Wednesday, December 30, 2009

President's Message Jan 2010

Hi everyone and a Happy New Year to one and all!!!

I am already looking forward to the year ahead of us. 2010 will be teeming with new and interesting things to do. The January program will be a trunk show of Melanie West - a Life in Quilts. This collection is not to be missed! Melanie has won many awards, fulfilled commissions, and transformed simple fiber and thread into magnificent works of art. Not only is it a rare view of her numerous beautiful quilts, but it is a true inspiration to all of us.

Our guild has lots of exciting programs, challenges, and events to talk about in January. We will be competing in the UFO Challenge, again. I think it helped many of us to finish quite a few projects that got moved to the back burner. I wish I could say that all of mine were finished, but... maybe this year!

The birthday raffle will also continue. Maybe, we should issue a challenge --- which birthday month rules??? Which month makes the most $$$? And, we don't want to forget our fiber name tags! Remember that one lucky person could win a $10 gift certificate each and every month just for wearing their fiber name tag! There is lots more fun and excitement happening in River City in 2010!

In closing, I want to thank everyone for my WONDERFUL blocks! I love them so. They are the perfect color and pattern for me! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! My many thanks to everyone who helped with the Christmas party. It was a great event! My thanks to everyone who worked so hard last year. Brace yourself for a new year with great achievements yet to come.

Happy Quilting!!
Mary


Items to bring:
  • your filled-out membership application and cash or check (made out to River City) to turn in to Beth Jessup. A new membership application is found at the end of the newsletter. Fill in your ideas and quilt ambitions.
  • January birthday raffle gifts.
  • show & tells. Quilt-like gifts? What did you buy with your Christmas cash??
  • Fat Quarter Lotto, "Dark Blue or Black," for the dark nights of wintertime. Max. of 2 entries.
  • juvenile/baby/youth fabric donations for charity quilts. Also fat quarters, yardage you will never use in 100 years, or any leftover 2.5 inch strips that you will not be using. Norma Payne will have a collection box at every meeting.
  • a friend, a prospective member, or a relative.
  • auction donations, Jo Doherty will have a box there for anyone who is cleaning out and straightening their stash (sewing room) and wants to donate items for the Fall auction.
  • your (fiber) Name Tag - your name is then entered in a drawing for a $10 gift certificate.
  • a list of UFOs - it's time to start your UFO list.  Suzanne Elliott will explain the guidelines

Dec 2009 Meeting Minutes

minutes of –Dec. 5, 2009
Mary Woltmann, president, welcome, 48 members, 4 guests, Grace Broussard is the mother of JoPaula Lantier. Jennifer Artigue of Parker House came to accept this year's auction donation of $2000 +.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  • introduction of guests- Joyce Perry said grace. Dinner.
  • Thank you's to all who contributed to the party.
  • Lilly Willis had a questionnaire on Christmas topics, a get-to-know other members ice-breaker.
  • Name tag winner: Mary Wolf.
  • Treasurer's report. Norma Payne made a motion to "tithe" 10% of the guild funds to the church for use of the facilities, so the donation was $350. Elaine Gosslin seconded the motion.
  • Kathy Perovosnik recommended to ask the church about boosting the amount of parking lot lighting.
  • Saturday Sew In– Dec. 12th 9 to 3. Board meeting at Goodwood Library Dec. 6th.
  • Retreat news 
Brain Storm for Ideas - 2010 Guild Programs
  • Continue UFO Challenge
  • Bus charter for extended trip
  • Play Quilto-Bingo
  • Baby Loc workshop (new machine technique that looks like quilting)
  • Another workshop/lecture like Helen Roddy Brown
Birthday raffle netted $51.

UFO Challenge results (Suzanne Elliott) - of the 432 commitments, 129 were completed, or 30%. Cash Prize awarded to Janet Cundiff, who finished 11.

Drawing for fat quarter prizes: Mary Wolf, Mary Woltmann, Nina Delaune, Debbie Huelett, Glenda Parks, Ginger Givens, Beth Jessup, Lilly Willis, Kathy Perovosnik, and Joyce Perry

Pin cushion & wrapped gift exchanges

Christmas Challenge drawings/winners (6 quilts and 1 table runner):
  • Beth - star quilt
  • Tommie Morden - trees & stars w/ sawtooth border
  • Mary Woltmann - trees
  • Barbara Lankford - stars
  • Kathy Perovosnik - trees w/ red sashes.
  • Lorraine Moore - trees & stars in "X" pattern w/ red/green border.
  • Karen Perron - table runner.
SHOW AND TELL

  • Beth Jessup- Christmas stocking to give away, monogrammed "Shannon" to Karol Guidry
  • Alice Fredlund - "Super Chicken" - a super-sized pin cushion
  • Jo Paula Lantier crazy quilt
  • Marilyn Halvorsen - blue quilt, Christmas tree skirt
  • Maureen Miller - Laurel Burch quilt
  • Marlene Lewis - redwork Christmas wall hanging (3)
  • Kathy Perovosnik - finished niece's penguin quilt Mary Woltmann - presents gifts to officers. Mary receives blocks from the membership.
Beth reports on Adopt-a-Family details. if you need a tax deduction receipt from the diocese, please contact her.

the end

Thursday, December 10, 2009

River City Christmas Party Highlights

And a good time was had by all......

We had a wonderful time with plenty fo gifts, good food and good cheer.  Many thank yous all around for a very successful year.

Some items to note:

  • Please send your recipes for the food you preapred (or where you bought it).  They will be published in the January newsletter.
  • Sunday, December 6th at 2:00pm there will be a Board Meeting at the Goodwood Library.  Please attend for 2010 input, chairpersons and committee members are also asked to attend, if possible.
  • Saturday, December 12th - Sew-In Saturday, bring your own projects, and Norma Payne will be working to prepare kits to sew for charity.  Help is appreciated.
  • If you joined a committee or group at the Christmas Meeting, or want to help in some way, please check to see if your name appears with a particular committee.
  • If you still wish to make a president's block for Mary Woltmann, do so and mail it.  Let her know that it is "in the mail".  She just loved them all.
  • We bid a farewell to Kathy Perevosnik, who has accepted a new position in Georgia, outside of Atlanta.
  • The birthday table has been such a success.  It has garnered over $500 this year.
  • The guild made a donation of $350 to St. Paul's for the use of the church hall in 2009.

President's Message Dec 2009

Hi Everyone!

Merry Christmas!!! How can I be typing those words? Where has this year gone? Nonetheless, our Christmas Party is just a few days away -- December 3. It promises to be a great time for all.! Don't forget your wrapped pincushions and gifts.

A very big thank you to all the participants in our scrap challenge! Your response was wonderful. The talent and creativity of our members continues to be extraordinary!

The board and I would also like to thank you for your great support for our "gift" in the Birthday Raffle - the Christmas Package quilt. Several people have asked the name/location of the pattern -- It is from Quiltmaker Magazine -- the November/December 2008 issue -- "It's a Wrap".

I also want to thank you, all the membership, who contribute so much to our guild. Your talents and efforts not only make our guild a wonderful group, but you also help to preserve the art of quiltmaking for future generations. Your support is greatly appreciated.

I want to encourage each of you to get involved with the guild in any way you can. I sincerely appreciate all o fyou who have volunteered to serve on committees next year. The guild still needs a few more people to "raise their hands". (please check the website under committees) Your contributions to the guild are invaluable, not only to the guild, but to yourself. You will find yourself smiling and havnig fun in the new year as an active participant in River City Quilt Guild!

Happy Quilting in the New Year!

Mary

Nov 2009 Meeting Minutes

minutes of – Nov. 5, 2009 - Mary Woltmann, president, welcome, 60 members, 12 guests, 4 new members 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
 introduction of guests - Auction personnel got thank yous -
  • UFO Challenge— 91 completed so far out of 432 promises. Deadline is Nov. 15th. Prizes to be awarded.
  • Retreat news - Christmas Party - Tommie, Maureen, Kathleen Wyble, Beth gets ham for buffet.
  • Saturday Sew In–Nov. 14th 9 to 3
  • Reminder of pin cushion & wrapped gift exchanges. 6 quilts and 1 table runner are prizes in Christmas Challenge drawings
  • Election of slate of officers by motion and voice vote affirmation.
  • Committees for 2010- review of chairs and participants
  • Candy Bergeron spoke on Quilts of Love project with Stash Builders Guild of Gonzales. Linda Wiggins is your contact person.
  • If you wish to make preemie quilts to go home with the baby from the hospital, use fat-quarter size or 24x24 inch baby fabrics, flannel for backing or as batting or make batting very thin. No yellow fabric, babies appear jaundiced. JoPaula is your contact person for Women's Hospital.
  • "Top of Your Head" - ideas for next year. Write them down. Let Mary know what you think.
  • Beth reports on Adopt-a-Family. Details were sent to you via e-mail. Bring presents or donations by Dec. meeting.
  • Paula Toups and Connie Ewbank have trunk shows at Mama's Quilt Shop in Independence.
  • Norma Payne asks for donations to the charity quilt projects. She plans for pre-cut kits/ with pattern to be made, picked up, pieced, returned, quilted, and bound. The process is broken down into steps with different people undertaking different parts of the process, shared work.
  • Winners:
    • Name tag - Ginger Givens
    • Fat Quarter - Cynthia McGee
    • "Present" Quilt from guild bd. - Karen Tabor
SCRAP CHALLENGE RESULTS:

Beginners:

  • Ginger Givens - basket weave called ''Nickel Bricks', a pattern from the book, Loose Change Quilts from Nickels, Dimes, and Fat Quarters by Claudia Plett & LeAnn Weaver.
  • Lorraine Moore - Helen Roddy Brown pattern, "Montana Scrappy". It was my first challenge to participate in, and while it was a little frustrating at times, I did enjoy finishing the project.
  • Stella Goodbee - 4 patch- 4 patch, on point - winner in beginner category
  • Brenda Gauthier - pinwheels
 Intermediates:

  • Joanna Wilson - "River City Scramble," sashed 9-patch - winner in intermediate category --pattern from the "Australian Patchwork & Quilting " magazine, Vol. 16, No. 1 (2007), p. 40, designer Judy Hooworth calls the quilt Moving-House Blues. Scaled down the block to accommodate our small scraps. Added 7 fabrics from my stash, sashing, and borders. Quilt measures 53" square and was a real delight to make. machine quilted by Kaye Baker
  • Elaine Gosselin - Irish Chain pattern, in value gradation w/white drafted/measured from picture of someone's quilt at a GSQA meeting) then revised placement. More emphasis on values (too much color to cope with). It is composed of 321 (2.5 ") squares plus 108 piano keys for the border. Tea and coffee dyed with pigma pen accents to calm down several very high intensity fabrics. Played with variegated/ombre background remaining half of 5 1/2" squares became piano keys. Both center and key border begin with darks/black in one corner, segued into lights/pastels diagonally in opposite corner. Proved its name: "Value? It's All Relative!" Plan to put most of leftover fabric on back of quilt.
  • Joni DeVilbiss - 2 quilts, 1 from Lynn Roddy Brown patterns, Texas 2 step. The other from Nickel Quilts book pattern named Sunny Lanes
  • Mary Wolf - Jewel Box
  • Tommie Morden - paper-pieced elongated pineapples, a pattern from Quilter's Newsletter magazine 
 Advanced:

  • Debbie Ingram - 8-pointed star as center design, with "X" design radiating from center, a zig-zag border. Made by using all the pieces of each of the 168 squares and adding most of the background/lighter fabric and many more squares from a previous nickel swap we had. The pattern is from the Premier issue of "Irish Quilting Magazine," the name of the pattern is "Sensational Scrappy Irish Charm."
  • Cynthia McGee - Baskets Filled with 4 patches, a center 9 patch block. This was a Lotto block many years ago and I loved it and kept the pattern. It is great for using small pieces of fabric left over from other projects and was perfect for this challenge. My husband loves bed size quilts so I used an alternate block that had dots & circles of many different colors. This alternate fabric helped the many, many different colors, values, and textures in our shared squares compatible with each other.
  • Barbara Lamb - Fans on Point
  • Janet Cundiff - Pointless PinWheels - I tried resizing the pattern to fit the 5" fabric squares and something didn't work...Maybe it was the pattern, or maybe the 1/4" seam was off. Mostly the points were slightly squared off...hence, the name!
  • Glenda Parks -"We Are the World Figures Surrounding Granny's Flower Garden" by Eleanor Burns- (This is a Lost Fabric Story) The challenge began as a miniature snail's trail. I precut all the pieces, put them into a box, and pulled out random pieces. I had about half the squares made. Daughter, Carrie, borrows the box that contains the rest of the scraps. I couldn't find those darned scraps! So I took the blocks apart and remade them into another quilt. After the entire quilt was finished using only about 1/2 the scraps. (I was not eligible for the juried show) Carrie calls, says she has found a bag of scraps in amongst the boxes. I didn't know how to put the found scraps into the quilt. After much thought, I made a long strip of connected scraps and sewed it onto the quilt like a "rope." Then, I attached the rope to the quilt linking the figure's hands together. It is a small world after all.
  • Connie Ewbank -Framed squares
  • Linda Wiggins - "Runaway Threads (Spools)" the pattern, the negative/positive of the spools and the scale size change were very appealing to me, suffering from scrap itis. Upon completing the top, I found about 40 extra 2" squares and could not tell if they were supposed to be used in the quilt or not. So, just in case, I made the binding from all 2" squares. And now, after being in Scrap Therapy for a while, instead of being cured, I am a true addict!!!! no longer a recovering scrapaholic!
  • Beth Jessup - "Tea Leaf"- pattern from “More Quilts from The Quilt Makers Gift” by Joanne Larsen Line. Nancy Clement had shown me an applique technique from Sharon Shamburg, using freezer paper for the design and ironing it to the wrong side of the fabric. Then, you cut out all the designs leaving a ¼ inch seam. Next, you dab on spray starch with a brush on the ¼” seam and iron the seam to the inside on the back. Dab a little Elmer’s glue around on the turned under seam, and place on the background fabric. Then, using invisible thread and a very narrow zig zag stitch, you stitch your design to your background. My first attempt at a quilt with machine appliqué. I really challenge myself to do something I hadn’t done before. I have a quilt that looks like circles. I think the quilt took me the longest of any I have made yet. I spent many a night in front of the TV, iron, cutting out, and gluing. I decided to call the quilt “Getting Round Tuit” as the design appears to be circular.
  • Nina Delaune - Appliqued Flower Vase w/ piano key border, nicely quilted, winner in advanced category 
SHOW AND TELL

  • A short preview of some of the Christmas Challenge quilt tops (trees/star blocks) for the drawing.
  • Cheryl Marts -Sea Star
  • Joni - Safe Stor a unit with (4) 13"x13" drawers and a handle on top. At www.blockboxcompany.com for $32.95. Tentacle Grips adhesive non skid pads you can put on rulers $5.95 online at http://www.graceframe.com. Pattern Also bought myself a challenge, a pattern with curves.
  • Mary Woltmann - 54-40 Or Fight, stars in aqua, purple and orange, won ribbon in split complementary contest.
  • Jo Doherty 4 quilts
  • Maureen Miller - Kaffe Fassett fabrics in red/violet/purple quilt
  • Margie Bumm Houston finds, coffin quilt made of paper-pieced New York beauty stars.
  • Joanna Wilson - "Butterfly Kisses," a BOM at Amelia's during 2009. Machine quilted by Pat Klein.
  • Suzanne Elliott Houston finds - kit
  • Norma Payne Houston finds - kit, ruler, fabrics
  • Connie Ewbank - her new book, 9-patch mania, did very well in Houston
  • Barbara Lankford - LSU table runner and LSU embellished Cat Doll
  • Nina Delaune - apian theme fabrics, green and red violet, in quilt
  • Jo Paula Lantier Mardi Gras Mystery quilt
  • Harry Comeaux - brown quilt, on point, for son; blue charity quilt made with Maple Island pattern,
  • Jessie Comeaux - several quilts of valor that she quilted on the long arm
  • Linda Wiggins - LSU X quilt (ruler), winner of GSQA "Holiday" lotto blocks, Halloween and ??
  • Ginger Givens - T-shirt quilt - for 8 year old grandson, Christopher, made from his collection of team shirts, saved since he was 4 years old.
  • Debbie Hulett - a whole cloth hand quilted pillow from a GSQA seminar class on hand quilting, taught by Darlene Christopherson. Hunter's Star table runner from a class taught by Cheryl Marts
  • Elaine Gosselin - Halloween wall hanging kit (included on UFOs). Grand kids think it's weird!
  • Beth Jessup - Christmas stocking for daughter, Rachel, made with tattooed lady fabrics.
  • Janet Cundiff - BOM from Amelia's Quilt Shop, 2009