December 11th, 2014

We've had two events since our last post. First we have photos of New London Hometown Holidays. We had a fair amount of shoppers, but the weather wasn't cooperating. We had many items left over and if you see anything in the photos and would like to purchase it, let us know, we may still have it available.

Here's a long shot of our tables. The quilts you see on the racks are the many quilts the guild members made for a local foster family. The purpose of these quilts is to go to children that the family takes in. They are the child's to keep.

Our second event was our annual Christmas party and gift exchange. Each member who wanted to participate in the exchange was to bring 1 yard of good quality fabric in a brown paper bag with their name and what type of item they would like to receive on a piece of paper inside the bag with the fabric. Bags were then passed out to each member. Here's a look at the results, but first our potluck layout. It was all delicious!

And now for the gift exchange.

 

These beautiful embroidered placemats were given to Yvonne by Martha.

 

Martha received this pincushion from Rachenea. It opened like a flower.

 

She also had a table topper (that I missed! Sorry, it was very pretty) and this scissor case.

 

 

 

Chris' gift(s) were from Jen. First we have a small pouch that can be used for many things.

 

Next we have a sewing tote. It has pockets in the front and back with vinyl zipper pockets and a pincushion on one side. Very cute.

 

Third, we have a table topper. No, your eyes aren't seeing things, it's not finished. Jen started a new job and has been very busy. Congratulations, Jen!

 

Last we have a cute clothes pin holder in the shape of a dress.

 

Here's Jen showing off the card that came with her gift.

 

Chris P. had her name. Jen had admired this wall hanging when Chris had displayed it at the last quilt show. When Jen had brought in all these scraps to pass along, Chris grabbed them up to make this hanging for her.

 

Here's the back using more of the scraps. We think Jen was really amazed at what was done with her leftovers.

 

Carol was unable to finish this hanging for Marcia last year because of illness. It has ornaments added as embellishments.

Marcella made this pink and floral table runner for Carol.

 

This hanging is from Carol to Marcella.

 

Kim was unable to attend to receive her purse made by Yvonne.

 

That wraps up 2014 for the New London Quilt Guild. We are always open to new members and hope to welcome some members back who maybe haven't attended for a while. See you next year!





November 13, 2014

We're gearing up for the holiday season. It will be here faster than Santa's reindeer. Is everyone working on their Hometown Holidays items? The date is Saturday, December 6th at the Hileman Building from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the New London Recreation Park. Set up will start on Friday evening at 6:00 p.m., bring your items then so the tables can be set up and ready for Saturday morning. Also please remember to bring in your foster child project quilt so we can display them for the public to be able to see we do more than quilt for ourselves.

The December meeting on the 11th will be our Christmas Party and gift exchange. If you haven't decided on what dish you would like to bring or don't remember what you are bringing here is a list of what we have already coming:

• Yvonne, meats
• Kim, corn casserole
• Gloria, potato casserole
• Chris K., dessert
• Carol, salad
• Chris P., beans
• Martha, veggie tray
• Rachenea, dessert
• Marcia, cheese plate & crackers
• Jen, drinks

Feel free to fill in with what you think we are missing.

The January 8th meeting will be our regular meeting and the start of our BOM. If you haven't gotten your pattern and would like to do the BOM please contact one of the officers and they will see you get a copy. We would like to have as many as possible done for the 2016 Quilt Show. This is purely optional, you don't have to participate, but do please come to the meeting. This will be the only regular meeting we will work on the BOM, the next time we work on it will be the February 28th workshop and subsequent monthly workshops

Speaking of workshops, our January 31st workshop will be conducted by Laurie Jones. She will be showing the members how to embellish using beads. The project will be a 2" x 2" pin with a nominal fee of $5. All you need to bring are small detail scissors, Laurie will be providing the rest. If you don't want to participate, again please come and bring something of your own to work on and enjoy the conversation. Please reserve your spot by the January 8th meeting so we can let Laurie know how many are coming.

Lastly we had election of officers for 2015, they are:

• Chris Porter, Pres.
• Kim Parsons, V. Pres.
• Carol Schaffer, Sec.
• Marcia Letterly, Treas.
• Marlene Stevens, Public Relations
• Yvonne Westover, Program Coordinator
• Chris Porter, Facebook and Blog person

There were just a couple show and tells.

This is just one of the many quilts Jen and her mother have done for our foster family project.

 





 

The quilting has frogs in it to match the center fabric.

 

This poodle quilt is just adorable, another one from Jen and her mother.

 

The quilting looks curly just like the poodles.

 

 

Martha did this sailboat quilt for her nieces little boy.

 



 

I didn't get a picture of the back, but she used navy blue minky. Minky sheds and she said it was everywhere!

 

 

If you would like to join quilt guild, please feel free to attend our meetings, we won't "needle" you. 

October 9, 2014

There was much discussion about upcoming events for the guild. Yvonne reminded everyone to get their quilts for the foster child project completed (quilted and bound) for display at the Hometown Holidays on December 6th. We estimated at least 20 quilts will be donated for this project.

We have a workshop coming up on October 25th, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We meet in the room off the kitchen at the New London Alliance Church. Enter through the back door, turn left, turn right immediately, then turn right again. Just follow the sound of our voices and machines.

Next item was our November 13th meeting will be elections of officers. If you want to nominate someone or be considered for an office, please come to this meeting.

There will be no workshop the months of November or December because of holiday weekends.

December 6th will be the Hometown Holidays held at different locations around New London. We will be having 2 tables at the Hileman Building at the Recreation Park. Bring your items to be sold to the park that morning. Time will be announced later.

Our annual Christmas party potluck will be December 11th at the New London Alliance church also. If you haven't signed up for a dish yet, please let us know what you plan to bring. We will be having our secret gift exchange this evening. Time is 6:00 p.m.

Our first meeting of the new year will be on January 8th. This will be a regular meeting but we will also be working on the first block for the block of the month . The first block is the upper left corner block on the pattern. If you are interested in doing this BOM and don't have a pattern, contact us and we will make sure you get your copy. If you don't want to do the BOM, that's okay, please come to the meeting anyway.

January 31st will be our first workshop of the year. Laurie Jones will be instructing us in quilt embellishing. There will be a small fee for a kit, price hasn't been decided as yet. If you are interested in signing up, please give one of the officers a call.

Winter is on it's way and that means S-N-O-W!!!!! and bad road conditions. If the meeting is cancelled, the decision will be made by 5:00 p.m. A call chain will be initiated and hopefully we will be able to reach everyone. If you don't receive a call, use your own judgment. The roads can be bad in the morning, but by afternoon they can be clear.

We had just a couple of show and tells.

 

This is Yvonne's sixteen patch for the foster child project. Very colorful!





 

 

Marcella used fall colors for this Mariner's Compass with an appliqued pumpkin in the middle.

 

 

 

This Halloween wall hanging was made by Chris P. BOO!

 

 

That's all we have for this week. Enjoy the fall colors! The trees are turning fast.

 

 

 

 

 

September 27, 2014

A very productive workshop was held Saturday, September 27, 2014. We had 9 member attend. Here are some show and tell pictures for you to enjoy.

 

This tractor quilt was done by Marlene.

 

 

She even pieced the back.

 

We love the corn fabric.

 

 

The back is just as interesting as the front.

 

 

This quilt just goes on and on.

 

 

The group hard at work

 



 

This storybook quilt was made by Chris K. for her grandson.

 

 

 

She also pieced the back.

  

 

Chris also added his name in sign language. It says Nathan.

 

 

Jennifer did a jelly roll quilt and added the stars and borders for interest.

 

 

Jennifer said this quilt top has been hanging around her house for a couple of years and she decided to donate it to our foster child project.

 

 

 

Here's a close up. It's sparkly.

  

 

These owl placemats that Gloria made can be yours if you attend the Hometown Holidays on December 6 at the New London Recreation Park.

 

 

The next quilts were all made by Jennifer and her mother. They have very graciously donated them all to our foster child project. Thank you from the bottom of our heart, we are very grateful.

  

September 11, 2014

What a great turnout for our first meeting of the fall season! Everyone agreed this cooler weather is making us all a little sleepy. First item that was discussed was the quilt project for foster kids in our area. Yvonne reminded us all to have our tops done by the first meeting in November. If you are not going to quilt them yourself. please bring your finished tops, batting and backing to the meeting on November 13th. Make sure your batting and backing is at least 12 inches wider and longer than your top. This is the standard for any longarm quilter so they will have enough extra to attach it to their quilting frame. We would like to have these completely done with binding by the Christmas holiday season. This meeting will also be election of officers for 2015. Be thinking whether you would like to serve or who you would like to have elected for the upcoming year.

We will be having a workshop on September 27th and you can bring anything you want to work on, maybe a UFO that's been hanging around your sewing area that you just can't seem to find time to work on at home. Or maybe you have the purse pattern from our June workshop that never got started. How about that foster child quilt that just has a couple of more blocks that need to be finished. It's entirely up to you, come join us from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (or 2:00 p.m. if we are just having too good of a time to quit!). We will be having only one more workshop after this on October 25th. If you want to come and are involved with any Halloween activites, feel free to leave whenever you need to. With the holidays approaching in November and December there will be only 1 meeting for each of these months with December being our Christmas potluck.

We have the Hometown Holidays coming up on December 6th at the New London Recreation Park in the Hileman Building. Hopefully we will be having 2 tables this year. Last year our 1 table was crammed packed with items for sale. Please be thinking of getting your items ready to donate for this activity. More information will follow after our November meeting on the 13th (don't forget this is election night!).

Our Christmas party (yes, it's coming fast) will be on December 11th at the New London Alliance Church. This is a potluck and will start at 6:00 p.m. Please contact Jennifer with what dish you will be bringing, Yvonne is providing the meat and coffee. Please bring your own table service and any other beverage you would like to have. There is a pop machine available at the church. This is also our gift exchange.

The first meeting of 2015 will be on January 8th. For anyone who wants to do the block of the month we will be starting at the workshop on January 31st, this is the meeting for you! We will be going over the pattern details then.

With the winter weather approaching we have decided that if there is to be no meeting that night, that decision will be made by 5:00 p.m. Last year a couple of meetings were cancelled early in the day and by the time meeting time rolled around the weather had cleared and the roads were in good shape. There will be a call list made and divided up so no one has to make all the calls. You can also watch this blog and our facebook page for any cancellation announcements.

We also discussed making a guild handbook. This will have a list of officers, dates of meetings, workshop dates, special activity dates and other items of interest. We have a handbook from another guild that we will use as a guide. If you have any ideas of something you would like to have addressed in our handbook, please let us know.

Now for the fun stuff, Show and Tell!

 

This is Chris P's. foster child project quilt. She calls this "Merry-Go-Round".

 

 

 

Here is Chris K. showing off her foster child project quilt top.

  



 

Gloria is hiding behind a baby quilt she made for a co-worker. She had this quilted by Chris P.

 

 



 

Another baby quilt top by Gloria, she's been busy!

 

 

A traditional nine patch quilt by Yvonne for her foster child project quilt. Everyone seems to like to hide behind their quilts!

 

 



Another foster child project quilt by Yvonne, this is a rail fence pattern.

 

 

 

And for our last show and tell, here's Martha with her foster child project quilt. The green blocks have cute little bugs on them.

 

 

That's it for our September meeting. Hope you can all make the next meeting.

 

Chris.

 



August 18, 2014

With the summer winding down (boy it sure reminds me of fall lately!) the guild has been discussing what the members would like to have as workshops this fall and winter. Ideas discussed were embellishing quilts with stitching and beadwork, dimensional fabric folding, 10 minute blocks, 5 minute blocks and our ongoing project of making quilts for local foster children. Members should be working on their own tops for this project. It can be any size, any style, any colors. If you have a favorite pattern that is simple and quick, that would be fine. 16 patch, jelly roll quilt, log cabins, 4 patch, 9patch, it doesn't have to be anything fancy or difficult. After you have your top's pieced, pass the tops, batting and backing along to Chris Porter and she will see that they get quilted. A target date for your tops is around the first of November.

Our next workshop is August 23 at 9:00 a.m. We know this is this weekend, but with the Labor Day Festival being held starting the last Saturday of this month, we had to move the date up by 1 week. You can work on whatever you want. You can bring your foster child project, purse project or anything else you want to work on or even small projects for the upcoming Hometown Holidays (December 6th) table. We will be having 2 tables this year. Just come and be a part of the group.

We will be starting a BOM (block of the month) in January 2015. This is a 10 minute sampler block from the "10 Minute Blocks 2" by Design Originals. Come get your pattern so you can start finding your fabrics.

Our next regular meeting will be September 11, 2014. We will decide what the workshop on September 27th will be at this meeting.

Several shop hops and quilt shows were mentioned for the fall:

Sept. 19 will be the Gathering Stitches Mini shop hop around Berlin, Ohio.\
Sept. 26-27 City Blues Quilt Show in Dalton, Ohio
Oct. 29-Nov. 1 "A Fresh Start" shop hop in Ohio Amish Country, Berlin, Ohio

Of course the Hometown Holidays on December 6. We will have 2 tables at the Hileman Building at the recreation park. We have discovered that small stuff sells the best.

And finally, we had 1 show & tell by Jennifer.

 

This tumbler quilt is from one of the Cabin In The Woods books.

 

 

 

The back is just as pretty as the front.

 

 

That's all for this week. See you at the workshop this weekend!