Holiday Greetings

Last night we had our Holiday Dinner! What a wonderful evening filled with friends and delicious food. We collected $300 for Mitzvah Meals and bags and bags of kosher non perishable food items for Mada.
We had show & tell of the fruits of our labours from the 3 demo evenings we have had since the season started - our appliques, our 3D dreidels and bells, and our surface design evening. Really nice work by everyone - and lucky recipients of the gifts made of these projects! Below are some photos of the projects.

Our schedule for 2010 looks like a lot of fun.
We have 2 guest speakers for meetings, we have a workshop with Debby Kemball at the end of January, and more demos of different techniques.
The workshop with Debby is especially exciting because she designed a special pattern for our guild - The Seven Species! If you were not able to get into the Jan 31st workshop, we hope to offer it again in the spring.
On October 6 we had Elaine Quehl come to give a workshop on Surface Design. 14 of us spent a creative day learning to use Shiva paint sticks, waterdolor pencils, how to make our own stencils - it was lots of fun. Pictures of those projects to follow at a later date.
We hope to have Elaine come back to Montreal next fall for a couple of workshops - she is a fabulous and giving teacher, and you should try to take a class with her if you ever get the opportunity.
On behalf of the executive of the guild, I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season. I wish everyone the best of health and contentment for 2010.

Painting / Coloring on Fabric Demo

Thank you to Vikki for a fun and well organized demo. Vikki showed us how we can design on fabric using stencils, pages from coloring books, or our own design and then color the design with paint, crayons or colored pencils, and glitter glue. So many ideas!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone made something, ranging from sports theme to flowers to Judaic designs. The guild now has stencils and other supplies in our cupboard for members to use at the guild. Also, the Dollar store is a wonderful place to purchase so many art and craft related items.
For those of you registered for Elaine Quehl's workshop, it will be held in our regular meeting place on Sunday, Dec 6 from 10:30 - 4:30.
Tuesday, Dec. 8 is our Tuesday Open Studio, from 9:30 - 3:30. Remember to bring your lunch/snack.
Our next regular meeting is on Monday, Dec.14 and it is our Holiday Dinner. Please remember your non perishable food items and your monetary donation.
So, now we have had 3 demos for our Calendar Series and people have been very creative! What projects might you like to see after the holidays??

3D Holiday fun

Last night was Part Two of our Calendar Quilt Series.......Randi and Roz gave us a hands on demo on how to make 3D dreidels and bells for the holidays.....we had fun! Thank you to them for helping us to get a head start on our holiday decor ideas. There really is so much we can do to embellish these little pieces of art. As with any project we make, we are only limited by our own lack of imagination. So, go for it - daydream and produce!!
At our next meeting, Vikki will show us how to use crayons on fabric, and we can embellish these pieces as well. The guild has purchased stencils and glitter glue and other "stuff" to create our masterpieces :-)
Don't forget about our "Open Studio" once a month, on a Tuesday. The next one is Dec.8th. These get togethers can be used for mini workshops, if you would like that. Roz has been asked to show how to make the travel cutting mat/ironing surface that she demo-ed a couple of years ago.
Several people took black wool to make caps for Israeli soldiers. And some of the colored wool went to members of a knitting club to make items for other donations.
Our Holiday dinner is not too far away. Please be in touch with Roz with what you plan on bringing for our dinner. And to our members who are on sabbatical, we want you to be there, too! Just let Roz know what you'll bring. Please do not forget about the non perishable kosher food donations and the monetary donation. To explain to our newer members, we ask you to bring in nonperishables to donate to Mada. The money we donate is what we would have spent on each other for a gift exchange. In the past, we would spend $15 on a gift for a member whose name we pulled from a hat. We realized that most of us had more than enough quilting stuff and that the money would be better used, and more appreciated, going to charity. So, after putting it to the group, it was decided to put the $15 ( or whatever amount you are comfortable with) in an unmarked envelope, collect the envelopes, and donate the total amount to our chosen recipient. As I mentioned last night, this year the money will go to the Meals On Wheels program at the Cummings Senior Center. If you cannot be at the dinner, please bring your donation(s) to the next meeting.
Please let me know if there is any news you would like to share with the other members, or if you have a tip or site you like. I found a new site the other day - http://daystyledesigns.com/ . It really has some great tips and techniques.
Well, I think that's it for now - remember to take care of yourselves!

Great site

Check out this site - it is really good! So many wonderful hints.....
happy quilting :-)
http://www.daystyledesigns.com/articles.htm

Busy season

It is hard to believe we are almost at the holiday season - where does time go? But we certainly have been busy at the guild.........
We had Stephanie and her mum from Quilte Classique come and talk about new products, shop classes, and we even had a demo of a nifty new notion. That same night we had some members from West End Quilters join us for the evening.

We had Debby Kemball, an award winning quilter, give a fabulous trunk show! We were all so blown away by her work and her engaging personality that we have asked her to give us a workshop. Debby was so impressed with our guild she has designed a pattern in honor of Loose Threads, incorporating the Seven Species. The first workshop (already full!!) will be January 31/10.....the second will be after the spring holidays, giving the snowbirds (lucky ducks) a chance to participate.

We had an Applique Demo night - I showed how to do needle turn applique - that evening was the first in our calendar Quilt Series. Congrats to everyone who has finished their piece :-)

Last week we had our first Bee Night - we had fun piecing and ironing and oohing and aahing as the tops came together!

Next meeting, Nov.16, Randi and Roz will demo the 2nd part of our Calendar Quilt - 3D dreidels or bells.

There is a show in Shelburne, Vt next weekend.

Quilter's Pleasure Weekend is scheduled for February. I have been checking to see if the class schedule is up yet, but it is not.

Remember to check out the fabulous classes being offered at Salon 2010......go to http://www.cqq.ca/ to see the list of teachers and their workshops.
I think that's it for now.
Remember to check back to see what is new in our guild's world.
Sharon

Bee Night

Can you believe it is already November!!??!! Brrrrrrrr (ugh).
Tonight we had our first Bee Night and there was a great turnout. 6 members brought their machines and those who did not have their machine helped pin and iron. It worked VERY well and we have 4 tops completed!! Thank you to everyone. YAY us!!!!
We are planning our Holiday dinner - the list has begun! Please let Roz know asap if you cannot be at the dinner (December 14). Also, you can let her know by phone or email what you would like to bring (remember, dairy or pareve, no meat).
Look at your emails for the supply list for the next meeting on November 16 - Roz and Randi will be showing us how to make 3D dreidels and bells - too much fun!
Tuesday, November 10 we have our Open Studio from 12:30 - 4:00. Bring lunch or a snack - the water is on for tea :-)
Pam has received a batch of skeins of black wool for soldier's caps. If you would like to make a cap or two we will have the wool at the guild. Also, Dena has wool in other colors, so if you want to knit scarves or mitts or afghans for us to donate to Auberge Shalom, you can get that from us.
Remember to take your H1N1 flu vaccine, and, as much as we want you to come to every meeting, please do not attend if you are not feeling well(cough, runny nose, nausea, fever).
Some of the members have completed their "Applique Apple" block......Joyce Ireman made a really cute tote bag and Debby Soll made a lovely pillow cover....Flora completed her block, as have Lyn, Roz and Sharon......any one else finished theirs yet?? Let's bring them all to the Holiday dinner for a photo op and I can put the pictures on the blog ;-)
Looking forward to seeing everyone next time.

If you are off to warmer climates, have a safe and wonderful winter.

"Calendar Quilt"

Last Monday evening was the first in our Calendar Quilt series.....this is the series where we will make a 12" (finished size) block with a theme incorporating a holiday or season. The first holiday/season was Rosh Hashonah or autumn..........we did an applique of an apple and leaves.
The next in the series will be in November and the theme is Chanukah or Christmas - we will be making 3D dreidels or bells.......it will be great fun to see the finished pieces at the end of the guild year!!
We are having Elaine Quehl come to teach a class in surface design in December. At this point the class is full, but you can put your name on a waiting list.
In January we hope to have Debby Kemball teach a workshop. Keep your eyes and ears open for that - it is sure to fill up quickly!
Next Monday, November 2nd, is our first Bee Night of the year..........Barbara and Vikki have put together kits. If you would like, you can have a kit to work on at home. Just let us know.
Wishing you a wonderful week.
Happy quilting.

QPW in Cornwall

Hi - just a note to let you know about a really nice weekend coming up in February. It is called Quilters Pleasure Weekend and it is held at NavCan in Cornwall. There are classes, a show, and vendors.
Check the site out. http://www.quilterspleasureweekend.com

printing on fabric

I found this tidbit of info when I was looking at the Quilt University newsletter for November. Thought it might interest some of our members.

TIP FOR PRINTING ON FABRIC
Cindy Thury Smith, our talented Crazy Quilt teacher, writes "I NEVER print fabric on freezer paper anymore. I tape my fabric (using double stick tape in certain places) onto heavyweight matte printer photo paper. It is stiffer than freezer paper and is designed to feed through the printer very smoothly and incrementally. I rarely get a misprint plus it is MUCH quicker. I just rip the fabric off, stick another piece of fabric on and am ready to go again in less than a minute.

"I've found you can feed the same piece of matte paper through the printer at least 10 times before the edges start getting a little soft. Then I use it for its intended purpose which is to print a photo. I just trim it slightly so the photo has to be smaller than 8x10. I can print entire pages of print onto fabric this way. If you are not going to wash the piece of fabric (such as a notebook cover or a fabric bracelet), I don't even use BubbleJetSet. "

Quilt thought for today

I had a thought I would like to share with everyone - when you are taking a class, bring your "good" fabric - don't take stuff you don't like, thinking "oh, it's just a practice piece" - if you do not like what you are working with, you probably won't like the project and will never complete it.
Just my thought.
Have a happy day.
Sharon

fun site

Hi - if you go to the website www.hp.com and click on Explore and Create, there are some great projects and tips and hints for using your printer in your quilting.
Have fun!
Happy creating.

toiletries for Auberge Shalom

Please remember to collect those little shampoos and soaps when you travel and bring them to Vikki - we donate them to Auberge Shalom.
Thank you.

thank you

a huge thank you to Sharon for setting this up - hope we can keep the blog very busy. Let's try to remember to take pictures at our meetings, workshops, and events. Enjoy!

Guild Blog

Loose Threads Quilt guild in Cote St. Luc is about to have its very own blog!!
It will be a place to post ideas and happenings and share quilting news amongst ourselves and with the quilting community.
Stay tuned for more info and news.