2/26/15 - CCLQ @ Ella's... Not sew much!!!

The bulk of yesterday was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures nearing 50* in the sun.  At that time, the weather predictions seemed ludicrous!  However, somewhere around 3 PM, the skies started to change and the temps began to plummet.  We'll see what happens...


Last night Ella wrote:  OK everyone put those vibes to work and make the snow go south.


Ruth S. replied:  So - maybe the snow will stay south. If so I'll see you tomorrow. If not it's my house next week barirng any MORE now.


Ruth B. added:  OK, I'll do that. I don't relish getting stuck under 8-12" of snow.  The kids in the neighborhood will slide down the little hill leading to my street and compress the snow till it's all slippery!  Then it's very hard to get out of our street.......for days and days. Ugh.

Gayle said:  Houston, we have a problem, the snow came from the south...lol...

As you can see from the conversation above, today's meeting was scheduled for Ella's house.  Those of us who went to bed early awoke wondering if we would ACTUALLY be meeting this morning.


Why???


The forecast called for EVEN MORE SNOW. Six to eight inches of it!!


Here's what happened...


The view from Joy's back window:

Her view from the front door:

The view as she stepped out of the garage:

And around the corner one way:

Then the other way:

Here's the view at the end of the driveway:

This is the path that Joy had to shovel to get that last photo:

Ella sent an email this morning stating:  It is official, my snow shovel is not big enough.

Joy surmised that meant there will be NO MEETING today.  :o((

Cheryl K. wrote saying:  We do not own a snow shovel. So we will only be walking out of here for a while

Linda said:  This is what I call a "snow day". Great day for sewing, but wish I could share everyone's company. Hope everyone is safe and warm.

Dee Dee wrote saying:  Hope everyone has power!We really need to learn how to do Google Hangouts so we could still meet on days like this

Deborah said:  We have power and Eddie bought a big snow shovel yesterday. Thank goodness! Great day for quilting. Does anyone know how to do Google hangouts or Go To Meeting.com? Maybe one of us can figure it out and we can have a virtual bee!

Jean wrote saying:  No power here. Has anyone heard anything? 

Linda responded:  Jean, I heard about 8,000+ customers in Orange County are without power. Seems mostly because trees have fallen on lines. Hope your power comes back soon.

To which Jean replied:  Thanks. I need my latte to function

Post-post additional responses:

Ruth B. had the following to add:  Well, aren't you the tech-savvy quilter?  I don't even know what Google Hangout is.  

Jean, I'm so sorry that you don't have power.  That stinks, and i hope it will be back soon.  Maybe you can do some imagery (is that what they call it?) and pretend that Rick has brought you your cup of cappuccino.  

I'm all settled in for a day or two or three of being snowed in.  I'll be reading my book for book club on Sunday, All the Light We Cannot See, highly recommended, interspersed with making some more blocks.  A fun day or two or three.  Well maybe not after three!  

Stay dry and powered/powerful! 

Candy chimed in with:  I had no idea how lucky I am!  I have power, internet, and everything else I need.  I also have 2 friends visiting from Boston.  This is just what they needed, right?

(To which Joy thought, how ironic!)



And finally:  All is well here. I slept in and then made myself a bacon, egg, toast breakfast.  Still it is a poor substitute for being with all of you! Keep safe and warm

Hugs

Gayle


Oops!  Later in the day there was MORE irony...


Just got our power and internet back.  My friend Donna is sorry to have missed meeting all of you.  She left NY to escape the snow and cold.  So much for that plan. Hope to see you all in Durham next week. Have a safe trip Jean and I'll see you in April.  Ruth S.

Hours and hours later...  Just got our power back. At least we had day light! Finished a book and did a little knitting. Reflected a bit on how dependent our lives are on power. Too bad I couldn't vac for the house guests that arrive tomorrow!

Missed you all. Have a very productive month. Once the temperature goes above our age, we'll be back! 
Jean

Editor's note:  I'm not sure what happened with the font size, etc. in this post, but here are things to remember:

1. Stay safe and warm.
2. Quilt, if you can.
3. If you ARE quilting today, feel free to report in and I'll add it to this post.


Until next time...
Happy Snow Day... or not!!!  :P

2/21/15 - NT @ Cheryl K.'s

NC is still giving us a few winter challenges. Oh, the driving was fine, but getting to the meeting was a bit dicey with a bit of a treacherous driveway to navigate. But still 13 quilters gathered at Cheryl K.'s house on Saturday.  (There would have been 14, but Helena's dog, Tilly, got out as she was leaving.  As Tilly is a menace to the neighborhood chickens she HAD to be retrieved.   Helena sent her hellos to everyone!)

Thank you to Cheryl for opening her home and thanks to everyone who brought food to share.

February:
2/24 - NT Nights 6:30 PM @ Hillsborough Library

March:
3/14 - DOQ Donation Quilt Workshop
3/21 - NT @ Ruth B.'s House 10 AM
3/31 - NT Nights 6:30 PM @ Hillsborough Library

April:
4/11 - Mary Jo's Trip
4/28 - DOQ Donation Quilt Workshop
4/28 - NT Nights 6:30 PM @ Hillsborough Library


SHOW AND TELL:
There was PLENTY of eye candy this meeting. You know we've been busy when show and tell takes something like 90 minutes.  Yay us!

Joy brought the Lime Twist donation quilt, named Strawberry {Upside Down} Shortcake, that she started last week at the DOQ Donation Quilt Workshop AND one of the TWO commission T-shirt quilts that she is working on.

Jacob's top

Jacob's top is done and Kennedy's will be next.  (Cheryl B. insisted later that she bring out her Crumb Quilt for all to see.  Binding on two sides nearly done!)

Ruth S. shared her completed guest room quilt that she made last summer.  Gayle quilted it and Ruth just finished the binding.  She bought the fabrics at Mary Jo's last year. Not bad, from purchase to completion in LESS than a year!

She also finished her 1st miniature quilt (inspired by Joy and kit from Houston) AND the donation quilt top that she was working on at the DOQ Donation Quilt Workshop last weekend.  Nice work!

Ruth B. brought her iPad to show off the Before and After pictures of her sewing room, changed from last month.  Apparently, she withheld the closet transformation photos, too.  She also shared the quilt blocks she started at last week's DOQ Donation Quilt Workshop.  They are very bright and cheerful.  They were made from the pattern created by Diane Herrema.

Cheryl B. had NO show and tell today.  Shocking!! LOL!

Carol showed off her Toddler Quilt that Cheryl B. just returned.  It's for her 2.75 y.o. grandson for his "big boy" bed.

Back

Front

Cheryl K. finished the quilting on her Healing Hands quilt.  It's for her friend, Judy, who is going through chemo.  Next step - binding - and then it will be put into service. I'm sure it will be a treasured gift.

Ella shared her Houston Group Round Robin quilt.  She brought it for Cheryl B. to quilt.  It's going to be simply stunning!

It's actually being held sideways in these photos, tilt your head ;)

Linda showed us the pieced backing for her daughter's College Graduation quilt.  She also brought the BQ2 pattern for Cheryl K. to see, but let us all have a look.  :o))

Linda also shared some VERY cute little Snowball Pinwheel blocks that were inspired by an online tutorial - they use 5" charm squares.  The block also produces bonus triangles for another project - gotta love that!

Blocks in various stages

adding the corner triangles

.

Gayle's been busy!  She's been making a Donation Quilt per week.  Lime Twist has been her "pattern of choice."

cool back!

Awesome front!

Gayle also brought along the Flying Geese Log Cabin block that she has been working on.  It's from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  Awesome made in brights with black "geese!"

This week's donation quilt is for a boy.  Done, of course, in the Lime Twist pattern.  Breaking from the norm, she used pieced centers on this one.  Nice change of pace!

Dee Dee began by sharing some art quilt bits and pieces that have yet to be completed.  Always so fun to see what she's come up with!

She also did a Nature Challenge with Jean.  It used stamping, painting, sketching, and quilting.  That reveal is below as she wanted to reveal her quilt at the same time as Jean.  She wanted to share her studio makeover, but she forgot her iPad.  Thankfully Ella saved the day!  She had pictures of the base cabinets with drawers that Barry installed for Dee Dee, creating a new cutting table and a new painting table.  The room looks SO much more open! (sorry no pictures of the pictures!)

Jean showed us the 2 Policeman Memory Quilts that she made, so very touching.

And her quilt for the Best of Dentistry Weekend quilt.  For that, she used Gloria Loughman's tiled background technique and painted using acrylic paints & thread painted daffodils on "ugly" lining fabric.

As if that wasn't enough quilty goodness...Dee Dee AND Jean revealed their Nature Themed Challenge quilts!!!  They turned them at the same time to show the group and then turned them to each other.  So cute to watch and what BEAUTIFUL work was produced!!!

Dee Dee used thread painting, rust dyed cheese cloth on Peltex 70 ultra-firm sew-in interfacing along with some couched fabric that she pulled out of the closet. Jean used a thick "fun foam" carved stamp and layers of paint on "ugly" fabric.  She Fray Checked the edges because she didn't want to bind the piece.

Candy brought herself (with Linda driving!)  Welcome back, Candy!!!

Britt brought a Strippy Transportation themed donation quilt top that she started at the DOQ Donation Quilt Workshop last Saturday

and a completed "Jelly Roll Race" quilt made from fabrics in her stash with appliqued stars to add more red to the quilt.  She used free motion quilting to add perceived motion to the quilt with a wavy quilting pattern.

She also took home quilt tops from the DOQ workshop to quilt for others.  This one is from a new quilter that Sarah has been working with.  It's a Row by Row string quilt.  Nice quilting job, Britt!

Whew! After all that wonderful show and tell we were famished!  On to LUNCH!!!  :o))


TENTATIVE FUTURE SCHEDULING:

May:
5/16 - Candy (Britt for back-up)
5/26 - NT Nights 6:30 PM @ Hillsborough Library

June:
Dee Dee (13th or 20th) for Annual Dye Frenzy
6/30 - NT Nights 6:30 PM @ Hillsborough Library

July:
Cheryl B. (11th or 18th) for Sew Saturday (?)
7/28 - Nights 6:30 PM @ Hillsborough Library

August:

Jean (8th or 15th)

8/25 - NT Nights 6:30 PM @ Hillsborough Library

2/24/15 - NT Nights Meeting @ Hillsborough Library

Last night's meeting was canceled.  It's a good thing, too!  Driving conditions were varied throughout the area due to MORE SNOW and some icy road conditions.

Hopefully, everyone stayed safe and cozy at home.

Me?  I had to work until 5:30 and didn't get home until nearly 6:30.  :o((

The GOOD news???

I turned the second corner on the binding of my Crumb quilt!!!  :o))

Until next time...
Keep busy!!!

2/19/15 - CCLQ @ Gayle's

For those who don't know...

We got SNOW (ice and frigid temperatures) in North Carolina this week.

So???

That means that many places shut down!!  It's the way NC rolls.  No school.  Delayed work hours...

And NO quilt guild on Monday!  :o((

The hearty did meet for quilt bee on Thursday morning.

Although, there are no pictures to prove it, as the camera (and its owner) was at work.  :o((

Missing the group, I put in a phone call to tell everyone that I was thinking about them (and working on the binding of my Crumb Quilt.)

It was 11:35 and they hadn't even talked about lunch!!!  That's when I guessed that Dee Dee was NOT at the meeting.  (Her lunch alarm goes off at 11:30 each week.)

Anyway, here is the extent of my conversation with Gayle:

J: Hi!  How are you guys doing?
G: Fine. (To the others: It's Joy.)

Background sounds of : Is she going to meet us for lunch?
G: (To the others: No. She's at work.)

J: Where are you all going for lunch?
G: We haven't even talked about lunch yet.  Not sure what we're doing.  There are only FOUR of us.

J: Well, tell everyone that I said hello.
G: OK.  I will.

Background sounds of (Deborah?) saying: We missed you!

I missed them, too.  Here's hoping that we will all be together next week.  (And if someone who WAS at the meeting will send me a "report", I'll post it here.)

UPDATE:  The FOUR who were at the meeting were Gayle, Ella, Dee Dee, and Ruth B.  They just weren't worried about lunch because of the small number of attendees.  :o))

Until Next Time...
Stay Warm!!!

{Nimble Thimbles in the Wild...er... at the} DOQ Donation Sew-In

A few Nimble Thimbles members spent part of Valentines Day showing the love ...by making donations quilts!  Joy, Ruth B., Ruth S,.Jean, Sarah (who some of us hadn't seen in ages!) and myself (Britt) had a good day at the Durham Orange Quilt guild sew day.  Here is the Nimble Thimbles section of the room:

We set up first two, then three tables to comfortably accommodate our little group.  Sarah was set up at the other end of the room (near the design wall) at her own private work station:

And not only were we productive but we got in our exercise, lol!  We were in a big space so it was a long haul to the ironing and cutting tables.  Not to mention all the table set up and take down required.  But it was a good excuse to stretch our legs and chat with the other quilt guild members.

Pressing stations

Cutting stations (followed by the fabric selection table and on to the design wall.)

We sewed from about 9:30 to 3 with a stop of a yummy potluck lunch.  The day truly flew by. We had so much fun!

Ruth B. started a new donation quilt which is going to be bright and cheery.  Ruth S. made progress on a nice green quilt and was able to come up with a backing and Jean was making Snoodles for preemies.  Joy sewed like gangbusters and got ALL TWELVE of the blocks done on her donation quilt featuring a Strawberry Shortcake print.  It's turning out VERY cute!!

Ruth B.'s quilt will look something like this. Several people added blocks as the day went on.  It was fun to look up and see how the quilt had grown!

This photo shows Joy's blocks along with the backing and binding that she chose.

 !Hopefully Joy can add a few photos (DONE!) - and if anyone has other pics to include let me know

These are a couple of projects that some other DOQ members were working on:

A baby quilt that Karen W. enlarged for a teen.  Great idea!

Here is the work station that she set up to finish the quilt quickly.

Disappearing 9-Patch Soldier Quilt that Peggy Y. was working on.

I do have photos of what I was working on (taken afterwards).  First up I had previously quilted a quilt destined to be donated and brought it along thinking I would add the binding. Well...I got the binding made but realized I needed a bit more space to actually attach the binding TO the quilt if I wanted to avoid sweeping everyone else's projects off the table!  I finished the binding later in the evening once I returned home.

This quilt was a do it yourself jelly roll race - meaning I chose to use up fabric strips I had on hand.  I added squares randomly for a bit of extra interest.  Then I decided I liked the strips running vertically instead of the usual horizontal.  WHY???  Maybe because I like to make my life more difficult? LOL - this meant I had to add on to the ends of the quilt...and in such a way as to hide that fact. I think I succeeded for the most part.   And last but not least I thought it needed a few stars for some extra color.  Here are a few pictures:

I free motion quilted it with a freehand wave echoed across the quilt. This was SO easy to do!! Or I should say this was really easy for ME to do because I did not sweat the little bobbles here and there and I was fine with some variation in the width of the lines. And I think it gave a nice softness to all the straight lines.

Even though I couldn't get as far as I wanted the first quilt I had plenty to do.  I'd brought some fabrics Sarah pulled for me a while ago from her large stash of donated fabric.  I had plans to make a "strippy" quilt with them.  Just simple strips of varying widths to make a cute kids quilt.  And as luck would have it a DOQ member walked in with a bag full of fabric to donate and it included the perfect orange fabric for the quilt! Have a peek at the quilt top - it will be bound in orange once I get it quilted.

Thanks to Jean for encouraging the use of the orange and to Joy for the suggestion to end with blue. Quilting friends are awesome!

Somehow I came home with more than I brought...I volunteered to quilt a couple of donated quilt tops made by other DOQ members.  Thankfully, they are small and should go quickly!

Here's hoping your Valentine's Day include time with friends and loved ones...AND your sewing machine!  :)