Please continue to support your Blog. There was an awe inspiring show of quilts at the January Branch Meeting which proves what an industrious and talented group we are. Let's extend our enthusiasm to our Blog - another meeting point for ideas, news and views.

We were delighted to welcome Ann Fleeton,(http://www.annfleeton.com) one of our own, as the speaker at our March Branch Meeting. Ann gave a most elegant and entertaining illustrated lecture on her work as a textile artist. It not only gave us insights into her own work, but provided a history of many illustrious quilters and artists from the early days of the Irish Patchwork Society with whom she had worked and who had influenced her. Ann is a textile artist from Dublin. Her training as a geologist and her study of art history influence both the colour and texture of herwork. She teaches dyeing, fabric painting, machine embroidery and patchwork in Ireland, the UK, Germany and Switzerland. She lectures regularly including several times at Quilt Expo. Her work has been exhibited in Europe, USA and Japan and published in books and magazines. In 2002 and 2000 she won the Overall Award of Excellence and California Gold Medal in the Royal Dublin Society Annual Crafts Competition. She was the overall winner of the "New Materials for the New Millennium" exhibition at the Carrefour Européen du Patchwork, Alsace, France in 2001. In 2008 she completed the City and Guilds Level 1 Certificate in Design and Craft - Stitched Textiles, Machine Embroidery. In April 2009 Ann visited New Zealand and taught at the Quilt Wellington Symposium and also at Queenstown, in the South Island. www.quiltsymposiumnz.com. She brought many of her quilts for us to admire and examine and demonstrated that with her inspired use of colour, texture and fabric techniques, even the simple rectangle becomes a work of art.
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There was a very big attendance at the February Branch meeting with over 120 members and visitors. Anne Marie Hobbs of Kilbora Quilt Shoppe was kept busy cutting fabric while her assistant Jackie Doyle helped with the accessories. Niamh White was the guest speaker. Niamh is a sculptor by profession and is artist in residence at Airfield in Dundrum. Her quest at the moment is to get ladies back to cross stitch to try and preserve the cross stitch samplers of the past. She gave a wonderful talk on stitching down the centuries and answered many questions.
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In January we were pleased to be able to attend the meeting with no weather hindrances. In fact it was our biggest meeting yet and Members were scrambling for seats to listen to the inspiring and amusing talk by three Algerian members who showed us their magnificent gold thread embroidery. The work was intricate and skilled and adorned, in the main, wedding outfits. Brides would often have up to 14 such ornate gowns for the occasion - some with fabulously bejewelled jackets. It was good to have an inside view of some of the traditions of Algerian stitchers and also to be able to welcome them to our Eastern Branch meeting. Wendy brought her shop "Fabric Matters" and Sahar her dazzling array of buttons, beads and braids.
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The November meeting brought the snow and as a result it was a very small meeting. There were demonstrations from members who attended and Wendy Huggins brought her shop Fabric Matters. Sahar Boran brought her beads and buttons and threads.
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At our September meeting,  our guest speaker was Gloria Loughman from Australia.  Gloria started out her adult life as a school teacher and was brought to a quilting class when she was recovering from cancer treatment.  She taught herself machine quilting and has developed her unique method of creating magnificent landscapes in fabric and quilting.  She conducted a workshop entitled Colour Fusion which was enthusiastically attended.
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At our October meeting Nikki Foley from the Sewing Shed brought her shop to the meeting and also gave a very informative talk on Gadgets and Gizmos. A group of American quilters touring Ireland attended the meeting and showed their 'travelling bags'. The leader of the group Chris Lynn Kirsch presented a copy of her book Snuggle and Learn - Quilts for Kids, to the library having given a quick but entertaining talk.

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