Monday, June 22, 2009

Thanks Kathy

Special Thanks to Kathy Perevosnik for sharing her pictures of June's meeting with us.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

AQS "Rate-the-Quilter"

Your skill level as a quilter:

  • Beginner - made 5 or less quilts
  • Intermediate - made more than 6 quilts and have tried several techniques
  • Advanced - can make most patterns using almost any technique
  • Expert, teacher, designer, or professional.

Give yourself a little credit. We, as quilters, often times underrate ourselves, out of self-doubt or modesty, as to how we rate our sewing capabilities amongst our guild peers. Take a look at the AQS standards and massage your status a little bit. You may be better than you think.

President's Message Jun 2009

Hi everyone!

As I was getting ready to write the newsletter, I went to our website‑‑I just wanted to marvel over it one more time! The quilts in the monthly show and tell section are simply amazing‑‑all created by our members! We have such a talented and creative group of members! Every month I leave the meeting filled with inspiration and the desire to create!

I hope everyone enjoyed Lynn Roddy Brown's lecture and class as much as I did! I learned a lot and will hopefully put what I learned in my quilts! We were so fortunate to have her visit and teach! Maybe this will be the start of a new tradition for River City.

Our sharing of quilts each meeting continues. We hope that LOTS of you will bring your memento quilts to share: wedding, anniversary, or special occasion quilts! We would love to see them all!! I am really looking forward to what I will see at this month's meeting!

Happy Quilting!
Mary

  • Tonight – Very Special Quilts – made for special occasions - Weddings, anniversaries, memory quilts, hand‑made mementos like ring bearer pillows, garters, gifts for the bride, groom, or parents of the bride, and any other sentimental items....AND a program on memory blocks and label making.

    Things to bring to the meeting:

  • bring the June birthday raffle gift - see Barbara Hoffman

  • bring finds & tells about the Mama's Big Bus Tour

  • bring Memento quilts to decorate the room and tell us about the occasion at Show & tell.

  • bring your regular show & tells, plus Lynn Roddy Brown Scrap Quilt Workshop projects.

  • F Q Lotto "Antique White" -a little something (new) for a Bride to Be. Any white-on-white or creme-on-white fabrics that would go great in a newly-wed memento. 2 entries are the max.

  • Wear Your (fiber) Name Tag - your name is then entered in a drawing for a $10 gift certificate.

May 2009 Meeting Minutes

Mary Woltmann, president, welcome, 51 members, 7 guests

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

  • introduction of guests
  • thanks to Barbara Hoffman for the Sewing Studio program
  • details about the tote class with Beth Jessup on June 13th
  • new guild website announced, http://www.rivercityquilts.blogspot.com/
  • guild auction moved to October

BREAK

PROGRAM:
- Lynn Roddy Brown lecture - "Scrap Quilts According to Me"
Question, "Who has more fabric than they can ever use?" A show of many hands. Early in her marriage, she received a scrap quilt from a relative and hated it. It was a dark, medium, light quandary.
Scrap Axioms: A well designed scrap quilt makes you "look across" the quilt, not lingering in one spot. Roberta Horton says, 'a scrap quilt cannot be memorized.'
VALUE: the basis of scrap quilting, the placement of value makes the secondary pattern.
MAKE A DECISION AND STICK TO IT: separate darks and lights and stick to it. Don't mix. Arrange all of your fabrics by value light to dark. Look at the sequence. Make sure there is a noticeable "gap" in the value sequence, between the (lightest) dark and the (darkest) light. Do not use fabric that has large dots, the light spots can throw off the value comparison.
SCRAP QUILT BY COLOR - make a 2 color quilt. All the dark values in one color, and all the light values in the 2nd color. Obey the rule, or mistakes will pop out at you. You can "loose the value" if all the red fabrics are the same value. Reds go a long way!! Solids and batiks are for making edges, lines, or stopping points - a soft place for your eyes to rest. Use big prints for borders or backings.
SCRAP QUILT BY RELATED FABRICS - this could be a fabric producer's line (like Moda charm packs), kids' fabrics, Civil War, Thimbleberries, and Kaffe Fassett. Sale table fabrics, the really ugly ones make great scraps. When using children's brights on a common background (either black or white background), use any color other than black to break it up. The edges get lost.
- Muslin goes with everything. "The worse my Life gets, the more I sew."
STAND ALONE BLOCKS - the block pattern is apparent (like churn dash), lights and darks are easily seen on a quilt.
**In Scrap Quilting, through the placement of light and dark values create an underlying structure (or secondary design) and holds the quilt together.
PURPLE GOES WITH EVERYTHING - particularly as a border. Match the value of the quilting thread to the border. Brassy gold thread (Fons & Porter) makes your quilting show up.
BRASSY GOLD FABRIC - makes a great inner border; a clean break. often on the sale table.
SUNKEN COST - THE MANTRA OF EVERY QUILTER - Sunken cost is the money you expended on something that you will not recoup, i.e. you are the mother of the bride, you spend outrageous dollars on a dress you wear only once. The money is spent. In quilting, you purchase fabric for your stash that you just had to have. Same thing. Once the money is spent on your stash, then any quilt you make is in economic terms, "FREE." I like economics!!
LEAVE YOUR GUILT AT THE QUILT STORE DOOR - UFO's don't matter, (see previous paragraph) they are all free. Start another quilt. If the UFO's make you unhappy or pensive, just give THEM away. It's better for your mental health.
A PLACE TO START - Pick a simple block pattern. Pick out 13 fabrics (Fat Quarters). Differentiate between light/dark fabric. Choose fabrics to make 3 blocks. Place in different spots on the design board. Pick other fabrics from the 13, then repeat. Construct a quilt top by moving blocks into different positions. If using "reds" use 1 red per block. Keep making and moving blocks until pleased.
EVERY QUILT IS A LEARNING PROCESS.
ONE-HALF LOG CABIN - by Sharon Cray has a strong shift in value from light to dark.
SCATTER THESE STRONG COLORS IN THE QUILT: red, teal, and gold
SIZE MATTERS - small and tiny prints add interest.
MAKE THE BORDER FIT - for borders, cut "piano keys" the size the same as the block parts (2.5" or whatever works). Then the borders should fit with the use of "cornerstones."
SORT YOUR STASH. LR Brown's stash is separated by hue, then special categories like stripes, plaids, batiks, children's, 30's, Civil War, whatever your quirk is, etc.
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? - view the blocks on your design wall through a reducing glass, peephole, digital camera viewfinder, "from across the room, " or just squint.
CUT UP YOUR LEFTOVERS. Take a little time to cut up leftover project fabrics into 2.5" strips, store by value, use at your leisure. Some folks cut several strips just as soon as the fabric is home from the store. LRB had great examples to show and was a real pleasure to listen to.

Birthday raffle winners: Kathy, Debbie H., Cynthia McGee, Elaine Gosselin

Fat Quarter winner: Linda Wiggins

Name Tag winner: Martha deHoop