Club Notes - July 26, 2017

It was another fun afternoon.  17 ladies came out, including one prospective new member.  It seems like quite a few new Villages residents have moved in north of 466 and found our club.  I think we've had someone new show up each week for the past 5 weeks. Even though we have 59 members now, only 15-25 seem to come each week, so I'm still not going to limit membership.  We'll find out in the fall whether or not I'm making the right decision.

We have been running 50/50s to raise money for charity supplies over the past 6 weeks and have accumulated $74.  The only charity project that we currently support which we can't accommodate with donated fabric is making pillowcases.  In addition to the ones we make for Ryans Case for Smiles, Carol has been contacted by the Shriners looking for pillowcases for boys.  I asked the members present today if there would be any objections to my using the money collected so far to purchase boy-friendly fabric for this cause and received general approval.  I plan on visiting several more quilt shops this week and will look for any appropriate fabric on sale.
Our next charity project day is Aug 16 and I've designated the project of the month as pillowcases, so this fits well.

I was asked if Sharky's still had fabric on sale.  The $3/yd sale is over, but they do still have fabric in the back room marked down to $7.99 and $8.99/yd.  Prices are on the bolts.
I received a large pile of fabric that is good for the base fabric in the fidget walker bags and will continue to make up kits for anyone who wished to make these. 

Show and Tell:

Diana Gosselin came through again with 8 pillowcases

 Donna Rissman made pilowcases and a anti-skid sewing machine foot pedal pad.  (Sorry I spoiled your surprise Donna. This really is a great future project.)

Nita Hand is on a mission to empty her garage.  She brought cathedral ceiling blocks ready to be made into a quilt.  She also has several good sweat shirts available if anyone needs one to make the quilted jacket Kathy Jones showed last week.  Talk to Nita if you need one.

Pat Pipa made 2 more walker bags

Diane Placek finished one of the fidget walker bag kits.  Once she tore it out a few times, she figured it out and is now ready to tackle more.

We were happy to see Audrey Philips join us again today.  She showed a tea towel which was pre-printed but she played with decorative stitches to make lovely enhancements.  She also had fun with her embroidery machine making pocket pal purses for 2 grandchildren who are coming to visit, and a dollar-store bag that she made pretty with embroidered patterns.

Carol Riggs also finished a fidget walker bag, a bag for a friend,  and a cute cat apron.

Dariel Distelkamp brought a small hanging storage she made a while back, since this was today's project.

Next week I will be showing how to make a trash bag for your car or golf cart.  Supply list will be sent separately.The pattern I have uses a fabric license plate from any of the row by row quilt shows, but can be done without it.  If you want to use one of the license plates, you can get this year's from The Sewing Studio at Lady Lake or A Quilters Pallette.  You can get last year's fabric plate from Sharky's. 
See you next Wednesday.

Club Notes - July 19, 2017

For the past month I've been planning to put out a new club directory. However, every week we've gotten a new member, so I've been delaying so everyone who wants to be included is.   I don't think I'm ever going to be able to say it is set, so I'm waiting for a couple of updates and will then send it out.

We had a great turnout today and Kathy Jones gave a terrific explanation of how to turn a plain sweatshirt into a cute jacket, personalized to your taste.I understand that it has been difficult to find sweatshirts in the area thrift shops.  I did a web search and found that you can get a new sweatshirt in whatever size and color you want direct from Hanes for $7.99 (http://www.hanes.com/).  However, shipping is also $7.99, so this is only a good deal if you are buying more than just the one sweatshirt.  I've also seen them on Amazon for as low as $5.49 and PRIME, so this is even better.

Two announcements this week.  

Carol Riggs said the tickets for the Bingo events to benefit the Humane Society of Marion County and the Christian Food Pantry is sold out for July and August, but she may be able to get tickets if anyone is interested for October.  She will try to get group tickets or you can reserve your own by contacting Joan  at 751-3748 or Alice at 750-9490.
Kathy Jones announced that August 2nd is National Coloring Book Day and there will be a special event at Churchill Rec Center from 1-3PM that day.  All the coloring clubs will be there showing what they do, and they are encouraging Villages residents to stop by.
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Show and Tell:



Bev Minnerly was back with us this week and has been busy making doll clothes for Giving Dolls.  She also made a cute purse to replace one of hers that she gave to her daughter.







B.J. Herter had lots to show this week.

She finished her 6 grid placemats, a fidget walker bag, 


a thread catcher, a petal purse,  






and a lovely painted wall hanging.

 Kathy Jones made 2 pillowcases

 Charlotte Cecilio finished a walker bag.













Donna Rissman brought a UFO representative of this week's project - a quilted jacket tat just needed to be finished.

Our pillowcase diva Diana Gosselin didn't  disappoint.  She came with 10 pillowcases.  She also showed a cute Dresden purse (which she will be showing us how to make in October.)

We were happy to see Linda Parr back.  She showed a great orange quilt made from blocks from our stash of donated fabric and a couple of cute snap bags.

Pat Pipa made up a bunch on walker bags and one fidget walker bag using our new pattern.  She also brought in a quilted sweatshirt jacket she made at a class a while back.

I found cute fabric at Sharky's sale last week and made 6 pillowcases.  

I also finished 2 fidget walker bags and added some fidget tassels to one Donna Rissman completed last week.

New member Dariel Diestelkamp came a little late to drop off a fidget walker bag, but I got a photo of her anyway.  









Next week we will be working on hanging storage.  I have a couple of patterns, and have decided to combine a couple into one with options.  I will send out info on supplies over the weekend.

Club Notes - July 12, 2017

Although I did a good job of confusing everyone by sending out a bad set of instructions on this week's project, we had fun anyway and I think I may see a few of the fidget walker bags come back in during the next few weeks.  I think the hardest part of it is deciding what fidget items to put on.  The bag itself is pretty easy once you've done one.

As always, I had dryer sheets and fabric strips available for members to work on and a box of fabric that needed to be sorted.  Nella Rose did a terrific job sorting and I left with 2 fewer boxes than I started with.   We now have a good supply of fabric strips sorted by color to make it easier to make blocks the way you like.

Show and Tell: 

Nita Hand showed 2 pieces of "knot work" done by New England sailors during their down time.  These are not tatting, but instead a lost seaman's art.
Nita cleaned out several old farm houses over the years and these were among her finds.

We have a new member, Dariel Diestelkamp, and she came to her first meeting prepared with sewing machine and items to show.  She shared a sewing kit, purse, and an eyeglass case that she made.











Congratulations new grandma Mary Nazgiewicz!  Despite being exhausted from hospital visits to her daughter and new granddaughter, she still managed to make pillowcases and a fidget quilt.

Carol Riggs did not sign on the show and tell list, but she did make an adorable teddy bear for Mary to giver the new baby.

Diane Placek shared a quilt she made for her brother who just broke BOTH his legs falling off a ladder.  We wish him a speedy and successful recovery.

Donna Rissman was busy.  She made 10 pillowcases for Ryan's Case for Smiles.

Pat Pipa showed her finished jewelry bag.

Laura Tomich also came in with some lovely pillowcases.

Kathy Jones showed the quilted jacket project we will be working on next week. (Instructions will follow in a separate email.)

 I showed my finished jewelry bag and my fabric clothesline basket.  For those who didn't make it yesterday, I am another one who could not make the clothesline curve up into an basket, so I cheated a little.  When it was done I folded it on 4 sides where I wanted it to curve up and sewed a straight line along the fold to force the sides up.

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News of 3 of our club members who can't get to meetings right now:

Bev Minnerly is recovering from knee surgery.
Jane Swafford is having bone on bone trouble and needs to stay off her feet as much as she can.
Chris Leedy continues to have complications from her foot surgery last year.
X Rays are now showing she has hip problems and may have to have surgery for that.
Let's all keep these friends in our prayers.
Also, if you know of anyone else who needs a little sunshine from our club, please let me know.

As I said above, next week Kathy Jones will show us how to make a quilted jacket out of an old sweatshirt.  I will also bring the box of pillowcase fabric, the sorted dryer sheet strips,  another box of fabric that needs sorting, and maybe a few  precut kits for the fidget walker bags. 

Next Friday, July 21st is our first group shop hop.   It's going to be a fun girls day out to up to 6 row-by-row quilt shops.  There are five of us going on an all day excursion to Sarasota area shops in my van.   I can still fit one more in the van if anyone is interested.

For those who don't know, Sharky's $3/yard fabric sale was extended through Friday, July 14th.  They also have a BOGO sale on stabilizer this week.  These are great deals.

Hope to see you all next week.