Irish Guild of Embroiderers

The Irish Guild of Embroiderers invite you to their exhibition "Off the Wall" (an exhibition of textile work).

The exhibition will be taking place in the Pearse Museum, St. Enda's Park, Dublin 14. (Tel. 01-493-4208) 

The exhibition runs from Saturday 3rd September till 30th September, 10am - 5pm.

At 10.30am Saturday 3rd September, Sue Rangeley will be giving a lecture. After the lecture, Sue will be officially opening the exhibition

Fashion Sans Frontier Slideshow

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Branching Out Slide Show

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Fashion Sans Frontier Event, Festival of Quilts

Last Thursday night (11th August) Ireland took on the UK and Russia in a fashion show (Fashion Sans Frontier). This fashion show was organised by Twisted Thread/Festival of Quilts.

Each of the countries had 4 people who each had to make 3 outfits and 1 accessory for the show.
The fashion show was great fun, Ireland had two great tables up near the front so we had a great view of the proceedings. The Irish entrants were Paula Rafferty (Mid-west), Pauline Holt (North-East), Mogs McDonnell (Western Branch) and Bernie O'Sullivan (South-Western Branch).

Ireland won the day-wear collection category and Mogs McDonnell was also highly commended by the judges for her evening-wear outfit..

Festival of Quilts - Irish Winners

There were a number of Irish quilts entered in this years Festival of Quilts competition. And even better, there were a few Irish winners this year!

Congratulations go to:

Winner of the Contemporary Quilt Category:
"Dear Jane, it's the 21st Century" by Valerie Mullally, Kells, Co. Meath, Ireland

Winners of the Primary School Category:
Fybough National School, Castlemaine, Co. Kerry.
This quilt was based around Puck Fair which takes place annually in Killorgan, Co. Kerry.

3rd Prize - Pictorial Quilts Category
Melinda's Zinnia's by Robyn Fahy
Created using raw edge applique and then thread play using a variety of threads.

Branching Out National Exhibition 2011

Branching Out National Exhibition 2011, a set on Flickr.

More photographs added to our "Branching Out" Exhibition flickr page.
Don't forget photographs of all our national exhibitions and "Hands Across the Border" exhibitions are posted on the IPS flickr album

Irish Patchwork Stand at the Festival of Quilts

 The Irish Patchwork Society had a stand to celebrate our 30th anniversary at last weeks Festival of Quilts. Here are a few photographs from the stand.

Festival of Quilts - only a few days to go!

The Festival of Quilts is nearly upon us again!

The show opens on Thursday 11th August, and this year it includes an exhibit from the Irish Patchwork Society. These quilts were selected from the "Branching Out" Exhibition that recently took place in the Botanic Gardens.

At the show will be the EQA exhibit - this year the theme was "A Circle of Friends".

Also, on the Thursday night will be the Fashion Sans Frontier event where Ireland, Russia and the UK will compete on the catwalk with their creations. Ireland has four representatives:

• Paula Rafferty from the Mid-West Branch
• Mogs McDonnell from the Western Branch
• Bernadette Kelly from the South-West Branch
• and Pauline Holt from the North-East Branch.

Each of these four people have been working away over the past few months each creating four outfits which will be modelled on the catwalk on the Thursday night. Hopefully there will be a large Irish contingent cheering them on on the night!

Quilts selected to hang in the IPS stand at next week's FoQ

Here is the link to see which quilts have been chosen to hang in the IPS stand at the Festival of Quilts, Birmingham, UK.

http://irishpatchwork.blogspot.com/p/branching-out-quilts-selected-for.html

 We hope to be able to hang all the quilts on the first list, and hopefully, most of the ones on the second.  However, we do, as always, ask people to note that we cannot guarantee that any particular quilt will hang.

A reminder: The quilts which were hung in the "Branching Out" exhibition in the Botanic Gardens will be required again in November for the Knitting and Stitching Show,so members will not be getting their quilts back till after the show.  

Twisted Threads (who run the Festival of Quilts and the Knitting & Stitching Shows) are putting a huge emphasis on patchwork and quilting, and are being extremely generous to the Irish Patchwork Society in the amount of space that they are allocating to us, including teaching space.  For further information please see:   http://www.twistedthread.com/pages/exhibitions/viewExhibition.aspx?id=32

Patricia O'Dowda Obituary

 Patricia O’Dowda moved to Westport from Wales in the early1990’s.  She had been an active member of the Glamorgan Quilters and in an effort to stimulate interest in patchwork and quilting in her new home area she held a one woman show during the 1991 Westport Arts Festival. In the following months 7 other interested ladies joined Patricia for weekly get togethers. We met in a variety of venues and finally found a home in the Town Hall. The room we used was called the Octagon room and hence we became the Octagon  Quilters. Over the years the group has grown to about 20 members, who still meet on a weekly basis, and we have just celebrated our 20^th anniversary with an exhibition in the Custom House Studios, Westport.

Patricia had joined the IPS and encouraged the rest of us to follow suit. She enjoyed the company and stimulation of other quilters at the monthly meetings of the Western Branch in Galway. She joined the Western Branch committee and was its Chair in the mid ‘90’s.  She also served a term as Education Officer of the IPS. 

A great believer in education Patricia set about teaching the techniques of patchwork and quilting to the members of the Octagon group. Visiting teachers were brought to Westport several times a year to pass on their knowledge. She never passed up an opportunity to visit an exhibition or take a trip to visit other quilt groups. We had one memorable trip to Northern Ireland where not only did we meet with local quilters but also had the opportunity to see quilts that are normally held in storage at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra. She encouraged us to exhibit both locally and nationally as it was all promotion of the craft.

Patricia’s own work took on a local flair.  Her home, some miles outside Westport, looked out on Croagh Patrick or the Reek as it is known locally. The winding path to the top was clearly visible on fine days.  She drew up a pattern of the view from her home and used it as the centre of a medallion style quilt. As a member of Westport Country Markets she displayed this quilt in the market and was inundated with requests for more of the same. She made many of these quilts as wedding gift commissions and being the skilled needle and machine woman that she was she incorporated scenes from the intended couples lives into the surrounding blocks……….farming scenes, pets, hobbies, etc.

Patricia embarked on a number of personal projects. She appliqued and machine embroidered Brighton Pier and the curved sweep of listed buildings in the town. Another project was a wholecloth quilt documenting the history and activities of her family. Her attention to detail and search for the correct fabrics and threads was part of every project.  Her home was a veritable treasure trove. One room contained all her works in progress…………and they were always many. Each project was boxed with all the details written on the outside so she could put her hand on any piece in an instant.

From an early age Patricia loved to travel and it was fascinating to listen to her stories which ranged from cycling through Europe in the 1940’s to her visit to China with her son David in the late ‘90’s. We all received pieces of silk which she encouraged us to incorporate in a piece of our work. Her visits to her daughter Kathy in France always resulted in her returning with some local fabrics to be incorporated into yet another project

Due to failing health Patricia moved back to the UK in recent years but she still relished news of Westport and quilting from visiting friends. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her.

                                                                                          Marea E Mulqueen