June 24, 2016

We had a small turnout for our workshop today. But thanks to those who came we were able to start another Teen Challenge quilt and got quite a bit of fabric cut up to continue piecing it together.

Don't forget the next meeting on July 13th. We will be breaking up into a couple of groups.

One group will be planning our October 21st (note the date change please) workshop which will be the beginner's quilt class. We already have interest from some of the ladies that attended our beginner's sewing class. This group will decide which block we will be using as a starting point, how much fabric will be needed, if we have the fabric in our stash or if they will need to bring their own and a lesson plan.

The second group will be working on the wall hanging we have been planning to give to the church for letting us use their facilities. You will be  preparing the appliques, cutting them out along with other pieces of the wall hanging and assembling the top. This wall hanging can be done one of two ways, either as one unit or as three separate units.

Another project I would like us to do if we have enough members show up is to go through our sale items for Hometown Holidays. We need to sort out what hasn't sold in the last 2-3 years we have been doing this show. Last year we set up two tables and kind of took over the corner we were in. I feel we need to cut down our collection and concentrate it into one table only. Also we decided to have a "basket" raffle for that day and we can use items from this stash for this. Any other ideas for a "basket" would be appreciated.

And we can always use people to work on the Teen Challenge quilts. I know they have quite a few graduating soon and will need quilts for their stash. You can work on these on your own too. If you're like me, you have plenty of 2 1/2" strips to work with. If you need a reminder of how these are constructed, e-mail me and I will send the instructions to you.

So we will basically be dividing into three groups. Come prepared! Bring you sewing machines and tools needed because you don't know which group you will be divided into.

Marcella brought a row by row quilt she had been working on. She commented she enjoyed this one so much, she hated to be finished with it but also had that rewarded feeling when it was done. Great job Marcella!

Remember no workshops in July or August! We will still have our regular meetings on July 13th and August 10th.

See you on July 13th!

Chris

June 8, 2017

Glad to see everyone that turned out for our June meeting.  Plans were made for our workshop on June 24. Please bring your machines and any tools you may need. We will be working on several things.

Some of us will be working on a wall hanging we are planning on donating to the Alliance church. We have the pattern for the wall hanging plus the supplies needed. The group that will work on this will be doing applique and piecing it together.

Some of us will be working on Teen Challenge quilts. We are in need of WOF x 2 ½” strips. Each section uses 4 WOF strips of like fabrics. If you have fabric you would like to donate, please make sure you have enough for 4 strips. We have scraps for the “bricks” which are 6 ½” x 2 ½”. Each quilt is made up of 14 sections. Each section uses 14 “bricks” sewn end to end and 4 WOF x 2 ½” strips of like fabric with 2 strips sewn end to end then sewn to either side of the “bricks” section.

And some of us will be planning a beginners quilt class which will be our October  21st workshop. Note this date, as we had to change it due to a scheduling conflict. We need to decide on what block we will be doing, how much fabric will be needed and then pass this information on to those attending the class.

Lunch will be brown bag for this workshop.

We had been talking about chartering a bus for the Amish Shop Hop in November but we have tabled that this year. There is a group planning on going down so there will be carpooling and a caravan possible.

July we will have our regular meeting on the 13th, but there will be no workshop for July. The decision was made to participate in Hometown Holidays on Dec. 2. We will need to go through items we have in stock to see what will sell or need to be weeded out. We will also be selecting items to put in a basket to raffle off. This is something we can do after our July meeting.

August we will have our regular meeting on the 10th, but there will be no workshop for August.

If anyone has any demonstrations they would like to present, please let me know.

We had several show and tells.

Marcia is back from the south and showed us this finished beauty.

This one she's keeping for herself!

Another one from Marcia for a granddaughter.

This is made from scraps she had for the first one.

Rachenea is showing her finished apron from last month's meeting.

She embroidered chickens on her pockets.

Rachenea's February BOM.

These placemats are paper pieced by Martha. This was a class she attended.

Marcella has made a great start on her June BOM.

Our BOM leader Pat, is really challenging us with July's block.

See you at the workshop!

Chris

May 17, 2017

We have some great weather ahead of us, get out and enjoy it!

We had our beginners sewing class on April 29th with 7 budding sewists participating. They learned how to thread, clean and oil a sewing machine plus sew 1/4" seam which is used by quilters. Each of them put a 9 patch together, backed it with batting and a backing and after stitching around the edges and leaving a small opening, how to turn it right side out and stitch the opening closed. It all went very well and they all agreed they would like to come again and learn more.

On May 3rd, a few of us traveled to Bellevue to attend the Huron Valley Quilt Guild meeting where the program on Quilts of Valor was presented. Quilts of Valor are presented to military veterans who have served with honor. Quilts can be requested through QOV for a veteran or if someone knows a veteran and wants to make a quilt for that person, they can do that also. For more information follow this link: http://www.qovf.org/ Here a pictures of a few examples of QOV's. They don't have to be red, white and blue, they can be any color but there are a few regulations.

After their program, they had a couple show and tells. This first one was for a guild member's neighbor. The different fabrics represent all the things her neighbor likes.

This next quilt is a quilted apron.

Our regular meeting on May 11th had a short business meeting.  Yvonne reported she delivered a check to the New London Public Library in  of Jean Gross-Mutnansky with the stipulation it was to be used for a quilting book.

At our May 27th workshop, some of us will be working on another wall hanging we would like to present to the church to thank them for letting us use the facilities. The rest of us will be working on plans for a quilting class on October 21st. Hopefully we will have as good a turnout that we did for the beginner's sewing class. Discussed was a jelly roll block or an easy block using Christmas fabrics for the class. These would then be finished into a wall hanging or table runner.

Upcoming schedule changes are no workshop's in July or August due to conflicts with the church's scheduling. We will still be having our regular meetings though, so mark your calendars!

Finally Karen was kind enough to show us a tutorial for an apron made out of a tea towel and coordinating fabric.

Pat and Karen being cut-ups!

Here we all are with our finished aprons. Thanks Karen!

See you at the workshop!

Chris

April 13, 2017

Time sure gets away from you doesn’t it? Sorry this blog update is so late, I really have no excuse except my laziness.

Our meeting started off with a sad note with the passing of our longtime member Jean Gross-Mutnansky. She will be missed by all of us. The members decided to make a donation in her name to the New London Public Library. We will ask if it can be used to purchase a quilt book.

Here is what we’ve decided for our sewing class April 29th. Yvonne will lead us off by going over the basics of a sewing machine, threading, winding the bobbin and cleaning. Next we'll have them practice sewing on scraps just to get used to how a sewing machine runs. After practice we’ll have them put their 9-patch block together. Squaring up fabric, cutting and pressing will follow.  The class runs from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. We need to arrive by 8:30 a.m. to set up. Please bring your machines, tools, rotary cutters, rulers and mats. Brown bag lunch for guild members after the class ends to discuss how we think it went. There are 8 people signed up already and we have room for 2 more.

We have been invited to attend the Bellevue Quilt Guild's meeting on May 3rd. They are having a program on Quilts of Valor and the meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. We will meet at the church at 6:00 p.m. This sounds like an interesting program and will give us a chance to see how other quilt guilds do their meetings.

For our May 11th meeting, Karen Ruggles will be showing us how to construct an apron using a tea towel. You will need 1 tea towel - approx. 18" x 27" and 1/2 yard coordinating fabric. Don’t forget your machine and any tools you may need. If you want to do some prep work you will need from your coordinating fabric - (3) 3" x WOF strips (for apron tie), (2) pieces 8"x16" (for the pocket).

We are in need of WOF strips for our Teen Challenge quilts. We have lots of scraps for the “bricks” which are 6 ½ by 2 ½. We need 4 WOF of same fabric for each set. There are 13 sets in each top. So if you have extra fabric that you can cut 4 WOF strips from, we can use them at the workshop in May. Marlene tells us there a quite a few graduating soon!

We've been talking about chartering a bus for the fall Amish Shop Hop which runs Nov. 1-4. We would advertise at the area quilt shops to see if we can get enough people signed up.

Yvonne demonstrated a ruler used to do flanged binding. It will make cutting strips for this a breeze!

If anyone has a particular technique you would like to demo at one of our meetings let me know.

See you on April 29th!

Chris

March 9, 2017

Mother Nature is a fickle entity isn't she? Warm, cold, warm, cold, wind (lots of wind) warm, cold with snow thrown in. I'm ready for nice spring weather, who's with me?

Nice turnout for the last meeting.Our next get together is the March 25th workshop. Plan on working on quilts for Teen Challenge or your own project. Brown bag for lunch. Start at 9:00 a.m., come when you can and we will dismiss between 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.

On a local note, the spring shop hop for the Shiloh area runs March 21-25. They have 7 shops participating this year. 

At our April 13th meeting Yvonne will be demonstrating a new ruler she discovered.  Also final details for our beginners sewing class in April will be made.

We've come up with a plan for our sewing class April 29th. We'll start off by going over the basics of a sewing machine, threading, winding the bobbin and cleaning. Next we'll have them practice sewing on scraps just to get used to how a sewing machine runs then we'll have them put their 9-patch block together. After that we will show them how to press their seams and square up fabric, cut squares and let them put these together also.  The class runs from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. We need to arrive by 8:30 a.m. to set up. Please bring your machines, tools, rotary cutters, rulers and mats. Brown bag lunch for guild members after the class ends to discuss how we think it went. There are 4 people signed up already and we have room for 6 more. We'll get an announcement in the local papers soon.

We have been invited to attend the Bellevue Quilt Guild's meeting on May 3rd. They are having a program on Quilts of Valor and the meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. We will meet at the church at 6:00 p.m. This sounds like an interesting program and will give us a chance to see how other quilt guilds do their meetings.

For our May 11th meeting, Karen Ruggles will be showing us how to construct an apron using 2 of the large tea towels. You will be getting an e-mail with a list of supplies needed. 

We've been talking about chartering a bus for the fall Amish Shop Hop which runs Nov. 1-4. We would advertise at the area quilt shops to see if we can get enough people signed up.

If you would like to do a demonstration for any of the meetings, please let me know.

We did have a couple show and tells.

This quilt was a shop hop quilt done by Marcella. The colors are just gorgeous.

These little storage pouches were done by Rachenea. The black and yellow are bumble bees. The larger one holds the smaller ones. The medium size is a pin cushion and the small one holds a thimble. The blue and pink mouse pair were her favorites.

She even stitched the strips on the fabric for the body of the bee. 

See you at the next workshop!

Chris

February 9, 2017

The weather wasn’t the greatest for our last meeting but we had a few venture out.

Due to a scheduling conflict with the church there will be no workshop for the month of February.

At our next meeting on March 9th, we need to start to lock down details for our sewing class on April 29th. We have had some interest from people who want to attend. If you know of someone who is interested, please try to get them to commit so we can get an accurate count. I would hate to have to turn people away. If we can get them to commit, we may not need to advertise it in the paper. April 13th regular meeting we will make final decisions.

For the beginners sewing class on April 29th the class will run from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. We will need to be there for set up by 8:30 a.m.  We will need to decide what we will do for lunch for ourselves and maybe we can have a discussion as to how we think the class went. Marcella is in charge of the groundwork for the class and she is being helped by Rachenea. I'm sure if you have any ideas for them they will be grateful. Class size is limited to 10 with ages from 10 and up. Sign up is required.

I talked to Bob James from the New Haven Methodist Church and he still wants to do a quilt show. I will keep in contact with him for more details.

Pat passed out our February BOM and it is Valentine’s day themed. What the members have completed so far are really turning out nice. If  you want to participate you will need to attend the meeting or workshop to get the next month's block.

Some members have passed out their fabrics for the paper pieced signature block for our Christmas exchange for 2017. This is a friendship signature block. Each member will provide enough fabric in their color choice to complete this block. You will need to place this fabric in a ziploc baggie and write your name on the outside. Each member will provide a baggie for each member that is participating. For example if there are 5 members participating, including yourself, you would need to provide 4 bags (you wouldn't need one for yourself).

We had a couple show and tells for the evening.

Doesn't Martha's table runner look like a garden?

The back is just as pretty.

Another quilt by Martha. This one has a scalloped edge.

Pat was cleaning out her stash with this one.

Pat used a mystery quilt pattern for this Dot to Dot pattern.

So that's it for this meeting. See you all on March 9th.

Chris

January 12, 2017

New year, new officers, well a couple changes anyway.  President - Chris Porter, V. Pres. - Marcia Letterly, - Sec. - Martha Hecock, Treas. - Yvonne Westover, Media Coordinator - Malrene Stevens, Facebook and blogger - Chris Porter.

A few things were discussed as we start the new year. Since we have funds to run us for the next year, we decided to take off this year from doing a raffle quilt. We can still work on quilts for Teen Challenge and we also decided to make a variety of sizes of quilt to have on hand in case there is a family in need. These we can work on at the workshops or if you want to work on them on your own, feel free to do this. I know we all have an abundance of scraps just waiting for that scrappy quilt that has been rattling around in the back of your minds.

The signature block paper pieced pattern was passed out at the meeting. So far we have 7 that are participating. If you weren't able to attend and still want to participate, let us know and we'll have extra patterns available at the next workshop on the 28th and at the next regular meeting on
February 9th. These will be exchanged at the Christmas meeting in December. You need to have enough fabrics to complete the block in a plastic baggie with your name on the outside. Since we have 7 people participating, you need 6 baggies, one for each member not including yourself. If we add people to the project you will have to make up a baggie for them also. I myself made up a couple extra just in case. Don't forget to put your name, date and New London Quilt Guild in the blank spaces provided on the block. Here's a picture of the one I completed minus my signature.

You may want to label your fabrics as to the position you want them to be in. Here's how I did mine. I wrote the number of the piece on a sticker and put it on the back of the fabric.

The BOM that Pat has been working on was also passed out at the meeting. These are to be made and presented at the next month's gathering. Each month is seasonal according to month. We have January and here is Pat's version.

You can do this anyway you want, embroidered, applique. We will have patterns available at the workshop on the 28th. February's will be passed out at the meeting on the 9th.

For the workshops starting on January 28th we will be sorting fabric for the April workshop beginners sewing class. We will need to cut pieces for a nine patch block that will be our project and coordinating fabrics. Or you can bring your machine to work on a Teen Challenge quilt or a scrappy quilt to have on hand for emergencies as stated previously. This will be the plan for the subsequent workshops until after April. Lunch for the January workshop is brown bag.

We had discussed doing a quilt show at the New Haven Methodist church with their pastor and art director. We are unable to get a definite answer for now but I will check again in February. They didn't seem to think we would be able to do one this spring. 

We have a conflict of dates for the February 25th workshop. The church is having a seminar for 5 weeks and will be using the fellowship hall and kitchen for February. We will need to decide if we want to cancel or move the meeting to March 1st, the church will be available that Saturday.

For the beginners sewing class on April 29th the class will run from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. We will need to be there for set up by 8:30 a.m. We need to develop a plan of what we will be teaching and who will lead us. We will need to decide what we will do for lunch for ourselves and maybe we can have a discussion as to how we think the class went. Marcella is in charge of the groundwork for the class and she is being helped by Rachenea. I'm sure if you have any ideas for them they will be grateful. Class size is limited to 10 with ages from 10 and up. Sign up is required.

We had a couple show and tells:

Martha presented this beauty. The colors are just stunning.

Martha also showed this kitty wall hanging.

Chris P. took the pockets off pairs of her husbands worn out jeans and embroidered

these Christmas designs on them. 

See you at the next workshop and meeting!

Chris