Gill Towell Talk - by Lyn

My first meeting of 2024 following a debilitating broken arm and travels to Australia. Lovely to return to the buzz of Shirley Quilters and be presented with my annual programme envelope, fabric to make a Christmas stocking and strips of fabric to contribute to the Linus blocks. I am in absolute awe of the dedication and organisation of the SQ committee.

This was an Open Meeting and it was good to welcome several visitors. Following an update by Deirdre on forthcoming events, our guest speaker was introduced to an expectant audience.

It was interesting to learn about Gill’s journey from working as an engineer to setting up GillyMac Designs 10 years ago. She has won national awards with her children’s classes and was recruited to teach classes for Liberty of London. She works nationally for the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles and was recently participating in major shows, collaborating with Janome.  Impressive credentials!  A detailed biography can be found on her website www.gillymacdesigns.com

Gill’s enthusiasm for quilting and the joyful pieces she brought along to the meeting for us all to look at in detail was inspiring. It was really helpful to have the opportunity to handle some of the samples she brought along which demonstrated quilting using a walking or ruler foot and free motion.

As a relative newcomer to quilting, I learnt about some new techniques I hope to try, and pieces of equipment I may need to purchase! I also learnt that I had been pronouncing the brand of my sewing machine incorrectly!

After the presentation, there were animated conversations between Shirley Quilters and guests and an opportunity to chat to Gill and look at her work in more detail.

There is a wealth of information and ideas on the GillyMac website, together with her Facebook pages, Instagram and her YouTube channel.

And good news! There will be an opportunity to see Gill in action again on Saturday 22 June when she will be running a workshop to make a table runner for a lucky 15 quilters.