Heart Cushions Galore

November was the last Remnants night of the year, and what a night we had.  Our core numbers were swelled by other members coming to lend a hand with the pretty pink heart cushions.  Our club had been asked to make these in pink fabrics for Breast Cancer patients, and we were only too happy to help.  After all, we all know of family or friends who have been touched by this terrible disease, as have some of our members.

The Art Club rooms were full of activity.  Some were cutting out and stitching cushions on their sewing machines, while others were busily stuffing and stitching them closed.

 

Thanks to the Finance Committee for funding the stuffing, and the bags to package the completed hearts in.  They looked so nice all tied up with a ribbon on top.  Yvonne was kept  busy doing this important finishing touch.

These cushions relieve the pressure after breast cancer surgery, during radiation treatments, and from rubbing against a seat belt, with the heart shape giving physical comfort from pain. 

As it was the last Remnants night of the year, everyone brought extra special items for our shared meal.  There were salads, chicken, savouries and stuffed eggs.  Desserts too – lemon slice, a delicious home made sponge whipped up by Mary, and a jelly cake.  All so tasty and delicious.  Thanks to everyone who came along to help with the cushions, and some stayed a little later to work on their own projects.

Jenny

Remnants 31 October

Friday 31st  saw a small group of members meet for a shared dinner and an evening of sit and stitch.  A few of our regulars were unable to come but we still had a great night.

Using the clubs light box ,Leigh traced patterns for a Christmas stitchery she had recently purchased and showed us a beautiful ufo she has finally finished after setting herself a challenge. 

Sarah and Kaye worked on their beautiful pieces started in Camilla Watsons hand applique class, it is amazing to see these come to life as they do more stitching.

Mary C worked on completing a hand applique wall hanging while Jenny did more on her stitchery. 

Janelle and Sandra worked on machine piecing and Kathy attached pieces and started another of the blocks for her block of the month called Berties Year. 

Remnants is a very social night and a great wind down at the end of a busy week, with someone always there to offer encouragement and advice .

Roll on the end of this month. Hope to see you there!

Kathy

Remnants is FREE this Friday!

Remnants - Friday 31 October - FREE ENTRY!

That’s right, the last two Remnants nights this year will be free for all members of Town & Country Quilters (and we will be looking to make next year’s ones free as well if the demand is there).

Remnants nights are social gatherings where we meet to sew, chat, and share supper.  Held on the last Friday of every month (except December) at the Arts Society in Bath Street, from 5:30pm onwards, bring your sewing and something for a shared supper.  These are great social nights, there’s no club business, just sewing, supper, and great company. There's always plenty to see, hints to gain, and help if you're stuck on something.  It's also a great way to meet other members.


Club Night – Wednesday 12 November 2014:

Club night this month features:

• Camilla Watson judging the Club Challenge.
• Viewer’s choice voting for Challenge quilts to go to Symposium.
• Making Christmas decorations for this years’ avenue of Christmas trees.  Fabric, cord and stuffing will be provided, don’t forget your threads and embroidery cottons, needles and scissors for stitching and embellishing.

Please remember if you have not paid your subs, you will need to pay the $3 visitor fee.

Quilt Symposium Manawatu 2015 – Bus Trip

We will be running a free bus trip to Symposium in January for Club members, on Sunday, 18 January 2015.  If you are interested in going please contact Kathy Inns.  The close off date for this trip will be at our December meeting.

Fabric-a-brac - Palmerston North 1 November 2014

This looks interesting!  I won't be able to make it but if anyone else goes we'd love to hear how it went.  There is a website in the flyer and a Facebook page if you'd like more details.

Quilt-As-You-Go Class with Sandra Collins

Sunday 19th October saw a group of club members spend a lovely relaxing day at a Quilt-as-you-go class with Sandra Collins at the Horowhenua Art Society Studio.  

 While we were all learning the same process ,the results were so different.  Although  we made only one type of block we were also shown several different ways of doing this process. 

Thank you to Sandra for her tutorage and all the ladies for a lovely shared lunch - and for their patience after a couple of false starts earlier in the year ,but we got there in the end! 

Review by: Kathy Inns

5000 Poppies

We would like to invite all members to participate in making red poppies for a display at Quilt Symposium Manawatu 2015 in January.

The 5000 Poppies project started in Australia and was brought to New Zealand by Auckland art teacher Lisa Wallace.  Lisa wanted to do something creative and memorable for the 100^th Anniversary of the ANZAC Gallipoli landing.  She started a Facebook page, and slowly craft groups and retirement homes got involved sending lots of knitted and crocheted poppies.

Some of you may have heard of this project already, the idea has caught on and it's heartwarming to see the support being shown from all walks of life.  If you would like to participate, here are to simple poppy patterns - one crochet and one knitted, and there are plenty of other patterns available on the 5000 Poppies website, and Facebook page. 

Click on the links to download the pattern. 

Crochet Poppy Pattern    and     Knitted Poppy Pattern

Poppies can be posted to Quilt Symposium Manawatu 2015, P O Box 7046, Palmerston North 4443 to arrive no later than 8^th January 2015.  

Alternatively, if you would like to bring them to Club night we will make sure they get to their destination.  After Symposium the poppies will be sent on to Lisa Wallace to be incorporated in the ANZAC Day display in Auckland. 

Further information on the "5000 poppies" project is available at the following places:
5000 Poppies Website
5000 Poppies NZ website
5000 Poppies NZ Facebook Group

Club Night - 8 October 2014

Our October meeting was held on a wet and cold Wednesday night with a small (30 +) but dedicated and hardy bunch of members in attendance.  Members and visitors were welcomed by the President, Sandra Collins.  After housekeeping was taken care of our draw to see who takes home the new library books first was done.  Heather Easton did a review on a new book she took home last month ("Shadow Applique" by Hetty van Bowen)  and showed us a beautiful sample she had made from the book (pictured below).

There were four raffles this month, instead of the usual two, which was a nice surprise and increased the odds of winning!  Leigh Wells spoke about upcoming Symposium and Sarah Martin spoke about the Challenge quilts.  We were then treated once again to see some of the amazing work our members have completed in Show and Tell .

Our guest speaker this month was Jenny Benton, one of our own members, who spoke about her travels around the South Island in a caravan and the amazing places she visited.  It was interesting to hear some of the trials they had to contend with and of course, how to keep quilting while you are on the move all the time!  

We then shared supper and got to look through and take home some of the great books that we have in our library.

See you next month when the prizes will be awarded for the challenge quilt and voting for Viewer's Choice will take place.  We will also be making new decorations for our tree in the Avenue of Trees, so watch out for the reminder early next month! 

Show n Tell

Heather Easton -  Quilt from one of our new library books: 

"Shadow Applique" by Hetty van Bowen.

 Kathy Fields - A special gift for her daughter's birthday.

The quilting says "Live The Life You Dream".

Avon Haig - A fun cushion made with scraps. 

 Jean Tombs - "At Last".  Started in 2007.

Nan Oxnam - For her granddaughter in Australia. 

Kathy Inns - Christmas gingerbread-men for her brother. 

 Avon Haigh - A set of 6 placemats.

"Remembrance - A Quilt for My Dad" 

Made by Avon Haig using her own printed fabrics, 

and her dad's scarf for the backing.  

 Diane Young - A quilt for her son, using English, 

New Zealand, and Chinese fabrics.

Jenny Benton - each strip has memories of a place visited.

Wanganui Quilt Show 4-5 October 2014

Cotton On Quilters from Wanganui are having their exhibition this weekend, open on both Saturday and Sunday.  For those that don't usually head that way, Wanganui is only 1¼ hour drive from Levin, and well worth the trip.

Town & Country Quilters - but not as we know it!

If you Googled to find this page you may have inadvertently ended up in Nova Scotia, Canada!  Located in Port Williams, Nova Scotia, are a guild called Town & Country Quilters.  And the similarity doesn't end there, they also meet on the second Wednesday of the month like we do.

A link to their blog has been added into the "Links" section at the bottom of this page, and is also copied here if you'd like to have a look:   Town and Country Quilters Nova Scotia

Welcome to Town and Country Quilters Levin!

While Facebook is proving popular (thanks Kathy for doing such a great job!) there are still a lot of members who use the internet but not Facebook.  Our plan is that this blog will reach an even wider audience and prove to be a useful resource for things like the challenge rules and due dates, photos and club night reviews, show details and trips, etc.

As a teaser... and a test run for posting photos, here's the Raffle Quilt from 2013.  What a stunner it was!