This morning we had a brilliant meeting, with a record number of attendees. Thank you to members of “other” branches of the IPS who attended, I hope you enjoyed your visit “down South”!

The highlight of our meeting was the talk by our visitor Judith Hollies, from Belfast. Judith spoke about her personal journey from sewing on a treadle machine for many years, making clothes and other items, followed by doing a City & Guilds course in patchwork and quilting, and finally to teaching and having her own premises to teach in.

This introduction was followed by Judith’s extensive Show & Tell of the many items she has made in different fabrics, many of which are repurposed. Vintage sheets, denim, tweed and many other fabrics are used, and the explanations of the specific techniques used for each showed Judith’s expertise and experience. The talk was very much enjoyed, and many of us felt inspired to give our “non-patchwork” fabrics a try in a future project. On behalf of everyone, thank you Judith!!

If anyone wants to know more about Judith and her work, find her website at https://justjude-designs.com/ or look her up on social media:

• https://www.facebook.com/justjudebelfast/ (Facebook)
• https://www.instagram.com/justjudebelfast/ (Instagram)
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpmeL4QuorlTXzUChudJEnQ (YouTube)

Other links can also be found on her website, as well as (free) tutorials and patterns.

During the meeting other companies/websites also got a mention:

• Judith used patterns from Emmaline Bags (https://emmalinebags.com/) and Noodlehead (https://noodle-head.com/) for some of her bags
• Irish linen was sourced from Baird McNutt (https://www.bairdmcnuttirishlinen.com/)
• The penguin toy was made from a pattern by Purlsoho (https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2012/01/08/mollys-sketchbook-the-purl-bee-penguin/)

Our own members have also been active, and have sent these pictures of their own work:

Assumpta made this quilt top from a pattern from quilts.com found on Pinterest:

She also made this “Trip around the World” quilt which has just come back after Mary worked her quilting magic on it:

Colette made these journal quilts, “Curves and Discord”::

Moya sent this picture of an Easter altar cloth that she made for her Mom’s parish:

And finally, Sandra finished this wall hanging “Against the Current” which was made following a “sew-along” organised by Nicholas Ball on Instagram (@quiltsfromtheattic) making improvised fish. It was a great way to make it up as I went along, and trying a facing on non-straight edges:

Next month we will have a visit from Frances Gamble from New Zealand, so mark your diaries for the 8th of May.

We had a wonderful meeting yesterday, thank you to those who joined us for it!

First Anne Marie Horan visited us to outline changes that the Executive propose to make to the constitution of the IPS to make it more logically organised, and to remove duplications. All members will be sent the proposed changes by email (or by post if they do not have email), and there will be a vote organised.

Then Mary Palmer outlined a project that is organised by the Quilter’s Guild of Ireland, with support from the government’s Keep Well campaign via the DCCI. The theme of the project is “Home”: The idea is that people make blocks on the theme of home (house, trees, or paths & gardens) and send them to the QGI, they will then make them into quilts. The quilts will be used to benefit women’s shelters and mental health services. They have asked that people use batiks if possible, but if they don’t have those they can use whatever they have to hand. 
Everyone who takes part will have their name go into a draw (once for each block) and they will be raffling 50 prizes in honour of the Design and Crafts Council’s 50th anniversary. Because so many children are taking part, a special junior raffle will be held for them. The aim is to get the blocks sent in by the end of the month.

For more information you can contact Mary, or contact us and we will pass on the info.

Last month we challenged everyone to show us their (oldest) UFO (unfinished object), and at this meeting we had quite a few shown. It was great to hear how we ended up not finishing these projects, and when and where they were started. There was encouragement for some projects to call them finished right now. And other projects were suddenly back in favour to be finished after having been hidden away for a long time. I think the oldest project was from the late 1980s…! And one of us admitted to have thrown out some projects that were never going to get finished!

Of course, there were some recent projects to show as well, see photos at the end of this post.

After this, we had a lovely chat and a lively discussion about quilting, the society and the branch. If you want to join our meeting online next month, look out for our emails (check your spam/social folder if you don’t find it, or contact us to ask about it or to find out about other ways to stay in touch). It is possible to attend from a computer/laptop/phone or tablet, and as was discussed yesterday, someone without camera or microphone was still enjoying the experience (and was able to join the discussion using the chat function…).

Next month we will have a speaker from Northern Ireland. Jude (Judith Hollies) is a prolific quilter and sewist, and a teacher both online and (when possible) in person. Find out more on her website: Just Jude Designs or if you like find her on Facebook or Instagram. We will have more details on her visit when we announce next month’s meeting.

Lastly, of course, a post should have photos!

Marie showed several project in various states of being finished (or not even started, but planned):

It was lovely to see everyone at the meeting this morning. Thanks go to Tracy Watson, who gave a wonderful talk. She spoke about making a series of quilts for an exhibition in The Courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon (Co. Clare) a few years ago. Starting with how she came to make quilts for an exhibition, she spoke of her inspiration, photos, samples and sketchbooks. Showing lots of photos of her quilts she spoke of the colour choices, curved piecing, trapunto, couching and quilting. Afterwards more explanations followed, especially on the techniques she used. A very inspiring talk, the only disappointment being that we can’t touch the quilts through our screens, or even see their texture close up…! We will have to invite Tracy again when we are able to meet in person once more…

Frances McCarthy showed us some older projects that were never finished, and there was much discussion about how long ago they may have been started. There was some discussion on old projects and why they weren’t finished. So next month’s challenge is to show your old(est) UFO (quilt top, blocks, etc.) at our next meeting. It will be great to see that (probably) all of us have unfinished items that did not get finished for one reason or another… Please send photos in advance so we can make a little slide show!

This month Tracy Wardle sent us a photo of a quilt she made from the instructions for the 2020 Mystery Quilt by Mary Palmer. About 40 mystery quilts were made in the IPS, all very different due to the colour choices. Tracy chose a dark background:

For anyone who would like to do their own version of this mystery (though no longer a complete mystery now you’ve seen this photo…), the instructions can still be found on the IPS website, under Resources – 2020 Patterns. You will need to log into the site since this part of the site is only visible to members.

Some weeks ago Colette Carey sent us some photos, too. The first two are baby quilts made for her two granddaughters born in 2020:

She also sent photos of two small journal quilts, that which were completed in an ongoing course with Nikki Foley:

Our next meeting will be held on 13 March. It would be great if we could receive photos of your finished projects, and of your (old) unfinished quilts, in advance of the meeting. We will gather them in a slide show for the meeting.

Look out for the link which will be emailed as usual. A reminder will be posted nearer the time, here and on our Facebook page, too.

This morning we held another remote meeting via Zoom. It was lovely to see you all, the chat definitely a welcome distraction.

We had some lovely quilts shown to the camera during the meeting. Frances shared a photo of a lovely split nine patch (also called disappearing nine patch) baby quilt which was sent off recently for an eight month old to enjoy:

Tracy announced that she is starting classes via Zoom, and she showed a sample that she made for one of the classes. The orange peels are raw edge appliqué from batik fabrics:

Marie showed a finished Hawaiian style appliqué mini quilt, which was started at a Southern Branch workshop. As she says: “It was my first attempt at appliqué. I enjoyed doing it but not sure I will do any more. I am more a machine piecer and quilter”:

Marie also sent us photos of some Christmas projects she has been working on recently. The Christmas tree is a panel from Pennsylvania a few years ago. She is hand sewing it with glittery thread and has just the top and bottom rows to do:

The Christmas table runner was done in a bit of a hurry before Christmas . Should really have done a bit more to it but ran out  of steam:

“And lastly my twelve days of Christmas wall hanging. I enjoyed making it even if it took me twelve years to complete . It got started then it was put to one side, busy, then moved house, country, it was in a box , need I say more……”:

Chat varied from our Christmases to a space model Frances had made, and from currently famous Kerryman Donie O’Sullivan to temperature blankets…

As I said above, Tracy Wardle is starting classes online, she is offering several one-off and 4-6 weeks series of classes in the coming months. Do get in contact with her to find out more or to book, her contact details are on the Helpful Links page (or send us an email and we pass on your info to her).

Next meeting will be on the second Saturday in February (the 13th), we hope to see you there! In the mean time, don’t hesitate to contact us for any questions or suggestions… and keep sewing!