QUAGGY QUILTERS
A South-East London Patchwork and Quilting Club
About Us
Quaggy Quilters
Quaggy Quilters began twenty five years ago when our first member, Carol, had the idea of setting up a quilting and patchwork club in Lewisham.
From the beginning, when meetings were held in Carol's front room, our members have always had different levels of experience. While we use this to share expertise and help each other, we are not a teaching group. Based in Lewisham, our members come mainly from South East London and North Kent.
We usually meet once a month in Kingwood Hall, between Lewisham and Blackheath.. We are affiliated to The Quilters’ Guild, and are listed as one of the Guild’s Region 1 local groups.
What we do
Activities
We meet on the third Saturday of the month, usually in the afternoons. We have a range of different activities and decide our programme together. As well as Sew and Chat sessions, we run workshops, where a guest might come to demonstrate how to make something, or a member might show a technique.
All our meetings involve a Show and Tell session, and members support one another with encouragement and sometimes practical help and advice.
Other activities include Chairman’s Challenges and group projects including making quilts for charity. Recently we have visited a craft and quilt exhibition at Standen House NT, the Warner Textile Archive, the Calais Lace Museum, and quilting and fashion museums in Bath. Every third year or so, Quaggy Quilters hold a public exhibition.
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Come to our Exhibition
We are excited to announce our forthcoming exhibition which will be held in the beautiful church of St Margaret's Lee, Lee Terrace, Blackheath, London SE13 5DL on April 27th 2024 10.30-4pm
As well as a display of quilts made by current and past members of the group, there will be a sale of craft items, a raffle and refreshments.
Admission is £4 (free for accompanied under-16s). Blackheath train station is a short walk away, and buses 108, 54 and 89 stop just outside the church.
Charity Quilts
Our Support
We set time aside each year for making community quilts. Usually, these are special quilts for children who are in hospital.
Quaggy Quilters present our special charity quilts to Lewisham Hospital each year to be given to sick children who have to spend Christmas or a birthday in hospital. Handing the quilts over to children’s ward staff is always a special occasion, and we hear that the quilts give a lot of pleasure to their recipients who can use them in hospital and then take them home after their stay. Several members also make baby quilts for new mums in a women's refuge.
Membership
How to join
We are a friendly group, and we welcome applications from stitchers with an interest in patchwork and quilting. New members are accepted into the club when numbers permit. We usually have about 25 members at a time. You don't need to be an experienced quilter, but while we support each other sharing ideas and tips, we aren't a teaching group.
We ask that you have an interest in making quilts and can commit in principle to 8-9 monthly meetings per year. The subscriptions are discussed at the AGM each January and are currently £40 per year.
If you think this sounds interesting, we'd love to hear from you. To apply for membership or for further information please contact quaggyquilters@gmail.com
Where we are
How to find us
We meet in a spacious bright church hall in Kingwood Place, London SE13, close to Blackheath, Lee and Lewisham
.
The venue is easy to find, well served by buses and there is parking available..
For more information contact us at quaggyquilters@gmail.com
Some recent activities
Planning for an exciting 2024!
20 January 2024
18 members of the group met at Kingwood Hall for our Annual General Meeting and to plan an exciting programme of events for 2024. If you'd like to get involved contact quaggyquilters@gmail.com
Delivering quilts for children in hospital
December 2023
Lewisham children who have to spend Christmas in hospital found that Santa brought each of them a colourful, cosy quilt on Christmas Day. Every December we deliver quilts made with love by Quaggy Quilter members to the Emergency Children's Department at Lewisham Hospital.
Standen House Craft & Design
18th September 2021
On a lovely sunny September day we visited the Joy is in the Making exhibition at this beautiful National Trust Arts and Crafts house and gardens in Kent. As well as a gorgeous array of quilts, there were impressive examples of different crafts, and after visiting the outside craft fair and the tea rooms we went home with lighter purses and bulging bags of shopping.
Our Rainbow Quilt: Celebrating the NHS during Covid
2020-2021
We had an exciting calendar of events planned for 2020 and 2021 but, like everyone else, we found that the pandemic put many of our plans on hold. When regulations allowed we managed some in-person meetings, several in local gardens. To show our support for the wonderful work of the NHS, we worked together on a group project stitching a rainbow in Japanese folded patchwork squares that members could make at home in lockdown.
Exhibition of our work at St Margaret's Church, Lee
21 September 2019
We were delighted to be able to have the glorious setting of St Margaret's Church, Lee, as the setting for our latest exhibition and it was lovely to welcome so many interested visitors. We showed some 130 quilts and made items for a busy craft stall and raffle. The tea, coffee and home-made cakes were particularly popular!
STOP PRESS! Our next exhibition will be held at St Margarets, Lee on April 27th 2024. Save the date!
Trip To Bath
Quaggy Quilters had a very enjoyable day out at two venues in Bath. We visited the quilt exhibition at the American Museum, and admired the historic 1712 silk quilt loaned by the Quilters Guild,.
The Bath Fashion Museum was a source of learning ...
...and hands on fun!
Blackheath Christmas Fair
19th November 2017
Quaggy Quilters took a stall selling beautiful fabric items including baby quilts, teddy bears, bags, door stops, Christmas stockings and decorations, at the Age Exchange 2017 Blackheath Christmas Fair. These unique hand crafted gifts were all made by QQ members. We had a very successful day and had some lovely feedback about our work.
Gallery
A selection of our members' work from our most recent exhibition
