NEXT MEETING: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15TH

MEDINA LIBRARY

6:30 PM

PROGRAM: MAKING CLOTHESLINE BOWLS

Michele has planned a real “hands on” class and hopes everyone will be able to complete as small bowl. She sent out an e-mail  with a supply list for the class that is below.

sewing machine and “A” sewing foot and open toe foot

needles size 90/14 or 100/16, or jeans needles 14 or Microtex sharp 14

an extension table for your machine if you have one

scissors and basic sewing supplies

tweezers,

tape measure

Michele has done a lot of preparation for this class so we can all have a good time and bring home a finished bowl. Here are some samples of her work.

JANUARY MEETING NOTES

It was Loretta’s birthday month  complete with brownie and candle.

We had lots of show & tell.

Maggie was able to be with us to show her first “real” quilt top. Her husband was able to help her by suggesting a change–Maggie said the light came home and she realized what is ment by “scant” 1/4 inch seam. Michele offered to quilt it for her.

Gail brought a Tshirt dress she made for her granduaghter.

Evalyn has designed a crochet dish drainer and wore more of her special socks.

Edie brought a wall hanging quilt her daughter found at a community fundraiser.

and her finished beaded wall hanging collage, but no picture–sorry.

And the block of the month project that she is making into a tablecloth for summer picnics.  

 Tammy showed us her Christmas in July design which is available on line at her web site with fabrics available from AbbyMays. She also had a new idea for block of the month–Santorini Stars–which is available at BOMquilts.com. This is raw edge applique and she promises it is much easier than it looks. More information is available on e-mail to members.

We had a visitor from the Kerrville Quilt Guild, Katie C. who brought several items to share. A purse   a jacket, and  a throw made with a Kaffe Fasset pattern and embellished with machine embroidery. Katie has promised to return for our April meeting with more information on making a quilted purse.

And after all that we still had time to put together a program list for 2010. Some programs are still in the process of being developed, but below is the draft list of things to come.

February:  Basket Making 101 with Michele

March: Sit-n-Sew night

April: Making a quilted purse with Katie

May: Sit-n-Sew night

June: Paper Piecing with Maggie

July: Quilting w Myrna (may be changed to September—details to come)

August: Sit-n-Sew and for those who are interested Lu and Joyce will revisit Swedish weaving with some new patterns.

September: What to do with “Ugly Duckling” fabrics by Tammy

October: Jana Osborn will do her annual program and Edie will intro Borders, Binding and Mitered Corners.

November: Sit-n-Sew

December: Christmas Party

January 2011: Planning Meeting

Lu may have an update for us soon but I hope this has you interested in the fun to come. And for those of you who asked–yes, some of us are still gathering at The Core on Friday mornings for coffee, visiting and sometimes we even work on our projects.

See you soon.  Edie

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

NEXT MEETING: MONDAY, JANUARY 18TH

6:30 PM

MEDINA COMMUNITY LIBRARY

PROGRAM: PLANNING FOR THE YEAR

BRING YOUR IDEAS AND SUGGESTIONS

DECEMBER MEETING NOTES

It was party time at the cozy Craddock Cottage of Medina United Methodist Church. We started with a small bit of end of the year business–to deliver a thank you quilt

to the Medina Library for them to use any way they want. Two representatives from the library joined us to receive the round robin quilt

which had started life as a great idea from our own Tammy

 and been worked on my many members of the group.

We had “Show and Tell” with Margaret bringing a very unusual crochet necklace–beautiful and very delicate–that she found from a concessionair at the Kerrville VA.And Michele brought a unique basket that she has learned to make using a Jelly Roll–or two.  After that we started the serious partying with lots of food and presents. The group presented Baskets of Love to Tammy, Lu and Edie as a thank you for special group support in the past year. And Abby Mays sent a speical gift bag full of quilting goodies for each of us. You can see lots of creative ideas at www.abbimays.com .

Lu asked me to include the following message from her in this newsletter:

“I would like to thank all of you who were so wonderful to surprise me with a “Basket of Love” at our Christmas Party. I have had a lot of fun going through each package and trying to decide where to put each item. Everyone of them was a useful product and I am enjoying them daily. Thanks for being such a generous and wonderful group of women. I did not feel deserving of this because all of us contribute to the monthly meeting-but I do thank you!!!! See you around the quilt frame. Love to all, Lu.

Tammy asked me to add her message, “Yeah, what she said! Thanks for the LOVE! Tammy.

I just want to add that the love from the group and the basket full of goodies has kept me warm through all the cold weather. I am thankful to be able to participate in all the Medina Quilt Group activities. P.S. I haven’t used my “duck” potholder yet but I will just as soon as I learn how to cook. Thank you all. Edie

Well, I’m not through with this newsletter yet because the “sock” competition continues. Led by EvelynSeveral other members have joined in the fun.

But naughty Santa stole the show…..

See you all on the 18th for the start of another great year. Edie

P.S. A small group of us have continued to gather at The Core for coffee, quilting and just fun visiting on Friday mornings about 9-9:30. Bring your lap work or just come for the sharing. EJ

NEXT MEETING: MONDAY DECEMBER 14TH

6:30 PM

CRADDOCK COTTAGE

MEDINA UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

(please note change from usual date and location)

PROGRAM: CHRISTMAS PARTY

PLEASE BRING A COVERED DISH, GIFT FOR QUILTERS GIFT EXCHANGE, AND BE READY FOR A GOOD TIME!

NOVEMBER MEETING NOTES

We started off with food and two birthdays.

And quickly went on to “Show & Tell”

Edie mentioned that several members had gathered at The Core on Friday morning for coffee, visiting and to work on projects. The folks there were very welcoming and Edie plans to try to continue being there on Friday mornings for a little more quilting time with anyone who is interested. More at the next meeting.

Joyce has completed piecing the block of the month project and is saving it for the next great-grandchild.

The colors are so bright and cheerful for either boy or girl.

Tammy shared her new Krazy Krakow quilt. There is a free pattern on BOMquilts.com .

 And Lu brought her completed Swedish Weaving which has gone beyond the basic pattern we learned at our workshop.  She was asked to share the new patterns with us at a future meeting.

 and guess who was there with another pair of fun socks?

Then we began working on out teacup pincushions.

Everyone made one.and they really were quite pretty (as well as useful).

See you at the Christmas Party.

P.S. Edie (that’s me) will be at the Core Friday morning, Dec. 11th at 9am. Have to leave early to take my Mom to a Red Hat lunch in Kerrville. Hope any of you who have been enjoying the informal quilters gatherings, or are interested, will come and I’ll see you there for coffee and you can stay as long as you like. They really seem to enjoy having us there.

NEXT MEETING: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH

MEDINA LIBRARY

6:30 PM

PROGRAM: TEACUP PINCUSHION

Bring a teacup (not a family heirloom as we’re going to hot glue the pincushion into the cup) and your favorite embroidery needle. Tammy will provide batting, fabric and embroidery thread…as well as the glue gun. It’s all handmade, so not machines needed. It sounds like a fun gift to make for special sewing friends.

OCTOBER MEETING NOTES

Jana Osbourn, County Extension Agent gave an interesting program with handouts on “Cleaning Green”.

For some of us, the ingredients were associated with childhood memories–the good old products our mothers used are back in style, environmentally friendly, and still work.  Thanks to Jana for an interesting program.

We had one birthday girl to enjoy Lu’s special “cake”.

And Evelyn added to the decorations with some of her special socks.

 Show and Tell included Margaret with a child size Raggedy Ann doll she is making for a granddaughter and Linda with a Grandmother’s Garden quilt she is building.

 Tammy brought one of the finished chair backs that we tried to start at our last meeting (see October meeting notes).

Since that meeting enough backs have been completed for the whole class. The students and teacher are very happy with them. Joyce will finish 5 more as extra’s in case of need. Tammy also had good news about the last fundraiser quilt. Her friend Melanie who has a long arm machine will quilt it for us without charge.

Instructions for the last two blocks of our block of the month project were handed out along with instructions about fabric placement in the block for  #12.

 Hope that helps. Tammy suggested looking at “Moda Basics” fabrics for border and sashing if you want to separate the blocks when you put them together.

Hope to see you all next week.

Edie

NEXT MEETING: MONDAY, OCTOBER 19TH

MEDINA LIBRARY

6:30 PM

PROGRAM: GREEN LIVING

BY JANA OSBOURN, COUNTY EXTENSION AGENT

SEPTEMBER MEETING NOTES

It was time for one of our special Linda B do your own thing nights, so there was a whole lot of visiting and catching up on Summer activities—and, of course, good eats all around.

Donna brought a beautiful show and tell that she had pieced and had quilted at Gone Quilting in Bandera.

The colors are so cheerful and everyone was impressed with the  smooth, flowing quilting pattern.

Tammy brought fabric and quilting tools so we could work on a project for the science teacher who wished for book envelopes to fit over her students chair backs.

The plan was for us to sew a bunch that night, but we ran out of time before we could have enough finished — in spite of lots of team work from the members.  Enjoy the snapshots and join us Monday for more fun, adventure, and to find out if Tammy has a plan for us to finish this project or has already gotten it done.  Edie

NEXT MEETING: MONDAY SEPTEMBER 21st

MEDINA LIBRARY

6:30 PM

PROGRAM: LINDA B ANYTHING GOES

With a special twist. Tammy has a suggestion for us to consider. One of the sixth grade teachers at Medina ISD removed the desks from her room and is now using tables and chairs (it’s science, so they needed more surface space for the kids).  She asked my daughter Blayre if I could come up with a chair cover that had a pocket in the back, because with the tables & chairs, there wasn’t anyplace for the kids to put their books & notebooks.  The teacher is Mrs. R, whose husband is the new vet in town.

I talked it over with Lu and Linda  and they both thought it’d be a great group project for the quilter’s to do at this month’s meeting, since it’s a Linda B day (though Linda wasn’t sure she was coming or not).  I will be happy to bring the fabric and thread, an iron and board and a couple of sewing machines, to make this happen.  And if we use some pinking cutters, we won’t have to worry about the side seams and turning the fabric every which way <grin> - I AM the laziest quilter around!

ALL help will be appreciated!  I’ll have a pattern design ready and tested, to make sure it works for the chairs and the teacher - so, all we have to do is an assembly line of cutting, pinning, pressing & sewing to make them.  We need to make 24 of them.

Plus, it’ll be a great community service project for the Medina Quilters!

Thanks, Tammy

AUGUST MEETING NOTES

We started right out with a lot of sharing. We have a new member, Nikki, who brought a needleturn applique block she has been working on for many years.  She is not sure how she wants to finish it out and there were a lot of suggestions from the group. We hope she will bring it back to show us the finished design.

 Tammy brought two paintings by her daughter, Keara, who has been taking art classes with Mary Zirkle this summer.

Tammy’s daughter, Blayre, will earn a Girl Scout Bronze Award for a project making quilts for the Medina Children’s Home.

The Bronze Award is the highest for Junior Girl Scouts.

Mother and daughters have also been making really cute totes in various sizes from one pattern.

PROGRAM NOTES

Evalyn did a wonderful program on construction of handkerchief quilt blocks. She uses different laces and trims as well as embroidery to embelish her blocks so each one is unique and beautiful. She designed her own hummingbird for this block. Evalyn said  you can use hankies, doilies or even napkins that fit the theme of your design. She begins with a focus piece in the center of a background block and then builds around it. Evalyn brought her own portable design board to show some variations in placement.

Her quilt is beautiful, as you can see.

She includes a spider motife in her quilts—”the spider is emblematic of the industry in the work”.

Tammy led a discussion of techniques for uniform  size in constructing the block of the month blocks and handed out instructions for the next block.

And that was the close of a very busy evening. See you all on the 21st.  Edie

NEXT MEETING:MONDAY, AUGUST 17TH

MEDINA LIBRARY

6:30 PM

PROGRAM: HANKY-PANKY QUILTS

Evalyn will share her special tips. Contact Edie if you did not get a copy of her handout at the July meeting or as an attachment to your e-mail.

JULY MEETING NOTES

Just a note from Lu. She has been sending birthday cards to members and is about out. If you have any extra cards, please bring them to the next meeting.

Evalyn handed out a materials list for her program at the August meeting. Her books about Hanky Quilts came from American School of Needlework, Consumer Division, 1455 Linda Vista Dr., San Marcos, CA 92069 or www.asnpub.com.

Tammy brought two Christmas wall hangings from her web site. You can find free patterns at BOMquilts.com along with a link to buy fabric.

 There are pockets at the bottom so this Mary Emmerling fabric wall hanking can also be a card holder.

 And this fun wall hanging can bring lots of winter cheer.

 Joyce has finished a truly western California king quilt for her grandson. Her quote, “I’m not ever making another quilt”. Anyone want in on the pool to see how long that lasts? Joyce also brought us a potholder she found at the Kerrville Quilt Show along with a pattern and suggestions for making our own. She suggested we use “insulbright” as the insulation layer to avoid burns. Polyester batting would be a very bad choice because it does not prevent heat transmission and may even melt, causing a serious burn.

PROGRAM NOTES

Tammy began by recommending that if you have an antique quilt that is worth money and you are not a professional—don’t fix it yourself! Professionals store antique quilts by wrapping them in acid free paper, rolling them and storing in cardboard tubes with a sheet of bounce fabric softener in each end. She brought a list of Website Resources for Quilt Restoration for participants.

Several members brought quilts in need of help. Evalyn had a double wedding ring quilt top with an interesting story. The quilt top was given to Evalyn by a friend who recieved it as rent payment from an oil field worker many years ago. The top was hand pieced by the worker’s mother.

Evalyn also brought a quilt she made for her daughter which has not been gently used. She had repaired it once by appliqueing over damaged areas but now has even more extensive damage to repair. There was much discussion over approaches to restoring this well loved quilt to useful condition.

 Lu is planning to restore a quilt from her mother-in-law. This quilt came from east Texas and over the years some of the fabric has deteriorated beyond repair. Because this quilt, like Evalyn’s, has been quilted, the blocks with damage will have to be carefully removed, the weak pieces replaced with fabrics in a similar period theme, and then carefully replacing the block back into the quilt. It will have to be a labor of love, but Lu says she really likes the bold red sashing setting off the blocks and wants to be able to enjoy the quilt in her home.

Tammy gave us another tutorial on the block of the month blocks –more challenging each month. Hope to see you all there on the 17th and don’t forget your hankies.

Edie

NEXT MEETING: MONDAY, JULY 20TH

MEDINA LIBRARY

6:30 PM

PROGRAM: RESTORING OLD QUILTS & PROTECTING YOUR QUILTS FROM DAMMAGE.

JUNE MEETING NOTES:

We had a very relaxed and casual meeting with lots of good sharing and food—of course.

Tammy brought a huge box of new fabrics for the coming season—what a treasure and lots of stimulation for future projects.

Lou has been making folded star pot holders which triggered more discussion of various uses for this interesting design.

 This beautiful red, white and blue sampler quilt was shared during show and tell.

 And the red, white and blue donation quilt top has been finished. Edie used scraps to make the binding and Joyce took the quilt home to put together.

 Tammy shared more information about the block of the month patterns and handed out the fabric sets with instructions to follow.

 And the rest of the evening was devoted to individual projects and visiting. Margaret was not able to attend to take notes for this newsletter, so if I have left out anything important I will try to get it into the next installment. See you all next Monday.

Edie

NEXT MEETING: MONDAY, JUNE 15TH

MEDINA LIBRARY

6:30PM

PROGRAM: LINDA B DO YOUR OWN THING NIGHT

Bring a project you are working on or just come to share time and ideas with fellow-quilters. Also, remember to bring a snack. We all pitch in on Linda B nights.

MAY MEETING NOTES

Maggie obtained 10 bolts of a wide variety of fabrics that she brought to share with the Medina Quilters. Members were able to take home pieces that appealed to them.

 Thanks Maggie!

There was discussion about strip quilting and chain quilting. A tutorial was passed out with further information. Theresa brought an example of a strip pieced quilt that she had hand quilted.

 SHOW AND TELL

Donna brought her Hill Country Jelly Roll Sampler:

 Which for some reason caused lots of laughter:

 Julie brought a twin size quilt she is making for a friend in Hill Country Prints. She is also making a king size quilt out of the same Hill Country Fabric as a wedding gift.

 Might be worth getting married again to get on Julie’s quilt gift list. Maybe……

Linda B was making flower garden pieces for a quilt-to-be.

Lisa B, new member and new quilter, brought a lovely pieced 48X48 wall hanging that was her first attempt at a project and it turned out really great.

 Maggie brought several quilts; one was a star wall quilt, a tropical theme quilt for her granddaughter, and three one block north woodsy wall hanging quilts .

All very busy ladies.

OTHER BUSINESS:

Tammy handed out the missing purple piece for block 5 that had been left out of the bags last month. She said to blame it on Richard Gere.

Block 7 of the Pioneer Sampler was explained.

Future meetings:

July will be learning about restoring old quilts. Bring an old quilt to problem solve with restoration ideas.

August  will be “Hankie Quilts” by Evelyn

September is the third Linda B Project night

See you Monday.  Edie