Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!! Our January meeting is only a few days away now - January 15th. It's a little early this month. I hope we will see you there. Have you been sewing lately? Now that winter is really here with its cold days and colder nights, I bet many of us are "hibernating" in our sewing areas... Bring along your Show and Tell to share with us. Don't forget to measure the perimeter of each piece for the Stitch Across Canada Challenge.
Speaking of challenges, have you started your Guild Challenge yet? Remember we've all been challenged to do something that's "out of the box" - in other words, out of our comfort zone... I have mine planned, but not yet started...
Many quilters start the New Year off with a tidying/sorting/cleaning of their sewing area. I came across a really interesting blog post the other day and thought you might like to see it too. It's from the Blog Sew Many Ways... She has a very well organized sewing and crafting room and I bet you will find more than a few ideas here you would like to try... Click here to read her blog post.  There are lots of photos and many great ideas! I bet you'll try at least one ...
See you Tuesday the 15th.

Christmas Meeting - 2012

Many thanks to our executive committee for organizing our Christmas Social.  We had special guests, heard stories of Christmas Past by two Lifetime Members, Joan W. and Helen S.  And our in-coming Coordinator told of unusual things from their family Christmases after moving to New Brunswick.

Marjorie Belzile, Director of Nursing from the White Rapids Manor
in Fredericton Junction  came to attend our Christmas Social.
She was so pleased to accept the beautiful bibs and placemats
made by our members for the use of the residents in the home.  

Marjorie told us how touched she was that we thought of her nursing home, when there were so many more local nursing homes. She told us how the residents, some quite young at heart, would love the patterns and whimsical fabrics.
She was so thankful and wished us all a very Merry Christmas

Each of the tables had delicious sweets with refreshments.  

Helen shared stories from her Christmas's past.
The memory of an unexpected gift from a neighbour friend,
will always have a special place in her heart.

Joan told us stories of hard times during the depression.
It wasn't only her family, all families made do with very little.
But they were all happy and small parcels from family from away always brought cheer.
But she remembers the warmth of her schoolroom during the holidays.
She loved that the teacher helped them make vegetable soup on the stove, while
the boys made sure to get wood to keep the stove going.  That was a very special treat.

Gail talked about their Christmases  in various parts of Canada and in England.
All very different but nice.  She also recalls putting bikes together and one year
shortly after moving to Fredericton, the weather was  unusually very warm on Christmas Eve.
After assembling bikes for the kids, she and her husband rode them home from a friend's house.
They love to recall the quirky things that surround their holidays.

And to top off our evening, we had a Christmas musical recital by a local ukelele orchestra.  

They invited us to sing along as they strummed and plucked out beautiful and fun Christmas songs.

                                                           Merry Christmas everyone!!

Christmas Social tonight!

Tonight is our Christmas Social! Just a reminder of the new location - remember it will be held at the Stepping Stones Centre on Saunders Street, across from the old YMCA. Start time is 6:30p.m. Although there is sufficient  parking, please consider car-pooling. Don't forget your Christmas projects to show us during Show and Tell and remember to add up your perimeter inches for the Quilt Across Canada Challenge. Also please bring along the Christmas  placemats you have made for Meals on Wheels.  Join in the fun tonight and enjoy some Christmas music, treats and fellowship with your FQG friends.

Fall Activities

Lois MacDonald and Postage Stamp quilt

How can it be the end of November already? The months are flying by! Back in October, a number of members had a tour of the Collections Centre at Kings Landing Historical Settlement. After Lois MacDonald spoke to us last spring and shared a number of quilts from their collection (you can read about that here), there was a good deal of interest in seeing more! So on a beautiful fall day in late October we ventured upriver for a two hour tour. I think for most of us it certainly exceeded our expectations. Not only did we see the quilts, table linens, coverlets, hooked mats and other textiles, we also viewed stitched samplers and other needlework, original clothing from the 1800's, furniture and household artifacts, dishes, glassware, and more. We learned how the quilts and other household linens are stored for the winter once they are removed from the "village" onsite. The freezing process was explained to us and we viewed the huge freezer that is used to get rid of any insects or larvae that might be in the textiles after the summer onsite. Many of us were amazed at the intricate documentation system used for every single

Donna examining the hand quilting

artifact in the Collections Centre. Kings Landing is very fortunate to have such knowledgeable experienced staff in their Collections Centre, as Lois MacDonald, Evelyn Fidler and Rhona Hoyt. Our thanks to them for a most enjoyable morning. Below are a number of photos from that visit.

Look at the fine hand quilting!

Beautiful!!

Red and white quilts- an old NB tradition

Quilts are rolled and tied for crease-free storage

More quilts!

An old Crazy Quilt- look at that hand done Feather stitch

Woven  coverlets

Postage Stamp quilts- all stitched by hand

Who doesn't love a Log Cabin quilt?

An old Signature quilt

Our Nov. workshop on Machine Quilting with Gail Mitchell is now past as well. I hear it was a great success. If anyone has photos from that day, I'd be happy to post them.

Next up is our Christmas Social. Remember it's Tues. Dec. 4th at 6:30pm, at the Stepping Stones Centre on Saunders St. Come and enjoy some Christmas music, treats, fellowship and don't forget to bring your Show and Tell items. Also we'll be collecting the Christmas placemats for Meals on Wheels. Come and join the fun!

Quilt For Sale

Several of our FQG members are involved with the local chapter of Grandmothers Helping Grandmothers. This group raises funds, builds awareness and fosters solidarity with destitute African grandmothers struggling to care for millions of grandchildren orphaned by HIV/AIDS. The Fredericton group has already contributed considerable funds through a variety of initiatives including the sale of cookbooks and notepaper, bridge luncheons, garage sales, dinners, our annual Christmas wreath sales, and more. Profits are directed equally to: Stephen Lewis Foundation [SLF] and Help Lesotho, two Canadian organizations working at the grassroots level in sub‐Saharan Africa.
A current fundraiser is the sale of this double sized quilt. Measuring 71" by 87", it features hand appliquéd blocks and was professionally quilted by Gwenda Mattinson of Gwenda Quilts.   The asking price is $600.00. If you know of anyone who is looking for a beautiful quilt, please pass this information on. If you would like more info, or to speak with someone in the group about purchasing this quilt, leave a comment here and I will put you in touch with the proper person.  It would make a very special gift for a special person in your life...

Off to a Great Start!

We are off to a great start for another exciting year at FQG! Welcome to our new members, we hope you will get involved in some way- attend a workshop or workday, offer to help on a committee, use our library, bring items for Show and Tell. Getting involved is the easiest and quickest way to get to know fellow members! We look forward to getting to know YOU!

 Our first two meeting programs have been wonderful- who doesn't love a Trunk Show? In September we saw quilts from four generations in one family of quilters. Alice and daughter Joyce shared their own quilts as well as Alice's mother's and Joyce's daughter's. We were amazed at their collection, as well as the memories and details of these works. All four are  ribbon winners - looks like it must run in their veins! Thank you Alice and Joyce! Here are a few more photos of the wonderful quilts they shared with us...

 

 

 

 In October, Juliet Nowlan of Quispamsis brought us a Trunk Show of her original wall quilts. Juliet is  well known in these parts; she is a ribbon winner many times over, and has had pieces juried into CQA's National Juried Show four times. Juliet loves trying new techniques and "came to quilting" after being a rug-hooker. She enjoys working with color and particularly loves hand dyeing. A world traveller, her pieces usually are designed from a photo she has taken, often on one of her trips. We  were delighted to see so many of her original quilts. Thank you Juliet, your visit was inspiring!

 

It's a Quilt Show weekend...

If you are looking for something to do this weekend, why not head up to beautiful Keswick Ridge for the Keswick Ridge Quilters Show? It's on Friday and Saturday- see details on our sidebar, and on poster at right. Enjoy a beautiful drive upriver and take in the wonderful fall foliage... Don't forget your camera!

Edit: You can see some photos from this show here.

Meeting reminder and Announcements

Original, by Juliet Nowlan 2011, made for River Valley Batik Challenge

Our October meeting is only a few days away now. Can't wait to see you there. I know our program with Juliet Nowlan will be wonderful. Her original creations are always so amazing! Please bring along one or two original wallhangings that you have done, for a special addition to Show and Tell.

Also don't forget about the "Stitch Across Canada Challenge". In the first month, Canadian quilters stitched all the way across Newfoundland and are now into Nova Scotia. Each month, Guild members add up the "distance they have stitched" by measuring the perimeter of their finished quilt projects. These inches are added up and converted to miles to see how far we can stitch across Canada. I am keeping track of our total inches per month, and we'll see how far we as a Guild have stitched by the February deadline. Do you suppose we could get across our own province?  So please measure the perimeter of each and every finished quilting project that you are bringing to Show and Tell on Tuesday night and tell me your total, so your inches will be counted in!

Several Guilds have informed us of vacancies in upcoming workshops which may interest you:

October: The Akerley Area Guild in Cambridge Narrows is hosting Karen Miller, a quilter/fiber artist/teacher from Nova Scotia. She will be doing a Trunk Show on Thursday October 25th at 6:30 pm and a two day workshop on Wed.-Thurs. October 24- 25. The workshop is titled Landscape with Lupins and is an introduction to landscape techniques and an original method of making 3D lupins. Cost of the workshop is $50.00. Contact Brenda Dunsmore at 488-3418 for more info.

November: The Keswick Ridge Guild is also holding a Trunk Show and a workshop, with a few spaces available. Juliet Nowlan will be teaching Beginner Fabric Dyeing on November 3 at Riverside Resort, Mactaquac (9-4) in which you will dye a Color Wheel and a simple gradation of one color. Workshop fee is $20.00 and materials fee is $38.00. Juliet will also be presenting a Trunk Show on Nov. 2 at 7pm at the same location. For further info call Darcy Anderson at 206-0518

Lastly, we are taking a 2 hour tour of the Quilt Collection at Kings Landing on the morning of October 23. Our tour group is full with 20, but if you might like to join us in case someone cannot make it, let me know. I would like to have a name or two "in reserve", particularly if you could go at the "last minute". The cost is $14.00. You need not be an FQG member....  Leave a comment here or contact me by phone or email....

In the News...

It's a dreary grey day... a great day to be sewing. I'm working on something bright and colorful... how about you? On such a dismal day it was so nice to open the local newspaper and see some familiar faces. Published in today's Gleaner, on page D7 is this photo which we submitted a while back. Once again, Congrats to "our three girls" on having their work accepted in the 2012 National Juried Show. Below  is the original cutline that was submitted to accompany the photo.

"Three members of the Fredericton Quilters' Guild had quilts juried into the National Show of the Canadian Quilters' Association this summer. From the left: Trudy Corey with an Original Wall quilt "Bill's Peony", Monica Washburn with a Traditional Wall quilt "Storm at Sea" and Kathy Tidswell with an Original Wearable Art entry "Night Watch". It is the first time this local guild has had three entries juried into the National Show."