The Morning After - March 30, 2011

Okay - so I'm behind on the morning afters! I have to tell you, my full time job and life in general just gets in the way of quilting. When we started getting together, we were a half dozen or so "quilters" who worked together and we started carving out an evening about once a month (or so) to share ideas and our common love of quilting. The morning after was born to keep everyone in the loop and to take the opportunity to thank whoever hosted the evening activities...after missing a couple of "morning after" emails, I realize that it is part of who we are and how we have developed as a group. ~It helps to keep us connected~

In March, we had a pot luck and a fabric swap/sale at my house - I'm sorry if you missed it, because it was sooooo much fun. Dale spoke about color to launch our series "all about color" and provided some great hand-outs. As always, we spent some time with show and tell. Jessie showed the green and black quilt she quilted herself, on my long arm. This was her first time free motion quilting and it looks amazing!!





Lisa brought her king sized quilt top (not yet quilted at the time) and Kyle had several beautiful quilts, as always, in vivid colors and patterns.







I think the Cat in the Hat quilt was Devin's, but I could be wrong... please let me know and I'll give credit. It was cute as a bug's ear!


After sharing, we got down to shopping! My house had stacks of fabric in every corner and a lot of fabric changed hands that night! This was the best, because we could shop, share, discuss, get, and give ideas and inspiration and I'm telling you - a lot of new quilts were started that night! Now keep in mind, some of this fabric has lain dormant in cupboards and drawers for years...the following day, the resounding message from everyone was "when can we do it again?"

~ Linda



Yes - there are more morning afters.... April and May - I am getting to them as fast as I can! To tell you the truth, I have so many pictures; that is what is taking so long as I want to get most of them on the blog. Uploading the pictures onto the blog isn't the easiest, and can be a little time consuming, but please bear with me, and I will get the other two months up as soon as I can. :)

Vickie ~

March 30, 2011 Potluck and Fabric Swap/Sale

Hi Everyone,

We're going to change things up a little for our March gathering. We are going to have a fabric swap/sale. This isn't something we've tried before so we'll make it up as we go along. And, in keeping with the idea of addressing our "punch list of things to do", we decided this would be a great opportunity to talk about COLOR!!

So.. start gathering your fabric up and decide what you can let go of, and what you can't live without (Dale)! And bring it to my house on March 30 for another lively gathering. Her are some guidelines I hope will be helpful:

• Price your fabric the way you see fit.
• Measure and fold pieces of fabric ahead of time if possible and - label them. This will lesson the confusion. (Because you know what it's like to put a dozen quilters in a room full of fabric, right?)
• If you have different sizes, keep all the "fat quarters" together and bigger pieces in another stack.
• If you have kits, or groups of fabric you might include information like the size of the quilt, pattern...
• Use easy stick labels or tape for size and pricing. I will have some on hand!!
• If you have other items you would like to trade/sell/or give away - bring them along. This could be mats, rulers, marking tools, books, etc...

For Buyers -

• Bring patterns you're thinking of making so you don't have to guess about yardage.
• Sample label:

Linda
4 yards - sell all or part
$3.00 per yard

And now, the rest of the story -

If you have some fabric that you LOVE because of the color, bring it even if you don't want to sell - remember, we will be talking about color and I'm hoping this will be a really interactive discussion! Being able to see many different combinations of colors in our favorite fabrics will benefit us all! Secondly, you might find something at the sale that goes great with some of the favorites you already have.

This will be a Potluck - so bring a dish. It can be whatever you'd like to share.

Linda's house.

March 30, 2011 - Early evening (I get home at 5:00pm)
6731 Round Tree Drive
907-242-7220

The Morning After - February 23, 2011

I've been thinking about how to re-cap our February gathering for the "morning after" message because there were so many projects to talk about! This is a very motivated and creative group. Armida graciously offered to host our gathering and fed us well with tacos, Spanish rice, ships and dips....several ladies brought desserts, including chocolate covered strawberries that Devin made. Yum ~

As projects were brought in, Armida draped them about the room to be admired. I tried to get pictures of everything, but I realized after the fact that a couple of them were too blurry to use on our blog. Shirley and Jessie brought their FIRST completed projects and they are so cool - check them out! Shirley made a beautiful table runner and Jessie finished the binding on her first baby blanket. This is a huge accomplishment! I remember the first quilting project I did....it took me forever to take the binding!

Lisa brought two table toppers ( I love this pattern ), Georgia brought her beautiful paper pieced batik quilt and Patty brought two very cool quilts - check out these pictures.

Armida has so many projects (some finished, some in the works) I hardly know where to start-it's hard to believe she works full time! She had several finished several "baby girl" quilts to show and if that isn't enough, she made some diaper bags to go with! Adorable! Armida also has two "mystery quilts" in the works, one of which is black, white and red (see photo). Can't wait to see it finished.

Armida invited Mary Kay to come and give us a demo on how to make a coin purse - they are too cute and would be fun to make for gifts. Mary Kay works at Quilt Zone and it was fun to chat with her and talk about her projects! She's a very talented lady - Thank you so much from all of us for taking the time to come and do the demo!! And please come back and join us anytime! The pattern and hardware for the coin purses are available at Quilt Zone.

I hope I didn't leave anything out! I brought my (finally completed) Asian quilt and by coincidence, Armida has the same quilt! The fabrics were a little different, and the quilting was also done differently, but it's the same pattern. This is a good example of how different quilting and finishing can really change the look of a quilt. Unfortunately, the pictures I took were too blurry to use.

COMING SOON: The Royal Wedding Party at Dale's house in April! And Patty doesn't know it yet, but we're going to ask her to do a class on applique'.

Vickie, Donna, and Aubrey - we missed you! Thanks again, Armida.

~Linda

The Morning After - January 19, 2011

Hi there,

I believe we were generating enough energy to light a small city last night! I hope you all had as much fun as I did. I'm sorry if you could not make it, because it was a good time - I know Barb and Nancy weren't feeling well and I hope you both feel better fast! Aubrey wanted to come as well, but had to prepare for a trip. You were all missed.

Show and tell was impromptu and grew as each person arrived adding to the collection of treasures to see and touch - ooh and ahh over!!! There were so many neat projects in various stages of completion - Lisa's table topper (love this pattern) and Jessie's baby quilts, ready for binding! Dales knitted baby sweater and the amazing black and white quilt she's making for Shirley (lucky Shirley!). Patty brought some very cool completed appliqued blocks - Donna brought a beautiful quilt that she has "channel quilted" on her machine, Armida brought her fabric for the "mystery quilt" (and the first two segments of the instructions) - I am intrigued by this project and I think I may take this one on with Armida! It looks like fun, and completely out of my comfort zone of planning and staging and knowing what happens next! We'll keep you posted on the progress.

Next we carbed up on lasagna, bread, salad, and several desserts - dinner was a group effort and thanks to everyone who contributed! We do eat well!

Shirley prompted us to "get to work". No getting sluggish after dinner with Shirley around! As promised, we did a rotary cutting workshop - which included basic use, product chat, safety, squaring up....followed by "binding chat". Shirley and Jessie were extremely industrious and stayed on task with their projects. There were several "hound outs", including some patterns, basics on rotary cutting and a "little helper for binding. If you missed this gathering, remind me next time and I'll make sure you get any of the handouts that you would like to have. Additionally, I created a little worksheet for calculating fabric for borders and binding, but I did not make copies. I'll send this to everyone by email. If you don't it, discard it. If you get it and need to go over it, just call.

Vickie took pictures for us and is going to update our Needle Nutz blog! So watch for an update - our blog is so cool if you haven't checked it out - take a look - Vickie created it and keeps it maintained - it's time consuming and a lot of work, not to mention it takes skill and talent! So I just want to than Vickie. (Thanks, Linda.. )

Our January gathering was planning from our "to do list" that we created at our Christmas party and if it's any sign of how this year is going to go, 2011 is going to be a lot of fun!

Until next time ~ Linda

The Morning After - December 9, 2010

Merry Christmas All,

For those who missed our social gathering last night - we missed you - and you missed a fun evening. Lisa hosted and her husband, Jim, had prepared some very tasty eggplant parmesan (yum) and everyone contributed something; as always we ate very well! Patty brought a "dip" that everyone liked so much. I will send it out in an email to everyone. The food was wonderful and the company was excellent.

After we had our fill of all the yummy food, we did the (Chinese auction) fat quarter exchange; everyone was well behaved, but some of the fabric made it's way around the room a couple of times! We had some good laughs and there was lots of chatting about what might be made with our new treasures...its pretty entertaining that we can get so excited over a quarter yard of fabric! But everyone loved it and I could see us doing this again.

Nancy shared a couple of very neat projects - she has made some really cool handbags for her granddaughters and she has also been making some coasters - wish I had pictures. I hope to find the bag pattern - it was a freebie on allpeoplequilt.com.

We wrapped up the evening discussing ideas for our coming year, as a group. We gathered a list of things that our group would like to spend time on, some of which are:

• Rotary cutting - what makes a quilt square - or not?! Layers - how much fabric (layers) in a cut?


• Binding


• Thread and needles


• Batting


• Color coordinating


• Free motion machine quilting


• Hints, tricks, shortcuts, and everything!


• Tools of the trade, rulers, mats, markers...


• (Painless) quilt math


• Seam allowance


• Calculating fabric for backing, borders, and binding

We always try to keep demonstrations short but I'm getting the idea that some things we might want to spend a little more time on. Binding, for example and rotary cutting are both core to making and completing almost every project. And if you think of something else - speak up. I also want to encourage anyone who would like to teach a pattern or project! We all want to learn new things.

Everyone agrees that we like the projects and someone suggested a block of the month would be fun. I love this idea and Georgia has some books with many block patterns that she'll bring to the next meeting - more to come on that in a couple of weeks.

Armida wanted to share that one of the things she did with the group from Fairbanks beginning in January was a mystery quilt. Each month, January and through June, she would receive a step for a quilt. She had no idea what it would look like until the end. By July, they would be completed enough for show which was called "Quilts on the Line"...it was exactly that. Quilts hanging in someones yard for show. She said they would have lunch and admire everyone's creations. Armida said this is her first time doing a mystery quilt.

The "morning after" email has gotten wordier than I intended, so until January's gathering - remember that each of us contributes something unique and special to our group. Even if you don't realize it, please believe me - you are missed when you aren't there and you bring something special to us when you are. I am truly grateful for you all.

~Blessings and Happy Holidays ~ Linda

The Morning After - November 10, 2010

First of all - please forgive me for not updating the blog regularly. I'm going to try my best to keep it up this year.

Dale hosted the November's meeting at her house. Of course I forgot my camera, so I apologize for not having any pictures.

Dale showed up how to make some Christmas tree napkins. They are fast and easy and make wonderful gifts. Four napkins take a 1/2 yard each of two fabrics. If you didn't get the instructions to make the napkins; I'm sure Dale still has them.

Linda demonstated pillow case making to the class. I admit... when I haven't done something in awhile, I tend to forget. It was a nice refresher course. Pillowcases make such nice gifts and nice additions to those finished quilts.

And since I'm just now updated this... I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. :)

~ Vickie

The Morning After - June 23, 2010

I hosted our last meeting in my home on Wednesday, June 23rd. Our goal for the evening was to teach basic beginner quilting techniques and I think we accomplished that. Thanks to all that helped with the newbies.

I wasn't sure my living room was going to be large enough for our group, but it worked out just fine. See? I worried for nothing.

Here is Patty's gorgeous pinwheel table runner using some fruit fabric. I especially liked the sashing in between. It really made the pinwheels pop!

Here's another shot, showing the back. This is a reversible table runner. Nice work, Patty.

Thanks to Barb for a wonderful Mexican buffet! You outdid yourself. You can bring dinner over to my house anytime!

Here's Linda pressing her fabric for her newest creation.

Barb and Jessie busy at work.

Linda's hockey fabric.

Here is a picture of Aubrey's trivet that she created with the locker hooking method using scraps of fabric. Nice!

Jessie working on her runner with Patty's help. Barb busy at work. :)

Dale and George, with Lisa busy sewing. Some of us worked on table runners, while other worked on their own projects.

Dale helping Aubrey getting her locker hooking started. I still have yet to get my started. How bad is that?

Lisa with her completed table runner pinwheel blocks completed. The colors worked out great for this. Nice work!



Here is part one of a video that Patty took of our meeting.



Here is the second video that Patty took.

We haven't decided on a date for our next meeting, but those of you that are working on your table runner, we can sandwich your quilt tops and learn some basic quilting techniques....either free motion or "stitch in the ditch". We'll go over over binding after that.

I would be more than happy to demonstrate some free motion quilting at the next meeting. I hope to have my runner top completed if I can find some border fabric that will match my blocks! The border fabric I picked out just wasn't working. That happens sometimes. :P

I had a great time and it looks like everyone else did too. It's always a lot of fun getting together.

'Til next time... Vickie