Club Notes - April 25, 2018

You can tell Spring is here. Members leaving, others coming back, and some having guests who can finally dig out from the winter.

We have filling a lot of doggie beds lately.  I delivered 32 dog beds and a bag full of towels to the South Lake Animal League last Saturday.  I have a pile of stuff to bring to the Ocala Shelter and am probably going to deliver them next Monday.

Two weeks ago I showed how to use the Turn-It-All tools for turning fabric tubes.  A suggestion was made that we get a set for the club supplies, so I ordered a set and they are now available for use at meetings.

One thing I forgot to mention at the meeting - Watch the fat quarters you get from Joanns.  B.J. bought some a few weeks ago for a project that required the full 20" x 18" pieces.  When she opened them she found they were cut too small so she couldn't do the project.  When she returned them they gave her a credit and told her the fat quarters are cut in China.  If you really need the fat quarter size, you may want to open them and check them before you buy, or have them cut to order at the cutting table.

Lynn gave an update on the Sheriff's Youth Ranch project.  As we've discussed before, the youth ranch gets lots of stuff for babies and girls, but not much for boys, so we are concentrating on items for boys.  They will be putting kits together for the next group on May 6th.  So, if you have any items to donate, please bring them in next week.  They need pillowcases, male oriented quilts, and duffle bags. In addition, each kit should contain:
If you would like to donate any of these items, please bring them next week so Lynn can deliver them in time for this group.

 * A plastic tub (about 16" x 22" x 6" with lid, and able to slide under bed)

 * A standard size bath towel, a hand/face towel, a wash cloth

          (all the same color)

 * Toothbrush and Toothpaste in original packages

 * A packaged bar of soap

 * Nail Clipper

 * AXE Aerosol Deodorant/Body Spray

 * Men's Comb & Hairbrush 

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Show and Tell: 

Lynn showed a sewing workstation cube called a Mega Pinnie.  She will be showing us how to make one of these on May 9.

Lu Karatzas made 2 towel hangers after last week's demo.

Carol Riggs made some hot gloves and bibs in the wee hours of the morning when the rest of us are still sleeping.

Brenda Severa showed showed a table runner embroidered with a pattern from Sweet Pea.  This is her last meeting before heading back north for the summer and she is saving the binding work for this and several other projects for the drive.

Marty Rhyne is back and has been browsing the Dollar Store.  She bought a couple of potholders and a place mat and turned them into some cute bags.

Donna Rissman was  with us again (although she really needs to get more rest!!)  She worked on a couple of projects this week - a table runner with hearts, some hot pads made with fabric panel squares, a foldable thread-catcher box, and, best of all, a stuffed "Gallie" gall bladder she is planning to give her surgeon.

Eileen DiSanto turned in 3 pillowcases

Laura Tomich made 3 pillowcases.

Diana Gosselin came with 20 pillowcases.

A few weeks ago Van Hathaway gave me a quilt top and last week I finished it for her.  It will go to the Ocala shelter.

I finished a towel hanger on a towel I had embroidered (my first attempt).

I also played with an Anita Goodesign animal bag pattern and made a hedgehog zipper bag.

Last, I showed a basketball themed quilt I have been working on for the last 4 months.  The blocks were embroidered using a set of patterns from  Amazing Designs.  It will be a high school graduation gift for my great-nephew.

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We made some cat door decorations this week.   Just a note -  the pattern I sent out (which I got from Pinterest), was a bit too small.  If you want to make this on your own, I suggest you make it several inches larger, both for ease of turning and stuffing, and for appearance.

The project schedule has changed a little (again) due to scheduling conflicts.  Next week we will be revisiting an old project - Microwave bowl holders.  I will send out the basic pattern in a couple of days, but will demo how this can be made for any size and shape you need.

See you next week.

Club Notes - April 18, 2018

We were really happy to see Donna Rissman back with us today, although she really needs to take it easy a few more weeks.  Donna we want you to heal so you can be back to your lovely, energetic, fun self.

Great, easy demo today.  Bev showed us how to add a hanger to any kitchen towel.    I know I want to add them to all my towels to keep them from sliding onto the floor.

In my announcements today I made a small error.  I said we had donated over $2,000 worth of items to the various organizations we support. That was an estimate, since I hadn't had a chance to add up the actual numbers.  Based on the values the quilt guild uses, we have donated $3,042.80 worth of fabric goods between 3/21 and today.  This does not include the soaps, toothpaste, etc. dropped in the bag for the Ocala shelter.  It also does not include dog toys and old towels given to the Animal Shelters, since all of those are not crafted items I can assign values to.  I did not start tracking until March, so the dog beds I delivered earlier did not get into this count.  I plan to keep better records from now on.

3/21/2018   Sheriff's Youth Ranch  $    435.50  3/23/2018   Helpertunity  $    140.00  3/27/2018   Hospice Veterans' Quilts  $    400.00  3/29/2018   Humane Society of Lake County  $    348.00  4/9/2018   Ocala Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Center  $ 1,719.30

Show and Tell





Bev Minnerly started us off with more of her great doll clothes.

Diana Gosselin took a stack of fabric home last week and came back with 20 pillowcases!

Lu Karatzas took our gypsy bag project a step further.  She made the small one we demoed and then made a second one that is halfway between the size of the little one and the original.  This turned out to be a great size!

Nella Rose showed a tote bag she made and then showed the great t-shirt quilt she had tucked inside.  She made this for her niece and it came out great.

Carol Thurston made her first pillowcase and some dog bed cases

Carol Riggs made pillow cases and a shirt for her senior games table tennis team.  (She is competing this week.)

Pat Pipa made a pillow case, dog beds, and some fidget walker bags.

Eileen DiSanto showed a pillowcase she made.

Laura Tomich showed how she modified the gypsy bag and made a cute purse.


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After Bev's demo we had our usual flurry of activity.  

Diana continued her efforts to cut and match up pillowcase fabrics. 

Laura Paulk helped me by sewing white strips between quilt blocks we organized last week. 

 After making their towel toppers, Lu, Bev, Pat, and Nella stepped up to help me sort out and cut up several bags of scraps that were mostly t-shirt fabric. (Sorry, if I missed anyone - I was focused on cutting and taking home dog beds instead of bags of unsorted scraps.)  

I have a good pile of finished dog beds at home now but I plan to wait another week before delivering them.

This week one of my great-nieces is visiting Orlando with her boyfriend and we are going to try to spend some time with them at one of the parks.  When I'm not visiting with them I am really hoping to finish a quilt I have been working on since January.

Next week I will bring a pattern for a cat door hanging decoration.  I'll send info on that in a separate email.

Club Notes - April 11, 2018

Lots of activity today, as usual.  

Announcements: The Florida Register is celebrating it's 25th anniversary with a free contest.  All you need is to pick up a copy, clip out the entry form and mail it in.  Several Florida shops have donated the prizes.

Donna Rissman is recovering from her gall bladder surgery and is not allowed to drive or lift anything for 4-5 weeks. She sounded good, but being homebound can take it's toll.   If anyone lives near enough to Tamarind Grove Village to give her a ride to our club meetings, that would be great.  If you can, look at the directory for her contact info or email me if you can't find it.

Show and Tell:

Van  Hathaway showed a quilt top she made.  She gave this to me to sandwich and quilt as a charity donation.

Roberta Kelsey made a stack of pillowcases

Bev Minnerly showed a bunch of doll clothes she made for Giving Dolls

Diane Placek showed her finished mini gypsy bag

Eileen DiSanto showed the adult apron she made for her husband

Pat Pipa made a bunch of dog bed sleeves and draw string bags, using up some of our large stash of heavy fabric.

Marty Rhyne and Joyce Yarborough arrived a little late and brought a pillow case and 2 baby quilts that Alice Meunier made. (I heard Alice was busy golfing. ;-)))

 

I showed 2 bags I finished.  First, the bra purse that Charlotte demoed a few weeks ago that I finally put a button closure on and then the mini gypsy bag I finished last week.

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Today was charit workshop afternoon.  I haven't counted up what was turned in but I saw a bunch of patriotic dryer sheet blocks and a stack of draw string bags.  It appeared to me that there was an assembly line going on with cutting, ironing and sewing.   Great work!!

I saw Diana Gosselin going through the stack of larger fabrics, cutting and matching pillow case bodies and cuffs.  She took a big stack home to finish and also did a great job stacking boxes of fabric on our shelves so I didn't have to take as much home.  Thank you Diana!

I took the box of 7" blocks and, with help from Van and Nita, laid out several quilts.  Although we barely made a dent on the number of blocks in the box, I now have sets of blocks organized for 3 twin size quilts.

Next week Bev Minnerly will demo how to make a Kitchen Hand Towel Hanger.  I will also have charity supplies on hand in case anyone needs something else to work on.

See you next Wednesday.

Club Notes - April 4, 2018

What a fun afternoon! Great show and tell, great discussions and sharing, and lots of activity.

First  announcements.- B.J. informed me that Donna Rissman was scheduled for gall bladder surgery today.  I am praying that this solved the problems that have been plaguing her this year and she returns to our group soon.

- I reported the results of my survey questions.  I received feedback from 27 of our members, and there were enough people who would not attend meetings any further north that I have decided not to request room at the new rec center.  I will continue to put in requests for a consistent room, but for next year I will drop our reservations for the room at Mulberry.  We will go back to skipping the 2nd and 4th weeks of Jan, Feb and Oct, and instead try to plan some outings for those weeks.

Show and Tell:

Eileen DiSanto showed her completed 5 Easy Pieces quilt

Lynn showed a bunch of different tote bags she made.

Pat Pipa made a couple of large and small bags for the shelter

Nella Rose showed a body pillow case she made from t-shirts left over from making a t-shirt quilt.

Lu Karatzas made some drawstring bags and crocheted a red, white and blue afghan for Hospice.

Ellen Hein showed a baby quilt she finished.

Carol Riggs showed some pillowcases she made, embroidered oven mitts, and some towels she embroidered as a gift.

I showed 2 charity quilts I finished.  The first was made from sets of 4 squares I found already sewn together. 

 The second one was mostly put together by Pat Pipa.  I just added another row to make it longers, put on borders and let my embroidery machine do the quilting.

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B.j. made an iron caddy and asked how to fold it closed so I gave a quick demo on that.

Our project today was a small version of the gypsy bag.  I demonstrated how to put one together and assisted those who were working on this project.  I had made a guess at dimensions for this small version and it worked, but we agreed that something a little bigger, in between the large size in the pattern and my guesstimate would be more practical.  However, once you understand this simple pattern, you can make it any size you want.

For those not making the bags, there was plenty to do.  I brought in a box of 3" and 3.5" squares and several ladies went to work putting them in matched sets of 4, to be sewn together later.  We also received 5 bags of fabric and several ladies sorted through them.  Some of it went right into a dog bed but much of it is heavier fabric that will be good for duffle bags for the shelter or dog beds.

By the way, I brought 23 dog beds, a bag full of towels, and some dog pull toys to the Humane Society of Lake County in Umatilla last Friday.  

We are going to switch our schedule around a little over the next few weeks.  Donna Rissman was scheduled to give next week's demo, but she had gall bladder surgery yesterday.  I am switching our charity week to next week and we'll figure out the rest of the schedule later.   I will bring boxes with various size blocks for those who would like to try to design a quilt.  The red, white and blue strips for the dryer sheet blocks will be available, as will the box of pillowcase fabrics.  I may also bring some of the fabric waiting to be cut.  Something for everyone.

Hope to see you all next week.