Last saturday’s meeting was a fantastic way to welcome in the warm weather and round off this years quilting. A good crowd gathered to celebrate all that has been acheived over the last few months and to prepare for the projects ahead for the summer.

There was an array of work on display for the show and tell with alot of members sharing mulitple items. After the show and tell members where treated to a first for IPS southern with a fashion show. Many of the participant of Clare Newell’s recent quilted jacket workshop gave a cat walk parade of their finished garments. It was a walking rainbow of patterns and design all acheived using a pain sweatshirt as a base.

The pop up shop was brought to us by Nikki Foley at The Sewing Shed. Following show and tell Nikki gave a very interesting talk with her sister Gail Smith. They discussed their common sewing and crafting history and the collaborations they have taken part in.

Nikki’s showed her Block of the month titled Irish Dresser and Nikki explained the history of the Dresser as being a gift from a groom to his new wife and formed the “heart of the home.” The dressers was a hugely important peice of equipment for the home, creating essential storage space for treassured tableware whist supplying a cosy home in the bottom cupboards for roosting chickens to lay their eggs, which could then be served direct to the table. More details of the BOM can be found at https://www.thesewingshed.ie/products/irish-dresser-quilt-block-of-the-month

Nikki very kindly shared her pattern “Storm at Sea” with members and challenged us to try it out over the summer.

Our next meeting will take place in September but in the mean time we wish you all a wonderful stitchy summer.