Club Notes - April 29, 2026

There were 14 of us this afternoon.  The cabinet replacement in our meeting room is finally complete.  The funny thing is, it looks the same as it did before, as if they just put the old cabinets back.

We were happy to see Mic Pickard back with us.  B.J. Herter was also with us again.  So good to see you both

I brought in all the stuffed toys we have made over the past few weeks so I could count them and give them to Mic for delivery.  I counted 27 dinos, 16 cats, and an assortment of 22other critters, for a total of 65 toys. They are now off to The Villages UF Health hospital auxiliary.

Show and Tell:

Pat Pipa made 3 boy themed drawstring backpacks.

Bev showed a doll pajama and matching pillowcase.

Isabella O’Brien showed a small purse she made with lots of pockets.  She is going to give a demo on how to make this in a few weeks.

Eileen DiSanto made a dozen toys, which were stuffed during the afternoon.

Ceal Pedersen brought a bunch of cats and one dino, with faces complete.

Louise Stem made 2 more pillowcases.

Ellen Hein and Eileen St. Clair showed 7 quilts that they completed the binding on.

Isabella made this one

Not sure who handed this one in.

Eileen St. Clair made this one.

Isabella and Eileen worked together on this one.

Not sure who handed this one in.

Isabella and Eileen worked together on this one.

Eileen made this one.

I showed a patriotic place mat I made on my embroidery machine. (Land of the free because of the brave)

Anne Knoff gave a couple of Sketchers bags to a friend. The friend covered the logo with some fun fabric and turned them into backpacks.

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The same bin of 6.5” squares was out today.   I added a few pieces to the bin of fabric.  We have more in the closet that we can get out whenever anyone asks. I also replenished the bag of fiber fill.

Mic and I went to storage after the meeting.  We pulled out all the quilts and one more box of fabric yardage.  These are either solids or subtle prints.  There is still a bin of 2 and 3 yard print pieces that we will get out another time.

Next week we will pack the duffels for the 14 graduates and sort the rest of the items that have accumulated so they can be delivered. It should be fun to see everything.  

Hope to see you next week.

Lois

Club Notes - April 22, 2026

There were 13 of us this afternoon.  We had hoped the cabinet replacement would be done, but no such luck.  Instead of getting it done in 2 days as they promised, they showed up at 1pm Monday and again on Tuesday, and barely got it half done.  New cabinets are up but without shelves or doors and the kitchen sink isn’t even attached.  Needless to say, the rec center staff are frustrated.  The saga continues.

We were happy to see Lynn Delgado and mom Audrey Phillips join us today.  It’s good to know Audrey is recovered enough to be out and about.

I reminded everyone that we will be filling the duffels for the Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch graduates on May 6^th.  I plan to bring “all” the items that have not been delivered to that meeting so we can sort it all out and send everything on its way.  If you have any drawstring backpacks in progress, it would be great if you could bring them in next week (4/29) or 5/6.  I’d like to send these off at the same time as we deliver the graduate gifts.

Show and Tell:

Eileen DiSanto made a litter of cats and one dinosaur, all needing stuffing.

Pat Pipa made 2 drawstring backpacks.

Ellen Hein completed the binding on an alphabet quilt I made.  

She also showed a cushion she is covering for a friend.  This was a different shape, so she had to make the pattern as well.

Ceal Pedersen didn’t get any critters from us last week, so she made a herd of dinosaurs herself.

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I put out a bin of 5” squares, a bin of 6.5” squares and one bin of fabric pieces for everyone to choose from.  We also found a bunch of Christmas dolls that have all the pieces printed on fabric but just need to be sewn together and stuffed.  I asked anyone who wanted, to take them, or I would trash them.  A few went out during the afternoon, and Carolyn Grasso took the rest home to check out.  One less thing in our closet space.

Hope to see you next week.

Lois

Club Notes - April 15, 2026

We were a small group of 9 this afternoon. Word is that the cabinet replacement is still scheduled for next week.  I am looking forward to getting our table space back.  

We got a very nice thank you card from the Lake Panasoffkee United Methodist Church thrift store for the stuffed toys we gave them.  They put them in their "free" store and handed them out to children in the drive through food pantry line. The children were very happy to get them.

Show and Tell: 

Ceal Pedersen painted faces on another bunch of stuffed toys.

Diane Placek came with several things.  First, she made an oven mitt as prizes for a game with friends.  One person decided it made a great phone case and asked that a button be added.  

She also made a backpack that is slightly larger for a larger kid.  

Finally, she showed a zipper bag she made with a different pattern.

Carolyn Grasso turned in an Oriental themed quilt top.

Ellen Hein showed the quilts she added the binding on. 

She also sewed some squares into more 9-patch blocks. These will become drawstring backpacks.

Last week Ellen gave me 5 sets of 9-patches.  I showed 3 of them that I completed as backpacks.

For my own efforts, I show bed a walker bag with fidget items

 and a Halloween table runner that I made on my embroidery machine.  This was a kit that allowed me to embroider on cork, leather, and glitter fabric for the first time. 

I also made a set of matching place mats and mug rugs.

The “new to me” tool I promised is a precision glue gun that uses regular Elmer’s glue.  Unlike glue sticks and bottles of Elmers glue, in addition to allowing excellent control of the output, this is designed to keep the glue from drying out between uses.   It is my new favorite quilting tool.

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I put out one bin of 5” squares and one bin of fabric pieces for everyone to choose from.    I also put together a box of 1 yd and ½ yd+ pieces for possible use.   Ellen is determined to help me transport less, so she has been doing a lot of organizing.  She looked through the box of zipper bag fabric that has been hanging around too long and got rid of some of it.  Anne Knoff also took the box of baby fabric.  Elimination of those 2 boxes allowed her to find a spot for the 1 yd fabrics in the closet.  I wonder what she would do if she saw what is in my storage unit.    

Hope to see you next week.

Lois

Club Notes - April 8, 2026

There were 12 of us at today’s meeting. We got a little hope of getting our room back to normal.  A sign on the table said the room will be closed on April 20^th for cabinet replacement.  Once that is done all the stuff belonging to other clubs will be put back in the cabinets and we will get our table space back.

Show and Tell: 

Melanie Konopka showed several items she made to complete the squares on her Allamanda Bingo card. 

She made a pile of walker bags, a bunch of pillowcases, and several Cornerstone Hospice quilts.

Eileen DiSanto made some animals.

Ceal Pedersen painted faces on 25 stuffed toys.

Mary Ellen Boutin turned in several zipper bags and some backpacks. 

She used some imagination, taking some blocks from our big block box and turning these into backpacks.

Bev Minnerly showed some doll clothes she made.

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

Ellen also sewed some squares into 9-patch blocks. These will become drawstring backpacks.

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I talked a bit about making walker bags using squares. I experimented using 6.5” squares and made a walker bag with 15 squares (3 by 5) for each base side.  This proved too large.  If you want to try this, I recommend using only 12 squares (3 x 4). I think this could also work with 5” squares.  The walker bag will be smaller, but I think it is still very usable.

If anyone wants to just sew squares together and not make the complete walker bags or backpacks, please do the following:

For walker bags – sew two 3 x  4 sets of squares together for ech potential walker back.

For Backpacks, sew two 3 x 3 sets of squares for the outside and 2 two sets of 3 x 3 squares for the lining. You can also use 2 pieces of coordinating fabric for the lining, if you find something that works.

 

Hope to see you next week.

Lois