Weekly update - April 25, 2015

Hi Fabric Fun Ladies - say goodbye for April 2015 and hello May... a month that starts very busy time for lots of families and mine is one of them.  We  have our son's wedding at  Naval Academy in Annapolis on May 17th, then we'll be grand-dog-sitting the whole next week for their honeymoon away, when we arrive back to The Villages our wonderful fun time with Hilary and Barry from England starts for two weeks, followed by then a 5-week (+?) grandsons visit to stay part of summer here with G'Mom & G'Pop.  Thru all of that though, I'm counting on this club's fun to anchor me in some sort of organization and sanity.  And maybe, just maybe, by August... what started a very different year for me last August will come full circle.  I'd like that and have some regular old normal stuff on the timeline.  I know many of you can relate to this, but I will admit that I'm not complaining in any way... overall I've had a "busy fun" cloud over my head.  And I know that some of you have had the opposite - those dreaded "black" clouds over yours.  For you, I continually send out thoughts and prayers and just want you to know that this club will keep chugging along with inspiration and fun sewing crafting and look forward to those times when time allows and you make it to our Saturdays at SeaBreeze. 

I want to mention that we're from Baltimore, Maryland and I'm sure you see what's going on there in the news.  This is incredible to us and lots of family still lives there, brothers, sisters, cousins, nieces, nephews, friends and neighbors.  I remember very well the 1968 riots after Martin Luther King's assassination because at the time I drove to work in Baltimore City every day and had a carpool of 3 other ladies in my little 1967 red Mustang.  We had to drive straight up Gay Street, across 25th to Belair Rd.  Some of that got pretty tense, keeping eyes forward, stopping for nothing, couple times running red lights so not to get stuck at a corner.  We were young and too stupid to be too afraid, I remember my Dad giving me instructions on what to do "if", and most of all I remember just thinking faith would be with me. 

Watching the current news coverage - 24 hr cycle is brutal - it is hard to find faith again in the situation going on - but there are bits and pieces to grasp at and one I want you all to take notice of is the courageous mother in her yellow dress who sees her son in the protestors, pulls him out in front of everyone - keeps yanking the hoodie off his head, yells at him to "get over here, you want to be part of this" and does not give up even when he throws a punch or two at her.  She gets my vote for "Mother of the Year"!  My prayer will be constant that somehow this woman/mother becomes a hero - a superstar - and one who other women and mothers follow suit.  And these people tweeting or facebook saying, oh she shouldn't hit her son or shout at him with those words like that - Shut Up!  It's because we're supposed not to spank children, be kinder, gentler that kids are running rampant and showing less and less respect for superiors and parents and thinking they are invincible like in video games.  Political Correctness is the real crime in America!

Back to sewing crafting fun - it's fantastic the many crafting balls in the air that our club has going on any given week.  We each bring something to the party for sure.  Talk about something at a party, Lois Rose bought Spinach Manicotti that everyone loved!  Lois sent me the link to get to this receipe and that you find below.  We got to lunch and started show and tell and then the drop-ins began, too.  All in all, just tried to keep on track and that didn't happen too well for me, so when I got to learn, exhaustion was setting in, and I kind of presented the ideas of two projects on the go in my house for photo-memory fun.  I started with an inspiration/idea or two, and thru the process of gathering the pictures and materials to use, my projects morphed into their final forms.  I love that process more than I do getting to the final completed piece.  I'm attaching a couple pdf's that give a couple examples of easy photo memory ideas that can be as elaborate or as simple as your skill level or desires take you.  Whether using fabric or cardstock, or some of both, it's always very rewarding to put together memories to keep or give away. 

Show and Tell:

Nancy Cartlidge - pillowcases and blankets for grandchildren - some for boys, some for girls - with the "Frozen sisters, of course".  Beautiful work that Nancy is happily sending along home with the grandkids when they leave again.   Great ideas here!

 Lu Karatzas - was first to show off her fractured art piece - Lu finished her creation as a pillow - very pretty.  And Lu took her tablerunner theme fabric from last week a step further by creating a beautiful wallhanging piece of art with hanging pocket and all.  Not having a specific place for this finished lovely piece, Lu offered it around.  And Kathy Nichols has the perfect little lady - her granddaughter who is Chinese named Zilin, and she graduates  high school this  year - very cool gifting forward from Lu to Kathy to Zilin.

Marie Bray - we are saying goodbye to Marie now for her return to England and all her family and friends over there.  Marie is just such a solid lady, lots of fun - great sense of British humor - and I'll miss her a lot.  Marie handed in her final dog bed for the season - thank you, safe journies...

 

BJ Herter - first - big thanks to BJ for replenishing all the paper products for the club's lunch & learn eating fun.  BJ, too, completed a beautiful fractured art wallhanging piece. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carol Riggs - shared the bedrunner topper she made - it's stunning - and pillowcases to complement.  Carol gave us all an update on little girl from Wildwood with all the syndromes and illnesses and diseases going against  her.  She is being treated fairly successfully in Ohio, was able to come back to FL and attend her high school prom, but this young lady. Bexlie has so much to battle - her spirit and love of life does not seem to be deterred.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ruth Campbell - we say goodbye to Ruth now for a few months as she returns to Indiana and her home up there.  Ruth finished a couple more kitty hammocks for Marion County.

Suzanne Brown - yea! she was off a day from Sharkys - shared a sneak peak at the Row by Row Fabric Hop challenge this year that Sharky's vac and sew is participating in.  It starts June 21st - so we'll have more detail on this fun event.  There is a website as well - Row by Row and 85 FL stores are participating.  Theme this year is "The Sea" fits perfect for Sharky's!!  Suzanne designed the "row" to make.  (It's really perfect - shark applique panel between two "Storm at Sea" blocks!)  Be sure to watch Sharkys for the upcoming classes this summer that Suzanne is teaching.  There will be a pdf flyer soon to list everything, dates and times - some classes planned are Fun & Done, Paper Piecing, Beginner Quilt Sampler, Dresden Plate Block.  FYI, the store currently stocks 82 bolts of 108" wide "backing" fabric.  Ladies, that is (I bet) 10-20-30-40-50 times more than any other quilting/fabric store you can go into - even internet stores!!!!!!  No kidding that is huge.  Here's an extra reason for that... Al Lawson, Sharkys owner, once told me that he considers 108" wide fabric a "better deal" - in other words, you (the buyer) gets more bang for your buck.  And it's true when you think about all the advantages of fabric that wide, price, and amount of cuts you get from one yard versus buying two yards of 42" wide fabric.  More evidence of integrity of this businessman and philosophy of selling you find at his store. 

 

 

Donna Rissman - made her fractured art piece with Donna Dewberry fabric - beautiful artist - beautiful "painted" look fabric - beautiful finished fractured art piece. 

 Lu, Donna, BJ... they all came in the door singing "I've Got A Girl Crush" (ha ha), well really not singing Little Big Town's current smash hit song... But all three ladies showing off their beautifully finished Fractured Art pieces definitely expressed thanks and praises to Lois Rose for her demo, tutorial hand-out, and inspiring their fun creativity along. 

 

We had more drop-ins this week as usual and they all were ladies bringing us donation fabrics.  I don't always get a chance to write down names, etc., but for some reason this week started with first one.  They all deserve recognition and thanks expressed in this update:  Janet White bought us nice big bag of fleece, flannel and fake fur scrapes leftover from the teddy bears she makes for charity.  Chris Moore of Village of Hillsboro went to JoAnn's and bought us two really big pieces of fleece to donate.  Carol Bonebrake bought us in a big bag of fleece scraps leftover from the "Huggy Pillows" she makes and donates to everyone who can use one, patterned after the breast cancer curve (heart) pillows,, they can be used for nursing mothers, people with sprains/breaks, after heart surgery, just very very soft, great size for many needs, and the gentle curve shape is key.   Carol gave us a pillow to keep and show in case anyone we know has a need for one.  We'll keep that on our shelf and display each week, too.  Here is her email address if you want to write directly to Carol - db1171@sbcglobal.net.  Carol also takes donations, especially fleece fabric.  So when we get larger pieces of really nice fleece fabric donated to us, I plan to pass some along to Carol for her work as well.  She plans to continue to keep her scraps that make excellent stuffing in the doggie beds.  In that light... Charlotte from the Pillowcase Dresses Club - they do such excellent work on behalf of Doctors Without Borders and other international doctors groups - comes just about every other week in when our club meetings are over after 4 pm and brings us a bag or two of the scraps from pillowcases, t-shirts that they use to make the britches, and anything else they cannot use for their needs.  This week that included a bag full of larger fabric pieces that will work wonderfully for doggie bed outer forms.  Over the past couple years, Fabric Fun has donated lots of laces, ribbons, elastics to the Pillowcase Dresses Club for their use as well.  And check the BlogSpot to see picture of the beautifully made "Girls Britches"  That club has taken the original patterns downloaded from "Sewing With Nancy" Zieman's website and made them even better!!  I hope that they pass their knowledge and story along to Sewing With Nancy because they could really be one of her "human interest" segments that she includes in most of her Sewing With Nancy segments shown weekly on PBS stations - any you can watch them via the internet as well from her website! 

Paula Deen's Spinach Manicotti Recipe:

http://headhappenings.blogspot.com/2011/05/paula-deens-slow-cooker-spinach.html

Sharky's Vac & Sew website:

http://www.sharkyssewnvac.com/

Sewing With Nancy website:

http://www.nancyzieman.com/blog/

 This one got a little longer than usual... hope that it didn't bore you... because most of all, this information is sent to keep everyone in touch with the inspiration and creations going on by all you wonderful ladies of this club and our wonderful world around us. 

 Character must count again!!  God bless all of  us,

*´¨)
 ¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·'      Micki MacCumbee

Club Leader, Fabric Fun Arts & Crafts

WeeklyUpdate - April 18, 2015

Hi Fabric Fun Ladies here and there... many of you are already back in your other half of the year homes, some of you are getting ready to come in for your stays here a while, and then there's the rest of us... full time residents who are able to enjoy each and every weekly meeting... as time allows - it's The Villages and I know that our time is well spoken for especially with so many activities and relatives/friends visiting, etc., etc.

Anyway - this is how we stay connected with our weekly updates, show and tell and the wonderful BlogSpot that Lois Rose maintains for the club.

Speaking of Lois, many thanks for the wonderful Fractured Art Demo last Saturday and especially the follow-up handout with pictures!  Lois loves her camera and is very good at taking the pictures - all of us know that!!  We've heard back from several of you about how helpful Lois' handout is, so when  you get a chance check out the pictures on BlogSpot of projects as they appear from this demo.  Good fun technique... following the steps to create. 

Drop-Ins:   This week we had a couple drop-ins from ladies who could not attend the whole meeting but yet they wanted to turn in their charitable works - you all are so special like that!! 

Helen Lawrie's husband Jim came in before the meeting to turn in 3 pieces that Helen made with a sweet note from her, too.  Jim looks good and says that Helen's doing well from her eye surgery, but still is troubled with the allergy conditions of the skin.  Helen, we've got you in our thoughts and prayers and want you well and back with us ASAP!!  Kathy Jones, our Sunshine Lady, passed around a "get well card" for everyone to sign and mailed that off on behalf of the club.  Check out pictures of 3 wonderful pieces - of course, one is a doggie bed (Helen loves making the doggies comfy) and 2 fidget quilts that are very unique - one a 3-D fruit tree!!  Helen wrote, "I'm thinking of you lovely ladies while making them."  And she signed, "see you soon", so we're holding you to that, Helen.


 

Sue Campbell - made it to the meeting about 3/4 way thru in order to turn in a beautiful fidget quilt, another 3-D embellished one - this one includes teacup with attached teabag, and couple other great ideas including napkin!  Sue is still hobbling along with her knee situation - bone spurs and baker's cyst - that the doctors have not been able to help her with for almost a year now and next step is surgery.  Good luck, Sue, as you finish up this round of shots that may make the knee better.  You're in our thoughts and prayers as you seek a second opinion before surgery. 

FYI:  Thread & Needles - as sewing crafters we depend on the quality of products we use and right up there at the top of our list is thread and needles - whether handwork or machine sewing - both the size of needle and size of thread is very important to your project's success and beauty.  For thread, the larger the number the smaller the thread size.  For needles, the larger the number the bigger the needle (hole going into your fabric).  Generally, you choose the needle for the type of fabric/project you are working on, and then you choose your thread accordingly to needle size.  For instance, if you are doing patchwork piecing, you want a needle that does not make a big hole as you are sewing the two pieces of fabric together and you want a good size thread but not one that will add "bulk" to the sewn seam.  It is recommended to use a 70 or 80 size needle and a 50 or 60 weight cotton thread, 40 weight is acceptable with 80 needle but that is adding more bulk into the seam, especially if you are working on a piece with lots of seams that equals lots of added bulk to the finished top.  There's a terrific handout provided by Superior Threads CEO Bob Purcell which is the know-where-with-all-of-all things threads and needles.  Sulky's website is another excellent resource for thread and needle guidelines.  Then you get into cotton vs. polyester, nylon, rayon and then go on into specialty threads - variegated, twisted, blendables. etc.  Lots to choose from and lots of fun with each!  One additional point, some sewing machines prefer certain thread brands better than others.  It has something to do with the way your particular sewing machine brand is calibrated.  And yes, that means everything about the tension - upper tension and bobbin tension.  If you find that a certain spool of thread does not do well in your machine where another one seems to sew the same stitch beautifully, it is all about the calibration.  My Bernina 730 will not sew well with Gutterman and Robinson Anton Threads, but sews beautiful stitches with Mettler, Sulky, Superior and Aurfil threads.   My Viking Sapphire 875 must have prewound Sulky bobbins.  As far as top thread, it has been hit or miss and depends on if I've got the top tension right "auto" button pushed, i.e., heavy fabric, vs. medium, vs. light, etc.  Both machines like the threads I purchased from Connecting Threads, too.  I tried both cottons and polyesters and they perform well.   But my Viking will not sew pretty stitches with any thread without breakage and lots of frustration unless I've got a Sulky pre-wound bobbin in.  Needless to say, I keep a stash of those on hand!!

Show & Tell:  Funny story... Lu Karatzas didn't want to be 1st in line this week... but she was first to sign in again... so instead of putting her name at top of list, she went half-way down to write her name on... wouldn't you know, ladies in behind her followed suit and wrote their names in under Lu's until couple ladies figured it out and thankfully & boldly put their names on the upper portion of the show & tell list!!  Keep it fun!!

Joyce Yarborough - welcome back! turned in dog beds - by the way, Joyce has fun group down south here in FL where she spends 1/2 time, and she's got those ladies now making doggie beds, too!!  Good stuff, lady!  And then she comes to our meeting and spends 3 hours stuffing more beds!! 

Lois Rose - created and styled a couple "small bags" at her hubby's request to carry to/from their small electronic devices, cords and chargers.  This is a high-tech couple who pass these things back and forth as each attends their clubs during the week.  Great idea - very organized idea!

Brenda Severa - Doggy bed - hey I love how all you ladies join in the charitable giving effortS!!  FYI, Brenda and a bunch of other ladies, led by Ruth Campbell sat and cut up scraps galore around the room's middle table... stuffing about 6 doggie bed forms - in fact, everybody was involved from time to time!!

Lu Karatzas - finally Lu's turn! - shared a very pretty tablerunner inspired by a piece of fabric that just was perfect for their dining room motif and furniture - Lu enhanced the beautiful center panel with equally perfect borders that "popped" the whole look.  She was over at Sharky's in Wildwood and found just the right fabric that worked this tablerunner. 




Sharky's owner, Al Lawson, is not only a very reputable businessman and totally terrific sewing machine man, he has an amazing eye for beauty and this is very obvious in his fabric choices for the store.  He's built up their inventory to 1900 bolts of fabulous lines and quality.  I remember just a few years ago (maybe even just 2 years) when he got in his first dozen bolts of fabric, his excellent pricing and every day customer service and reliability.  We're lucky to have this shop so close to our "hometown".   One more aspect to Lu's table runner is the lovely stitching embellishing she did in its "negative" space.  The center fabric panel of the runner had blocks of gold coloring and wording, and Lu used nice simple stitches in box form in the open (negative) spaces.  Want to have some fun looking at what new sewing crafters/quilters are doing, in Google Search type in "negative space use in quilts and projects".  Some artists seem to design their work around and for the negative spaces.  Anyway, Lu you took a beautiful fabric and made an even more beautiful project.  Great work - inspiring!!

Donna Rissman - shared a wallhanging she completed that will serve as a welcome panel and adorn other holiday fun occasions.  Of course, she made it with idea to have some fun with grandchildren - and for sure, it's going to do the trick!  Lovely work as always from Donna.

Jane Swafford - you always make my Saturday when you are on show and tell list - I make no joke about that - and so you shared yet another pillowcase you've made for our charitable efforts.  Jane, it's ladies like you who keep us going!! 

Saturday is Lunch & Learn - I previously advertised Cheesy (cloth) - and I'm hoping it still comes about, but might not be ready for Saturday yet - depends on my sewing room - so if not, you're in for another surprise - and cheesy cheesecloth will be next month. 

Looking to June and July - we're going to be running through quick, really quick projects - inspired by the handout left by Mary Kondrad and a couple recent show and tells - we'll call is "Christmas in July" because these will be the kind of things that can be made (a bunch) ahead of time and come in handy when "you just need something" to take along or embellish a gift box.  I'm starting this in June because one of our club members, Hilary Miles, who comes all the way from England for two weeks vacation here, has one of her awesome little stuffies to share with us that can be done in just a couple hours.  Specific information will be sent out in a separate email when we get closer to her arrival - but it's getting close!! Yea! Yea!  FYI, Hilary has several wonderful dolls and stuffies patterns that she sells in England and teaches at quilt shops in and around where she lives.  When you do dolls and animal and other stuffies, it's always the face and facial expressions that puts the project "over the top", and Hilary is especially artistic and talented with getting the face (in a word) perfect!

Last work is on Kay Flanagan, our centurion, who will turn 101 in May.  I visited Kay on Monday and plan to visit again on Friday.  Citrus Rehab and Health Center is very easy drive across 44 - straight shot - nice parking, wonderful facility - and Kay was smiling when I came in the room.  She commented that "she used to cry a lot, but doesn't cry anymore" which was how she told me that she likes where she is living now.  Kay has a nice roommate, and the facility seems to be staffed with plenty of helpers who appear happy in the jobs and careers.  All in all, a very nice drive, and more important, a chance for wonderful visit with one of the nicest ladies I've had the privilege to know and admire in my lifetime - Kay Flanagan.  One more thing, the door to their room has a big wreath hanging, and in the middle of the wreath is the name tag (I think Kathy Nichols made) made for Kay for her birthday party at our club meeting last May that says, "Fabric Fun Arts & Crafts, Kay Flanagan, Centurion".  When I pointed it out to one of the facility's workers when she came in the room, she was so surprised to hear about Kay's being over 100 and loved hearing about her participation in Fabric Fun - especially stuffing doggie beds! (what else!!)  Send your thoughts and prayers out to Kay to fill her days with lots of smiles.  Please remember Kay loves receiving notes and cards.

As always, I praise all of you and enjoy very much spending sewing crafting time with you.  Pray for our troops, our leaders and our great country as you go thru your lives each day in this great free land.

 God bless to all,

*´¨)
 ¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·'      Micki MacCumbee

Club Leader, Fabric Fun Arts & Crafts

Weekly Update - April 11, 2015

Fabric Fun Ladies:  Change to calendar - next week - April 18th - Lois Rose will be presenting her Fractured Art Demo.  We will be sending out supply list in separate email, and yes, this is when you want to bring your machines if you want to start your own art project using this sewing technique.  No special stitches needed, just cut, seam, cut, seam and Lois will be happy to lead you thru the process steps. 

Saturday - April 25th - Lunch & Learn - Lunch Menu is open... no RSVPs required - Learn - cheesy fun... that is cheesecloth. 

Yesterday's fun - several ladies were able to drop in but not stay because of various reasons - we always say, "It's The Villages... and you just can't do it all!"  That is evermore true every day with our "growth" and latest count - there are now over 2300 clubs here in The Villages - that's on top of all the recreational and just fun living stuff that is part of our every day lives.  So the fact that you all join in our club activities, donate so much to the club's charitable efforts, and just share and learn our sewing crafting fun together, well, big thanks for being the best of 2300!!

Our drop ins were:

 

Edie Cave - to deliver 6 cat hammocks she made - but please remember our sweet Edie in your thoughts this week as she prepares for 2nd cataract eye surgery and she is dealing with increased glaucoma condition. 

Kandie Stedman - to deliver very nice thank you note from her son, Matt, for the chair backpacks we made to supply his class this year.  Kandie couldn't stay because she had company in the car (again!) - they are social bunnies for sure or just have lots of out of town family and friends!!  Fun stuff!!

Mary Kahlow - to deliver a stuffed and ready for paws to cuddle in doggie bed... and I don't remember which direction Mary was headed from her stop in. 

Ladies enjoyed a very nice assortment of "faux chenille" projects that Kathy Jones spread out on the center table for her demonstration.  After show and tell, Kathy gave her pretty inspiring demo - little to big, it's a fantastic technique to know and try.  There were two handouts and they are both attached to today's newsletter.  The bunny pattern was project from last year and there is a cat template version, too.  Ladies can trace the two templates on freezer paper to go with the written instructions.  And second handout was new describing how to make a faux chenille potholder.  Kathy displayed several of her own styled potholders using the faux chenille with borders and other finishing and they are very nicely done. 

Thanks again to Kathy for her demo.  If you've missed this demo by Kathy, what's really cool is that she keeps a booklet sewing crafting diary of projects and I'm sure she'll be happy to share info with you at meetings.  I really admire her booklet and think that alone is terrific resource for ladies to do with this club and other clubs.  I actually have meant to highlight Kathy's booklet other times... get off track ha ha!!  Not today though, so we just might think about something along this lines - maybe in the fall.  

 

Kathy also showed a charity quilt she is working on.  Can't wait to see the finished product.

Yesterday, I had out the "FOOT BOOK" - just had to do CAPS because it is one of my favorite resources.  Last week I was reviewing buttonholes on my Bernina 730 machine and never really made a foot book sample page of them.  So I got that started and want to make same page for my Viking 875 now, too.  It's helpful to have stitched out samples handy to reference when you're thinking about making or using a foot/stitch you don't regularly use on your machines.  Much better to have a visual you can hold in your hand and look at the back, etc., not just instructions with a photo. 

Show & Tell:

Lu Karatzas - Gave a mini-demo and genealogy talk when she presented her awesome (first time quilt, too!) Photo Memory Quilt she made for her parents - pretty amazing how from what she started it has been updated backwards and forwards to include grandparents and great-grand-children.  Lu also shared an assortment of different photo ready fabric pages that she has used which JoAnns does sell a very good assortment to pick from.  FYI:  I've attached "21 Tips to Print Photos" that comes from Quiltmaker Magazine - the tips are in FAQ's form and give good basic info like cropping, photo definition, etc.  (I'm adding this as a new page in the Foot Book Book!)  But let's face it... photos of old - our memory type photos - there wasn't this high-def, low-def resolution - usually black and white, some color if we're lucky - off center, faded, whatever we can get.  Please see Lu's picture on the blog and you'll be amazed at the quality she got and beautiful arrangement she made.

Phyllis Rice - made two gorgeous and wonderfully patriotic fidget quilts - oh but wait... there was one more - she wasn't as happy with it for some reason, but for life of me, I don't know why... it's absolutely beautiful, too!

 

Marie Bray - made a fidget quilt - "Barnyard Party" - that's title I've given it because it's a beautiful fun barnyard scene with ducks and chicks dancing underneath - very creative!

Alice Meunier - shared a loverly scrappy quilt she made and said that she spent 12 hours doing the stippling quilting.  And all the while during meeting, Alice had another quilt spread across two tables in the back and she "pinned" it to prepare for her quilting process.  It's a beautiful black and white quilt, square white blocks with black prints hexagon clusters in middle.  Can't wait to see how she quilts this one. 

Nancy Cartlidge - (Pat Pipa will be proud of Nancy keeping up the charitable assortments array in her absence while Pat's away to see her grandchildren!)  Nancy shared cat hammocks, dog bed and pillowcase!!! 

 

 JoAnn Colin (bye for the summer!) shared wine caddy and tissue holder she made from ones she purchased at craft fair.  FYI - remember the "Christmas in July" handout Mary Kondrad left with us I mentioned last week... both these projects are in that handout! -- Ladies, these are fun, habit-forming, assembly line, quickies that come in so handy around holidays when you "just want something to give" someone or add in special.  we're doing the whole Christmas in July routine - in July!!

Ruth Campbell - not Elaine Kriese - made another pillowcase this week.  Wow, that's a lot easier than last week's endless count.  I kid both Ruth and Elaine and they give it right back to me - that's great!!  Those two are fun to see sitting across the table from one another - you now they have a lot of sewing crafting knowledge in their brains already, and yet they come in and just love seeing and doing the new stuff.  But each week I never know who is going to be sitting on which side of the table... and thus, sometimes I see Ruth & Elaine, the next week I look over and it's Elaine (to my left) and Ruth (to my right)... so I do what comes naturally to me... mix up their names.  You're both great and I love you both... so sorry about mix up but sometimes I get in these grooves and just stay there.

 Lois finished up our show and tell this week with her normal wow-ing assortment - still I want to know when this lady sleeps!?!  She made a beautiful set of blocks in machine embroidery club (it's Tues. mornings at Big Cypress - great bunch of ladies-machines-and-designs!!!

) that she made into a drawstring bag instead of the wallhanging project they were designed for.  Lois is very good at adapting what she wants to sew to a finished project that is usually pretty darn useful - check it out on the blog!  Lois also shared a quilt made using a specialty ruler called Quick Curve Ruler.  The website "Sew Kind of Wonderful" has 3 short and very informative videos on how to use the ruler, make the cuts, and sew the blocks back together.  Curve piecing is one of those "feared" techniques for quilters, so this is one of the useful gadgets that have come along to take the fear and put more fun into these beautiful seams to do.  I have the ruler, too, and made the free table runner pattern that comes with it.  It's one of those things I got while up in VA last fall.  So if ladies are interested in playing with the ruler and curve seam sewing, we can probably put-together a meeting of fun with it.  The website has free patterns and provides templates that can be printed out to use instead of actually purchasing the $30 ruler.  In fact, all of the patterns on the website come with paper template versions of the curve ruler so that it is not necessary to buy the ruler to purchase and use the patterns.  Just more FYI...

(In case anyone missed it, Micki was working on a charity quilt over on the side as well.  She gave us a quick demo of how to spray baste a quilt instead of pinning.  ed.)

So - I'll be sending out another email yet this week - woo - you're thinking "double prizes" - Lois will be providing supply information for Fractured Art.  And as always for ladies away, we'll be sure to include pdfs of the instructions for you that come in hand-out form. 

Stay cool and enjoy our warmer temps!

As always, God bless you,  *´¨)
 ¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·'      Micki MacCumbee

Club Leader, Fabric Fun Arts & Crafts

Weekly Update - April 4, 2015

April 4th meeting - well Lu Karatzas sums it up best... "we have no track" - of course, that was her one-liner response when I (out loud) commented to myself almost "gee, I'm getting off-track (again).  Ha Ha but as always, ladies I just say that you all are so creative and make our sewing crafting time together so much fun, that it is just natural to stop and take in all the special moments that happen, especially during Show & Tell.  I just can't do that time on a rigid path, and seriously I come each week with that goal.  It's you all to blame... and here is why:

Lu Karatzas - quilt, pillowcase, Easter eggs-check out that attachment!

Sue Kapellen (newbie her 2nd week) - carrots

Ruth Campbell - WOW'd us with the huge assortment of pillowcases, small quilts and blankets - I honestly lost count because it was a lot of them!!!

Kathy Jones - carrots

JoAnn Colin - potholders and pillowcases - FYI - mention was made of how awesome "faux chenille" potholders are - another reason to learn the technique.

Nancy Cartlidge - pillowcases




  

Eileen Hein - cat hammocks and fidget quilts - OMG please check out these fidget quilts on the blog - talk about original creativity - and Eileen is sending about 10 or more Fidgets to facility out of state her mother knows of with a need - see, that's what we are talking about!!

Bonnie Meyer - check the picture out that will not due it justice - called "fidget blanket/lap robe" - this is a fidget quilt variation done by crocheting threats together, leaving many, many tails, adding in scraps of fabrics for tails, etc. - it's artwork, ladies, with a purpose - to ease and soothe fidgety hands.  Bonnie, you are a sewing crafter hero in my mind.