Chairperson Miriam Gogarty with President Mary McAleese

Chairperson Miriam Gogarty recently presented President Mary McAleese with "Emma's Tree". The President was very impressed with the wall-hanging and said that it will hang in her home in Roscommon for Christmas.

A pattern for making "Emma's Tree" is included in the Winter Issue of the IPS Newsletter.

How to make fabric postcards

HOW TO M AKE A FABRIC POSTCARD.

Materials:

• Bondaweb
• Pelmet Vilene
• Plain fabric for the back (The writing side)
• Fabric for the front.

Method:
Cut Bondaweb and 2 pieces of pelmet Vilene to measure 6” x 4”

Cut the backing fabric - also 6” x 4” and bond onto one piece of Vilene.

Write or stitch POSTCARD on the back and also a line down the centre of the card.

Now for the fun part.

You can cut a base fabric for the front of the post card and bond it to the second piece of Vilene. You are now ready to decorate in whatever way you choose. You can finish your card with appliqué, piece, embroider or just about anything. In the case of the International Postcard Exhibition it must suit the theme of the National Exhibition…Environmental, floral, landscape, etc.


When you have finished the front of the postcard, square off both front and back ensuring they measure 4” x 6”. Line both pieces up and stitch around the outside edge. You can use one of the fancy stitches on your machine or you can hand stitch it or you can put a binding on the edge. You may even have your own favourite method of joining the pieces and edging the cards.

Miriam Gogarty

Hands Across the Border Deadline

All Branch members please note that quilts for Hands across the Border must be in Dublin (at Miriam Gogarty's house) by December 17th which is the FINAL DATE.

You can contact an executive committee member to get Miriam's postal address.


Quilts for the Mid-west branch will be collected at their Christmas meeting (Dec 10th)

Limerick Quilt Retreat 2011

For the 1st time ever the Irish Patchwork Society has decided to run a Quilt Retreat Weekend in 2011.

This is will be different to the An Grianan weekend, as there wil be no scheduled teachers or workshops. Instead, this will be a social weekend where you have the entire weekend to work on projects and catch up with IPS friends from around the country. This could also be the perfect opportunitity to finish up your "Branching Out" quilts for the upcoming exhibitions.

The weekend will run for the weekend of Friday 18th February to Sunday 20th February 2011 at the Limerick Strand Hotel, Limerick City.

There is a reduced rate of €169 per person sharing in a twin room for the weekend. This includes 2 night bed and breakfast and 2 evening meals. Single supplement is €40 for the weekend.

Also included in this price the use of a large "sewing room" for members which is at the top of the hotel and has wonderful views over the Shannon. This "sewing room" will be set up so that people can use it till late on Friday night, all through Saturday, and on Sunday until 4pm. 

Booking is via the reservations number 061-421890 for Irish Patchwork Society members. Note: People will have to make the bookings with the hotel themselves!

The Limerick Strand Hotel, Ennis Road, Limerick is centrally located in the city, so it should be easy to get to for most people. There is an on-site underground car-park with 200 spaces (€5 per 24 hours).
The hotel also has a heated 20m swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna, gym room etc. so there is plenty of amenities on-site. See http://www.strandhotellimerick.ie/ for further details.

South-West Branch "Branching Out" Exhibition

The South-West (Kerry) Branch will be holding its Local "Branching Out" Exhibition at the Killarney Outlet Centre on 23-25th April (Easter Weekend). 

The Killarney Outlet Centre is conveniently located in the centre of Killarney adjacent to the Malton Hotel, the Bus Station and the Railway Station. See http://www.killarneyoutletcentre.com/

The centre is open Mon-Sat: 10am-6pm, Sun: 12pm-6pm, Bank Holiday Monday: 12pm-6pm.

Congratulations to Bernadette Falvey

Congratulations to Western Branch Member Bernadette Falvey who won a prize for her piece in "Tread Softly" a recent exhibition run by the Crafts Council of Ireland.

Further details will be in the Winter Issue of the IPS Newsletter.

Quilting in America Survey

For those who might be interested here's a link to a 2010 survey of American quilters. Quilting Survey
Wonder if any of it compares to Irish quilters??

According to the survey, the average quilter is 62 years of age and has been quilting for an average of 16 years.

"Branching Out" Postcard Exhibition

As part of the celebrations for the 30th Anniversary of the Irish Patchwork Society in 2011, we have decided to run a postcard exhibition in conjunction with the Special National Exhibition.

We hope to get National and International Postcard Entries for the Exhibition.

• Postcards must be on the theme of "Branching Out" i.e. horticultural, flora, botannical and environmental themes.
• Must be standard postcard size i.e. 4 x 6 inches
• Must be fabric-based
• Postcards must be sent through the post (i.e. stamped, not posted in an envelope).
• Send all postcards to the Irish Patchwork Society PO Box. Address is The Irish Patchwork Society, PO Box 45, Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland.
• The postcards are non-returnable. Instead all the postcards will be put up for raffle/auction at the Knitting and Stitching Show 2011. All proceeds raised will go to Breast Cancer Ireland.

The "Branching Out" National Exhibition will be on display in the Botanic Gardens from July 2nd to August 2nd.

Details on how make fabric postcards will be in the Winter Issue of the IPS Newsletter.
Further instructions on making fabric postcards will be displayed on the blog in the coming weeks

Irish Patchwork Stand at the Recent Knitting & Stitching Show

Some photos of the Irish Patchwork Society's stand at the recent Knitting and Stitching Show

Celebrate 30 years of IPS in 2011

The Irish Patchwork Society will be 30 years promoting patchwork and quilting in Ireland in 2011. To celebrate this event there will be exhibtions of our members work across the country. Each of our branches will be hosting a local exhibtion between January and May to be followed by a national exhibtion in July. The National Exhibition will be exhibited in the Botanic Gardens, Dublin. Members can get more details of Branch exhibitions from their branch.

Visit IPS at the Knitting & Stitch show.

The Irish Patchwork Society will be at the Knitting & Stitching Show in the RDS, Dublin from Thursday 28th October until Sunday 31st October. We will have stands where you can meet our members, see their work and see copies of our newsletter. We hope you will be inspired to join one of our 8 branches that meet regularly all over Ireland. Our diaries and branch locations will be available at our stand and on this site.

For more information about the Knitting & Stitching Show in Dublin, visit the TwistedThread website.

AGM Event - 2nd October 2010

The Annual General Meeting of the Irish Patchwork Society is on 2nd October 2010 at the Ashling Hotel, Parkgate Street, Dublin. Proceedings start at 11am with registration from 10am.

Our afternoon speaker is Margaret Woodside, and two workshops with Margaret are also arranged for Sunday 3rd and Monday 4th October. Requirements for the workshops are available here.

Members wishing to attend for lunch and the afternoon speaker or the workshops should email workshops.ipseastern@gmail.com.

Q for Quilts quilts!

Several views of the "Q for Quilts" exhibition opening in C.I.T. in Cork on Saturday the 4th of September. A collection of all the quilts from the exhibition will be available to view on the website soon and the beautiful catalogue is available from the Southern Branch.

Laura Wasilowski Workshops

Students hard at work during day one of Laura Wasilowski's workshops. Which where organised as part of the "Q for Quilts" celebrations in C.I.T. in Cork sunday and monday the 5th and 6th of September. Laura is a wonderful tutor with a wicked sense of humour and a wonderful singing voice.

The Irish Patchwork Society National Exhibition "Q for Quilts" opened last Saturday in C.I.T. in Cork with 90 quilts on view and a large crowd in attendance. Members turned up from all over the country to attend the opening and the workshops given by Laura Wasilowski on the sunday and monday. Throughout the week quilters travelled from far and wide to see the wonderful quilts.

2010 National Exhibition - Q is for Quilts

The IPS, Southern Branch invites all IPS members to submit quilts for the National Exhibition, Q is for Quilts.

Entries are open to all members of the Irish Patchwork Society and the entry form should be with the Southern Branch by 29th June 2010. The quilt should be delivered by 6th August 2010.

Full details and the entry form are available here and also in the current edition of the newsletter.

The exhibition will be held in Cork Institute of Technology, Bishopstown, Cork from 10am-4pm daily, 4th-11th September 2010,

Galway Exhibition

National Exhibition Details

Traditional Quilt and Natural Foliage Display

As part of the Tinahely Walking Festival, there will be a Traditional Quilt and Natural Foliage display in Kilcommon Church, Tinahely.

Rebecca Hadden a floral artist from Tinahely and Evelyn Shannon a traditional quilter from Carnew have joined forces to present a fresh and innovative display. This exhibition will show case a vast array of natural foliage which have been specially selected and arranged to complement a wide variety of traditional quilts which have taiken years of tender loving care and hard work to complete.

It will be open on Saturday 17th April 10am - 8pm and on Sunday 12.30pm - 5pm.
Donations at the door in aid of the Wicklow Mountain Rescue. All are welcome to come along and enjoy the experience with both exhibitors on hand to discuss and answer any questions. For more information contact Evelyn on 086-8507518.

IPS at An Grianan

Ferret with "Miss Baltimore"

A group of quilters and patchworkers from the IPS enjoyed a fantastic weekend of classes and fun from 12th-14th February. We were treated to an informative and entertaining talk from Ferret on Friday evening with workshops on Saturday and Sunday from teachers such as Ineke Berlyn and Mary Palmer.