Pinestream Quilters June Clubnight

The night was cold and chilly but the hall was full of eager club members and visitors for our June Pinestream Quilters clubnight.  We had two speakers, both full of tips and ideas to keep us fit and flexible to make up for the hours we spend sitting hunched over our sewing machines.  In fact, we shouldn’t be hunched up at all, but should use the same principles employed as when sitting in front of a PC at work, we were advised, good seating at the correct height, and good lighting.  And make sure we get up and move around, and stretch that neck, arms, and shoulders before they stiffen up.  Another good tip was to remember to change the blade on the rotary cutter regularly, I’m sure mine is well overdue - sharp tools make cutting so much easier.  The two speakers were very interesting and informative, and I’m sure we all benefited from their expertise.

“Show and Tell” is always the highlight of the evening, and there was a nice range of different styles and colours in the quilts brought along.  Margaret brought along her teal, black and white quilt, and quilted it all over with 1inch grid machine quilting.

Margaret’s Kaffe Fassett quilt

Heather had great news – she is going to be a great-grandmother soon!  And no, the proud parents told the family that they  don’t want to know the sex of the baby.  Heather has all bases covered and has made two pretty cot quilts, one pink and one blue!

Will it be a girl or a boy?

She also brought along her latest quilt in the “Op Shop Shirt Challenge”.  Heather is doing a wonderful job with her shirt quilts, every single one is a work of art.

Heather’s latest op shop shirt quilt

Ruth has just finished this warm and cosy red four patch quilt, for her brother.  The black and white striped binding finishes it off very nicely and picks up the black and white in the sashing. 

Made by Ruth for her brother

Karen is the proud owner of this very pretty quilt, stitched with love by her friend who has sadly passed away.  Karen and Myra were close friends and quilting buddies, so this quilt is a reminder of the friendship and love of stitching they shared.

Karen’s pretty quilt from her friend

Another lovely quilt with a story behind it was a warm and cosy wool quilt.  Maria had gathered items of clothing from her Grand-dad after he had passed away and made this wonderful quilt in his memory.  His home and family were his life, she told us, and the quilt is made from wool fabrics and corduroy.  Such a nice way to remember a loved Grand-dad.

Maria’s wool quilt

Jeanette was a visitor and had brought along several quilts to show us.  I particularly liked her 1930s Dresden Plate quilt, and she had custom quilted it herself on her long-arm quilting machine.

Jeanette’s 1930s quilt

And last but not least was June’s lovely bag, made from one piece of fabric in shades of pink, green and grey.  June and a friend were “guinea pigs” to check out the instructions for a club workshop on the bag  which will be presented shortly.  The instructions were perfect, June commented, and she is really pleased with her new bag.  Isn’t that a cheeky elephant I can see?

June’s new bag

This is just a taste of the quilts shown at clubnight.  With a tasty supper, people to catch up with, interesting speakers, and quilts to admire, it is always a good night out.