Show & Tell - September 27, 2014

We had a great lunch & learn this week. With about 20 ladies in attendance, there was plenty of good food to enjoy.  After everyone enjoyed the food, we had our usual show & tell.

 B.J. Herter started us off with an applique' jacket she made from a sweatshirt. The pumpkins are yo-yos. and the leaves are from a craft store.



Kay Flanagan loved the jacket so much, she just had to try it on.

 Lois Rose was next with a sports themed rag quilt and a Christmas horse wall hanging panel she completed as a gift for a neighbor.

Marty Rhyne proudly showed her first pillowcase creations, with lovely bright Florida colors. She planning to pair these with her bright yellow sheets.  Talk about a wake up!

 Kathy Nichols also had a jacket creation to show. This one began as a man's shirt, artistically cut and pieced into a patchwork, scrappy jacket.

 Linda Parr also came in with a first - she proudly displayed her first doggy bed.

Edie Cave also brought in one more completed doggy bed.

Quite a few of our members have taken home doggy bed sleeves to fill, with the understanding that there is no time limit on this.  We should see more of these in the weeks and months to come.

 Joyce Yarborough is back with us and she showed her first pillowcase. This one is for her grandson.

 Mary Nazyiewickz is also back from a summer away.  She saw last week's blog with all the pumpkins and brought in one she made a few years ago to show us.

 After show & tell, Judy Johnson began her demo of how to make a pillow cover and an easy one-size fits all apron.


The ladies loved these and quickly got to work making their own.  

Susan was the first to finish a pillow cover.  I'm sure we will see more next week.







Edie also gave us an update on Carol Planck.  She is still in rehab recovering from her fall and very bored.  Edie is going to visit Carol this weekend.   Please join us in praying for her speedy recovery so she can get back home.

Show & Tell - September 21, 2014

Fabric Fun Pumpkin Patch (with one pumpkin "to be" up front)

We had a great turnout today.  It seems everyone wanted to make a pumpkin.  Thank you Pat Pipa for a great project.


Both of Audrey Phillips' daughters joined us this week.

Lynne Conner began show & tell by displaying the Halloween costumes she is making for her grand-babies, complete with manequins.  The three year old gets to be a Halloween princess with a tulle skirt and a witches hat.


 The three month old gets a softer costume.  She will be trick or treating as a lamb.    Soooo cute!

 Daughter number 2, Vicky Cochran came with 3 of the aprons made from men's shirts that we learned to make 2 weeks ago.

The sisters modeled theirs and Vicky displayed a third that she is experimenting with the collar on.

Eileen DiSanto was next, showing the pillowcases she made for Bexley to take to the hospital.

Carol Riggs then gave a report on the fund raiser she held last week at her house to raise money for Bexley's expenses.  (Bexley is the local young girl who is suffering from multiple diseases, in a low income family.) She got loads of donations from various groups in the Villages as well as a number of area stores.  So far over $2,500 has been raised and donations are still coming in.  Carol brought a few items that were left over from the fund raiser to give our ladies the opportunity to buy them at reduced prices.

 Linda Lynch was the next one to show a completed midi bag.

She also showed a Halloween placemat and coasters that reverse to a general autumn theme.  Nice work.

Our dear Cheryl Minieri came in a little late, but not too late to show that she too has finished her midi bag.  Way to go Cheryl!






My efforts to sew up a bunch of doggie bed sleeves did not  go for nothing.  Kathy Jones brought one in filled and Edie Cave came in with arms full of 3 doggie beds. Plus many ladies took sleeves home to put next to their sewing machines to collect scraps over the next few weeks/months.

At the end of show & tell, Pat Pipa showed the group how easy it is to make a fabric pumpkin. No sewing machines, just a fat quarter, a needle & thread,some stuffing, a little felt and a little yarn. Just about everyone in the room finished one. We had one almost finished, with a small mistake that made that perfectionist take it apart again, but we included that partially done one in the picture anyway.
(Note: there are more pumpkins on the table than women.  We had quite a few shy ones who opted out of the group photo, but their pumpkins are included.)  Great work ladies and thank you Pat.

Show & Tell - September 13, 2014

We had lots of great show & tell this week.

Jane Swafford Started us off by showing her completed midi bag.  I continue to be impressed by how many of the ladies have finished this project and I know more are on the way.

 Lois Rose brought a doggie bed and 2 lap quilts with biblical quote blocks she made for relatives.

Pauline Nizza finished her foot mop from last week's project by adding a cute face on top.

Marty Rhyne made a variety of neck coolers to show the possibilities of this week's project.  After show & tell she led the group in making these nice additions to a golfer's essentials while out in the Florida heat.

 Edie Cave continues to thrill us with her fidget quilt creations.  This week she brought 3 military/patriotic themed fidgets and 1with baby birds and a garden.  Lovely.

 

 Kathy Jones finished her foot mop and modeled it for us.  She also showed us an old button doll she had, to give us some ideas of what can be done with spare buttons.

 

 Pat O'Connor made the rounds of the quilt shops in New York while she was away and showed us the results - an 8 panel quilt representing the New York shops she visited.

She also collected the shop license plates and showed us a few of them.

Linda Lynch finished her foot mop in a nice froggy green.

Pat Pipa made a great ruler tote.  This was from a pattern she bought, but she modified it to fit her rulers, which are larger than the pattern allowed.  This is a great, practical addition to a quilter's tools.

 Donna Pachy came in with her completed midi bag.  Please excuse the blur - I couldn't get her to hold still.  I think she was excited about her completed projects. :-))

Since there has been som discussion lately of microwave bowl potholders, Donna also brought her finger microwave holders to show.

 Joy Stanton completed not one, but three foot mops.  She's definitely ready to skate around her floors.

She also made a microwave bowl potholder for a large bowl.  Nice modification of the basic pattern.












Next week Pat Pipa will show us how to make Halloween pumpkins.  If you can make it, bring an orange fat quarter and join in the fun!

Show & Tell - September 6, 2014

Donna was back with us this week to run the meeting.   We had 6 ladies sign up for show and tell, but there were a few other shy ones who we convinced to show their creations at the end as well.

Linda Parr couldn't stay for the full meeting, but she came by before the start to drop off about a dozen pillow cases she and a friend made, as well as some donated fidget quilt supplies.  Thank you Linda.

One of our favorite sewing machine, vacuum cleaner and fabric stores, Sharky's is running an NFL quilt block challenge.  They are asking customers to buy a 1/4 yard of any of the NFL fabrics they have in stock and come back with a quilt block to be displayed in the store.  Customers can come in and vote for their favorite block and the winner will get a prize from Sharky's.
Lois Rose took up the challenge with her husband's favorite team, using a combination of quilting and machine embroidery.

Pauline Nizza was next. She showed off her lovely crocheted scarf.

Kathy Jones was the latest to finish and show her midi bag.  She was one of the ladies who didn't start hers with the group, but did it at home on her own.  She said her biggest problem was the lining. The instructions say to cut the lining the same size as the bag, but this results in a lining that is a little big, so it has to be lined up just right along the seams, eased in or cut back a little.  Despite the challenge, Kathy's bag came out beautiful.

Kathy also showed a beautiful t-shirt quilt she made for her husband, using shirts he had gotten from races he ran over the years.  The design is lovely and she had it quilted by one of the ladies in the quilting guild with a long-arm machine.   We know her husband will be thrilled with this surprise gift.

Linda Lynch showed a lovely Christmas table mat she made. 

Welcome back Becky Chianese!  She showed a great house table runner.   She has promised us the pattern and we are looking forward to it.

Edie Cave brought in a doggie bed and showed a cute fabric owl card she made for her sister. Opened as shown in the picture, it can also be hung up for display.  Nice job Edie.

Joy Stanton came in with a nice big doggie bed.  Donna told me that large ones are needed because the larger dogs don't get adopted as fast. 

BTW, Lois sewed up a bunch of doggie bed envelopes this week and put them on our shelves.  Anyone who would like can take one home and slowly fill it with your sewing scraps.  We always have scraps being donated to us as well, so you may be able to find some in our supplies to supplement what you have..  It doesn't matter how long it takes you to fill it up, there will be a dog who will appreciate it now or later.

Kay Flanagan has been busy working on embroidered cardinals.  She held her work up for all to see her lovely needlework.  Our own centenarian continues to amaze us.

After show & tell, Audrey Philips demonstrated how to make cute floor mops that you wear over your shoes to skate around your kitchen floor dusting or cleaning up spills.  These look like so much fun.  Several of the ladies made their own after the demo and had fun skating around the craft room.  I'm hoping some of these finished "mops" come back for next week's show & tell.