Club Notes - Dec 20, 2017

We had 16 members at our Holiday Pot-Luck today.  The food was good and the friendship even better.   Since this was the last meeting of the year, I awarded the 2nd annual prize for the person who has made it to the most meetings in 2017.  This year it was Carol Riggs, with 35 of or 44 meetings attended this year.  She beat our 2016 winner, Eileen DiSanto, by 1 meeting!  

Show and Tell:

Bev Minnerly started us off showing 2 kitchen towel hangers she made.

Donna Rissman showed a Christmas Minions mesh bag and a cute dachshund pillow.

Audrey Phillips showed the Olaf (Frozen) comforters she made for her great-grandchildren.  

She also showed some ornaments her daughter Lynn made at ne of the Sewing Studio events.

I showed the mesh bag I finished using a strange Roses and Skulls fat quarter I had in my stash (and didn't know what to do with).  I will probably save this bag for Halloween, but it was great to learn the process.

We had the perfect number of people for 4 bowling teams, so we played a full 10 frames of table bowling.  I think some of the tables are warped, since the balls on some curved always to the sides, while one team managed great scores.   It was fun and I plan to keep this in the game mix, but maybe make some improvements to the setup for the next time, based on today's experience.

After bowling we played Holiday Bingo, Lois style.  I think everyone had fun, and I still have a few prizes left for the next pot-luck party.

There is no meeting next week, since it is the week between Christmas and New Years Eve, and so many are away or have family visiting.  Our next meeting is January 3rd, when we will be showing how to make the QuiltSmart midi bag.  If anyone is interested in making it but did not sign up, I ordered a couple extra interface panels.  They are $4 each.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

See you next year.

Club Notes - Dec 13, 2017

Many thanks to Lu for getting the meeting started this afternoon.  I was about an hour late due to a conflicting commitment.  The group voted to delay show and tell until I arrived, so I have photos to share as usual.

Donna Rissman gave a great demo on how to make a mesh bag the easy way.  I saw quite a few in progress when I arrived and Donna was nice enough to give me a quick review of the key hints.

Show and Tell:


There were lots of completed fidget walker bags as a result of last week's workshop:

Eileen Disanto, Carol Riggs, Marie Bray, Ellen Hein, Lu Karatzas and I all showed our completed walker bags.

Note:  The pattern we used is a special design provided by the area nursing home coordinator. This pattern makes one item for the nursing home to store that serves multiple purposes.  It is a walker bag, a fidget surface, and has a pillowcase style open end so a pillow or a hard desk-type surface can be inserted.  The straps are designed so they can be attached to a walker, a wheelchair or a person's belt.

Ellen Hein also showed mittens and several pairs of pants she made for her grandchild.

Bev Minnerly showed a midi bag she made. This is the project we will be working on in January.  I gave the option of the midi or mondo version of this bag and it appears everyone has opted for the smaller, midi version.  I will put in the order for the interfacing on Friday, so if anyone else wants to try this and doesn't already have the interfacing, let me know ASAP.

Diana Gosselin came with 5 pillowcases for Ryan's Case for Smiles and I brought one.

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Next week is our Pot-Luck Holiday party.  Bring a dish to share and come play some games.

I will provide ice tea and we still have plenty of plates and plastic ware.

 This time we will try the table bowling again but with standardized distances, 10 frames, and regular scoring.  We will also play some holiday bingo.  

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I've updated or future project schedule based on feedback received.  Here is the schedule as of today:

Date	Project	Leader	Room
20-Dec-17	Holiday Pot-Luck		El Santiago,Hula Lounge
27-Dec-17	NO Meeting		El Santiago,Hula Lounge
03-Jan-18	Midi Bags -Part 1	Lois Rose	El Santiago,Beach Club
10-Jan-18	Crochet Party	Lois Rose	Mulberry, Freedom
17-Jan-18	Midi Bags -Part 2	Lois Rose	El Santiago,Beach Club
24-Jan-18	Charity Projects- Pillow Cases	Lois Rose	Mulberry, Freedom
31-Jan-18	Easy Table Runner	Brenda Severa (Lois Away)	El Santiago,Beach Club
07-Feb-18	Outing to Silver Springs State Park	Lois Rose	Car Pools
14-Feb-18	Bra Purse	Charlotte Cecilio	El Santiago,Beach Club
21-Feb-18	Charity Projects - Fabric Sorting & Cutting	Lois Rose	Mulberry, Freedom
28-Feb-18	Kitchen Hand Towel Hanger	Bev Minnerly	El Santiago,Beach Club
07-Mar-18	Adult "Lobster" Bib	Bev Minnerly	Mulberry, Freedom
14-Mar-18	Charity Projects - Quilt Blocks	Lois Rose	El Santiago,Beach Club
21-Mar-18	St Patricks Pot Luck		Mulberry, Freedom
28-Mar-18	Button Sewing on a machine	Brenda Severa	El Santiago,Beach Club
04-Apr-18	Ribbon Craft	Donna Rissman	Mulberry, Freedom
11-Apr-18	Fat Quarter Gypsy Bag	Lois Rose	El Santiago,Beach Club
18-Apr-18	Paper Fidget Spinner	Lois Rose	Mulberry, Freedom
25-Apr-18	Charity Projects- Hospice Quilts	Lois Rose	El Santiago,Beach Club
02-May-18	Cat Door Hanger	Lois Rose	El Santiago,Hula Lounge

Club Notes - Dec 6, 2017

It was a small group this week but not lacking in fun. 




Paul Farineau came by to pick up the Hospice quilts we have made so far.. We gave him 35!!  





If anyone still has some to turn in, no problem.  They can always use more. I only wanted to turn over the 2 full bags we had.  Paul brought be another 15 center blocks that I will share between our club and some of the quilt guild chapters our club members belong to.

We also got a thank you letter from the Shriners for the 45 pillowcases we gave them.

Show and Tell:

Ellen Hein brought a Hospice quilt with a great backing.  

She also showed burp clothes and hats she made for her grandson.

Ellen also made some baby items for Linda Parr's soon-to-be great-granddaughter.

 Linda is crocheting a blanket for this great-granddaughter and she showed the almost complete effort.

I showed a stuffed elephant I made from a panel I found in one of our donations, and a baby quilt I made from a kit I found in the sale bin in one of the summer shop-hops.

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Our project today was Fidget Walker quilts.  I finished one and saw everyone else working at theirs.  I am hoping to have a few done for area nursing homes to give as presents for their residents for the Holidays.

We had a surprise visitor stop in this afternoon.  He was waiting for his turn to visit a party in the next room and decided to come in to see if we were being good.  (We received a positive word and a chocolate candy .)

Next week Donna Rissman will be leading a mesh bag project.  I will get a list of supplies from her and send it out. I did a web search and found that you can order the mesh from Amazon if you can't get to a shop that has it.

I will be arriving a little late next week but Lu Karatzas is back and will get the meeting started.  See you next week.

Club Notes - Nov. 29, 2017

We had a small but active group today.  Carol Riggs gave a great demo on how to make the cute snowman wall hanging.   I saw several being worked and Marti Rhyne got hers finished during the meeting. 

Show and Tell:

Donna Risman showed one of the gnomes she made for the upcoming Tamarind Grove craft sale (see attached).  She has a bunch of really cute things that will be for sale on Sunday.

Bev Minnerly showed another set of Orioles fabric P.J.'s she made for her granddaughter and a bunch of doll clothes for Giving Dolls.

Ellen Hein showed a quilt top she made from a stack of squares from our club stash.  Beautiful work.







Lynn Klucynski reported that she has delivered 57 pillowcases to the Sheriff's Youth Camp and they now have more than enough.  They have filled 40 welcome kits and the rest are in reserve. Lynn said they were very surprised by how many we were able to supply in such a short time.

Marti Rhyne told us about a sleep snuggie she made for her grandson with a gathered tie bottom..  Sorry - no picture since it has already been delivered.

I spent the afternoon sewing labels on our Cornerstone Hospice Quilts.  I lost count, but I think we now have about 25 completed.  I plan to contact Paul Farineau and ask if he would like to pick up what we have so far next week.




Project Schedule Change:

The new schedule is:

06-Dec-17 Charity Projects - Fidget Walker Bags Lois Rose

13-Dec-17 Mesh Bag Donna Rissman

20-Dec-17 Christmas Pot-Luck

27-Dec-17 NO Meeting

03-Jan-18 Mondo / Midi Bags Lois Rose (Let me know if you need the interfacing and if so, which size bag you want to make by 12/6.)

10-Jan-18 Crochet Party Lois Rose

17-Jan-18 Charity Projects- Pillow Cases Lois Rose

I have a schedule conflict on Dec 13th, so I will not be able to lead the meeting that day.  I am hoping someone will volunteer to lead the meeting that day.  This only involves making sure everything gets put back in the closet where it belongs, and not imposing on any other group's space.If you can be at the 12/13 meeting and are willing to do this, please let me know.  If no one volunteers for this, the meeting will be a sit and sew without access to anything in the closet.

Hope to see you next week.

Club Notes - Nov 15th, 2017

Lots of activity today.  More pillowcases came in for both Ryan's Case and  and the Sheriff's Youth Camps, plus several more Hospice Veterans quilts.  Lynn reported that she turned over 37 pillowcases to the Sheriff's camps, and that doesn't count the ones she collected today.

As of tonight we have 22 completed Hospice Veteran's quilts, and I think there are at least 5 more being worked.  In addition, I reported that I delivered 19 quilts to Sew-Mini Things for distribution to the kids from Puerto Rico who have come to Florida to go to school.  I also have a stack of baby quilts and 2 large bags of stuffed toys that I plan to deliver by the first week of December.  Tomorrow I am bringing a pile of dog beds to the Marion County Animal Services and another pile of pillowcases and small toiletries to the Ocala Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault shelter.  You have all been busy and our neighbors in need are very grateful.  I am very proud of you all.

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Show and Tell:

Bev Minnerly showed some pajamas she made for her grandkids.

Brenda Severa made a couple of snap bags, some pillowcases, and 2 Hospice quilts.

Carol Riggs: made an I-Spy quilt for her granddaughter.

Eileen DiSanto showed some pillowcases and the kid's quilt she is almost finished with.  She will be adding this to our charity pile.

Joanne Sheahan made some great colorful pillowcases.

Alice Munier made a reading pillow.

Susie Pendry made some pillowcases.

I showed an apple table runner I made from a kit and my embroidered Thanksgiving tile wall hanging.

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There will be NO MEETING next week.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Club Notes - November 8, 2017

Lots of fun today.

Our current charity projects are running quite well. There were 18 pillowcases turned in for the Sheriff's Youth Camps and 14 completed Hospice Veteran's quilts.  I have 3 more of the quilts in progress that I'll finish over the weekend to bring the total to 17 quilts so far  There are more of both the pillowcases and the quilts coming since I know several ladies are working on these at home.

We also got a couple of pillowcases for Ryan's Case for Smiles and for the Ocala Shelter, as well as a bag full of stuffed animals to distribute to the Foster kids.  You guys are all really great!!

Next week we will continue these charity projects.  Even though our scheduled demos for November had to be cancelled, we are having a lot of fun and getting things done.  Tis the season for charitable projects!

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Show and Tell:

Lynn Kluczynski Brought in a bag full of stuffed toy frogs and several completed Hospice quilts.

Roberta Kelsey brought in some completed pillowcases.

Susie Pendry made pillowcases and 2 embroidered aprons for her grandchildren.

Jane Motrinec finished a quilt for the Hurricane victims and a pillowcase.

Linda Parr finished her stuffed shark and 2 childrens fabric books.

Donna Rissman finished 2 Hospice quilts and showed a ribbon pumpkin.

Diane Placek completed a fidget walker bag.

Nella Rose made some pillowcases.

 I finished a quilt to be donated to the Hurricane victims and 4 pillowcases. I also brought 3 Hospice quilts, the first 2 just need binding and the 3rd needs backing and binding to be completed.

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In addition to the work on the Hospice quilts and pillowcases, several ladies helped cut some of our fabric scraps into blocks.  I spent most of the afternoon sorting through a new batch of donations that came in at the beginning of the meeting.  We have a box full of threads and I announced that anyone who needs some should take some.  We have more than we will need.

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Our first project in January will be to make mondo or midi bags, using the QuiltSmart interfacing.  Two of the interface panels are needed to make one bag.  I can get the panels for $3.99 plus tax, so the cost for 2 would be $8.50.   Some of our members already have the panels.  If you would like to make one of these bags and don't have the panels, please email me so I will know how many to buy.  I will collect the money the first week in December. 

Have a great week!