Recently a friend asked if I would be willing to teach quilting at the Chinatown community centre and of course I said yes. I went along and met a couple of the ladies and they happily showed me some of their work. They were using paper templates and everything was done by hand. The idea is to not only teach them some new (rotary cutting) and more efficient techniques (strip piecing) but also to be able to get them set up as a business so that they can sell the quilts. My youngest student was in her late 60's and the oldest late 80's and they also only speak Chinese. It's funny but you get a group of women together with a bunch of fabric and there isn't much that needs translation!
The first day was all excitement as we unpacked the two new electric sewing machines. There was about 25 ladies which was a bit hectic. From that group I could pick out a smaller group. There are even a couple of seamstresses there which is a real blessing.
On Saturday we took them to see a quilt show that was being held at the Singapore Botanical Gardens. It was a great opportunity for them to see a variety of quilts, both traditional and more contemporary art quilts.
Here is a picture of our second baby quilt that we made. The first one is still having the binding added so I will show that one later.
These are lovely ladies and great to work with and Im looking forward to making more quilts with them. Eventually we will try some art quilts as well.
Well thats it from me.
Happy Quilting
