The Saskatoon MQG met on February 20th at the Home Inn and Suites for another sew day. The icebreaker was “what do we like most about quilting?” This was followed by Linda walking us through a zipper activity. It was so fun to learn from a pro. I learned to leave an overhang instead of lining up the edge of the fabric exactly with the edge of the zipper, just in case the fabric frays. And now I want to go and buy zipper tape and pulls because there are so many cool colours and styles to play with. The zippers from Sallie Tomato looked like metal but were actually nylon. And if you buy the tape, you can add 2 pulls so the bag can unzip in 2 directions.

We started with fabric and zippers, and soon after we had the 5 bags shown in the 2nd photo. Jean fabric is so much fun as a background for testing all of the decorative stitches on our machines. Linda has donated the bag she made for a prize at our retreat next month! Bag patterns discussed included the L.A. Pouch by Elle Puls which can be purchased on makerist.com. Also, Shari has been busy over the past couple of months making several bags (photo right) and patterns she has used are by Blue Calla, Sew Sweetness, and Bagstock Designs.

Finally, Linda also got us thinking about hostess gifts. See the YouTube video by Notches Sewing for an hanging tea towel tutorial. She added the snowflakes with her embroidery machine.

Another year of meetings was capped off with a lovely afternoon of visiting. We met on December 12th at the Home Inn and Suites for lunch, socializing, a gift exchange, and a bit of hand sewing. Everyone who participated in the gift exchange went home happy!

Here are a few of our show-and-tell projects. Sheri’s idea of adding meaningful sayings to an advent calendar was great considering that not everyone likes chocolate. And her Pointsettia wall hanging was so beautiful with her choice of fabrics. The label on her make-up bag is from ikaprint and they add such a professional finishing touch. Linda shared that you can coat the fabric on bags with Odicoat in order to extend their life.

Debbie’s Christmas quilt was the Holly Jolly Block of the Week sampler by Jesssica Dayon, Sherry made potholders, and Barb brought in a patchwork gift bag that she made by following a tutorial by ‘a Quilting Life’. And this is just a snippet of what was shared. The meeting made me want to start sewing for next Christmas already.

Enjoy your holidays and we hope to see our members back at the January meeting which will be another sew day at Home Inn and Suites. Please renew a.s.a.p. and remember to get projects to Donna by the end of the year if you would like them to be in the STM Gallery show.