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Patchwork and Quilting

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Meeting details

FrequencyMonthly
Time1.30 pm
DayTuesday
Duration2 hours
LocationCastle Street Centre
CoordinatorMargot Agnew

What we do

We meet together for demonstrations and practical work.

We made our our first group quilt in 2010 and raffled it for charity. Each group member made a nine patch block from scrap fabrics, then the blocks were assembled at a marathon stitching session. The quilt was finished with both machine and hand quilting. The experience was so enjoyable that members are thinking of repeating it.

Reports

November 2011

The group welcomed several new members after a successful Open Day featuring a quilt made by Vera Watson.

Cushions made by the groupThe charity cushion project initiated by Jennifer Armitage in July was completed in September and the Castle St Centre staff were thrilled to receive around a dozen cushions to be sold at their Christmas Craft Fair. The chairman sent a letter of thanks saying the cushions were “most exquisite” and “thank you for your artistic skills, kindness and generosity.”

The New Year heralds new ideas for group activities with January and February devoted to constructing Convergence quilts as designed by Ricky Tims.  These quilts harmonise the convergence of light and dark and require specific placement of the fabrics so both months will be devoted to workshops led by Susan Dixon from Levens Quilters.

Vera's open day quiltThe March session will be led by Vera Watson demonstrating the methods used in her Open Day quilt. This quilt is made from strip scrap piecing re combined to form triangles, using a design by Jeanette Sairer from Cark.  See the picture opposite.

 

After the March session there is a break until September. The new season begins with Jennie Fowler demonstrating patchwork bags. One of Jennie’s bags was featured in the national magazine Popular Patchwork. The group operates by input from members and welcomes new ideas for projects.

Margot Agnew

June 2011

The P&Q group are embarking on a new charitable project under the guidance of Jennifer Armitage.The plan is to make a number of patchwork cushions for sale at the Castle St Centre Christmas Fair, with all proceeds going to the Centre. Last year’s group quilt raised over £100 for the Centre funds.The cushion project will start in July and continue after the summer break in September. 

The group received a generous donation of unique hand blocked prints and batik fabrics from a craft worker in Windermere and some of these fabrics will be used for the cushions.

The Shoreline Quilters and Levens Quilters groups have invited U3A P&Q members to join them on a coach trip to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC.  This is the leading quilt show in Europe and features embroidery and felting as well as quilts, workshops, and classes.

After much debate the group have decided to change the number of meetings per year and in future will break around Easter, leaving the summer months free for gardeners and grandmothers.

Margot Agnew