Beads by Jan Grincevicius, pattern from Jordan Fabrics

Once again, we are having our June Sew & Social meeting at the Port Dover Community Centre. All members and guests are welcome between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. Tables and chairs will be set up for socializing and hand sewing.

We will have a limited number of spaces for in-person machine sewing beginning at 10 a.m. If you want a table to do machine sewing, we ask that you register using our online form at https://forms.gle/eB5HSqDntmDDMJ827. Spaces are limited, so sign up soon!

The TQG Fundraiser table of donated stash items will raise funds for our guild. Anyone “shopping” from that table will be expected to donate an appropriate amount for their chosen items.

The TQG library books will be sold beginning at 4 p.m., and the silent auction for the newer books will end at 8 p.m.

Tables and tent cards will be available for our quilt display. We encourage you to bring a few quilts so others can see them up close and find you to ask about what you’ve made (or tell you how fantastic your quilt is)!

Unfortunately, our newest sponsor, The Quilted Boutique, has had to back out. They asked that we keep them in mind for next year.

Please bring:

• some cash in small denominations for our fundraising activities
• no-longer-wanted quilting-related items to donate to the TQG Fundraiser table 
• quilts for display
• your own drinks and snacks
• your name tag

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10 a.m. In-Person Sewing begins (register for a table if sewing by machine https://forms.gle/JuRzf1RK7e8GK97X8) 

10 a.m. Quilt Display begins

10 a.m. Shopping from the TQG Fundraiser table begins

4 to 7 p.m. Quilted Boutique

4 to 8 p.m. Book sale; the silent auction will close at 8 p.m.

8:30 TQG President Jill Jackson & Incoming President Vicki Monroe

9 p.m. See you in September!

Our May 8 meeting will be an explosion of colour! Linda and Carl Sullivan will take you on their colourful, crazy quilty journey that started some 22 years ago with the very first Linderella quilt designs to their current obsession for pure colour.

Always searching for a twist on traditional quiltmaking, Linda’s designs are well known for their contemporary, whimsical look, adventurous appliqué and fearless use of colour. Find out more on the Colourwerx website.

On April 10, two accomplished stitchers will share their journey “Beyond Quilting”. Members Jan Grincevicius and Melanie Douglas will show examples of where their sewing has taken them.

Melanie began making bags about 7 years ago after seeing a beautiful cork bag Sarah Yetman had made. A Necessary Clutch Wallet class at Heirloom Treasures in St. George started her on this path. This wallet was way above her skill level at the time and she couldn’t see continuing. However, with excellent guidance and resolve, she has become a bag maker, feeling confident in tackling most patterns. Melanie will show you her successes and an abject failure! Many members learned to make the Emmaline Retreat Bag with Melanie, at a virtual retreat. Melanie has found that the quilting skills of piecing and following directions mean that most quilters can also make bags.

Jan Grincevicius has been drawn to quilt and fibre art because of the tactile nature of cloth, its texture and colour. Working with fibre, whether it be cotton, silk, wool or manmade, has always been a part of her life. She enjoys using many different fibres, including cotton, silk, velvet, wool, organza, netting, polyester, paper, yarn, embroidery thread, paint, dye, and other mixed media.

Jan often embellishes pieces with embroidery floss, beads, buttons, and wool yarns; and creates collages using fabric, paper and paint. While her work has mostly been two-dimensional, she has ventured into some three-dimensional pieces, such as vessels. Jan’s presentation will include four projects, all of which use fabric and collage techniques. Using photographs, Jan will demonstrate how each piece was made.

Do you have any Beyond Quilting photos for Show and Tell? Please send them by Sunday, 6 pm to TwilightSimcoe@gmail.com!

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.

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

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!

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.

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.

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!