This will tempt you to put your name down for February's workshop!

Linda McMulkin (www.ragsforlinda.com) will give a workshop in the afternoon after February's meeting showing how to make this Jacob's Ladder quilt. Those who attend the workshop can expect to complete most of a quilt top in an afternoon. This is a great workshop for all skill-levels, expecially if you want to go home with a great sense of achievement. Sign up fast before the places are all gone!

December Show & Tell

This month's 'Show & Tell' had some lovely pieces made by members. Mari Moran completed a bag using curved piecing. Margaret Cunnane's nativity scene wall-hanging should be completed just in time for Christmas. Joan Colleran told us of some hiccups encountered as she laid out all those tiny squares to make up this beautiful watercolour quilt...everyone agreed it was worth the headaches as it really is stunning! I didn't write down the maker of the green braid pattern quilt, but I'll find out and update this post with the info as soon as I can.

Eyes down for Bingo!

How do you get a roomful of patchworkers interested in a game of bingo? Make the prize a huge collection of 'fat quarters' (a 22inch square of patchwork fabric). Everyone paid 1 'fat quarter' to play. Then we got a long list of names of patchwork blocks to chose our personal bingo card using 25 numbers. All eyes were down as the numbers were called. The winner got a huge bundle of 'fat quarters' and the loser got a few too just for being last!

Christmas Challenge

Lots of people participated in this month's challenge to make a Christmas gift item. There were a wide variety of gifts on display and the viewers' choice was won by Frances for her placemats. Well done Frances! And well done to everyone else for participating, it's always great when there are lots of different techniques on show.

GroundWorks Studios opens in Mervue

GroundWorks Studios launched on Friday 11th December at the Lyrr Building, Mervue Business Park, Galway. It was opened by James Harold, Arts Officer for Galway, with an exhibition of ceramics and textiles created by the members. The exhibition ran for the weekend but has now been taken down to allow the group to prepare the space for the artists to set up their individual studio workspaces. The group will offer workshops to the public in ceramics and textiles in the new year so keep an eye on the website http://www.groundworksstudios.com/ for more information on this.

The mission statement reads 'GroundWorks Studios will provide a platform for emerging Ceramic & Textile Artists in a collective environment, creating a contemporary, innovative and vibrant setting in Galway and West of Ireland.'

As an associate member of the group, (more information on membership options can be viewed at the above website) I exhibited 2 pieces at the launch. 'Jump for Joy' also exhibited previously at the Quilt Festival in Bermingham and the Knitting & Stitching Show in Dublin. 'The Rocker II' was the second in a series of quilted pieces about the Irish rockstar, Philip Lynott, the first in the series exhibited at 'The Long Note' in the Cork School of Music with the Cork Textiles Network (http://www.corktextiles.com/).

Ester Kiely

Christmas Party 12th December, 2009

The meeting of the Western Branch of the IPS takes place as usual on the second Saturday of the month....so that's Saturday 12th from 10am to 12.30 at the Bridge Centre, St. Mary's Road. And of course it's Christmas so that means it's party time! There will be a prize for the winner of our "Christmas Gift" challenge (you take home the gift you make). The above photo is a wall-hanging made by Linda McMulkin.

Bring a 'fat quarter' of patchwork fabric to participate in the Fat Quarter Bingo!

There will be a buffet of party food to share and of course our usual festive fun.

We hope to see you there.

November Show and Tell

Every month members bring along finished quilts or some work in progress to show the group. This month a variety of work was shown including members work exhibited at the Quilt Festival in Bermingham and the Knitting and Stitching Show in Dublin (for info on these shows see www.twistedthread.com)

Members Challenge

A multicoloured scrap of fabric was given to members at a previous meeting and the challenge was set to create a 12.5inch block using this fabric and any other fabrics of your choice. 30 blocks arrived at the November meeting showing a great variety of styles and techniques. The group will now construct a quilt using these blocks and the finished quilt will be raffled amongst the participants with one luck prizewinner in 2010. Someone is going to be the very lucky and proud owner of this group quilt!

Hungarian Flower Quilts

In 2007 Hungarian master quilter, Gyongi Varadi lived in Galway for a year and taught us her method of paper piecing to make flowers. On her return to Hungary she set a challenge to all Irish and Hungarian quilters to submit flowers which were divided between the 2 guilds to make a quilt each. The 2 quilts were exhibited for the first time recently in Budapest and a number of Irish quilters travelled to see the exhibition. These quilts will be exhibited as part of the Western Branch Exhibition at the Galway City Museum in May 2010.

The library

Jackie is our librarian and ensures we have access to a great selection of books to borrow. Members pay €2 per book and can keep it for a month and return it at the next meeting. It's a great way to find out if a book is worth investing in for your own bookshelf at home. And it's a great way to browse a huge selection to find a pattern that might suit you for your next project. The photo shows a small selection of what's on offer. Jackie is always open to suggestions of new books you would like to see added to the library, so let her know what you would like to see.

Shopping for patchwork fabrics.

Every month at our meetings in Galway we invite a fabric supplier. In November our guest speaker Moya Geraghty brought her shop 'Patchwork Plus' to give all of us a chance to stock up on lovely fabrics and sewing supplies. Here are a few photos of some very happy shoppers. For more information check out Moya's website http://www.patchworkplus.ie/.

Moya Geraghty shows her work

Moya Geraghty was our guest speaker at the November meeting and she arrived with a wonderful selection of her work through the years. These quilts tell stories of everyday life captured creatively in fabric and stitch. Moya showed us quilts for Christmas, Valentines, Halloween, Patrick's Day, teenagers' bedrooms and babies. Her quilts range from traditional to contemporary. She makes quilts and wall-hangings with prints and plains, printed panels, denim, flannel, hand-dyed fabrics, etc. The variety of work was inspiring. She uses a wide variety of techniques and draws inspiration from a variety of sources. These are only a small selection of the quilts Moya showed us. If we master some more technology, we may be able to create a slideshow to show more of the work.....so watch this space! Thanks Moya for a fabulous visit to Galway and we look forward to seeing more of your work in the future!

Monthly meeting 14th November, 2009

The meeting of the Western Branch of the IPS for November takes place at 10am at the Bridge Centre, St. Mary's Road, Galway. Our guest speaker is Moya Geraghty and she will bring her shop 'Patchwork Plus' selling lots of patchwork supplies. Moya will also give an afternoon workshop in making patchwork Christmas gift items. For further information on 'Patchwork Plus' visit the website http://www.patchworkplus.ie/.
Any member participating in the current challenge to make a 12.5inch block using the challenge fabric should bring along their completed block on Saturday 14th.

The photo shows Moya's Christmas fun quilt.

'Surfaces to Paint' workshop with Fabric Gallery, Bray

Our October workshop was delivered by Gwen from Fabric Gallery in Bray, Co. Wicklow (http://www.fabric-gallery.com/). We began the workshop with a piece of plain white fabric. We started with the paint straight from the jar and made a mark. We then added water to dilute the paint, starting with a 75% paint to water solution and continued making marks and adding water until the colour ran out. We continued using different paints and then applied a base coat to see how this changed the results. We then tried out the same effects on different fabrics. Our final piece was great fun as we played around with the different paints and stencils. This workshop was very informative and our samples can be mounted on cardboard or put into a logbook for future reference.

By Lynn Naughton

Vikki Pignatelli Workshop, 19th September, 2009

Professional quilt-artist, international teacher and author, Vikki Pignatelli came to Galway on 19th September, to teach a workshop on creating curves and openings in quilts. More information on her work can be found at http://www.vikkipignatelli.com/.

For those of us attending the workshop we were treated to a stunning display of her quilts and an insight into the methods she uses to create such stunning effects.

Vikki demonstrated her simple method of drafting a pattern, cutting the fabric, placing the pieces correctly and stitching them in place.

We were then given a pattern to try the method for ourselves, with Vikki on hand to guide us through any difficulties.

Vikki is an excellent teacher and explained how to solve any problems we might encounter. Her method is so adaptable that it is easy to improvise and adapt the pattern as you go. Check out her website for details of her DVD and books.

September meeting

The Western IPS got off to a great start after the summer break. 'Rags for Linda' (www.ragsforlinda.com) provided the shop with a great range of fabrics and supplies. Loretta O'Brien was our guest speaker with a suitcase full of quilts and wall-hangings charting her journey as a quilter. Jan Adams was presented with the Western Challenge trophy for her wall-hanging in the Volvo Ocean Race exhibition in St. Nicholas' Church in May. There was a wonderful display of member's work in our 'Show & Tell'. We look forward to our workshop on 19th September with Vikki Pignatelli. The National AGM is in Tralee on 3rd October. Our next branch meeting is on 10th October in Galway.

We often work on group quilts and donate them for charity fund-raising. This photo shows a 'Think Pink' quilt made by members of the Western Branch of the IPS for Breast Cancer Research. It was constructed using the 'quilt-as-you-go' method. Members were asked to make a block with 'flowers' as the theme using combinations of pink, green and cream fabrics. The group worked together to finish the quilt. The quilt raised significant funds when auctioned at a charity ball.