very well organised and run evening which has clearly inspired some of our members to use this technique again. Watch this space, I’m sure!
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Thank you Georgina, for a very well organised and run evening which has clearly inspired some of our members to use this technique again. Watch this space, I’m sure!
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Thursday, 3rd April
Guest Blogger: Louise
This evening started off slightly differently with an interesting giveaway; one of our members had brought an item she thought could be included in the raffle...however this evening wasn’t a raffle evening...but that didn’t stop one of our members winning, via lucky dip of the membership list, a large box of chocolates!
Janet reminded everyone that there are still spaces for Claire Kingslake’s workshop on 12th April and pointed out the collection of folded boxes on display by those who were inspired by Sue B’s demonstration at the AGM.
Janet then introduced our speaker for the evening, Sue Nickson from ASding.com, who specialise in wadding. The talk was “You’ve finished the top, now what?” Sue had also brought along some of her shop which had already been proving popular with members with Joan looking after everyone's needs.
Click on the pictures to get a larger image.
Guest Blogger: Louise
This evening started off slightly differently with an interesting giveaway; one of our members had brought an item she thought could be included in the raffle...however this evening wasn’t a raffle evening...but that didn’t stop one of our members winning, via lucky dip of the membership list, a large box of chocolates!
Janet reminded everyone that there are still spaces for Claire Kingslake’s workshop on 12th April and pointed out the collection of folded boxes on display by those who were inspired by Sue B’s demonstration at the AGM.
Janet then introduced our speaker for the evening, Sue Nickson from ASding.com, who specialise in wadding. The talk was “You’ve finished the top, now what?” Sue had also brought along some of her shop which had already been proving popular with members with Joan looking after everyone's needs.
Click on the pictures to get a larger image.
We had 33 members in attendance and as Sue started her talk, you could almost hear the same thought from every single one; how much can there be to say about wadding?
As it turns out Sue is not just an expert in wadding, but had an awful lot of really useful tips, tricks and advice on quilting in general, all served up with plenty of humour, which kept us utterly enthralled for the entire evening.
Sue started off by telling us that ASding.com stock over 40 different types of wadding! Because most shops only stock a few types, people tend to buy what’s available and stick with that for every project. However, Sue showed us a truly brilliant idea; “Waddipedia” a book compiled by her late partner, full of samples of every type of wadding available to them with details about each one. For instance, which was the best wadding to use for either hand or machine quilting. Better still, paper copies of the information were available for members to take away.
Sue went on to explain just why the wadding was an important part of the quilt to get right, how it affected your quilt and that not just not just any old wadding would do. Going on to explain why we should understand how the different waddings added to, or detracted from, a finished quilt.
As a relative newcomer to the world of quilting I was surprised at the number of ways it is possible to mark up one’s quilt. From the general murmurs in the room as Sue went through the pros and cons of each method, it was possible to tell who had tried what and what had worked. Or not worked on many occasions. Clearly, this is not a simple task. Sue provided us with a great deal of good advice and also introduced us to the idea of quilting paper, which makes free motion quilting a little less free and a little less daunting. I suspect this may make a few of our members who haven’t tried it a little less fearful!
One of my favourite tips for the evening is when making a bag, use a denim machine needle as, if you are sewing on bag handles, there are multiple layers to sew through, and so a bit more oomph is required from your needle.
A handout on needles was also provided detailing the types and their uses.
Sue had brought along a variety of quiltsfor us to see, each made using the various waddings to demonstrate the different types and we were all encouraged to have a good look, feel and examine after the talk.
As it turns out Sue is not just an expert in wadding, but had an awful lot of really useful tips, tricks and advice on quilting in general, all served up with plenty of humour, which kept us utterly enthralled for the entire evening.
Sue started off by telling us that ASding.com stock over 40 different types of wadding! Because most shops only stock a few types, people tend to buy what’s available and stick with that for every project. However, Sue showed us a truly brilliant idea; “Waddipedia” a book compiled by her late partner, full of samples of every type of wadding available to them with details about each one. For instance, which was the best wadding to use for either hand or machine quilting. Better still, paper copies of the information were available for members to take away.
Sue went on to explain just why the wadding was an important part of the quilt to get right, how it affected your quilt and that not just not just any old wadding would do. Going on to explain why we should understand how the different waddings added to, or detracted from, a finished quilt.
As a relative newcomer to the world of quilting I was surprised at the number of ways it is possible to mark up one’s quilt. From the general murmurs in the room as Sue went through the pros and cons of each method, it was possible to tell who had tried what and what had worked. Or not worked on many occasions. Clearly, this is not a simple task. Sue provided us with a great deal of good advice and also introduced us to the idea of quilting paper, which makes free motion quilting a little less free and a little less daunting. I suspect this may make a few of our members who haven’t tried it a little less fearful!
One of my favourite tips for the evening is when making a bag, use a denim machine needle as, if you are sewing on bag handles, there are multiple layers to sew through, and so a bit more oomph is required from your needle.
A handout on needles was also provided detailing the types and their uses.
Sue had brought along a variety of quiltsfor us to see, each made using the various waddings to demonstrate the different types and we were all encouraged to have a good look, feel and examine after the talk.
My absolute my favourite tip, particularly aimed at those new to quilting, is to quilt your project using a variegated thread; the changes in colour makes errors less easy to see. Brilliant!
Amazingly we were at the end of our talk and it was time for coffee. Thanks to Joan and Pauline for their work with the kettles and washing up liquid and for the delicious homemade sweet treats they had provided.
Everyone had a good time having a closer look at the quilts, asking Sue endless questions, buying items from the ASding.com shop and generally making the most of the time to socialise.
A very enjoyable evening, with not only good advice, but a great deal of humour too. We all learned lots!
See you all on the 1st May for an update from Joan on preparations for the Exhibition.
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Amazingly we were at the end of our talk and it was time for coffee. Thanks to Joan and Pauline for their work with the kettles and washing up liquid and for the delicious homemade sweet treats they had provided.
Everyone had a good time having a closer look at the quilts, asking Sue endless questions, buying items from the ASding.com shop and generally making the most of the time to socialise.
A very enjoyable evening, with not only good advice, but a great deal of humour too. We all learned lots!
See you all on the 1st May for an update from Joan on preparations for the Exhibition.
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Thursday, 20th March
With 32 members present there was a good buzz of conversation going before the start of our AGM.
With 32 members present there was a good buzz of conversation going before the start of our AGM.
The Secretary, Sue P, reported the very good news that we now have 46 members, an increase of 10 members during the year.
The Treasurer, Elaine, reported that our finances are healthy and our Chair, Janet, thanked the committee for their hard work, regretting the loss of Gill from the committee as Gill had always had plenty of good suggestions and had worked hard organising both the well-attended and popular sewing events with the Brownies and also the library. Although Fiona couldn't be at the meeting she had volunteered to join the committee and was elected in her absence.
Joan H then took us through the nominated charities which might be supported by the group from the proceeds of the raffle of four quilts at our Exhibition later this year. We all had a chance to vote in a ballot and when the votes were counted it had been unanimously agreed that monies raised by the raffle would be shared equally between the fund raising money for the Cobalt Scanner for the hospital and The Butterfly Garden.
There were five more scissor cases to admire while the first round of refreshments were served - wine or soft drinks - and everyone had a chance to have a look at the patchworker's dream of a fabric swap. The table set aside for this was well-laden with materials brought along to swap. Any not carried off in triumph by anyone present were donated to The Butterfly Garden where Vanessa is doing excellent work teaching disabled people to patchwork and sew.
The Treasurer, Elaine, reported that our finances are healthy and our Chair, Janet, thanked the committee for their hard work, regretting the loss of Gill from the committee as Gill had always had plenty of good suggestions and had worked hard organising both the well-attended and popular sewing events with the Brownies and also the library. Although Fiona couldn't be at the meeting she had volunteered to join the committee and was elected in her absence.
Joan H then took us through the nominated charities which might be supported by the group from the proceeds of the raffle of four quilts at our Exhibition later this year. We all had a chance to vote in a ballot and when the votes were counted it had been unanimously agreed that monies raised by the raffle would be shared equally between the fund raising money for the Cobalt Scanner for the hospital and The Butterfly Garden.
There were five more scissor cases to admire while the first round of refreshments were served - wine or soft drinks - and everyone had a chance to have a look at the patchworker's dream of a fabric swap. The table set aside for this was well-laden with materials brought along to swap. Any not carried off in triumph by anyone present were donated to The Butterfly Garden where Vanessa is doing excellent work teaching disabled people to patchwork and sew.
Sue B, then very ably demonstrated, with lots of pre-prepared samples, a Fabric Box which she made look remarkably easy to make. Sue has written instructions for us all to have a go at making our own little box so bring yours along to our next meeting for us all to admire. A very good demo, thank you, Sue!
Onto the second refreshment break with Sue P and Kate serving up tea and coffee together with large platefuls of Kate's delicious seed biscuits and her always popular "not really brownies" Scandinavian brownies! Thank you both for your much appreciated efforts.
There was just time for a little socialising and catching up before it was time to pack up. A very full and varied evening but, as always, very enjoyable.
Don't forget, at our next meeting on 3rd April we will have Sue Nickson of ASding.com along to talk about all things wadding. Sue has very kindly offered to bring with her items ordered by members from her website, so saving postage costs.
P.S. Sally-Ann has kindly given us more photographs for our Gallery pages. Have a look at "More Photos from Sally-Ann's Photo Album" in the Gallery.
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Onto the second refreshment break with Sue P and Kate serving up tea and coffee together with large platefuls of Kate's delicious seed biscuits and her always popular "not really brownies" Scandinavian brownies! Thank you both for your much appreciated efforts.
There was just time for a little socialising and catching up before it was time to pack up. A very full and varied evening but, as always, very enjoyable.
Don't forget, at our next meeting on 3rd April we will have Sue Nickson of ASding.com along to talk about all things wadding. Sue has very kindly offered to bring with her items ordered by members from her website, so saving postage costs.
P.S. Sally-Ann has kindly given us more photographs for our Gallery pages. Have a look at "More Photos from Sally-Ann's Photo Album" in the Gallery.
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Thursday, 6th March
Guest Blogger: Louise
Once again we had a great turn out, with 31 members. Many of whom arrived prepared for some sewing as Kate was showing us how to make a scissor case.
Before that, Janet started us off with some notices; unfortunately the workshop on the 15th March has had to be cancelled. Following some discussion, those still interested will be gathering at Sue’s house to work on some of the projects originally on offer at the workshop.
Janet reminded us that the next meeting will be the AGM and will include a fabric swap. Please bring something along – you never know what you might be able to swap it for, maybe another member will have the very thing to finish that UFO*...
And then we were onto Kate’s scissor case. It was originally an item produced at a Di Wells workshop. Clearly a project for using up a UFO or as a practice for some free motion quilting, for those brave enough! It was one of those projects that was worth a go, but would never be of any use, so Kate told us. But, as is always the way, Kate says hers has been in faithful service, getting a lot of use, since its production in around 2002!
Before that, Janet started us off with some notices; unfortunately the workshop on the 15th March has had to be cancelled. Following some discussion, those still interested will be gathering at Sue’s house to work on some of the projects originally on offer at the workshop.
Janet reminded us that the next meeting will be the AGM and will include a fabric swap. Please bring something along – you never know what you might be able to swap it for, maybe another member will have the very thing to finish that UFO*...
And then we were onto Kate’s scissor case. It was originally an item produced at a Di Wells workshop. Clearly a project for using up a UFO or as a practice for some free motion quilting, for those brave enough! It was one of those projects that was worth a go, but would never be of any use, so Kate told us. But, as is always the way, Kate says hers has been in faithful service, getting a lot of use, since its production in around 2002!
Machines, irons and lots of assistance were on offer, as Kate wandered among our tables dispensing advice to go with the provided instructions, and even the offer of some of her own UFO’s for those who hadn’t had chance to prepare anything.
Other projects and lots of catching up were going on throughout the evening, along with the mystery of the disappearing members. I ticked them off the register, various people had definitely seen them arrive...as it turned out, the Amateur Dramatic society appeared to have the evening off, so some of our members took advantage of the big hall being empty to lay out a quilt!
Quite a few scissors cases were produced and photos of them are shown here. A few more didn’t quite get finished on the evening, but do bring any finished items to future meetings – there is nothing we love more than admiring someone’s finished project!
Other projects and lots of catching up were going on throughout the evening, along with the mystery of the disappearing members. I ticked them off the register, various people had definitely seen them arrive...as it turned out, the Amateur Dramatic society appeared to have the evening off, so some of our members took advantage of the big hall being empty to lay out a quilt!
Quite a few scissors cases were produced and photos of them are shown here. A few more didn’t quite get finished on the evening, but do bring any finished items to future meetings – there is nothing we love more than admiring someone’s finished project!
After all that sewing and socialising Jane and Julia provided us all with a much needed cup of tea or coffee and some very moreish homemade biscuits....thanks ladies!
The ever popular raffle was drawn next and the lucky winners were:
the First Prize of a Gift Voucher went to Rachel; Second Prize: the much coveted pincushion went to Janet and the Third Prize of a covered notebook went to our Chair, Janet.
Which brought the evening to a close, surprisingly quickly, once again!
Huge thanks to Kate for the evening’s project – clearly much enjoyed by all those who had a go.
Don’t forget, the next meeting is on 20th March, and will be the AGM, when we will be having drinks and nibbles, a fabric swap and Sue B will be demonstrating a very useful folded box.
* For those fortunate enough not to have any, a UFO is an Unfinished Object.
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
The ever popular raffle was drawn next and the lucky winners were:
the First Prize of a Gift Voucher went to Rachel; Second Prize: the much coveted pincushion went to Janet and the Third Prize of a covered notebook went to our Chair, Janet.
Which brought the evening to a close, surprisingly quickly, once again!
Huge thanks to Kate for the evening’s project – clearly much enjoyed by all those who had a go.
Don’t forget, the next meeting is on 20th March, and will be the AGM, when we will be having drinks and nibbles, a fabric swap and Sue B will be demonstrating a very useful folded box.
* For those fortunate enough not to have any, a UFO is an Unfinished Object.
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Thursday, 20th February
Guest Blogger: Louise
This evening’s meeting was a little different for several reasons, firstly we were in our alternate venue, at the Pavilion, and secondly the focus of the evening was a Suitcase Collection, made by ladies from The Quilters’ Guild.
Despite the change of venue, we had a great turn out with 35 ladies! 2 were visitors and one was a returning member – good to have you back Charlotte!
Janet started us off with notices, which included a call for items for the tombola for the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in August. This year’s theme is “hearts” and there is a leaflet available with all the details from Janet or if you would like a scanned copy, please email Louise.
Next meeting Kate will be showing us how to make a scissor case. Details are again available from Janet as you will need to come prepared.
The main focus for the evening was a Suitcase Collection, made by The Traditional Quilt Group, a subsection of The Quilters’ Guild. Sally-Anne introduced the group and gave us an idea of who they are.
The collection was made up of 25 quilts on the theme of 'Building Blocks'. As part of the collection we were provided with a book containing details of each quilt, which Janet read out while Sue P displayed each quilt.
Once again, the amazing thing in quilting is how one theme can be realised in so many different ways. Other than size and theme there were few similarities between each piece.
There were a few instances of Flemish Bonds being used, but in very different ways. In one instance the colour palette used was a variation on creams and neutrals, but really stood out for the quilting used, as it was different on every block and used to remarkable effect.
A couple of quilts used the idea of skyscrapers, but again were completely different in the execution.
Unfortunately, due to the number of quilters involved it was not possible to get permission to take photos.
It was a very interesting and much discussed collection and also very well travelled – it is off to Aberdeen next!
Following Janet and Sue’s presentation of the collection we all got to have a good look at the quilts. The group which provided them very wisely provided lots of pairs of white gloves, clearly aware how much we all like to investigate pieces up close and personally!
The Pavilion provides us with lots of space, but we did feel the lack of tea making facilities, especially since it transpired there had been homemade goodies rustled up for the occasion... but it didn’t stop us from having a really good natter!
There were quite a few topics to keep us occupied, starting with the opportunity to sign up for our upcoming workshop. Pictures were available of the projects participants can choose from, which I suspect may have made things harder as they are ALL fabulous! (There are still a couple of places available on the workshop if you’re quick!)
Details and an example were available for Kate’s scissor case, which Janet ensured all those interested saw and knew what they were to bring.
Of course the main topic of conversation was, as ever, what we are all working on and what we have been up to. Always a fascinating topic and this blogger is quite sure that some people have a lot more hours in their days than most!
Once again a fun evening, with lots of opportunities for what quilters seem to enjoy most – a good natter!
See you next time, 6th March, ready for some sewing, back at the Reddings.
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
This evening’s meeting was a little different for several reasons, firstly we were in our alternate venue, at the Pavilion, and secondly the focus of the evening was a Suitcase Collection, made by ladies from The Quilters’ Guild.
Despite the change of venue, we had a great turn out with 35 ladies! 2 were visitors and one was a returning member – good to have you back Charlotte!
Janet started us off with notices, which included a call for items for the tombola for the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in August. This year’s theme is “hearts” and there is a leaflet available with all the details from Janet or if you would like a scanned copy, please email Louise.
Next meeting Kate will be showing us how to make a scissor case. Details are again available from Janet as you will need to come prepared.
The main focus for the evening was a Suitcase Collection, made by The Traditional Quilt Group, a subsection of The Quilters’ Guild. Sally-Anne introduced the group and gave us an idea of who they are.
The collection was made up of 25 quilts on the theme of 'Building Blocks'. As part of the collection we were provided with a book containing details of each quilt, which Janet read out while Sue P displayed each quilt.
Once again, the amazing thing in quilting is how one theme can be realised in so many different ways. Other than size and theme there were few similarities between each piece.
There were a few instances of Flemish Bonds being used, but in very different ways. In one instance the colour palette used was a variation on creams and neutrals, but really stood out for the quilting used, as it was different on every block and used to remarkable effect.
A couple of quilts used the idea of skyscrapers, but again were completely different in the execution.
Unfortunately, due to the number of quilters involved it was not possible to get permission to take photos.
It was a very interesting and much discussed collection and also very well travelled – it is off to Aberdeen next!
Following Janet and Sue’s presentation of the collection we all got to have a good look at the quilts. The group which provided them very wisely provided lots of pairs of white gloves, clearly aware how much we all like to investigate pieces up close and personally!
The Pavilion provides us with lots of space, but we did feel the lack of tea making facilities, especially since it transpired there had been homemade goodies rustled up for the occasion... but it didn’t stop us from having a really good natter!
There were quite a few topics to keep us occupied, starting with the opportunity to sign up for our upcoming workshop. Pictures were available of the projects participants can choose from, which I suspect may have made things harder as they are ALL fabulous! (There are still a couple of places available on the workshop if you’re quick!)
Details and an example were available for Kate’s scissor case, which Janet ensured all those interested saw and knew what they were to bring.
Of course the main topic of conversation was, as ever, what we are all working on and what we have been up to. Always a fascinating topic and this blogger is quite sure that some people have a lot more hours in their days than most!
Once again a fun evening, with lots of opportunities for what quilters seem to enjoy most – a good natter!
See you next time, 6th March, ready for some sewing, back at the Reddings.
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
Thursday, 16th January
Guest blogger: Louise
Happy New Year everyone!
What a start it was too, in MQ’s 30th Anniversary year!
We had our highest ever turn out for our first meeting of the year with 41 ladies turning up, including 4 new members and 3 visitors! Our new members are: Hilary Harvey, Evelyn Walton, Diane Harwood and Lis Pilgrim-Morris and our visitors were: Rosemary De Gruchy, who is planning on becoming a member at our next meeting, Carole Bastin and Sylvia Knight.
A big welcome to our new members (and our visitors!) and welcome back to our existing members. As the saying goes new friends are silver and old ones gold!
Janet started us off with the all important announcements; for those who haven’t renewed their membership, please bring your completed forms and cheques next time. If you don’t have or can’t find your form there will be some available at the next meeting.
Doughty’s in Hereford have a sale coming up and Churchdown Patchwork & Quilters will be running a coach trip to their shop in Hereford on Wednesday evening, 26th February. Jane Grendon has the details.
Our first speaker of the year was Jenny Balchin, from Shipton quilters. Her talk was on miniature quilts. I was somewhat surprised to hear her start with the definition of a miniature quilt as less than thirty inches. This definition applied to the blocks used in the quilt and not the quilts as a whole, which meant that there was a lot of scope for a variety of quilts, sizes and designs, which Jenny certainly demonstrated!
Jenny is yet another quilter who started out making clothes (quite prolifically by the sound of things!) and happened to wander into quilt making almost by accident. A great deal of her knowledge is self taught and, like many of us I’m sure, from books and good old trial and error!
Jenny brought a fabulous selection of quilts to show us, or rather, projects as some were 3D creations that even Quilts UK couldn’t decide on a category for (the wonderful house of quilts, with miniature replicas of some of Jenny’s full sized quilts).
These photos show just some of the amazing range of quilts Jenny brought to show us.
Guest blogger: Louise
Happy New Year everyone!
What a start it was too, in MQ’s 30th Anniversary year!
We had our highest ever turn out for our first meeting of the year with 41 ladies turning up, including 4 new members and 3 visitors! Our new members are: Hilary Harvey, Evelyn Walton, Diane Harwood and Lis Pilgrim-Morris and our visitors were: Rosemary De Gruchy, who is planning on becoming a member at our next meeting, Carole Bastin and Sylvia Knight.
A big welcome to our new members (and our visitors!) and welcome back to our existing members. As the saying goes new friends are silver and old ones gold!
Janet started us off with the all important announcements; for those who haven’t renewed their membership, please bring your completed forms and cheques next time. If you don’t have or can’t find your form there will be some available at the next meeting.
Doughty’s in Hereford have a sale coming up and Churchdown Patchwork & Quilters will be running a coach trip to their shop in Hereford on Wednesday evening, 26th February. Jane Grendon has the details.
Our first speaker of the year was Jenny Balchin, from Shipton quilters. Her talk was on miniature quilts. I was somewhat surprised to hear her start with the definition of a miniature quilt as less than thirty inches. This definition applied to the blocks used in the quilt and not the quilts as a whole, which meant that there was a lot of scope for a variety of quilts, sizes and designs, which Jenny certainly demonstrated!
Jenny is yet another quilter who started out making clothes (quite prolifically by the sound of things!) and happened to wander into quilt making almost by accident. A great deal of her knowledge is self taught and, like many of us I’m sure, from books and good old trial and error!
Jenny brought a fabulous selection of quilts to show us, or rather, projects as some were 3D creations that even Quilts UK couldn’t decide on a category for (the wonderful house of quilts, with miniature replicas of some of Jenny’s full sized quilts).
These photos show just some of the amazing range of quilts Jenny brought to show us.
Inspiration for projects came from travels and holidays in America, Historical periods (the American civil war, Land Girls) and mythology, as well as birds, birdhouses and so very many more sources.
We were delighted to be able to pass some of the works round amongst the group and to ask questions as Jenny has used some wonderful ideas, painting, embellishing and even having a unique take on wadding, using tumble dryer sheets for the smaller projects to make it possible to hand quilt. Some of the projects were far, far too big to pass round and far too big even for your blogger to photograph!! This is where the idea of the miniature being defined by the block, not the quilt came in!
However, it wasn’t just the beautiful quilts that kept us entertained; we were told some very funny stories as to how some projects came about and how planning a quiet evening quilting can end up in an awful lot of trouble....These are probably best not repeated here!
Jenny had also very generously brought along photocopies of miniature block patterns so that we could all have a go at making our own miniature quilts.
After the talk we were ready for a cup of tea and a catch up as our Christmas social seemed a long time ago and there were projects to discuss, gossip to exchange and housegroup meetings to arrange. Many thanks to the coffee girls this week, Alison Stagg and Lin Morgan, I suspect the large plate of biscuits put paid to many a New Year’s resolution!
And there was our first evening - gone! It was a lovely social evening, with lots to inspire us for our 2014 projects.
Just time to get your needles warmed up as at our next meeting, on the 6th of February, we will be discussing our Anniversary year Exhibition...
Happy stitching ladies!
PS: Don’t forget to bring your cheque books next time as we will be signing up 12 lucky quilters for Eleanor Marsden’s Workshop on Saturday, 15th March.
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ
We were delighted to be able to pass some of the works round amongst the group and to ask questions as Jenny has used some wonderful ideas, painting, embellishing and even having a unique take on wadding, using tumble dryer sheets for the smaller projects to make it possible to hand quilt. Some of the projects were far, far too big to pass round and far too big even for your blogger to photograph!! This is where the idea of the miniature being defined by the block, not the quilt came in!
However, it wasn’t just the beautiful quilts that kept us entertained; we were told some very funny stories as to how some projects came about and how planning a quiet evening quilting can end up in an awful lot of trouble....These are probably best not repeated here!
Jenny had also very generously brought along photocopies of miniature block patterns so that we could all have a go at making our own miniature quilts.
After the talk we were ready for a cup of tea and a catch up as our Christmas social seemed a long time ago and there were projects to discuss, gossip to exchange and housegroup meetings to arrange. Many thanks to the coffee girls this week, Alison Stagg and Lin Morgan, I suspect the large plate of biscuits put paid to many a New Year’s resolution!
And there was our first evening - gone! It was a lovely social evening, with lots to inspire us for our 2014 projects.
Just time to get your needles warmed up as at our next meeting, on the 6th of February, we will be discussing our Anniversary year Exhibition...
Happy stitching ladies!
PS: Don’t forget to bring your cheque books next time as we will be signing up 12 lucky quilters for Eleanor Marsden’s Workshop on Saturday, 15th March.
You can now get a tweet whenever the website is updated - our address is: montpellier quilters @MontpellierQ