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New Updates - so far
2022 'Tea @ Three'
Rectory Quilters of New Milton hosted their annual Tea @ Three on Sunday 18th September at The Mary Magdalene Church Hall.
Our chosen charity this year was The Linus Project .
All the visitors enjoyed the delicious homemade cakes and entertainments including the tombola, sales table, Sock Monkey tombola...and a very successful Plant Stall hosted by Sue !
The Challenge was a Quilt for The Linus Project, our judge this time was Edwina. Her choice for the Workmanship Award went to Yve and the Originality Award to Joy….The Visitors Choice also went to Joy. We had three quilt raffle prizes and all three were claimed in the room. Lastly we are happy to announce that the event raised £800 for The Linus Project . (see our'Links' page for more info.)
Links
2019 'Tea @ Three'
Rectory Quilters of New Milton hosted their annual Tea @ Three on Sunday 8th September. We were joined by Jackie Keable from New Forest Disability, our chosen charity this year, and Penny Clark to judge our competition.
All the visitors enjoyed the delicious home made cakes and entertainments including the tombola, sales table, mug tombola and judging the quilters' competion of flying geese cushions.
The photo shows Jill O'Sullivan with her cushion judged best for workmanship and Joy Elphinstone with her cushion judged best for originality and visitors choice, along with Jackie Keable in front of a raffle quilt donated by Joan Lambert.
We had three quilt raffle prizes and all three were claimed in the room. Lastly we are happy to announce that the event raised £700 for New Forest Disability.
(see our'Links' page for more info.)
Links
2018 'Tea @ Three'
Our annual ‘Tea at 3’ (2018) was held in September and was for Macmillan Cancer Support. We had a wonderful selection of homemade cakes, all made and donated by the quilters. 3 raffle quilts, a tombola and a ‘Handmade’ gifts table. The challenge this year was to make a fabric cover for an A4 book or folder. As usual the quilters rose to the challenge and a wonderful display of such varied workmanship was on view for the visitors to enjoy.
Ryan Howarth, area fundraising coordinator for Hampshire, came from Portsmouth and spoke about the importance of Macmillan Cancer Support in helping suffers and their families. Visitors were able to vote for their favourite book cover, while Ryan was given the task of choosing awards for ‘Workmanship’ and ‘Originality’, also a ‘Highly Commended’ award. Prizes went to Sue Brown for Visitors choice. Annie Hamilton received the workmanship prize and Liz Wheeler the Originality prize. Karen Thomas was Highly Commended.
The raffle resulted in 3 delighted winners…..receiving a quilt each.
This year visitors were able to gift aid their donations to Macmillan.
Following the tea, we were delighted to send a cheque to Macmillan Cancer Support for £1,000!
Thank you to everyone who made this another wonderful afternoon, with a terrific result.
Rectory Quilters at presentation
Jess Williams Quilt
One of the largest quilts we have ever stretched was a beautiful antique hexagon quilt.
Pete and Debbie Williams of New Milton, contacted Rectory Quilters to ask for help regarding a quilt top which Pete’s late mother, Jess had made.
It was very large and made of hexagons, set in the ‘Grandmothers Flower Garden’ design.
Karen Coad took on the challenge. Karen loves old quilts, recycled fabrics and is the ‘queen of hexagons’!
With the groups help, we stretched it on the quilt frame, one of the largest quilts we have ever stretched...approximately 8’ square!
Karen then quilted it by hand and bound the edges to finish the quilt perfectly.
Pete and Debbie were naturally delighted with the result.
A lasting memory of Pete’s mum, Jess and all the history behind the fabrics she had carefully collected and sewn into the quilt.
RNLI Christmas Tree 2017
Last December, we took part in a Christmas tree festival at St Alban’s church Charminster, Bournemouth.
In the past, Rectory Quilters were joined with St Alban’s Vicarage Quilters and met there once a month. Sadly the Vicarage quilters are no more but Rectory Quilters have continued and thrived!
As we are supporting the RNLI at our festival this year, we decided to have a nautical themed tree.
We decorated the 6’ tree with handmade yellow wellingtons, orange life belts, blue anchors and little boats. It was topped with a lighthouse complete with a beaming light.
Streamers, made of nautical flags and draped like ships rigging completed the look…..and of course two knitted Lifeboat men had pride of place!
Summer 2018 Festival of Quilts, Music and Flowers - by Jill
Our 3 yearly Quilt, Flower and Music Festival 2018 was a wonderful event enjoyed by record numbers of visitors.
Held in St Mary Magdalene Church, New Milton, the church was filled with a stunning display of quilts and needlework produced by the group of 38 quilters. Flowers, arranged by local flower club members, enhanced the displays, making it a treat for all.
This year, supporting the RNLI, one of the challenges for the quilters was to work on the theme of 'Water'. The quilters rose to this challenge and produced work of an exceptionally varied and high standard.
Winners were - 1st Annie Hamilton, 2nd Kathy Osland- Moore and 3rd Hilary Murphy, with Highly Commended for Ali Lane and Liz Wheeler.
A monogrammed cushion challenge was won by Ali Lane, with 2nd prize Lesley Kelsey and 3rd Liz Wheeler.
The group was challenged to use a style or technique from another country, it made the quilters tackle an unfamiliar way of working, with beautiful results. Their work, judged by Mary Hewson, who gave the quilters some guidance when the challenge was first set, said she was delighted by the variety of techniques tackled and the clever twist that some of the quilters had put on traditional work.
Lydia Argyle won the challenge with a beautifully quilted traditional Welsh quilt. 2nd Joy Elphinstone with a modern interpretation of Japanese sashiko work, on denim, 3rd Sue Brown for a vibrant 'Mola' work cushion.... Highly Commended rosettes went to Paula Needle, a sashiko cushion, Carol Dowsett's shashiko waistcoat and to Karen Thomas for her Mola worked 'Funky Chicken'!
Work by talented Young Quilters was also on display and much admired by the visitors.
The 'Best in Show' quilt, voted for by all the festival visitors was.....'A Quilt for a Book Lover' made by Jill O'Sullivan.
Over the weekend the visitors were entertained throughout the day by music, provided by talented local musicians. It began with children from Durlston School Choir, singing a variety of songs, some with a nautical theme. Classical, folk and traditional music was represented. The Flute Group Reeds in Harmony, Milchordia and the' Toot Toot' recorder group, who played Tudor and Elizabethan music up in the church gallery. 'Milford Mob' harmonica group provided a lively set, accompanied by members of Total Voice. Mark Sutton, was welcomed again, playing his relaxing and tranquil style of piano playing. 'Straight Banana' appello singers entertained the visitors in the hall, while they enjoyed wonderful refreshments provided by 'Solent Kitchen' caterers or were browsing the crafts and fabrics on sale there.
Sunday is traditionally music performed by pupils of local music teachers. This gives the children the chance to play in an unfamiliar setting, to visitors, but not in the glare of a concert setting. They were pupils of Philip Daish Handy and Jo Handy, violin and Cello, Margaret Jarvis, flute, Sheena Merritt, piano and Amy Taylor, brass.
A highlight of this year's festival were 2 evening concerts, both on gloriously sultry evenings. On Friday night Phil Daish Handy and 'Nova Foresta', gave a wonderful evening of Handel's Water Music, Barber and Bach! In contrast, on Saturday, 'Sound Waves'...a medley of musicians, The Friday Girls, James the wonderful young guitarist, 'Winds Light to Variable' wind quintet and Sway Hand Bell Ringers, who performed a piece of music called Serenata written especially for Pauline Dover, one of the bell ringers and former conductor, who was celebrating her 100th birthday!
The festival ended with 'Rhapsody'...newly formed local choir, in their first public performance...they raised the roof!
Raffle - 4 lucky winners won the beautiful raffle quilts...with the 5th prize winner having a quilt made especially for her.
At the quilters meeting the following week, they were delighted to present the RNLI with a cheque for £2,500, gratefully received by Judy Peter, Lymington Lifeboat Education Officer and Katherine Dempster, Chair of Barton on Sea and New Milton RNLI fundraising team, and to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Rectory Quilter's formation, there was cake too!
Previous fund raising Events
In 2015, our 3 yearly Quilt, Flower and Music Festival raised £1,000 for the MS society and £1,000 for Hampshire Air Ambulance and donations to New Forest Disability and St Mary Magdalene Church.
8 annual 'Tea @ 3' events have raised a total of £8,148 for Oakhaven Hospice in Lymington.
In 2016 it was the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Year, we held a 'Royal Tea @ 3' and donated £1,255 to HOPe....Helping Older People in the New Forest. Our 2017 'Tea @ Three' raised £880.00 for the Cherry Tree Nursey Cherry Tree Nursey (SWOP)
