September Newsletter

I will not be at the next meeting. Karen will be in charge and we need two members to join Mani on the nominating committee. Also, be thinking about what name you like for our museum quilt. The choices are listed in the previous post. I ran into BJ Worsley at Hobby Lobby today and we talked about her program in September. She will have Karen pass out the kits at the next meeting so you all can cut the wool pieces so we will be ready to sew at her program. She will have her trunk show for us to enjoy. Reminder of some dates---November 9th will be the group sampler challenge exchange. January 31, 2011 will be the museum quilt show at the GA state capital. Someone needs to hang the quilt between 7 and 8 am and then someone needs to be with the quilt all day. Thank you Judy for putting together the newsletter.

Recap of the names for our museum quilt.

Razzle, Dazzle Pineapple

Pina Colada

Three-P-Quilt

Pineapple Pot Pourri

Patchwork Pineapple

Pineapple Upside-down Quilt

Macon Pina Colada

Vote for your favorite name.

oh, and the Pina Colada song is by Rupert Holmes.

August newsletter

So many in our group were traveling last month that we decided to put off the vote to this month. The issue is about term limits. Our bylaws state a member is not to serve more than two years in the same position. We need to decide if we should change the bylaws and remove this restriction. At the August business meeting, I will give anyone a chance to voice their thoughts on the pros and cons. Then we will vote by ballet. I can see pros and cons to both sides. It is good more members to get involved and share responsibilities but there are many "jobs" for us all to fill. And we have had difficulty getting participation by members when we ask for program presentation and leadership at nominating time. If we remove the restriction, we can still vote on who fills the board positions no matter how long they have been in office. I think this is important for all members to have a voice in this so think about it and try your best to make it to the meeting to vote.

Some have asked when the medallians are due. There is no date because some have already finished and everyones was so different. We all have different centers and different borders--that is what makes this your own design. Just bring it for show and tell anytime and at any point in the designing process.

Well, the pineapple museum quilt top is pretty much put together--all 90 blocks. The blocks were laid out to make sure the same fabrics weren't side by side. That was pretty easy since we started with such a variety of scraps. Then nine rows of ten blocks were assembled. That went pretty fast then the picking out the paper took the most time and produced piles of tiny bits of paper. Rows going together to make the completed top.

Now this baby will go off to the quilter with our special backing. When it gets back--binding and a sleeve.

Group Sampler Challenge

Here is a list of participants and their blocks:

1. Jane-Card Trick
2. Pat-Friendship Star
3. Judy- Scrappy Star
4. Diana- Martha Washington Star
5. Sherri- 9" house
6. Kathy- 9" lighthouse
7. Karen- Coffee filter Fan
8. Sue- Double Cross
9. Deborah- Delectable Mountains
10. Monica- Churn Dash
11. Gail- Maple Leaf
12. Betty- 9-patch
13. Elsie- Jacob's Ladder
14. Victoria- Kimono
15. Mani-Pinwheel
16. Wanda-

17. Joyce- Joyce's mystery block

What are we here for?

I know--it is way too hot to get philosophical so this will be simple minded and let me ramble a bit. In the past, let's say 100 years ago and even now in non-industrialised communities, guilds and bees existed to divide up work to get things done quickly. Companionship was a lovely side benefit to this sharing of work. The modern guild and/or bee exists to share "work" in the artistic sense. We join bees for community of like interests and to have fun making things we might not otherwise have made. We are exposed to ideas and projects that get our creative minds moving in new directions. As quilters, we are drawn to other quilters and love to see their projects and even though we have our own ideas of beauty or function, we can appreciate each others talents. Rossie said quilters and quilts both bring bits together to make a whole that gives us comfort and joy. I am hoping that our guild offers all that to everyone who comes to our meeting. And really, don't we all just want to quilt and look at quilts?

trip to Paducah

Last week, about 12 from the Lake Oconee Quilt Guild went to Land Between the Lakes for a retreat prior to the Paducah Quilt Show. We stayed at a lodge about 25 miles from Paducah and it was an easy drive to the show on Wednesday and Thursday. We snuck in a trip on Tuesday to see Eleanor Burns and shop in her tent of 5 dollar/yard fabric. The first 3 days we had Margie Engle lead the workshops on different fusible applique techniques. The 12 of us were joined by quilters from Louisiana, North Dakota, and Tennessee. So much fun!! I'll work on finishing some of the projects and maybe do a demonstration.
The project I have been working on for our meeting is the next row on the medallians. I know this takes more time than just doing a block a month but we needed something different.

I added a ribbon to the big triangle that I already had bought for something else but never used and it is the perfect color and size. Don't you love it when that happens.

I did a ribbon border around my small medallian.

April update

I just posted a picture of a few of our blocks that will make our Museum quilt. It will be interesting to hear Frances Brooks present at our meeting next month about the Southeastern Quilt and Textile Museum. This has been fun to work together and see everybody be pleased with the process. Thank you to everyone for your participation and excitement.

I put a schedule of the meetings for the rest of year on the web site. We are working on getting more pictures. Thanks for your patience. Let me know if you can think of any more pages that would be helpful.

I am working on my medallian. When I get to the lake I will show you the pictures. Looking forward to seeing yours. Bring them to show and tell whenever you get some done.

Going to Paducah with some friends from Lake Oconee Quilt Guild.

planning first border

Going with the AT theme, I am thinking delectible mountains for a border. First, I pulled fabrics from my closet and arranged them light to dark. Then I had to play with the sizes. Arrggh. It only took a couple of tries to get it close. I made a scrap one and now i have to make the real ones and then add them together before i know if it works. I can always add or subtract plain borders to get it the workable size.

So, how are you all doing with your centers? Let me know if you would like to see my book on the mariner's compass.

Here are my mariner's compass' for my medallian quilts. I will show more of the big one when I decide what borders I will add to it. I think I will make this quilt about the center and not muddle it with too many busy borders. The circle is 15 inches diameter. The smaller one is about 11 inches diameter and I think the theme of this quilt will be my hikes on the Appalachian Trail with my friends. So the borders will relate to experiences along the trail.

Challenge of the month - 2010

This year, each month or so, we will be intoducing a challenge for you all to work on and after several months, each of you will have a self-designed quilt top. The purpose of this project is for you to learn and try new techniques. My suggestion is to design this quilt as a medallion quilt. A medallion quilt has a central design motif surrounded by multiple borders. The borders can be one piece, appliqued, or rows of blocks.
The first challenge is to decide on the central motif. It is good to use complex, relatively difficult patterns. Design wise, you want something complex enough to hold attention. If this is a difficult or time consuming block, you only need one center.
This is where I challenge you to try something you have never done before. I have always wanted to do a mariners compass. So guess what? I just made two this weekend! It was challenging and I'm happy with the results. I will bring them to the meeting to show. I'm glad I didn't try to do a whole top of just this block but with this one block, I have the start of my medallion quilt.
Other good choices for the center is a feathered star, lone star, or tree of life. These grab attention and the pointed edges draw the eye outward to the rest of the quilt.
Of course, you can do applique or even a pre-printed panel to embellish.
So, here is your challenge. Think of a block for your center. Again I suggest trying some technique or block you haven't done before. The center can be square or rectangle and any size. Just remember if it starts out too big, the top will just keep getting bigger as we add borders in the next months. Lets see if we can have our centers done March 9.

I can do it from my phone

January 2010 business meeting

okay, patchwork pals, we are going to try this for our communication. This is just a trial. Karen and I will be getting together to plan the programs of the year. We had so much business to cover tonight. Thanks for you all hanging in with me. We couldn't get together to plan before cuz of the wedding and then holidays and then i was out of town skiing. But we are excited about working for you all this year. Last year, Alice and I tried to cover the basics. This year we are moving on to embellishments of the basics. I will be back with more after Karen and I meet.