Club Notes - August 21, 2019

We had a very busy, active group this afternoon, with 2 projects going at once. A couple of ladies continued making the belly bands for the rescued dogs.  I don't have the final count yet, but I'm pretty sure Pat Pipa will deliver over 30 of them this week, plus some more crate pads.

Eileen DiSanto gave me a thank you note for those who contributed to purchase a memorial brick for her husband and I read it to the group.
Show & Tell:

Mic Pickard started us off with a pile of 10 stuffed animals, 



 a baby quilt, 

and 5 dog beds.

Charlotte Cecilio made another matched set of 4 red, white & blue drier sheet blocks.

Ellen Hein finished a stack of pillowcases, 

a stack of doggy belly bands, 

her border fabric table runner, 

and some more fleece blankets. 

Audrey Phillips showed a sewing machine tool caddy she made.

B.J. Herter made a stack of doggy belly bands, a tissue box cover, 

a bunny collage, 
(B.J. will demo how to do a collage at a future meeting.)



and a border fabric table runner.  

Donna Rissman showed a Candy Corn table mat, which she will demo in a few weeks.

I showed a tissue box cover, 


2 stuffed toys,  


6 pillowcases,  

and a charity quilt.

************************

Today I showed the group how to make a French Braid place mat or table runner.  There are many variations of this and I showed 3 of them.   For all 3 variations, this works just like the drier sheet blocks, the only difference is that we iron the backing behind the batting before we start.  Then all sewing is done through all 3 layers so you are quilting as you go. I've attached a tutorial for a french braid quilt to my email.  The process is the same for the basic runner, but I've added steps 1-2 to make it quilt as you go. -

1. Iron backing fabric behind batting.
2. Lay the backing & batting on the work table.
3. If you are doing a straight French Braid (Option 1) or one with medallions (Option 2), mark a line down the center of the batting, the long length.
4. Place a 2.5" square (or a half square triangle) with the point on the center line .  This is piece #1.
3. Place all your fabric pieces on the batting in the positions you want the to wind up in.
4. Take the pieces off, starting with the last one which will be sewn and place them in a stack so the first piece is on top.
5. laying the first piece down,
6. placing the 2nd piece on the first, right sides together,
7. stitch 1/4" seam down along one side,
4. flip the 2nd piece right side up and finger press down.
5. repeat steps 2-4 until all the pieces have been stitched down.
6. Trim the edges to the size of the placemat or runner. 
(The outer edge will not be stitched.)
7. If your backing is larger than the placemat you can just double fold the backing over the front edges and stitch down to self-bind the finished piece.  If you prefer, you can add traditional binding.

******************
I also showed a pre-printed batting that June Taylor sells as Venice placemats.  This can be purchased at Joanns or Walmart and comes in a package that makes 6 placemats.   I purchased 2 sets so we can make enough for 1 one the Sheriff's Youth Ranch cottage. (each cottage has 10 kids plus 2 cottage parents.)  Several ladies took these to make using autumn fabrics that I brought from our supplies.

As a bonus, I also talked about some water soluble paper I bought.  A pattern can be traced onto this paper, placed on top of batting, and fabric pieces sewed onto to batting with the paper in place.  Once the item is finished it can be washed and the paper will dissolve.   I purchased a supply of large sheets of this and will sell it to club members for 50 cents a sheet.

If you missed this demo or would like to finish your placemats or table runners with the group, we will continue this project next week. 

See you next Wednesday.