September thru June
September 21st 2023
Program: Needle and Felt Demo and Trunk Show
Presenter: Larissa Rintjema
Larissa is a local artist who specializes in Needle Art and Felting. She gave an introduction of this craft to our membership.
October 19th 2023
Program: Tumble Quilts and Trunk Show
Presenter: Valerie Prideaux
“I loved quilting from the moment I started my very first quilt. Playing with colour, moving blocks on my design wall until I hit the perfect layout -this was- and is- my happy place. Years ago, I took a class where I made a quilt based on one shape. I can’t remember what the shape was, but the simplicity appealed to me. I had made a few tumbler quilts and found it a very versatile shape. And it allowed me to play with colour. Along came COVID, and I made tumbler quilt after tumbler quilt. One design layout led to another, and suddenly I had over 20 quilts made.
I was so sure other people would love this too, and I submitted the idea to C&T Publishing. I got an emphatic YES almost immediately, and Tumbler Quilts: Just One Shape, Endless Possibilities was begun.
My talk will show a wide variety of design possibilities that can be achieved with this shape and will also touch on my journey as a quilt book author. I am especially excited to share the quilts I have made with you, and hopefully inspire you to keep it simple!”
November 16th 2023
Program: Feedsack Vintage Quilts
Presenter: Nina Stahlschmidt
“I have been a hand quilter for 53 years and just love it. In 1980’s I owned and operated Ambleside Quilts in Fonthill for 10 years. 1995 I got interested in cotton Canadian Feed Bags and have carried on from there. I have also written a book “Canadian Feed Bags -Recycled Then and Now”.
I will bring a few copies of my book for sale -$34.95. I am a founding member of both the Niagara Heritage Guild and the Canadian Quilters Assoc.
My presentation and lecture on November 16th/23 will feature the history of bags from 1850 to the present day; including hand quilted quilts made from bags and lots of information re using these vintage textiles.
If any of your members have quilts or items made from bags or just bags, please ask them to bring their items for Show & Tell so we can all enjoy”.
December 12th 2023 – Appetizer Pot Luck Peach King Centre
Program: Grantham Book display
Presenter: Bert
January 18th 2024:
Program Trunk Show: My Quilting Journey
Presenter: Barbara Anyon
“I started quilting 10 years ago. Took some classes at our local quilt shop to learn the basics and the interesting skills and techniques I just did on my own. A friend had me join the Niagara Heritage quilt guild and while there I was treasurer for 2 years, membership coordinator for 2 years, ran the members sales at our quilt show and volunteered regularly for the community quilt group for local charities.
I then joined a group called Project Smile who met at the church once a month and made quilts for children at the cancer Center in Hamilton and Sick kids in Toronto.
I was president of this group for 2-year term as well. At this time a small group that called themselves the Treadhedz asked me to join them. There were 8 of us and this elite group of quilters taught me so much I was humbled to be asked to join them.
We specialize in original designs,(no patterns), and made amazing art quilts.
At this point I am now a member of the Niagara Modern quilt guild. New fabrics, new patters, bright colours, solids with negative space and asymmetrical layouts.
I have been treasurer for 4 years here and my term is just coming to an end. I am again running the members sales at our quilt show coming in May of next year.
I teach classes at different shops and do truck shows at southern Ontario guilds. It has been a busy but enjoyable adventure”.
January 31st, 2024 ZOOM MEETING
Program: My Top 10 Art Quilt Techniques
Presenter: Helen Godden
With a slide show and Q&A discussion, grab a cuppa tea as I share my favourite techniques that I use to create my art quilts. I discuss painting with acrylic on fabric, my easy ways to painting with dye & salt, and my “secret squirrel” technique of painting with bleach. I share free-motion yarn couching techniques and how I physically manage my current passion to quilt BIG! I probably share too much including my shoe size! We enjoy a chat for 45minutes – 1hour with Q & A.
Helen is an Extreme Free-Motion-Machine-Quilter (EFMMQ).
She has been an artist all her life and came into quilting at age 38.
Helen has been awarded many times for innovative quilts, both internationally and nationally and she is the Handi Quilter Ambassador for the Sweet Sixteen quilting machine, and now the Capri and Amara Stationary machine too.
She is lucky enough to travel and teach and share her love of quilting far and wide. Helen’s goal is to “Educate and Inspire” all quilters as they launch into the world of possibilities that is Art Quilting.
Check out her website at https://helengodden.com
February 15th 2024 ZOOM MEETING
Program: “Stumbling Into Quilting”
Presenter: Joanne Kerton from Canuck Quilter Designs
Every quilter has a story. Discover my own 30-year adventure from Physics student to quilt pattern designer, with a few detours along the way. I’ll share how I discovered quilting and how it became a core part of my life as I finally figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up: a quilter! As I share my story, you will see photos of quilts that inspired me, and see the progression of my own work and style through the years.
Make it Your Own Presentation:
How do you take a pattern and create a quilt that is uniquely yours? Using my own quilt designs, we will explore how different choices alter the look and feel of a quilt. Backgrounds, borders, bindings and backs are often considered secondary to the block designs, but they have a significant impact on the finished quilt. I’ll share tips on fabric selection as well as ways to tweak a pattern and even mix and match elements from different patterns. Let’s learn to look at those patterns with new eyes!
March 21st 2024
Program: “My Life in Full Colour” trunk show
Presenter: Louise Hamilton
“I was raised as a farm kid in the Tavistock area. Life was pretty simple and we were always covered with quilts made by my relatives through the ages. The quilts were necessary to keep warm but they were all beautiful. I still have many of them. I just thought everyone had quilts. It was not until years later that I learned otherwise.
Life and two great kids happened and through the journey, quilting was my way of finding out who I was and calming me in all storms. Beautifully therapeutic I would say!
The quilts tell the twenty plus year story of my quilting journey. I have not kept record of my quilts as we know we should. I have no idea how many I have made or where they all ended up, but I still have enough to tell the story. I have hand quilted, tied, machine quilted on my domestic and now I long arm quilt.
I work closely with our quilt shop, Cherished Pieces in Tillsonburg. I long arm for her and her customers and sometimes I get to teach. I love to share the joy of quilting with people. I share as many tips and tricks as I can as we go along. I also teach for other groups or shops depending on demand.
Trunk shows are lots of fun to do because they tell a life journey in full colour! Sharing is what we are on the earth for, so I tell or teach anything that anyone asks. The quilts are all mine so it is easy to tell the story of when it was made, why and what the influences were that formed each quilt. I usually make more than one of each quilt, so I can send one off to the desired destination and I have one to remember the story.”
See below for some photos of my quilts
April 18th 2024
Program: “A Bit of This and A Bit of That” trunk show
Presenter – Rhita VanRyn
Rhita is a member of our guild who shared her quilting journey with us.
May 16th 2024
Program: “How Our Quilting Sees Us Through” presentation and trunk show
Presenter: Marilyn J Farquhar
Marilyn Farquhar is a modern and contemporary quilter from Coboconk, Ontario renowned for her floral pattern-work. Farquhar’s reputation as an imaginative, adventurous and gifted artist is known nationally and internationally. She has recent awards behind her name and an opportunity to encourage other quilters as the sole Canadian in a 12-member “inspiration squad” for Handi Quilter, a leader in the high-tech machine quilting market.
In January 2020, the RCMP killed her brother Barry Shantz in Abbotsford B.C. during a mental health crisis. One year later, Marilyn began an ambitious series of quilts as a way to process her grief. This series titled, Kairos: An Opportune Time For Action has since been exhibited at the Houston International Quilt Festival, The Reach Gallery & Museum, and
Quilt Conventions across North America.
June 20th 2024 Strawberry Social
President’s Challenge, Block of the Month and Extended Show and Tell.
Garage Sale
Workshops
November 27th, 2023 Rope Bowl Workshop with Annette Guenther
March 22nd, 2024 Bargello Table Runner with Louise Hamilton
Friday, March 22nd, 2024. Workshop runs from 9:30 am-3:30 pm but doors will be open at 9:00 am for set up.
Where: Southward Community Park Building at 84 Mud Street, Grassie L0R1M0. This facility is located at the Southward Community Park. From Grimsby, you go up Mountain Street to Mud Street and turn right on Mud Street. Southward Community Park is on the right.
Lunch and Snacks: Lunch is included in your $55 fee. It will be a choice of two soups (roasted butternut squash or potato and bacon chowder), garden salad and buns and butter. Grandoak Culinary Market is delivering this to us for 12:00 noon. They will provide disposable bowls, spoons etc.
During the day Coffee and tea will be provided. Please bring your own mug.
*** We are suggesting that everyone bring a snack to share. We’ll put this out with coffee and tea and then we can munch and sew all day long.