October Branch Meeting

The October branch meeting was quite a treat for the Western Branch quilters.  We had two guest speakers from our own branch, Lynn Naughton and Pam Dolan.  Lynn her process of translating a photo to her sketchbook to eventually creating a fabric of her own.

While Pam gave an overview of color, a most-know for every quilter.  Thank you, Pam, for covering the basics that we should all know!

The afternoon workshop was taught by a duo of teachers, Johanna and Collette, giving instruction to make the world's best tote bag.  It seems everyone in the branch is using theirs!

Charity Quilt

As part of the Volvo Ocean Race Craft Village, the Western Branch of the IPS were offered a stand for one day to demonstrate our craft and give the IPS a presence at the event. Rather than have members working on individual projects, it was suggested that we should work on a series of rotary cut blocks which could then be hand-quilted and assembled into a quilt at a later date. 

Brenda Maloney of Clew Bay Quilting kindly donated the three fabrics: a blue/green, a gold and a cream.  A selection of blocks was made from Once More Around the Block and we were off. Volunteers on the stand were asked to bring a square of cotton wadding and cream backing fabric. Once on the stand they demonstrated rotary cutting, piecing, pinning and then hand-quilting on each block. On the day we had some young visitors who made mini dolly quilts. One parent confessed that she had made a quilt years ago in school with.....Rita Scannell!

At the end of the day we had 7 blocks completed so at the September meeting members were invited to take a block and return it quilted to the January meeting where we would put them all together. There were 25 blocks altogether.  So that's what we did. Colette took on quilting the 4 border pieces and Margaret did the corner posts.   Mari attended to the difficult task of squaring up the blocks. Once we had agreed a layout the blocks were numbered and joined using binding strips.

 By the afternoon's end the blocks  had been sewn into rows and neatly hand-sewn at the back. Thank you to the elves who cut, pressed and sewed. We hope to complete the job after the March meeting and hand it over at the May meeting.

November Branch Meeting

The Western branch of the IPS had a particularly fantastic monthly meeting in November.  Our meeting focused on local talent with a particularly extended member show and tell session as well as a trunk show hosted by the Ready Thready Sew group from Tuam and the local shop, Fluffy Sheep Quilting.

Several members came to the meeting already wearing their October workshop bags.  Looking good, ladies!

Raffle tickets are now available for this spectacular quilt.  Don't miss out on getting yours!

We have challenged one another to finish off our UFOs by this spring.  Each member, then, brought in a UFO to show the group with a promise to have it quilted and bound by May.  We look forward to seeing these finished off at our AGM meeting!

Our guest speakers, the Ready Thready Sew group from Tuam, presented an incredible array of quilts showing the talent and creativity of each of their members.  They even brought little dolls and basket liners!  What a treat!

Please do not forget, branch members, to make a child's quilt for donation to the hospital at the May meeting.  Keep working on those in your cold, dark, January evenings. 

Many thanks to Ester for providing many of the photos in this post.

January Meeting

Happy New year to you and I hope the Christmas break was an enjoyable one for you and yours.  To those who didn't manage to avoid the 'flu I hope things are improving.  I hope the thought of our monthly meeting next Saturday will put  bit of pep in your step. 

Here's some of the things we have to look forward to:

We' d hoped to have Angela Keane of the Lockout 1913 Committee to come and tell us about our participation in the 'tapestry'. Unfortunately Angela cannot come this Saturday but will be at our February meeting.

Our Charity Blocks. At this stage I think there are enough blocks out there being quilted. 

WE MUST HAVE THEM ALL BACK THIS SATURDAY JANUARY 12 so that we can assemble the quilt.

Please bring your blocks and we'll need some sewers and some to cut and some to hand sew on Saturday to bring it all together.  That will be after the meeting.

Charity Fat Quarters: At Christmas we suggested that rather than a shop we'd have an orphan sale.....all those fat quarters you bought in a rush of madness to the head and now you are wondering 'what was i thinking of...I can't use this.'  Well you mightn't be able to use it but someone else in the branch might. So bring along to DONATE any unwanted fabric and we'll sell them all off at €1 a fat 1/4 with all proceeds being donated to charity. That means bringing a couple of Euro to buy some fat 1/4 as well. 

Demonstrations/mini workshop:  Toni Foley and Veronika Spelman will be showing quick fabric flowers and a nifty pinwheels technique.

There are still spaces on the Terri McNeill Workshop in February running on Saturday and Sunday.

And don't forget all those different exhibitions calling on your creativity.

Hands across the Border: Flowers Fabric Fibre

IQFOI: too many to mention check out the last edition of your IPS Newsletter

Our own hospital quilts and your UFOs for the May meeting.

Is that enough to keep everybody going?

I'm looking forward to seeing you on Saturday in the bridge Centre,

Until then take care,

Anne Marie.

Call for Quilts

Hands Across the Border

Theme: Flora, Fibre and Fabrics

Size: Maximum 1 metre square (perimeter 160” max)

Dead line: May 1^st 2013

Please bring your entry to the April Meeting or organise it to be with one of our executive committee members (Geraldine Joyce, Mari Moran, Bernadette Falvey) before the deadline.

Schoolhouse Quilters Exhibition

The Athlone-based Schoolhouse Quilters held a phenomenal exhibition this past autumn, much to the delight of many Western Branch IPS members.  Together, the quilts exhibited here display a wide variety of techniques, patterns, colorways and a glorious attention to detail.  Be sure to look closely for fussy cutting and absolutely gorgeous quilting patterns.  Well done, Schoolhouse Quilters!  We can not wait to see more!

Thank you, Margaret, for capturing the exhibit in photos for us all to see.