1/10/15 - NT @ Gayle's House

We had a large crowd at Gayle's house on Saturday.  13 members were present, including Lisa from England via FaceTime.  Thank you, Gayle, for hosting and thanks to everyone who brought treats to share.  We enjoyed quite a feast!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

January:
1/27 - NT Nights 6:30 PM @ Hillsborough Library

February:
2/21 - NT @ Cheryl K.'s House 10 AM
2/24 - NT Nights 6:30 PM @ Hillsborough Library

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

April:
Margaret (11th or 18th) and/or Mary Jo's Trip (about 6 for MJ's)
4/28 - NT Nights 6:30 PM @ Hillsborough Library

** MEMBERS:  Please email your "vote" to Joy concerning April's meeting.  Options include: meeting AND Mary Jo's Trip on separate days? (Margaret volunteered to host.) or meeting AND Mary Jo's Trip on ONE day? (Who will host the NON-trippers?) or Mary Jo's Trip ONLY with NO meeting for April? We will discuss the outcome in February to better plan for April. (For those going on the MJ Trip, think about whether you will be able to volunteer to drive.) Thanks!

After a brief business meeting (Gayle brought up a point of order, to which we all agreed - we will cap our active membership at 20 - and Cheryl B. noted how thankful she is that we keep our business portion of the meeting to a minimum).  Maybe that's because we are all about the...

SHOW AND TELL!!!  (Boy, did we have a lot of great stuff to share!)

Cheryl K. - 2 Autumn Table Runners and 1 of 3 that she made for Christmas.  She also brought along her Cocktail Apron made from men's ties.

Note: For the faux binding on Cheryl's runner, add a half-inch "binding" fabric and then "pillowcase" the runner to finish.

Here's the tie apron she made on request.

Ruth B. shared a mysterious package from Apple that arrived on her doorstep before she headed to the meeting. It was a lovely photo calendar that her son, Steve, had made of pics from their trip to Greece. The man's got TALENT!!! (And knows what his mom likes!)

Just couldn't resist sharing a photo of a printout of a photo...

Linda showed off her Sashiko stitched turtles. She's planning to make a pillow out of the piece.

 
She also brought the Oriental quilt top made for her daughter, who graduates from college this Spring. It's done in the BQ1 pattern which is GREAT for those prints that you just don't want to cut up.

You can tell it's a big quilt and we were short on space! 

Cheryl B. didn't have a quilt to show but was working on her beautiful needle-turn applique blocks.

Jean reported she is on a cleaning rampage.  She brought 3 sets of Snap Bag instructions and 5 sets of measuring tape lengths (leftover from her Kids Quilt Camp) to share. Jean gave Margaret a ribbing over how slow the supposedly fast Batting Buddy technique was.  Margaret tried to claim she said it was COOL not FAST!  Well, as you can see from the photo, the technique might go a bit faster if you don't add all that wonderful quilting!  Jean went over the top!  (you might see it better if you double click on the photo).

Jean also shared an Australian pattern that she found on the net.  You've heard of Block of the Month programs, well, she's starting a Quilt of the Month program.  Jack's Chain was linked to from Bonnie Hunter's blog or FaceBook page and Jean's in love with this pattern.

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Here's a small sample Jean pieced:

Joy forgot her GIMQ top at home (but you can see it if you scroll back to the previous blog post) and showed the picture on her phone as a precursor to...

Britt showing her star blocks that she came up with from her own GIMQ pieces. Some of her Bonnie Hunter mystery clues such as the green & white checkerboard sashing didn't want to be in the quilt (so they will be part of a donation quilt) so she decided to punt.  Then she found that she didn't have enough of one of the fabrics that she would need... but Ella did!  :o))  Yay Ella - what a lifesaver quilt friends are!!!

Here are the Star blocks...

Here's a better view of Ella's fabric! (Just ignore the shadows. There were some REALLY bright lights over the hearth.)

She also shared the progress that she's made on her Kim McLean quilt:

And the fabric that she got from her mom for Christmas:

She also showed the Super Hero Cape that she made for her nephew (there's one for her niece, too.)  Picture will have to wait til they've been delivered.  ;)

Carol started off by TELLing how she had sorted the mountain of fabric scraps Gayle brought and gifted to the group at last month's meeting. She noticed a color theme and that started her off on a new quilt adventure. So for SHOW she had not 1 but 2 quilt tops underway!. She brought the first completed top from Gayle's scraps - they now are a Valentine's Quilt top for her son and his fiance!

Sorry about that picture Carol!

She also shared that Walmart in Hillsborough is now selling Waverly fabrics on the bolt.

Candy - had a darling project to show us. Her Malaysian friend's daughter is having a baby girl and Candy made little fabric shoes from a pattern given to her by a friend.  They are SO cute that she has NO IDEA what she would have done if it had been a boy!

Candy also had a Donation Quilt top that posed a design challenge.  Jean thought of appliqued cars to turn the whirligigs into roads.  Thanks, Jean!

Gayle shared a Donation Quilt made from precuts purchased at Quilting with Nana ABC in Burlington when she, Candy, and Ruth went on a field trip there shortly after the store opened. The fabrics were darling!

She also had an Amish-style Donation Quilt that she REALLY wants to keep!

And...after watching Ella for the last while, quilting away on her Red and White quilt, Gayle has been wanting a hand quilting project, too. Being "Go-for-it-Gayle", she has made one of her own in order to have something to do at the Thursday meetings.

Margaret showed some fabric Bowl Cozies she made recently.  They are sort of a cross between a pot holder and a hot pad. You place a bowl of food in the cozy, pop it all in the microwave and no burned fingers when everything is heated.  The directions come in 3 sizes and tell you how to adjust the darts to fit your own bowls.  From Margaret's point of view, she likes a single fabric on the bowls rather than 2 fabrics.
(Uh oh, somehow no pictures of the bowl cozies!!! -but they are cool).

She shared a simple yet effective Rail Fence quilt that she made for her niece's 2 y.o. daughter.

She also gave us a peek at her friend Julie's quilt made from 5 - 1 yard pieces and a 2.5 yard POP color. Here's a square to show the pattern.

 Cheryl B. quilted both of these quilts and Margaret's friend Sheila made one, too.  Hers is done in florals for her mother.

Dee Dee brought her UN-bound Winter quilt that she quilted herself (on Sara's long-arm) using her own loop and leaf design. The photo does not capture the true beauty of these batiks! It's just lovely.

She also showed us her Christmas present to herself... 12 - 1 yd. cuts of Dupioni Silk from Mary Jo's because once they are gone, they're GONE! The store won't be able to get this silk again, but will be carrying a lesser quality fabric and Dee Dee likes this fabric for her Art Quilts.

Silken gift to herself and...

 She also showed a printing on fabric project that she and Jean worked on together. They used screen printing, jelly print, and stenciling. Jean thought the mono-printing turned out the best.  What fabulous results from the varied techniques attempted!!!

 


Lastly, Dee Dee asked us if we has a THEME or Word For the Year.  Cheryl B.'s is Finish It! Candy's is Deal. Jean's is Rampage. Well, Dee Dee made a quilted reminder of hers!

Maybe we should tell you DeeDee does photography in addition to quilting and drawing?  :)

Lisa was happy to announce that not only was her sewing machine set up but she also had something to SHOW! She found one of her mother's UFOs and decided to work on finishing it. The center is done and the rest is all laid out to sew together. We couldn't tell what the scale was and Lisa said that the quilt is 4 or 5 ft. across.  BIG!  Here was our view of the stunning quilt in progress via Facetime:

Corners are missing, but there's no more fabric for additional blocks.  Most suggested that she use the background color for the corners.  (Joy thinks that she should just leave it the "funky" shape.)

Here's Lisa in her "seat"  She looks happy to be able to join us from "across the pond."  We were certainly happy to have her with us!

This shot shows "The Girls" behaving themselves during the meeting, but we suspect they REALLY thought Margaret and Dee Dee were being awfully rude blocking their view of the quilts!

Tentative Future Scheduling:

May:
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

Until next time...

Happy Quilting!!!

1/8/15 - CCLQ @ Dee Dee's House

It seems like FOREVER since the CCLQ group met!!  Today we were at Dee Dee's house.  It was our quarterly scheduling meeting.  There were 9 members present.  We were all cozied up in Dee Dee's living room with the gas logs going on this cold North Carolina morning.  (So cold, in fact, that the schools called for a delayed opening today!)

The new schedule looks like this:

Here's DeeDee taking down the Nots (as in not this day for me or not that day for her.)

January:

1/8 - Dee Dee
1/15 - Ruth B.
1/22 - Candy
1/29 - Deborah

February:

2/5 - Joy
2/12 - Cheryl K.
2/19 - Gayle
2/26 - Ella

March:

3/5 - Ruth S.
3/12 - Dee Dee
3/19 - Joanna
3/26 - Ruth B.

Members, please be sure to make a note of these dates in your calendars.  ESPECIALLY the day/days that you have to host!!!  :o))

Busy Hands along with Show and Tell:

Deborah was hand quilting.

Cheryl K. was marking diagonals for HSTs.

Linda completed her Sashiko stitching. (Sorry, Linda! I thought I got a better shot of your project.)

Cheryl showed off her Cocktail Apron that a friend requested (made from his ties)...

And Dee Dee showed off the one that Cheryl made for her years ago.

Ruth B. was knitting during the meeting...

As was Candy.

Ruth S. showed off her (nearly completed) mini quilt.

Ella showed off her Blue and Beige quilt based on the Jinny Beyer border print.

Ella is particularly pleased with her MITERED BORDERS!!

 

Cheryl requested a color consult regarding a Chemo Quilt that she and a group of friends will be making.

Ella and Ruth S. were each quilting on their Red and White quilts. This shot shows Ella rearranging her quilt. See the quilt in motion? Ruth is going in for a stitch.

And in this shot, we caught Ella adjusting her glases and Ruth S. pulling the thread through.  See her hand in motion?

Joy was busy sewing down the binding on her Crumb Quilt...

And Dee Dee was busy hiding behind her UN-sewing!  She took a NEW project to SC with her and THIS was the result! 

Until next time...
Happy Quilting and... Happy New Year!!!

Mystery Monday Link-up, Week Six

Welcome to Week Six of this Grand Adventure and our Mystery Monday Link-up!  As you may recall, Bonnie had a New Year's Eve surprise for the hundreds of quilters who are participating in the mystery... The GRAND FINALE!!

A while back, Bonnie designed a block called Big Bang and she wanted to play with quilt layouts that used the block.  After a trip to the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan in May of 2014, Bonnie wanted this year's mystery to reflect the beauty of that place.  She wanted to give it a fresh look and modern look.  What we got, when she combined these two desires, was a quilt that was BRIGHT and BOLD, but used the colors found in the decor of the old hotel.

Here's a photo of the Big Bang block components:

Joy's block with her purple and blue substitutions.

This photo shows Joy's all stacked up and ready to stitch together:

 Clue 6 also required the cornerstone pieces to be cut for completing the quilt.  Joy used hers as leader/enders while piecing the blocks:

And she sewed the sashing pieces together using Bonnie's leader/ender method, too:

ALL of Joy's blocks were completed on New Year's Eve.  Woohoo!!  Party in the sewing room!!! :o)

Big Bang block designed by Bonnie Hunter, this block sewn by Joy!!

On New Year's Day, Joy began to play with her quilt layout:

First, with the blocks set side by side...

Then, a single block set with the sashing...

Finally, a row of blocks set with sashing.

Here is the entire (half-sized) quilt laid out with sashing (minus a wayward unit.):

It sure is busy!!

Joy, decided to make the quilt as Bonnie described.  This photo shows all of her rows stacked up and ready to be sewn:

This shot transports us to the morning of January 2nd.  Joy was on a mission!!  ALL of her rows have been sewn.  Here is her "not quite" quilt top:

Drum roll, please...

Joy completed her quilt top on Friday night!!  Would you like a look at her Mysterious Scrap Explosion???

Here it is (minus the pieced borders) for your viewing pleasure:

WOW!!!  That is one BUSY quilt!!!  :o))

In the meantime Britt was having a slightly different adventure!  She fell behind on making the angled chevron units and the green and white checkerboard so after the big reveal she had a chance to decide whether to keep working on the undone clues.  After a lot of time at the design "wall (uh, floor) she came to the conclusion that her green units were taking away from her favorite parts of the quilt. Here are some of the ideas she tried out along the way:

Bonnie's version of the block with a different center and different sashing options:

These were good options but both required more piecing of the angled chevron blocks (and she was feeling a tad lazy...)

What if the units were rearranged?

This could be cool, but for Britt the black pinwheels dominated a bit too much. So her favorite parts - the broken dishes blocks - got a chance on the design wall by themselves:

broken dishes from clue 1 and clue 5 arranged as big Xs -fun!

broken dishes clue 1 with possible pink centers

And finally this option - a setting Britt has always wanted to try.

Kind of a shocker to go this simple compared to the original - but this was more "Britt-ish" as the NT gals like to say.  :)  So stay tuned to see how it all works out for this quilt!  Black sashing and a turquoise border are anticipated being added - but we won't know till we get there!

And for those wondering what will become of the other units made but not used...there's a plan!  The clue 5 broken dishes units where transformed into more of the clue one broken dish units. The extra turquoise and white half square triangles removed from clue 5 will be added to her in-progress Jamestown Landing (another great Bonnie Hunter pattern). Score!  And there are plans for the other units too including using the chevrons as pinwheels - either on the back of the mystery quilt or as a stand-alone quilt.

Whew! That was a long post!  Thanks for going on this mysterious journey with us!  We had a great time and hope you did too. We also want to thank Bonnie Hunter for designing the Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt and passing it along to the hundreds of quilters who participated in the fun... including us!!

Here's a photo, nipped from Bonnie's blog, showing how her quilt turned out:




And...

No surprise, here!  We're linking up with Bonnie and the other mystery quilters.  We're link number 35 this week.  Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects (in various stages of completion) and consider making a quilt for yourself or one to donate to your favorite quilting charity.

Until next time...
Happy Quilting!!!

Grand Illusion, Week Six

Happy New Year, everyone!  (Just a little late.)

Britt and Joy have been at this mystery quilt thing for SIX WEEKS.  Clues, like clock work, coming on Friday each week.  NOT THIS TIME!!!

Bonnie Hunter, of Quiltville.com,  released the LAST clue in the Grand Illusion Mystery at the stroke of midnight, ringing in the New Year with a BIG REVEAL of her quilt!!!

Here are the pieces that will be incorporated into the blocks:

This photo shows Joy's block components.

Remember, Britt's components are batiks (and MUCH more PINK!)

Can you wait for Monday?

That's when we will link-up with the rest of the Mystery Quilters for the final reveal.

Until then...
Happy Quilting!!!