November was a sit and sew meeting.

The new committee would like to get to know everyone's name so with this in mind the meeting was spent sewing name badges. Gina bought along some ideas and members also tried out different techniques. There was a lot of chatter and a show and tell. More ideas were generated for future meetings especially this lovely table centre by Carol.

 Next month is our Christmas Party, on Wednesday 19th December 7-30 to 9-30 pm
It is being organised by Pat and Gina. There will be:-

A drop in workshop Make a little tree  or Santa's sock. Please bring basic hand sewing equipment.

Secret Santa For those who want to take part, please bring a wrapped present,ideally something to do with sewing (patchwork, quilting or embroidery),approx value £5

Supper A faith supper, please make it finger foods as it can be tricky to eat.

Please note the amended programme for the January meeting Thursday January 24th Sit and Sew Linus Quilts with Liz Briggs

The group do not have any workshops organised other than those in the meetings.
Please talk to a member of the committee or send the blog an email if you have any ideas or suggestions.

We had a very interesting meeting in October with Brigid Ockelton. Brigid is one of our newer members and has an extensive collection of antique quilts some of which she brought along for us to look at in October. The quilts that she showed us were to illustrate the history of patchwork and how different styles have changed over time. It is interesting to reflect that early patchwork was an occupation indulged in by the upper classes and they too designed their quilts and used new material in the execution of the craft, and it was never just a way of using up scraps left over from dressmaking.

As this talk used quilts with an emphasis on patchwork I am hoping we can see more of Brigid's collection in the future when perhaps we can concentrate on the quilting side of the c raft.

Our next meeting is Thursday 29th November and it is a daytime meeting 1-00 to 4-00 pm. Gina Smith will be guiding us in making name badges for ourselves.

WHITE ROSE QUILTERS

A New programme for 2018 - 2019, a new format for the group, and a new committee.

Our new committee has put forward an interesting and diverse programme for this year which I am looking forward to taking part in.
The new programme can be viewed on the blog under the heading Programme of Events.

The  new format for the group also started last month,. Thursday September 27th was the date of our first Sit and Sew Session. More than half the members attended, and brought along a variety of projects that they are currently working on. It was interesting to see what everyone was doing and next time I will try and get some photos to include in the blog.
Janice Lawson demonstrated how to bind a quilt 'Phillipa Naylor' style. I expect everyone's next quilt will be perfectly bound with neat corners after Janice's expert demonstration.
There was a lot of chatter during the meeting which included a small Show and Tell. Members appear to have been busy over the Summer break.

The next meeting is in the evening of Wednesday 24th October when Brigid Ockelton will be sharing her collection of antique quilts with us.

White Rose Quilters is Changing its Format

Instead of some of the evening meetings the members have decided to have some daytime sewing sessions. These will take place on the fourth Thursday afternoon between 1-00 and 4-00 pm, in the months of September, November, January March and May.
This is a chance to work on your own project whilst still getting help from more experienced members.

We will still be holding our evening meetings but these will be only every other month, at the usual time on the fourth Wednesday in the months of October, December, February, April, June and July.

See more soon on the programme of events page.

The June meeting was a method of Foundation Piecing using freezer paper.
This appeals to me as it eliminates the process of taking the block off the paper when you have finished stitching and then having to fish out all those tiny bits of paper that have got stuck behind the stitching. What a pain!

Using the freezer paper you crease the paper along your drawn lines and then fold it out of the way leaving you free to sew next to the fold but not actually through the paper. When you have finished the block it is simply and easily peeled off the freezer paper.

However you can see from the photo that you still get a very accurately pieced block.

This block is taken from Carol Doak's book 50 Paper Pieced Stars

Last month saw us trying Fabric Weaving with Kate Smith
This is a simple technique that can produce some stunning results in a short space of time.
Kate brought several samples some more complex than others and we tried a simple weave using two wavy cut fabrics.
Always good to try something new.

Two of Kate's sample pieces

As some one has just pointed out that the date of the May meeting is incorrect both in the programme and on the blog I thought I had better post a correction.
The next meeting of White Rose Quilters is tomorrow night the 23rd of May and not the 28th.
Also we will be doing Fabric Weaving with Kate Smith and not Foundation Piecing as Kate will be on holiday in June so the subject of the meetings has been swapped.
Hope this clarifies everything
April was a good meeting with Ann Johnson and the Wonky Houses (see meetings review for pictures)
I am sure tomorrow will prove as interesting with Kate.

Unfortunately the British Weather was against us last month. With heavy snow and ice in the forecast, we took the unusual step of cancelling the meeting on February the 28th. With hindsight I am sure all the members were grateful that we did.

Next month I hope will be fine, if not warm, as we welcome Sarah Humphries, who will talk to us about  'modern quilting' and show us her work. Sarah was the winner of the Modern Quilt Section at Festival of Quilts 2016 so I am sure her work will be stunning and we will learn a lot.

We are also looking forward to a workshop, in April, based around free machine quilting and led by Hazel Williams. Hazel is an inspiring teacher and as the workshop is being held at her premises at Thorpe Arch, we will also be lucky enough to have access to her shop and all that wonderful fabric. One can never have too big a stash!

So, more time spent happily sewing to look forward to next month.

The January meeting saw me giving a talk with regard to my method of Patchwork and Quilting that led to my winning wall hangings, at the Great Northern Quilt Show 2017. You can read Kate Smith's review of the meeting under the heading Meetings Review.

In February we will be making Fiddle Finger Quilts to donate to a local Elderly Mental Health Facility. Each year we try to make small quilts or other items for a charity and these quilts for patients with dementia or Alzheimers Disease will be fun to make as well as being our charity night event for this year. You can find out more about these quilts at www.fiddlefingersquilts.co.uk

We also have a workshop booked in April, with hazel Williams on the subject of free machine quilting. Hazel is a very good teacher and I am sure the day will be informative and fun.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (if a bit late)

Yesterday saw me wrapping up Christmas and putting it back in the loft til next year, so I am now back to a bit of normality and can put a post on the blog.

We had our usual Christmas Bash for the December meeting and I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.

This year we decided to forgo making anything as in the past this has proved to be a bit of a rush. and  given that we also had our Faith Supper, Secret Santa and Challenge Fabric Show and Tell, to make time for as well.

Instead, we decided to do a Crossword Quiz, which proved to be a bit of a teaser. Each answer was something to do with patchwork or Quilting, but the answer that seemed to elude everyone was Foundation. Well I had forgotten that old fashioned underclothes were referred to as foundations!

The Show and Tell of everyone's items made in the challenge fabric was interesting with a great amount of ingenuity and variation in ideas being portrayed. There are a couple of photos below.

Then everyone tucked into the Faith Supper and everyone had as usual been very generous. It was delicious and more than enough to go round.

Lastly, as Christmas is the time for presents, the Secret Santa gave everyone a small gift to take home.