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

Our penultimate meetings of the year spent some time discussing preparations for our biennial quilt show at the beginning of June but inspite of this serious business, we still had a great time.

At the Tuesday evening meeting we had an online presentation by Johanna Masko on English Paper Piecing (EPP). Johanna is based in Toronto where she gives classes and workshops on a range of techniques including EPP. She is highly active online with a website as well as Instagram and YouTube channels and a blog. Johanna was drawn to EPP as it is a way to create a design incorporating both precision and portability. The materials are readily available. Small pieces of fabric, thread, needles and paper for the templates. In the past the paper would be anything available, such as old letters, books or flyers. In fact, antique quilts have been dated by using the paper left in their construction. Johanna also had some tips and tricks to help make the process quicker and easier and hopefully she will share more of these in her worKshop for guild members at the end of the month. To finish, she showed us some items that she has made with the fabric created by EPP.

Suzanne R then talked to us about her idea for a summer project for the guild and handed out some of her EPP starter kits. I am looking forward to trying my hand at this technique and hope to be inspired by Johanna’s workshop.

Following the break and show and tell, the business section of the meeting dealt with outstanding issues such as the vacancies on the guild executive. Contact Noreen if you want to get involved or anyone on the executive if you have questions. Louise said that photos of the barn quilts made at Karyne’s Workshop are on the website under photos and Retreats told us that although there are no official retreats in May and June, members can always get together online. Regarding the Show, the volunteer sheets for helping before, during and after the show were sent out in a blast on April 19th and the sheets for volunteer bakers for the tearoom were circulated at the meetings. If you want to bake please contact Pat B.

The day meeting on Wednesday covered the same business but the major part of the meeting was a trunk show be our own Suzanne Hurtebise. What a treat. She brought a lot of quilts, I heard 35, to show us. They started with a 75 year old quilt made by her grandmother. In a chronological display starting with her first quilt, a sampler, made during a class (the first picture below) and continuing with many tecnigues, colours and styles. It was a little overwhelming for someone like me who’s just beginning to master the rudiments of quilting but pretty awe inspiring too. Here are just a few of the wonderful things she has made over the years. Thank you Suzanne.

Its hard to believe that we are approaching the end of our quilting year but with the April meetings now over, summer will soon be here although the weather is still pretty wintry at times.

As our speaker at both meetings had a bit of a journey to get to us, the meetings started with guild business and the show and tell. The library quilt show started on April 1st in the Discovery Room at the Beaconsfield library. The theme is “Sharing the Planet” and there are quilts and other materials inspired by the wide range of creatures who live with us on earth. The show consists of items made by our members and collected together by Linda G. Given that quilters are thought to be very fond of cats, its most surprising that apparently there are no cats in the display! If you plan to visit, it may be best to check that the room is not in use for a meeting.

At the evening meeting Suzanne R presented a Program project for the summer which she says will be ideal to take on trips when we can’t take our sewing machine with us. It is an easily portable EPP project. The speaker at the evening meeting in May will be via zoom and will provide an overview of EPP then Suzanne will fill in details of the project. The day meeting in May will be a Trunk Show by our own Suzanne Hurtebise. The postcard swap with the Calgary Quilt Guild is also moving along well with many members showing their postcards before they send them off. The cards received from Calgary will be shown at the June meetings and Pat B reported on her visit to the Calgary guild where she talked to them about our bee hives and other beaconsfield activities.

The March in-person retreat was a great success as they got the snow they needed for snow dying of fabrics. Julie T presented some of her fabrics in the evening show and tell. Also many quilts for outreach were worked on at the retreat and 4 quilts will be donated by the guild to Quilts of Valour. The next retreat is virtual on Zoom on April 18th and 19th. Outreach also have many quilts for donation and are hoping to make presentations to the representatives of the organisations at the June meetings. Finally there were some notes about the June show which is fast approaching. There is a Blast coming which will be the one and only registration for your entries to the show. There will also be a sheet to sign up for baking donations for the tearoom and a general volunteer sheet. Julie T also asked members to start making items for the stall at the show. Bowl cozies are always popular but she may have some ideas for items at the April retreat.

Show and Tell had the usual wide array of lovely work from members including Confetti square quilts made by Dawn for Outreach. She collected a lot of these squares from members in the fall. Also there were some examples of the Kawandi technique (there are lots of videos on this on YouTube), and some free block of the month ideas.

The subject of the presentation at both of the April meetings was the Quebec Quilt Registry. Our speaker Carla Rivard, who runs the registry, told us all about its history, purpose and how a quilt can be registered. The registry is an important resource as it provides details of the quilts of Quebec and records them as works of art by women that do not reside in galleries or museums but live out in the world.

The registry project started as an idea in the early 80s but the first registry session was in 1991. The registry team travel around Quebec to register the quilts in person. They have to see the quilt and examine it to complete the registration form as detailed observations are included in the register. The register is online and searcheable and provides a overview of the history of quilting in Quebec. It has evolved over time and now includes all sizes of quilts and also larger wall hangings. Carla also said that it is most important to label your quilt even if only with the makers name, place and date of production. Once the quilt is entered in the registry it receives a number and a label from the registry. At present there are 6659 quilts in the registry but not so many from Beaconsfield so hopfully we will be holding a registry for our members in the not too distant future.