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.


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



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


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


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The quilting looks curly just like the poodles.


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Martha did this sailboat quilt for her nieces little boy.
 


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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.


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



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

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This tractor quilt was done by Marlene.
 

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She even pieced the back.


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We love the corn fabric.
 
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The back is just as interesting as the front.
 
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This quilt just goes on and on.
 
 
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The group hard at work
 


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This storybook quilt was made by Chris K. for her grandson.
 
 
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She also pieced the back.
  
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Chris also added his name in sign language. It says Nathan.
 
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Jennifer did a jelly roll quilt and added the stars and borders for interest.
 
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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.
 
 
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Here's a close up. It's sparkly.
  
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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.
  

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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!


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This is Chris P's. foster child project quilt. She calls this "Merry-Go-Round".
 
 
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Here is Chris K. showing off her foster child project quilt top.
  


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

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

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A traditional nine patch quilt by Yvonne for her foster child project quilt. Everyone seems to like to hide behind their quilts!
 
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Another foster child project quilt by Yvonne, this is a rail fence pattern.
 
 
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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.

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


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The back is just as pretty as the front.
 
 
That's all for this week. See you at the workshop this weekend!




July 26, 2014

Well this summer is going, going, going fast! Summer activities have kept our members quite busy these past few weeks. We had to cancel our last regular meeting because of scheduling conflicts with our meeting place host. The workshops have had small attendances. Hopefully we will be back in the swing of things in the next few weeks.

The 26th was supposed to be a workshop to finish up our purses we were to start at the previous workshop. When just a handful of members showed up at the meeting, the decision was made to move the gathering to my (your official blog author, Chris) house. Nothing was sewn, but the conversation flowed over cups of coffee and a gentle summer breeze on the front porch.

Our next regular meeting will be August 14th at 7:00 p.m. Soon we will be planning activities for the upcoming year. Please plan to attend and voice your ideas. We are always looking for new ideas and new members. Bring a friend!

June 12, 2014

Quite a few members attended for this first meeting of the summer season. Recap of the last workshop was encouraging. A lot of pieces were cut and stitched together for our next quilt donation project. This project will benefit foster children in our area. The plan is to make quilts for the child with his/her name on it so they may keep that quilt for their own. So many are placed with little or no belongings.

Here's a reminder that our next workshop will be on June 28th from 9- 2.  We will be making purses. If you are interested but don't have the pattern yet, please contact Carol Schaffer. If you don't want to make a purse, you are welcome to come on that day anyway and work on your own project. If you have the pattern and would like to get a head start, you may go ahead and cut out your pieces beforehand.

Future workshop ideas were discussed. Ideas kicked around were embellishing quilts and fabric folding.

On another note, a member was contacted by a former classmate. Her aunt had passed away and had been a quilter. None of the lady's family sewed so they contacted the classmate. There was so much fabric, she was overwhelmed. After going through box after box and keeping what she would use, she asked the Quilt Guild if they would be interested in what was left. Of course our member jumped at the suggestion. There were 9 boxes of fabric!

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Also books and thread. 
 

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This was all divided into more manageable bags and the girls went through them at the meeting. It was like Christmas Day!
 
 
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This donation will be used in future service projects.

We did have some show and tell. Here you go!

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This black and white beauty was made by Marcella for her husband Earl for Father's Day.


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Around the outside of the quilt she has pictures of his family past and present.

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The pictures in the middle of the quilt were from a panel she found that reminded her
of places where Earl grew up.
 
 
Chris Porter's Black Sheep
 
Here the girls are inspecting a quilted table topper done by Chris P.
 

Chris Porter's Patriotic Sampler
 
Here's another quilt by Chris P. This one was a BOM she did with her sister-in-law.
They each took turns every month for a year and picked out a different block from the
 
That's all we have for this week. Get out and enjoy this beautiful weather.