Sunday quilting!

We'll have a chance to sew on Sunday, after the 10am service. Jut a few things to 'finish'. I have a cute little boys quilt to put 'prayer ties' into for Charlotte's Garden. I think it's called Space Odessey II. Hopefully, will find out where it's going this week.

This one is beautiful.... not sure where it's going yet either. Think we should call it, "String Garden".

Not sure how the Sunday mtgs will go, we only had 4 people at the last one, but it's quiet time to quilt...that's nice.

Mtg Faux Pas

Leave it to me (not a sports person-- unless it has wheels, Nascar or skates) to plan a mtg on a night that the UConn Huskies are playing in the March madness basketball games!! (It IS basketball, right?)

I had a great turnout (14 ladies- just about a record!), but a had 4 split within the first hour, then a few more left ahortly after when they heard it was a 'game night'.... but at least those who stayed, helped cut some strips for 'homework'... which for those who didn't stay long enough to find out what that was.... you are making heartstring blocks with a plain black center, then any colors throughout the rest of it... similar to this.

We did get the last row attached to the 'Blue-min' Heart' quilt for the priest's friend, Kipp W. and the lasagna quilt got pin basted (I'll try and SITD this week), and the rest of the lasagna strips were taken home and they've already been returned to me sewn together! Go, Marilyn...

I showed off Fr. Chips quilt, but I'm working on that one at home.... I'll post photos soon.

St Mary's Quilt-a-thon

Although I couldn't make it to this year's event, I heard there were 23 ladies there, and they had a total of 140+ tops!

Way to go, ladies!!

Freedom to quilt!

This is the first mtg we'll have that I can be there REAL early, since I'm on lay-off (two months worth). I have two quilts turned into me (from Beth and Muriel) that are done! I'll have the ladies check them out, then they will get Blessed on Palm Sunday and hopefully, we'll have a few more done on Tuesday (31st).

These are some of the ones I hope to have tops done...

The Blue with the black and white ("Blue-min' Heart") needs 6 more blocks added on, then we can find a backing and get it done for Father Paul's friend with brain cancer. I have one of the 'done' ones that could be used, but it has some pink in it, so I'll have to have a vote on it with the ladies Tuesday.

These are the samples of the envelope blocks. We have SEVERAL, so I'll need a couple of people to organize them into a top. The question will be whether they will be completely scrappy or going only with a few colors (two or three).

I hope to have the butterfly quilt done at this mtg. It would have been done at the last, bar the 'wrinkle', but I hope to have the binding done for it.

lso hope to have Father Chip's quilt top done...I'm working on that on my design wall. It's looking good, if I do say so myself.

I also saw our Happy Blocks arrived safely in Mary's hands.... check out the thurs Mar 5th post...

...http://maryquilts.blogspot.com/2009/03/mail.html

Correction on date of next mtg

Our next mtg will be moved to TUESDAY, Mar 31st, not on our usual Mondays.... Another group is mtg at the church on Monday. See you then!

Post March mtg....

Lot of things got worked on at this month's meeting.... with ten of us ladies there. Welcome to Mary Ellen who is new to the group. It is wonderful that Enid brought you to us. I hope you enjoy coming. Among all the ironing and sewing, two of our quilts are being bound (at home), and we have a few more being tied (Prayer quilts).

We were able to send out our quilt, "Mints on my Pillow/Nightshades" today

to a parishioners daughter who is suffering with cancer and we're finishing up the blocks for another brain cancer sufferer who is a friend of our Priest-in-charge. I hope to have that one done before next mtg.

Hey, ladies!! We also have set aside some sewing time on a few Sundays between noon and 4pm. The dates are Mar 22nd, April 19th and June 21st. Mark your calendars and join us (Bring a sandwich for lunch or share a snack. I'll provide drinks).

It was fun to see the envelope blocks everyone made. We'll put them together at one of the next mtgs. Finally able to get my photos loaded into my husband's computer, so I can post them. My computer is just giving me the 'fits', since it has about 1/100th of an inch of FREE space left on my harddrive!

March Mtg

Due to the snow storm "Demi", we are meeting on March 9th... next Monday, same time. We have two of our charity quilts back from the local quilter, Laura, so we can bind them on Monday (Bingo and Earth & Sky).

I'm posting some variations of Heartstring quilts we may want to try... I LOVE the black centers...

And we may want to try a variation still of this one, where we put one half of the block one color and the other half another color and see what kind of a maze we make.

We have taken care of the parishioner in need of a sleeping bag, donated by Muriel S. Thanks, angel....

Also, know that if any meetings get cancelled, call my number or the church (860-649-4583) to find out if we're on. I hardly think we'll need this 'service' any further into the year, hopefully no more snow!

Pre-March mtg

Okay ladies, for those who saw my selvedge quilt and liked the idea, here is Karen Griska's selvedge blog.... check out some of the great ideas she has on it. Scroll down when you get to this site.

http://www.selvageblog.blogspot.com/

The QOV quilts were delivered to CO.

The Happy blocks were delivered (all 323 of them). (I had quite a few that couldn't be sent because of poor construction --less than 1/4" seam, curved seams, too small a block, etc. I don't remember who did them (menopause memory) and I don't want to know. I will just bring them to the next mtg to show everyone what we need to watch out for. I'll let you know how to fix the problems, so if you recognize the block as yours, you will know how to correct it for future blocks. I'm not saying this to criticize anyone or hurt feelings, but we must remember that the people we are sending quilts to may not be able to 'fix' a pulled seam, or a rip (due to poor construction) expecially after these quilts have been washed a few times, so we need to make sure that we make them WELL. I didn't have time to take them apart and 'fix' them, so we'll use the ones that were too small in a 6.5" block
In the future, when we make a certain size block, measure the block after trimming and adjust any 'short' seams before turning them in, or make it oversize and we'll trim at the mext mtg.

Bring any envelope blocks that you've made (please measure them before bringing them-- they should be 5.5" x 7.5"). We will be laying them out and see how we want to join them (sashing, what color could make them blend, etc).

We will be taking a look at the quilts that are in various stages and finishing them before we start any others. (Don't I ALWAYS say this, then we start some fun thing or another....LOL).

I will bring the chenille scarf that I was showing you all at the last mtg. (I have directions for those who want them), I also have a mini sample that you all can try cutting with scissors and a chenille cutter to see the difference).

For those who don't know, our church is having a 'Quilt-a-thon" on March 24th from 9am-2pm (Tues). All are welcome, bring a friend, your lunch (drinks and dessert will be provided) and stay as short or long as you want. This year, I CAN'T make it, but think of me...) (Maybe we can make a few tops to have them finish at the quilt-a-thon.

Also, since we always meet at night, would you all be interested in getting together one Sunday afternoon a month, say from noon-4, to sew? Just flat out sewing, no lessons, no 'meeting', just sewing.....? If you think you'd like that, we could check with Sandy every month to see what's available. Just a thought.

Happy Block count, and QOVs

I have a final count soon of the Happy Blocks that we're making for HeartstringsQuiltProject for their March Sew-in. Marilyn just called with another 45 or so...which puts her at 100+ alone! Lorraine made at least 140... (drum roll, please....) 323! If we put them into a top that would be over 6 tops!! I'm sending them Thursday to Mary at Heartstringsquiltproject.

I also sent off two QOV quilts to Alycia in CO for her "No Soldier's Forgotten Project". This will put our group at three quilts for them. (They are being sent with tops, backs, binding already pieced together and ironed, and batting).

I have the Brindisi baby's quilt all packaged up and ready to deliver tomorrow. I may hand-deliver it, since we are off to Boston to have lunch with my oldest for her birthday (on Monday). Quarter of a century!

New quilt request

Our group has had a new quilt request put in by Father Paul, for a friend of his in NH, who just got diagnosed with brain cancer. He's an attorney, in his late 40's early 50's... It is not a good prognosis. I thought we had a brown and blue heartstrings quilt (above) that was able to go to him immediately, but I think it's too small for an adult male. I'd like to call this one, "Reflections of the sky in my own little puddle". We have a blue, B&W HS quilt in the makings.... maybe that should be the one he gets.

We also got a lovely thank you from Barbara W. for the quilt we gave her granddaughter. I'll share it at the next mtg.

Feb mtg

Well, it didn't seemed like we got anything done at our mtg (productive-wise on our quilts), but the ladies did GREAT on their Happy Blocks for the HeartstringsQuiltProject.

Most of them were done at home and they brought them in.... I thought I did well to do 21, but Margaret did 37, Marilyn did 72 and Lorraine did 147!! Well, Mary, you'll be getting a lot for the Sew-In in March. I may take a look at them and see if we can't put some together for a top or two.

Two ladies worked at sewing the narrow batting together for our QOV quilts. We had some batting donated but it's very narrow.A HUGE roll, and it's free so we're using it.

We had a new member, Enid. I hope you had a fun time and learned a few things about us.

We also had a quick lesson on making chenille scarves... don't know how that started, but I had my fabric for it there and I gave a demonstration. I'll bring the piece in next month.

I also brought in a selvedge quilt I'm making, to show one of the ladies (she found out I was saving slevedges and wanted to know what I was making with them).

Feb Mtg

We'll be meeting this Monday and I hope we can get a few tops out of the Happy Blocks we're making for Heartstrings Jan/Feb project. I made 21 before the last meeting and the ladies took lots of novelty squares and 'framing material' home to make more (homework).

This little quilt is one 'experiment', inspired by the 9-Patch Pizzazz. I want to name it "Butterfly Sherbert"... It's for a 4yr old girl who is in foster care with one of our parishioner's daughter and she has some emotional issues. I even put prayer ties into it. We'll get it Blessed on Sunday and hand it to the little girl's gramma to deliver.

These two are for Alycia's QOV quilt quota (at present 400 is the goal). I'm not sure it I'll add another border to the red one, but I've named them, "Stars and Stripes Forever" (the white one)

and "Glory wrapped in Red Velvet" (red one).

I want to show the ladies a new block... Not sure whether the name of the quilt will be "PS I love you" or "Love Letters". It's an envelope block (5" x 7" rectangle) and a 3-d envelope flap on it. I'll take some pictures of it at the mtg. I only have some blocks made, but not put together.

I also have some more Black/White/Bright HS blocks to make, as I want to add to a small quilt that we have to at least make it 24 blocks (9"). It's up on my design wall, and I'm adding blocks as they get made. (Maybe I'll have the ladies each make a block).

I have not added any more blocks to Father Chip's quilt. I also want to know how he's feeling first. I can't post that in case he sees this blog.

I have had one of our 'machine quilters' agree to quilt a couple of our little quilts. I have the Bingo quilt top finished (Marilyn put them together and a nice green border, Dot G picked out the backing and I bought some great gold for the binding). I even ironed the binding so it's ready to add when we get it quilted. Perfect for a young person (42" X 53") to snuggle in. And so bright and cheerful!! (See a picture of it in the distance in the posting below)

Jan Meeting- Fresh Start

Well, It was nice to get together and see what we would start out making for the new year. We had a couple of straggler quilts to finish...and one almost got finished during the meeting (Brindisi quilt).

Janet did a wonderful job piecing and quilting the baby quilt for this premmie (he was born in June and his twin died three days later. He seems to be doing much better, but his quilt was requested by one of the members).

I was hoping to put the missing borders on the QOV quilt, but we really didn't have any border fabric that could match. (Oh, darn, does that mean I have to make a trip to buy fabric??? VBG!!) We do have funds in the church account (all donations) that can be used, so I made a trip during the week and this is what I came up with for addtions to the church 'stash'. We also needed a little bit more beige-y type colors for Father Chip's quilt (the one that's the farthest on the floor in the photo below... I'll post a better picture of it as it gets worked on.) The other two tops are the "Bingo Quilt" and Happy Blocks that I made for the ladies 'samples'.

We found a backing for the "Quilt Bingo" quilt, in the center of the photo. (We took all the 10" bingo blocks that were used at our Dec mtg's bingo game

and Marilyn put them together beautifully, now we had Dot and Pat pick out a backing to go with it.) We even found binding which I'll take home prepare for that stage. I will post a close picture of that one, too.

Miriam and Margaret are busy working on the squares of novelty blocks and their frames.

Lorraine was busy in her spot. These blocks we're making for HeartstringsQuiltProject (Jan-Feb). We'll see what the ladies bring back to the next meeting to see what we send out to this group. We may even have a few tops put together! Here are some of our fun squares!

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Can't wait to post more photos.....