Club Notes - Dec. 13, 2023

Thirteen of us got together this afternoon for our last meeting of 2023.   We will not meet the next 2 weeks so everyone can have a little more time for Christmas prep and travel.   Our next meeting will be on January 3^rd.   The following week, January 10^th, we will have our winter pot-luck party.

Yes, I said January 10^th!  We have received approval to have the Hula Lounge room at EL Santiago every Wednesday, all year, with a few minor exceptions around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

This year we have donated 163 quilts, 230 dog beds, 50 pillowcases, 115 tote bags, 33 walker bags, 173 zipper bags, and 45 stuffed toys.  Plus, we gave $200 each to Project S.O.S., The Christian Care Center, Marion County Humane Society, and Lake County Humane Society. This money came from a combination of our 2 October sales and our 50/50 proceeds.  I am very proud of all of you for the work you have done.

Show and Tell:

Suzette Katrshen showed a lovely bed jacket she made for a friend.

Mic Pickard showed the tote bag with Mexican Train fabric that she made for her daughter’s game nights. 

She also showed a mylar reindeer embroidery 

and a tote bag she made for her son-in-law using reflective fabric.

Lorraine Manz turned in some more catheter bags ans some walker bags.

Pat Pipa finished some partially made masks that were found in last week’s donation 

and sewed a stack of dog bed sleeves.

Bev Minnerly showed some easy fabric ornaments 

and some small wallets.

She also showed the pillow she finished for her husband.

Carolyn Grasso made several 9-patch blocks 

and showed angel ornaments she made in 2 sizes.

Mary Ellen Boutin turned in several 9 patch squares.

Ellen Hein showed zipper bags

 

and pajamas she made for her grandchildren.

She also came in with 8 quilts that she finished the binding on.  

These first 4 were quilts I made.

 

Ceil Pedersen took a stack of blocks that came in as a donation and sewed this quilt top.

Deb Chapman brought this Bee's quilt in last winter.  It took awhile, but we finally got this one done.

I was unable to identify who made these last 2 quilt tops.  If you recognize them, let me know.

This was another low-key meeting.  I put out the 3.5” squares for anyone who wanted to make some more 9-patch blocks, and the box of orphan big blocks waiting for a project.  I spent the afternoon organizing the patterns we keep at the rec center for member access, eliminating duplicates.  I didn’t get through everything in both books, but I did make some good progress.

Thank you for the Christmas card and gift.  I will use it for something fun for Ray and I.  I wish you all a wonderful holiday over the next 2 weeks, however you celebrate it. See you in the new year.

Club Notes - December 6, 2023

We had a nice low key meeting today, with 9 members attending.  That is, until half way through when a huge donation came in. I think there were 5 huge moving boxes and a plastic bin.  We sorted through and reorganized the contents.  There was lots of yarn, crochet needles and knitting needles. Another box is filled with started crochet or knitted projects  We gave all of that to Mic to bring to Busy Hands.  The fabric was all placed in the plastic bin for me to go through later.  Half of that is heavier stuff that will be good for dog beds.  Some of the rest is stretchy or polyester.  I put the remaining cotton aside to be either measured or just cut into squares.  There was quite a bit of thread that we put into cookie tins and found a place to store in the closet.  The rest of the usable stuff is pins, needles, Velcro, elastic, tools, etc., which I brought home to store for now. I will bring these back to the club meetings, probably in January when more members might be able to join us. Anything we deemed unusable but decent we are giving to goodwill.

Show and Tell:

Jean Peters made 2 catheter bags and a toy dog.

B.J. Herter showed the snowman mug rugs she finished. These will be Christmas gifts.

Lorraine Manz made several walker bags and sewed some walker bag sleeves.

The next 2 weeks will also be low key.  There are still plenty of pocket hearts to sew if you are interested and the 3.5 inch squares and big blocks are also stored in the closet for you to select.  Nine patch blocks are always welcome to add to our collection and the big blocks only require a little imagination to turn into something special.  And if anyone is interested, I have a stack of Sun Bonnet Sue appliques on squares that just need to be stitched down.  This can be done by hand or with a machine applique stitch.

Hope to see you next week.

Club Notes - Nov 29, 2023

We had a nice group of 14 ladies this afternoon. I brought some fabric and scraps that showed up at Allamanda on Tuesday.  Mic and Anne cut up some of it and some that Anne brought to make some dog bed sleeves.  Several ladies took these home to sew and bring back for us to stuff with scraps.  They also measured some larger pieces for me to place in the backing stash.  Anne and Eileen also helped me sort through the scraps and pull out some usable pieces.

Show and Tell

Ruth Nelson showed a quilt top that she made. It started out small and she added to it until she got to the size she wanted.

Lorraine Manz was busy making catheter bags, walker bags, some pocket hearts, and 2 bears.

Bev Minnerly showed a cat and 2 pillow covers she made.

Ceal Pedersen brought back a big pile of stuffed toys that she painted the faces on and a baby quilt she hand quilted.

B.J. Herter showed a wall hanging she made for her daughter.

Mary Ellen Boutin showed several 9-patch blocks and 2 quilt tops

Diane Placek made a tote bag and a bunch of tissue covers as stocking stuffers.

Mic Pickard talked about the catheter covers that Compassionate Care requested. She found 26 of these in storage at Busy Hands, Happy Hearts and will be donating them.

I put some of the 9-patch blocks that were turned in together with black sashing to make a quilt top. Thanks to Lorraine for pressing the sashing seams for me.

I also showed a fractured fabric art project that I’ve wanted to do for a long time and finally finished.

 

The schedule for the next couple of weeks is going to be very casual.  I know most of you are busy with holiday plans and don’t need extra projects. I invite you each to use our meetings to take a break, sew on your own projects and socialize.  

The 3.5 inch squares are being stored in the rec center closet, so you can take some to make 9-patch blocks if you are looking for something to sew and we still have plenty of pocket hearts ready to sew.  If you want me to bring anything else, let me know.