November meeting

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The November meeting was held on the 13th at Marcia's house, with Sheila and Cyndi hosting.  In attendance were Cyndi, sheila, Mozelle, Debbie, Sylvia, Susan, Meg, and Marcia. Cyndi provided some yummy sausage and cheese dip with chips and brownies with molten caramel centers. Delicious!

Business:  The sign up sheet for next year was passed around.  Most months have just one hostess signed up, but I am sure most of us would appreciate a little help when the time comes, so don't be afraid to jump in to offer to co-host.
We also reviewed the plans for the Christmas luncheon, which will be held at Golden Corral on Dec. 11th at 1:00 pm. That's a Thursday.  There is no organized gift exchange or program--just a leisurely lunch to visit with friends.

Show and Tell:

Marcia showed three baby quilts she had made for future babies.  The pink one and the blue one are made of Jacob's Ladder blocks.

She calls this one "Bubblegum" because of the bubblegum pink fabric she used for the background.

Meg showed this small baby quilt with a musical theme made by her friend Carolyn Gaskill.

 And Meg made this one called "Stars and Strips." She's been working on this one during our Thursday group sew sessions.

Susan showed off some of her crafting skills.  She made this lovely card:

 She told us of a new product called Kraft-Tex that feels like paper but sews like fabric.  She made this little zippered case with it.

Plus she showed this lovely basket made from fabric strips filled with batting scraps.  She then used fabric stiffener to make it very sturdy.

Sheila showed this lovely quick called "Zipper." It's beautiful in batiks.

Cyndi has been finishing up UFO's, including this top she bought at one of our auctions:

and this table-runner which was one of her first quilt projects:

This graphic black and white quilt made us all envious!

We love the way the pattern of this one looks like it has curves, but doesn't.  Her fabric choices were perfect!

And this was another auction buy that she finished up. The centers are hand-embroidered blocks that Sylvia had made.

PROGRAM:
Sheila showed us how to use 2-8" circles to make a cute and easy Christmas ornament!  They would make lovely gift toppers as well.  We each made one in just a few minutes of sewing.  Thanks, Sheila!

Next month the "meeting" will be the Christmas Luncheon!

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October Meeting

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The October meeting was held October 9th at Marcia's house. Susan and Mozelle hosted.

In attendance were Meg, Marcia, Susan, Mozelle, Sylvia, and Cyndi (with her granddaughter.)

Mozelle and Susan provided yummy desserts: an Apple Dump Cake, a plate of Pumpkin Spice cupcakes, and vanilla ice cream.

BUSINESS:  We further discussed the Christmas lunch, to be held on December 11th at Golden Corral.  It had been posted on the blog that lunch would be at 11:00, but we decided to push it back to 1:00 to miss the lunchtime rush.

SHOW-AND-TELL: 

Susan showed one of her Dresden Sunflower blocks; very pretty, and labor-intensive!

Mozelle showed a finished block for her latest Hanging Gardens quilt. It's a pattern we all like, easy to do.

Marcia showed off her patio door cover, quilted by Meg. It looks like stained glass with the sun shining behind it!

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September Meeting

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The September meeting was held on 9/11 at Marcia's home, with Estela hosting. She supplied baked potatoes with all the fixings, and a delicious cinnamon crunch cake. In attendance were Cyndi, Sheila, Debbie, Susan, Estela, Meg, Sylvia, and Marcia.

BUSINESS:

1. The Christmas Party was scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 11 at 11:00 am.  After a discussion it was decided that Golden Corral would be a good place to meet, since everyone could have what they wanted. We will see if a private room can be reserved for that day.

2. Meg gave a financial report. She reported that the club treasury is healthy and that our auction last month netted us over $250.

3. Estela gave out needle information sheets she had located.

SHOW and TELL:

Meg showed three quilts she has completed.  The first she calls Garage Sale Granny--she put it together from garage sale blocks.

This Overall Bill (or Sam) was a kit that she found, she only had to applique the blocks and put it together. Even the border was a find--a dust ruffle from a thrift store!

This purple quilt was made as a gift for an undisclosed relative.  Lucky girl!

Susan showed this beautiful quilt of triangles that is so intricate that it is very hard to find the actual block.  It is not what it appears to be!

Sylvia showed this wonderful quilt she calls Whitecaps, for obvious reasons. It is absolutely beautiful, and very unique.

Marcia showed 2 quilts made from quilt blocks she bought in the auction.  Both are quilts for future babies, one is primarily pink, and the other primarily blue.

This quilt was a total rescue, and is a donation quilt.  Marcia bought the top at a garage sale for $1, but it was a total mess.  She took it apart, corrected the problems, and put it back together. We all agreed it turned out pretty well, for what was once thrown out as a lost cause.

PROGRAM:

Estela showed us all how to make an insulated pot handle cover, using InsulBright.  They are fast and easy, and would make a really useful gift for Christmas.  We thought they would be especially useful with cast iron skillets.  Here are our results:

 

We all provided three squares of fabric and Estela provided the batting, InsulBright, and the printed instructions.  Thanks, Estela!

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The next meeting will be October 9 at Marcia's house. Susan will host.

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August Meeting

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The Annual August Auction was held on the 14th at Marcia's house, hosted by Sylvia and Debbie. In attendance were Cyndi, Meg, Sheila, Susan, Sylvia, Debbie, and Marcia.  Guests were Vicky, Sylvia's sister; Alma, Susan's sister-in-law; Joyce, a former member and friend; and Michelle and Samantha, Debbie's sister and niece. It was great to have so many visitors at one time!

Debbie provided  homemade chicken salad and bread-and-butter pickles, and some interesting pickle flavored potato chips, as well as an Earthquake Cake.  It was surmised that the name came from the sound of our feet after we had eaten our fill!

BUSINESS: 

Meg gave a Treasurer's report, and a discussion ensued of whether a bank account should be opened for the treasury money.  Meg was tasked with setting this up.  (This account was opened the next day at Simmons Bank in Meg's name and with Marcia as co-signer.  No mention of the club was made to the bank.)

A motion was seconded and passed that Meg should be allowed to buy thread, needles, and other upkeep items for her sewing machines from the treasury, since we use her machines so often.

A motion was seconded and passed that we use money from the treasury to pay for a Christmas dinner at a local restaurant to be named later.  Discussion of the restaurant included Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Mary Maestri's, Outback, and other favorites.  It was decided that we would individually check into the use of our favorite for this purpose and report at the next meeting, when we will decide which restaurant to use, and a person will be chosen to make the reservations.

A motion was seconded and passed that from now on all evening club meetings will be held at Marcia's house.

SHOW AND TELL:

Meg passed around a newspaper clipping of Marcia when she was in high school.

Sheila showed several quilts:

 This Wild Animal quilt is for her grandson. We all loved her use of animal print fabrics.

 This bright and colorful quilt features more baby-friendly animals.

 This one is from the same pattern, but features aliens or monsters in the print panels.

This HUGE quilt is called "Joined At The Hip," and  used only one jelly roll, plus the background fabric. Great use of color!

Marcia showed this small quilt, "Tiny Pinwheels," that she made with pieces of fabric she bought at last year's auction. 

Cyndi showed her "Jelly Roll Race II" in teals and browns, held here by Sheila and Meg. It is also a LARGE quilt. Very pretty!

PROGRAM:

Instead of a program, we held our auction of good, but no-longer-wanted items. Lots of magazines and books were sold, some jelly rolls and fabric squares, and lots of other things, both sewing/craft related and not.

 Sylvia acted as auctioneer, and Debbie and Sheila were her assistants. They are all very good at getting people to buy stuff, and prices were kept low.

After the proceedings, we all paid our money to Meg, gathered our booty and went home happy. The auction is always one of the highlights of the year.

The September meeting will be held on the 11th at Marcia's house, and hosted by Estela.

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July meeting

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The July meeting was held on the 10th at Meg's house. In attendance were Sheila, Mozelle, Debbie, Sylvia, Estela, Meg, and Marcia. Estela hosted and provided hotdogs, chips, and cookies with ice cream to celebrate Teddy Bear Picnic Day.  Some brought our teddies, and Meg had decorated with several teddies from her collection.

Show and Tell;

Susan showed a very pretty zippered purse she had made....

 as well as this nice Jelly Roll Race quilt.  it looks as though she planned it out beforehand, doesn't it?

She also made this lovely quilt in 30s fabrics as a gift for a baby shower. Lucky baby!

Marcia showed her baby quilt made from a jelly roll in an hourglass pattern.  No baby for this one yet, she's working ahead.

Meg showed this John Deere quilt her daughter Glynis has made.

Program:
      Estela demonstrated this fabric bowl, meant to be used while microwaving small bowls of food. The "ears" make it easy to pull a hot dish from the microwave without burning your hands.

We each brought two 10" squares of cotton fabric.  Estela provided each of us with two 10" squares of all-cotton batting, which were sewn to the squares with a big X.  Then darts were sewn in 4 places on each square, and the squares were joined right sides together, turned, and top-stitched. Voila' !  we each took home a finished bowl holder. It is a quick and easy project that would make a great gift!

Next month's meeting will be our annual Auction, so start finding those items you can do without but might be someone else's treasure.

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June Meeting

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The June meeting was held on June 12th at Meg's house.  In attendance were Mozelle, Diane P., Debbie, Sylvia with Holly, Estela, Sheila, Susan, Cyndi, Meg, and Marcia. Glynis joined us later for Show-and-Tell.

Marcia's refreshments included Meatloaf Muffins, mixed nuts, and cupcakes.  Meg provided mini-quiches.  All were delicious.

Business:  Meg gave a financial report which showed that we have a large amount to cover any expenses we may incur.  All were reminded of the dues.  It was decided that instead of Christmas in July we will make a day trip to Branson, stopping at quilt shops along the way. It is scheduled for July 12th, which is a Saturday.

Show-and-Tell:

 Marcia showed her Jelly Roll Race quilt from last month's program.  This is a donation quilt for someone in Vilonia.

This quilt was made from a tutorial at Missouri Star Quilt Co. and is called a Disappearing Pinwheel.
Marcia also showed a cover she had made for her tablet computer (not pictured.)

Sheila also showed a finished Jelly Roll Race 2 quilt, which has added squares in the design.

This pretty floral offset quilt has such cheery colors in it.

Sheila made two yellow and black quilts, both are quite striking.

 

And this gorgeous batik Jelly Roll Race quilt had us all "ooh-ing and aww-ing."

Cyndi showed  this great quilt with animal-themed blocks, with rick-rack edging.

Cyndi had this cute little sewing machine made of Legos by her nephew (I think.)  We all agreed it is a Bernina from the shape of it.

Cyndi made this lovely HST quilt edged in browns.  Very masculine-looking.

She finished her Jelly Roll Race quilt, too.  The kids' prints make it so colorful!

(Sorry for the formatting error here--I can't seem to fix it.)

 

                                

This brightly colored Pinwheel Quilt (above) was done by Diane P., as was this pretty Jelly Roll Race quilt below.

  

The pretty Wizard of Oz quilt below is by Debbie.

  

Susan made this lovely Crayon Box Quilt for the family who are getting the current Habitat For Humanity house being built in Prairie Grove.

 

Glynis and family recently helped out in Vilonia after the tornado, and told of the family with two boys and a girl who lost everything made of fabric due to the fiberglass insulation debris.  The boys are big World Wrestling fans, so she and Meg (with the help of the Thursday Group) made two quilts for them, one with red and black borders, the other with blue and black borders.

The little girl likes purple and zebra-print, so Glynis made this quilt for her.

Meg showed two of Iris' quilts, since Iris could not attend.  The quilt below is quite inventive--is it a nine-patch?  a sixteen patch?  a twenty-five patch?  No one but Iris knows!

Iris also made this pretty quilt, which Meg refers to as a "Zipper" quilt.

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Meg showed off some clever button flowers that her sister-in-law sent her. This was our project for the evening.  Everyone made a few of these flowers and put them in tiny flower pots and took home a pretty finished project.  These were simply made of buttons with floral wire run through them and twisted to make a stem.  It was fun and easy, and would make a great gift for a bazaar or party favor.

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Our next meeting will be July 10th, hosted by Estela.