Madeleine Jordan – A truly inspiring woman

Madeleine Jordan was the guest speaker today and all I can say is that she is ‘some woman’. Madeleine and her trusty assistant (her daughter-in-law) came laden down with an enormous array or quilts, wall hangings and other small items that she has made over the years. 

Every single piece that she showed to us had a story to go with it. All I could do was look on in amazement at the wonderful work that she has produced over the years. Many of the pieces were completely hand quilted and all of her work was stunning. 

Her attention to detail and her diligence in researching the subject of her projects shines through in the finished articles. There were so many pieces that I don’t think we actually got time to see them all and we could have dedicated the whole of the meeting to Madeleine, her life and times and her quilts. 

I could have happily listened to Madeleine talking all day, she is like a breath of fresh air and her vitality and energy to do what she so clearly loves doing is astounding. Well done Madeleine's and thank you for such a wonderful and inspiring talk, it definitely gave me the kick that I needed to get started with the needle and thread again.

Guest Speaker: Gaye Grant!!

The Western Branch of the IPS were so lucky to have Gaye Grant, of the Fennel Shed, as their guest speaker in the February meeting.  She brought her fantastic shop as well as a pile of gorgeous quilts.  For each quilt, she took the time to discuss the process she undertakes to design the quilt (showing off the fabric!), piecing and quilting. It was a fantastic learning experience for everyone in the audience.

You'll see Gaye's book Square Play in the photos above.  Be sure to check it out of your branch library or pick up a copy of your own. It's a wonderful book.

Gaye, thank you for taking the time to visit us.  We learned an incredible amount and look forward to seeing what you create next!

October Guest Speaker: Ann Fahy

Ann Fahy is a Western Branch member who has had many years of experience and has developed her own style over the years.

Lynn and Mari help to show some of Ann's more recent work.

Ann (centre) shows a series of innovative, colourful quilts with holes.

Ann's quilts are often displayed overlapping eachother which allows the layers and colours to interact.

Ann's earlier quilts, although more traditional in techniqe still showed Ann's interest in creating her own designs from an early stage.

A big thank you to Ann for a very interesting talk with a fantastic display of beautiful work spanning 30 years of innovative quilt-making. It was an inspiring morning at our October meeting!

September Guest Speaker: Mogs McDonnell shows her designs for 'Fashion Sans Frontieres' at Birmingham Festival of Quilts

Congratulations to Mogs on her fashion collection for 'Fashion sans Frontieres' at the Birmingham Festival of Quilts in August 2011. Chairperson, Lynn Naughton presented Mogs with flowers and a big thank you from the Western Branch for making us so proud! Mogs received an award for the quality of her stitching and workmanship in her evening-wear collection. The Irish Patchwork Society team of 4 received an overall award for their day-wear collection.

Mogs shows the back of her pieced, quilted velvet coat. The title for Mogs' collection was 'Swanning Around on the Corrib'. Taking inspiration from the white, black and orange of the swans and the blue of the lake and sky, Mogs created her colour palette for the collection.

Mogs shows the front of her coat, with fur trim on the neckline.

Mogs created a 70's inspired day-wear look with tie-dyed top, over-sized baker-boy cap, elephant-flare denims and traditional Irish críos (belt) which was hand-woven by Mairéad Sharry on Inisheer.

Mogs gave us a wonderful talk, slide-show (with grateful assistance from Agnes Warren) and show & tell. She took us through her journey from being asked by EQA representative, Loretta O'Brien to participate, creating her 'mood-board' to describe her inspirations, creating each piece, travelling to Birmingham, practicing for the cat-walk and finally the show itself. We are so proud of all her work and in awe of her talent! Keep it up Mogs!

April: Midwestern Branch Show and Tell

Our guest speakers for the April meeting were members of our nearest IPS branch neighbours who meet in Limerick - The Mid Western Branch (http://midwestpatchwork.blogspot.com/). We were treated to a fantastic 'Show and Tell' from this talented group of patchworkers. So sit back and enjoy the following photos!