June 28th Meeting

* Thank you Chris Porter for taking pictures of the meeting!


On June 28, 2012 our meeting was short and sweet due to the weather being very sweltering.  Jennifer Overstreet quickly demonstrated the 4 1/2 inch strip ruler from Creative Grids. Jennifer than allowed anyone who brought in their preassembled strips to have a go at using the ruler that she brought in. The ladies did play around with different variations of what could be done once the blocks were cut out.

Business wise:

 The ladies discussed the need to raise funds. If any one has any ideas please bring them up at the next meeting.

Since it was brought up due to the funds being low in our account that we ask each quilter to bring in material for the 1 Million Pillow Case Challenge that we will be doing with the with the Girl Scouts. We ask that the material be brought in over the course of the summer dates and into the fall. Also please keep all solids or prints kid friendly since the pillow cases will be donated to the Shriner's Hospital in Cincinnati.


 All schedule dates for this event will be on a Saturday and will run from 9:00 am to 11:00 am/Noon depending on how well each girl will do. All meetings for this even will be held at Jennifer Overstreet's home unless noted other wise. *Note : If you are allergic to cats or do not like cats please say so, Jennifer owns two of them!
A few more things on this topic: the pattern we will be using Roll Up Pillow Case and over the course of our work secessions we will be preparing the pillow cases in to kits. If you are not a big fan of this pattern Marcia Letterly has a pattern to you too. Please see Marcia for more information about it.


This will be the schedule for the 1 Million Pillow Case Challenge:


October 13, 2012
November 10, 2012
January 14, 2013
February 11, 2013
March 10, 2013


Please feel free to pick a date that best suits your schedule and you can volunteer for more than just one.

In other business news:


Up coming and current local quilt shows were discussed. The Ashland show is this weekend if any one is interested. See side bar of our blog for more information.

County fair season is sharply around the corner. Again for more information please see our blog's side bar.


Also future project ideas are in need as well.  

Speaking of future projects next months (July's) project will be a  Lined Drawstring Bag  by Jeni Baker from In Color Order. To add a fun twist to the bag another gal Terri Harlan from Sew Fantastic has added pockets to the lined drawstring bag Lined Drawstring Bag Pockets

The idea behind this project is to think of something for your Secret Sister or for any others in your life who may find these bags handy.

As a reminder Christmas my seem like a long while off but if you have any holiday ideas that would be great too. Especially gifting ideas!

With all that said and done... That's a wrap!

Next meeting will be July 11, 2012

Full business meeting and show & tell.

Happy Quilting!

New London Quilt Guild

Advance notice for Thursday's meeting....

Jennifer Overstreet will be demonstrating the 4 1/2 strip ruler from Creative Grids. Remember you will need (4) 2 1/2" x wof strips of fabric, ex: (2) blue and (2) white. If you wish not to have to lug your sewing machine to the meeting Jennifer said this on our Facebook page: 

If you like you can sew your strips in advance. Take one color of each and sew on one side, make sure if using a print that right sides are together (do this with both sets.) Then press to open, then take each set and sew them right sides together. Make sure that when you do sew the two sets together that the colors are opposite of each other. Sew on both sides to make a tube. 
Having these done in advance will allow us to have a regular meeting and it will also allow you to be able to play with the ruler. Thanks all!


See you in Thursday!


New London Quilt Guild

Tips

Hi everyone!

Chris Porter here. Jennifer has graciously extended me the courtesy of posting on our quilt guild blog! This is a new experience for me, so bear with me please, as I learn how to blog.

Here's a tip for you about using shelf liner under your cutting mat to keep it from slipping while you are cutting.

It makes your cutting mat virtually slip proof. Just cut a piece almost the size of your mat and place it underneath. Voila!

Another tip for those unruly bobbin threads.

You can use pigtail scrunchies purchased in the hair care aisle of your local department store. They are really very inexpensive and just fit over a full bobbin perfectly.

These are just a couple of tips I've come across while searching the many quilting sights available on the web.

See ya at the next meeting!

Chris

Meet Art Quilter Laurie Jones

In above photos Laurie made and beaded a mermaid doll, and angle doll from a quilt along, and an improve doll. The wall hanging will be discussed later on. 




At our June 13th meeting we had guest speaker Laurie Jones come and to chat about Art Quilting.

Laurie started out as an traditional quilter but did not find any joy in it. To Laurie traditional quilting was too constructed  and emphasized on to much perfection. Then out of the blue one day Laurie was introduced to Art Quilting and has been in love with it ever since. Laurie loves how art quilting is so improv and the little bit of this and that can make nothing into something. If you have an pile of little scraps or some old neckless with beads on them hanging around, you can start Art Quilting too.

A lot of Laurie does deals with bead work and we all have to say what patients and steady hand that you have Laurie! All what Laurie does is hand stitching and all of us here really appreciate that she shared her quilts with us.

IN the photos below Laurie talks about the wall hanging that represented her journey of bring God into her life. Laurie said that the blue circle was her before God and the colors are what fill her heart and soul after having God into her life. Laurie had a pattern that she bought for the wall hanging but really did not follow it as much as she should. She improvised it and from this pattern she started designing her own stuff.  As you can see in the second photo Laurie's beading and hand work comes to life.

A lot of what Laurie does are small things and they all have a theme. Notice that in all of Laurie's works there is a checkered print some where! Laurie loves checkers! Well, the print or the pattern of it. She said that her kitchen and bathroom both have checkered tiled floors. So she just kept the theme going into her quilting.
In these photos below Laurie passed around a wall hanging to show off more beaded and hand stitching. Then Laurie passed around her memory accordion book of her grandmother. Laurie's grandmother is where she inherited all of her creativeness from. Laurie and a few of our members were discussing how her grandmother would take wheat from the fields and use colored foil to wrap the wheat in to make them look like fireworks in a flower arrangement.

Also in the photos above Laurie brought in a Journey Journal. This journal is about the adventures Laurie has taken. Whether it would be a trip to Georgia, Arizona, to a winery or even personal events in her life such as loosing her daughter Grace, who passed away at a very young age. With each adventure and event Laurie's life she has written about it and then sketched up a small quilt to be made. When she is finished she will then attach each small quilt together and make it into a wall hanging.

In these photos below of Laurie's wall hanging shows off an up close look of Laurie's stitching and bead work.

So does Laurie have you convinced to start Art Quilting? Who knows you might like it just as much as Laurie does, so give it a try!

Lastly:

We want to thank Laurie for joining us and for speaking about her Art Quilting.

After Laurie's speaking we did not have much to chat business about but we did have a few show and tells!

First up was Chris Porter:

Chris had made a log cabin leaf quilt and showed it off a while back. Well, she just got it back from the quilter and was so excited to show off the quilting done on this quilt. Chris also had a table runner that her sister wanted another friend to start doing a block of the month with but the friend bailed and the blocks were made into a table runner.

Jennifer Overstreet also brought in a few of her quilting items too! Jennifer finished and completed a houndstooth quilt, her most recent Moda Bake Shop project Tea Time for You & Me table cloth,  a table runner she designed, and a grocery bag that she also designed.

What lovely work Ladies! Thank you for sharing!

Well that wraps up the meeting news! Thank you for stopping by!

Next meeting June 28, 2012

Happy Quilting!

New London Quilt Guild