9/12/15 - NT @ Cheryl K's House

The September meeting of the Nimble Thimbles Quilt Bee was held at Cheryl K's home.  Thank you for hosting!  There were 9 members present.  Those people brought some YUMMY treats to share. We enjoyed QUITE the feast!!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Tuesday, September 29th @ Hillsborough Library, NT Nights meeting, 6:30 PM

Saturday, October 17th @ Britt's house, Nimble Thimbles meeting, 10:00 AM

SHOW AND TELL:

Joy started us off with her Old Orange Commission.  Gayle did a lovely job on the quilting and the owner is sure to be pleased!

Next, she showed off her new tote bag:

Cheryl K. laughed and confessed that she had just recently done some mending!!!  Next time, she needs to read Joy's bag (and just say NO!)

Joy also brought her French quilt to show the fabrics that she got at French Connections to finish the quilt... even though she's not really buying fabric (again) this year!  It's OK, if it's to finish something and there's nothing in the stash that will work.  Candy offered some options which will be used on the back.  HERE are the binding, borders, and the (folded) quilt top:

There was a discussion about Crinkle Magic.  Margaret bought some, but hasn't used it, yet.  Jean has used it for a Christmas Tree Quilt.  Crinkle Magic is a fusible interfacing-type product that draws up the fabric that it is attached to, when the fabric is washed or simply dampened with a spray bottle.

Ella shared her Van Gogh Goes Picasso Quilt which was made from a panel that she cut apart and purposely mis-aligned.  It will be a gift for her sister:

Joanna did a great job on the quilting:

Ella also brought along her Circle of Hope Quilt top, ready for quilting:

Dee Dee had a TELL:  Lisa had to work today, so wasn't able to FaceTime with us during today's meeting.  (Hi, Lisa!  We missed you!!)

Dee Dee's Show and Tell was a useful FREE project from JoAnn Fabrics.  It was made using the instructions as a guide, but she "super-sized" her version to suit her purposes:

It is a Tablet Holder "Pillow" that Dee Dee adapted to Fat Quarter size in order to use it vertically OR horizontally and she added a bag of white rice to make a weighted bottom:

She reports that if she makes another, she will add some type of stiffener - like Decor Bond - to the flap that holds the electronic device.  (Other suggestions were to use a piece of cardboard, a piece of a vinyl mini-blind, or a bit of a broken metal tape measure.)

Margaret brought a bag of materials for Suzan (from DOQ) who will be teaching at a school in Burlington and asked for donations.  (Jean had volunteered to collect items.)

She also showed off THIS Donation Quilt.  Blocks were made by Jean Wright (From a Karen West pattern available at Thimble Pleasures in Chapel Hill, NC) and Margaret put the top together from a kit that she got at one of the Donation Quilt Workshops:

Margaret also brought some magazines for us to read during the meeting, including the latest edition from Jenny Doan at the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  (Thanks for sharing!)

Linda has been enjoying the Row by Row Experience, a nationwide effort to get quilters into shops during the summer months:

 She brought along the FREE patterns that she picked up and the few kits that she purchased:

We were engaged in a discussion about the shops that she visited and were shown some of the fabrics and additional patterns that she purchased.  Linda bought this interesting Spiral Quilt pattern at a shop called Linderella's Quiltworks in Southern Pines, NC:

Britt was working on the binding, but showed her newly quilted Tuscan Solstice Quilt from Bonnie Hunter's 2014 Celtic Solstice Mystery that she made smaller than the pattern called for:

She pieced the back to use up more of the fabrics, but would change her piecing plan next time:

Britt also had a TELL:  She found a solution to her problem with her brother's quilt.  An appliqued square set on-point in the center of the quilt allowed her to continue some of the lines that she had been quilting (before arriving at the middle of the quilt.)  Happiness abounds!

Jean has been dyeing, again!  This time... transforming beautiful white rayon scarves, using a new-to-her technique of dyeing first, then letting the pieces sit in the dye, THEN adding the soda ash:

And these photos don't even BEGIN to do them justice.  They are MUCH more vibrant:

**  She used the Paula Birch website and chose to put together colors that she normally wouldn't.

Jean has also made progress on her Folded Log Cabin blocks:

She has 79 ties made into blocks and needs 98.  Jean purposely did it that way so that she could balance the colors at the end of the production.  She also added an extra black border to ease quilt top assembly.  HERE is her inspiration photo:

See how pretty Jean's scarf looks with a "little black dress":

Oh, look!  Here's another photo of Linda's Row by Row patterns:

Candy brought her latest completed Convergence Quilt (from Ricky Tims) that she used Jaquie Gering's book (recommended by Joanna) and a Craftsy class (recommended by Jean) to do gentle curves over the quilt's surface:

THIS photo shows a close-up of her NEW binding technique, which she thinks would be GREAT for art quilts.  Wouldn't you agree that the 2 strands of yarn couched to the edge provides a nice finishing touch:

Candy also brought along the 2nd of 4 Animal ABC Quilts.  This one uses another of Jaquie Gering's quilting techniques.  With this, she no longer dreads the "quilting stage" in the life of a quilt:

She used painter's tape for the first line of quilting and then used the edge of the presser foot as a guide from there on out:

**  FYI - Jean announced that a NEW Jaquie Gering class was just released this week on Craftsy.com!!

Jill showed a photo of the FRONT of her daughter's quilt:

We saw a photo of the BACK of Sally's quilt last month.  Here is what Jill is working on next:

The pattern can be found in THIS book:

Jill also showed off her Promising Hope Needle Book:

PHOTO NOT FOUND!!!

Cheryl K. had a TELL:  She took her blue and orange BQ Quilt to her son's this past weekend (to work on the binding) and didn't bring it home.  It went well with his rug and he wanted to keep it.

She is also working on her Leftover Blues:

She's not sure what pattern to use.  If YOU have an idea, please let her know.

**  FYI - The CCLQ Mystery is now open to all NT members.  It began as a "retreat exclusive" for those attending the CCLQ @ The Bluff Retreat, but was opened up to all CCLQ members who wished to participate.  Upon Margaret's inquiry, Dee Dee was adamant that it should be opened for Nimble Thimbles participants, as well.  Joy agreed to make additional copies for any others who wish to attempt the quilt.  Instructions will be given out over the coming months.

Until next time...
Share joyfully!!!