The Spring flowers were in full bloom and the sun was shining on all who gathered last Saturday for our monthly meeting. A excellent number were in attendance who enjoyed cakes and chat while surveying the beautiful fabric on offer at the pop up shop. We were delighted to welcome Tonomi from Slaney Quilts https://slaneyquiltingstudio.com/

Our current Chairperson Cath Davis made announcements to take note of. The Southern branch exhibition will take place in Skibbereen on 9-15 August. Anyone wishing to enter a quilt should complete the sign up sheet or notify Heidi. Any size quilt may be entered but it must have a hanging sleeve on the back and be clearly labelled. There will also be a display of favourite quilt blocks. Members are encouraged to make a 10″ block (unfinished) which will be displayed to show visitors different techniques and assembly methods. The branch is also looking for members to help in the running of the exhibition, if you are able to commit to some time to help please complete the sign up sheet or notify Heidi. Thanks to Heidi for once again coordinating this event.

Our next meeting on April 11th will be out AGM. it was again announced that several members of the committee will be ending their term in office. A new committee will be elected and members are encouraged to stand for office. More hands make light work so please consider it.

The national survey has now been emailed to members and should be completed online. This research will be used to determine the societies national strategy for the future.

There will be a “train the trainer” course commencing shortly for those members who wish to pursue a leading role in delivering talks and workshops. Anyone interested should contact Ann Marie Horan.

As previously announced the National AGM challenge is entitles “Gatherings” and should be A4 size. Attendees are encouraged to book accommodation as soon as possible.

The branch now has a SumUp machine which enables members to pay fees with cards as well as cash.

Our guessed speaker this month was Julia Zagar, who is a Cork based textile artist. She bought along some of her work that spanned a wide range of techniques all with here clear understanding of nature and a talent for using multiple different mediums to create both pictural and 3D work. 15 years ago she completed a Art Quilts workshop, with her first work a collage Cockrel. From the beginning Julia understood the importance of colour and used colour theory as a key element as she constructs her pieces. Compiling a fabric stash from charity shop clothing she incorporates texture and pattern in a layering effect that gives her work great depth. During covid Julia committed to making a postcard sized piece of handstitched work every day. This resulted in an amazing collection of work which was displayed on six double sided sheets. Other items on display included work using Suffolk puff circles. A self portrait and abstract work inspired by nature.

The show and tell was an animal parade that had a guest appearance from Chester the cat and we all quacked with delight at the 2 little ducks! Claire McSweeney showed her amazing quilt and Dorann had us seeing double with her pair of twin quilts which included rats as symbols of the recipients year of birth in the Chinese calendar. Ann shared her doggy panel which included the names of past and present pets quilted into the background. Clare Newell’s hexagon quilt was full of dogs. Rebecca’s hedgehog wall hanging was really cute and her night sky included bats, owls and woodland critters. Tina even brought along a highland cow.