March Club Night

There was a good attendance at our March club night.  After the usual messages Yvonne gave a tribute to Life Member Pam Retter who had recently passed away. 

The guest speaker was Debbie Jacques from Ashhurst who told us of her quilting journey.  And about her working life – after many years of being a hairdresser Debbie now works in the family business as a furniture restorer.  She told us how she particularly enjoyed the challenge of restoring several old Singer sewing machine cabinets.

Debbie had brought along a great selection of quilts which showed how her tastes and skills had changed over the years.  Her first quilt had a muted colourway and subsequent quilts got brighter and brighter. 

Debbie and the quilt made for her daughter

We were amazed when we saw the optical illusion quilt, a fantastic design from a Russian designer. 

The amazing optical illusion quilt

Debbie always likes to try something new, she said, and showed us the many entries she had submitted for her club (Rose City) challenges.  She has also tried her hand at thread painting and had two wonderful lifelike bird heads to show us.

Show and Tell is always the highlight of our meetings.    Like this beauty from Greit, embellished with her trademark hand embroidery.  Her husband informed her it reminded him of an old lady and a sherry bottle!

Greit’s lovely handwork

Sadly I didn’t catch the name of the member who made this next quilt, a lovely combination of Cathedral Windows, denim and lacey doilies.  As anyone working with denim knows, the more it grows, the heavier it gets!

Cathedral Window quilt

Helen had done a marvelous job in clearing the sewing rooms of both Pam and Rae, and had everything displayed on trestle tables.  Members were encouraged to take what they wanted, and anything left over will be donated to the upcoming Altrusa Fabric Bazaar.  It was sad to see the remains of our two friends quilting lives like this, but they would both be happy knowing that others can use their stash, with the remainder going to a good cause.

It was a nice evening, and great to catch up with other members again who I hadn’t seen for a while.    But as usual, I missed out on the raffle prizes again.  Never mind, I’ll try my luck again at the next meeting.

Jenny Benton