Club Notes - July 28, 2021

 We had a smaller group of only 10 ladies this afternoon, but plenty of activity anyway.

Last week I delivered 8 lap quilts to the woman collecting quilts for a girl scout gold award project. GIrl scout Emily Matlach is collecting quilts to help support the veterans in the VA hospital in Lake Nona.

Tomorrow I intend to give 5 quilts to a DaVita treatment center.  I misspoke at our meetings regarding this organization's function.  They provide kidney dialysis treatment.   There are several of these offices in The Villages.  I am going to give 5 quilts to the one on Rt 441/27 in Oakland Hills tomorrow morning.  We still have more lap quilts in storage, so I will give some to the office near Laurel Manor as soon as I can make the delivery.

Show and Tell:

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Pat Pipa showed her completed fractured art piece\\

 

 

and a zipper bag for our sale.

Bev Minnerly showed a completed walker bag.

 

Charlotte Cecillio showed 2 stuffed dino

and 2 waiting to be stuffed.  

 

She also showed several hex hot plates mostly finished, just waiting for top-stitching.

B.J. Herter showed her latest fractured art piece

 

and the one she did the last time we demoed this. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Then she showed an Advent calendar she made. It has stars around the border attached to buttons.  

 

 Starting with December 1st, a star is transferred from a button on the border to a button on the tree.  Each day another star is transferred until the last star is placed on the tree on Christmas day.

 

 

Donna Rissman showed a patriotic row-by-row block she got s few years ago 

 

 

and a stuffed spider she made (after figuring it out without any instructions).

 

 

A friend of Anne Knoff's, CIndy, has been giving us some lovely bags for quite a while.  Today as I was coming into the rec center she gave me a lovely tote (which will go into our sale item inventory) and a quilt.

 

 

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Today I gave a brief explanation of how to make a walker bag, using the Helpertunity pattern.   Several were completed during the afternoon (I haven't counted yet), and I will make a delivery within the next couple of days.  Several ladies also took kits home to complete.  This is a fairly simple pattern.  Once you have done one and understand the pattern, a walker bag can be completed in 1 to 1.5 hours after the fabric is cut.

I spent my sewing time last week starting to process the backlog of quilt tops.  I quilted 3 of them and gave them to Donna for binding.  The rest have been matched with backings and battings, and I will be quilting them as time permits.  I am going on vacation August 11th, so any I don't get to this week will wait until I get back.

Next week is a free sewing week.  I will bring some pre-cut squares so we can lay out some quilt top designs, but there will be no demo. 

The following 2 weeks (Aug 11 and 18th) I will be away.  Pat Pipa and Mic Pickard will be running the meetings while I am away.  Demos have been scheduled for both weeks.  I've included the project/demo schedule below..

4-Aug-21	Open Sew/Quilt Squares Design
11-Aug-21	Toy Eyes/Ceal Pedersen	Pat & Mic
18-Aug-21	Triangle Frenzy Table Runner/Donna	Pat & Mic
25-Aug-21	Car Trash Bag	Lois Rose
1-Sep-21		Pat & Mic
8-Sep-21	Scrap Strip Placemat	Lois Rose
15-Sep-21	Travel Jeweltry Tray	Lois Rose

Hope you will join us next week.

Club Notes - July 21, 2021

 We had a couple of guests today.  First, Elizabeth Manzione started as a guest and is now a new member. Then Carolyn Grasso brought her granddaughter McKenzie (Sp?), who wound up getting a sewing lesson from Donna Rissman, with help from Carolyn and Carole Lamb. McKenzie was able to make her first pillow today.

Eileen DiSanto is going to have a knee replacement and she has gone to stay with her sister in Rhode Island for the surgery and recovery.  Lets send positive thoughts and prayers for her speedy recovery and return to us.

Over the past week, I announced that I made several deliveries last week.  I brought 43 pillowcases to Case for Smiles, 19 walker bags to Helpertunity, and 22 stuffed toys to the Villages Hospital Auxiliary.

I have also identified another organization that we might be able to give smaller (less than twin) quilts to.  I will be checking with them the first chance I get and will provide more info on them later.

Show and Tell:

 

 

Bev Minnerly was busy attempting to use up some of her stash this week.

 

She came with walker bags, backpacks and zipper bags.

Carole Lamb took some fabric from our donations and came back with a bunch of zipper bags.

 

Ceal Pederson had fun with last week's Hexagon Hot Plate demo and came in with a bunch of them, mug rug size.

 

Carolyn Grasso took some cat fabric that was donated and came today with a completed quilt top.

She also found the pieces for an unusual giraffe in a tutu in our donation pile and worked on finishing it.

 

Pat Pipa made several Hexagon Hot Plates, some zipper bags, and some 2-minute coin purses.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She also showed the fractured art pieces she made the last time we had the demo.

 

 

Donna also showed her hexagon hot plates 

 

and the fractured art pieces she made the last time we had the demo.

 

I showed the Double Wedding Ring quilt I have been working on for my great niece's upcoming wedding and the bag I made to protect it.

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Next I gave a demonstration of how to turn 4 pieces of identical fabric into a fractured art piece.  I brought some samples of different types of fabric (yardage, border fabric, and panels) and how to find the repeats to fussy-cut identical sections of the patterns for this project. Once you've chosen your fabrics I showed how to cut them up and sew them back together to make the fractured art.  The result can be used to make a wall hanging, an interesting tote bag, or some other project that excites your imagination.  The instructions I have are a large file that will probably not make it through most email systems.  I will try to attach it, but can't promise it will get to you.  The book I showed is available on Amazon, so if you are interested, here is the link:  https://www.amazon.com/Fracture-Frenzy-One-kind-Techniques/dp/B00JC6GY8U

Next week I will be showing you how to make walker bags using the pattern developed by Helpertunity.  I will have kits precut, so you will just have to select a kit and sew.   More info later. 

Have a great week.  I hope to see you next Wednesday.

Club Notes - July 14, 2021

 

We had another fun afternoon.  Thanks for the birthday wishes.  I'm celebrating that I survived another year.

Show and Tell:

Diane Placek turned a panel into a cute drawstring backpack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charlotte Cecillio came with a herd of dinosaurs,

 

 

 her finished sunshine table mat, 

 

       and a quilt for her son.

B.J. Herter showed her finished patriotic placemats.

 

 

Carol Thurston showed her finished project carrier and a set of patriotic mug rugs for our sale.

 

 

 

Mic Pickard showed her latest crafted Christmas gifts - a wrap-around apron and a set of kitchen towels for every day of the week.

Deb Chapman finished her patriotic placemats and a table runner. 

 

 

 

 

Donna Rissman finished a Project carrier bag and showed a "Triangle Frenzy" table runner. (Demo in August.) She also made a set of cards for our sale.  These consist of construction paper folded and cut to fit the envelopes she had and fussy-cut fabric glued on the front.  A great, easy, no-sew idea for anyone who wants to try it.

(She often doesn't let me get pictures of her items, but she succeeded this time.  I only got a photo of the cards later.)

 

 Pat Pipa finished her project carrier bag,

a walker bag, 

 

and a bunch of chenille pot holders.

 

Audrey Phillips showed a cute gnome mug rug project she got from Sulky. (I downloaded it but the file is too large to email.  You can find this free pattern at www.sulky.com.)

 

 

I made a set of insulated hot pads, 

 

 

 

 

 

a clam-up zipper bag, 

 

 

 

2 baby books for a soon-to-be-born great-great nephew, 

 

 

and a set of "round TUIT"  coasters for our sale.

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B.J. gave today's demo of a hot pad made with 8 pieces of hexagon fabric.  This is a simple project with minimal sewing required.  It is not easy to provide printed instructions for this, it's mostly visual, but I will make an attempt later.

Next week I will demonstrate how to make a Fractured Art block out of 4 identical pieces of fabric.  The process is similar to bargello, but not as complicated.  As I said in a previous email (since this demo was postponed due to the potential hurricane),  you will need 4 fabric pieces (square or rectangle) with identical designs.  To find identical patterns in yardage, you need to look at where the design repeats.  Border fabric works well for this but the section you would be working with should be at least a 10" square for your first try.  Another option is to find a panel with several images and purchase enough to get 4 of the same image.  The images can be different colors, but must be the same image.  You will also need your sewing machine for this project. 

Hope you will be able to join us next week.