Our last meeting before the summer was extremely enjoyable.

Our speaker was Heidi Wieshniewski, who took us on a very interesting journey through her textile history.

She has made different items at different phases of her life and she showed many of them: from an exquisite jacket and lovely dresses to miniature embroidered landscapes, from quilts to appliqué portraits and many more.

Looking at her lovely work was a real treat:

See more photos in this slide show. From her first quilt to lockdown projects, and appliqué landscapes inspired by the views around her, and much more:

Members’ Show and Tell followed:

Marie showed us her double wedding ring quilt. Stitched mostly during occasional travels over many years, she recently finished the top. Mary Palmer’s quilting magic finished it off brilliantly.

Our next meeting will be held in September, with a visiting speaker and a workshop in the afternoon! And with a refreshed committee there are quite a few things planned for the following months… So keep an eye on your emails for news from your branch.

And don’t forget that next Saturday is the national AGM in Dublin! Please let them know if you want to attend (see emails), they would like to know numbers as soon as possible…

Wishing you all a sunny and creative summer!

We had another great meeting in May and it was well attended. Thank you to those who came along!

Áine brought her well-stocked shop, the Lismore Quilt Co. and many had a lovely time browsing and buying some of the fabrics, threads and notions.

The AGM went without any hiccups. With the chairperson we had a short look back on the previous period and we can all agree that it has been a very strange time! Months of “only” Show & Tell, and online at that! Followed by quite a few online monthly meetings, which had the advantage that visitors from anywhere in the world could be invited. We are very happy to be able to meet in person once more, though.

There were heartfelt “thank you”s and a plant for the committee members, and the outgoing chair was surprised with a quilt especially made for her.

Have a look below at the photos from the meeting and the projects shown by our members, starting with some of the outgoing committee with the chairperson’s quilt:

Next month we will be meeting again, keep an eye on your emails!

Yesterday we met with a lovely group of ladies (as always).

Our speaker Clare Newell introduced us to the Crisp Packet Project, and her involvement with it. The project make emergency “blankets” out of (you guessed!) crisp packets. These emergency covers are handed out to homeless people to provide them an extra insulating cover to keep them warm and dry. Clare is in touch with a Cork charity who hand them to the people needing them.

Crisp packets (OPENED, WASHED AND DRIED) are joined together into large sheets by pressing them briefly with an iron, using a sheet of baking paper. Then polythene is added on both sides (more pressing). This “fabric” can also be used to create duffel bags or toiletry pouches. Such valuable items from waste products!

Clare is happy to accept help, but if you are saving your crisp packets for her, please wash and dry them or she cannot use them!

Find more about the project on Clare’s social media pages: Facebook – Instagram

Show & Tell:

Mairead showed us covers she is making for covers for baby incubators for CUH. She is using any dark (heavy) material for these, so if you have any dark flannel or upholstery fabric, let her know. Several “penny rugs” were shown off, everyone has been very inventive with those wool scraps! Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of them!!

Next meeting, May 14, is our AGM, please all come and support our branch. We will be in touch by email with details.

Last week 34 people attended our meeting, and it was lovely to see you all together.

Our speaker was MaryAnn Browne who spoke about her stitching life, illustrated by some of her lovely work.

Show & Tell had some more treasures:

Our next meeting will be on 9 April, details will be emailed nearer the time.

It was great to see so many of you turning out to attend the meeting in person, some of whom we hadn’t seen for years! There were also some people attending online, some of those from other branches… an advantage of online meetings.

Annie Hogg gave a very interesting talk on natural dyes and pigments. She told the stories of plants like woad (blue), weld (yellow), madder (red) and oak galls (black), with an emphasis of their history and their importance and use in an Irish context. Annie has a website https://www.anniehoggstudio.com/, and can be found on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/anniehogg_thewildhedgeinkco/.

Show and Tell had a few gems from Assumpta, Heidi, Ailbhe and Bernie. Thanks to Siobhan for the photos:

Sandra also finished a quilt top recently, but since it was the only “virtual” finish it wasn’t shown during the meeting. Inspired by the fat quarter that was sent for the summer challenge, she found enough coordinating batiks in her stash to make this Jewel Box lap quilt:

Aoife Carr from the North Eastern branch showed the online group a cushion she has made called Spring Bunnies in Love, depicting appliqué bunnies on a strip-pieced background. The free pattern can be found at https://flamingotoes.com/spring-bunnies-love-pillow/, a lovely project for spring or Easter.

Our next meeting is planned for 12 March, as always keep an eye on your email inbox for updates.

Today’s meeting was well attended, thank you to everyone who joined us! It was lovely to see several IPS members from other branches, too. There are some advantages to online meetings!

Our speaker was Mary Palmer, and she told us the story of the quilts made as part of the government’s “Keep Well” campaign. The Quilters Guild of Ireland (QGI) together with the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCI) initiated the project on the theme of “Home”. Many people from all over Ireland, members and non-members, joined in, making blocks and putting them together into tops, then quilting them. Initially it was thought that maybe they could make 3 quilts, but the interest was overwhelming and in the end there will be 22 quilts made!! Two quilts are still in the process of being finished, with some late blocks.

The quilts will be used to benefit women’s shelters and mental health services, either directly or by using them in raffles etc. This may still take a few years to get the most funds from the quilts.

Before that, it is envisaged to display the quilts around Ireland in exhibitions, and give some attention to this successful project. We will let you know when there is more information on this.

Below an example of one of the quilt tops before quilting. This is the only one I have a photo of since this is the one I joined together for the project. Obviously, many, many people were involved in this project!!

If you are inspired to make similar blocks for yourself, find more information on the Quilters Guild of Ireland (QGI) website as well as the free patterns (scroll down on the page), which are accompanied by videos on the QGI YouTube channel.

For Show & Tell not many photos were sent in, but we had a few lovely ones:

Tracy has been busy machine quilting for cards and small wall hangings:

She also took part in the IPS Christmas postcard swap. She made a red card with swirls and holly leaves and berries, and received a card made by Christina Merrick, with an appliquéd mouse holding a teddy on Christmas morning:

If you’d like to try and make a fabric postcard yourself, find a tutorial on the IPS website.

We also got talking about quilt settings and from that several books were mentioned: Though not new books, these two were loved and used: “Quilting Makes the Quilt” by Lee Cleland and “Setting Solutions” by Sharyn Craig:

If you would love to be inspired by Christmas quilts, have a look at the Dutch Quilters Guild’s YouTube channel (Quiltersgilde Nederland). There are two videos (slide shows) available with galleries of Christmas quilts by members. A feast for the eyes and language independent. Look for the image below, literally translated “Presentation Christmas Quilts” part 1 and part 2:

Lastly, a couple of announcements from our local teachers/shops:

Tracy (tracedesign.ie) has new classes planned for spring, contact her directly (0872379682 or twaddle1164 <at> gmail.com) or let us know and we pass it on:

* Wed 16 February: The language of flowers (one day zoom class). Full day free motion workshop including kit.
* Wed 9 March: Easy machine trapunto (one day zoom class). Full day workshop.
* Wed 4 May – 1 June: Feathering the nest (5 weekly mornings – in person or zoom, TBC). Learn to machine quilt all kinds of feathers.

Moya (Patchwork Plus) gave us details of her upcoming sale in the shop. The sale will be on for four days with booked slots, from 29 January till 1 February. Please book a one hour slot (max. 4 people per slot) by contacting her directly (0877986872).

Our next meeting will be held on 12 February, Annie Hogg will be our speaker, she is an engaging speaker with a wide knowledge on natural dyes and inks, and their uses. The committee will be looking at the situation in advance of the next meeting, before we decide whether we will be having our meeting mixed (online + in person) or online only. As usual, keep an eye on your emails, or follow us on Facebook or here on the website.

Our meeting yesterday had everything: in person, online, quilts, shop, quiz, Christmas outfits….

Thanks to Frances for putting the quiz together, there were some groans, but not too many 😉

Below photos of the Show & Tell, both from online and in person contributions. I hope you are inspired:

Leaving you with wishes from all in the committee for a joyful Christmas and a very happy and creative New Year!

Our next meeting is planned for 8 January. Members, keep an eye on your email for details.

We had a good turnout yesterday, and everyone was very happy listening to Irene MacWilliam. She showed us a wide variety of her quilts and had many, many stories to tell. A very inspiring and interesting lady!

She uses a lot of free machine appliqué and stitching as well as other decorative techniques. She also uses techniques like fabric dyeing, screen printing, stamping, sun printing, etc. Her work is greatly varied: Some of her work deals with conflict and the effects of it on children and families, other pieces show a brilliant sense of humour. She has also made numerous “year quilts” depicting world events, and journal quilts.

If you missed the talk, or if you want to see more of Irene’s work, find her website at http://www.irenemacwilliam.co.uk/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/irenetextiles/ . Searching her name online and going to images also gives a lot of photos of her work…

Our own (short) show and tell was lovely, too. See the photos here:

In the afternoon, Tracy gave a workshop to a good few of our branch members. We all got a little bit in the Christmas spirit…! I think everyone ended up with a finished item, and I am probably not the only one intending to make more of these versatile trays as gifts and for use around the house, and not just for Christmas.

Our next meeting is planned for 13 November. Since government guidelines will most likely have changed by then, we will update everyone by email what form that meeting will have…

To receive updates of the branch, please renew your membership so that we can keep sending you emails (tick that box), and keep an eye on your inbox!