Club Notes - Feb. 15, 2023

We had 19 members attending this afternoon, including one new member. I brought brown, yellow, orange and white 5” squares, and our box of pre-made blocks and small panels (what I call the big block box). Mic brought some fabric bins and, once again, got some more donations to sort through. Over the past 2 weeks I delivered quilts, pillowcases and totes to the Ocala Domestic Violence Center and 30 dog beds to the Marion Animal Services. Tomorrow, Mic and I will be delivering quilts, totes, and zipper bags to the Pregnancy and Family Support Center in Leesburg. After that we will drive on to the South Lake Animal League to deliver the rest of our current stock of dog beds, probably another 30. Show and Tell:

 Pat Pipa showed some totes she made from some of our fabric squares 

   and a quilt top she made from blocks she found in our donations.   

Deb Chapman showed some place mats 

and 2 quilt tops she made along with her Quilting Bees friends.

 Eileen DiSanto showed some little purses she made to hold cards, money, or other small items. She will give a demo on these in the future. 

Louise Stem turned some blue fabric she found in our donations into a stack of pillow cases. 

 She also showed a valance she made for her previous house that she is adjusting to fit her new home here. 

Brenda Severa showed a baby quilt and a Valentine wall hanging. 

Jean Peters showed some zipper bags she made. 

Bev Minnerly made a walker bag. 

Ceal Pedersen showed a baby quilt and a zipper bag.

 Kathryn Jeter showed a quilt top she made. 

I experimented with 2 eyeglass case patterns on my embroidery machine, 

and made 2 quilt tops using large pieces from our big block box as starting points. I enlarged them using some of our 5” squares for the blue one and strips of fabric from our donations and a little from my stash. 

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This week I had planned a demo of how to install zippers in zipper bags. There were several ladies who chipped in with alternative methods. To take away some of the confusion, Anne Knoff set up her machine and showed the steps to those interested. I think I saw Ellen Hein showing a few ladies as well. 

Our next meeting is on March 1st. I have a pattern for making a tote from a placemat and another for making a clutch purse from a placemat. These are both easy (no zippers required 😊). I will bring some of the placemats we have that you can try this on, or, if you have a pretty placemat that you might like to transform, bring it. I will send out a list of the other items needed before the meeting. 

Have a great 2 weeks and I hope to see you at the next meeting. Lois

Feb 4th Giving Showcase & Plans for Next Few Weeks

 Ceal, Mic, and Carolyn worked with me at the Giving Showcase last Saturday and it went well.   We were next to Busy Hands so Mic acted as a floater, going where she was needed.

We started with all our samples crowded on one 6 foot table.

Lucky for us, a few organizations didn't show up and the organizer wasn't happy with empty tables.  She was moving occupied tables to spread out and make it look fuller, so I spoke up and asked if we could have one of the extra tables.  That let us spread our stuff out so visitors could see everything easier.

  There were a lot of people walking through, checking out the charity opportunities.  We may get a few new members from this, but I don't expect many.  It seemed that most of the people we talked to are new villagers, living in the newer, southern villages.  For some reason they think El Santiago is a long way to travel. 

Our next meeting is Feb 15th and I will be showing a few different, easy ways to install a zipper in a zipper bag.  If anyone has anything else they would like me to bring, let me know.

So far I only have one person (BJ) who wants to go on the All Florida Shop Hop with me. (https://allfloridashophop.com/)  The state is divided into 9 regions, with separate prizes for completing each region.  I am seriously considering covering all 10 shops in the East Central region in 2 trips, as shown below.  If you are interested in joining the fun in either or both trips, let me know.

March 8th
Place	Address	Arrive	Leave
El Santiago Rec Center			8:30 AM
Boutique 4 Quilters	2945 W New Haven Ave, Melbourne, FL	10:40 AM	11:15 AM
Boutique 4 Quilters	353 E Merritt Island Causeway, Merritt Island, FL	11:50 AM	12:15 PM
Lunch		12:20 PM	1:15 PM
Kathy's Quilt Studio	4310 S Washington Ave Suite B, Titusville, FL	1:45 PM	2:15 PM
Seaside Sewing & Quilts	3693 U.S, US-1, Edgewater, FL	2:50 PM	3:20 PM
El Santiago Rec Center		5:15 PM
March 22nd
Place	Address	Arrive	Leave
El Santiago Rec Center			9:00 AM
Quilter's Anonymous	9225 Pine Island Rd, Clermont, FL	10:00 AM	10:30 AM
The Quilt Place	11601 S Orange Blossom Trl #104, Orlando, FL	10:45 AM	11:15 AM
The Sewing Studio Fabric Superstore	9605 S US 17-92, Maitland, FL	11:45 AM	12:15 PM
Lunch		12:20 PM	1:15 PM
Piece by Piece Quilt Shop	6917 Round Lake Rd, Mt Dora, FL	1:45 PM	2:15 PM
Sew-Mini Things	3820 N Hwy 19a, Mt Dora, FL	2:30 PM	3:00 PM
Oceans of Thread	2709 S Woodland Blvd, DeLand, FL	3:50 PM	4:15 PM
El Santiago Rec Center		5:30 PM

Lois

Club Notes, Feb 1, 2023

We had 15 members attending this afternoon, and lots of activity.  I brought red, white and blue 5” squares, some large pieces of white fabric, and our box of pre-made blocks and small panels (what I call the large block box).  Mic brought some fabric bins, stuffing, and red, white and blue strips.   We also got some donations that a couple of ladies sorted through.

I had 2 main announcements.  First, I discovered a new place to donate quilts to – The Pregnancy and Family Care Center in Leesburg.  After the meeting this afternoon, Mic and I went to my storage unit and pulled out a bunch of lap quilts that were waiting for a home.  I brought them home to be washed and measured, and we will deliver them as soon as Mic and I can find an open date on our calendars.  We can visit this facility and make a dog bed  delivery to the South Lake Animal League on the same trip.

Second, I talked about the All Florida Shop Hop that will run for the months of March and April.  Florida  is divided into 6 regions, with separate prizes in each region. We are right on the border between the East Central and West Central regions. 

The East Central shops can be done in 2 trips – Melbourne, Merritt Island, Titusville and Edgewater in one trip and Clermont, Orlando, Maitland, Mt Dora, and DeLand in the second.

The West Central would take 3 trips – Ocala, Brooksville, Lutz, and Wildwood in one; Lakeland, Winter Haven, and Dade City in a 2^nd trip; and Palm Harbor, Clearwater, St Petersburg, and Fort Meade in a 3^rd.

I am willing to drive on one of these trips on March 8^th or 22nd if anyone is interested. It would be an all day trip, leaving around 8:30AM and getting back around 5:30PM.  My preference would be either East Central trip, but would also be willing to drive trip 1 of the West Central shops if those who are interested prefer that.   If you are interested, please let me know, along with your trip and date preference.   I can take up to 5 ladies with me in my van.  I will have all the shop info at the next meeting.

Show and Tell:

Kathryn Jeter showed a quilt top she made.

Bev Minnerly has been going through her scraps.  

She made zipper bags, walker bags,

 a draw string backpack (which needs the drawstrings), and a small tote.

Anne Knoff showed some place mats her friend Cindy made.  

She then showed some of her own work – a table topper 

and several large tote bags, in the style of the mondo bag but using solid fabric strips instead of the small squares on the special interfacing.

She also showed a zipper bag she made with the easy, front zipper method.

Mary Ellen Boutin showed zipper bags she made.

Charlotte Cecilio came with a bag full of stuffed toys.

Ceal Pedersen made some dinos, 

2 baby quilts,

and a big stack of zipper bags.

Brenda Severa showed another quilt she made with some of our green 5” squares.

Lorraine Manz has returned to Canada, but not before leaving a bunch of totes, zipper bags and a pillowcase with Mic.

Mic Pickard also showed some walker bags and zipper bags she made.  She lined the zipper bag with the plastic that sheets come in.

Deb Chapman showed 2 table runners 

and a quilt top she made.

Louise Stem made some pillow cases.

 She also showed a bunch of quilt blocks she made to send to her Virginia prayer group.  

These will be made into prayer quilts by those ladies.

I found some fun fabric on sale at the Sewing Studio last week.  I matched it up with some fabric leftovers and made a bunch of kids’ pillowcases.

Audrey Philips came in a little late and showed some embroidery projects.

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I also asked for suggestions on future projects.  If anyone has something they would like to see demonstrated, or something they would like to share, please let me know.  I am not a teacher, only a club leader and facilitator.  Our club was founded on the principle that we all know how to do something and we can share what we know with each other. 

This coming Saturday is the Giving Showcase at Lake Miona, 10AM-2PM.   Ceal and Carolyn have volunteered to help so we are set.   Stop by if you would like to learn about charitable opportunities in The Villages.

Our next meeting is in 2 weeks, on February 15th.  Some ladies expressed a desire to learn how to put zippers in zipper bags, so I will show 2 ways that I do it.   If anyone else has a method they would like to share, they are welcome to do so.

Have a great 2 weeks and I hope to see you at the next meeting.