2020 February Meeting
February Meeting - by Viv
This month’s Shirley Quilters meeting was a mammoth show and tell to celebrate the 20th anniversary. To say it was an absolutely amazing evening does not do it justice. Quilters who were the original members of the group, quilters who have been members for quite a while and quilters who have been in the group for only a few years brought in the different quilts and projects they have made over that time. I began the evening by counting all the quilts which were shown to us. By the time I had viewed 128 quilts and Challenge projects, I was so overawed by the beauty of the quilts and the skills of the quilters that I forgot to continue counting. The quilts and challenges were displayed in the order from the years that they were made, (2000 - 2019). The selection of projects and challenges was astonishing, everyone was inspired by the variety seen in each quilt from the same challenge. Claire has a list. They were all different but all had a beauty of their own.
A previous Shirley Quilters' chairperson had dropped off the very first ‘Paradise Block ‘ group project quilt that she had stored in her loft. Janet T also had the very first quilt project that she made when she joined Shirley Quilters in 2000. Towards the end of evening a member showed us a beautiful Japanese themed quilt that she had been started making 20 years ago and had just finally finished.
Janet also told the gathered members that she was moving to a smaller home and had brought in a selection of previous challenges and quilts that she no longer would have space for. We were given a free raffle ticket when we first arrived at the quilters' meeting, and Janet donated all these quilts as prizes.
What did I personally take away from the meeting? Amazement at seeing all the beautiful quilts, awe at seeing the combined skills of the quilters, and inspiration that if I keep trying I may one day produce such beautiful items.