Weekly Update - June 13, 2015
Before I get to Micki's weekly update, I want to take a few lines to answer some questions I've received regarding what the heck I am doing in the back of the meeting room with all the fabric piles each week. A while back I took a bag of donated fabric home with the intention of filling a doggie bed with scraps. However, when I pulled pieces of fabric out I discovered that, in with the little scraps were lots of larger pieces. Now, I was brought up by a depression era mom who never threw away anything that might have another use. Yes, I love filling doggie beds with scraps, but I also think these larger leftover pieces could become quilts to keep someone in need warm at night. So from that time on I have been taking bags of donated fabric home and separating out anything that might be cut into a usable square.
I started out cutting to the largest sizes possible for each piece, but have now settled on 4 sizes to keep things simple - 2.5 inch, 3.5 inch, 4.5 inch and 6.5 inch squares. Note - there is almost always strips of binding left over and these are usually 2.5 inches wide, so even these can be re-purposed. Whatever is leftover after I cut these squares goes into the doggie beds and I am still filling several of those each week.
If anyone would like to help me create some scrappy quilts with these, your assistance will always be appreciated. There are a number of ways anyone who wants can help:
1) Sorting any newly donated fabric for pieces of cotton fabric large enough to add to the task. The more we have, the better our chances of putting together some pleasing color combinations for the final quilts.
2) Cutting fabric. Although I've done a lot already, I still have 2 bins of good fabric to cut.
3) Matching the small 2.5 & 3.5 inch squares into sets of 4.
4) Sewing matched sets together (with 1/4 inch seams). Four 2.5 inch squares sewn together will result in a 4.5 inch square, so it can be mixed in with the 4.5 inch squares when we lay out the quilts. Likewise, four 3.5 inch squares sewn together will result in a 6.5 inch square, so it can be mixed in with the 6.5 inch squares.
5) Pressing the 4.5 & 6.5 inch squares. This is mostly to get the blocks that have been sewn together from smaller blocks to lay flat, but some of the one-piece 4.5 & 6.5 inch blocks may also benefit from ironing.
Once we have a good number of 4.5 & 6.5 inch blocks we can have a quilt design day, where we lay the blocks out on tables to see how many quilts we can create. I expect this will not happen until at least September when some of our snowbirds come back. Then anyone who wants to can take stacks of blocks and sew them together to make the quilt tops. My goal is to have a couple of twin size and baby size quilts completed by Thanksgiving so they can be given to a needy group before Christmas.
I will probably not be able to make meetings in July, so if anyone is interested in taking some of this to work on, either at meetings or at home, please see me either this Saturday (6/20) or next (6/27). When I am able to come back to the group we can bring our efforts together and see what we have.
Thank you in advance for your help with this. I think if Fabric Fun Arts & Crafts had a written set club goals, it would be 1) Find ways to give back to the community (Regular Quilts, Fidget Quilts, Doggie Beds, Cat Hammocks, Pillow Cases, Book Bags, etc.); 2) Sharing sewing projects, tips & tricks with each other; 3) Supporting each other as friends - I'm feeling this last one in a big way lately :-)
OK, enough about my pet charity projects. Here's last week's Show & Tell update:
Micki started us off by showing how to stretch strips of t-shirt material into useful cords.
Lois Rose - fidget quilt made for special request - special thanks from our club for your extra effort to fulfill this special request. Very good work!!
I started out cutting to the largest sizes possible for each piece, but have now settled on 4 sizes to keep things simple - 2.5 inch, 3.5 inch, 4.5 inch and 6.5 inch squares. Note - there is almost always strips of binding left over and these are usually 2.5 inches wide, so even these can be re-purposed. Whatever is leftover after I cut these squares goes into the doggie beds and I am still filling several of those each week.
If anyone would like to help me create some scrappy quilts with these, your assistance will always be appreciated. There are a number of ways anyone who wants can help:
1) Sorting any newly donated fabric for pieces of cotton fabric large enough to add to the task. The more we have, the better our chances of putting together some pleasing color combinations for the final quilts.
2) Cutting fabric. Although I've done a lot already, I still have 2 bins of good fabric to cut.
3) Matching the small 2.5 & 3.5 inch squares into sets of 4.
4) Sewing matched sets together (with 1/4 inch seams). Four 2.5 inch squares sewn together will result in a 4.5 inch square, so it can be mixed in with the 4.5 inch squares when we lay out the quilts. Likewise, four 3.5 inch squares sewn together will result in a 6.5 inch square, so it can be mixed in with the 6.5 inch squares.
5) Pressing the 4.5 & 6.5 inch squares. This is mostly to get the blocks that have been sewn together from smaller blocks to lay flat, but some of the one-piece 4.5 & 6.5 inch blocks may also benefit from ironing.
Once we have a good number of 4.5 & 6.5 inch blocks we can have a quilt design day, where we lay the blocks out on tables to see how many quilts we can create. I expect this will not happen until at least September when some of our snowbirds come back. Then anyone who wants to can take stacks of blocks and sew them together to make the quilt tops. My goal is to have a couple of twin size and baby size quilts completed by Thanksgiving so they can be given to a needy group before Christmas.
I will probably not be able to make meetings in July, so if anyone is interested in taking some of this to work on, either at meetings or at home, please see me either this Saturday (6/20) or next (6/27). When I am able to come back to the group we can bring our efforts together and see what we have.
Thank you in advance for your help with this. I think if Fabric Fun Arts & Crafts had a written set club goals, it would be 1) Find ways to give back to the community (Regular Quilts, Fidget Quilts, Doggie Beds, Cat Hammocks, Pillow Cases, Book Bags, etc.); 2) Sharing sewing projects, tips & tricks with each other; 3) Supporting each other as friends - I'm feeling this last one in a big way lately :-)
OK, enough about my pet charity projects. Here's last week's Show & Tell update:
Micki started us off by showing how to stretch strips of t-shirt material into useful cords.
Lois Rose - fidget quilt made for special request - special thanks from our club for your extra effort to fulfill this special request. Very good work!!
Jane Swafford - more of her lovely pillowcases - these go to an excellent charitable effort at Ocala shelter for Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence victims and their children.
Donna Chaffee - placemats and tote bags - beautiful one-of-a-kind creations and Micki got her to show off her purse.
Mary Nazgiewicz - fidget quilts and burrito pillowcases - Good work!!
Annette Reddy - beautiful quilt with vivid colors against black background and the "Row by Row" Tote bag that will be the rage this summer. Annette is sharing how to make the tote bag with us over the next couple weeks - and there is a very reasonably priced tote bag kit available thru Annette that is the Timeless Treasures fabric and pattern. She's a school teacher and knows how to get the sewing instructions down to all levels to understand. Fun Project - check out the blog for pictures!!
(I don't think she liked my taking a picture of the doggie bed. :-))
Joyce Yarborough - Pillow cases and plastic bag holders - this is a fun lady who is having lots of fun sharing and joining in our club's adventures in fabric projects. I love Joyce's enthusiasm and hope you bring it along each week because it's contagious!
Ladies, I've been asked to bring in a scissor sharpener that I have - I will do that on June 20th
when I get back from VA - this will be kept on our club's shelves for
future use by members. Nobody likes to work with dull scissors, so even
though it's not a professional scissor sharpening, it might help get
the job done!
Next Saturday - June 20th Lois Rose will be leading our meeting and Annette Reddy will be demonstrating and giving all details about ROW BY ROW - yes the fun, fun, quilt shop hop activity that is now very popular across the USA for summertime fun. And Florida is not being left out and especially our club! since Annette works for a shop in south FL (sorry I don't know name to send that out) and luckily she is here in her home here in TV's for next 3 weeks. She'll share this BOBBIN ROBIN contest fun with us next Sat. on 20th. Attachments are in the email or go to http://www.rowbyrowexperience.com/ to get all the details about contest, row by row, and Timeless Treasures fabric, and the fabulous TOTE BAG that Annette will be "demo'ing", too. Annette is happy to help and instruct ladies new and advanced sewers on the details to finished the tote bag kits to have your very own beautiful Row By Row Tote!! This brings the great fun of this 2nd annual (I think last year was the first year of Row by Row for Florida) fun right here to our Saturday afternoon fun sewing social time - can't get any better than that!!
Next Saturday - June 20th Lois Rose will be leading our meeting and Annette Reddy will be demonstrating and giving all details about ROW BY ROW - yes the fun, fun, quilt shop hop activity that is now very popular across the USA for summertime fun. And Florida is not being left out and especially our club! since Annette works for a shop in south FL (sorry I don't know name to send that out) and luckily she is here in her home here in TV's for next 3 weeks. She'll share this BOBBIN ROBIN contest fun with us next Sat. on 20th. Attachments are in the email or go to http://www.rowbyrowexperience.com/ to get all the details about contest, row by row, and Timeless Treasures fabric, and the fabulous TOTE BAG that Annette will be "demo'ing", too. Annette is happy to help and instruct ladies new and advanced sewers on the details to finished the tote bag kits to have your very own beautiful Row By Row Tote!! This brings the great fun of this 2nd annual (I think last year was the first year of Row by Row for Florida) fun right here to our Saturday afternoon fun sewing social time - can't get any better than that!!
posted by Lois @ 6:58 PM
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