After all the excitement of the Auction last month, this month we returned to our usual format. For the evening meeting we welcomed Joanna Dermenjian via Zoom to talk to us about her work researching and repatriating the many quilts sent to the UK and elsewhere in Europe during wartime. It is a fascinationg story of the voluntary work done by women which has been undiscovered for many years. More information is available on the Canadian Wartime Quilts public Facebook page or on candianwartimequilts.com. Before speaking to us Joanna also discovered a record of 994 quilts donated to the movement by a Beaconsfield group. During her research she found a lot of information in old newspapers (for example The Montreal Star), sometimes in the form of photographs of the women working on the quilts and also in letters sent by the recipients of the quilts. In all, over one million quilts were sent during the 6 years of war of which very few remain in existence. These were quilts which were used and not kept in a cupboard so the few that have been found are often in poor condition but Joanna has been active in trying to return them to Canada. In 2023 sixty four quilts were returned to canada and placed in various museums and this year 40 more are being returned through a Go-fund-me appeal. Unfortunately there are none on display in Quebec but there are 2 in Ottawa and one in Ganonoque. What a great speaker to have in this month of remembrance.

The Wednesday morning meeting started with guild business and the ornaments destined for sale in the library were collected (see photo above). The money raised by the auction last month has been delivered to the city by our Treasurer Noreen. Planning for the 50th Anniversary celebrations are ongoing and more volunteers are still required to look through newsletters and minutes so contact Nicole or Dawn if you have some time. Also anyone with old newsletters (pre digital) are asked to contact them too as we seem to have a few gaps in our coverage. The in-person retreat is full but if you want to go on the waiting list in case of a cancellation, contact Julie T. There will also be a virtual retreat at the end of the month. Dates in the newsletter.

Next month’s meetings will be a holiday Show and tell. Please register your items in advance. A link to the sign up sheet is in the Newsletter. Also the social part will be a potluck so bring something tasty to share.

The Morning meeting concluded with a presentation given by our own Franca who after mentioning a few online quilt design applications (Prequilt, Niftyfifty, Quiltler) gave us a quick tour of the Electric Quilt 8 (EQ8) software. This is pretty pricy but looks really useful and I’m sure it would be a huge help in planning a project.

The Tuesday evening meeting this month was wholly taken up with the auction. This was organised by the Outreach team in support of the guild’s fundraising efforts for the new Beaconsfield cultural centre. It went very well and was thoughoughly enjoyed by all those present and some who attended on Zoom. It was exceptionally well organised and featured an excellent auctioneer. Suzanne kept the action moving along with a firm hand and a light touch. Most of those in attendance left with a purchase (or many purchases) and a smile. I’m sure we raised a good sum for the city and also made sure that we reused all of the wonderful items donated to the guild. Again, thanks for a wonderful evening and congratulations to the team. Hopefully we will be able to repeat the experience in a year or two.

At the day meeting the following morning, Andrea was in the chair and began with recognising the success of some of our members at the Courtepointe Quebec Show in Ste Hyacinthe at the weekend and of the auction the night before. Moving on to business, Dawn outlined this years group project for outreach. We will be making “tuque” blocks using her fabrics and adding some of our own. She will collect the blocks and make quilts for Ronald MacDonald house. All instructions are on the website under Outreach and the kits containing the Patterned Fabric will be available at the meetings. Other kits will also be available for the usual NICU quilts etc .

Julie T reported back on the first retreat of the new year and is sending out a survey to measure interest in holding sessions on Friday this month. Please send in your respones promptly so she can make a decision. This months retreat is online the weekend of 23rd – 25th October. Don’t worry if you missed the first installment of the monthly block as she will go over it again.

Also, later this month, the Quebec Quilt Registry session is taking place at the Beacon Hill Chalet the weekend of 17th – 18th october. By now, the list has gone out to those taking their quilts to be registered and you should have your time slot and your form to complete for each quilt. Other items discussed at the meeting were the upcoming 50th Anniversary celebrations for the guild. The committee are hoping to compile a history of the guild so if you are interested in looking though old documents or photographs, please help to lighten their load by volunteering to do some of the leg work, Contact Julie T for photos, Dawn for newsletters or Janet G for minutes. Also in our ongoing efforts to raise funds for the cultural centre please bring your Holiday decorations to the next 2 meetings (November 3rd and 4th) . These are to be displayed for sale on a tree in the library. Each will be identiied as the work of the guild and will be displayed with ones from the Rug Hookers Guild and the Beaconsfield art associations.

The second half of the meeting was an in person presentation by Monika Henry. She is based in Ottawa at Penny Spool Quilts and her presentation, called “From Idea to Quilt”, showed us how she comes up with the designs for her quilt patterns from everyday objects such as wrapping paper and trellis work. She is also the founder of “Quilt the North“, a Canadian quilt subscription box.

After the meeting Monika held a workshop for some of the members and we had a hands on experience of creating blocks from inspirational patterns. It was fascinating and certainly made you think about the art behind the quilt. Of course I rushed home and bought 2 patterns to add to my stack!

Hello again at the start of another quilting year and we have already had our first meetings which were well attended and had a jam packed agenda. We welcomed several new members at both meetings, some guests and many old friends. A warm welcome to all as we look forward to another exciting and productive year ahead. The main part of both meetings was a presentation by two Beaconsfield employees who gave us an update on the new cultural centre. We will be raising money for this during this year and so it was especially nice to catch up on progress and find out some of the details of what should be a great addition to our city. Information about the project can be seen on culturebeaconsfield.ca. The building aims to complement its situation on the lakeshore and will incorporate a new library as well as spaces for meetings and exhibitions, a bistro and an art studio.

Both meetings also covered the business of starting a new year of quilting. The program for this year is Exploring Design. The new Program team has a plan for helping us when we are designing our quilts. We start off in October with a presentation at the day meeting by Monika Henry of Penny Spool Quilts on design for Quilters. The meeting will be followed by a workshop on quilt design given by Monika. Sign up information was sent to members in a blast after the meeting. Spots are limited and the cost is $40.

Our evening October meeting will be an auction to raise funds for the new cultural centre. Anything “Quilty” can be donated for this as long as we receive it in Christines drop off bins by September 14th as the items will need to be sorted into lots. Members should receive a list of the larger items (eg sewing machines!) around the middle of Spetember so that they can plan their purchase strategy. Please come along to the evening meeting (or join in via zoom) if you want to snag a bargain. Cash, Cheque and e-trasfer accepted.

The meetings also took the opportunity to introduce the members of the executive and explain the offerings of the guild to both new and seasoned members. Information on all of this is contained in the very long September newsletter. One of the open positions on the executive was filled at the meeting as Leslie stepped forward as evening hospitality member and volunteer sheets for both hospitality and pickle jar were passed around. These will be made available on the website under the Newsletter tab if you need to double check what you have signed up for! Outreach kits were also on offer and many were taken by members of the guild. There are pictures on the Guilds private facebook page from the delivery of some of the quilts produced last year.

Julie T and Julie P presented the final feedback on the quilt show in June. The venue worked well and the show was well attended with positive feedback from the visitors and vendors. We covered our costs and with the fundraising we had done prior to the show we made a small profit. Now we start work on the fundraising for the next show in 2028, our 50th anniversary year. We will need to start collecting more items for sale for example bowl cozies, hot pads, card holders etc. Probably one of our upcoming Retreats will feature ideas for items to make. Also we are making some ornaments for the cultural centre fundraiser along with other Beaconsfield groups. Please bring your tree decorations to one of our next 2 meetings for sale in the library from mid november.

It’s going to be a busy but fulfilling year – Happy quilting.

Both of the June meetings were busy as usual. In keeping with this year’s theme of quilting across Canada we had a presentation on Zoom at our evening meeting by a Toronto quilter, Marilyn Farquhar, who talked us through her quilting journey and specifically her use of quilting to enable her to process her grief over the loss of 3 family members, including the sudden death of her brother. There is a documentery of her experience “A Bullet Pulling Thread” on YouTube if you wish to learn more. Recently she has started a new project entitled “I am” concentrating on her struggles to regain herself after her grief. Her work is outstanding and has been featured in quilt shows in both Canada and the USA.

Following the presentation we welcomed representatives from the NICU at the Jewish General Hospital and presented 15 quilts to cover the incubators in the ward. These are colourful quilts on one side suitable for a baby ward but plain and subdued on the underside in order to create a calm space for the young patients. Pictures of the quilts will soon be available on the photos page of the website.

After the break at the evening meeting there was some announcements for the show and then some talk about the program items planned for next year. Our September meeting will introduce next years theme and there will be a talk about the plans for the new Cultural center. Our October meeting is set to be an auction to fundraise for this new center. More details about this are in the June newsletter. Also as a start to our marking of the guild’s 50th anniversary we will be having a session with the Quebec Quilt Registry in October. An initial blast has already been sent to members to assess how many quilts members may want to register. This years program team will be stepping back and a new team will take the reins for next year. Thank you for all of your hard work and a wonderful and educational program.

The Wednsday meeting is traditionally the AGM but before the start of businees we again welcomed representatives from a NICU, this time from the Montreal Children’s Hospital and presented to them 60 NICU quilts for their tiny charges. It is lovely to be able to put a face to the recipients of these quilts and to see that they make a real difference in times of stress.

After this presentation Janet, our outgoing president, chaired her last AGM. All the reports were given and accepted and our guild continues to be strong and active. Some volunteers also stepped forward to fill a couple of remaining available positions. Thanks to all those executive members taking a well earned break and welcome to all of its new members.

Show and Tell at both meetings included the English Paper Piecing rosettes made at the EPP online workshop last month and the postcards received in the exchange with the Calgary Guild Members. Also many quilts were shown which had been finished for the show.

P.S. The Quilt show was the weekend following the meetings and was wonderful thanks to the organisers who worked for many montths to sort everything out and to the many volunteers who put up the racks, hung the quilts, manned the tables, baked, and did any number of other tasks. Thank you to everyone from me on behalf of a grateful guild. See you all in September.

Overview of Quilt Show

Vendors and Tearoom area

Bienvenue à notre exposition de courtepointes et d’art textile les vendredi 5 juin de 18:00 à 21:00, samedi 6 juin de 10:00 à 17:00 et dimanche 7 juin de 10:00 à 15:00. Marchands, boutique BQG, tirages, salon de thé. Un régal pour les yeux! Entrée libre et stationnement gratuit. Accès mobilité réduite limité – svp, renseignez-vous à contact@beaconsfieldquiters.ca Baie d’Urfé Curling Club, 63 Churchill, Baie d’Urfé, H9X 3N4

Join us for our upcoming exhibition of quilts and textile art. Friday, June 5, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Saturday, June 6, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday, June 7, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Vendors, BQG Boutique, raffle, and our Tea Room. A feast for the eyes! Free admission and parking. Limited accessibility for people with reduced mobility – please inquire at contact@beaconsfieldquiters.ca