During the Pandemic our Healthcare workers have worked tirelessly and with great bravery in difficult and stressful conditions.

One of our own, our Treasurer Audrey, works with her colleagues in Tallaght University Hospital and whilst we recognise that all Healthcare workers deserve our recognition, the committee is putting out a call for quilts to give to the healthcare workers at Tallaght University hospital.

We have decided on a theme of ‘STARS’ – because they are our stars – shining brightly in these difficult times. We are suggesting a lap quilt with a minimum size 48x48 inches approx. 

There is lots of inspiration for ‘Star’ quilts to be found on the web, we have added some links below.

Patterns

Pat Sloan: https://www.ilovetomakequilts.com/oh-my-stars-free-quilt-pattern-by-pat-sloan.html

Jinny Beyer: https://jinnybeyer.com/free-patterns/

Missouri Star Quilt Tutorials:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWnhR7raxVFDHmDXqCIzuAw

All People Quilt: https://www.allpeoplequilt.com/

FaveQuilt: https://www.favequilts.com/

Hunter's Star Tutorial:  http://hopefulhomemaker.com/2014/04/16/scrappy-hunters-star-tutorial-layer-cake-pattern/

Quilter's Cache:   https://www.quilterscache.com/QuiltBlocksGalore.html

Thanks to our member Miriam Gogarty who gave us a demo on making fabric postcards a couple of years ago. All the photos and instructions below are from that demo. You can also find this tutorial in our Summer 2018 newsletter.

How to make a fabric postcard

Requirements:

• Pelmet vilene: 2 pieces per card measuring 6” x 4”
  
• Bondaweb: 2 pieces per card measuring 6” x 4”
  
• Front of card background fabric: 1 piece 6” x 4”
  
• Back of card fabric: 1 piece of white or cream fabric 6” x 4”
  
• You will also need a little more Bondaweb and different fabrics to suit the theme of your postcard.
  
• Usual sewing items: threads, rulers, scissors, machine.
  

Step 1:

Using Bondaweb fuse white fabric to pelmet vilene and either write or stitch “POST CARD” across the top back and a line down the centre. 

Step 2:

Fuse the background fabric to the second piece of pelmet vilene and use this for the front of your postcard. Back the pieces of fabric for your chosen image with Bondaweb, cut out the shapes, arrange them on the background and fuse them down.

Step 3:

Stitch down the appliqué using a straight stitch, satin stitch, blanket stitch or a decorative stitch on your machine, add details.

Step 4:

When the appliqué or other work has been finished on the front of the postcard, layer the front and back together making sure the edges line up.  Use a satin stitch or other suitable stitch on your machine around the edge to secure and finish the card.

Thanks to everyone who joined in for our virtual branch meeting, we managed to do quite a lot, although we are still missing the face-to-face chats.

Katharine gave us a tour of the IPS website highlighting the new functionality that enables members to renew their membership online. If you haven't done it yet, please remember to pay your fee as it is the only way to keep the society going during this time, most importantly to keep publishing the newsletter. Equally important is for every member to check their details in their account to ensure a valid email address is on record and "contact by email" option is ticked, as this is our primary means of communication at the moment.

Our virtual Show-and-Tell was a proof that a lot of our members were very busy making beautiful things for their homes and their friends and family. Winter and lockdown are not that bad if you have a cosy quilt (or two) and a couple of cushions to keep you warm and comfy. There was a great response to the "Cushion of the Month" project, with lots of variations on the October pattern, and we are looking forward to seeing all the November cushions, the design for which was revealed at the meeting.

Another ongoing project is the branch patchwork banner; the blocks are still arriving and they are brilliant, but the assembly will have to be put off until sewing get-togethers are allowed again. All the slideshows will be available to view on the EB Gallery page.

Our branch member Anne Marie of www.craftystudio.ie gave a us a virtual tour of her studio, which was a real treat. She talked about making clothes and quilts and showed us lots of fabrics and notions she has in stock.

The Christmas challenge for this year was announced and we think it is in the true spirit of Christmas: members are asked to make fabric Christmas cards and send them to nursing homes or care homes, for which the committee will be putting together a list of contacts (if you have connections to a nursing home, please contact Verleen at secretary.ipseastern@gmail.com with details). An Post have announced that post to nursing homes will be free this Christmas, so you can send as many cards as you want. For the branch challenge, please select your best card and send a photo to pr.ipseastern@gmail.com by 21st of November so we have enough time to organise the voting, as it proved problematic on Zoom. 

A lot of you will remember that we had another postcard challenge quite recently, so many people will be familiar with the technique, and for those who need a refresher we have a separate blog post with the instructions kindly provided by our member Miriam Gogarty. You can also find this tutorial in our Summer 2018 newsletter.

Virtual meetings are new for all of us, and although they have a lot of limitations, there may be some opportunities to do things that are not possible in a "real" meeting situation. The committee welcomes any ideas and suggestions about what to do and what not to do in our virtual meetings, all the contacts are on our Contact page.

A number of adventurous ladies from the branch decided to try out some techniques for adding a third dimension to their quilts and worked the day away on their samples. Majority went for the rose still life, but it's needless to say every rose turned out unique and beautiful in its own way. We also had several seafloor scenes and one lovely piece with potted succulents. Well done everybody!

Lots of fun and inspiration at our meeting after the Christmas break. Although a lot of quilts were gone as presents, our members still brought quite a few spectacular pieces for the Show-and-Tell, please check out the photos on our Gallery page. Our guest speaker this month was pilates instructor Aideen, who explained the importance correct posture and regular exercise for those doing lots of needlework and showed us a few simple stretches.

A couple of charity projects were anounced: 

• Blocks for New South Wales #bushfireblocks: a call out for tree themed quilt blocks for Bushfire affected families – size is 12 ¾˝. Check out Facebook on https://www.facebook.com/groups/832925917128551  The committee will be collecting the blocks at the February meeting to post them to Australia as one parcel.
  

•  Fidget Quilts or Cushions for Laverna Daycare, Baldoyle. Our speaker this month has close ties with the centre and would love our support in providing some fidget quilts or cushions to their patients. Your cushions or quilts can be brought to any of our meetings and the committee will organise their handover to Leverna.
  

Of course, quilts for Heart Children Ireland are always much appreciated, as was proven by a lovely Thank You card read out at the meeting.

Following an established tradition, Mary Hunter, Eastern branch member and currently the executive Chair, gave our new members their first taste of patchwork. The group learned about patchwork tools, choosing fabrics, seam allowance maths and, of course, put together some squares with a border. We are proud of what these lovely and talented ladies achieved in just a day.

Keeping up our new tradition, we had a fun festive meeting last Saturday. Mince pies, home baking, seasonal outfits, a decorated tree in the hall and some music created the atmosphere, but the it was only the beginning.

Our Christmas challenge, which for this year was simply "Christmas tree", was very popular and we received lots of entries in all possible techniques and sizes. The winner, despite very tight competition, was Ina Stephens with her unique creation:

After the Show-and-Tell we enjoyed some party games, quizzes, bingo, raffle, gifts and prizes. There was a lot of fun and laughter and bit of crazy mess as well.

The morning was a brilliant start to the festive season and we hope everybody has a happy Christmas this year!

Please visit our Gallery page to see more photos of the Christmas challenge and the meeting.

Our annual open day took place on Saturday in St Anthony's House, Clontarf. Huge thanks to all the members who came and brought their work in progress and completed quilts to show to the visitors, it was an impressive display.

Ethelda has been long awaited at our branch and finally she was able to come to speak at our October meeting, showing her breathtaking work and teaching a workshop on her signature technique, realistic appliqué. 

The participants enjoyed the day and went away with their completed appliqué pieces as well as new knowledge skills. Check out more photos at our Gallery page. We are looking forward to another visit from Ethelda, as the waiting list for her workshops only grew longer after this one.