Box Bags Fun

This past Sunday, many members of the guild gathered for a workshop to learn how to make box bags. Under the very patient guidance of the guild's own Randi Lenet, we each managed to complete at least one bag, many of us left with two. 

As we began to construct the bags, we heard many calls for seam rippers and a few choice words every now and then, but we also heard many exclamations of pride as the bags started to come together and when the final product was produced. A few quilters even put in their first ever zipper. ;-)

Part of the fun of gatherings such as these is seeing the different fabrics that everyone uses for their projects. Some were learning how to make the bags just to learn a new skill, while others had specific gift recipients in mind.

A few of the completed bags

Many, many thanks to Randi for the workshop, for the executive for arranging it, and to all the members who came to the workshop. The best part of these workshops, aside from learning a new technique or skill, is getting together with others and having fun.

Pillow Pals - Community Service Project

While we enjoy making quilted items for our community service (big surprise there, huh?), we also create in other ways, using these projects to brighten up the lives of others. This year our community service project didn't involve quilting, but it did involve something that all quilters have: fabric!

We were introduced to Pillow Pals by Gloria Stermer, who thought that these would make a quick and easy project. And it was quick and easy. It really only takes about a half hour to put one together and then maybe another half hour to put the pillow in the fabric "pal," and sew it up.

They're so easy to make. You need two 14.5-inch squares for the body, scraps for the eyes, nose, mouth, arms and legs, a few bits of fibrefill for the limbs, and a 14-inch square pillow form for the body.

Gloria modelling the latest in Pillow Pal innards. 

 The before and after:

 Hard at work:

 Sharon introducing one of the Pillow Pals:

And a couple waiting to be sewn up at the top and then they can join their friends who are waiting for them:

Thank you to everyone who is helping make these delightful stuffed toys for children who will love them.

Welcome to a new season

We had our first meeting of the new season last night and it was a great evening!! So much to look forward to on our Monday meeting nights!! We welcomed a new member, Isabel. And we had an out of town guest, Mattina, an exchange student from Sweden, who is staying with one of our members.
Show and Tell was inspirational, as always. We are going to try a new format for S&T this year - when we show our work, we will describe our inspiration, why we chose the fabric we did, and how we actually made the piece - this should be very educational!!
While surfing the net, I came across this great blog - check it out - http://freequiltpatterns.blogspot.ca/
Have you completed your guild name tag?? It was funny last night how some of us came with ours not complete:-)
Don't forget to work on your "Pillow Pals" to have for our Oct 15 meeting.
As always, we need volunteers to help the executive make Loose Threads the vibrant guild it is - won't you consider offering to help, whether it be doing a demo or organizing an event?? Contact me @ shemie@videotron.ca to let me know what you are interested in helping with.
Marijke will be posting the schedule and other info very soon. Be sure to check back often, and remember to leave a comment.
Sharon (shemie@videotron.ca)

A new season is about to begin

Hello to all Loose Threads members (and to future members, too!!) Although it is hard to believe that our summer schedules are winding down, it is exciting to think that our guild will be celebrating our 10th year anniversary with a special challenge and other fun happenings! Our opening meeting will take place on Monday, Aug 27 @ 7:15 P.M. in Chalet 1. Don`t forget to wear your name tag!! If you know of someone who might like to join our group, please invite them to the meeting. Remember to let Randi know of any life cycle events, so that the guild can acknowledge them. Also, collect toiletries on your travels for Auberge Shalom, and keep your soda can tabs for Roz. Our community work is always ongoing, so please keep these in mind. For any info regarding Loose Threads Quilt Guild, you can contact me at: shemie@videotron.ca

Do You Have Your Name Tag?

During one of our last Loose Threads meetings of the 2011/12 year, we had a workshop on making name tags. It was sort of like making the postcards earlier in the season, but in an even smaller scale.

It was decided that it would be nice if all LT members wore their name tags during our meetings but how to encourage this? Well, how about an incentive? Every time you wear your name tag to a meeting, you will get a chance to win some fabric. The more times you wear your tag, the more chances you'll have. And who doesn't want more fabric? (Notice, I didn't ask who *needed* more fabric!)

So, wear your name tag! Don't leave it in your drawer or in your sewing room.

What's Coming Up for Loose Threads?

A new season is always exciting, the freshness of starting new projects mingled with gathering with people we haven't seen for a few months. And what is coming up this season for Loose Threads? Its 10th anniversary - that's what!

The executive came up with a great idea to help commemorate the 10th year of Loose Threads, but you'll have to get on your thinking cap. Or maybe not. Maybe if you go with your instincts, your gut reaction, you may end up with something even better.

The idea is a challenge, but not an ordinary one. Most challenges involve having specific fabrics or techniques within certain specifications. This challenge is 10. That's it. The project should be 10 inches by 10 inches complete - but what you decide to do with 10 is entirely up to you and your imagination.

You'll all get more information when the we meet up again, but it's never too early to start letting your imagination run wild. It will be fun to see the various interpretations.

If you're planning ahead and want to put the upcoming meeting dates in your agenda, here are the dates listed so far, up to the end of January, when we'll be meeting for the 2012/13 season:

Opening meeting: August 27, 2012. Remember, if you have a friend who would like to join, membership is open to new people.

September: 

10

October:

15

29

November:

5

19

December:

3

17 (Holiday dinner)

January:

7

21

Welcome Blog Mistress Marijke

Just a quick note to say thanks to Marijke for taking on the job of blog mistress :-) She is already doing a great job!! I will continue to write on my own sometimes, as I have done for the past few years, but Marijke is the official LT blogger now. This weekend was the Vermont Quilt Festival. I was lucky enough to be able to go with Roz and Ruth on Friday. What a wonderful display of artistry. And for us Montrealers, what a fantastic chance to shop at vendors who we don't have easy accesss to. It was a great day spent with two friends. I hope everyone is enjoying the gorgeous summer we are having. Stay safe and happy sewing.

Who's Who at Loose Threads ?

Yes, the Loose Threads season is over but planning for our 10th year is going strong. It takes a good bit of work to run a group, even a small, community group like Loose Threads. There's planning of logistics (where, how, when), managing registration, relationships with other community groups, and so on. Volunteers do so much but because it's behind the scenes, it's not obvious. 

If you want to help out to keep LT going, don't be shy! You don't have to volunteer for a big job, start small if you don't know what you can commit to. 
So, who's who for the upcoming year? Here is the proposed slate for 2012/13:

EXECUTIVE

Co-Presidents

Roz Agulnik, Sharon Gates

Immediate Past President

Barbara Amihod

Corresponding Secretary

Randi Lenet

Treasurer

Ruth Rosenblum

Member-at-Large

Joyce Ireman
Gloria Stermer

CHAIRWOMEN

Membership Chair

Roz Agulnik, Ruth Rosenblum

Programming Chair

Gloria Stermer, Carolyn Nassi

Hospitality Chair Special Dinners 

Joyce Ireman

SPECIAL PROJECTS COORDINATORS

Community Works Committee

Ronit Jacobson, Gloria Stermer 

Communication

Sharon Gates 

International Quilting Day

Roz Agulnik, Randi Lenet, Ruth Rosenblum

Name Tags

Roz Agulnik

Webmaster/mistress(?) 
Marijke Vroomen Durning

If you are interested in joining Loose Threads - you don't need to be a quilter (yet!), but having basic sewing skills is helpful. You can contact Sharon Gates at shemie@videotron.ca or call her at 514-485-0718 for more information.

Another season is over but...

...that doesn't mean Loose Threads members won't be crafting and coming up with ideas for our next - our 10th year as a guild.

Our final pot luck meal/meeting is always a bit bittersweet. It's a fun evening because we get to relax among like-minded friends and enjoy dishes made by others, clamouring for recipes and wondering what secret ingredients have made a certain food taste so good. But it's also a bit sad because another year has passed - and don't they seem to pass more quickly every year?

Some members have had wonderful news to share with the guild, others have had sadder, life-changing issues touch their lives. That being said, we all have something in common and that is what brings us all together the first and third Monday from September to June.

http://cqq.ca/salon_en/

At this year's closing dinner, our show-and-tell was in a large part a sharing of what some of us learned and did during the Quebec Quilt Salon, that was held here in Montreal in May.

From all accounts from LT members, as well as quilters at the event, the show was a huge hit. The teachers were fantastic and the exhibition stunning. Some of those quilts were beyond description as quilters and non-quilters admired them.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting information about the guild's upcoming year and projects. If people send me photos of their work, I can post them too.

Why not share our work and let others see what we have accomplished? It's not bragging by any means - it's sharing in the joy of what we have learned and accomplished. Maybe some others who were thinking that they "can't" do this may see what we have been able to do and decide to give it a try.

I've volunteered to take over this blog, so if you ever would like to have something recognized or written about here, please feel free to email me. Also, leave comments! The best way to get a blog going is by having conversations that result from the posts. Share our blog with people in other guilds - it's always fun to have exchanges from people who share our passion but who live in other parts of the country or world. Quilters are everywhere!

So, that's it for today's post. I hope you all have a great St. Jean Baptiste weekeend and happy stitching!

Marijke
(mareyeka at gmail dot com)

It's a New Year

Can it be almost 1 year since I last posted on our blog????
Well, I am back and have lots to report.
Our guild has been very busy - we had:
-A Bee Night where Gloria showed us how to make place mats. Thank you to Gloria and Ronit for all their hard work in making the kits for us and assembling the beautifully wrapped packages of placemats and pillowcases for residents at Maison Shalom.These packages were donated to a member of the executive of Maison Shalom at our Holiday dinner. We were priveleged to view a video about the residents and it was a very moving experience for those of us at the meeting. It was wonderful to see photos of the residents receiving their gifts at their Chanukah party.
This year the monies we collected went to JWIC, and they were very appreciative of our donation. The non perishable food items were picked up by MADA. Thanks to all of our members for their participation in our Community works.
-We had demo by me on Trapunto by hand, by Gloria on Celtic quilting, and by me on needle turn applique.
-We had a Bee Night where we "played" with our Bingo game blocks and cut them down to size to assemble into a quilt for Quilts of Valor, an organization that collects for, and distributes quilts to, returning military personnel. The blue sashing fabric offsets the scrappy blocks beautifully (thanks to Roz for choosing the sashing fabric).

The rest of this year looks like it is filled with some great activities!! We have a Pizza Dinner on Jan 30. During this meeting we will be discussing fabric postcards, and we will be seeing some from members who have received and made these little works of art. A full day workshop on fabric PC's will follow on Feb 4, at the ACC.
We have a meeting planned for Mar 5 entitled "Gab Fest" - here we will share tips, horror stories, learn how to make bias stems, ruched flowers, and give and receive help with UFO's.
On March 17 it is IQD, a day filled with lots of fun, friendship, and food. Participants will share more than just quilting, I am sure.
May 24-27/12 is CQQ's Salon 2012. There are some incredible teachers giving fabulous workshops. Here is a link to the workshops being offered: http://cqq.ca/workshop/
For general info about the salon: email:salon2012info@cqq.ca website:http://cqq.ca/salon_en/
I guess that's it for now.
Please leave a comment, share this with your quilting friends, send me anything you would like to post on the blog related to Loose Threads, etc.
Stay warm and safe.
Sharon