January 8, 2025

Happy New Year.  After the long holiday, it was good to see everyone.  There were 19 of us. Including 2 new members, 2 guests, and several returning snowbirds.  I brought the 4.5” squares and fiberfill. Mic brought the bin of smaller fabric pieces.   Carolyn Grasso couldn’t stay for the meeting, but dropped off 2 boxes of fabrics.

 Today’s demo was on how to make a small foldable fabric box.  I also showed a larger fabric box. 

Show and Tell:  (https://sewingn-more.blogspot.com/)

Mic Pickard showed a vest she embroidered and talked about getting the special fabric at the Dollar Store.

Lorraine Manz came with 2 quilts, 

and made 2 placemats with the leftover fabrics.  

She also completed 2 toy rabbits from a panel we found in our donations.

Lisa Strahs-Lorenc showed some doll clothes she made for the Giving Dolls.

Deb Chapman showed a sampler quilt top she made.

Pat Pipa showed a pillowcase and a Chinese doll she made in an Allamanda class.

Ellen Hein is traveling so she dropped off the quilts that she finished the binding on for us to enjoy.

 

I think Anne Knoff handed in these baby quilts.

I put this together with the green 9-patch blocks that were handed in.

Last fall I asked everyone to take some of the red and blue 5" squares, along with small white squares and make snowball blocks.  This is the resulting quilt.

MaryEllen Boutin handed in this quilt top.

I added borders to panels to make 2 throw quilts.

I led a class on making dryer sheet blocks at Allamanda and this is the resulting quilt.

After show and tell, I demonstrated how to make the small foldable box. Several ladies attempted the project.  One of the lessons learned was that it is important to use a different fabric for the lining than for the outside of the box.   Otherwise the instructions can be more confusing.  I am going to take another look at the instruction and see if there are any places it can be made clearer.  I will send it out in a separate note.

 

We are due for our winter pot-luck party.  I think Jan29th will be a good date for the party.  Most members should be back from their holiday travels by then and our snowbirds should still be here. We can talk about it next week.  See you then.

Club Notes - December 11, 2024

 

All 12 of us gathered for the meeting yesterday spent the first few minutes catching up on news and sharing the good news that Lois has sent us all on her progress of healing.  I let everyone know that there would not be a designated leader for next week’s meeting, but that the room was available to any member who wished to use the space for a project.

 

Louise brought in a large donation of fabric that we all sorted through to find what we could use.  Lenora and Lorraine helped me stuff scraps that I brought into dog bed sleeves and I left with 5 completely filled and more scraps to bring back home for the next round of dog beds.  Lorraine, Suzette, and Lenora stuffed the animals that had been brought back and they all went home with another round of animals for Ceal to add her wonderful faces. 

 

We skipped doing 50/50 but Show and Tell was filled with fabulous output:

 

Mary Ellen made two tote bags made from 9-patch squares plus another tote. 

She also made time make a Christmas pillow for herself.  

AND, she turned in several 9-patch blocks for our quilting stash.

Lorraine finished a quilt from a pattern she saw made with 10-inch squares cut into triangles. She had consulted with Anne to figure out a way to add dimension and variety to the pattern and the black sashing really made the pattern stand out.

Ceal made two placemats: one for her grandson and one for her granddaughter that she is going to be visiting for the Holidays.

Ellen brought back her usual tremendous output of finished quilts – both fleece and one’s others had quilted and she put on the binding. 

She also finished two more quilt tops, a shawl and some mini-tree skirts for her daughter-in-law.

Everyone is looking forward to our first meeting in 2025 and we all shared best wishes for Happy Holidays.

Mic

Club Notes - December 4, 2024

It was great to be back after not meeting for 2 weeks.  There were 16 of us and lots of activity. We welcomed one new member.  A lady from The Villages Media came to visit us during the meeting.  She interviewed me and took video of several of the ladies as they worked this afternoon. 

I brought the latest fabric donation so there was lots to look through.  After everyone had a chance to check it out, I sorted what was left into dog bed sleeve fabric, possible quilt backs, and smaller but usable pieces.  What was left will go to Goodwill.  I also put some knit fabric aside in case Ellen wants to use it for baby hats.

 

Show and Tell:

Deb Chapman showed a couple of small table runners she made.

Eileen DiSanto showed a quilt she put together and I quilted for her.

Donna Rissman showed a table runner she finished, and a pillowcase.

Ceal Pedersen made some “hot fingers” pot holders.

Audrey Phillips came a little late and showed me a walker bag she made..

 

Next week Mic will be running the meeting.  I am having a knee replaced tomorrow and will be taking a week off to recuperate.   If there are any supplies you need, let me know and I will get them to Mic to bring next week.

 

Club Notes - November 13, 2024

We had a great turnout today. There were 18 of us in attendance.  I brought the fiber fill and a group of ladies got busy stuffing the next batch of toys.  Mic brought the bin of Christmas fat quarters and a friend from Allamanda Quilters brought several boxes of fabric, batting and scraps.

Ceal Pedersen announced that she is having a garage sale this weekend.  Her address is
2428 Tamarindo Dr. 

Last week we attempted to clear out our storage, delivering as much as possible now that the temperatures are dropping. I sorted the quilts and gave 2 bags to Mic to deliver, one to Project S.O.S. and the other to the Leesburg Hospital Maternity ward. I also gave her  bags of stuffed toys for the Villages Hospital Auxiliary.  Last Friday I gave 20 quilts to the Christian Care Center in Leesburg. The checks also went out to the Sheriffs Youth Ranch Hurricane Recovery fund, Project S.O.S., The Marian County Humane Society and the Lake County Humane Society.

 

Show and Tell: (https://sewingn-more.blogspot.com/)

Kathryn Jeter showed her completed project bag and an embroidery she made.

Pat Pipa took last week’s challenge and made a little girl’s purse and a zipper bag from the long trivets. 

She also made a thread catcher and a project bag.

Laura Tomich made a little draw string bag, aprons,

 pillowcases and little dog and cat tags for family pets.’

Suzette Katrishen showed her collection of sun hats.  She buys the basic hats and decorates them.

Mic Pickard took the long trivets and made travel jewelry cases.

Anne Knoff showed a monster charity quilt she made and a pillowcase. 

She also made an apron.

Louise Stem showed the reusable menstrual pad kids she finished this week.  She has completed 80 of these for Project Christmas Child.

Mary Ellen Boutin made 2 quilt tops.

Bev Minnerly made a zipper bag from one of the long trivets, and made 2 small Christmas Stockings for gifts to neighbors.

We will not have meetings for the next 2 weeks.  Next week the building is closed for quarterly maintenance.  The following week is Thanksgiving and we traditionally do not meet the day before. So our next meeting will be on December 4^th.  I will send out reminders.

 

Have a great Thanksgiving and I hope to see you in 3 weeks.

Lois