General Entry Rules:

1. Be a member of MBQG for 2022/23, with membership paid in full before June 30 (Not a member – not a problem! Join today)
2. You may enter up to three quilts
3. All entries must be received between June 1 and June 30, 2022
4. All entries must include the application form and one photo (.jpg or hard copy)
5. Only enter quilts that are finished, or close enough that they are identifiable in the photo
6. Photo naming: save your digital photo as a .jpg with the file name – your last name, initial and title of the quilt. e.g. SmithJfunkybird.jpg. Photos sent by mail should be identified on the back with the same naming format.

You may enter in one of two ways:

Use our online form (which will go live on June 1), submitting it once for each entry (up to 3 total) and attaching 1 photo per entry form (.jpg or .png, up to 3 MB, named as above)
Enter Online

Download and fill in our fillable .pdf form, and either mail it or email it to us. Send your digital photo by email or printed photo by mail. Details on the form.
Download .pdf

Having technical problems? Email Nina at mbqgtreasurer@gmail.com

A couple of pictures to remind you we have the June dinner and AGM to look forward to…we hope! And won’t it be a wonderful sew and tell!

*A quick post to let you know that our regular Guild meetings on April 6 and May 4, 2020 have been cancelled. Should anything change  (and we sincerely hope it does!) we will be in touch via email as well as here on the blog.

The executive also wants you to know that we are still working on your behalf. We managed to have a meeting before the stricter size of gatherings went into effect. I expect we will now meet online until things change.

While we were very disappointed to cancel our EQ Mary Elizabeth Kinch this year but you can go back and see all the other 19 (!) Extraordinary Quilters that we have hosted in the last 19 years! Take some time and see the incredible quilters who have come to our Guild. To find the go here, the main page of our Guild blog, then scroll down, watching the right hand side, where there are several lists, the last one is called “Extraordinary Quilter Workshops: The Teachers. Just click on a name and you will go to their website or a page with information about the teacher. If you end back at the Guild page, that means there is no longer a link. Who is your favourite? Did you know that one EQ came back a second time? Did you know that we have had 13 Canadian EQ’s, 5 from the US and 1 from England. I have updated all the links, two of our past teachers are no longer active on the internet and do not have websites, Sharon Pederson and Rosemary Makhan but I have left their names on our list to recognize their contribution to our EQ events.

Be sure and stay in touch. You can find us and many members and friends on our Guild Facebook page here (please ask to join and you will be included soon after). There are also many quilt related pages on Facebook – the Nova Scotia Online Quilters, Canadian Quilters etc. no need to feel alone! We are also on Instagram. Just search for the Mahone Bay Quilters Guild and start sharing your pictures.

We held our annual Christmas pot luck dinner a week later than usual due to nasty weather. I couldn’t go but President Pam sent the following report “We all had a good time Monday, lots of food, especially meatballs! Very little business with only the treasurer report and minutes being approved. The hall looked festive with small Christmas tree, gold tablecloths were used and Krista donated the centrepieces (thanks Krista!). Some members chose to decorate their own tables. After the meal we had the ornament exchange with some lovely hand made ornaments. The first fat quarter draw took place and Elizabeth took home a stash of Christmas themed fat quarters (maybe 26).There was a draw for those who brought food or donated to the Food Bank. We finished by playing a game of quilting acronyms, the table led by Gail Stryde won, I think they had all but one. There was a lollipop on everyone’s setting and Marilyn and Sandy explained how it could be used in quilting, the person with the marked lollipop won a prize – can’t remember who that was.” Thanks Pam, we are looking forward to starting 2020 with our January meeting on Monday January 6 at 1pm – please note the time change!

Marilyn with her lovely chennile mat

Be sure and see the rest of the photos (thanks Jill!) in our Flickr albums here and here.

See you in 2020, Happy New Year!

Gaff Point by Laurie Swim

Our October meeting sure was a busy one. Many thanks to Alicia who stepped up to chair the meeting (and did a wonderful job) as Pam was away. We had a full house which meant we were scrambling for chairs! The church hall is under going renovations, did you notice the new floor? Some of the old chairs were marking the floor so they were disposed of and new ones are on order! Also when we gather for our November meeting the walls will have had a fresh coat of paint!

It was a busy meeting for “Sew and Tell” too. Our Flickr albums are updated thanks to Jill, you can find the “sew and Tell”  here, our 2020 Raffle Quilt here and Heather Rafuse’s wonderful trunk show here. Be sure and take the time to enjoy these quilts!

Here are a few pictures to tempt you to look at more!

Vicki’s quilt Atomic Star Burst, pattern by Violet Craft, machine pieced and machine quilted by Donna Hazelton.

Our 2020 Raffle Quilt, pieced by Jill Green and machine quilted by Colleen Paton. Great job, beautiful quilt. Ticket packages will be available soon!  Design by Jane Koelker which appeared in Quilting Daily as a free pattern.

It is a queen size quilt but just look at those tiny nine patches!

Original pattern by Heather Rafuse. Be sure and check out her photo album. I don’t think there is a quilting technique that Heather hasn’t tried!

Be sure and mark your calendar for Monday November 4 for our next meeting!

Next month be sure and take the time to fill out the new sew and tell form – legibly! We are asking for more information from you about your sew and tell pieces. It is important to acknowledge who quilted your quilt, pattern name and designer! The information is important!

Angela with one of her needlepoints called “Creation”, there are 7 that she is doing, each one takes about 10 months to complete!

We had a wonderful program with member Angela Clifton, not only did she share her beautiful quilts but many other examples of needlework, cross-stitch, knitting, made to measure bras and a teddy bear! Angela is certainly a very gifted stitcher and she has a wonderful sense of humour. someone commented “I wonder what her husband does”… so I asked her and her quick response was “dishes”!! Thanks Angela for sharing your treasures and works in progress. we’ll look forward to seeing more at future meetings.

Origami patchwork (I believe there is a book in the library about this technique).

Be sure and see more of Angela’s program in our Flickr album here. (Remember to click on the red “here” to take you to the album).

Here are some links that Angela mentioned  – CUSTOM FIT KNITTING PATTERNS – Amy Herzog Custom-Fit Sweaters https://customfit.amyherzogdesigns.com
SOCKS – Judy’s Magic Loop Cast On https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=judy’s+magic+loop+cast+on&qpvt=judy%27s+magic+loop+cast+on&FORM=VDRE
BRA MAKING https://www.braandcorsetsupplies.com
 

We were delighted to have 3 of our new members, Judy Cooper, Janet Joyce and Isabel Burgess (Isabel who is from Paradise in the Valley, won a membership at our Extraordinary Tea last spring). Welcome to you all! We also had 2 of our “Life Members” join us, Sandy Alexander and Sandy Bruce.

We are a big guild, we always get a lot of members to our meetings, it can be overwhelming but by hosting an afternoon tea it gives us a chance to spend time and get to know our new members. We understand that it is hard to get everyone out on any given day, we were missing quite a few new members and wished they could have joined us. Please don’t hesitate to raise your hand to ask a question, approach any of the executive if you have a question or a suggestion. All new members are given a “Guild Glossary” when they join, be sure and read through it, the more you now about the Guild the more you will get out of it.

For the new members who couldn’t make the tea, you are very welcome to join us at our Slow Quilting afternoons at the Biscuit Eater Cafe (16 Orchard St., Mahone Bay) on Monday September 30 from 2-4pm. Even if you don’t have any hand sewing/quilting to do come out and meet you other Guild members, we always have lots to chat about! Future dates are October 21 and November 18. Slow Quilting is open to all members.

Also a reminder about emails, all Guild related emails come from Krista Garber, usually an email about the Guild will have “MBQG” in the subject line. Be sure and read them, be aware of what is going on so you don’t miss anything!

A few more pictures can be found on our Flickr pages (just click on the red “here” link) here

Yes, our new Guild year is about to start – Monday September 9 (one week from today), 7pm at Trinity United Church Hall in Mahone Bay. The hall opens at 6:30pm. We are happy to welcome new members ($30 membership dues). Guests are welcome to come to a maximum of 2  meetings to check us out, after that we ask you to please join! We have an exciting lineup of programs and workshops coming up. As well we are looking forward to our annual Retreat to The Quarterdeck Resort at Summerville Beach in the spring, our bi-annual quilt show next fall (2020) and our Extraordinary Quilter in the spring, more news on that soon.

There will be a few new faces on the executive and various committees this year. Above is Jill Greene who is taking over the photography duties so please be sure and smile when you see Jill!

Coming up soon (September 16) is our new members tea. This will be the third year we have welcomed our new members to an afternoon of tea and sweets and conversations all about quilting and our Guild.

Have you paid your dues ($30) for this year? If not please come prepared to do so at the September meeting, anyone who does not renew by September 15 will be removed from the membership list.

Did you see Angela Clifton’s beautiful Christmas Baltimore Album quilt at the DesBrisay Museum in Bridgewater this summer? Angela will be presenting a wonderful trunk show of her quilts at our September meeting and as well Sandy Ternoway will be having a pop-up fabric sale before the meeting so come prepared with some cash! See you there!

It all started when my identical twin grandsons were born prematurely on May 5, 2007 at the IWK. Ben weighed 2lbs and Liam weighed 2lbs 10 oz. They had a very difficult start to life, especially Liam. We spent many hours at the NICU over the next 3 months and periodically little quilts would appear on the linen cart. I asked where they came from and the nurses didn’t really know who had donated them. I asked if they wanted more, that I knew some quilters who would love to make some! And that is how it started. Sadly, Liam died on June 15, 2007 but I think of him every time I see a preemie quilt, knowing how comforting that quilt will be to other families just like they were to us. Ben is a happy, strong, active and very healthy 12 year old now. He is always eager to help deliver the preemie quilts so he can go back to the NICU and show the nurses just how well he is doing. He did that on Saturday and they were thrilled to see him and all the quilts. Thanks again!

Our quilt guild year is quickly coming to an end. September seems like only yesterday! We have our June pot luck dinner and AGM on June 3 along with a program presented by Heidi Wulfraat from “Woolworks” a local Mahone Bay yarn, wool and fabric shop. Be sure and visit her website here

We had a wonderful May meeting, show and tell and program. Our Guild members continue to impress and inspire us! Be sure and visit our Flickr pages to see pictures from our Yard Sale our May show and tell and Vicki’s wonderful presentation of her bags here.

You can find Vicki’s list of her sources for bag patterns, hardware etc just to the right of this post under “Piecemakers By The Sea” right at the bottom of the list!

This is our big 19th Extraordinary Quilter week coming up. We are so thrilled to be welcoming Elaine Quehl back to Nova Scotia. Elaine will present a trunk show at our “Afternoon Tea and Quilts By The Sea” to 170 eager quilters and friends. Then she will teach at a 2 day workshop and then a 1 day workshop. Watch this space for pictures from all the events!

Sandy, Ann, Linda N, Rose and a visitor

At our Guild meeting in January I suggested we start a “Slow Quilting” group that would meet at the Biscuit Eater Cafe in Mahone Bay on the second and fourth Monday afternoon, we would bring any hand sewing/quilting/embroidery project and we would stitch away for a couple of hours enjoying each others company along with some delicious savouries and sweets. It has been a wonderful success! We have had anywhere from 6 to 16 show up! We have the “library” room to ourselves except usually every week we have a visitor or two from the cafe clientele who are curious as to what we are doing.

Rose finished a preemie quilt for the IWK NICU.

There are the “regulars” who come every week and then there are those who pop in whenever they can. We welcome everyone, come when you can! There is no schedule but usually there are projects to share, quilts to be seen and demonstrations of various techniques.

Gail finished a quilt for her grandchild.

I was curious as to what was out there on this world wide internet on “Slow Quilting” and I found that there are pages on Pinterest https://www.pinterest.ca/kdschuster/slow-stitching/?lp=true

There are blogs and websites devoted to “Slow Sewing” https://www.seasonedhomemaker.com/the-life-changing-magic-of-slow-sewing/

And there is a whole “movement started by Mark Lipinski of Quilters Home Magazine fame http://www.slowstitching.com/home.html

So if you are in Mahone Bay on Monday afternoon (2-4pm) August 27 or Sept 17 (due to our late Guild meeting and our Quilt Show we are just meeting once in September) stop by the Biscuit Eater Cafe (Orchard St, just off Main St around the corner from the Tea Brewery). We would love to see you!