Friday, June 21, 2013

Our first flyer for the group!

I decided we needed some publicity,mostly for new people even if it's in our own church. This is the front...
 Open it up and read about our Story....
Open the other side and the details are inside....
 Don't forget the back when it's closed up. Now just to figure an inexpensive way to print it....

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Pocket Prayer Quilts

Or shall I call them "Silent Prayers To-Go", or "Quiet Prayers"... Not sure what to call them, but these are our latest creations.
 
I kept trying to figure out what we could give to those who wouldn't have a need (or who we can't provide for) a small/med/large quilt.  I came up with one you can put in your pocket (or purse) and take it with you when you visit someone ill, or in caring for someone in need, when (really) the one who needs the comfort is YOU.
Here are a few mini quilt blocks (5" square or so...) that I threw together today. I actually have several 5"-6" squares that I make from the scraps of my quilts. I throw them in a drawer in the hopes of putting together a quilt that makes me think of every quilt I've made in the past.
 Here are a few made with selvedges and fancy stitches.


 I think I ended up with nine of them....
 Of course, you knew they couldn't stay organized... Then you get to see each one of them. All they need is a tie in the center.
 
Okay..... I now have them tied and here is how I'll display them.
 This is the cute little sign in the basket.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Clean Sweep Quilting Event 2013

What a great day to have a quilting event! So much better than 95 degrees and humid (predicted for our original meeting last Sat). We did have some funny hiccups to start with...one person got the email switching the date but breezed over it and didn't realize it was starting an hour late until she showed up at 9am, left and went home to re-read the email. Good thing she showed up, as she had worked on so many of our quilts between meetings.
 
The ladies that showed were, Muriel (our oldest member at 85 yrs old), Margaret, Jane, Janet, Marilyn, Anna, Kathy, Mary Ellen, Nancy (me), Deanna, Delaney and Brenda. Hope I didn't forget anyone...
 
Mary Ellen brought back a quilt she finished binding. I think I'm calling it "Bow Ties and Borders". The center of the Bow Ties is made so it's 3-D... you can stick your fingers under it. Cute striped fabric from the back became the binding. Just needs a label.

This is a sweet one from Kathy's donated ones (that she did at home). She machine quilted it with a decorative stitch. We're calling it "Cherries on Top". Very Cute.


This is such a cutie... Little panel blocks with numbers and animals on it. Made and machine-quilted by Kathy. I wanna call this one "Counting the Animals".
 This one is a mish-mash of heartstring blocks. Some are put together as 4-patch, some are 16-patch separated by plain blocks. All machine-quilted with a decorative stitch. (Also by Kathy)
 
 Mary Ellen made this heartstring quilt as part of a Memorial day challenge on a yahoo group's site, Heartstrings Quilt Project. The challenge was to use brown strips for the center strings. I call this one "Line 'em Up, Hearstrings!" Makes me think of our bingo quilt blocks we made for a quilt several years ago.


The Cool thing about it is the back!! She used a really unusual fabric to 'spread it's wings' (to widen it). We made a gold label for it and it's looks super!! Great job, Mary Ellen!
 
 Here is Muriel doing her favorite thing.... binding quilts. She got this little one finished and then headed home after lunch. Good job, Muriel.










 Finished.... "Spinning Blocks".
 
 Mary Ellen worked on "Delaney's Decision", tying a soft yellow into it. This one we used our noodle method to sandwich the front to the back. Dee (below) finished the trimming of the ties. It got trimmed (batting) and backing and was taken home to have the backing rolled over for the binding.

 Anna spent some time ironing and sewing on labels.

 
 Everyone kept quite busy.... Margaret, Kathy and Janet are working on one that they were soooo nervous about; didn't think the backing would be long/wide enough to meet the edges of the front. It did (1/4" in a place or two). This one is made from various heartstring blocks that were leftovers from other projects. Not sure what we'll name this one.
 
 "Road to Oklahoma" is one Mary Ellen worked on and donated to the group. We had issues with the borders, but once they were fixed, Delaney and Jane (and Dee below) tied this one....So pretty, but you have to stand back to see the 'stars'.  We'll roll the backing around to the front.

 
 Janet and Margaret also did the tying on this Red.white and blue log cabin. The blocks came from various members of a quilt guild project years ago. It will be a nice wheelchair sized quilt for someone.












Then there are the various tops that Kathy made.... We'll call them Blue Belly #1
 Blue Belly #2
 and Blue Belly #3, since all the strips center around a blue square. These were made by Kathy (in her spare time, LOL).
 
 This is a nice little quilt that I may name, "Fall in the Box" since the fabrics are fall fabrics inside a 'box/frame'. I believe this one ended up getting tied and someone took home to finish tying (probably my mom, Muriel).







Here are some other tops that were made at home and brought in (by Kathy)

 
 This one I think would look great with a 2.5" black border, and a wide outer red border. Very striking!















Another finish by Kathy....  "Maps in Blue".
 This one will eventually go to Alycia in CO for the quilts of valor quilts. It has a pillowcase to go with it. Nice job, everyone!