Club Notes - December 16, 2020

 

Our last meeting of 2020 was low-key as predicted.  No news to report. Pat Pipa is back from her Texas trip and we got to wish her a happy birthday today.

Show and Tell:

Ceal Pederson has been having fun making toys.  She came with 6 horses and 5 elephants, and a tote bag.

 

 

 

Bev Minnerly brought 3 cats ready to stuff and finished them during the afternoon.  

 

 

She also showed the Christmas purse she made, from her own design. 

 

 

Judith Mayer came back to join us today and brought 2 honor flight quilt tops, a Cornerstone Hospice quilt top, and a bag.

Karen Komp took fabric and the pattern for fidget walker bags last week and came back with 4 completed walker bags.

 

 

 

 

Diana Gosselin dropped off some dinos and frogs at my house last week and Carolyn Grasso stopped in at the beginning of our meeting to drop off a bag of stuffed toys.

I spent some time this week trying to useI hope some of our odd fabric.  I made 5 bears, a frog, a dino, and a bunch of zipper bags.  I also took a cue from Ellen and made 2 Christmas gift bags.

We spent the rest of the working day on various projects.  I was hoping to drop all the toys off at the hospital on my way home, but it started to rain really hard.  I will deliver them tomorrow when the weather is better.

 Our next meeting is January 6th in our alternate room - the Beach Club room.  We have a room for the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th weeks, but NOT the 2nd.  Our schedule for January, February and March is one of bouncing between rooms, but I will let you know where we will meet each week. 

I hope you all have a wonderful two weeks off, enjoying the holidays.

Club Notes - December 9, 2020

 

There were 6 of us again today.  A gentleman from the Daily Sun stopped in during his lunch break to see what we were doing.  There were no announcements today, just fun sewing.

Show and Tell:

 

 

Ceal Pederson got the toy making bug and came in with about 10 cats and 2 dinos.  She also closed the horse and dino that EIleen DiSanto made last week and made another cat during the afternoon.

 

 

Ceal did such a great job painting the faces on the cats and securing the whiskers, I had to take a close up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bev Minnerly came with a cat ready for stuffing and finished it during the afternoon.

 

 

 

Mic Pickard finished 4 soft, red dinos and showed us photos of some of her completed projects and her detailed project plan.

 

 

Karen Komp made 10 purple dinos and 4 drawstring backpacks.

 

Suzanne Barron confessed that our group has had an impact on her.  She used to discard her leftover fabric, but has now converted to the concept that scraps can be repurposed.  She showed a table runner she made with some of her scraps.

We were all very busy the rest of the afternoon.  Karen asked about the fidget walker bags so I showed her the templates and she cut several sets.  When she ran out of those she cut some pillowcase kits.

Ann Knoff brought in several bags of scraps so Mic filled dog beds.  She also brought tote bags that her friend made.   I made four zipper bags.  Everyone else worked on various projects.

Next week will be the last meeting of 2020 and we will do more of the same.  I am holding the toys and bags until after next week.  I'll add in anything that comes in next week and deliver donations before Christmas.

Normally, we would be having a Holiday party at our last December meeting, but that obviously can't happen this year.  Usually, at that party, I would be giving a prize to the person who attended the most meetings during the year. This year I will wait until our first meeting in January to do that, since I'm hoping a few more members will be able to join us once the holidays are over.  I am hoping by Spring we can get back to normal and have some parties again.

Club Notes - December 2, 2020

 

We had a small group today.  December is always a slow month, with many of our members traveling or otherwise occupied preparing for the holidays. 

Laura Tomich was waiting for me in the parking lot when I arrived.  She wanted to give me some dog bed scraps and crocheted shawls,  Laura has cancer of the esophagus and is undergoing extensive treatments. If the treatments are not successful, she may be looking at surgery.  Although she has not been attending meetings or otherwise mingling with people this year, she has been making masks, pillowcases and zipper bags at home.  I have left supplies on her porch or in my cart for her and she has been returning the finished items all year.   Please include her in your prayers during the next few months.

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Show and Tell

Suzanne Barron showed one of the crocheted squares she made. She is making several of these, I believe she said they are for an afghan. 

 

She also showed some coasters and napkins she made.

Bev Minnerly made 5 different stuffed toys from a set of easy McCalls patterns,

  (I traced 4 of the McCalls patterns she had.  I thought I might have copied these previously, but I have not found them in my files.)

 

 

 a backpack and 2 fidget walker bags.

 

Charlotte Cecillio showed a quilt she made for a new grandchild.

 

 

B.J. Herter is on her way to visit her family in Pennsylvania, but she left us some stuffed toys.

 

I made a bunch of stuffed dinos and frogs,

some zipper bags, 

 

and tried out a new bag pattern called "Open Wide".   It came in 3 sizes, so I tried all 3.  (It was supposed to be quick and easy but it was neither.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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For the rest of the afternoon we worked on the usual variety of projects. We had several bags of scraps that were cut to fill 2 dog beds.  Several ladies worked on more stuffed toys.  Eileen DiSanto brought a pattern for a cat that looks very easy.  I will scan that and send it out in a separate email.

Our friendly Daily Sun reporter, Michael Fortuna, stopped in to see what we were working on, so you might see a little writeup in the paper again.

On my way home I dropped off 21 more stuffed toys at the Villages Hospital.  That should hold them until after the New Year.  Please continue making them as the mood takes you.  I will deliver the next batch in a couple of months, and will collect them as they are made.

I expect the next couple of meetings will be lightly attended just as this one so I'm not going to schedule anything specific to work on.  I will bring some fabric, like I did today, so whoever comes will have some to choose from. We have zippers, zipper bag and backpack fabric, and dryer sheets in the storage closet.  If anyone would like to work with anything else, they can email me and I will bring any of the other supplies.

We have 2 more meetings before our 2 week holiday break.  Hope to see you next week.

Club Notes - Nov 18, 2020

 

Today we had 8 ladies attend.  We started with our guest, Pura Sierra, volunteer coordinator for Compassionate Care Hospice. She explained that their mission is mostly to care for hospice eligible patients in their own homes.  They conduct a service for veterans in their care which consists of a military volunteer pinning the veteran, giving them a patriotic quilt or afghan, and their last salute.  This is similar to Cornerstone Hospice.  The main difference is that they do not require a special printed block or a specific quilt size.  I gave her a quilt I received from a member of Allamanda Quilters.

So, if you are interested in making a quilt to honor a veteran, we now have 3 choices:

- Quilt for Cornerstone Hospice: quilt must be 36"-40" square and contain one of their pre-printed Cornerstone Hospice blocks.

- Quilt for Honor Flight: quilt must be 40" by 60" and be red-white and blue patriotic themed.

- Quilt for Compassionate Care Hospice: can be any size, but must be red, white and blue patriotic themed.

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Show and Tell:

Bev Minerly showed a backpack she made.  She also informed us that the Giving Dolls Club of The Villages has disbanded.  She turned in over 70 sets of doll clothes that she made since March and they will be sent to another Giving Dolls Chapter somewhere else in the country.

 

Karen Komp made a large, all-weather bag for her golf cart.  It can fit behind the seats and hold anything she doesn't want floating around the cart, and includes several pockets.

 

Suzanne Barron made 2 pyramid shaped gift bags.

 

 

 

Ellen Hein made shirts for her grandkids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and pants and a onesie for her newest grandson.

 

She also handed in a Cornerstone quilt top:

 

 Ellen also showed the latest completed assembly-line quilts.

 

Ceil Pedersen handed in this Cornerstone Hospice quilt top a few weeks ago.

 

 I believe Karen Komp made this quilt top.

 

 

I designed the next 2 and Diana Gosselin sewed the squares together.

 

Ceil Pedersen brought in this quilt top a few weeks ago.

Mic Pickard and Debbie CHapman designed this one.

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A few days ago I contacted the volunteer coordinator for The Villages Regional Hospital, explaining that we used to give them stuffed toys and asking if they can accept them again.  She responded that yes, they have been given the OK to accept toys again, and will be very grateful to get some to give to stressed children.

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon cutting out frogs and dinosaurs, and sewing them together.  I have a few that I have been holding, which I will drop off this week.  I hope to see a bunch come back in at our next meeting, December 2nd.

On that note, a reminder, we will not have a meeting next week since it is the day before Thanksgiving and many people have other plans.

Club Notes - November 11, 2020

 There were 8 of us who came out this afternoon.  Not bad for a day when we are preparing for a storm.

There were no announcements today so we went right into Show and Tell :

Mic Pickard showed a snap-top tote she is experimenting with.  She is making a couple of these for her granddaughters.

Bev Minnerly made a couple of zipper bags and showed a tote bag she is working on.

 

 

 

 

 

Diane Placek showed one of the potholders she is making as Christmas gifts and a drawstring back-pack.  She also showed a pilgrim hat she made for a presentation she is making at her church on Friday.

 

 

Deb Chapman showed a quilt she has been working on for her son for years, and has finally finished in time for a housewarming gift.

Quilt Back

She also showed some tree table runners she is making in 3 different sizes. 

The middle size for her son is done,

she has completed the top for the large one for her table,

and is working on the trees for a small one for her daughter.

Suzanne Barron showed her latest zip bag.

 

Carla Tiling showed a kid's quilt top she made.

 

 

Ellen Hein showed a couple of bags she made a long time ago 

 

 

 

and a Hospice Veteran's quilt top she made.

 

 

 

 

 

 

She also continued her efforts to make gift bags for Christmas presents.

 

I showed a quilt I made to put away as a future gift for one of my great-nephews.

Ellen also showed the latest group of completed quilts in our assembly line charity quilt project.

After show and tell I pinned 3 more quilt sandwiches, Ellen and Bev designed a couple of quilt tops using 6.5" squares, and the other ladies worked on various projects.

 

 

 

 

We finished a bit early today.  I think everyone wanted to get home to secure outdoor items against the storm predicted for tonight.

 

 

 

Next week we will do more of the same, and then there will be no meeting Nov 25 so everyone can get ready for whatever you are doing for Thanksgiving.

I have been thinking that we might want to make some stuffed toys at the next couple of meetings to take a break from quilts.  If you are interested in this, let me know and I will bring the appropriate supplies.

Ladies who do not bring sewing machines could cut out the fabric for the simple dinosaur and frog patterns we have and ladies with sewing machines could sew them together.  Then whoever wants can stuff the toys and close the openings.

Stay safe everyone.  I hope to see you next Wednesday.