Mary O’Neill – Rag Doll Workshop

Mary O’Neill who was the guest speaker at our November meeting gave a very interesting talk on how she makes her wonderful Rag Dolls. Several of the members had signed up for the workshop that she was giving after lunch and after a busy afternoon and possibly a little extra work at home the dolls were proudly displayed at our December meeting. 

October Workshop: Bernadette Falvey - Making Stained Glass without using Bias Binding

Bernadette Falvey, of Naomh Muire Quilters, gave a one day workshop on how to create a stained glass effect without the use of bias binding. First and foremost I would like to thank Bernadette for the hours of preparation she put into the class. There were six of us at the workshop and for each person she copied the pattern of a mermaid (comprising nearly 70 pieces) onto a black background (40x21”).

The method that Bernadette taught us was a quick technique of placing the appliqué shapes onto a background of black or other dark colour with a constant space between all the shapes so that the look of leading is actually seeing the background showing between the pieces.

We spent the first hour and a half of our Sunday morning therapeutically cutting the paper pattern pieces for our appliqué. We then cut the fabric pieces and backed them with steam-a-seam and placed these onto the background fabric.

Throughout the day Bernadette was on hand with advice on how to prevent the fabric edges from fraying, how to cut accurately and how to best place the pieces so as to keep the space between them even. Once the design is complete, Bernadette suggested that we layer it with wadding and backing fabric and quilt around each appliqué piece; thus securing them in place and emphasising the stained glass leading effect. She also asked us to name our mermaids as each one is an individual as can be seen from the photographs.

We all had a thoroughly enjoyable day cutting, ironing, chatting, drinking tea and eating leftover barnbrack from the October meeting. I would like to thank Bernadette again for all the preparation work she did for the class and for her excellent teaching.

 Annette

 Susan, Mary and Annette with their Mermaid Quilts.

October Meeting

Ciara Tyrrell from Cope joined us for the meeting and was thrilled to accept the mini alphabet quilts on behalf of Cope she told us that they will hang them in the children’s playroom as they will brighten up the space for the children.

 

Anne Marie presenting the Alphabet Quilts to Ciara Tyrrell of Cope

We also had some of our own members giving demonstrations on how to make quick and simple Christmas decorations. Madeleine showed us a variety of the many decorations that she has made over the years including a beautiful small box to hang on the tree. Margaret showed us how Suffolk Puffs can be effectively turned into a Christmas tree wall hanging. Sandlin gave us a detailed and fool proof explanation of how to make stunning Fabric Baubles and Jackie demonstrated how therapeutic it can be stuffing the fabric tubes required to make plaited Christmas Wreath.

Margaret demonstrating Suffolk Puffs

Sandlin demonstrating technical drawing and Xmas baubles

After all of that excitement we also had our show and tell which as usual didn’t fail to please with some lovely quilts and wall hangings being shown.

Kathy Fallon

Linda McMulkin and her Sunbonnet Sue

Anne Marie's Teddy Bear Quilt

Mary McDonnell

Western Branch Exhibition 2013

   At the end of September the Western Branch exhibition opened in a new venue, the ground floor of the Geata na Cathrach building near the Radisson  Hotel in Galway. It was a great empty space that had already been used for exhibitions and our thanks to John Hughes and Sarah Healy who made it available to us.  The quilting elves moved in on Wednesday,Thursday and Friday to give it a final clean and to hang our lovely quilts.With a fair bit of passing trade going to the Tax Office and the Radisson, we hung 5 of our Cú na Mara panels in the entrance hall to attract attention. They really looked spectacular and drew a lot of interest from those attending the Tattoo Convention in the hotel over the weekend. Expect to see a Cú na Mara tattoo on an upper-arm near you some time soon!

    The official opening of the exhibition took place on Culture Night and was performed by the Mayor of Galway City, Padraic Conneely. City Arts Officer, James Harrold who had given us great publicity in culture night brochures, also spoke, drawing attention to the beauty and variety of the quilts. Altogether there were 40 pieces on display and this doesn't include the A3 alphabet quilts which were made as an exhibition challenge and will be donated to COPE Galway for their playroom.There were some traditional quilts such as Agnes Feeney's Double Irish Chain, beautifully hand-quilted; Mari Moran's 'My Country Quilt' also hand-quilted. Sally Marrable made a LUDO quilt which was very playful and sat very nicely beside Isabelle Foyle's 'Tessellations' in zingy colours. Christine Widmer, Veronica Coyne, Mary Madden and Madeleine Jordan showed VERY big bedquilts. Madeleine also had some smaller art-quilts one of them based on zendoodles (don't ask: google it)and new'ish' member Shanna Corrigan showed a whole cloth, sun-dyed piece which she had randomly machine quilted according to where the colours were. Agnes Warren showed a small, foundation pieced Mariner's Compass: 'Lead Me Home' with a lovely Flying Geese border. 

Of the Viewers Choices, the out and out winner was Joan Colleran's Sunbonnet Sue piece: 'A Girl for all Seasons. This quilt was in the post to America the morning after the quilts came down so that the doting grandmother could present it to her grand-daughter in person. Other viewer's favourites included Agnes Feeney's Irish Chain; Margaret Cunnane's indigo sampler: 'Sea Fever'; Bernie Falvey's 'Hearts' and Jackie O'Toole's 'Trip Around the World'. The Alphabet quilts proved a great hit and were quite a spectacle when hung altogether. Ciara Tierney of COPE was pleased to accept them at our October meeting. It's great to have the incentive to finish quilts for such an exhibition. If you can draw visitors in, it is one of the best ways to introduce people to patchwork and quilting because they not only see the variety of quilts but also get a chance to talk to the people who have made them. We welcomed several new members to our September meeting who had been at the exhibition. Time now to put the thinking cap on for a quilt for the National Exhibition in July 2104!!!! It never ends, does it?