Club Notes - July 29, 2026

Once again there were 12 regulars this afternoon, but we also welcomed a new member, Lynn Wright.  She is an experienced sewer and will fit right in with our group.

There were no announcements so went straight to show and tell.

Show and Tell: 

Bev Minnerly, Pat Pipa, Donna Rissman, and Diane Placek all made kennel quilts.   I will hand them in on Tuesday. (I checked and the current need is in Wisconsin)

Bev

Donna

Pat

Diane

Ceal Pedersen handed in this week’s menagerie.

Elephant made by Diane

Fish and Small Bears

Cats

Dino & Cat

Louise Stem made some pillowcases and an apron. 

She also updated us on her progress making the reusable menstrual pads.  She is making 12 kits, with 8 pads in each.

Ellen Hein showed the quilts she finished the binding on this week.

 

Donna Rissman made this one.

Eileen DiSanto made the center of this one.  I added the gold and blue borders to make the the right size for Honor Flight.

I think this one came from Allamanda.

I'm not sure who made this one.

We spent the rest of the afternoon as usual, chatting and working on various projects. Mic and Ellen continued their efforts to organize our storage.  They consolidated some fabric and got rid of things we really don’t need.  Our shelves keep looking better.

Have fun sewing this week.  I’m looking forward to seeing your creations next week, as always

Lois

 

Club Notes - July 22, 2026

The same faithful dozen ladies came out this afternoon.  The smaller meetings are nice in the summer; we get to know each other better.  I still look forward to our snowbirds and snowflakes returning with the cooler weather in the fall.

Melanie came with a bag of precuts to share.  I am told the fabric open house went well last Sunday, with only one bin of fabric left.  Melanie said she and Mic opened another 12 bags yesterday, with another 10 to go.  Plus, Melanie’s sister is bringing several more bins soon.  Since Mic will be recovering from her knee replacement in August, the next fabric open house will have to wait until September.

Donna brought the scarves, shawls and 2 toys to the Leesburg Hospital Chaplin on Monday.  The latest feedback is that she does not want scarves after all.  She would like triangle shawls, fabric, knitted or crocheted.  She loved the toys, small quilts and fidget quilts, so we can continue making these.

My only other announcement was not sewing related.   Although I try to keep politics out of our club, I do encourage everyone to vote.  If you need to learn more about the candidates, the League of Women Voters sends questions to each candidate and posts the answers on VOTE411.org.  I encourage you to learn about the candidates here and in other ways and vote your choices.

 

Show and Tell:

Pat Pipa made a scarf.

Eileen DiSanto made 2 sets of pillowcases.

Ceal Pedersen made stuffed cats, dinosaurs and 1 bear.

Eileen St Clair finished the binding on a quilt I made 

and showed a quilt top that she is giving me to quilt.

Ellen Hein made a stack of Shawls and scarves

and a Jeans quilt top.

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon as usual, chatting and working on various projects.  I brought a bag full of batting scraps and several ladies matched pieces to make 12” x 18” battings for the kennel quilts.  Any that come in next week will be given to the coordinator to mail to a shelter currently rescuing pets.

Have fun sewing this week.  I’m looking forward to seeing your creations next week, as always

Lois

Club Notes - July 15, 2026

There were 10 of us at today’s meeting.  Donna Rissman brought a cheesecake to celebrate my birthday (7/14) and her birthday (7/16).  We also learned that Ellen’s birthday was 7/11. 

Sadly, I let everyone know that Mary Kahlow passed away yesterday.  She was an original member of the Sewing N More club and a current co-president of Allamanda Quilters. She had been fighting cancer over the past year, and finally succumbed, dying peacefully in her sleep.

On a brighter note, last winter we gave 50+ stuffed toys to the Lake Panasoffkee United Methodist Church ministries, so I reached out to see if they would like some more. I got an enthusiastic yes.  We have over 50 dinos and only a few other toys. I’m putting aside half of the dinos for the Villages Hospital. It would be nice to see some cats and bears to send to the church for their Christmas gift collection. My contact from Lake Panasoffkee said she could come pick them up on 7/28, so if you can make any by next week it would be great.

There will be another fabric give-away at Mic’s house next Sunday.  I will send out a separate email with the details so you can forward it to anyone else who might be interested.  There is A LOT of fabric, mostly in 3 yard cuts.

Show and Tell:

Donna Rissman showed some scarves she made.

Bev Minnerly surged some scarves that I cut out. a

She is also working on a shawl, just deciding what type of closure to add.

She also shows a doll dress she made. 

Louise Stem made a pillowcase 

and showed her progress on this Christmas’ supply of reusable menstrual pads for girls. 

Ceal Pedersen made some more stuffed dinosaurs

Pat Pipa made a shawl and a scarf.

Diane Placek made a toy fish 

and an elephant.

I showed a scrappy quilt, 

4 embroidered scarves, 

and a bargello/bicycle row by row I finished. 

Ellen Hein made 10 sets of receiving blankets and burps pads, plus 9 extra burp pads, and 2 shawls.

Ellen and Eileen St Clair showed the quilts they finished the binding on.

Ellen made this one.

I made the next 3

This one was donated. It was already sandwiched and basted, with some embroidery.  I just finished the quilting  before handing it over to Ellen and Eileen for binding.

I'm not sure, but I think this one came from Allamanda.

We spent the rest of the afternoon as usual, chatting and working on various projects.  I hope the heat lets up soon and more of our members venture out.  Hope to see you next week.

Lois

Florida Sheriffs' Youth Ranch Graduates 2026

 For the last 4 years we have been making gifts for the young men and women who graduate high school at the Sheriffs' Youth Ranch. We give each graduate a duffle bag, a quilt, 2 pillowcases, and a couple of small zipper bags.  This year we received photos of the graduates and thank you cards.  Rather than trying to send them in an email, I am sharing these with you here.

Akacia

Braydon

Harper

Jahniya

Jed

Jude

Kingston

Maddy

Shaylyn

Shirley

Tanika