Letter from the President

By Linda Neal

The more I sew lately, the more I seem to get behind.  I am not really sure how it works, but I know it’s true.  I have about 5 hand applique projects going at once–and I love them all!  I take turns working on each one. They are all progressing nicely, but none of them are done!  

My quilts may not be finished by this October, but the guild will be ready for the show.  It feels like it’s been forever since we had a quilt show. We have not had one since I have been President.  And with a pandemic going on–it feels like time has stood still.

The show committee is meeting and entries are being accepted.  I can’t wait to see what everyone has been working on while isolating at home.  I also can’t wait to see everyone in person.  We have an awesome speaker, Gyleen Fitzgerald for our June Zoom meeting.  And then in July–we will all meet in person!! It will be the show roll out meeting–time to sign up to volunteer for our show.  Until then, keep sewing and enjoying the summer!

Programs

By Jeanne Smith

Summer 2021 is here and everyone’s slow pace and isolation due to Covid is beginning to wind down with the help of vaccinations. We are becoming busy with family and friends again. We in Programs want you to know what Is offered through September. So grab those calendars and start planning!

Zoom Guild Meeting – Thursday, June 10, 2021 

Gyleen Fitzgerald: Path to Modern

Gyleen is absolutely passionate about quilting! I took a class with her several years ago at the Houston International Quilt Festival and that class was so much fun and so inspiring.

The Path to Modern presentation takes us from traditional quilts through contemporary to modern. Quilt designs composed of rectangles and squares, the building blocks of our quilts, are explored. Gyleen will also show a wonderful assortment of her quilts.

In-Person Guild Meeting – Thursday, July 8, 2021

     @ Best Little Retreat Center in Texas

          7989 Beltline Road Ste #168

         Dallas Texas 75248

Quilt Show Roll Out and Skill Builder Demos

*See more information on the guild meeting under Quilt Plano 2021 in this newsletter.

Michael Davison is offering a wonderful Zoom workshop in July:

Fusible Collage with Michael – A Value-able Workshop

ZOOM VERSION

DATE: Saturday, July 17, 2021

TIME: 10am – 3pm

LOCATION: Virtual Workshop will be Live on ZOOM

Workshop Fee: $55

Optional Fabric Kit: $20 (for Subject – background not included)

Register online at michaelquilts.com/workshops 

What makes a successful pictorial collage quilt? Some may say color. Some may say subject matter. But it is really all about VALUE (the perceived lightness or darkness of fabric). In this workshop, you will learn to separate fabrics into Michael’s value scale, then fuse it and use it as your palette of “paints” to create an 18” x 18” still life collage quilt, suitable as a small wall hanging or table topper. (We will be making the coffee cup!) 

Techniques of cutting fabric shapes will be explored and practiced. You will learn how to deal with layered fused fabrics. You will gain an understanding of value placement and creative ways to create shape and form with many pieces of fabric. We will discuss ways to finish your project quilt (background, quilting, binding/facing, etc.) BONUS: You will also learn how to transform your own photos into a pattern for your future pictorial collage projects. 

If you have ever wanted to take a break from pieced projects to “paint” with fabric, this is the workshop to test it out! Bring your own stash or purchase a workshop kit from Michael.

What you will need:

• Video Camera and Microphone (Internet connection for ZOOM)
• At least 7 different fabrics for the main subject. About 8” x 8” of each.
• More than 7 fabrics is highly recommended! The more fabrics you choose, the less you will need of each fabric. Scraps are GREAT!
• You will need a wide range of lights, mediums, and darks. Really look for the lightest lights and darkest darks to add to your mediums if possible.
• You may choose all monochromatic (same color family), or they can be of many colors.
• Precuts would be great! You could complete the main subject with a jelly roll or a charm pack. Layer cake and fat-eighths would be good too, but you will not need that much fabric.
• A 22” x 22” square of quilting cotton that is white or light. It can be also be basic muslin. This will provide the “canvas” for fused fabrics to be adhered to.
• A 20 x 20” square of background fabric of your choosing. The background should provide contrast. So if your subject fabrics are very busy, you’ll get best results from a contrasting solid or subdued background. If your subject fabrics are more tone-on-tone and almost read as solid, then perhaps a more active background could work.
• Pencil
• Sharpie
• Double-Sided fusing to adhere to your fabrics. (Steam-a-Seam 2 in the regular version recommended.)
• Iron and pressing surface
• Scissors for cutting small shapes.
• Masking or Painter’s tape
• Tweezers

More Details and Registration Here: michaelquilts.com/workshops

Zoom Guild Meeting – Thursday, August 12, 2021 

Céleste Compion: The Bolt and the Beautiful:  The Shweshwe Saga

 Born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa, then immigrating to Canada in 2001, Céleste is driven by her passion for the beautiful creativity of South Africa. She aims to teach more people about it, by importing and distributing Shweshwe to North America. Shweshwe, often called the tartan of South Africa, is a heritage fabric with a fascinating story.  Céleste’s presentation is all about that story. 

Zoom Guild Meeting – Thursday, September 9, 2021 

Maria Shell: The Traditional, Art, Modern—NOTES FROM THE FIELD

Maria Shell started out as a traditional quilter, but soon found herself making abstract pieced art quilts that look surprisingly modern. Maria will share her personal journey along with some fun historical facts about all three quilt genres. What does it mean to be a 21stCentury Quilter? Come to the lecture to find out!

Zoom Workshop

Friday, September 10, 2021 from 1:00 – 4:00pm

                           &

Friday, September 17, 2021 from 1:00 – 4:00pm

Maria Shell: Bits & Pieces — Designing from the Scrap Bag

Zoom Workshop Fee: $45 plus $35 kit fee (this includes a curated scrap bag, handouts, and shipping)

Workshop Description: This workshop is for scrap-a-holics. Learn how to shape, sort, and piece your fabric bits into art quilt masterpieces. While learning how to work with bits and pieces, students will also be given information about improvisational piecing techniques and ideas for taking these techniques and creating original quilts.

Quilt Plano  —  October 8 & 9, 2021

By Donna Petrick

Your guild needs you!!  It’s hard to get back in the routine, but with all we need to do it’s time.  The quilt show will be before you know it.  I hope your quilt is almost ready and that you are completing your entry for the show.  

Now look at the website volunteer list.  We cannot put on the terrific quilt show we have had without all the volunteers from the guild.  Please look at all the open spaces and see what you would like to do to help put on this show.  If everyone helps, it doesn’t put a burden on any one person or group.  If you have questions about the job, plan to attend the July 8th guild meeting to be held at Best Little Retreat Center.  The committee chairs will be there to explain the jobs and help you volunteer.  Our website is easy to use and is such an improvement over all the paper list we had to keep.  If you can’t attend the meeting that night, you can still Zoom.  We will be able to visit with you either by chat or breakout rooms to help you with explanations.

Working at the quilt show is a great way to meet members and get to know people.  It’s hard to do that with Zoom.  And while I love seeing you all on the Zoom meetings, I truly miss seeing you in person each month.  I’m so hoping that the church will open to us again in the near future.

By the time we have our July meeting, we should have tee shirts samples so you can order your show shirt, lunch tickets so you can buy your lunches for Friday and Saturday at the show and show pins.  Bring money or at least your credit card.

We will also have past show pins for sell as well as our guild pin which holds our year bar for 30 hours of work supporting the guild.  These will be on display at the July meeting.

Quilt Plano 2021 Raffle Tickets

We ask that all members buy a $20 packet of raffle tickets (24 tickets) to help with selling tickets for the beautiful raffle quilt.  You can either sell them to other people or keep them all for yourself.  The tickets sell for $1 each or 6 for $5.  Sherry Worley is in charge of the tickets and you can get your tickets from her.  The money made from the raffle quilt continues to help the guild with the great programs we have as well as fund activities.  In the past that has been to fund a scholarship for youth education sewing class.  With any luck, we can get back to that and help encourage future quilters.

Selling raffle tickets also helps us to not to raise membership dues.  After more than a year with no fund raisers, we need to sell a maximum number of raffle tickets.  Fortunately, the quilt is so beautiful it will nearly sell itself.

FREE DENIM

I have a plastic tub of denim jeans and vests that I would like to dispose of. Anyone need to make a denim quilt???? Call Linda Chappell at 972-612-0056.

Community Service

By Dolores Williams and Valerie Salter

Community Service is ramping up!  We will have our first, in person,  Sit-and-Sew day on June 8, at Plano Sewing Center, 2070 W. Spring Creek Parkway, Plano.  We always meet on the second Tuesday of the month.  We will be meeting in person the rest of the year.

As a reminder:  Sit-and-Sew is where we have quilt top kits ready to be sewn.  These are the Community Service quilts we give out to several organizations.  We start at 10 am and go until the tops are done – usually out by 1 or 2 pm.  Bring your sewing machine and basic sewing supplies.  We bring our lunch, and one member brings dessert.  Please contact us at CommunityService@qgplano.org if you are interested in joining us. 

We are so grateful to Plano Sewing Center for letting us have the space to sew.

We had a Take-in / Give-out day on May 18.  We didn’t have much to give out and the day was predicted to have major storms all day.  As it happened, the storm held off until after we were done.  We did take in 27 completed quilts, 29 pillowcases and 6 quilted quilts needing binding.  Thank you to those that braved the weather to bring in their items. 

In July, we will be having a live in-person meeting to do the Quilt Show Rollout.  I wanted to mention that Community Service will not be taking in or giving out items.  We are all involved with the quilt show and cannot do both jobs at once.

Quilts of Valor

By Carolyn Cosgriff

The Prayers and Squares quilters of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton church made over 20 tops for Quilts of Valor–some of which were shown at the May meeting.   Kudos to them!  The next step is to get these wonderful tops quilted.  Please contact Carolyn Cosgriff, 469-387-0033, if you are up to quilting one.  Backs and batting are bundled with each quilt. 

As quilters know, batting and backing fabric puts a hole in the budget.  We are looking for underwriting.  If anyone has insight to the donation process or contacts with the local defense contractors, please share your knowledge.    

Plus, our group is sewing up blocks and rows and quilts

News from the Zoom Bees

Hoop It Up Bee – Donna Petrick

We are still meeting for machine embroidery.  We meet on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 10:00am.  Not everyone shows up each month.  You can come and go as you need to.  We share a lot of information about techniques, designs, threads, stabilizers, etc.  If you are interested in using your embroidery machine please join us to get in on the discussions.  In May we will be discussing using it for quilt labels.  

Contact me at petrickdl@outlook.com so I can send you the link.

Free Motion Quilting Bee (we actually sew during the meeting!) – Monica Hendewerk

Our meetings have been a huge success.  It turns out that Zoom blocks out background noise, so we can sew and chat at the same time!  Monica or one of the other members provide some designs to practice on a small sandwich which you can choose to use or not.  The designs are sent out in advance and include step by step instructions, with both beginner and intermediate designs.  A number of us generally “doodle” on paper first, and then sew.  Some people do the designs that have been sent out, others do their own thing.  We have beginner beginners all the way to advanced members of the group.  We also share our samples and ask/answer questions.  Meetings are on the second Monday of the month, from 1 – 3 (or longer sometimes!).  Please contact Monica so that she can send you the Zoom link if you are interested.  mhendewerk@gmail.com  (713) 569-8798

Featherweight Fellowship Groups – Jeanne Vogel

Dust off your Singer Featherweight and join us while we sit and sew. We share tips for caring for the machine, our best notions, and have several members experienced with problem solving both machine and quilting problems. If you work, join us on a Saturday!  When we share a lot of tips and tricks we follow the meeting with an email to those attending.  Those who have not previously notified me, please email pickincotton26@verizon.net to get the invitation to join the Zoom meeting

• Chicks with Feathers—3rd Saturdays @ 1-3pm — (Formerly meeting at Sunrise of Plano)                                                                                                                                                                                         
• Featherweight Friends—4th Fridays @ 1-3pm — (Formerly meeting at Best Little Retreat Center in Texas) 

Pieceful Organization – Sarah Krauss & Jeanne Vogel 

We are Zooming on the 3rd Wednesday from 1-3pm using the inspiration from a workshop we attended.  Organization will change your clutter and chaos to start the year fresh with your stuff organized.  Less chaos leads to more productive quilt making.

Join us to organize your mess and give tips and sometimes offer trade of  our stuff!   pickincotton26@verizon.net for an invitation

Hand Applique Small group – Linda Neal

We meet Monday of each month at 10:00 on Zoom. Our next meeting is April 5th.  We work on our individual projects and  offer encouragement and lots of hints and tricks.   If you are interested in joining our hand applique Zoom group, please email Linda Neal (lindanealmck@hotmail.com)

English Paper Piecing Small Group – Linda Neal

We meet on the 4th Tuesday at 10:00 on Zoom.  April 20th is our next meeting.  Whether you are new to English Paper Piecing or a pro, we would love to have you join our group.   Our group is informal and fun!!  For a link,  please email Linda Neal (lindanealmck@hotmail.com)

Guild Activities

By Leigh Knox and Michael Davison

June is here and that means school is out and family trips are in the works.  Thank you to all that attended the May Sew Day at BLRC. It was so nice to see you. 

For June let’s see if we can finish up a UFO or 2 and show them at the June meeting. 

Happy Birthday to all of our June guys and gals.

Membership

By  Sue Rentz & Karen Edmondson

Monica Flinchum and Ronna Bruce were guests at the May meeting.  New members joining in May were Monica Flinchum, Cindy Parker, and Evelyn Cheek.

 The following door prizes were awarded using the “Wheel of Fortune”:

•          Quilt Country gift card – Lut DeMuelder
•          Urban Spools gift card – Nancy Worst
•          Sew Let’s Quilt It gift card – Patricia Becerra
•          Not Your Mama’s gift card – Pam Wingate
•          Stitched with Love gift card – Monica Flinchum
•          Best Little Retreat Center in Texas (one-day retreat for two) – Terry Reisinger

• Diane Poor — 6/2
• Ida Sue Rostosky — 6/8
• Jenny Hilton — 6/8
• Marvel Reese — 6/9
• Page Samuel — 6/10
• Carolyn Cosgriff — 6/12
• Sarah Krauss — 6/12
• Janet Lindsey — 6/13
• Jeana Kubik — 6/14
• Lynnette Maytubby — 6/14
• Adrienne Poppe — 6/18
• Dolores Williams — 6/19
• Wendy Kent — 6/20
• Donna Strongin — 6/21
• Ernestine Chipman — 6/21
• Kathy Czekaj — 6/21
• Marie Flanders — 6/22
• Robin Clayborn — 6/22
• Lynn Wagner — 6/23
• Barbara Ilaoa — 6/26
• Pat Young — 6/26
• Chanda Smith — 6/27
• Maria Eakin — 6/27
• Terry Cardona — 6/29

Stockings and Pet Beds

By  Martha O’Grady

As I have said and written many times, I feel truly blessed to be able to do stocking kits for y’all.  Thanks to your generosity, the only thing that I need right now is 3/8” red ribbon.

As most of you know, a stocking needs about a fat quarter, and only uses half that material. Therefore, I generate a lot of scraps. So, one thing that I did was I made 130 coasters. It was fun, but it did not use much fabric. I also made a couple dozen cuddlies.  I have been cutting “tumblers” and finally assembled them into a bed-sized quilt top.

As I have said before, if you need fabric for any project, let me know. I probably have some of exactly what you want! I have given garbage bags full of nice big fabric pieces to several ladies who make quilts and other items for various charities, or for their own projects.

I was talking to someone, and complaining about what a dusty mess my house is because of the all fabric that I handle. She said, “Well, that’s happy dust from your hobby.” I had not thought about it that way.

I have discovered a new technique that I am very excited about!  As you know, we have always been taught that when making an “envelope hem” instead of a binding, you sew all the way around the edge of the quilt (or coaster) wrong sides together, leaving a small opening to pull the unit through. This seals the quilted edges, and the next step is to finagle the corners and try to get them square. By accident, I did it differently. I only sewed two parallel sides, and left the other two parallel sides open. Then I was able to open the corner as if I were pinning a rolled hem, pin this in place, then fold the corner back again to sew. Perfection every time! WOW! Much much easier.

I am nearly finished working on a crazy quilt from stocking scraps. I am using a technique similar to string quilting, and I want to do some embellishing. I have 60-20”x5” units done. I plan to bind each edge seam for a quilt as you go. I think this will add an interesting element to the total design, but I need to decide what color. I may even have it done in time for the quilt show in October! We shall see.

I made 6 large pet beds this month. I must confess that I have not worked as hard on this as I have in the past. I made a huge stack of bags to stuff, and they sit under my sewing machine side desk.

I have decided that instead of bagging up all tiny pieces of fabric, I am going to cut some of them into confetti. I am bagging them into sandwich bags according to color. Then when I have a nice color pallet, I want to start making collages. This is a project on my Bucket List, although I have never done any before. I’m excited about starting a new batch of projects.

Yay, yet another started project. Yuh know, because I have so few UFO’s. LOL.

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