Oakville Quilters' Guild

2012-02-05T20:46:00.005-05:00

It’s time. The entry forms have been sent out and nowit’s up to you. Let’s get started.

The toplines are pretty easy to fill in. Yourname, your phone number, the name of your quilt and the priority of your quiltif you are entering more than one. Whatis meant by this is……………….which quilt is most important to you for hanging in the show. REMEMBER, for every quilt you enter in the show, you are required towork 1 shift at the show. Each shift is2 ½ hours in length

Make surethat you mark off on your form what this quilt is and the size of thequilt. That is extremely important forthe girls that are designing and hanging the show.

The nextsection is very important. Whatever youwrite here will be on the label on the quilt in the show. There will be no changes made by the peoplewho type up the labels. You writecarefully what you want the visitors to read about your quilt. We ask that you give credit to the designeror pattern maker. They have spent many,many hours being as accurate as they can be with their instructions.

If yourquilt was machine quilted by a long arm quilter, please give her/ him therecognition they deserve. If you quiltis for sale, it must stay in the show for the duration of the show. Please specify the selling price.

Sign yourentry form, date it and then attach a colour photo so that the hanging team hasan idea of what your quilt looks like and are able to hang it to its bestadvantage.

Goodluck. See you at the show, ladies.

UFO Day

2012-01-23T09:35:00.000-05:00

Do you know what UFO means? Unfinished objects? No not for our guild.

For all of us, it means the Unique Friendly Occasion, a day to sit and sew

and talk and do a bit more sewing and talk some more with fellow guild members.

A chance to meet fellow members, have a cup of tea,

share sage advice and sewing tips.

Our upcoming UFO Day is on Saturday, February 18th and once again we are holding it at The Oakville Museum at the foot of Navy Street.

The locale offers wonderful views of our lake and magnificent lighting to work under.

The fee for the day is $5.00

and coffee/tea and treats will be served.

We start at 9:30 a.m. and go until mid afternoon.

Let Bev or Susan know if you would like to attend.

Signups at the February meeting or by phone/email to one of us.

Hope to see you there.

Our merchants

2012-01-18T13:30:00.003-05:00

Our upcoming quilt show will feature a variety of stores in our merchants' mall. From books to fabric to notions.................it will all be there.

Have you been in your local quilt shop lately? Have you taken a look at their website? Have you taken classes?

I ventured over to the websites of our stores that are listed here
http://www.oakvillequiltersguild2012.blogspot.com/p/httpoakvillequiltersguildca.html
and I am amazed at what all these stores are offering. From pj pants, to pillowcases, to jelly roll races to card making. Our merchants are offering everything and anything that your heart desires.

It is amazing what is out there on the market today and shop owners know it all. Drop in to your favourite store soon, or better yet, hop in the car and visit a new store. Take a friend along and make a day of it.

Registration

2012-01-05T19:43:00.000-05:00

Our registration forms are now available. They have been sent out with our January newsletter via regular post or email. You can download your form here and fill in the details. Don't forget you need a photo of your quilt to go along with it.
You can print off this PDF and fill it in if you prefer.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B29u680jsp73ZmE0Y2U5NDEtOTgyOS00M2IwLTkwNjAtMzYxOWVjY2VkZTZi&hl=en_US&pli=1

The registrar's job, once again being done by Melissa, is one of the most important of the show. The person in charge makes up the reigstration form and gets it distributed to all members of the quilt guild. She makes sure that when they come back the forms are correct and a photo of each quilt is attached to the form. Once that is done, the form goes to the hanging committee so they can make a layout of the show.
The registrar is on hand for the set up day of the show and on take down day. She oversees every part of the dropping off and picking up of the quilts. Her staff make sure that everyone dropping off quilts receives their pick up stub. On the day of pick up every owner must present a claim form and sign that they have received their items.

As said before, the registrar hands over the entry forms to the hanging committee. There job is to make the show the beauty it is. In Diane's own words.............................

This is a team position and involves the pre-planning of the placement for all quilts and quilt-related items that will be part of the show. There are a series of steps taken to achieve this. The registration forms are distributed in January. One form with an accompanying colour photo for each quilt must be submitted back to the Registrar by the February guild meeting. The quilt must be a competed top when the photo is taken, although it does not need to be quilted at this date. The measurements of the quilt top are part of the critical information required on the submission form

This year’s show will feature some special categories: (museum artifacts, BOM 2010 pieces and 2008 ‘Best of Show winner’).

This committee will work closely with the Registrar when the forms are received and have been assigned a number and again on set-up day.

Other related duties include making both advance and final bookings for quilt frame rentals, curtains, hangers and wood rental, plant and other ‘prop’ accessories.

On set-up day, once the frames are in place, the team will place a paper in front of each frame denoting the quilt number that will be hung in that location. The hangers can then begin physically hanging the quilts.

While preparing the show layout on paper works very well, there seems always to be a need for some “tweaking” as a final step once we are viewing the actual quilts. This detail will be the team’s finishing touch!

A sneak peek at the Tombola

2011-12-13T08:17:00.004-05:00

A sampling of a few of the offerings in the tombola draw.

Have you seen it?

2011-11-18T18:19:00.001-05:00

Those in attendance at the November meeting were each given a postcard for our upcoming show.

They will start to be distributed to stores and others during the month of January 2012. Check out your local quilt shops to pick up your postcard and circle the dates on your calendar.

Taking a look

2011-11-03T08:58:00.000-04:00

For the next little while we are going to take a look behind the scenes of the quilt show.

What do all those gals do to put your show together? So glad you asked. Here we go.

Patricia Dear is in charge of the volunteers. In her words this is what she does:

As Volunteer Co-Ordinator my job is to determine the number of people required in order for the Show to be fully staffed at all times. Once that is determined, I must go to the membership and ask for volunteers to cover all jobs for the run of the show. I will prepare schedules setting out all names and jobs. I will then let all volunteers know the days and times they are required. During the days of the show I will check in all volunteers as they arrive and make sure all stations are covered allocating floaters when and as they are needed.

Janet Rhind is in charge of the Members' Boutique

My job as Members Boutique co-ordinator is to encourage guild members to participate in making quality items to sell at the quilt show boutique.I will be organizing the “taking in” of items from our members as well as organizing time slots for each participating member to work at the boutique.

I will make sure that each participating member has a Registration Form before Quilt Show day and that each participant understands the rules and regulations of participating.

Myself and assistant will “organize” the Members Boutique tables once all items have been delivered to the show on set up day.

and lastly for this time is Ruth Brown in charge of the kitchen......

As kitchen convenor, I am responsible for keeping everyone’s stomachs in good working order. This means keeping our part of the kitchen fully stocked with tea, coffee, water, milk, sugar, etc., things to drink them in, make them with, and clean up after the spillage of. The kitchen convenor and helpers are in charge of the food (tasting), purses (guarding), and checking out everyone’s bags of goodies. We are the guild’s good will ambassadors with the vendors, helpers, and rental guys. It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it.

Some time before the show I am going to have to learn how to work a coffee urn, as I don’t drink coffee. Tea I can handle. Water bottles should be a piece of cake. Helpers would be good. It would also be nice to have donations of paper plates, napkins, cups. We’ll let you know. Don’t forget the food. The more you bring to share, the happier everyone will be. Set up day we have a lot of extra men to feed. They will eat anything, but actual food is best – sandwiches, baking, fruit and veggies. You know the drill.

I look forward to acquiring some new recipes (one of the perks!)

Coasters, coasters

2011-10-24T13:00:00.001-04:00

where are the coasters?

Do you have your 10 coasters made and ready to hand in? If so, please bring them to the next meeting which is on Thursday, November 17th.............our annual Christmas meeting.

If everyone does their share its sort of like the old joke that went something like this:

I'm tired because I'm overworked. The population of this country is 237 million. 104 million are retired. That leaves 133 million to do the work. There are 85 million in school, which leaves 48 million to do the work. Of this there are 29 million employed by the federal government, leaving 19 million to do the work. 2.8 million are in the Armed Forces, which leaves 16.2 million to do the work. Take from the total the 14,800,000 people who work for State and City Governments and that leaves 1.4 million to do the work. At any given time there are 188,000 people in hospitals, leaving 1,212,000 to do the work. Now, there are 1,211,998 people in prisons. That leaves just two people to do the work. You and me. And you're sitting at your computer reading jokes.

Remember to put your coasters in a ziploc bag with your name and the number of coasters your are contributing.

Thanks, everyone

Prizes for the Quilt Show

2011-09-27T13:53:00.002-04:00

As we have done for our previous quilt shows, we are once again going to our membership with a request to make a contribution towards the prizes for our award winners.

We need around 16-18 prizes. We feel confident that if all the members do their part, we will be able to have wonderful prizes for what will no doubt be amazing quilts. As a member of our guild, please do your share.

By making the ask early, we wanted to give you time to take advantage of sales and specials.

Obviously, the items you donate must be new. Please, no items that have been 'hanging around' for a while. This is not that opportunity to get rid of something you no longer like or use.

All donations are to be given to the prize coordinator - Dawne Rudman.

To help members, we will provide a Prize Wish List. Here is the first 'instalment' of that Wish List. All these items are available from Michaels.

Take advantage of those regularly issued 40% off coupons. You may even be able to use the 50% off coupon that comes out from time to time. Off the top, these items may seem pricey, but by using the coupons the price drops considerably, which is a BIG help.

$23.99 Olfa non-slip frosted 6-1/2" x 6-12" square ruler

$17.99 Olfa non-slip frosted 4-1/2" x 4-12" square ruler

$32.99 Olfa non-slip frosted 6" x 24" ruler

$24.99 Olfa non-slip frosted 6" x 12" ruler

$59.99 Olfa rotating 12" x 12" mat

$29.99 Omnigrid 12-1/2" x 12-1/2" square ruler

$21.99 Omnigrid 9-1/2" x 9-1/2" square ruler

$34.99 Tailor shape cut slated 12" x 12" ruler

$27.98 Tailer 1/2" square and 1/4" square Triangles rules

$39.99 Clover Mini Iron

$29.99 Clover Stack 'n Store Bobbin Tower

$39.99 Side Winder

$29.99 Fiskars Titanium 45mm Rotary Cutter

$21.99 Fiskars Titanium 2-piece cutting set (scissors)

$29.99 Carson attach-a-mag clip-on LED lighted magnifyer

$27.99 Hobbs Heirloom queen size quilt batt

WATCH FOR THE SPECIAL MARKDOWNS on OttLites

Currently there is a special on at $39.99

Thank you to the members who donated at the September meeting.

Dawne

The coasters

2011-08-24T12:28:00.001-04:00

Everyone in the guild has been asked to make ten coasters as the door gift for our guests. The directions can be found here.

Starting with the September meeting you can drop off your coasters to me at the back table near where the library is located. I would ask that you put your coasters in a ziploc bag with the number that you have done and please, please put your name on the bag too.

If you all count your coasters it will be much easier for the committee. We can do a count much quicker this way and see just how many more we need. I would also like your name so I can thank you properly for helping us out.

Thanks everyone.

See you all soon. Guild is just about ready to go...............Thursday, September 15th is our first meeting. Bring your money, there are going to be books, books and more books.

Our location

2011-08-16T09:53:00.000-04:00

Just a quick word today on the location of our quilt show. There is a map at the bottom of the page that you can print off. The show is accessible from the QEW or the Lakeshore Road. Both exits to get to Speers Road are the Third Line.

There is plenty of free parking and if your guild would love to come by bus, they can be accommodated too. The bus can stay in the lot while you shop and maybe even run your purchases out for storage while you browse some more.

For printing off the photo, just right click with your cursor, and then find Print Picture. From there follow your printer's instructions.

Hope to see you there next May!

Being a member

2011-08-05T15:44:00.000-04:00

There is a rumour circulating that to be able to hang a quilt in our upcoming quilt show, that you would have had to have been a member for the last two years.

NOTHING, adsolutely nothing, could be farther from the truth. Where these stories get there start from is beyond me.

This is the ruling and as co-chair of the committee you can be guaranteed that it is correct.

You may become a member of the guild up to and including the month of November 2011. This meeting is held on November 17th at Central Baptist Chruch, on Rebecca Street, in Oakville.

Registration forms for the quilt show will be distributed in January, so that gives the new members time to get their quilts ready.

We hope you will join our guild for the friendship and the good times we have.

Its now the end of July

2011-07-30T15:48:00.000-04:00

Where has the time gone? Summer is almost over for Heaven's sake and I haven't done much of anything.......................................except holiday. I hope you've been able to put your feet up and take some breaks in this fabulous summer weather.

I want to post a link to day to another blog. Many, many members kindly donated quilt/quilts to the Slave Lake residents who lost everything in the fire.

Catch up on everything here:

http://patchworktalks.blogspot.com/

Linda the owner of Patchwork Fabrics in Slave Lake has started a blog to keep us all informed of the quilt distribution. Believe me, I've shed a tear or two when I've read some of these postings.

Five Fabric Coasters

2011-06-16T14:03:00.017-04:00

Two people notified me that they were having problems downloading the instructions for the coasters. I have changed the link for your accessing of the pattern.

This is now a google doc. Click on the word document (this word in red) and you will be able to access the directions. Click on file and at the bottom of the list click on print.

If you continue to have problems, please contact me at the email address on the sidebar. I would like to know the problems you are having and will attempt to correct them. I can send a PDF if need be.

This pattern was originally posted on the web by Allsorts. I have changed one step to make the sewing easier.

Plum Catering

2011-06-11T07:01:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I emailed Tara and asked her a bit about her catering. Here is the interview...........

Where did you learn your craft?
Funny you should ask where I learned my craft, I first began working in the kitchen back in high school at a beautiful Quilting shop in Montreal. From there I continued working in restaurants around the West Island until I was accepted to Stratford Chefs School in Stratford Ontario where I graduated with Honors.

How long have you had your catering business, Plum Catering?
Plum Catering opened April 4th 2004 it has been a very interesting and exciting 7 years

What kind of functions do you cater for?

Do you just cater in the Halton Region?

We actually cater all over the GTA.

What do you like most about catering?
The best part of catering is the constant change of menus and food preparation. A lot of my Clients ask me to come up with new items for their guests, so I put together additional menu items for them to choose from.

Have you ever been asked to make something for a client that was really unusual? If so, what is it (or can you tell us?)
The strangest request that I had was to make a dog cake for a dog birthday. I made it and it looked great.

What is your favourite recipe?
Since I have a sweet tooth I would have to say all of our homemade cookies especially the skor toffee. For my savory side I would have to say our in house slow roasted pulled pork.

You are coming back again to be the caterer for our show. Did you really enjoy yourself so much the last time?
The reason we are coming back to the show again is because it is a different aspect of catering that I don't get to do very often. We get to serve our homemade food, enjoy the company of the Quilters and the Guild and see some spectacular Quilts.

How can people contact you for catering?
The easiest way to contact Plum Catering is either by calling 905-844-7110 or by email
info@plumcatering.ca

The majority of my business comes from the corporate world. I also do private functions such as Bridal showers, baby showers, backyard weddings, birthdays, funerals.

Time to think about it…………………..

2011-06-05T06:38:00.000-04:00

the quilt show that is.

If you have the quilts already finished that you would love to showcase, now is the time to get them measured to find out their individual size……………write it down in a book along with photos of both the front and the back. Make sure there is a 4” sleeve sewn onto the back of the quilt. Make sure there is a label on the quilt with your name on it.

Do you have a top done? Is it ready for quilting? Phone your favourite long arm quilter and book it in. Don’t leave it until the month before the show. You may find yourself out of luck. If you are booking for September, get the backing ready now so you can just drop it off to your LAQ (long arm quilter). Remember if you book in one quilt -- you only take one quilt!

Planning a quilt? Book it with an LAQ* now. Then get sewing. Check with your LAQ* on how much larger the backing is than the front……………general rule is 4” larger on all four sides. Does she like the seam pressed open or to one side? Cut your sleeve when you do your backing. Put it in a Ziploc bag. Write the information about it on masking tape and stick that to the bag. You can also put your binding in so its ready to sew in place when you get your quilt back.

Your quilts for the show must have been made after 2008 and they may not have been shown in a previous quilt show.

*LAQ--long arm quilter

Tombola

2011-05-21T08:26:00.004-04:00

definition: a small-scale lottery, often held at a community event, with tickets drawn from a revolving drum turned by hand

Our tombola at our 2008 show was fantastic. The array of items made decision making almost impossible for both guild members and our visitors.

Not only were individual items donated to our tombola, but groups from the guild got together and made up baskets for the draw. We were able to offer everyone 20 different items to select from.

During the summer months when its too hot to sit with a quilt on our laps, perhaps sewing up something smaller for the tombola would keep you in the quilting mode. When you complete your tombola donation, our co-ordinator will be more than happy to look after it for you.

Cudmore's Garden Centre

2011-05-07T07:14:00.000-04:00

You know when you have arrived at Cudmores. The flower beds are blooming with colour.

The green house is brimming with plants that will delight any gardener.

It doesn't matter what you are looking for.....................herbs..............

perennials................

groundcovers, veggies, hanging baskets or shrubs.................

whether you need flower pots or something to decorate the yard, it won't be hard to find something to satisfy everyone's taste.

Step inside the store.......

to find more delightful items.....................

and if you need ideas for decorating your yard, just ask. The staff are friendly and knowledeable and will be glad to answer all your gardening questions.

Cudmores was founded in 1929 and was once a fruit and vegetable stand. In 1986, John, Peter and Kevin evolved the business into a garden centre. A fine family tradition continues still in the same location at 3171 Lakeshore Road West, in the heart of Bronte..................

Members' Boutique

2011-04-23T08:38:00.002-04:00

The Members' Boutique of the Oakville Quilters' Guild offers unique and beautiful items that everyone will want to purchase. Small gifts are available all beautifully handcrafted by members of the guild. Mother's Day will fall the following week-end, so this is a wonderful opportunity for all of you to pick up that special gift for the Mom in your life.

The Members' Boutique runs independently and in conjunction with the quilt show and is being co-ordinated by Janet Rhind and Chris Booth.

We are looking for "gift shop" type items and welcome & encourage all members to participate. Any questions in regards to suitability should be cleared with the Boutique Co-ordinator. All participants will be expected to take a shift(s) at the boutique.

Please contact Janet Rhind should you require any further information.

Members' Boutique ~~ Quilt Show 2008

Reflecting back to 2008

2011-04-09T07:44:00.000-04:00

A reflection of the 2008 Oakville Quilters’ Guild quilt show would almost immediately bring to mind the wonderful "new" venue that for 3 exciting days (plus the usual set-up) became our home. The International Union of Operating Engineers Conference Centre (a.k.a. O.E. Conference Centre) was applauded by patrons, vendors and members alike. Some of their exceptional amenities will be featured in a later blog. We are pleased to be returning to this ideal setting for our 2012 show.

Our 2008 event showcased a medley of 200 fabulous quilts, all different, with quilting styles ranging from traditional to art and from beginner to experienced. We were especially proud of the large number of beautiful hand quilted pieces and; notwithstanding, the equally impressive talent showed by our machine quilters.

Patrons to our show could find many other attractions such as:
...a merchants mall
...a member’s boutique
...a loonie/toonie table
...a tombola auction
...demonstrations
...an Outreach display
...President’s Challenge display
... light lunch cafe (catered by Plum Catering)

We encourage you to plan to attend our 2012 show. The dates to mark on your calendar are
May, 3 4, and 5.
The members of the Oakville Quilters’ Guild look forward to hosting you!

Diane Wolder
Quilt Show Convenor 2008

Digital slideshow made with Smilebox

The President's Challenge

2011-03-26T09:21:00.000-04:00

On a cold March day in 2009, as President of the Oakville Quilters' Guild, I was lucky enough to be able to visit Patti Carey, the Marketing Coordinator at Northcott to select 3 bolts of fabric for our 2010 President's Challenge. Just being able to visit the wonderful Northcott facility was reason enough to drool, let alone being able to choose fabric from their gorgeous collections! Patti very generously showed myself and 2 other Guild members the warehouse where their amazing fabrics reside before they are shipped out to quilt stores. It was a dream come true to see so many thousands of bolts of delicious fabric all waiting for the chance to be turned into quilts!

Patti showed me dozens and dozens of fabric samples - including the newly released (at that time) Stonehenge collection. I was in paradise! Rather than chose from one collection, I chose from 3 different lines because they were my personal favourites and it made the challenge just a little bit more difficult.

Our rules for the competition were as follows:

All 3 Northcott challenge fabrics must be clearly visible on the front of your quilt, at least a 1" square of each fabric.
The challenge quilt must be NO LARGER than 36" square. No side is to exceed 36". It may be smaller.
Other fabrics are allowed.
All entries MUST have a 4” hanging sleeve permanently attached to the back of the quilt (no pins please).
Specific questions about the challenge should be addressed to the collector of the challenge quilts to avoid any possible identification of your quilt by the judge.
All LABELS must be covered for judging.
All entries must be received at the APRIL 2010 Guild meeting.
Late entries WILL NOT be accepted.
3 prizes of similar value will be awarded.
Judging will take place after the April 2010 meeting and winners announced and prizes awarded at the May 2010 Guild meeting.

As you can see from the wonderful entries we received, the 2010 challenge resulted in a wide variety of quilts. The skill and imagination of the women of the Oakville Quilters' Guild always makes me so proud. Judging was extremely difficult! I hope you agree with me!

Susan Semeczko
Past President
Oakville Quilters' Guild

This free photo slideshow personalized with Smilebox

The Founders

2011-03-12T20:13:00.011-05:00

This is where you will find all the information you need for our upcoming quilt show

Sentimental Reasons

The show is being co-chaired by Bev Andersen and Susan Semeczko and the following have volunteered their help to co-ordinate the various aspects of the show.

Demos:...........................Kim Kernohan
Kitchen:..........................Ruth Brown
Members' Boutique:........Janet Rhind
Merchants' Mall:.............Julia Curitz
Photographer:.................Albert Fuchigami
Publicity:.........................Gayle Shermet
Registration:....................Melissa Bieman
Show Design...................Diane Wolder
Tombola:........................Ursula Thomson
Treasurer:.......................Mary McAuliffe
Volunteers:.....................Patricia Dear

THE FOUNDERS.......................

Our quilt show next year will be honouring the ladies who founded our guild. In the summer of 1994, fourteen ladies met at the White Oaks Public Library and formed a planning committee. Only twelve remained as founding members. Less formality, information sharing and fellowship were the main goals.

The first meeting was held the third Thursday of October 1994 in the hall of a local church. The small auditorium of the church had a capacity for only 65 people but a few more managed to squeeze in. By the November meeting the membership was full and the guild had the first of many waiting lists. A star was born!!

The founding members were Barbara Bays, Rosemary Clouse, Connie Dorion, Louise Erwin, Marie Kajdasz, Kim Kernohan, Ruth Landon, Sharon MacMillan, Marie Poole, Janet Rhind, Kathleen Davies and Diane Wolder. These ladies discussed the purpose of the group and decided on the following:
"To provide a place for quilters to find fellowship and opportunies for information sharing as well as to provide a vehicle for developing workshops, sew and chats and personal development."

A few of the original members have moved away and our hearts were broken when two of our ladies passed away. In honour of all of these ladies a new award has been conceived. The Founders' Award will be presented for the first time. A committee of the founding members will select the best pieced quilt (in their estimation) that is on display in the quilt show.