Berene Campbell – March 13

There has been a change and Berene Campbell of Happy Sew Lucky will be speaking to us on March 13. If you recognise that name, it is because Berene was behind the Mini Mod block swap we did a couple years ago!

Berene is a modern quilt designer, speaker and community project instigator. (Here is a great article about Berene’s community projects.) Her quilting and sewing patterns feature inspiring messages of positivity and hope, with the goal of making the world a kinder and more peaceful place. A “collective energy” enthusiast, Berene uses quilting to corral fellow creatives to work together for change. These projects include collaborative community installations, fundraisers for social justice causes, and the Handmade Collective Awards – a bursary fund set up for the maker community to fund awards for BIPOC and 2SLGBTQ+ students. In her talk Berene encourages leaning into discomfort and tells the story of how her work has evolved by embracing the emotional ride that the past few years have been for us all.

To quote Berene from her website:
“Quilts hold the spirit of their makers, and the secrets of their thoughts pondered while stitching. They are beautiful treasures that provide us with warmth & comfort, but they can do more for us if we so choose. Quilts can be posters for our ideas, messengers of our messages, and uniters of our communities. They hold great power.”

You can learn more about Berene on her blog, Instagram and YouTube! See you at 7 pm on Monday, March 13th. New members may join for the rest of the year (through June) for only $17.50.

Please remember you can send your Show and Tell photos anytime to TwilightSimcoe@gmail.com

Maria Shell: February 13, 2023

We are looking forward to hearing from Maria Shell at our February meeting. Maria will be sharing her presentation, Patchwork to Artwork: Journey of an Alaskan Quiltmaker.

If you’d like to join us but aren’t a member (yet), you can join us for the remainder of the year for half-price – $17.50.

Maria is an award-winning quiltmaker and teacher. She has become known for her vibrant, grid-based art.

Dance Party at Tamara’s House, Maria Shell

You can learn more about Maria on her website, Tales of a Teacher or in this Create Whimsy Interview.

2023 TQG Dates

Are you thinking about your quilting in the New Year? Here are the updated dates for your meetings and our workshops! You can find a printable copy here!

Red Cross Quilts with Joanna Dermenjian

Joanna Dermenjian will present some of her findings about the quilts made by Canadian women and children during WWII at our next meeting on Monday, November 14.

A photos of a label on the back of a quilt that reads Gift of Canadian Red Cross Society

As an independent researcher and life-long maker, Joanna is investigating women’s domestic and charitable making in cloth and fibres. She is interested in how women have used stitching, both historically and in the present day, to nurture and restore themselves and to create a community with other women for individual and collective well-being. She also explores how women’s everyday domestic textiles and tools reveal stories about their lives, particularly in the 20th century.

Joanna’s research has led her to rediscover a poorly documented quilt-making operation by Canadian women during the Second World War – hundreds of thousands of quilts made by women and children and donated to the British Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS) and the Canadian Red Cross to distribute to soldiers, civilians and hospitals in Britain and Europe.

New AccuQuilt Dies at the Library

There are new AccuQuilt dies and mats at the Maker Space at the Simcoe Branch of the Norfolk County Public Library! The complete list is below and you can download it here!

The library has the 12” Qube which cuts all the components for 6” and 12” finished blocks. All the HSTs and Quarter Squares making up all the traditional blocks. And companion blocks like the chisel (think stitch and flip corner on a rectangle) and the very popular Drunkard’s Path! The newest shapes are at the bottom and include “hard to cut accurately shapes” like clamshells, small hexagons and equilateral triangles for EPP, an apple core and the orange peel, Peter to Pay Paul.

At the Simcoe Branch of the library, you must ask at the main desk to use the AccuQuilt cutter in the Maker Space. You’ll need a library card. The cutter is on the counter, and the dies and mats are in the cupboard. There is room to use a cutting mat and your rotary cutter, but it is easier to pre-cut your fabric strips at home. This second file, The NCPL AccuQuilt Cutting Reference Guide, will help you decide how wide to cut your strips for most efficient and least wasteful cutting. It’s essential to have the crosswise or lengthwise grain aligned properly. If you are making a big quilt, test a few blocks first!

You can cut 6 layers of quilting cotton at a time and if lots of sections are not cutting, look for a cutting mat that isn’t so used. The dies don’t get dull but the mats do wear out! Take a small pair of scissors to trim your cut pieces.

If you’d like to make a speedy 6” HST quilt, you can find a tutorial here! If you want to find all this AccuQuilt information in a few months, use the search bar on the right side of the website. Search “AccuQuilt”!

If you would like an easy way to find out the pre-cutting directions for one of the dies you have at home, find the die on the Accuquilt website and click the “Details” section, underneath the photos. You may also take one of your dies to the library to use the electric cutter. Just bring a mat if it is a non-standard size.

Start off the Year with an All Day Virtual Sit and Sew

Our faithful “Sit and Sewers” have requested more Sit and Sew times! And Saturday, September 17th is “National Sew a Jelly Roll Day!” Now this is a completely made up promotion by Moda, the “inventors of the jelly roll”. But it is a perfect excuse to sew something! Any brand of roll or one you make yourself! Or just work on a UFO, enjoying the conversations with some quilty friends!

Here is a great new compilation of free jelly roll quilts with instructions to make your own roll, if needed. And some (most?) of those patterns can easily be split and you can get 2 smaller lap or baby quilts from one! Do the unexpected and use a different for you background fabric. The idea is to have fun!

We will use our usual Sit and Sew Zoom link and that will be emailed out to you after our kickoff September 12th meeting. And it is the same one as last year, so you may already have it saved somewhere! We will go from 9am to 3 pm! Pop in for a few hours or plan on making a day of it!

Saturday, September 17, 9:00 am to 3 pm!

Vanessa Genier Kicks Off Our New Year

Quilts for Survivors founder, Vanessa Genier, will join TQG at our first meeting of the 2022-23 year! Join us on Zoom on Monday, September 12th at 7pm to hear about Vanessa’s start on Facebook to the nation-wide effort that it is today.

Vanessa has built a great group of stitchers and encouragers on Facebook but it’s easiest to find information about how to send your blocks, tops or quilts on the Quilts for Survivors website.

Please renew or purchase your membership before the meeting!

Norfolk County Fair Quilting Competitions!

It’s almost time for The Fair! Have you ever thought of entering a quilt? Now is the time!
Here is the “Rule Book”, just for the Quilts. You can find the whole booklet, with the baking and knitting etc. there.

You need to have your entry in by September 24 and be able to deliver your items on the Sunday or Monday, October 2nd & 3rd. With pickup on Tuesday, the 11th.

It can be hard to know if you are entering in the correct category but feel free to phone one of the 2 chairpersons on the 4th page if you have questions.

The Twilight Quilters’ Guild has prizes for Quilt, Exhibitors Choice and the Norfolk County Quilters’ Guild sponsors Quilt, Pieced. Our sponsor Quilt Junction in Waterford, has the My First Quilt class. And Nancy Racz of Kernal Peanuts sponsors Quilt, Pieced, Long Arm (done by quilter or a professional).

There are some great prizes awards so maybe this is your year!

New Library Books

Here is some news from Karen Johnstone, our librarian.

“The Guild has purchased two new books for the library. The 3-Yard books by Donna Robertson can be seen front and centre in the quilt shops. We have “Modern Views” and “Quick as a Wink”. Between the two books are 16 patterns for quilts using only 3 one yard cuts of fabric.

We’ve recently had some great books donated by some generous members.

“Quilting on the Go” by Jessica Alexandrakis has 10 step-by-step English Paper Piecing projects and covers topics such as sewing kit essentials, colour theory and stash organization.

“The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters” by Sherri Lynn Good is a beautifully photographed book in which she “provides a sensible approach to quilt making that breaks free of old rules and expectations in a fun, accessible way” .

“Zen Chic Inspired” is a Guide to Modern Quilt Design by Brigitte Heitland. She provides instruction for 12 quilts using unique colours and decor elements in your favourite rooms.

“Quilting Wide Open Spaces” by Judi Madsen gives “down to earth advice about enhancing large open areas with machine quilting”.

“Quilting Back to Front” by Larraine Scouler shows clever methods for using the fabric on the back of your quilt for quilting designs.

I will be setting up a mini library at the Retreat in October where you’ll be able to sign out books.

You can borrow books anytime. Email me at twilightsimcoelibrary@gmail.com An updated list of our books will be sent in September but you can always find them on our LibraryThing page!”

It’s Time for a New Year to Begin!

A Renewal letter went out to all members on Tuesday. Thanks to the 20+ members who e-transferred their $35 right away! Please take the time for this task this weekend! Your email also had the mailing address for cheques. Payment details can also be found under “Fees” above!

We have one new member and we are expecting a few more! Welcome everyone!

Below is a screenshot of our calendar for the year. You can find the printable PDF here! And you can click on the links!

All our monthly meetings, except our June Wrap-up Social, will be on Zoom! Our guild has embraced this virtual format, and we don’t really have a meeting place. The pandemic has demonstrated that we are happy staying home at night! Last year we had members from Newfoundland to British Columbia! And we are planning more in-person events this year, including several workshops and 2-day retreats in both October and January!

We have a loyal group of quilters who come to our weekly Monday afternoon virtual Sit and Sews. And we can add other sessions if we know when you and your friends want to sew together. Just ask! We have found that we like sewing a quilt at the same time as others, so we are planning 3 Quilt Alongs this year!