Club Notes - July 5, 2017

I think everyone enjoyed Nita's demo yesterday on the travel jewelry bag.  Somehow the directions didn't make it home with me but Susan Morris took photos of them and she was kind enough to send them to me.  They are attached to the email I sent out today.

Sorry if I was a little scattered yesterday.  My mind has been jumping around in a bunch of different places lately, but I'm hoping things settle down soon.

Announcements from yesterday:

The new Florida County Register newspaper is in.  Please take your free copy at our meeting.

Congratulations to Mary Nazgiewicz on the birth of her granddaughter!

A quote from her Facebook post:

"Savannah Grace Feely was born at 7:16 a.m. on Wednesday morning at 9 pounds, 12 ounces - after a 20-hour labor. She had a rough start with breathing on her own, and they even considered at first flying her to Shands or Winnie Palmer hospital. But miraculously, she made a 180-degree turn within a few hours and is now in great hands in the NICU here in Leesburg. She still needs a little help breathing, but she's a fighter and we appreciate all your support and prayers."

Linda Parr's husband is home and has been receiving home health care. Linda said the first few days were tough but when I spoke to her he was doing better.

Assisted Living Item Distribution Assistance:

I was at the Sewing Studio of Lake Lake last week at just the right time for Lynn to introduce me to a woman named Eileen Callejas from Helpertunity.  This group works to train and support the healthcare activity personnel in the area.  They currently have a project to make combination walker bag/fidget pillow covers and have kits available at the Sewing Studio for sewers to check out and bring back to the store, the same way we do with the pillowcases for Ryan's Case.  I picked up one of the kits and will be making one this week.  Next week I will demo this as part of our charity workshop.  Ms. Callejas also agreed to take and distribute any walker bags or fidget quilts we make, so we now have a consistent way to get these out to the people who need them!

Show and Tell 

Donna Rissman showed a box she made from fabric strips and a pretty mesh bag.

 Laura Tomich made a light jacket from a fabric with a lacy trim on the bias.  The bias cut was a challenge but she pulled it off nicely.  She also showed a jewelry bag like the ones Nita demoed this week (only she made hers many years ago) and a purse.

Marty Rhyne showed a cute little purse she made on her embroidery machine.

Charlotte Cecilio was proud to show her new 10 pound Brother sewing machine.  She now has a light enough machine to bring to meetings and join in the sewing fun!

Eileen DiSanto showed the fabric on clothesline bowl she finished.

Chris Leedy showed a sign she made on her embroidery machine for her sewing room

Shirley Minier was back with us this week and she showed a lovely table runner.

I showed my nearly complete 2017 Row by Row quilt.  Thanks to Chris Leedy for helping me get the binding on during yesterday's meeting. I am embroidering the label as I type this and hope to get it to a quilt shop this afternoon.

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Next week is charity project week and, as I said above, I will be demoing the combination fidget walker bag pillow case lap desk.

Club Notes - June 28, 2017

Great party today. Lots of good food, fun games and plenty of laughs.  What more can I say.

We did have show and tell between lunch and games:

Mary Kahlow showed a couple of placemats she made by copying the shape of an old one she had.  She also told us about the number of lost  pins and needles she found inside a couple of old pin cushions she took apart.  Morale - never just throw out an old pin cushion.

Jane Motrinec made 2 pillowcases for Ryans Case for Smiles, a in-the-hoop little purse, and a tote bag to put  it all in.  


She also tried the fabric wrapped clothesline project but admitted she could not get it to curve so her bowl became a hot plate.  Nice save!














Laura Tomich made 6 pillowcases for Ryans Case for Smiles.

Pat Pipa made a pillow case and a fidget quilt.






 

Donna Rissman showed a cute flip-flop wreath and a gadget holder. (The wreath is definitely on the list as a future project.)

Dianna Gosselin definitely deserves the title of pillow case queen.  She comes every week with a stack, but this week she outdid herself, making 19 pillow cases! Way to go.

Audrey Philips was finally able to join us again and she brought her completed fabric wreath.  Great to have you back Audrey.

Chris Leedy wobbled in again on her crutches and we were happy to see her out and about.  She showed 2 beautiful mug rugs with the names of her dogs, Parker and Pickles.  Then she showed a project in the works and talked about the pattern and excellent "Starry Patriotic Templates" that went with it.  The templates are unique in that each one works for 3 sizes and has perfect cut marks for the star tips. We're looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Mary Nazgiewicz made a great fidget quilt.

Carol Riggs showed a neck sewing caddy, consisting of a lanyard with places for sewing tools on the ends.

I showed my work in progress - the first few completed rows for this year's row-by-row contest. 

Next week we will be back to having a project demo.  I will send out supply info in a separate email.   Hope to see you then.

Club Notes - June 21, 2017

Happy First Day of Summer!

A lot of you must be celebrating summer because we had a very light turnout today.  Those of us who did come had a good time though.  Pat Pipa gave a great demo on how to turn a cotton clothesline and some fabric strips into a beautiful bowl.  This is an easy project, but not a quick one.  I worked on mine for about an hour this afternoon and didn't quite finish the flat base.  I expect to see a few of these come back for show and tell, but it may take a few weeks.   

Thanks to the ladies who sorted through the fabric strips I brought this week.  We now have a bunch of fabric strips separated by color, so anyone who wants to sew dryer sheet blocks will have an easier time finding the colors they want.

Announcements:

1. Speaking of fabric strips, this was one of the announcements I made today.  Until we get our donated fabric into a manageable state of organization, I plan to bring a box in each week.  Anyone not working on anything else is invited to dive into the box and sort the contents.  The end result (I hope) will be organized supplies so we can find what we need for any given project without driving ourselves crazy in the process.  I have a spot to store the sorted fabric strips at the rec center, so these will be available for use in dryer sheet blocks every week.

2.  I received a suggestion for continuing the 50/50 drawings each week and using the funds generated to buy supplies for charity projects.  We get a lot of donations that are good for fidget quilts, doggie beds, cat hammocks, and scrappy quilts, but some projects need larger pieces.  Pillow cases, quilt backings, backpacks, and stuffed toys are some examples.  Some of us are able to purchase and donate fabric for these items, but not everyone can.  Those at today's meeting all agreed that this is a good way to get supplemental supplies.  We started this today and the winner kindly donated back her winnings, so we have $20 to start this fund.  We will discuss what to spend this on as needed.

3. A second suggestion I received was to focus our charity project days a little better.  We will set a specific charity project of the month and only bring supplies that support that project.  This will save me from carting in everything in my storage every month and allow us to focus on one project at a time.   At first the supplies may not always be well separated, but I will do my best to bring what we need.  As we sort the supplies (as I talked about above), this will get easier.  The next  charity workshop (July 12) we will work on quilt blocks, either dryer sheet blocks or precut squares.  After that I will ask for a vote.   The other options so far are: fidget quilts, pillowcases, stuffed toys, backpacks, or walker bags.  (Did I miss anything??)  The current list is of 6 projects.  That gives us 2 times a year to work on each one.  Your feedback on this plan is encouraged.  I am open to suggestions always.

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Show and Tell:

Chris Leedy was finally able to join us again on her way back from physical therapy. It's been a long recovery for her.  Let's pray it goes a little faster.  

Despite not making it to meetings she has been reading the blog and trying our projects at home.  She showed her completed 4-way placemat and a purse she made for her granddaughter.(?).

Jane Swafford finished 4 more pillowcases for Ryan's Case for Smiles.

Pat Pipa also finished her 4-way placemat. She also made a stack of dog bed sleeves and a fidget quilt.

This was definitely placemat day.  Eileen DiSanto showed her finished 4-way placemat with all CHristmas fabrics, to be donated to Project Homebound.

I made a fidget quilt and finished another charity quilt from some of our pink donated blocks.   I also showed the Landscape Silhouette quilt I have been working on for the past few months.  Although it still needs a better binding, it is finally done!

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Next week is our Summer Pot Luck.  Bring a dish of your choice (main, salad or dessert) if you can.  If you can't no worries, there will be plenty of food to go around.  I will supply ice tea, paper plates, etc. and games.   We will have a couple of different games plus a fun Bingo.  Bring 25 pennies or buttons to use as markers.   Carol Riggs has purchased prizes with our 50/50 funds.  Even I don't know what she got, so it will be fun for all.

Hope to see a good turnout for the party.

Club Notes - June 14, 2017

Yesterday's meeting ran a little different than our usual charity workshops. A few dyers sheet blocks were made, but most of the ladies spent the afternoon sorting through the fabric we have.  In addition to the supplies I brought out of storage we received at least 3 large bags and 3 large bins of donations today. A couple of ladies spent the afternoon sorting fabric into blocks strips, or fabric to be cut into blocks.   I brought my Acquiquilt Go-cutter and it got put to good use, but we still barely made a dent in what we have.  I love the fact that we get these donations, but I am also sometimes overwhelmed.  I am sure I left today with more boxes and containers than I came with.  I just barely managed to squeeze it all into my van.   I got lucky when I got to my storage place though.  A gentleman on his way out saw the load I had and asked if I could use some help, which I gladly accepted.

Show and Tell:

Jane Swafford showed her finished 4-way placemat and a lovely pile of pillowcases.

Linda Parr has been busy in the couple of weeks since the last time when was able to get to one of our meetings.  She crocheted a baby afghan on the bias, finished a Hospice Veterans quilt, and a couple of little zipper bags.

Lu Karatzas showed her finished flag pin cushion.  She is going north for the summer this week and we will miss her.

Mary Nazgiewicz made a pile of lovely pillow cases

Donna Rissman showed her completed flag cushion, but I hesitate to call it a pin cushion.  She filled it with aquarium rocks! 

She also showed a tote bag she completed and a Hospice Veterans quilt.

Pat Pipa showed the project we will be working on next week.  This project is a basket made from cotton clothesline, strips of fabric (1/2 - 3/4 inch wide), and a glue stick.   (These are the supplies you need for next week.)

Laura Tomich showed the pillow cases she made this week.

I showed a quilt I finished from some of our donated blocks.  Ellen Hein and Eileen DiSanto help me lay the blocks out in a pattern during our last charity workshop.

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Supplies for next week's project:

Cotton clothes line (available at Walmart)

strips of fabric (1/2 - 3/4 inch wide)

a glue stick.

a heavy duty needle (Jeans needle 90/14 or 100/16)

I will also have the bin of pillowcase fabric and fabric for dryer sheet blocks as usual, in case you want to do some of that.  Hope to see you all next Wednesday.