3/9/19 - NT Sew Day @ SECU Family House

WARNING!!!  PHOTO HEAVY POST!!!

Welcome the March meeting of the Nimble Thimbles Quilt Bee!!  This month, Candy arranged for us to have a Sew Day at SECU Family House.  Thanks, Candy!  Thank you, Ruth S. and Kirsten for volunteering to host the event.  Thanks to all who brought items to round out our meal.

Upcoming Events...

April 13th @ Ella's
May 11th @ Gayle's NEW House
June 22nd @ Dee Dee's (for an Art Event?)

Show and Tell was mixed in throughout the Work Day...

Joanna planned to complete this green version:

Carol's Table Topper was in the cutting phase:

Ruth S. completed her Table Topper with a sewn binding:

Margaret prepared for her Quilt-as-You-go tutorial:

You can see a completed row in the foreground below:

Gayle happily received a package of strips to make a quilt:

With pattern in hand, Ruth S. contemplates a new project:

Here is a preview of what our completed quilt will look like:

Linda prepares to attack that pile of fabric strips:

Another Table Topper, this one ready for sewing:

Carol made progress on her Table Topper...

Then she moved on to another project:

Jean design labels for Family House projects and will share them:

Joanna worked on additional Strippy blocks for the QAYG quilt:

Margaret is stacking up rows with sashing strips to be sewn:

Cheryl K. stitched down the binding on her "Ella" quilt:

Britt enjoys a morning snack before getting down to business:

Kirsten is sewing Super Hero rows:

No notes were taken, here's another lovely Table Topper:

This is Margaret's Dino Quilt from Pineapple Fabric Donations:

Oh!  Here's Margaret and I think that mystery topper was hers:

Ruth S. shared her completed "Ella" Quilt:

Oops!  Nearly completed, as the binding isn't quite done:

Gayle finished the this for the "bird room" in her new house:

She explained how this fabric never seemed to play well with others.  It made lovely placemats for her table:

She finished this Table Topper for the Family House event:

Gayle has been practicing free motion quilting on her home sewing machine and really misses her longarm quilting machine.  So much so that she announced that she will be setting it up in the garage:

Gayle then showed off this gorgeous Quilted Art Piece.  A collaboration with Jean, who emroidered the sea creatures.  Gayle quilted the piece and added it to artist's canvas, then painted the coral that you see.  It mixed her two loves beautifully:

I don't recall Jean's story, but these fabric strips ended up in my bag at the end of the day:

Britt is cutting strips for the last set of QAYG blocks:

Linda is busy cutting:

Helena brought leftover Hexie parts from her Daybreak quilt:

Jean is working on an embroidered Christmas Quilt:

HOW MANY of these will she need for the borders?!  Yikes:

Cheryl K. held up her "Ella" Quilt for a photo op:

Britt poses for a picture with her new Thread Catcher:

Joy show off the base of her Altered Rainbow Basket:

THE PROGRAM...

Special thanks to Margaret for taking the lead on this project!!  We were pleased to learn a new-to-us technique.   

First, Margaret held up one of her completed rows...

... And explained a little about QAYG's varied methods:

These are patterns purchased ages ago made using the method:

Then, Margaret went to the machines to demonstrate:

She explained the importance of pinning the layers:

A machine with a narrow foot (Featherweight) is ideal for this part of the QAYG process.  Her basic Janome came with such a foot:

Next, Margaret went to the second machine (with a wider foot) set-up for stitching the back of the block pair:

Once the demo was over, members were encouraged to give the process a try.  Here is Cheryl K. at the first step:

Next, Ruth B. gave it a try...

... Then went back to her other donation project:

BACK TO WORK, EVERYONE...

Helena cut strips for the blocks that Britt was working on:

Kirsten showed off her first sewn row:

Cheryl K. went back to her hand work:

Margaret shared her Pineapple Fabric Table Topper:

Candy showed off two Family House Table Toppers:

Gayle with her Table Topper:

Since Candy forgot that Dee Dee wouldn't be here, she brought candles for Dee Dee's celebration.  Alas, Dee Dee had other plans for the day, but Joy ordered everyone into the kitchen for a photo with Dee Dee's (gluten free) birthday brownies.  Candle included:

After a delicious lunch, we got right back to work...

Linda switched gears and is now working on this pattern:

Candy is working on another Family House Table Topper:

She also got some work done on this "Ella" Quilt:

Joy started a Family House Table Topper with fabric strips donated by Pineapple Fabrics:

Helena was kind enough to do the hand stitching to finish up Joy's little (secret sewing) project:

Margaret showed off a completed pair of QAYG rows:

This is what the back looks like:

Carol has switched gears and is starting a new scrappy project:

The top of Candy's "Ella" Quilt is complete, sans borders:

Kirsten completed the main portion of the top of her Super Hero quilt and will add the two partial rows for finishing at home:

Here is a closer look:

We have another BIG thank you to bestow upon Margaret.  She volunteered to lead our QAYG charity project.  We learned a LOT!

After the QAYG project was underway, another charity project was established.  Many of us have now made Quilted Table Toppers for a Family House event or have them in the works.  We are pleased to be able to give back, since they are SEW gracious in hosting our Sew Days here at Family House.

Until next time...
QUILT!!!