Club Notes - March 31, 2021

 

Once again we had some room confusion this afternoon. Though my reservation confirmation says we had the Hula Lounge, the Boggie Creek Bear Ladies also claimed it for their last meeting of the year.  The room was double booked again. Luckily, the Beach club room was empty so the rec center monitor, Doug, set us up in there.  There shouldn't be any problems for the rest of the year, since the Bear ladies are now gone. Last year I questioned the reservation and they assured me it was correct. Next fall I will insist that the rec management double check the reservations for 2022.

There were 10 of us this afternoon.  Ann Knoff, Marti Rhyne, and Laura Paulk also stopped in briefly to drop off stuff. It's always good to see everyone who can stop in, even for a few minutes.

 

Last week I dropped off a bag of toys at the Villages Hospital and delivered 8 patriotic quilts to Compassionate Care.   We haven't given any to Cornerstone Hospice in quite a while, so I'd love to see a few using their center block.

Show and Tell:

Mary Ellen Boutin showed a patriotic quilt top she made.

 

 

 

Ellen Hein brought in a stack of 5 quilts that I quilted and she finished the binding on.

 

 Mary Ellen Boutin made this quilt top from 5 inch squares.

Ellen made the next 2 with 6.5 inch squares.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I designed this one using 8.5 inch squares.

Deb Chapman made this quilt top.

Bev Minnerly has been busy the couple of weeks she was away from us.

 

She showed a microwave bowl,

4 drawstring backpacks,

and 2 fidget walker bags. 

She also showed a partial quilt and requested some possible border fabric.

 

 

Eileen DiSanto showed a pillowcase she finished.

 

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During the rest of the afternoon, the main activity was sorting through the 3 boxes of 6.5" squares to group them by color.  In the future I will bring one box in at a time so we can design some quilt tops and use them up, color group by color group.  I think we can get a couple hundred quilts out of these 3 boxes alone.  

Deb Chapman and Mary Ellen Boutin also took some time to lay out the quilt block that several ladies returned from the block kit challenge I gave out several weeks ago.  Mic Pickard ironed some quilt backs for us so I can sandwich, pin and quilt a few more over the next week. We got a large stack of dryer sheets donated, so I spent most of the time ironing them flat so they can be used.

We had some questions on how the dryer sheets are used, so next week I am going to bring samples and show how we use the dryer sheets to make quilts.  The timing of this is excellent, since I have been asked to do the same thing for Allamanda on April 13th.

 

I have also been asked how many quilts we have made over the past year.  I hadn't been tracking the number made by us separate from the ones turned in by members of Allamanda Quilters, so it took a little effort to extract these numbers.  I will keep a closer accounting this year.  However, I have figured out that we made and donated 113 quilts in 2020, including 3 that were credited to the Quilting Bees and 110 that were reported through Allamanda.  So far in 2021 we have donated 53 quilts, reported through Allamanda.  These totals do not include the quilts we still have in storage that have not yet been donated.  We have another 28 (mostly lap quilts) in storage that were made in 2020 but haven't been donated yet, plus 19 that have been completed so far this year.

 

So come out and join the fun if you can.  Hope to see you next Wednesday.

 

Club Notes - March 24, 2021

 

This afternoon was the last time we had to meet in an alternate room.  Next week we will be back in the Hula Lounge at El Santiago for the rest of the year.  It will be good to have a consistent room again.

COVID Vaccine update - I have heard from 53% of our total membership saying they have received at least 1 shot of the vaccine. I counted 34 members who actually attended meetings in 2019, and 94% of those ladies have received the vaccine.  I have heard that the recreation department is going to release new guidelines on April 1st, so I will let you know when I get the release.

Show and Tell:

Ellen DiSanto showed the stuffed animals she completed.

 

 

Pat Pipa took a set of patriotic dryer sheet blocks that needed to be separated from the red sashing that we ran out of and sewed them back together with more blocks to complete a quilt top.

 

 

She also showed a tote bag she made and an applique wall hanging she made for the Allamanda paint chip challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brenda Severa finished the binding on 2 patriotic quilts that will go to Compassionate Care Hospice.

 

 ( I made this one from a panel, some dryer sheet blocks, and some other leftover fabric.)

Diane Placek showed a prayer quilt she made for her church group to give to a boy graduating this year.

 

 

Pam Thompson handed in a pile of patriotic dryer sheet blocks and showed a small zipper bag she made to hold her cosmetics.  (Pam is going back north in a few days but promised she will be back next January.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ellen Hein brought back 4 bags full of quilts I had given her to add the binding.

I can't find who made this quilt top.  If you claim it I will update this blog entry.

All the quilt tops made from 6.5 inch blocks were made by Ellen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made these quilts. 

This one was one piece of fabric with bird squares.  It only needed to be widened with a side border.

 

A pattern I found interesting and easy, that I wanted to try.

 

 

This was a Stonehenge panel I had in my stash that I decided to donate.

 

This pattern is called Split Rock.  It is mainly 10" x 2.5" strips, with some neutral angled pieces in between.  Once you get it all cut, it is an easy one to put together. 

 

I showed a gift bag I made to hold my husband's birthday present and a Mega-Pinni I made for the Allamanda paint chip challenge.

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To explain the paint chip challenge everyone who wanted to participate had to choose paint chips where the first letter of each paint color matched our initials.  My initials (including my maiden name) are L.A.P.R., so the paint chips I choose are Laser (Green), Atlantis Pearl (Off White), Placid Sea (Blue), and Rockwall Vine (Dark Green). 

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On Tuesday I received 8 boxes/bags of fabric, donated via the 4H club.  A woman passed away and her children donated all her sewing supplies to the 4H club.  They took what they could use and gave us the rest.   I brought 2 boxes to the meeting for sorting.  Ceal and Pam went through and sorted them for us.  2 of the other boxes contained squares cut in various sizes.  I will bring them next week so we can merge them with the others we already have.  I hope to find time to check what is in the other boxes over the weekend.

Hope to see you next Wednesday.

Club Notes - March 17th, 2021

 

Club Notes - March 17, 2021

 This afternoon was our last meeting in the Beach Club room for this year.  There were 10 of us and we were very productive. 

I talked to the el Santiago staff about the mask and distancing rules that would apply once we are all vaccinated.  Although the CDC says groups of completely vaccinated people can meet safely without masks in private settings, The Villages recreation department is saying that recreation centers are public venues.  That means that, if all people in the room are vaccinated, we can leave the masks off as long as we continue to maintain 6 ft separation.  Until those rules change, we will still have to have masks handy.  Once I know everyone has received their 2nd shot, I will start scheduling demos, but we will need to wear masks while gathering in close proximity.  We will be able to work at our separate places without the masks.

Last week I delivered 4 more patriotic quilts to Compassionate Care Hospice.  These all came from a member of Allamanda Quilters.  I gave 2 patriotic quilts to Brenda Severa to finish the binding today and several quilt tops were turned in for me to work on over the next week.

 

There will be a craft sale at Water Oak Country Club Estates this Saturday and Sunday 9am-3pm and Brenda Severa will have a table there.  This is a separate 55+ community just south of The Villages off Rt 27/441. The entrance is across from the Race Track gas station.

 

Show and Tell:

 

At the beginning of the afternoon Laura Paulk dropped of a stack of pillowcases she finished.

Brenda Severa showed 2 red, white and blue quilts that were given to her, source unknown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  She also showed a table runner she finished

 and a baggie of completed blocks waiting to be sewn together.

Mic Pickard has been experimenting with the 10 inch squares and ties to make tote bags.  She showed a bag she is now happy with the design and ready to make more.

 

 

Ceal Pederson showed a bunch of quilt tops she finished. 

 

 I finished quilting the quilt she made of ties and it is ready to join the quilts for the Sheriff's Youth Ranch graduates.

Deb Chapman showed a quilt top Mary Ellen Boutin made, 

 

 

and one she made.  

 

She also showed blocks she is working on 

 

A drawstring backpack she made for her daughter, 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and a folded fabric star she learned to make at The Quilting Bees. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Near the end of the meeting she showed the finished star.

 

Charlotte Cecillio showed a patriotic quilt top she made with dryer sheet blocks.

 

 

 

Pam Thompson showed a wonky block quilt top she made.

 

 

Jean Piccirillo showed a fidget walker bag she made.  

I finished 3 zipper bags.

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I found a stack of multi-colored dryer sheet blocks that were done a long time ago and laid them out to see if there are enough for a quilt. There are plenty, so I spent the afternoon cutting them all to the same size.  Jean finished a quilt top she has been working on and handed it in.   Eillen DiSanto stuffed several dinosaur toys and some of the other ladies closed them for her.   Mic ironed a box full of small fabric pieces for me so I can get them through my Go-cutter.  Lots of other activity that I didn't document. It was a good afternoon of sewing.

Next week we will meet at Chatham Recreation center and I will send out a reminder,as usual.  Hope to see you there.