July Allcomers Day

It was great to see so many club members on Saturday at the Allcomers Day.  Our current meeting place at the Vintage Car Club rooms is warm and cozy with plenty of tables available.  We had twelve members in the morning, with an extra one or two who popped in the afternoon, making it a good sized number of attendees.

Ready for Morning Tea

Lynne had brought along instructions for a table runner, and several of the ladies decided to slice and sew their strips, cut them into squares and triangles, and then reassemble them.  The narrow “zinger” strips were the secret and made all the difference to this design.  Jane was sitting beside me, and thought it was such a great design, that she declared she would go home and stitch another one!

Jane working on her table runner

Susan was getting to the finish line with the Bookcase quilt she was making for her daughter’s 21st Birthday.  Last time I saw it, it was still in pieces, and now the blocks had been “quilted as you go”, assembled, and the borders were being added.

Susan’s Bookcase quilt

Several were making flowers and leaves as homework for the recent Hydrangea class run by Adrienne Walker.  I was amazed at the amount of stitching which went into making these organza leaves.

Madalyn’s realistic Hydrangea leaves

Janneka had brought along a pretty floral quilt she was making which will be donated to the Pink Ladies Breast Cancer Support Group.  This is sure to be most appreciated by someone who is dealing with this health challenge.

Donation quilt for the Pink Ladies group

There were some lovely new fabrics to admire.  Ute had brought along a new shipment of pretty imported fabrics in lovely Spring colours.  Contact her on https://www.thelifestyler.nz/ for more information.

Ute showing her new fabric range

It was a lovely day, in nice surroundings, shared  with good company.  Many thanks to Lynne and the Committee for running these Allcomers Days for the club members.

Jenny Benton

July Club Night

The cold weather and the expected Polar Blast kept many members away on Wednesday.  But the hall was nice and cozy, and the smaller group was warmly welcomed by President Lynne. 

Our speaker for the evening was well known designer, quilter and embroiderer Jenny Hunter from Plumeart, her mail order business.  Jenny had spoken to our group several years ago, so it was great to welcome her back again.  As a draughtswoman, Jenny was concerned with the lack of New Zealand inspired designs, so decided to do something about it.  Her beautiful New Zealand birds and plants have become something of an institution in the New Zealand Quilter magazine.

Pohutakawa Sunrise – glowing with colour

She then showed us her lovely embroideries,  made in just two months for the Manawatu Embroiderers Exhibition.  Jenny chose the theme of Celtic works, and after a lot of research came up with these.  All these works deserved a close look to see the intricate stitching and beading.

Celtic inspired embroideries

There was just a little Show and Tell brought along.  Griet showed us her quilt “Sunshine and Buttercups”, made from stitching lots of her little scraps together, she told us.

Sunshine and Buttercups

Gill had just finished a cheeky Owl quilt, which is getting packed up and sent overseas for a lucky little someone.

Gill’s Owl quilt

And Paula had brought along three little quilts – I particularly liked November Leaves.

Paula with November Leaves

We adjourned to the Supper Room for a cuppa, to check out the library books, and the raffle draws.  Lynne made a special announcement to thank Val who is stepping down from kitchen duties after looking after this role for so long.  Thanks so much Val, your time and commitment has been most appreciated.