Quilters of Sutton: 2026

September 2026 AGM

September sees us having our AGM, we get an update on how the year has gone and a look at the projects and quilts that have been presented at the meetings over the past year. We also present the Christmas challenge theme and the new programme for the coming year.

We have had a very successful year, more than doubling our membership to 29, since we moved from an evening to a day time meeting. We had to move into a bigger space for meetings as a result. We have had a varied programme covering stitched pictures, Christmas cards and stockings, Kawandi, Appliqué (Sun bonnet Sue and Overall Sam), Mosaic patchwork, Curved piecing, QAYG and FPP. All these seem to have been enthusiastically received.

From the Show and Tell sessions members have been busy making 55 quilts, 35 of which were destined for Project Linus and 20 for personal use. One of the Linus quilts was made up from last years challenge, to make a seaside themed block 12½" square. It made a stunning 16 block quilt, so well done to all who contributed. A picture can be found at the end of the April 26 post. I also put our finished projects on the Gallery page, however it is not always as up to date as the posts!

Other items Included;

5 zippy purses from a previous demo,

4 table runners and 2 tree skirts,

Christmas decorations and cards, some from previous years projects,

Several Kawandi mats and bags,

We had 16+ blocks from the Appliqué demo, which will become a Linus quilt,

Mosaic patchwork produced a cushion, a small quilt and several WIP, several people were already working with hexagons,

Curved piecing has so far produced 2 cushions,

QAYG produced a cot quilt,

A large Jelly roll bag,

Several FPP cards,

Lots of knitting, prem baby cardigans, hats and toys many being donated to worthy causes.

At the end of the AGM we had some show and tell and a look at what projects participants had brought along.

Front and back of a very large QAYG quilt PK

Flower fairy quilt for Linus JN

Quilt destined for UNI with grand-daughter AB
(sent via email)

Improv circles MF, CW, ?LB, SF

Ever popular EPP MW, IM, TD, KP

Lovely quilt made from children's clothes. Plush fleece makes quilting by hand difficult. MS

Appliqué baby booties SH

Crochet face scrubs AT

Intarsia knitting ?LJ

Knitted teddy and clothes AD

HM has embraced the Kawandi technique and is making another Boro style bag with lots of embellishment.

To finish, this years challenge is to make a 12.5 inch block (12inch finished) using 3 cards chosen at random from a colour, a number and a theme/fabric. This should get our brains working and give us a good viewing at the Christmas meeting.

August 2026

August sees us trying improvised piecing with curves.

This proved popular, with most members attending having a go. There was a degree of trepidation regarding rotary cutting a curve freehand, but everyone managed to do it, some expressing surprise at how easy it was after all. Her are the results and instructions.

Some members were working on previous projects.

MW mosaic piecing

We had some lovely quilts and finished items for Show and Tell.

AP King-sized bed quilt, she says "never again" to making such a large quilt

A cot quilt from QAYG blocks MF

A picnic blanket, requires binding MS

Cushion by MS from curved piecing in May

Two cards from last months Foundation paper piecing demo, CD and MD

July 2026

This month we were having fun with Foundation paper piecing. There were several patterns on offer in different sizes. There were no written instructions, but this link is for a nice You Tube tutorial on the process, How to paper piece with Carol Doak., and this link is for a PDF file on the process by Carol PDF file. Here are some of the WIP's. Click here for patterns.

Foundation paper piecing

We had some very nice quilts for Show and Tell.

A masterpiece in FPP by PK, the picture doesn't do it justice.

Then some Linus quilts to be delivered after the meeting.

Two from PK, a lovely green and purple batik and a cute Yoda quilt.

Lots of robots by JN

These from CD

June 2026

The size of our group has changed dramatically this year, we now have approaching 30 members. We are feeling a little cramped in our current room and have asked if there is a larger one available for use. This is a good problem to have as we appear to be a popular group.

This month we had a demonstration on QAYG (quilt as you go) methods, one using sashing and the other without sashing. Click here for instructions.

QAYG samples with and without sashing

A couple of members decided to have a go after the demo.

Most members decided to work on their own projects and try QAYG at home.

There were some previously demonstrated techniques being worked on.

Kawandi mat HM

Curves for a table runner KP

Mosaic patchwork MW

As well as some personal projects.

Pieced block AB, EPP TD, hexagon bag CE, cross stitch IM

A couple of prem baby cardigans.

For Show and Tell we had some finished blocks and items from previous demos as well as some personal projects.

Sun bonnet Sue and overall Sam ME

Blocks from curves MS, CD

A lovely cushion made from curves

Elephant quilt for Linus PK

Small quilt using mosaic patchwork HM

A third Kawandi style Boro bag HM

Roomy bag made using jelly roll strips AP

Lovely bright quilt PK

There were several projects I did not get pictures for, apologies. JH was making knitted Jelly Babies for Christmas shoe boxes to the Ukraine.

May 2026

This month sees us tackling curved piecing. These can be stitched by hand or machine. The two designs on offer were a swirling design and a tulip. Click here for instructions.

Participants were enthusiastic as usual, to have a go. Some will stitch by machine at home, while others are happier hand stitching.

We also had a finished project from last months Mosaic patchwork demo.

Mosaic patchwork cushion KP

AP was assembling on some hexagons cut out 'a while ago' !

AP hexagon quilt

We also had some Linus quilt donations.

Linus quilt JN

Linus quilts CD

April 2026

Mosaic patchwork is this months project, it is stitched over papers and is often referred to as English Paper Piecing (EPP). Most block designs can be pieced over papers, but quilters nowadays often prefer to use the sewing machine for speed. There were 2 designs to choose from, one a bit more complicated than the other. Instructions. When making up these designs they can be pieced as blocks with background pieces or leave out the background and applique your design to a background square.

There is also a technique based on using small pieces of fabric as tiles with stitching as the 'grout', a small project is included in the link, see picture at the end of this post. For anyone wanting to try the fabric tile technique, I would recommend checking out the many tutorials available on YouTube.

2 designs based on crosses

The majority of participants chose the more complicated design, with green being a popular colour.

Several participants had decided to finish a WIP.

MM UFO from Carolyn Forster workshop

AP background hexagons

LB Kawandi

The results from last months appliqué project were on display. We plan to make these up into a Linus quilt. We are grateful to our participants for donating their work to group projects, as is Liz Powderham (our local Project Linus coordinator) when we present her with one of these quilts.