ROWmakers 2014- the first meeting

Here is a report from our convenor Joanne about the first meeting of the year on 12 Feb (ROW= rowdy on Wednesday):

What an overwhelming meeting this morning was! Forty-seven has to be a new record. Welcome to our new members and please don’t be put off – we’re not called ROW(rhyming with Cow)MAKERS for nothing!

The first block is always the hardest. If you have any questions just email. When you’ve done it before you tend to take things for granted that may be confusing to new people.We do tend to calm down a bit after the first meeting. And you wouldn’t be the first to wait until after the second meeting before jumping in (or the first to re-do their first block). That way you get a feel for how broadly the INGREDIENTS can be interpreted.

Speaking of the INGREDIENTS – what side of the bed did you lot get up on this morning! Thank heavens the Guideline is two out of four.

  •  The COLOUR INGREDIENT is PINK (Cornelia Rippon).
  • The TECHNIQUE INGREDIENT is LIBERATED/IMPROVISED (Shirley Rollins).
  • The first ALPHABET INGREDIENT is “G” (Gaie Ross).
  • The second ALPHABET INGREDIENT is “Z” (Jan Eldridge).

Remember, the guideline is – at least one of COLOUR and TECHNIQUE, and at least one of the ALPHABET choices. You certainly don’t have to include them all.  In the past we’ve always had over-achievers but including all four will challenge even them. Especially this group of four! 

We haven’t used the alphabet as ingredients before so it’s worth elaborating a bit.  The idea is to include something beginning with that letter – it could be on the fabric, a colour, a block name, a technique, something pictured a place or a ‘theme’ – or whatever takes your fancy.

For example, “Z” could be – zodiac, zany, zero, zebra, zig zag, zinnia, zoo or zen. Or something that reminded you of any of them. (Hint: dictionaries can help!)Books with block names can also be useful. For “G”, there are lots starting with garden, grandma and geometric and ,of course, that “G”olden Oldie -Flying Geese.“G” also gives us grey, green, gerbera, giraffe, geisha, ginko, gothic, greek, golf, goanna, globe, grille, gold, girl, glass, grotesque, great, gigantic and what some of you looked – gloomy.

Literally anything goes. While some of the group are going to try a medallion quilt, you can choose to do whatever you wish – a row quilt, a block quilt or a series of items. It’s your choice and if you don’t finish we all know that LIFE often gets in the way of our best-laid plans. It’s really all about having fun and NOT STRESSING! If you don’t like the ingredients then just ignore them.

Feb_02
Joanne explains to some of the crowd
Feb_03
Some of the 47 at the meeting

 

As you can tell from Joanne’s description there are four columns of ingredients this year- colour, technique and two alphabet columns (odd letters and even letters). Each month one element will be chosen from each column. You need to incorporate at least one from colour/technique and one from the alphabet. If you would like to be added to the email list please contact blog@canberraquilters.org,au and your name will be added to the circulation list. The next meeting will be on the second Wednesday in March – 12 March 10am for a 10.30am start.

At the meeting we had one of the quilt tops from last year on display, by Yvonne. She has used Japanese fabric and design elements as her overarching theme.

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Yvonne’s quilt blocks – the centre 9 meet the monthly criteria, it will be surrounded by the sashiko blocks

 

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