Category: Uncategorized

September meeting recap

On By sewofcourseIn Meeting Recap, Uncategorized, Virtual MeetingLeave a comment

Online meeting

Since our September 2020 meeting could not take place in person, it was “moved” from the hall to an online meeting on Zoom. Eight of us managed to join the meeting, where we chatted all things quilts and beyond.

Frances showed us her indigo/white quilt top from a star pattern by Marsha McCloskey. She also managed to find the bright top she made from the “Sewcial Distancing” quilt-along by Nicky Foley (Sewing Shed) as well as a “disappearing nine-patch” in progress for a baby quilt.

Marie showed a baby quilt she made with soft blue and yellow fabrics and Beatrix Potter prints (see below for a photo).

We were able to share some of Moya’s (Patchwork Plus) new website, too. She found the time to set it up during the summer (due to Covid), and will be adding more to it. Find the link on our Helpful Links page.

Frances mentioned that she enjoyed the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show (online) which can be found at https://quiltshow.com/.

Also, the quilt galleries as well as (free) workshops and lectures of the Festival of Quilts can be accessed until the next festival in 2021 at https://www.thefestivalofquilts.co.uk/beyond-the-festival-of-quilts/.

Memberships are now due, and should preferably be sent to our branch treasurer (see the email we sent recently). Members that haven’t renewed by the end of October will be removed from our database and will no longer receive emails or the IPS Newsletter…

Finally, we will soon be sending a short questionnaire round (by email) to all our members to see what we can do in the coming months…

Show and Tell

Several people shared their quilt project photos with us, so here is a recap of those:

Marie Sprott made this cot quilt for a friend whose daughter is expecting her first baby in October. The quilt is made up of nine patches plus squares from Beatrix Potter fabric . I did zig zag machine quilting across the 9 patch blocks and I am in the middle of doing free motion quilting in the white areas of the BP squares. As you can see it is being scrutinized by two friends:

Tracy Wardle has finished two projects this month. The first is my 2nd mini double wedding ring – finally, I completed a quilt for my bedroom!

And secondly, I quilted, bound and labelled the quilt I’ve been working on from last year’s Kaffe Fassett workshop up in Newtownmountkennedy. Another UFO down! I downsized it for a throw rather than a bed quilt then added a couple of inner borders before finishing with a Chinese coins border, which I mitred for a nice effect. I experimented with a 3.5″ double fold binding (á la Philippa Naylor) – what do you think? Thanks to Moya at Patchwork Plus for the gorgeous backing fabric, it’s perfect!

Heidi Wischniewski finished her Baltimore Applique Quilt and is “quite pleased with it”:

She started a new project “20 Different Cats Quilt “. Bought the Downloads from Susan Claire @ Gourmet Quilter.com. 12 cats done already in raw edge applique and I’m loving it:

Eilís Watson has truly been busy. She made 5 pixelated heart quilts (tutorial available on Missouri Star Quilt Company). Two (unquilted) are made from 5” x 5” squares and will be gifted to my friend’s two daughters. Two (turquoise and purple/pink) are stitched using 4.25” x 4.25” squares and the little one (floral) was made with 3.5” x 3.5” squares. These three were given to three of my nieces during lockdown:

The other quilt was made for a staff member’s new baby boy. The pattern is from #kitchentablequilting and was part of a lockdown quiltalong. Other quilts, using this pattern can be seen on #tessaqal:

Thank you all for sending the photos and for joining us online this morning! And members, keep an eye on your inbox, we will be in touch soon…

Virtual “meeting” in May

On By sewofcourseIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

For those who read the blog, but not their emails…

We are putting together another post of “Show and Tell” instead of our meeting tomorrow. If anybody has a photo of any current or recent project (or more than one), please forward them to us at the usual email address.

Many thanks, we hope to see your work at the meeting tomorrow!

April branch meeting going virtual

On By corkipsIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

We hope you are all well, and coping as best you can with the current situation.
As you will expect, there will be no branch meeting this Saturday, and no-one really knows when we will be able to get together again. So as a community we have to limit ourselves to online contact.

In my last post I asked you to send us a picture of your current project (finished or work-in-progress) to add to a gallery on the website. I was hoping that we would have lots of photos and it would feel like a virtual show and tell. However, so far we have received exactly ONE photo to fill the page…!!!
I will be making a post on Saturday to show off that one photo (I will be adding a couple of my own), but I would love to see others send me an image showing what they get up to in their crafting time. I am NOT looking for professional photos, I do NOT need that heirloom quilt showing off. But maybe that baby quilt you are sewing the top for, the wall hanging that still needs binding, that new pattern you are sewing up, even the crochet you have been doing to try and relax in the evenings….. Share it with us, please, and let us feel as if we are meeting while browsing the photos on the website.

So get your phone/camera out, and take a picture. Describe what the picture is and send the photo to us. We all would like to see!

And to get us all some inspiration for sewing/quilt making, I have been working on the website, too. We have made a new page: “Sew at Home” where you can find ideas and links to patterns, most of which are free. If you know of any other links that can be added, do let us know and we can update the page.
Also check out our older pages, “Block of the Month”, “Back to Basics” and “Downloads” have some good project ideas, too.

So, stay home, stay safe (and keep sewing)!
Sandra

An Update

On By sewofcourseIn Uncategorized2 Comments

Dear members (and anyone reading),

In these unsettling and strange times, I am writing to say hello to you all.

Now we are forced to stay home, some of us will have much more time to sew than usual, others will have much less time than in ordinary times. But our quilting (and crafting in general) mostly helps keep us sane, so let’s celebrate that!

Since we will not be able to have our monthly meetings for the moment, we would like to create an online “Show & Tell”. Please take a photo (or several) of (you and) your sewing, quilting, piecing, or otherwise crafty project. Like with our usual show and tell, tell us what the project is, and perhaps how you will finish it, or any other information… Send the photo + info to our usual email address (comment below with your name if you don’t know it, and I can send it to any IPS member asking).

We are hoping to have a virtual “meeting” here on the blog, on our planned meeting day of 18 April (or as close to it as possible) by posting photos of us all and our project(s). A big post hopefully with images to cheer us all.

We are also working on putting up ideas for if you are stuck at home and need inspiration. We will post about it and send emails round when it is live on the site…

For now, take heart, take care, stay safe, stay sane…

Sandra x

October meeting recap

On By sewofcourseIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

We had a well-attended meeting on the 12th of October, which was our open meeting. As well as many familiar faces, there were a good few visitors, some of whom decided to join the IPS on the day.

Several demos, and a well-stocked shop (thank you, Moya) had us inspired.

Jane Horner amused us with her tales of travelling around the world in a catamaran. Her sewing set-up on board was well organised, and she had many textile-related encounters on the way as well as interesting cultural experiences. She also brought some beautiful Mola work from the San Blas Islands, where they originate.

The Christmas Challenge was announced: Make a Christmas table decoration. Any size, any method. As long as you would have on your Christmas table, it is eligible for the challenge.

Our Show and Tell was fantastic as ever! We finished with the presentation of a bouquet to Mary Palmer to congratulate her on winning three(!!) prizes together with Anne Kiely at the recent Festival of Quilts.

Please note: Our next meeting date has been changed. The November meeting will take place on the 16th.

Christmas 2019 Challenge

On By ffrances2017In Christmas Challenge, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Our 2019 Christmas challenge is:  Make a Christmas table decoration.

any size, any colour, any technique – if you’d have it on your table at Christmas, then that’s what we want to see!

(it could be a place mat, a table runner, a 3-D ornament, a centrepiece, a Christmas cracker…)

Please bring to the 14 December Christmas meeting.

For ideas…

Table toppers by Tracy
Christmas Wreath

October meeting

On By corkipsIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Please join us for our October meeting, which will be on Saturday, October 12th, at the hall of the Sacred Heart Church, Western Road, Cork, from 10 am. This will be our OPEN MEETING, so do ask your friends to come along. Everyone will be welcome!

  • Shop: Patchwork Plus (Moya Geraghty)
  • Speaker: Jane Horner – Sail & Sew
  • Show & Tell: Please bring your quilts to show us all
  • Coffee and tea will be available, contributions of cake/biscuits and other snacks will be gratefully received!

MEMBERSHIP:
If you haven’t renewed your membership yet, please fill out your membership form and bring with the appropriate fee to the meeting. You can fill out the form in advance of the meeting or there are forms available at the door. You will receive your membership card on the day.

We hope to see you on Saturday!
Sandra


September branch meeting

On By corkipsIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

We hope you have had a great summer, and that we can welcome you back for a new creative year. Our first branch meeting of the year will be on Saturday 14 September, at the Sacred Heart church hall, Cork, from 10 am.

Shop: MemoriesforeverbyAvril
Demo: to be confirmed
Speaker: Kathryn Bennett – Festival of Quilts
Show & Tell: Please bring your quilts (and other makes) to show us all

Coffee and tea will be available, contributions of cake/biscuits and other snacks will be gratefully received!

MEMBERSHIP:

Since this is the start of a new membership year, the membership fees are due. To renew (or to become a member):

Please fill out the membership form and bring (together with the appropriate membership fee) to the branch meeting. If you can fill out the form in advance of the meeting we hope to avoid delays on the day as much as possible. You will receive your membership card on the day.

Alternatively, the form can be sent (with payment) to the Membership Secretary of the IPS. Details on the form itself.

The form was included in the recent IPS Newsletter (Autumn 2019), or it can be found on the IPS website. I have also attached it to this email so you can print it off yourself if you prefer. We will also have some membership forms available at the meeting.

General membership is €50 for the year (discounts for Student and Young Quilter (under 18) membership).

PLEASE NOTE:

If you send the membership form to the Membership Secretary directly, the branch will not receive your details. In this case, please also email your details to us, or approach a branch committee member to pass on your details. If we do not receive your details, as well as your permission for us to contact you, we will not be able to send you emails, or contact you regarding meetings, workshops, etc.

We hope to see you on Saturday!

Sandra
Secretary IPS Southern Branch

Wild Threads

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Wild Threads West Cork are a group of textile artists, who meet to share, support and stimulate each other to create stunning pieces of hand stitched art. Some of them are our own members, too. They take inspiration from the flora, fauna, land and seascapes of West Cork.

exhib SCHULL

The group have an exhibition at the Blue House Gallery in Schull, from 26 July to 7 August. So take a trip this summer, support them and check out their work!

For more information click on the links in the text.

EQA Boundaries quilts in Limerick

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The IPS is exhibiting 152 EQA Boundaries quilts at the Limerick School of Art and Design. “Boundaries” was the theme for the 2018 EQA challenge, and the quilts were displayed last year in Birmingham.

The exhibition is open from 16-19 July and 22-26 July in the LSAD Cathedral Gallery, from 10 am to 5 pm. Not open at weekends.