We welcomed Paula Rafferty and her shop to our busy June meeting, and were wowed by Paula’s overview of her work.

Paula is a well known maker, teacher and quilt judge and brings her fashion and art background to her work. She enjoys a challenge and belongs to the 20 Perspectives Textile group that exhibits three times a year.

Amongst the striking quilts she showed were a sampler quilt that she created for teaching, a layer cake quilt that makes different scale stars, her “Emoture” – emotion and temperature quilt (read more about how it was created at https://paularafferty.blogspot.com/2021/07/emoture-my-temperature-quilt.html), her series of whole cloth quilts, custom printed from Paula’s digitally manipulated images, then quilted (carefully!) in the 1/8 inch black lines! The specialist printer has now closed, but Paula reckons she has two years worth of work stocked up.

Paula offered a workshop in the afternoon on Manx Quilting and whetted our appetites with her own version of this style of work – which is very much based on personal measurements. She recommended the video tutorial of Amy Smart as a great introduction: https://youtu.be/U4pks5ff7B0?si=n9xI5Ifi6e-bb3oG

Our Show and Tell featured the works of

1. Mairead Christie, with three quilts, a machine pieced black and white hexies, and two quilts that use fabrics purchased in Australia.
2. Carol O’Callaghan’s squares, with thanks to Assumpta for help.
3. Eilís Watson’s rainbow crayon quilt, “to use it up!”
4. Ann Prendergast brought two quilts, the yellow and brown from a pattern of Mary Palmer, and her star from a Ruth Bourke workshop.
5. Joanne Harrington brought a quilt made for a grandson, and a sherbet colour way squares.
6. Ann Kelleher showed an unusual crochet edging on her hexes quilt and a panel of Beatrix Potter.
7. Rebecca Uí Laughin brought “short and sweet” mammal pouches that can be used in animal rescue work.
8. Fionualla Creed’s quilt was quilted by Christine Sawyer for a grandson.
9. Mary O’Connor shared two small works that use vilene geometric print for precise piecing and warned us all: “beware of Birmingham and the demonstrations…!!”
10. Finally Heidi’s Nymph Echo has returned from exhibition.

Enjoy the summer and we will be back in September, on the 12th.