Club Notes - July 31, 2019

We had a fun time this afternoon and some great food.  Everything I tasted was fantastic.  I tried a new ice breaker quiz called "Never have I Ever"  to get to know each other a little better.  It may be because I took the basic questions and added my own, but it turned out no one had done more of the items on the list than I had.  Deb Chapman came closest with only one more item that she hadn't done.

We also had a multiple choice sewing pun quiz and almost everyone got 9 out of the 10 answers, but no one got all 10.  Shakespeare provided a trick question.Of course, we finished with Bingo and I gave away lots of prizes.

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Show and Tell:

Charlotte Cecilio made 8 red, white and blue dyer sheet blocks, perfectly coordinated so they can be put together in sets of 4 in a quilt.

Carol Riggs showed a bear and a wreath she made.  She also presented Eileen DiSanto with a card documenting a brick several friends contributed to in her husband's honor.

Marilyn Awkerman came as a guest this week and showed a table runner she made.

Pat Pipa made some teddy bears and showed the quilt top she put together from a set of squares I provided last week.

B.J. Herter also made a quilt top from a set of squares I provided last week.

Mic Pickard finished a colony of bunnies and a frog.

Eileen DiSanto showed a photo of the Cornerstone Hospice quilt her husband received and the accompanying certificates.

I showed a quilt I made from some of our donated fabric, and a Cornerstone Hospice quilt which Debbie Chapman turned in last week and I quilted.

Debbie also showed a bear she made.

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I had a few announcements this week.  First, we heard Nita Hand and Ellen Hein are both back in The Villages and will be joining our club meetings again soon.

Brenda Severa's mother passed away this past week and we sent a condolence card from the club.

Carol Riggs is downsizing her sewing room in preparation for a move to a smaller home here in The Villages.  I will send a separate email about the sale she is having.

Nella Rose is moving out of The Villages to a smaller retirement community in Mount Dora.  She came today to say goodbye and give us some of her UFO's 

Ellen Hein forwarded a note to me about a major dog rescue underway by Poodles and Pooches Rescue.  I will send the info in a separate email for anyone interested in contributing.  I called the woman collecting items in The Villages, hoping we could help by giving them a bunch of dog beds.  At first she said she would come for them, but when I got home tonight she called and said the organization won't accept fabric filled dog beds.  They say dog beds go with the dogs to adopting families and must be washable.  They said fabric filled ones get too heavy when washed and don't dry well.    The groups we have given the dog beds to only use them in the cages, discard them when they get too worn and don't worry about washing them, so it's never a problem.  The lady collecting said she would check again and call me tomorrow to let me know whether or not they will take them.  If not, I will give them to the South Lake Animal League as I had originally planned.  I currently have 37 waiting to be delivered.

I now have in my possession 6 quilt tops waiting for batting, backing and quilting.  The more it rains, the more I will get done, but if there is a nice day, I am off for some outdoor time. 

Next week I will demonstrate how to make a border fabric table runner.  I will send a separate email with the supply list, but if you are looking at fabric before I get that out, look for a fabric that has a pattern at least 9"-12" from bottom to top.  The length of the repeat is not important.  Don't bother looking at Joann's, they don't carry border fabrics.  Look in actual quilt shops or online.

Hope to see you next Wednesday.

Club Notes - July 24, 2019

Hi everyone, I'm back. We had a fun time visiting Branson and stopping at every row-by-row quilt shop we could along the way. Now if I only had time to sew as much as I buy.

Today we had a visit from one of the Daily Sun reporters. He asked a bunch of questions about what we do and stayed through show and tell.

Show and Tell:

Bev Minnerly showed another stack of lovely doll clothes.

Deb Chapman sewed a great Hospice Veteran's quilt top.

Carol Thurston finished her chenille pot holders.

Carol Riggs made some chenille pot holders and has already given them as gifts.

Audrey Phillips embroidered a patriotic tote bag.

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Today's project was to make some more stuffed toys and a bunch were turned in.  I also had 4 bags of sorted quilt blocks that I offered to anyone would would sew them together and 3 of them went home with club members.  There is no time deadline on these, but I greatly appreciate the help in making these charity quilt tops. We still have loads of cut squares and other donated fabric waiting to be cut into squares or used some other way.  

While everyone else was busy sewing, Carol Thurston helped me pin a charity quilt sandwich.  I hope to get that one done this week. 

I also went through the pillowcase fabric box and trimmed a stack of cuff fabrics to size.  With Audrey Philips' help we now have a pile of pillow case fabric sets matched up and ready to sew.

Next week we take a break from sewing for our quarterly pot-luck and games.  Bring a dish to share if you can and 25 pennies or buttons for bingo.  As always, I will supply the plates, plastic ware, napkins, and ice tea.

Hope to see you all for some fun next week.

Club Notes - July 17, 2019

Bev Minnerly - Draw-string back packs.

Deb Chapman - Chenille Pot Holder

  

Pat Pipa - Chenille Potholders and snap bags.

 Carol Thurston finished her scrap quilt.

Carol Riggs made a stack of microwave bowl cozies

Club Notes - July 10, 2019

Carol Riggs - Oven Mitts

B.J. Herter - Tote Bag

Lynn Delgado - Pillowcase, Caftan and assorted items

Audrey Philips - Angel Snugs & embroidered shirt

Pat Pipa - Bags

Club Notes - July 3, 2019

I made it home only minutes before the brunt of the storm hit by my house this afternoon. This seems to be a regular occurance.  I pull into the garage and the downpour begins.  Timing is everything!

Somehow the Show and Tell list didn't make it home with me today, so I'm doing that and the other notes I tried to write on it from memory. My apologies if I miss something.

The 3 area quilt shops are all having 4th of July sales this week:

A Quilting Pallet is giving 35% off on any 1yd or more cut from any bolt in the store through Thursday 2PM. I heard that the Sewing Studio and Sharky's are closed on the 4th but are both having sales on Friday. However, I can't find info on either on their web pages.

Show and Tell:

 Mic Pickard makes aprons for the waitresses at Darrel's, and had a special request for Flamingos and pineapples from one of the ladies.  Instead of trying to pick a fabric, Mic found some great embroidery patterns.  See the photo for the result.
She also made a stack of patriotic dryer sheet blocks.

Bev Minnerly found her missing flag block and showed it off today.  She also finished her usual stack of doll clothes.

Carol Thurston turned in a dog bed and showed 2 quilt tops.  The first was from some of our collected blocks.  The second is a scrap block quilt.

Lynn K. showed a quilt ready for pinning that she is making as a wedding gift.

Linda Parr made 2 zipper bags for the ranch kids.

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Today I showed how to make a very easy jewelry tray for overnight stays away from home.  It folds flat for packing and has snap up sides to keep jewelry, keys, etc. safe on a nightstand or desk in a hotel room. 

To make this you need 2 fabric squares, a matching size piece of batting and 4 snap sets.  I use a 6" square, but you can make this larger if you like. 

- Layer a 6" square fabric with a matching piece of batting. Measure in 1" from each corner in both directions and .5" in to mark snap placement. Sew the corresponding snap parts on either side of each corner.

- Place 2nd 6" fabric on the batting and fabric with the snaps, right sides of fabric together.  

- Sew around 3 sides, using scant 1/4 inch seam, being careful to sew outside the snaps. - Clip excess fabric at corners and turn right sides out.  Top stitch close to edge around all 4 sides, closing the opening.  - Stitch a square in the center of the piece, at least .5" below the snaps, so you create 1" or higher side walls once the snaps are closed. - Quilt the inside of the inner square to stiffen the base.

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I will be on vacation for the next 2 weeks, so Pat Pipa will be running the meetings.  Pat will lead a demo next week on how to make pho-chenille potholders.  I will send out a supply list in a separate email.

Enjoy July and I'll see you in 3 weeks.