Club Notes - February 4, 2026

There were 18 of us at today’s meeting. I brought out our medium size fabric pieces and several ladies sorted through the boxes to find or cut fat quarters that we can sell. Slightly smaller pieces were available for making toys or other projects. The 5” squares and 6.5” squares were also available for anyone who wanted to work with them.

Here is a recoup of upcoming events: 

Feb 7^th Giving Showcase 10am-2pm at Lake Miona.  Lisa, Brenda and Carolyn volunteered to help.  Stop by to check out all the wonderful organizations in The Villages.

March 7^th  - Quilter’s Closet & Notions Sale at La Hacienda. 8:30am-12:30pm. I will be looking for a few volunteers to help for an hour or two.

March 1-April 30 – All Florida Shop Hop.  Purchase the magazine at one of our local shops to get free patterns and the official passport needed to register for prizes. There are prizes given at the shops plus regional and all Florida prizes. This is a fun way to get to know the shops.

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

Donna Rissman handed in a dog bed

and a bunch of receiving blanket made by members of her quilt chapter. 

She also showed some apron shaped potholders she made for her chapter’s retreat, 

and some heart shaped trivets.

Ceal Pedersen showed some more stuffed toys that she painted the faces on to finish them for us,

 and two quilts. She is keeping the first quilt for herself. 

The second one goes to a nephew.

Bev Minnerly made 3 cats that she gave to Ceal for face painting. 

She also made 10 pillowcases 

and 3 walker bags.

 

Lisa Strahs-Lorenc showed some doll clothes and a doll for “Dolls From the Heart”.

Diane Placek showed the paper piecing sample she completed and talked about the challenge this was for her since she is left-handed.

Eileen St Clair showed a table runner she made using paper piecing.

Louise Stem made 2 more pillowcases for the Youth Ranch graduates.

Linda Greenbaum made 5 teddy bears to be stuffed

 and 6 clothing protectors.

 

The 5” squares continue to live in my car, so they will be back again next week. We have room for 2 bins in the closet, so the pieces for toys are staying there.  We also keep the 3.5: squares and 4” squares in the closet for anyone who would like to make some 9-patch blocks. 

My husband is having an out-patient procedure done next Wednesday morning, so I may be late getting to our meeting and will not have time to bring anything that is not already in my car.  If I am late Mic should be able to start the meeting.   In either case, you can come to sew and socialize. I plan to send out an email before noon to let everyone know what is happening.

 Hope to see you next week.

Club Notes - January 28, 2026

There were 16 of us at today’s meeting, It was a low-key afternoon.  I put out the 5” squares, the fabric pieces, and the big orphan blocks. 

Today’s announcements were a recap of  upcoming events, as follows:

Jan 28- Feb 1 Fabric giveaway, 1pm-3pm each afternoon – at Mic’s house, Village of Tall Trees, 2490 Five Forks Trail

Feb 7^th Giving Showcase 10am-2pm at Lake Miona.  Lisa, Brenda and Carolyn have volunteered to help.  Stop by to check out all the wonderful organizations in The Villages.

March 7th  - Quilter’s Closet & Notions Sale at La Hacienda. 8:30am-12:30pmRoxann Walas has offered to help 9:30-10:30. . I am looking for a few volunteers to help in the other time slots.

March 1-April 30 – All Florida Shop Hop.  Purchase the magazine at one of our local shops to get free patterns and the official passport needed to register for prizes. There are prizes given at the shops plus regional and all Florida prizes. This is a fun way to get to know the shops.

Show and Tell:

Melanie Konopka showed 2 table runners that she made.

Louise Stem made a couple more pillowcases for the Ranch graduates, 

a prayer quilt for a friend who lost her mother.

Linda Greenbaum made some clothing protectors,

Bev Minnerly made a walker bag 

and 2 cats.

Carolyn Grasso made a quilt for her uncle.

Ceal Pedersen showed some more stuffed toys that she painted the faces on to finish them for us. She also shared her toy patterns.

Eileen St. Clair and Ellen Hein have been busy sewing binding on the quilts we have been working on.

Ellen also made pajamas for her grandchildren.

 

During the meeting Ellen worked on this quilt top for Cornerstone Hospice, and handed it in at the end.

For the rest of the afternoon, we all selected fabric, chatted, and worked on various projects.

The 5” squares continue to live in my car, so they will be back again next week.  I will also get the fabric pieces for toys out. The big, orphan blocks, 3.5” 4.5”, 8.5”, and 10.5” squares are stored in the closet and are available for anyone who want to make something with them.   I encourage anyone who wants an easy project to make some 9-patch blocks. Once we have enough, they will be turned into a quilt top.     We can also always use more toys, walker bags, drawstring backpacks, and zipper bags, Hope to see you next week.

Club Notes - January 21, 2026

There were 18 of us at today’s meeting, including one new member.  Thanks to the efforts of everyone sorting the 5 inch squares, , we now have almost 2 bins of 20 square packs.    I brought out the boxes of 3.5” squares for today’s project.

Today’s announcements were on upcoming events, as follows:

Jan 23-24 - Marketplace 2026 at Rohan Rec center, 9am-5pm Fri and 9am-4pm Sat.  More than 30 vendors, for all things sewing.  Scissors Sharpening, Basketmania, Door Prizes and more.  Admission $10 covers both days.

Jan 24^th – Memorial for Ernestine Vawter at Dignity Memorial Life Celebration Center, 7134 Powell Rd., Wildwood.  11-12 gathering, noon-1pm service, fellowship 1pm-3pm

Feb 7^th Giving Showcase 10am-2pm at Lake Miona.  Lisa, Brenda and Carolyn have volunteered to help.  Stop by to check out all the wonderful organizations in The Villages.

March 7^th  - Quilter’s Closet & Notions Sale at La Hacienda. 8:30am-12:30pm. I will be looking for a few volunteers to help for an hour or two.

March 1-April 30 – All Florida Shop Hop.  Purchase the magazine at one of our local shops to get free patterns and the official passport needed to register for prizes. There are prizes given at the shops plus regional and all Florida prizes. This is a fun way to get to know the shops.

Show and Tell: 

Lisa Strahs-Lorenc showed some Chemo hats she is making in the Abundance of Love Club.

Lorraine Manz made a stack of walker bags 

and a pile of drawstring backpacks.

Ceal Pedersen showed some more stuffed toys that she painted the faces on to finish them for us.

(Mic told us that the lady at the volunteer desk at the hospital was excited to get the toys.  We gave them 36 in August and they were all out of them now.  We only gave them 24 this time because we gave a bunch to another charity.  Hopefully we can drop some off every 2 months.)

Carolyn Grasso showed another block in her current project.

Bev Minnerly turned in a pink dog bed.

Mic Pickard showed a casserole carrier for a friend in assisted living.  She made it with cotton fabric and wrap n zap batting so it can go in the microwave.  She also made several zipper bags.

Eileen DiSanto made a bunch of animals needing stuffing.

Linda Greenbaum showed an angel ornament made by a friend of her mother-in-law.

 

After show and tell, I demonstrated how to do paper piecing. I handed out templates for 2 strips of 6 “flying Geese”. For those who need some additional help, here is a youtube that might help. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7Kx4Q7JSwQ

A few ladies tried the paper piecing exercise during the afternoon, and some others took the templates home to try on their sewing machine. Others matched up more sets of 5” squares or stuffed toys.  It was the usual busy and fun afternoon.

The 5” squares continue to live in my car, so they will be back again next week.  I will also get the fabric pieces for toys out.  Hope to see you next week.