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The Kenya Quilt Guild held its April meeting as its Annual General Meeting for 2012. Chair Neela Shah welcomed a rather limited turn-out of members (29 with one guest) for the AGM. Apparently, some schools are not yet back in session, so some of our members were still on holiday. After a brief introduction, Neela held the Election of Officers for 2012. These were elected as follows:
Chair: Neela Shah
Vice-Chair: Deanna Gaudaur
Secretary: April Webb
Treasurer: Loise Gitagia
Members-at-Large: Brij Datta and Jasbir Sokhi
Dena Crain, author of the current KQG Constitution, explained the functions of the Subcommittees which support the Executive Council in six areas of the Guild’s work: Membership, Education, Exhibitions, Community Outreach and Charitable Works, Advertising and Promotions, and Newsletter Publication. Dena exhorted members to be involved in this “painless” way! Membership of a Standing Committee is not onerous and only one person from each one is required to attend Executive Council meetings once a month. A sign-up sheet was passed around and a good number of members pitched in as follows:
Membership
Kundan Patti
Education
Gill Rebelo
Philippa Yusuf
Rashmika Patel
Raji Syan (Librarian)
Exhibitions
Brij Datta
Jasvinder Phull
Jasbir Sokhi
Raji Syan
Poley Bhamra
Neela Shah
Community Outreach and Charitable Works
Patty Arensen
Gretchen Mwaura
Christine Kibuka
Mercy Mungai
Margaret Karanja
Elizabeth Cheserem
Advertising and Promotions
Rajminder Kalsey
Dena Crain (IT only)
Newsletter Publication
Margaret Atandi
Jane MacAskill
Gill Rebelo
Rowena Buxton
With Election of Officers and structuring of the Subcommittees out of the way, the Guild voted on the proposed amendments to the Constitution of the Kenya Quilt Guild. One of these was that Snippets, the KQG newsletter, would be discontinued unless a volunteer editor was found at the AGM; this was obviated by Margaret Atandi and Jane MacAskill who have proffered their skills to maintain the newsletter. Snippets survives!
The second proposed amendment to the Constitution was to change the date of the AGM to the April meeting date. Sheryl Fowler proposed (seconded by Gretchen Mwaura) a change to the amendment: the AGM shall take place on or before the third Thursday in May of each year. Two thirds of those members present at the meeting needed to approve the change by a show of hands in order for it to be adopted. There was a unanimous vote in favour of the change to the amendment. The acceptance of the amended proposal was also unanimously supported.
Gill Rebelo reminded members of the exciting programme of workshops on offer in the near future and encouraged those interested to sign up and pay a deposit or in full as soon as possible in order to ensure a place:
- Mon 7th May a.m. or p.m.: Bev Rebelo, Hand quilting, KSh500 per half day at the Rebelo residence in Loresho
- Tues 8th May: Bev Rebelo, Machine quilting, KSh1500 full day at Shalom House
- Tues 15th May: Sarah Brewin, Dancing Ladies, KSh2,800, full day including kit at Shalom House
- Fri 18th May: Magie Relph, Broken Windows, KSh 1500, full day at Shalom House
- Mon 21st May: Magie Relph, African Jazz,* KSh 1500, full day at Shalom House
- Wed 23rd May: Magie Relph, Extreme appliqué*, KSh 1500, full day at Shalom House
- Thurs 24th May a.m.: Magie Relph, Adinkra Stamping, KSh 800, half day at Shalom House
- Thurs 24th May p.m.: Magie Relph, Creative Strip Cloth, KSh 1200 incl fabric, half day at Shalom House
*Please note change of dates for these 2 classes.
Plans for the upcoming Exhibition at Village Market on 11th, 12th and 13th May are well in order. Dena designed and had printed 30 copies of a colourful poster advertising the exhibition. She encouraged members to sign up and take copies to display in public places. Those who have to pay to display may claim the cost from the Guild if they keep and present their receipts.
Neela suggested that posters should only go up a week to ten days before the exhibition. Members were also encouraged to sign a roster to volunteer their services in various roles at the exhibition. This really is a joint effort, and both posters and the duty roster can be found at The Woman Shop until 5th May. Stop in and collect a poster for displaying at your church, school or other high-traffic public place. Sign up for a two-hour stint as a welcoming hostess, raffle table worker, membership recruiter or white glove lady. Your help will be much appreciated!
Jasbir and Jasvinder were collecting entry forms and fees for quilts which members wish to show or sell at the exhibition. Members were reminded that any forms submitted after 19th April would attract a penalty fee of KSh300. All quilts need to be delivered to The Woman Shop or to Neela or Gill by 5th May. Neela explained that members may submit two quilts each for exhibition but extras will be accepted and may be displayed, depending on the space available. The entrant will be reimbursed their entry fee if the quilt is not included in the show.
Neela announced that formal approval for the raffle of Guild quilts has been received from the Betting Control and Licensing Board. However there has not been time to get the tickets printed for the AGM and members were asked to collect ticket booklets from The Woman Shop and to ensure they bring money, stubs and unsold tickets to the exhibition.
Pauline Mang’ana displayed the cup which will be awarded to the “People’s choice” for the best quilt in the show. The second prize will be a kanga.
For Show-and-Tell, Indu Shah showed the progress she has made on a quilt for a young girl. She has embroidered the pieces most attractively. Brij displayed a delightful quilt made of Amish fabrics she acquired on the Guild’s trip to Canada. Bria Gaudaur showed two quilts – one an image containing the letters LOVE was well received and the second, designed for a toddler, was most suitable for the Kenyan environment as appliquéd cars attempted to climb rick-rack hills! Deanna showed a quilt with appliquéd letters of the alphabet and a fun image to go with each one. This is the “first grand-child quilt” although she may have to wait a while before she can give it away! Deanna Gaudaur, Bria’s mum, then showed us a masterpiece of machine quilting. A New York Beauty design, the quilt had not been pieced but squares and complex designs were traced onto the fabric and then coloured with machine stitched free motion quilting. It was absolutely stunning!
Dena Crain then gave a masterly talk on the subject of how to care for our quilts. She listed the factors that damage quilts, such as
- light which can fade colours and cause fibre disintegration, moisture which can encourage the growth of moulds and other decomposers,
- staining by sugar solutions, wine, chocolate or tea or the sebum from finger tips which can all cause permanent marks,
- physical damage can be caused by insects, rodents, dogs and cats and their body fluids can also cause permanent staining,
- dirt from dusty environments causes discolouration,
- abrasion – friction can damage fibres and result in holes in fabric, and
- temperature extremes have similar effects.
In order to avoid the factors listed above and the permanent creasing caused by folding, quilts should be stored face down in stacks on a flat surface such as a mattress protected by a cotton (100%) sheet. The stacks should be evenly distributed so that there is no lumpiness to warp the quilts. A white cotton sheet should cover the stacks and the curtains of the room can be kept drawn.
Alternatively, the quilts can be rolled, with rod in place. The rolling should begin from the top end, ensuring the edges do not catch and crease, and with the top side of the quilt on the outside of the roll. This expands the top fabric a little so that any creases form on the underside of the quilt. The presence of the rod stops the roll collapsing inwards, again introducing creases into the fabric. Rolling from the top downwards ensures that loose curling is at the bottom end of the quilt and this will fall out when the quilt is hung from the rod again.
The rolled quilts can be stored individually in cotton drawstring bags, which are longer than the quilt is wide, thus closure of the bag can be more effective. Plastic bags are not good for quilt storage.
A sleeve is attached to the top of the underside of the quilt to contain the rod. The sleeve should be pleated in such a way that there is more fabric on the outer surface of the sleeve than in the portion of the fabric attached to the back of the quilt. The sleeve then accommodates the rod so that the quilt lies flat and does not curl around the rod when hung. A double hanger sleeve means the quilt can be hung from the centre of the rod as well as by the two ends. If a rectangular bar of wood is used for hanging the quilt (rather than a round one) then the screw eyes should be attached on the two ends of the bar closer to the top edge. This ensures the quilt is not tipped forward as it hangs.
Exhibitors were also reminded that the rod from which the quilt is suspended for display must be one inch shorter than the width of the quilt. It is useful to write the name of the quilt on the rod in felt tip pen as well as the dimensions of the rod. This makes it easier to locate appropriate rods from your collection.
When carrying a quilt as hand luggage, Dena has designed a canvas belted bag that contains the rolled quilt wrapped in a white cotton sheet. When transporting larger numbers of quilted pieces, Dena advises hard-sided luggage. However, aeroplane weight restrictions have forced many quilters to resort to soft-sided luggage. Dena protects the quilts from damage in such a bag by packing (bundling) them in a very specific way. She has cut a cardboard template that fits the base of the bag. She lays the quilts on a flat surface in an even stack so that the pieces all lie diagonally to one another. She then places the template on the top of the stack and folds the quilts around it so that each is folded on the bias. This means the folds are softer and the creasing less pronounced. The folded packet can then be placed neatly in the bag. Dena advises that the items to be packed are laid out ready and only placed in the bag just prior to departure to minimise their time in the folded state. An overnight stop means the quilts get some relief too. They should be unpacked and laid out on a flat surface or draped over a spare bed or the back of a sofa, then re-packed immediately before departure.
After Dena’s fine presentation, the meeting was adjourned.
The Kenya Quilt Guild holds its Annual General Meeting on Thursday of this week at our usual meeting place, Shalom House off Ngong Road near The Junction and next door to L’Arena Pizzeria. The meeting will open at 10:00 a.m. We will have election of officers and calls for Subcommittee volunteers to establish a new Executive Council. Then we will debate two Constitutional amendments, one to change the AGM date to the April meeting, and the other to suspend publication of Snippets indefinitely. Anyone who is not a member in good standing may not vote for officers or amendments, so if you have not yet paid your dues for 2012, please come prepared to do so BEFORE the meeting begins.
The business portion of our meeting concluded, we will have a brief show-and-tell, followed by a presentation by Dena Crain on how to care for our quilts. Dena will discuss the enemies of textiles, how to travel with quilts and how to prepare quilts for long-term storage as well as how to hang and display our lovely quilts.
Don’t forget that before our next meeting in May, we will be holding an exhibition at the Village Market. That happens over the weekend of the 11th, 12th, and 13th of May, and the show will be open from 9:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. each of those days. Volunteers are needed to help work the show.
If you plan to exhibit one or more quilts in the show, bring your completed Call for Entry form and the appropriate amount of cash to pay the fees for showing your work to the AGM on Thursday. Any Call for Entry form submitted after Thursday will be charged an additional 300/-. Make certain you have completed the correct Call for Entry form; if it asks you whether you want the KQG to sell your quilt, that’s the right one!
Quilts for the show can be delivered to The Woman Shop, to Neela Shah or to Gill Rebelo any time up until the close of business on Saturday, May 5. Quilts received after that date will not be exhibited.
Anyone who is interested in patchwork quilting is invited to attend both our AGM and our Exhibition. Come to meet us, see what we do and how we do it, and to join in the fun and appreciation of patchwork quilting we share. Visitors are welcome, but there is an entry fee of 200/- payable at the door.
We have quite a few workshops coming up in May. Follow our Quilt Workshop Schedule for more information to be posted soon.
See you Thursday at Shalom House!
Our Chairwoman, Neela Shah, greeted new members and visitors, and was herself welcomed back from her trip to UK for a family wedding. Welcome home, Neela!
Neela reminded the membership that the Annual General Meeting is coming up in April and that volunteers are needed to take on the posts on the Executive Council. The posts include Officers (Chair and Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and two Members-at-Large) and Delegates (Subcommittee Chairs). Additionally, a call will be issued for volunteers to serve on the various Subcommittees (Education/Library, Community Outreach and Charitable Works, Newsletter, Advertising and Promotions, Membership and Exhibitions). The Guild and all its benefits will only exist if members are prepared to offer their services.
Neela further explained that the Kenya Quilt Guild Exhibition is fast approaching: 11th, 12th and 13th of May at the Village Market. She described the difficulties that the Subcommittee has had in trying to obtain a license for the raffle and that it may not be possible to hold one. Patty Arensen explained the principle of an alternative ‘silent auction’ for the three raffle quilts. This could still help to raise money to pay the expenses of the Exhibition and allow the Guild to make the donation to charity that is a feature of the event. The charities supported include The Dream Project Children’s Home and the Women’s Obstetric Fistula clinic run by AMREF. Neela had hard copies of the sponsorship letter on hand and a soft copy has been emailed to the membership. This formal request can be handed to possible sponsors amongst social connections of the membership.
Exhibition “Call for Entry” forms were also ready and Neela asked members to give Kulvinder Birdi an idea of how many quilts they are likely to submit. The fee is KSh500 per quilt. Quilts for display should be brought to the meeting on 19th April. Each quilt must have a sleeve on the back with a rod inserted to facilitate hanging, and a name label attached to the back of the quilt.
Gill then talked about all the upcoming classes including:
- Bev Rebelo’s machine quilting (whole day, either 9th or 10th May) and a half day course on hand quilting. She asked the membership to sign up so that she can gauge interest.
- Sarah Brewin will be teaching her ‘Dancing Ladies’ quilt on 15th May. Gill explained that Sarah has kindly donated a free place and a kit for the class. This will be raffled at the April meeting.
- Gill Rebelo also asked for expressions of interest in Maggie Relph’s classes in the latter part of May. Some members are already keen to attend the ‘Broken Windows’ course and ‘African Jazz’.
- Jasvinder Phull displayed her work bag. She will be teaching its construction on Monday and Thursday of next week at a cost of KSh2,000. Members were asked to sign up immediately.
- Gill will continue her classes on hand piecing during the afternoon, after the meeting.
- Neela encouraged other members to assist with the hand tying of one of the raffle quilts or to simply bring a project along so that the ladies can work companionably together.
Kundan Pattni displayed the new membership cards and was thanked for The Woman Shop’s sponsorship of them. She reminded us about the loyalty points on offer at The Woman Shop.
Show-and-tell followed with some beautiful items on display. Eight individuals had prepared ten inch squares with a hand shape on it. These will be sent to Ireland for the 10,000 greetings quilt at the International Quilt Festival of Ireland. There was a quick raffle to determine the three winners of the green thread supplied by Jim West, the Exhibition organiser.
Carol Davey showed her shamrock square and cleverly quilted Gloriosa Lily.
Loise Gitagia has graduated from the beginners’ class and showed her first completed (hand quilted) quilt to a round of applause. She has now made six bags using the skills she learned in Rhonda Denney’s class.
Neela showed the eye-catching African themed bag which she made in Rhonda’s class. Jasvinder showed her three lovely beach bags. She had made six from a pattern she found on the internet.
Gill showed us her spectacular mitumba quilt! She has pieced this from second hand blouses she has bought at Gikombaa. Many were Liberty prints and the whole effect, with black tape between the blocks, was a spring sonnet! Jasvinder and Neela then displayed the raffle quilts which have been made by a group of ladies in the Guild. They were most pleasing and should fetch a fine price in the silent auction at the exhibition.
Patricia Downes, a visitor from UK who formerly lived in Kenya, then showed us some samples of her incredibly intricate and delicate machine embroidery. She is a member of a craft group in UK and goes to monthly classes with Pauline Ineson. She is learning to make an heirloom quilt using Pauline’s book, “How to Create an Heirloom Quilt.” Patricia has acquired some really high level skills which she has put to beautiful use. There’s lots of homework from the class!
Finally Veena showed us some pictures she had taken at the Dubai Quilt exhibition. Some of the work was of such artistic and skilful brilliance that we were quite flabberghasted!
The last item of the meeting was a talk by Deanna about batting. This apparently dull stuff that disappears inside a quilt turned out to be really interesting. Deanna provided samples and lots of fascinating advice about choice of batting for different projects and how batting is manufactured, as well as its material ingredients affect its quilting properties. She suggested alternatives too – using an old quilt as batting for a new one; using a blanket or flannel or fleece or even thin foam.
The next meeting will be held on 19th April. It will be our AGM, so please come prepared to vote and volunteer to serve our Guild!
A lively and informative meeting was lead by Gill Rebelo, who announced that the Guild’s AGM will take place at the April meeting (Thursday 19th). She reminded the membership of the need for volunteers for various roles on the Executive Council.
Raji Syan, our Librarian, advertised the book sale of the day and reminded us about the new arrangements for borrowing books – KSh 1,000 for the year, entitling the subscriber to take out two books per month. Those who wish to borrow on an occasional basis will pay KSh 200 per book.
Kundan Pattni explained that members can pay their dues at The Woman Shop and displayed the new plastic membership cards with lanyards. This may entitle members to a discount from certain fabric merchants.
Then Gretchen Sanders Mwaura showed some of the embellishments she is selling. These delicately polished and dyed animal and other motifs are made from bone by an artisan in Kibera called Kennedy. His wife has recently given birth to twin boys whom he has named Tony Blair and Bill Clinton!
Pauline Mang’ana talked about the upcoming KQG Quilt Exhibition at Village Market. She reminded us to look for sponsors and voiced the need for more volunteers for the Exhibition Subcommittee. The Subcommittee meets every Thursday.
Jasvinder Phull talked about the raffle quilts which she and a keen group of members are making to raise money during the exhibition for charities, the AMREF Obstetric Fistula program and The Dream Project Children’s Home. She displayed a lovely top which is already finished. More volunteers are needed to help to complete the other two during the afternoon session. This is a valuable learning opportunity as well as a good cause.
Gill told us about the teaching spots she will be organising during the afternoons after the monthly meetings. Today’s will be about hand-piecing. Six ladies were eager to attend. Gill went on to tell us about the Turkish quilter, Selma Kenter, who visited Kenya recently and brought catalogues of previous exhibitions held in Istanbul. There was a call for previously shown Kenyan quilts to go on display in Istanbul in May.
Gretchen informed us about the International Quilt Festival of Ireland being organised by Jim West. It sounds very interesting with lots of original types of exhibitions such as a 3-D quilted garden and loads of activities and displays such as traditional Irish handicrafts, dry stone walling, aran knitting and pub crawls! The idea of the ‘100,000 welcomes’ quilt of green and white decorated hand print blocks was welcomed with much enthusiasm! There should be quite a collection of ‘Karibu’ blocks from Kenya.
Gill went on to tell us about the teachers who will be giving classes over the next few months. Sarah Brewin will be teaching her ‘Dancing Ladies’ quilt and Magie Relph has several possible classes lined up.
Show-and-tell was lots of fun. There were some beautiful bags on display, produced in Rhonda Denney’s workshop last month. Loise’s family were so impressed by her bag that she has had to make another four, one for each daughter! She had the very original idea of buying suit pieces (for salwar kameez) from Eastleigh where they are very reasonably priced. These printed pieces of fabric are especially designed to go together and made very attractive bags.
Jasvinder showed the bag she designed and made for carrying her equipment to workshops. She will be teaching a two day course on this next month. Gill showed a very colourful carpenter’s wheel to inspire another monthly class in March. Patty displayed her lovely landscape quilt, started in Rhonda’s class. Induben showed her landscape quilt of Mount Kenya which included a small figure – her grandson – observing the grandeur!
After a break for refreshments, we had a really interesting and enlightening talk about fabrics from Gill Rebelo. She demonstrated the burn test for determining whether a fabric is pure cotton or not and gave us lots of other information on fabric structure, design and choice for quilting.
For our January monthly meeting, we met on the 19th at 10:00 a.m. at Shalom House off Ngong Road just past The Junction Shopping Centre. The meeting started with our Chairman Neela Shah welcoming all members and visitors after the Christmas break.
A word of thanks was extended to Bibiana Pereira, one of our Guild members who offered her wonderful home to members to celebrate 2012 Christmas lunch.
Neela made a few administrative announcements and recognized Mercy Mungai, one of the visitors who joined the Guild the same day.
Neela informed members that the Executive Council was working hard to get a good retreat place around Naivasha or Limuru. Though Resurrection Garden in Karen, 20km from Nairobi, was floated as a good venue, it was felt that members should be in a more distant place, away from the hassles of the City. Brackenhurst Conference Center had been earlier suggested as a possible place through the Kenya Quilt Guild Face book. The decision is still to be arrived at by the Executive Council.
It was good news to hear that Village Market has given our members a discount on the rental fee for the exhibition and Neela requested members to look for sponsors from various companies. The last day for submission of quilts for the Exhibition is 19 April 2012 and there will be a charge for late entries.
Neela announced the coming Annual General Meeting to take place on 15 March 2012 and new Executive Council members are invited to come on board. This happens every two years according to our Constitution.
Dena Crain gave a practical presentation on how to access the KQG blog. Dena expressed her concern that every member should interact with the blog regularly. The practical presentation was done with a lot of clarity and professionalism that left members wiser than when they came in. Dena highlighted that sending information to be included in the blog is a form of advertising and every member was free to do so. She added that linking with other internationals expands our networks through hyperlinks and blogging. More link-up was important with those quilting groups who are like minded.
We had a wonderful show-and-tell session and members rushed to the front to exhibit their work. All in attendance enjoyed seeing and learning a few techniques from the different finished pieces.
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- Rhonda Denney, quilt teacher from the USA
Our Guest speaker for the January meeting was Rhonda Denney, a visiting American quilt teacher. Rhonda is an award-winning art quilt artist who has been quilting for the last four years. She owns a Quilt Gallery where some of her art quilts are available for sale.
Rhonda Denney, quilt teacher from the USA
Rhonda spoke passionately about her life through presentation of several of her photo slides. She was grateful to be in Kenya again, where she has been several times before. On a light touch she reckoned she would always look for an excuse to be in Kenya. Her gorgeous sample quilts hung on the wall including Bow Tuck bags she had made. Rhoda was to carry out workshops in the afternoon and carried 14 kits for the first members taking her classes.
After the meeting, an afternoon Workshop was held and several members stayed on to put their hands to work.
The next monthly meeting will be held on 16 February 2012, same time, same place.
Beginning in January 2012, the Kenya Quilt Guild Library offers two options for Guild members to check out books:
- Pay KES 1,000/= in advance. Take out two books per month free of charge. Want a third book? Either wait until the next month or pay KES 100/= for every additional book. If you use the library a lot, this is the best option for you. At KES 1,000= per year for 20 books, each book rental costs only KES 50-=, and each book over 20 costs only KES 100/=.
- Pay nothing in advance. Then, pay KES 200/= per book. If you seldom or never use the library, this is the best option for you. You will pay KES 200/= for each book rental, but if you take out only 1 or 2 books per year, the total cost will be far lower than if you pay the subscription fee and then fail to check out books. If you check out 5 or more books within a year, the subscription fee will be better for you.
This policy has been implemented to reduce library management and paperwork as well as to encourage members to use the library more. And remember: All fees you pay help us acquire new books for your reading pleasure. Take advantage today!
Christmas seems to be much the same the whole world over. Here, Kenya Quilt Guild members gathered for a Christmas Lunch at that home of one of our group on December 8, 2011. Martine Chamorel, now relocated to Switzerland, was kind enough to post photos from our Christmas Lunch on the Kenya Quilt Guild’s Facebook Group. They say one picture is worth a thousand words, so we hope you will enjoy seeing how quilters in Kenya celebrate the holidays!
