Author: corkips

January Letter from the Chair

On By corkipsIn Letter from the ChairLeave a comment

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Greetings members!

I hope you’re recovering as well as I am from the holidays.  Now that my family has returned to the United States, I’ve got access to my sewing machine—a month was too long to be away from it!

Starting with a few announcements:

On a sad note, Southern Branch Member Kitty Whelan has passed away over the weekend.  My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends in this difficult time.

A call for blocks:

Joanna is heading the effort to create a quilt made of nine patches for the Community Exhibition.  Members are requested to create a 6.5 inch nine patch block with a blue centre square.  A video tutorial for a simple nine patch block is posted on the blog.

December’s block of the month instructions had an error.  For the Double Friendship Star’s cutting instructions, under background fabric, it should read “Five 4 ½ inch squares”

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On January 14th, we’re meeting at the Sacred Heart Church on Western Road at 10:00 am for a day of patchwork fun!

The agenda of the meeting includes:

  • Block of the Month
  • Quilt label demonstration
  • AGM 2017 Update
  • February Swap Announcement
  • A talk by Tomomi McElwee about her quilting journey.  She’s bringing some of her amazing work for us to see!
  • “Community” Exhibition Information
  • March Workshop Announcement
  • Show and Tell
  • Raffle
  • Apple Tree Crafts will be the shop

Tea and Coffee will be provided at our meeting, however cakes and other goodies are dependent on members.

And in the afternoon, Tomomi will be showing us how to make her gorgeous Patchwork Drawstring Bags!  There’s only one space left if you’re interested in joining in!  Be sure to let me know, so I can send you the supply list and you can get your fabric precut.  If any member who has already signed up hasn’t received their supply list, please let me know!  NOTE:  If you’re staying over for the class, lunch is not provided, you’ll need to plan ahead.

See you on Saturday!  Please let me know if you have any concerns or questions!

 

Community Quilt

On By corkipsIn Community Notification1 Comment

As part of our “Community” Exhibition going on in March, the committee has decided to create a quilt made from blocks sewn by members.

If you’d like to participate, it’s easy!  We’re asking for nine patches that have been made from 2.5 inch square patches.  These will create a block that measures 6.5 inches unfinished.

We’re also asking that you create a nine patch with a BLUE SQUARE in the centre.  All other surrounding squares can be any colour you prefer.

If you’ve never made a nine patch block before, we created this Back to Basics video a few months ago you can use as reference.

January Workshop

On By corkipsIn Class OpportunityLeave a comment

We hope you had a very Happy Christmas this year!

After our January 14th meeting, we’re presenting a workshop by Tomomi McElwee,

Drawstring Patchwork Bags

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Tomomi’s class description:

Drawstring bags are what we, Japanese had as bags to put things in and carry before Western bags came (Furoshiki, wrapping cloth is other type of item used for carrying things but they are not bag shaped).

Traditionally these small bags are made from scraps out of other sewing jobs. Also young girls made these to practice sewing skills and carried small bits and pieces.

Since they have flat bottom and wide opening, you can see what is inside very easily and they sit on well too.

They can be made in any size but the smaller the cuter, let’s make them in palm size!

Go through all your scrap collection and find nice combination of fabrics.

If you’re interested in taking this class, be sure to contact us at corkips@gmail.com, spaces are limited!  

 

 

 

 

December Meeting Recap

On By corkipsIn Meeting RecapLeave a comment

On December 10, the Southern Branch met for our annual Christmas meeting!

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We began the meeting with a few announcements.  They included:

  • Any members who haven’t received their newsletter, please let Joanna know!
  • Cork Textile Network’s exhibition at the School of Music is going on until the 22nd.
  • The Southern Branch Exhibition “Community” is happening the week of March 6th.  Finalising details, including opening reception.  We’ll have entry form available at January meeting.  There will be an entry fee of €5 to cover cost of hanging rails, etc.  Members will have the ability to sell their quilt, Sirius Art Centre takes 30% commission.

 

Ann then ran our annual holiday table quiz.  Great job Ann!

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After the table quiz, we then viewed the Mug Rugs entered into the challenge:

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After judging, Patricia O’Brien was declared the winner of the challenge:

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Congratulations Patricia!

For members who wanted to participate, we then swapped mug rugs.

We also debuted the next blocks in the Block of the Month, the Double Friendship Star:

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and the Ohio Star:

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Moya gave us a talk on Christmas and other patchwork projects:

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We ended the meeting with an amazing show and tell:

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Our next meeting will happen on the 14th of January.  Be sure to sign up for the workshop! Space is limited!

December Letter from the Chair

On By corkipsIn Letter from the ChairLeave a comment

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Greetings members!

The Christmas season has always been my favourite time of the year, even before my boys were born.  We’ve put up our tree, and I’ve even hung the patchwork stockings I made last year on the mantle.

The committee met today to start to plan the rest of the meetings prior to the summer break.

On December 10, 2016, at 10:00,

we’ll be meeting at the Sacred Heart Church on Western Road for our annual Christmas meeting!

Patchwork Plus will be the shop for the meeting, and Moya will also be giving us a talk on Christmas Patchwork Projects!

Our next two blocks of the Block of the Month project will be debuted.

Ann is putting the finishing touches on the annual Christmas Table Quiz.  Be ready with your quilting knowledge!

We’ll see the results of the Christmas Challenge, Mug Rugs!

In response to members requesting a Kris Kringle, the committee is going to be running a Mug Rug Swap from the Challenge Mug Rugs!  For members who don’t want to swap your challenge, don’t worry, you’ll be able to opt out of the swap if you want.  Bring a Mug Rug, take a mug rug!

Bring your projects for Show and Tell!  Our last few Show and Tells have been amazing, and full of inspiration!

We’ll have our usual Raffle!

Tea and Coffee will be provided, however cakes and other goodies will be dependent on members.

We’re looking forward to seeing you on the 10th!  If you’re unable to come, we wish you a healthy and safe holiday season!

Christmas Challenge 2016

On By corkipsIn Christmas ChallengeLeave a comment

As mentioned in our November meeting recap post, the Christmas challenge for this year is

MUG RUGS!

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Mug Rug I received from Tomomi McElwee during a 2015 Christmas Swap

What is a mug rug exactly?  Think of it as a cross between a mini quilt and a coaster.  It needs to be large enough to accommodate a cup of tea and a biscuit, or piece of cake.

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Making a mug rug is a great way to use up scraps!  A small finished size means that you can use those smaller scraps to make yours!

Use this as an opportunity to try a technique or style of quilt you’ve always wanted to try out!

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When I participated in a mug rug swap, I decided to make an Irish Chain mug rug.  I took this as an opportunity to practice free motion quilting swirls.

If you need some inspiration for this challenge, I’ve created a Pinterest board of different tutorials, you can find it here.

Don’t feel like you have to make yours Christmas themed!  Make whatever suits you!

November Meeting Recap

On By corkipsIn Meeting Recap1 Comment

Hello members!

What an amazing turnout we had at our November 19th meeting!

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We had the opportunity to host two shops at this meeting, Lismore Quilts and Sew Crafty Fabrics!  Our members enjoyed all the shopping available.

We also invited the members of the Mid-Western Branch of the IPS to join us at our meeting.

We had two demonstrations going on, Slow Stitching:

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and disappearing Nine Patch:

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We started out the meeting with announcements.  These included an announcement from member, Bernie Kelly:

A Christmas Market will be held in the hall of the Presentation Secondary School, Ballyphehane on Sunday 4th December. This is a great opportunity for crafters to sell their wares in advance of the Christmas rush!

Tables for vendors are available priced at €25.00 each. All proceeds go to school fundraising.

Email admin@presballyphehane.com

It would be great to get some of our enterprising members to participate!”

Second was the announcement of the January workshop, Drawstring Patchwork Bags, lead by Tomomi McElwee:

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The sign up sheet will be available at our December meeting!

Our December Challenge was announced as well.  Members are challenged to create a Mug Rug.

What is a Mug Rug exactly?  It’s a small sized quilt, around 6 to 9 inches large.  Large enough to set a cup of tea and a biscuit on.  We’ll be doing a blog post in a few days about this.

After our raffle, we began the Southern Branch Show and Tell.  Here’s a slideshow of all of the amazing work our members showed off:

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Next, the Mid-Western Branch Members began their part of the Show and Tell:

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After our meeting, the Mid-Western Branch members joined us for an open sew afternoon.

It was a great meeting!

See you at our next meeting, December 10th!