April 2026

This months meeting was a talk on English Paper Piecing by Hilary Spilsbury.

The talk was full of tips on how to do this hand sewing technique without getting frustrated. Hilary's work is stunning as you can see from th photo below.

She has even inspired me to hunt down the hexagon quilt that I started many years ago and have never finished, and give it another go.

 The March meeting was making bottle top pincushions

These cute pin cushions can be decorated with embroidery and beads and are an ideal size to take to a workshop

 

A change to our published programme in February as unfortunately our speaker had to cancel. 

Instead Lis Tate gave her talk on Seminole patchwork which she was due to give in March.

Seminole Patchwork was specially designed to be made on the sewing machine by the Seminole Indians of Florida. Traditionally it was used in their clothing and is still used to make patchwork waistcoats but can also be used in other items.

I produces intricate strips of patchwork patterns which can be incorporated into quilts and bags.

The process is time consuming and fiddly but is well worth the effort for the results it produces. I can recommend the book Basic Seminole Patchwork by Cheryl Greider Bradkin if you want to have a go for yourself.

 We have had 2 meetings since the last blog post.

December was our Christmas festivities with mince pies, and a Christmas raffle. 

We also made some Christmas coasters featuring baby polar bears. Everyone went home with a prize and a coaster.

January's meeting saw us examining some handling items from the Quilters Guild Collection and learning how to be quilt detectives. What do you look for in a quilted item that will tell you more about the type of patchwork. its age, the types of fabric, and its provenance.

November's meeting was an interesting talk on Eco-printing.

CarolAnn Allan explained how she uses the plants in her large garden to dye silk, cotton and threads which she then uses in her patchwork. The results were brighter than I had expected from natural dyes. 

Perhaps we should have a dyeing workshop next Spring?

White Rose Quilters has a New Programme for 2025-2026

 September saw us welcoming Althea Smith from Harrogate Quilting Studio with a talk entitled 

"Don't look at all my Mistakes" and lots of beautiful Quilts for us to admire.

In October we were making book covers with Kate Smith, another busy and enjoyable evening.

We also have a group challenge for the year. Find out more by navigating to the new page Group Challenges

Happy Quilting Everyone

 Last night was our AGM which our constitution states  we must hold every year.

We made the business part of the meeting as short as possible and both the yearly accounts and the members of the committee continuing for another year were voted on positively, and so we will run for the year 2025-2026.

We then got down to the business of making mini broaches with Gill and Karen, much more enjoyable.

Now we will take a summer break and meet again in september.

AND THE WINNER WAS

At our last meeting we had our own mini quilt show and tried our hand at being quilt judges. This was only after Nadine Paver, qualified quilt judge and tutor on the Quilters Guild of the British Isles Quilting Course, had given us an overview of the judging process and what to look for in a quilt. The judges at Festival of Quilts are experts in what they do, and I for one don't envy them their job, having looked at what is included in the quilt judging course. 

Thank you Nadine for a very informative evening.