Category Archives: GuildUpdate

Show’s On! At the Grand Manan Art Gallery

The Tidal Threads Guild has a room at the Grand Manan Art Gallery‘s final show of the season  — come see the beautiful work, now through September 22, 2018!

Here are a couple “teaser” photos from the show:

Tidal Threads Coming to the Grand Manan Art Gallery!

Fibre art from Tidal Threads will be on display as part of the Grand Manan Art Gallery‘s final show of the 2018 season.  The show runs from September 8 to 22, 2018.  The opening reception will be at 7pm on September 8, at the gallery.

Come enjoy the show!

Announcement for Grand Manan Art Gallery final show 2018

 

 

Meeting June 29, 2017

Greetings to all,
Had a great crowd at our gathering yesterday, and welcomed back (like the swallows to Capistrano, as Mary said!) Leslie D, Hilda S, Kathy H, and Sandra I. We also welcomed summer visitor Inge from Moncton, who brought her spinning wheel, and gave a brief demo of her drop spinner, and how she spins raw wool into yarn. She showed us a shawl that she had knit from her own spun yarn. Inge hopes to return to GM and stay longer next time!
The church is making big improvements to their hall and sanctuary entrances, with the installation of a concrete ramp along the side of the church and new steps to the front and side doors. So there was noise and dust, but all for a good cause.
We reminded all present of our long-delayed potluck to be held on July 13, when our Maine visitors are here. Please bring your favourite dish, anything EXCEPT dessert, which is taken care of. Also, please be sure to bring some examples of work you have completed over the past year for our annual Show ‘n Tell prior to the luncheon at 11:30. Our meeting will start at 9:30, as usual, in the hall. I won’t be in attendance next week on July 6, but perhaps some of you can get together to decide who will bring paper plates and napkins, some tablecloths, etc. If someone wants to make a punch that would be great, but not a necessity.
Our other point of discussion, other than announcement of events on the island this weekend, was the gift of our Setting Day quilt (2011). This quilt was won by Frank Longstaff, a now retired lawyer whose office in the business centre has been the repository of the quilt for the past 6 years. Now that he won’t be in the office here any more, Frank has kindly given the quilt back to the guild for disposition. Thanks to Mary H, who discovered that there is a biennial contest to add to the NB Museum’s collection of NB quilts made since 1960. This quilt would seem to be a good example for this contest, so we will enter it, with photos and artists’ statement, etc., before the August deadline. If chosen, the NB Museum will purchase the quilt at fair market value to add to their collection. We are so appreciative of Frank’s gift, and should our quilt be chosen, we will determine the destination of the purchase money at that time. Thanks, Mary, for your efforts!
Photos below show Inge and her shawl, Janice “stripping” in preparation for a new hooking project, my little quilt called “Red Sky at Night”, Sandra I’s quilt made from a bundle she received 2-3 years ago at our show and tell with the Maine group, and lastly, Setting Day, our raffle quilt won by Frank Longstaff in 2011.
Hope you all have a great Canada 150 weekend. As an immigrant, I am particularly grateful to live in our wonderful country, and in such a beautiful spot as Grand Manan.

Meeting April6, 2017

Good morning!

Sun is just coming out as I sit down to catch up on emails.  We welcomed back Ce B. and Wendy D. from their winter escapes, and look forward to seeing other snowbirds start to return in the next few weeks.

Below are a few pictures from our last week’s gathering, plus a pretty Canada 150 project that was posted on the Quilting in Canada Facebook page.  The table topper was posted by Gwenne Beck-Pottier – have no idea where she is from, but she does very nice work!  Note that she has used some of the same fabric that we did in our Ronald McDonald house quilts.

Don’t forget our potluck lunch on Thursday, May 11!






March 9 Meeting

Lots of COLOUR today! As I went around the tables with my cell phone camera, the use of colour in both knitting and quilting really came to the fore. We have so many talented members!
There are lots of photos today, and I will try to tell you about them in order below. Sorry about the sideways views of Dawn’s labour of love. It’s been a long haul, but she has finished the fancy binding on Charlotte Winchester’s hand pieced and hand quilted masterpiece in the double wedding ring pattern. Charlotte did all the hand-piecing and started the quilting before she passed away. Dawn had a look at it nearly 2 years ago, and brought it to completion after many, many hours of handwork.
Wendy P shows off her colourful scarf, Ineke DeV is knitting a gray sweater of her own design, and Joan B has completed two blue children’s sweaters for great grandchildren. Next is a darling baby sweater in sherbet colours being knit by Debbie C, I think, and a classic hooked mat of a clothesline by Janice N. Not sure about who made the purple and magenta sock; Peg S. continues to work on her never ending crop of fisherman’s socks. Pam Cronk is knitting one of her Whale Cove Knitters’ lupin designs, and the little sheep was hooked by Janice, I believe. Margo B. arrived with blocks from a quilt she started a couple of years ago – again with great use of colour. And last but not least, our group of quilters (Wendy P, Pauline G, Dawn L, Janice N, and Mary B) who worked on the CQA quilt tops for Ronald McDonald Houses across Canada. This top, and a smaller edition, will be sent off to Ontario for quilting soon. Missing from the quilting group were Debbie C. and Martha E.
A reminder to mark your May calendar for our luncheon on the 11th, our regular meeting day.

Meeting Feb. 23, 2017


Hello all,

Can you believe that February will end tomorrow?  Where does the time go?  All those at guild this past Thursday have been busy with various projects, and I managed to get some photos this week.  

Our oft-delayed luncheon has been re-scheduled to MAY 11 so that some of our summer folk can attend.  

We are progressing nicely on our CQA project of quilt tops for Ronald McDonald Houses across Canada.  I’m quite sure that next week we will have photos of the two tops we’ve made, and will be able to send them off to Ontario for machine quilting.

Next week we will continue with sign ups for snacks for the next 4-5 weeks….please take your turn!

Freda was discharged from the hospital this past Friday, and is slowly recovering at home from her fall the week before.

Photos this week include Dawn L. getting the Wedding Ring quilt ready for binding with Nancy E.’s help, a sparkly, multicoloured sock by Wendy P., a cute green toque made by Pam C. for her son, and a lovely little pink baby sweater and hat by Mabel for Peg’s mission project.  Mary H. made the small whale hanging and wonderful whale quilt, and Judy M the stunning patterned mitt.  There is also a close-up of one of the blocks for CQA that was embroidered by Wendy P. and my Civil War reproduction quilt calledArrowhead.

Hello all,

Can you believe that February will end tomorrow?  Where does the time go?  All those at guild this past Thursday have been busy with various projects, and I managed to get some photos this week.  

Our oft-delayed luncheon has been re-scheduled to MAY 11 so that some of our summer folk can attend.  

We are progressing nicely on our CQA project of quilt tops for Ronald McDonald Houses across Canada.  I’m quite sure that next week we will have photos of the two tops we’ve made, and will be able to send them off to Ontario for machine quilting.

Next week we will continue with sign ups for snacks for the next 4-5 weeks….please take your turn!

Freda was discharged from the hospital this past Friday, and is slowly recovering at home from her fall the week before.

Photos this week include Dawn L. getting the Wedding Ring quilt ready for binding with Nancy E.’s help, a sparkly, multicoloured sock by Wendy P., a cute green toque made by Debbie C for her son-in-law, and a lovely little pink baby sweater and hat by Mabel for Peg’s mission project.  Mary H. made the small whale hanging and wonderful whale quilt, and Judy M the stunning patterned mitt.  There is also a close-up of one of the blocks for CQA that was embroidered by Wendy P. and my Civil War reproduction quilt calledArrowhead.









Meeting and CQA Big Quilting Bee Project Day


The usual suspects were at guild today, knitting, caning, chatting, and quilting.  After lunch Janice, Dawn, Pauline, Debbie, and I remained behind to continue to work on the CQA Canada 150 Big Quilt Bee project, and we got a lot accomplished.  Fifteen new blocks were made, and the top row of the larger of 2 quilt tops was sewn together.  Our backs gave out about 2:30, but it was great to share this project together.  Also Wendy P. has magically machine embroidered “Grand Manan Island” on a couple of our blocks, and will do a couple of others when we are ready.  It looks great!  We still have 7 or 8 blocks to complete, and then will be able to send a small quilt top along with the larger one we laid out today.

Speaking of Wendys, I got an email from Wendy D. today telling of her week’s visit with Erleen, whom many of you know.  She is doing well, has many friends at her assisted living facility in Minneapolis, MN, and she and Wendy had a great visit to museums and galleries, as well as playing lots of Scrabble and catching up on island gossip.

Also got a note from Judy M. who sent along a photo of a pair of Scandinavian mitts she has just completed, which you can see below.  If anyone else who is away has done any knitting or other craft please send along a photo to me, and I will post it here.

Again I might recommend joining the Facebook Group called Quilting in Canada.  There are over 1000 members and some of the work is amazing!  I posted our work today on that site, and will do likewise to the NB Quilters Gather FB page.  Nothing wrong with blowing our own horn!




Fw: Meeting Jan. 12, 2017


What a beautiful morning here!  

It was great to see all our guild friends at our gathering on Thursday.  Completed projects were on display, and it seemed that just about everyone has a knitting project on the go, from socks to baby sweaters.  Please note the cute dog ball cap that Wendy made – see the ear holes?

We decided that our postponed Potluck Luncheon will be held on Feb. 9, with a Valentine’s Day theme. Please bring your favourite dish, salad, casserole, or dessert, and we will eat around 11:30.

This coming THURSDAY, JAN. 19th, we will have a workday starting at 9:30 to see if we can finish up the blocks for the CQA project  of making quilts for Ronald McDonald Houses across Canada.  I have seen some of the quilts online that have been completed by guilds and their members across the country.  If you are a Facebook user, you may want to look for the page called “Quilting in Canada”, where many of these quilts are pictured.  Please bring your machine and rotary cutters, extra bobbins, etc.  If you wish, bring a sandwich for lunch.  We will work till about 2 when the church usually has their Bible study group.  We have about 15 blocks done so far.  I would like to see a total of 36 blocks, enabling us to send a baby-sized top (12 blocks) and a larger child’s quilt top (24 blocks) to the CQA Big Quilt Bee. 




Meeting Nov. 10, 2016

Good Day!

We had a nice group today at guild.  Nancy McH has finished her “Disappearing Four-Patch Quilt”, with binding and label completed.  She was also wearing a sweater she recently knit.  Freda is working on a lap quilt from a kit she bought from Sande Gunning at our show in July.  The colours are lovely!
Janice is hooking a cute rug/hanging with laundry blowing in the breeze, Ce was knitting, and Ineke is starting her first quilt.  Lots of socks and sweaters being knit by other members.

Next week we will decide on a date for our annual Christmas Potluck, which will be on a Thursday at noon.

I have formatted some membership cards for the guild so that members can show them at Marden’s and other quilt shops that give discounts to guild members.  I will bring them next week to our meeting.



Meeting Oct. 20, 2016

Great progress today on our “Moose Quilt” for CQA’s 150th Birthday project.  Quilt guild members from all over Canada have been asked to make blocks using Canada Birthday fabric to make “slab” blocks (more or less like log cabin blocks, but with leeway) and send them in to CQA by May, 2017.  The blocks will be assembled and machine quilted at a giant quilting bee in May, and will be given to all the Ronald MacDonald Houses across Canada.  The goal is to make 1000 quilts for this project.

We are well on our way to making a quilt for a small child (36″ x 48″) or, if we get ambitious, one for an older child (48″ x 72″).  We have chosen to fussy cut moose out of the special birthday fabrics to be the focal point of each block.  See below for a photo of our first 3 blocks.  Thanks to Nancy McH., Janice N, Mary H, Mary B, and Dawn L for their help this morning.  It felt good to have a project to focus on that didn’t mean a lot of stress and pressure!

We bid farewell this morning to Diana B and Mary H who will not be with us over the winter.  

Tis the season for knitting SOCKS!  There are plenty of socks being knit up for the upcoming cold weather as well as for gifts.  Chair caning and rug hooking are also on the go.  Mary H. brought in 3 wool “trees” made from one of Sande Gunning’s kits, and Ruth C brought in her blocks from a scrap quilt she is working on.  I will try to remember to bring my camera next week!