January 9, 2010

In Attendance: Anna, Debi, Kristine, Rose, Tresa, Chris, Cathie, Marla

We met at Debi's house this month. Thank you for allowing us to invade.

Charity Quilts

We've made lots of progress on the quilts for the Burn Center.

To date, we have 20 lap/twin size quilts in progress or completed. All supplies and materials were dontated by guild members. Way to go ladies!

The charity quilts for 2010/2011 will go to the George E. Whalen Veteran's Home in Ogden. The quilts will be done in red/white/blue and we have a variety of patterns to choose from for these. This leads to our next topic.....

Snowman Collector Opportunity Quilt

This quilt is absolutely georgeous! Ladies, you did a fabulous job. Everyone contributed a block, Debi pieced the blocks, sashings, and borders, Cathie did the quilting, Marilyn made a beautiful embroidered label, and Linda stitched the binding. That's a group effort!

We are raffling it off to raise money for quilts for the George E. Whalen Veterans Home in Ogden. Debi created a flyer. Marla designed, printed, and distributed the tickets for which we are requesting a dontation of $1.00 per ticket or $5.00 for six tickets. Money should be turned in to Laurel and you can pick up additional tickets from her or Marla as you need them. Proceeds will purchase fabric, batting, and supplies for the patriotic themed quilts. Funds raised above the amount needed for this will be donated to the home. The drawing is scheduled for November 1, 2010.

Debi's Monthly Quilting Lesson

Debi's lesson on "Value - Color not Price" was very informative. She was able to pull together a half dozen or so beautiful sets to illustrate value from her fabric wall. I want her wall!

Debi's demonstration in February will be "Quilt As You Go"

2009 Block Of the Month

Kristine provided this fun and easy BOM for the month of January. Here's Rose displaying the finished block.

Everyone should have 11 blocks now. A picture of each will be posted later this month. We'll be meeting at Debi's again next month for the final BOM for 2009 provided by Chris.

Retreat 2010

Cathie made the announcement that she will not be able to organize the 2010 retreat because of a very exciting opportunity that she'll share with everyone next month. Unfortunately, nobody volunteered to take over the organizing of this activity so there will not be a retreat at the Sages Creek Retreat at Bear Lake this year.

The good news is that Marilyn is willing to host a retreat at her house this summer. Debi & Marilyn will open their fifth wheelers for extra beds and Marilyn will provide her home for sewing, eating, and gabbing. What fun! And so much closer and cheaper than our usual retreats! More information will be provided as it becomes available.

Show & Tell

Remember those "I Spy" quilts Debi was putting together at the Heber retreat in 2007.....? Here are two of them, completed by Debi standards (which includes quilting, label, and binding - some people have such high standards) Way cute!

And she's become addicted to the disappearing 4-patch pattern! This one used layer cakes.

and this one used charm squares. OMG those are tiny squares!


Finally finished by Cathie's not-so-high standards (pieced and waiting to go on the longarm some day) is Antitude in Blue. It only took a year or so to get this far, what's another year or two waiting to quilt it?


And Cathie is hooked on the Laps from Fats classes at Thimbles and Threads each month. November was a set of table runners.

Any chance they'll be quilted and ready to go for Valentines Day this year? NOT!

This one was from the 2nd class Laurel and Cathie attended in May or June, I think.

Kristine provided a fabulous lunch of chicken salad on croisants and to die for brownies for desert. And of course there was a plethora of munchies to snack on too. Thank you!

No, it's not your eyes. This one is a little out of focus but it's the only shot I had of the group!

Next month's meeting will be at Debi's house on February 6th from 11:00 - 4:00. Hope to see you there!

November Meeting

November 3, 2009 BOM/Guild Meeting

In attendance were Tresa, Kristine, Chris & Laurel (you can just barely see her hair)

















Anna, Marilyn, Rose (& Cathie behind the camera)
















and of course, our host, Marla
















Thanks to Marla for hosting a fun block of the month and providing delicious soup and tasty snacks! Loved the homemade crackers with goat cheese :)

The block Marla provided was "Card Trick." Here's a snapshot of the block for those who didn't get it put together on Saturday.



and Laurel with her finished block.





















Anna had show & tell, next month she and Robert will be cuddling together under that snuggly quilt!





















Our annual Christmas dinner will be at Rickenbacker's Bistro on Thursday, December 10th at 6:00p.m. Here's the link to their web site where you can find the menu and directions. http://rickenbackersbistro.com/

Cathie is checking out available June 2010 dates for a Sages Creek retreat at Bear Lake. The RDO weekends for that month are the 11th and 25th we are waiting to hear if either of those are available.

Marla passed around her draft for the raffle tickets. Looked good to all. Now we just have to print fliers and sell tickets!

We talked a little about charity quilts. It was proposed that next year's quilts be done in red/white/blue and donated to the new Veterans Retirement/Nursing Home in Ogden. Also mentioned was quilts for children for Shriners (??? - I forgot to write down the organization)

Without our fearless leader present, other business just fell by the wayside.

Hope to see everyone at Rickenbacker's Bistro in December.

October Meeting

Laurel, Marla, Tresa and I had a great time at Anna’s. Lunch was delicious! The block was fun and easy to make even though it looked more complicated!!! My favorite kind!!! Tresa also completed her block from Linda and Marla worked on a BOM from Sew and Save! Anna, Laurel, Tresa and I also worked on some charity quilt blocks. I passed out enough for each person to make a quilt. Cathie and her daughter stopped by to drop off a few things and I gave her a couple of completed charity quilts to quilt. Laurel also took 2 of these for Marilyn to quilt…I have plenty at home!

The opportunity quilt is finished…including a beautiful label made by Marilyn! If you haven’t seen it completed, I have it at my house! Laurel has taken pictures which she will forward to Marla. Marla has the tickets ready to go and is making a flyer to go with these. Thanks for everybody’s help to get this underway. We can start selling tickets in January. I know I’m going to buy some. My hairdresser is also going to post the flyer in her shop and sell tickets for us for a couple of months. Marla is going to print up about 500 tickets initially. We all have to be responsible for any tickets we take to sell as you will be expected to return a minimum of $5 for every 6 tickets…along with ticket stubs. Does anyone have a large popcorn tin? This would be good to put ticket stubs in. The drawing will be 6 Nov 2010 at our meeting. Who wants to keep and account for the money collected? I can do it…but I don’t want to be thought of as the control freak! It should at least be someone that comes regularly to meetings since we’ll need to turn in collections and ticket stubs at least once a month. Also, anyone that gets a shop to sell tickets needs to be responsible to check with the shop regularly and collect from them.

December’s meeting has always been dinner somewhere – and has been the first Thursday instead of Saturday. We need to decide where we’re going and get reservations made as this is a popular time. This is also the time we reveal Secret Sisters…and choose new ones if we’re going to do that again. I, for one, don’t think I’m going to participate next year. I haven’t had as much fun with it this year since we have to mail everything and, in all honesty, I haven’t really done much. Our participation at meetings has also fallen down so I’d like some suggestions to develop more interest. I know some of you have other things going on the week end…so maybe we need to look at a day change. I’m open to pretty much any ideas.

Retreats – Cathie is running the retreat thing this year – destination I believe is Bear Lake! So closer to home. We’ll need to decide on a date soon, though, so we can get the time reserved and other plans can be made around this. Maybe it would help Cathie if we told her the dates we just wouldn’t be able to go (if you’re planning to go at all). Also, I haven’t requested a refund of the deposit at Teton Patchworks since I was thinking some of us might want to do a second retreat there…or even go up for classes. Give me some feedback on this!

I am putting in a Connecting Threads order. If I get an order totaling $50 or more there is no shipping. So if you need anything from them, let me know ASAP. I’m hoping to get the order in by the end of this week. If you need to look at a catalog, you can do so on line or stop by my house. We’re already close to the $50 mark…in fact if I don’t get any more orders I’ll just get more thread to put us over the mark!!!

The November meeting will be at Marla’s on the 7th… same time. I probably won’t be there as I’m scheduled to teach the Tresa Shoulder Bag at My Heritage in North Ogden that day…provided at least 3 people sign up to take the class!!!

2009 Retreat at Teton Patchworks

We had another fabulous retreat at Teton Patchworks. Barbara & Nancy came from California to join in the fun. Debi, Anna, Laurel, Kristine, Cathie and new guild member Theresa were the locals who attended. As usual, Lea and Jim were terrific hosts. We did a lot of visiting, a lot of quilting, a fair amount of eating, and visited several quilt shops during our 5-day trip.

Laurel's "Laps from Fats" Pinwheel in progress.

















Debi's big Wacky 4-Patch

..................and her little one

Theresa worked on her Christmas tree skirt panels which she is going to quilt on her machine. Good luck Theresa!

















Anna spent the first night and part of the first day piecing the back for the Buggy Barn Star quilt she made several years ago. The back looks terrific - you should see the top, it looks even better!

Kristine finished her Tresa Bag - love the jeweled bug dangling from the zippered pocket!

And Cathie's finished a wall hanging using coffee blocks from a panel and a paper pieced kitty wall hanging. Go Cathie!















Anna got the layout done for her "Ugly is in the Eye of the Beholder" quilt (taught by Lea in April) - looks amazing. Who would guess it was made from the scraps of 8 quilters.














And ta da! Laurel's finished pinwheel quilt. Notice the little tiny pinwheels she added in the borders. Too cute!

Kristine finished getting the blocks togther on her stained glass quilt.





















Don't tell Robert but Anna made him this wonderful snuggly quilt for curling up in the recliner.

















Nancy made several trips to the quilt shop to get the fabrics for this beautiful french braid.

Laurel cooked us sliders on the barbie!




And Cathie finished yet another wacky four-patch, this one using wine bottle fabric. These things are addicting!

I don't have pictures of the disappearing 4-patch quilts Nancy and Barbara made or of Barbara's hand stitching she worked on. If anyone got photos of these please e-mail them to Cathie to be added this posting.

As usual, this was a fun, relaxing, and very productive stay in Tetonia. Can't wait until the next one!

August Guild Meeting

I fail as the volunteer blogger for the group. I took terrible notes for the August meeting and waited too long to post them so I am having a terrible time remembering what was said and done. That's what I get for staying up so late the night before the meeting! Please make any corrections or additions as you see fit.

BOM/Guild Meeting Notes
The meeting was at Cathie's house. Thanks to everyone who made the long trek to Sandy for the 2nd time this month. The BOM was a 3-D pinwheel which had most everyone mumbling under their breath if not out right cursing. It was definitely a challenge!

Debi taught the lesson on Tools, Notions, & Equipment. She'll have to post her notes because mine are awful! For example, Rotary Cutters - DON'T CUT YOUR FINGERS. Well, duh!

Show & Tell
Most everyone worked on their Wacky 4-Patch. We'll have to get pictures at the October meeting. Lots of fun to see everyone's partially finished and finished blocks.

Upcoming Events/Activities
August 29 thru Sept 2 - Retreat at Teton Patchworks
September 19 - Old Saint Nick Class @ Debi's, 11:00am - ?
Saturday, September 26th - Laps from Fats Class @ Thimbles & Threads, 1:00 pm - 4:00ish (Charity Quilt Day, originally planned for this date, will be rescheduled)
October 3 - BOM/Guild Meeting @ Anna's house, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm

June 6th Guild Meeting

This is the first meeting I've been to in a few months so there are no meeting notes for April or May. Hopefully someone else can fill in blog entries for those months.

Thanks to Tresa for hosting our June meeting and providing the delicious chicken taco lunch. The weather cooperated and we had a lovely morning/afternoon quilting on the back patio. Tresa had a really fun block for the BOM.

New Projects Debi taught her Foundation Pieced String Block technique. Instructions are in the next blog entry.


Marla, Laurel and Chris worked on quilting their purse fabrics in preparation for next Saturday's "Tresa Shoulder Bag" class. Debi and Tresa are publishing the pattern for this bag under Sew Can You Designs and will be marketing it at local quilt stores. We have entrepreneurs in our midst. Best of luck ladies! Please remember us when you're rich and famous.


Show & Tell
Lots of fun projects to share!






Tresa has been very busy! Here is her Fall Wall Hanging class project - this is the first one I've seen finished - can't wait to see the rest!

And her beautiful oriental vase. I would love to learn how to make this one. Sounds like a great activity for retreat........

Ant-titude, all quilted and ready to be bound.









Marla's "Ugly is in the Eye of the Beholder" quilt started at a class at Teton Patchworks in April. This beautiful quilt was made with "ugly" scraps from 6 friends, triangles on a roll, and a good eye for contrast and value!























Cathie & Debi with their "Quilter's Wash Day" paper pieced wall hangings. Debi's (bottom) is quilted and bound finished, Cathie's (top) is pieced finished, just waiting for time on the longarm to be quilted.

• And last, but not least, Debi's May "Laps from Flats" quilt. She and Cathie attended the free (yes, FREE) Laps from Flats class offered the last Saturday of the month at Thimbles and Threads. I think this will become a monthly excursion for any who want to join in the fun. It's a great way to start using up those stash fabrics.
  

Debi's Topic of the Month - Pressing

• To prevent warping fabric during initial ironing, press parallel to the selvage.
• When pressing blocks, pay attention to both color and construction. Avoid creating bulky intersections.
• Set seams by pressing stitching in place before opening block and pressing seam in desired direction.
• To fix a stretched bias, spray with sizing and gently press.
• Press blocks on a firm surface.
• Press applique on a soft surface.
• Always press your quilt top and back before sandwiching and quilting.
• Steam can stretch fabric when pressing, use carefully.
• When pressing curved seams, press in the direction the fabric wants to go.
• If you pre-wash, use sizing when pressing to put crispness back in fabric.
• To expand your ironing board surface, simply cover a board cut to the size you desire with batting and cover that with plain muslin. You can secure the batting and muslin on the bottom side of the board using duct tape.

Upcoming Events/Activities Closer to Home

"Tresa Shoulder Bag" Class, 11:00am - 4:00 pm @ Debi's house on June 13

Retreat Deposit Due - Teton Patchworks Retreat deposit is due to Debi by June 15 with remaining balance due July 15.

2009 Wasatch Front Shop Hop June 17th-20th This year's theme is "Around the Town" Visit wasatchfrontshophop.wordpress.com for more information.

Laps from Fats Class Jun3 27th, 1:00pm - 5:00ish @ Thimbles & Threads in Draper

Charity Quilt Day July 24th @ Debi's house, 11:00 am - ? Bring something for our pot luck lunch and spend the afternoon as part of our quilt assembly line. We'll put together as many blocks and quilts as we can squeeze into the afternoon using the "Disappearing 4-Patch" pattern . Instructions posted in another blog.

Lea's Wacky-4 Patch Class, August 7th, 11:00 am - 3:00 pm @ Cathie's house. Lunch is provided.

Guild Meeting/BOM - August 15th, 11:00 to whenever, Cathie's house

Teton Patchworks Retreat - August 29 thru September 2, caravan from Debi's house at 10:00 am on 8/29

Utah Quilt Guild Annual Quilt Festival "As Ye Sew, Sew Shall Ye Rip" - September 22-26, Davis Conference Center, Layton, UT www.utahquiltguild.org


And for the truly dedicated quilter

Sisters 34th Annual Outdoor Quilt Show - July 11, Sisters, Oregon http://www.sistersoutdoorquiltshow.org/

Innovations 2009 - September 16-19, Tacoma Convention Center, Tacoma WA http://www.mqinnovations.com/

Pacific International Quilt Festival - October 15-19, Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara CA www.mancusoshows.com

Road to California Quilter's Conference & Showcase- January 14-17, 2010, Ontario Convention Center, Ontario, CA www.road2ca.com