Thursday at the Lyndon House (June 21, 2012)
Well, I got to the LH around 9:45. Had to access thru the children's studio (camp this week) since they don't 'open' until noon on Thursdays.
Went upstairs and put up one of my UFO's on the design wall. Around 10:15 Martha showed up and began to cut squares. Then Frances came around 11:00 and then Julie showed up right after. Suzanne Reeves brought a lovely hand applique piece she's working on. Well, Frances pulled out one of the machines and worked on her BOM from Wild Child. I worked on a couple of things. Julie cut on her Pat Speth border.
Doc Eldridge stopped in and thanked us for coming. Lunch was served in the 2nd floor atrium (big window on the end ) for the dignitaries (mayor, Chamber of Com, council person, Clarke and Oconee)/Caterpillar people. Nancy L. came and asked us if we'd go downstairs and listen to a woman in a wheelchair who was with the disabled citizens art show now hanging in the galleries. The group who was to hear her didn't come. Yes, sure. We toured some while she told us about the main artist and some of the others. We returned to the Fiber Room, did our thing, and then a couple of foreign visitors (with locals) stopped in.
THEN WE WENT HOME around 3:00. No one from Caterpillar came close to us, but they saw us milling around and looking in the gallery.....guess we served our purpose. When we left all of them were gone, and the staff - each one - thanked us for coming and being there. There were children until noon, then middle schoolers this aft. in classes. Also an art class on the lawn. Impressive.
I got some things done, and we had a good time together. What more can you ask of a day?! :-) Hope you are both having a good time. See you Wed.
~~Nancy Bruce
June 20 & 21
On my way to Hilton Head this morning, I got a phone call from Phyllis Rother. Remember that we are NOT meeting this next Wednesday, but we had planned to meet again on Wednesday, the 20th. Phyllis wanted to let me know that Shannon had called her and said that there was to be a big meeting (luncheon) at the Lyndon House on Thursday, the 21st, and she (Phyllis) was called as President of the guild to see if we would also meet on Thursday. They (Lyndon House) want to impress the Caterpillar people that the Lyndon House is a "rocking" place. Phyllis called me since she will be out of town. I remembered as we talked that I am supposed to be in Las Vegas (poor me!!) with my husband four a scientific meeting (cheap room and eats). So, I am alerting all you fine Charity Bees that the regular meeting will be held on Wednesday, the 20th, and we will do a UFO day on Thursday, the 21st. You are welcome to work on Charity stuff, but you may also work on your own UFOs. Please invite others to show up also. The least we can do is help the Lyndon House make a good impression since I overheard the staff talking about current cuts in the budget--40% for exhibitions and 25% for education. Let's make them realize that we use the facilities and we want to continue to have that available to us. --Ellen
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
We had a nice group today. Martha, Sylvia and Pam cut blocks all morning. Pam cut four dog pillows (double denim in weight) which I sewed together and then we stuffed from the remainder of the scraps that Suzanne brought to us last week in one of them.. Julie cut blocks and began planning a new quilt while Nancy got out the batik blocks (a 3 block rail fence and a 2 block rail fence) and began laying them out for a new quilt. Mary Ann and Phyllis brought in quilts that they had put bindings on and Frances did all the ironing on all the scraps that needed cutting into blocks. Jane helped with cutting out blocks, planning new quilts, and sorting fabrics that had been donated. Frances L. loaded up a big bag of "other than cotton" fabric to donate to the Goodwill or Salvation Army. Nancy Bruce brought in the Opportunity Quilt and pinned it on the design wall. Gorgeous!! Jeanne Lindberg came in with the applique design that she had done. The crew is now working on the applique. We decided that we would take next Wednesday off since several of us have other engagements. We'll meet again on Wednesday June 20 where everything will be "to be continued. . . . " More blocks to cut, quilt kits to assemble, and bindings to put on quilts.
I had SO MUCH FUN the rest of the afternoon running 3 ply ROPE through the grommets that my husband applied to the tote bags that Vicki and I made a couple of weeks ago. Once the rope got run through the grommets, I had to tie a Matthew Walker knot (don't ask) in the one end that hadn't been tied yet. I tied 34 knots in that rope that was made of hemp or some other very rough fiber to finish off the other 34 knots that had been tied earlier. In other words, I finished the remaining 17 out of 31 bags that will be donated to the United Methodist Church's UMCOR group (committee on relief). These bags will be filled next week with either school supplies or toiletries by the attendees at the North GA Methodist Conference at the Classic Center. All the bags that used rope required four knots each (84 knots in all for the rope bags--my and my husband's poor hands!!!). When tied properly, you can cut the rope tails snug up to the knot and the knot won't come undone. Yea for Sailor's knots. My husband was a sailor (from Nebraska and couldn't swim when he joined because the water is about 1" deep in the rivers there), but he learned to tie knots from his Dad who sponsored a rope tying club for the boys in the community when Stuart and his brother were growing up.
Have fun on the day off next week. Maybe, however, you can find some time to get some Charity sewing done. Ellen
Monday, June 4, 2012
Last week, just as we were getting close to the bottom of the large bin of odds and ends (cutting small pieces into blocks and sorting larger pieces), Frances L. walks in with two large bags of fabric that someone left for her at JoAnn's. A quick look (we'll really get into those bags on Wednesday) revealed several pretty large pieces of cotton suitable for backings and other things. Only a complete emptying of the bags onto the table will completely reveal whether we have winners or duds. We finished another doggie bag and have a bag of scraps left over that Suzanne Reeves brought in--she said that she has had that bag for several years. I guess she was just waiting for a "worthy" use of the otherwise unusable scraps. Now I need to make a few more bags to have on hand when the next one gets filled.
If you have some extra time and want to share some good laughs with the "worker bees," come and join us this week on Wednesday from about 9:30 till noonish.
We are starting up again on kits to be given out at the Guild meetings, and we still have some fabric scraps that need to be chopped up into blocks. We're saving anything from 7 1/2" down to 2 1/2" to be used in scrap quilts. several have already been created by members picking out a color family all from one size and putting them together. Some of our prettiest quilts have been made that way!
If you want to sew, bring your sewing machine; if not, we have plenty of jobs that you can do while you visit with some of the Guild members. Ellen
Thursday, May 24, 2012
From Nancy:So, it appears that the Opportunity Quilt is meeting the timeline!! When I saw it yesterday, the entire middle was completed and just needed sewing together. Pam Pontenberg (out for the summer), Jan and I left "early" (at 12:30) so I could go home and get some quilts quilted. I did 5 yesterday afternoon before time for supper. I was pleased with what the group got done yesterday (not counting Frances A and Nancy's work on the Opportunity Quilt). I think we got about half of the items in the big bin sorted and cut up into blocks. We decided to put each size of blocks into Zip Lock bags and then put them into either the drawers under the counter or into another bin that is now empty. Jane reappeared and helped us cut blocks; but she came bearing the most beautiful calla lilies. Someone asked her where she got them, and she replied "God made 'em." Vicki, Phyllis, Julie and I KNOW I'm missing several others were still working furiously as I walked out the door. God bless 'em!I have all the essential "parts" for the quilt...got the middle all in one piece and borders are on two of the sides. Have to construct the strips w/ X & Y's for the other two sides. Will do that here sometime in the next TWO weeks. Just didn't want to leave it there....sooo much work invested here!
Come next week. We may try to finish the bin of scraps to make blocks, we will cut some more quilt kits, and we may even do a little work using EQ7 to draw up some new patterns.
Friday Sew-In, May 18, 2012
Four of us showed up for the UFO day. Nancy worked furiously on the Opportunity quilt. The top half of the interior of the quilt is about finished. She used the design wall to work out the placement of the bottom half of the quilt. She pinned those rows together for sewing later.
Frances L. showed up and sewed two blocks to be used in a quilt. She got the instructions for those blocks from The Wild Child.
Vicki and I used some sample upholstery fabrics that Vicki brought with her to make tote bags that will be given to members of the North Georgia United Methodist Conference. During that conference which will be held at the Classic Center, there will be a "charity day" where participants at the conference will perform various altruistic activities. One of those will be to fill donated tote bags (like those we worked on) with hygiene items to be distributed somewhere in the world by the Committee of the United Methodist Church that deals with relief after devastations. We completely finished about 10 bags and have about another 4 or 5 that only lack the straps. The rest of the bags need hems at the top and straps attached. We are planning to use grommets on some of these bags and feed some rope that I have through the grommets to use as handles. Others have "self" handles, and still others have a braided handle. We plan to finish up a minimum of the 35 bags that we have in various stages of completion. We may continue working on tote bags as the date of the Conference is still a few weeks away. Sample pictured below.
+Come join us next Wednesday and help us continue to cut blocks from large scraps and consolidate our stash. Nancy will probably be finishing up the interior of the Opportunity Quilt. We definitely will have plenty for you to do so you won't feel that you have wasted your time. You'll leave with a "warm" feeling that you have contributed to our community charitable outreach!! Ellen
I love that warm feeling! I brought it home with me today. Thanks for the all-day therapy and delicious cake! -vicki
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
A bunch of us showed up today. Nancy continued to sew together the completed blocks for the interior of the Opportunity Quilt. It's looking better and better, but what a job to lay out and make sure that the blocks are going in the right directions!!! Jan brought in three quilts that she had made, and Ginny brought in a ducky quilt that she had finished. Lola worked on a quilt kit that if we don't give away, she wants to sew while we are at the Bee. Julie, Kathy, Martha, Vicki, Sylvia and I either cut blocks out of scraps or ironed or sorted and organized.
This Friday is UFO day, and several of us decided that we would be back to either work on our own UFO, continue with the Charity stash, work on the Opportunity Quilt or work on some Charity Tote Bags to be donated to children via the North Georgia United Methodist Conference which will be held in Athens in June. Vicki and I plan to bring sergers to make short work of tote bags. We might even have time to work on some of our own stuff!!! Come join us. You can come as early as 9 AM and stay as late as 5 PM.
See you on Friday, Ellen
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
We must have had a dozen or so today at the Bee, and EVERYONE was busy doing something different. There was ironing, putting blocks on the design wall, sewing blocks together, cutting blocks, making quilt kits, sorting donated fabrics, organizing boxes, and even stuffing the doggie bag!!
We should have about 1/4 of the inner part of the Opportunity (Raffle) Quilt sewed together by next week.
Kathy Burkes came and was part of all the activity. She took a pattern form the "Kit book" and got busy and created three kits from it. So, we'll have kits ready to distribute at the next guild meeting. Several others, Lola and Sylvia, among them also worked on quilt kits.
Martha spent the morning trimming scraps into usable blocks and even took home a stack of scraps to sort and cut into blocks. Julie and I emptied the large container and BEGAN the process of sorting through all the STUFF, We found blocks that had already been cut, pieces as large as fat quarters that got folded and put into a marked container, and other larger pieces of fabric that were folded to be put into a large container when we get one emptied. A huge pile of fabric was put back into a bin to be ironed and cut into blocks as we have time.
Since most of the blocks have been completed for the Opportunity Quilt, and only one of us will be doing the sewing (to keep the stitching consistent), soon the group will be back to sorting, organizing, making quilt kits and sewing on bindings on quilt kits that are finished and returned.
We DO manage to stay busy!!! I think each of us agreed that we had fun today even though it felt a little hectic since everyone was working on something different. Maybe next week I'll remember to take a photo of the section of the quilt that Nancy will have put together. It is pretty stunning!
Come join he fun next week. We can always use another pair of eyes to make sure that the flying geese are fluttering in the correct direction!! -E
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The Mama Hen is back in town!! I've got a CD from the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln and photos on my camera. I haven't had a chance to view the CD to see if my photos would add anything--probably not, but we can view the CD at any Guild meeting that is convenient--after I see how long it is, etc. I also found out that Ardis James, one of the benefactors, died last year, and they had an exhibit in her memory/honor. I got photos of some of those quilts.
I didn't have nearly the "alone" time while in Lincoln that I had expected, but I DID accomplish the major thing that I planned to do while there--if not MASTER, at least learn more about EQ7. I spent several hours polishing the diagram so that it will be most useful to us. One thing I found out that I don't think I like, is that sometimes when sliding the cursor over a block to get to where I wanted, the block underneath changed either in color or design--whatever I was hoping to do in a nearby spot. Grrr! Probably entirely my fault; will probably go away the more I learn how to use it.
We've got lots to do tomorrow. We'll be starting on sewing the blocks together. As you can probably tell from the picture that I've attached (I hope I don't forget), we'll need lots of eyes to make sure that we get those blocks going in the right direction!!! We'll even need to make a few extra blocks that we hadn't counted on--or ones that are oriented in a different direction. The One Goose block which is dark red in the diagram uses only the 3rd Goose (the one at the top) to make the goose "fly" in the correct direction.
Thanks to all you gals who showed up last week. We're looking for you again tomorrow, and we're also looking for a few of our "regular" members who haven't been in awhile--Jane?? Some who are missing report to the Mama if they plan to be absent so we won't worry about them, thanks for that.
See you tomorrow. Now for the attachment. -Ellen
Monday, April 30, 2012
Ladies:
Don't forget that this Wednesday is another "work" day in the Fiber Room at the Lyndon House. Just because the "cat" is away (me); that doesn't mean that you can just play and avoid getting something done. I'm pretty sure that Frances Arnold will have a good many (if not all) of the blocks done for the center of the quilt, and Nancy Bruce will have many or most of the flying geese sashes done. I took 15 of them home with me, and I've worked on ONE of them.
I had a three day meeting over this past weekend, and I leave tomorrow with my husband to go to "flyover" country. He has been invited to give some seminars at the University of Nebraska, and he always wants me to go with him. I am taking my computer with EQ7 loaded on it. I hope I can be left in the motel room most of the time so I can entertain myself by trying to become more proficient with EQ. I hope to have my 15 sashes done by next week.
I can't wait to get back next week to see how much of the quilt you gals have put together. We should get some more half square triangles at the Guild meeting next week. See you in a week! Ellen >^. .^<
Wednesday, April 26, 2012
Today there were about 12 of us who showed up. Jan trimmed the quilts that I had brought in quilted. she then took them home to put the binding on them. Most of the rest of us worked on some part of the "Opportunity Quilt" for the next Quilt show. There are 81 blocks that make up part of the center of the quilt (along with lots of sashing that has flying gees in it), and Frances Arnold took those 81 block parts home to assemble as many as she can for next week when we will start adding the sashings to them. The outside row around the entire quilt is made up of 16 blocks of two types (they are mirror images), and when put together will make 16 "triangles" that extend from the edges--four on each side. Several of us volunteered to take some of the sashing blocks home, but none of us is as proficient as Nancy Bruce. This quilt is THE MOST LABOR INTENSIVE quilt that we have attempted so far, but I think it will be one of the prettiest. After we get the top assembled, I challenge you to find the 81 basic blocks in the quilt. They absolutely disappear and evolve into two blocks that weren't there to begin with!!! Ya gotta see it to believe it! We welcomed Sylvia Jarus back today; she came and straightened out my incorrect count on the number of sashing blocks needed. I had "counted" 97, but would you believe that it is between 160 and 165??? We had 70 done by the end of the session today. Of course, Nancy had done most of those at home. She was curious, and found out that she can do six in one hour. See what I mean by labor intensive? Everybody better buy lots of tickets!! This quilt must stay in the membership of the guild. I think those of us working on it will hate to see it go away.
We understood that there was to be a quilt workshop this Saturday, so we were sure to leave the room clean and neat! But, we have been doing a much better job doing that since we began sorting through our stash (until we got interrupted by the Opportunity Quilt). We, at least, have sorted the larger pieces from the scrappy pieces, so that should be a time saving bonus when we get back to making kits for children's quilts.
Come and help us next week. We always have room for a few more hands and we are always ready for some new conversation from people we haven't seen in awhile.
Ellen
Friday, April 20, 2012 “Free Sewing Day”
Phyllis, Julie and I showed up to sew. Julie brought blocks that she made for Pat "Nickel Quilts" Speth (?), and she put them on the design wall and recorded the arrangement of blocks so she can sew them together at home. That big 'ole design wall comes in pretty handy. Most of us don't have that much uninterrupted space at home to lay things out to check how it looks. Julie also brought a block that she is working on for a sampler quilt that is made up of various stars. The directions that she had did not match the amount of fabric that she was given, so it's back to the quilt shop to get what's missing. Phyllis worked on the blocks that she is going to use on the pieced back of a quilt that she's working on. I brought a stained glass quilt that Nancy Bruce and I started YEARS ago in a class at Dragonfly. Nancy's has been finished for quite awhile. The last time Nancy saw me working on it, she told me to STOP!!!! I tend to go overboard and make WAY too many blocks. I sewed two more rows of blocks on the quilt I was working on and put an inner border around them. Then I used some of the scraps left from cutting my blocks all the same size to put around as a second border. By the time I finished--after 4:30 PM-- it was a rush to get it pinned on the design wall so I could get a photo of it. Of course, I pinned it the wrong way; it is longer going from right to left. But, I got a photo of it. Julie's quilt blocks got photographed, and my quilt also got photographed. Enjoy, but don't make any "helpful" suggestions. We both are probably done with working with those fabrics for awhile.
Julie’s quilt
Ellen’s quilt
See you bright and early next Wednesday to begin sewing blocks together for the Opportunity Quilt for the quilt show in March. Ellen
April 19, 2012
Yea!!! We're moving full steam ahead!!! About 10 ladies showed up yesterday, and all the half square triangles that had been done over the weekend were dumped on the table, and Frances A, Phyllis, Julie and Vicki trimmed most of them. Ellen and Mary Ann flitted between half square triangle trimming and working on the "geese" sashings that Nancy Bruce was sewing. Ellen did a couple, and Mary Ann creased the papers and ran "quality control" on the finished sashes. Lola and Frances L contributed. It's hard to remember what everyone did, exactly, as we all were in a flurry selecting more bright batic fabrics to use, sewing, ironing, trimming, cleaning up and on and on. Nancy Bruce even took a photo or two of the worker bees. Jeanne Lindburg came and brought several of her ideas of possible applique designs. That probably just made the rest of us more frantic because we need to get the top done ASAP to allow adequate time for those who will be doing the HAND APPLIQUE designs. We definitely will be putting blocks together next week. Come and be a part of the excitement as we watch "this baby" come to life!!
Speaking of sewing, Tomorrow is the UFO day that we have scheduled in the Fiber Room. I am planning to show up simply because I have three large UFOs that I haven't worked on in who knows when. If I am at home, I always find something else that needs working on, so if I am at the Lyndon House, I shouldn't be bothered by other projects that are "calling my name." We'll be there from about 9:30 until---whoever decides that they are finished for the day. Either bring lunch, or we can run out to Wendy's for a quick lunch.
Ellen
April 14, 2012
An early reminder!! We'll be working furiously on the Opportunity Quilt for the 2013 Quilt Show next Wednesday in the Fiber Room at the Lyndon House from about 9:30 AM until . . . . (usually 12 noon or so). We have half square triangles to square up (tons of 'em) and maybe even more to cut out. We would like to make this an Innovative quilt per the slide show that Deb Henderson gave us at Tuesday's Guild Meeting!!! Nancy has made MANY copies of the triangles (not quite flying geese) that go in ALL the sashes of the quilt. It is probably those sashes that "make" the quilt. With the addition of the triangles in the sashes between each block of the quilt, you get two additional "illusion" blocks that make this a very special quilt. Nancy has promised us a "Primer" lesson on paper piecing. I am the first to sign up. I would like to get better at paper piecing, and there are few better to teach it than our own Nancy Bruce. Invite anyone who can sew to come and help. It will be a lot of work, but it also promises to be a lot of fun (as usual). Maybe Vicki or I will be able to remember to use the cameras that we keep with us so we can show progress on our blog!!
Ellen
April 13, 2012
We have updates on Judy Cole and Ginny Lynch.
From Judy to Ellen:
Ellen, I had to go the North Dakota to assist my daughter as she was having some medical issues. She is better. When I got home on Sunday, I had a head cold and sore throat and could not talk so I was unable to attend on Tue and did not feel like coming on Wed morning. We will be leaving for our summer trip so it will be late summer early fall before I see you and the group. Hope all goes well with the group. I will take my sewing machine and some projects with me, hope I get time to work on them. Keep sending your email so that I can see what the group is doing. Look forward to seeing the projects that you do this summer, especially the raffle quilt. Judy Cole
From Lola Gazda regarding Ginny:
You are a busy lady, Ellen! I checked on Ginny and the poor girl has been really having troubles. On Easter day her little granddaughter had to be taken to Emergency as she was having seizures. This weekend she is leaving to go to see her brother who is in bad shape with pancreatic cancer. Please keep her in your prayers, Blessings, Lola
Ellen revealed the EQ version of the Opportunity Quilt. The sashing with the flying geese is missing. When completed, this quilt will look like the image posted on March 29 in this blog.
April 12, 2012
Yesterday about 10 ladies showed up to work in the Fiber Room. We are furiously working on SEVERAL things--all at the same time--but what else is new??? Phyllis brought in a large piece of toweling that she had used part of. The rest she had hemmed and thought it would make a nice donation to go along with the pillows that we are stuffing with our scraps. These pillows go to the humane society via my granddaughter; she delivers for us. I brought home a filled pillow and sewed it shut, and it along with the towel is ready for pick up which will probably be today.
Lola took a stack of Preemie quilts to drop off at St. Mary's. Frances L. took a quilt to the Loren Smith Cancer Center, and I took a stack of quilts to Project Safe. But, before we all scattered, Vicki was working on repairing a mostly usable quilt that she plans to donate to the Bigger Vision, the newest Homeless Shelter in Athens. I will deliver it for her when it is finished. She is appliqueing (are there actually three vowels strung together in that word, or did I just make up a word?) replacement stars over some on the face of the quilt that are threadbare. We also decided that it would be more serviceable with a new binding.
The rest of the bunch got busy cutting and bagging tiny blocks to be made into half square triangles for the quilt that the Charity Group will be making for the next Quilt Show (2013!!!). This quilt is beautiful, we all have decided, but it may just be a bugger to put together!!! Lots of half square triangles and lots of flying geese. Bet you can't wait to see it!!! When we were done cutting for the day, we divided up the bags of blocks to work on and return for squaring up next week. The batch I got made between 200 and 225 half square triangles! Phyllis, Julie and I took most of the baggies home. Lola had already taken some, and Donna Phillips took some on Tuesday night after the meeting.
I suppose you can guess what is on our agenda for next week. (1) Square up half square triangles. (2) Cut blocks to go with the half square triangles so we can make some of the three blocks that make up the body of the quilt. (3) Nancy will be working on the sashing that will go between each block, and that sashing has 3 flying geese in each piece! We've decided that this quilt will either be a wonderful challenge or a nightmare to put it together bearing in mind the slide presentation that we saw on Tuesday night. But our bunch of Charity girls are up for the challenge!!
Come join us and help us get it right!!! We'll be "open for business" next Wednesday at 9:30 AM in the Fiber Room, where, by-the-way, the Fibercraft Guild donated nine new chairs that they purchased from Habitat for Humanity. We just may not have to use folding chairs anymore!! -- Ellen
April 4, 2012
Today, there were four of us who stayed most of the time. Phyllis came, but her husband was babysitting the grands, and she didn't want to leave him too long--she wasn't sure who she was rescuing--him or them. Lola also came but couldn't stay the whole time. She took a quilt and binding so she could bind it at home. We got started on packages for the opportunity quilt. Each bag will contain 9 3" blocks of one color of batik and 9 blocks of another color of batik. There are also 18 blocks of background fabric (black) in each bag. That means we will expect 18 half square blocks of one color with black and 18 half square blocks with a second color and black when they are returned to us. Until next week when we can get a better "handle" on what we're doing, we have made 24 kits of half square triangles. Each kit will be the half square triangles for blocks X and Y. In addition we cut some strips for the sashings which will be flying geese, an we also cut some strips that will be used to make block Z. We need to sit down and calculate exactly how many half square triangle blocks of each color that we need AND how many flying geese sashings we need of which colors. This quilt is SORTA scrappy, but it is ORGANIZED scrappy with several blocks of the same color at the same location to complete a block rather than the colors being haphazard. EEEeeeK!!!! I am still trying to figure out how to get my version 5 EQ to put flying geese in a sashing. Version 7 (which is out) will probably do it, but I don't have Version 7. Jan squared up the four or five quilts that I had brought in, and she took them home with her in preparation for her recovery which will begin after her knee is replaced next Friday. I delivered three quilts to Project Safe on my way home, and Lola took two Preemie quilts to St. Mary's.
I am thinking that we will be furiously cutting blocks and even sewing some next week. We MUST get these blocks put together PRONTO, so we can pass the quilt to the applique group to work on the four corners. I believe it was Vicki who suggested putting a different seasonal motif in each of the four corners, but our applique group can do whatever they want to do/have time to do. This quilt is a real RUSH job!!! We need to have it finished by August to sell tickets.
--Ellen
March 29, 2012
The Charity Bee is planning on creating the Opportunity Quilt for our next show--MARCH 2013. We must have it ready by the end of JULY--Eeeek!!! Tickets need to go on sale in August in order to raise as much money as possible. I am attaching a scan of the design we have chosen. We have decided to use bright batiks that have been donated and the background fabric will be black or "reads as black." We are in the process of getting the background fabric now which may have to be ordered. We will make "kits" for blocks for Guild members to sew. Each kit will include black fabric, batiks and instructions for making the units in a zip lock bag. We are asking that the blocks NOT be sewed together so we can square them up and then sew them together using one sewing machine and one seamstress/quilter. I am trying to duplicate the quilt design in EQ, but I have no clue how to make the "sashings" show up on the quilt since they are made up of flying geese blocks that are 2 inches wide with the blocks at 6 inches wide.
Jeanne Lindberg has agreed to head up the appliquers. We loved the idea of the flowers extending into the borders, but we thought that design was a little too "wispy." We're hoping that someone can design a corner with a little more "oomph." The applique is on four corners on the original design, but who says it can't be on just two corners?? The applique group can figure that one out. We will continue to work--almost exclusively on the opportunity quilt so we can get it assembled ASAP.There were about eight or so that showed up yesterday, including a newbie, Pam, who says she wasn't scared off by the day's activities. Come join us if you want to be part of this project. Ellen
March 28, 2012
Pictures taken today include Bright Log Cabin quilt by prolific quilt maker … our very own Jan Leonard.
The pinwheel quilt top (below) was pieced by Vicki Bauer using UFOs she found at home.
March 15, 2012
Remember that this Friday is UOF day in the Fiber Room. Anyone is welcome to come and sew and visit. the room is open from 9 AM until 5 PM. Lunch is bring your own or go out and grab something quick.Fiber Room from 9-9:30 until. . . . . BOLO--cop speak for Be on the Look Out for a pattern or patterns that we could use in the Charity Group with help on blocks from the Guild members for the Opportunity Quilt that will be raffled at our next Quilt Show--Horrors!! NEXT March 2013!!!! Time is of the essence so we need to get started if we are going to do it. and, why not??? The Community Service which is us usually gets half the money raised so we can do quilting for various charities in the community. Granted, we raised a good bit of money from our quilting activities last year and used it to "flesh out" our "reads as solids" to go along with the patterned fabrics that we have. We are still cutting blocks and strips from the box of "scraps" culled from our stash. There is still one large container that we need to sort through and store/cut up. I'm still working on new quilt patterns to add to our book of patterns for kits. Make plans to attend this Friday and next Wednesday. We always manage to get a lot done!!!
March 11, 2012
We will NOT meet this coming Wednesday for the Charity Bee. The Guild will be using the Fiber Room for a Workshop. We WILL, however, be open in the Fiber Room on Friday which is our usual third Friday to "do our own thing--mostly our UFOs. Maybe one morning off will give each of us a little "catch up" time so we'll be ready and rarin' to go on Wednesday, March 21.
March 8, 2012
We must be doing a lot of quilting! I brought home pillow #2 to stitch shut. Each pillow that we fill with our scraps will be taken to the Athens Humane Society for use by dogs that are in the shelter. I made the bags out of some twill fabric (tough) that I had in my stash and figured this was a worthy way to get rid of it. I made the bags double thick because Nancy Bruce reminded me that dogs do a lot of scratching before they finally settle down to sleep. There were at least half -a-dozen of us that showed up to work on Wednesday. Nancy sewed on a quilt top that she began last week. Jan and I attacked the box of scraps that needed to be cut into blocks and strips. Frances L. ironed those scraps to make the cutting easier. She also quipped that she should bring her basket of ironing to the Lyndon House since she doesn't like ironing at home. Vicki and I sorted, consolidated and organized the blocks that we have been cutting from scraps. Phyllis and Vicki also worked on possible kits--one that was donated that had been cut out and partially sew together. What fun!! Sorta like putting a jigsaw puzzle together without the lid so you have NO CLUE what it is supposed to look like when it is finished because no directions came with it. As soon as we finish this most recent renovation of our stash, I think we should be able to work more efficiently preparing quilt kits.
IMPORTANT!!!!! We will NOT meet as the Charity Bee next Wednesday, March 14 as there will be a Guild Workshop in the Fiber Room. Because we have reorganized, we were able to clear the counters enough for use in the workshop without having to drag our supplies across the hall for temporary storage. YEA!!!
ALSO!!!! Friday, March 16 is the third Friday of the month when we have signed up for the Fiber room to use to either work on our individual UFOs or, Heaven Forbid, continue working on Charity Bee stuff. We are just a driven bunch!!!
March 6, 2012
We'll see you tomorrow morning in the fiber Room. I am still working on redoing patterns; it is a slow process as I keep finding tiny things that need to be corrected after I think I'm finished. Right now there is only one copy of each finished quilt in the notebook, and I will leave the notebook in the Fiber room when we leave tomorrow. I am keeping the large bag of loose patterns at home so I can work those patterns into our format as I have time. Again, I have been dealing with grandson a good bit of my spare time during the weekend and today, so I haven't gotten any quilting done. I will see what I can get done between our return from Atlanta today and the scheduled meeting I have tonight; otherwise, I'll be Scarlett--"I'll think about it tomorrow." We will be continuing the accumulation of squares and strips as we cut up the smaller pieces. We will probably no longer stitch ends together and iron strips ready for binding as we may find out that we can use those 2 1/2" strips in scrappy quilts. We can always stitch and iron when we put a kit together, if necessary.
March 2, 2012
Phyllis called me tonight and reminded me that I hadn't sent out the up-date from Wednesday. You would NOT believe what I am dealing with for my grandson! I thought all things were worked out between him and his roommate (who moved out today) until I went over to pick up the key. I got it from his mother who was still at the apartment--her son had already left to move his items back home. Stuart and I went upstairs and used the key to open the door to find out that the security chain had been activated, and there was no way in guess where that we could get in. I call the kid's mother and she came back, and the four adults spent a total of 4 hours cutting the chain with bolt cutters and installing a new lock. The kid had locked the door while inside the apartment and then left the apartment through the sliding glass door and jumped down to the ground from the second floor. He evidently was determined to "have the last word" in the back and forth that I thought the two adults had settled on Thursday. My grandson was at work and he would have come to his apartment about 10:30 and would have been unable to get it. He would have been furious!!!!!! I am sworn to secrecy not to tell him because HE would probably want to have the last word. I want it to STOP, so I can get my life back!!!
All that was more than you wanted to know. Here's the real stuff!!! There were about 7 or 8 of us on Wednesday. Thanks to Phyllis, who had attended the workshop on Saturday, we were able to get right to work without having to move our stash back into the fiber room. I think we will be forever sorting through our fabrics. Jan Leonard brought in a pinwheel quilt that she had made during the week from scraps that she had scavenged from our scrap pile. Jane also brought in a top that she had made from some donated squares that someone didn't want to finish. Another beautiful quilt. I am busy trying to rewrite our patterns and find some more simple ones for us to use. The major thing that we did last Wednesday (along with sending me home with quilts to quilt) was going through our stash and re-filing the pieces into better categories. In doing that, we have made a box to hold all the smaller or irregularly shaped pieces to be cut into blocks or strips. We have juvenile fabrics, flowered fabrics, oriental fabrics, fabrics in baggies that coordinate to be used for quilt tops, and larger pieces suitable for backing. Believe it or not, the reorganization has "compacted" our stash and will, hopefully, make it easier for us to find what we want in a hurry.
Come and join us for a fun adventure playing with fabrics. See you on Wednesday.
February 15, 2012
