Recap of Feb Meetings – Part 3

Debbie brought in a paper-piecing template that her friend had made and a few blocks to show and the group flocked to the idea!  Barb, owner of the Crafty Threads quilt shop where we meet, graciously gave a demo of paper-piecing for those who had never done any but wanted to try.  Won’t these blocks make a great Quilt of Valor?!

And these are the photos of the ladies hard at work at each of our meetings.  No grass grows under their feet!

Friday meeting:

Monday meeting:

Our March meetings will be on

Friday the 21^st and Monday the 24^th. 

Please plan to join us!

Recap of 03/15/13 Meeting

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OK – they might look a little spooky, but those are the big quilty hugs and kisses to our supporters that gave us  wonderful donations this month.

Our hearts were much gratified during this meeting when we received a large monetary donation to Quilts of Valor from Dee & David Finn of Highlands, NC and a matching donation from Maria and Michael Mattia from FL and NC.

We are sending you all our best hugs and kisses.  We think you will be pleased when you see the fabulous fabrics we will buy with your contributions and the quilts that will go to comfort many soldiers and military personnel touched by war.  You have our heartfelt thank you.

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It was another fun meeting and a little different this time.  We had some fabric donations – aren’t these perfect?!  Keep ‘em coming – you all have excellent taste in patriotic fabrics …

Then we received a few tops and quilts that volunteers had finished at home:

Debbie - American Top

American rows detail

Debbie - Nine Patches of Valor

Quilt made by Debbie - Finished by Suzanne

The tops were whisked off to the quilters and the quilts were quickly labeled (no grass growing under our feet here ...):



Hand sewing on labels

We completed some of our regular work, including preparing backings, sewing on bindings, making kits, cutting blocks, etc:

Matching pillowcase presentation packages
 with quilts and counting blocks for tops

Sewing bindings and borders

Making kits for volunteer sewing at home

Hand sewing and sewing bindings

Cutting fabric for kits

And it was time for lunch and a special demonstration from our Leader, Pat N., on a quick and easy Quilt-As-You-Go technique.  This QAYG process is suitable not only for making Quilts of Valor, but also for making everything from that “gotta make it quick” kid’s or baby gifts to table runners or table toppers.  Pat was well prepared with her serger and demo board that made learning the process easy for both the visual and tactile learners among us!

Pat (R) begins her presentation

Pat (R) giving details and Maria (L) with hands on



Pat's demo board with examples

Several wanted to try their hand at the serger:

We all were discussing our favorite techniques:

And even Elizabeth from the Crafty Threads Quilt Shop (where we meet) came in to see what was up.  Elizabeth is the Queen of the Serger Club, also held there, and she had a few hints for us on how to care for and use your serger.  Thank you, Elizabeth!

And last – we had a Show and Tell.  Pat received a quilt that was hand appliquéd and hand quilted, but not quite completed before its owner passed away.  She is in the process of completing it for the family and let us see this fabulous work of art.  Just a little inspiration for all of you quilters out there that don’t have enough on your Bucket List already!

What a beauty!

Block Detail

 Next meeting:

Friday, April 19^th, from 10 – 2:00

Hope to see YOU there!

Meeting Reminder – Friday, March 15th

We will be meeting Friday, Mar 15^th,

from 10:00 – 2:00

at Crafty Threads Quilt Shop!

 

We will have a special QAYG technique demo during our lunch break,

so bring your lunch or a snack to this meeting.

We will have some goodies there to eat
AND
there will be a Door Prize!!

 

Click on this link to learn more.

March Meeting Date - Friday, March 15th

We are planning an exciting Quilts of Valor meeting this month – and it’s only one week away!  My, how times flies.  We will have time for some of our normal activities (see below) and then we will have a special demonstration of an easy  Quilt-As-You-Go technique.  You won’t want to miss this meeting!

We will meet as usual at the Crafty Threads Quilt Shop on Racetrack Rd on Friday, March 15^th at 10:00.  Everyone is welcome to attend – no sewing skills required.

Ø      We will be having some quilt tops and some quilted quilts coming in, so we will need to:

Ø      Iron and prepare a few backings,

Ø      Machine sew on bindings of quilted quilts,

Ø      Hand sew bindings if time permits,

Ø      Cut fabrics into blocks for kits including light colors,

Ø      Make up more block kits to keep the basket full,

Ø      Prepare labels for at least 2 quilts,

Ø      Possibly sew rows for a quilt top,

Ø      And that ever popular category – Misc!

When we stop for our lunch/snack break, we will reconfigure the tables and Pat will begin the QAYG presentation using a serger.  This technique is just as easy when using a sewing machine, so we expect you will want to try it yourself no matter what machine you use!  We will have batting available if you want to give it a go.

Circle March 15^th on the calendar right now … see you there!