October 2020 Newsletter

It’s October. School is back in session and going strong. Fall is starting. The leaves are starting the drop into my pool and we’ve had a few cooler days. It seems normal until I realize the “school in session” consists of my grandchildren doing virtual learning at my kitchen table! And Fall is starting…… but the Texas State Fair is now done by “drive through.” Reality hits hard. We are still in “COVID times” with not much going to change anytime soon.

So, for the foreseeable future, this is how things are going to be. We are going to have to just “go with the flow.” The “flow” being Zoom guild meetings, Zoom board meetings, and Community Service drop off days. People join guilds to attend meetings and hear great speakers. But, they also join guilds to meet other quilters. And that’s hard to do with only monthly guild meetings. And those of you who have come to the Community Service Drop Off Day you know the BEST part is getting to see your fellow guild members. It’s fun to see what they have been working on (or completing) and what’s going on with them and their family.

For hundreds of years quilters have meet together and formed Quilting Bees. And with COVID preventing groups of people meeting together, Zoom group meetings are the next best thing. To help members connect with each other we have started several small groups. While it’s not as great as meeting in person, for now this is our “new normal.” And after a short time, you forget you’re on Zoom, and it’s just a bunch of quilters chatting in a small group. You don’t even need to put your shoes on to attend.

All you need to do to join a small group is to be a guild member and email the leader of the group. And with everything being on Zoom, members can live anywhere. So, if you have friends or family who would love to join our guild, hear our speakers, participate in guild activities, and join our small groups--invite them to join our guild. We are going to be increasing our social media presence and increasing our communication with guild members. We will be adding more small groups. If you have a suggestion or want to start a small group--let me know. The guild board has had to make a lot of big changes over a short amount of time. We are gearing up for a great year.

Happy Stitching!

Guild Meeting – Thursday, October 8, 2020

Carmen Geddes of Tensisters Handcraft – Lecture and Trunk Show

I had the pleasure of meeting Carmen in 2018 at the Houston Quilt Festival. It was there that I took a class with her and totally enjoyed her warm, enthusiastic personality along with her great quilting techniques. It was quickly after that encounter that we booked her for this month’s quest speaker!

Carmen was raised in a big family of 17 kids--10 girls and 7 boys. It is no surprise that her business name is Tensisters Handicraft. All of the sisters enjoy quilting.

She loves the traditional quilt patterns of days past, but loves new, easy techniques to make the process fun, faster, and successful. She has developed the Tensisters Piping Tool and the Tensisters Easy Piecing Grid with its companion book, “Ten Quilts for Ten Sisters.”

Here are two samples of quilts using the Tensisters Easy Piecing Grid.

We had another successful pick-up / take-in day on September 22. We want to thank Plano Sewing Center for letting us be inside the store since it rained the entire time we were there.

We brought in 30 pillowcases, 84 completed quilts, 8 tops, and 4 stockings, and a large number of dog beds. Also, we gave out everything we brought to distribute. Thank you very much to everyone that helped make it a successful day. We also received a donation of 2 tubs of fabric, most of which was batiks in large pieces. We will put them to good use.

The best part of the day was seeing so many guild members. We have missed seeing our friends, so this was a day to meet and greet, though we were very cautious and all wore masks and kept our distance.

We are planning another pick-up / take-in day for either late October or early November. We will let you know more when we finalize the details.

Keep quilting and stay safe,

Free Motion Quilting Bee – Monica Hendewerk

Need a little motivation to practice free motion quilting for a few hours a month? Monica Hendewerk has offered to coordinate monthly Zoom meetings during which we will actually be practicing our free motion quilting. Monica will be working on a domestic machine, but practice can just as easily be done on a long-arm! Some initial ideas are to provide one beginner and one intermediate/advanced design or exercise for those that want to follow along, and have other members free motion on their own. We can share our samples and also have tips, tricks, and help discussions. Any and all ideas are welcome! The first session will be on Monday, October 26th at 1 pm. The group can decide on a day, time, and frequency for the meetings at our first session. Please send an e-mail to Monica so that she can send you the Zoom link if you are interested. mhendewerk@gmail.com

Machine Embroidery Zoom Group -- Donna Petrick

Any member interested in machine embroidery is invited to join our new zoom small group which meets the 3rd Thursday each month at 10:00 am. Send me an email petrickdl@outlook.com requesting to join the group so I can send you the information to sign in.

We met for the first time on Thursday, September 17th. Lots of interest in show and tell and in learning new techniques. October and November meetings will include techniques taught by Monica Hendewerk and Tisha Harms.

Hope more of you will join in the near future.

English Paper Piecing Zoom Group

Love to English Paper Piece? Need inspiration? Tired of stitching in front of the TV? Then this is the group for you! English Paper Piecing is relaxing and fun to do while you visit with other guild members. Learn tips and tricks while you visit and have the opportunity to see what other members are working on. Our next meeting is October 20th at 10:00. Send Linda Neal an email to be added to the group. (lindanealmck@hotmail.com)

Hand Applique Zoom Group

Love to Hand Applique? Then come and join our Zoom group! No need to drive or pack up all of your stuff when you can just meet up on Zoom. Our next meeting is October 13th @10:00. Email Linda Neal to join our group. (lindanealmck@hotmail.com)

“ Worker Bees” Zoom Group (In the planning stages)

Do you work full time, but want to join a guild Zoom small group? Are you tired of watching TV in the evenings and want a Zoom group to stitch with? Then this is going to be the group for you! This group will include ANY type of quilting activity--hand, machine etc. Then this is going to be the group for you! Simply send an email to Linda Neal (lindanealmck@hotmail.com) and I will start a list. Please indicate what day of the week would be best. I will get it started ASAP!

The Connected Project (a Foundation Paper Piecing pattern)

Pattern by Happy Sew Lucky Berene Campbell

Berene Campbell of Happy Sew Lucky designed this project as a way for quilters to connect during the Covid-19 pandemic to show that while we may be physically isolated we are never alone.

This project is designed for guild members to make the block and that when we are all showing our completed blocks we will form one connected chain. Ideally we would be in a room together standing in a circle to make the chain. But we will Zoom it!

Now if you are not familiar with Foundation Paper Piecing do not be afraid of this project as it is sooo super easy and there are numerous YouTube videos you can watch before you make the commitment. Happy Sew Lucky has several, but there are so many others also available.

You will have to sign up for this project and promise to commit to the timelines so that we are ready for the big reveal at our December guild meeting. You will be a part of the team and each person of that team will create one piece of the block for each team member. The instructions call for teams of 8, but if we only have teams of 4 then each person will have to make 2 pieces of the block. You will then have to either mail or deliver your pieces to the other members of your team.

As soon as we get the teams created, I will then email each group a list of members' names and contact information. I will mail (and email) out the templates with more instructions and details with the instructions for your group.

Now her instructions have us all sewing the pieces together over a Zoom meeting, but we will go ahead and have our ‘link’ completed before the big reveal at the December guild meeting.

Ok so here is the timeline:

Send you Name, Email address and your Mailing address to Activities@QGPlano.org by October 18, 2020.
Include your favorite color.
Commit to have your pieces made and in the mail (or hand deliver) to your teammates by November 15, 2020.

I am sure you will have questions, and you are more than welcome to read about the project on her website and get a visual of the project. When you see the block you will see why I say this is easy. Now maybe FPP just isn’t in your wheelhouse, we are working on traditional piecing instructions.

I look forward to all of us Connecting and sending out 2020 with a swift kick and a ‘you’re outta here’. We are truly stronger together and our guild is our strong quilty link.

I hope you enjoy this project.

The membership year of the Quilters Guild of Plano runs from October 1st through September 30th. We usually get a large amount of our memberships, either new or renewals, at the August show, but, of course, there wasn’t one. We need the support of our members!

To date, 55 people have either joined or renewed, but this is compared to over 350 people who were members last year. The board has decided to have a one-time contest for obtaining memberships. Thanks to Donna Petrick’s work, we have some fantastic prizes that will be awarded to several members, chosen by a drawing. If you have already joined or renewed, you are eligible. If your membership reaches me by October 31st, the deadline, you will be eligible.

Instructions on payment are in this month’s newsletter. There are two methods—paying by credit card online or printing out the membership form and sending that plus your check for $30 to the address on the form.

This year we are not printing membership cards. However, we are emailing a pdf of your membership card, which can be printed if you like. If you think that your dues have been paid but you haven’t received that card from us, please contact us at membership@qgplano.org.

Remember, the deadline for entries is October 31st.

Attendance at the September meeting was approximately 91. Door prizes were from Not Your Mama’s Quilt Store, Sew Let’s Quilt It, Rockin’ Bobbin, Against the Grain, Quilt Country, and Stitched with Love. The winners, chosen from the Chat window by a random number generator, were Judy Johnson, Chanda Smith, Jeanne Vogel, Michael Davison, and Fran Casey.

Due to our Covid-19 experience, lack of quilt show, and for this year only, the board has decided to offer a prize drawing for all those who sign up new or renew their membership by October 31. Payment and/or paperwork must be received by October 31st to be eligible. This will include all who have already signed up for the 2020-21 fiscal year.

Prizes are:

1st Prize: A set of Quilters Select rulers donated by Plano Sewing Center, valued at $200. This includes the following sizes: 12” square, 8.5” square, 4.5” square, 3.5” square, 2.5” square, 6.5 x 24” ruler and 3” x 12” ruler. (12” square is on order, thus not shown)
2nd Prize: Kit donated by Rosie deLeon-McCrady of Scarlet Today, valued at $189. 2017 Blazing Star Kit.
3rd Prize: 2 day/2 person day retreat donated by Best Little Retreat Center in Texas, valued at $100.
4th Prize: Laurel Burch bags including sewing notions donated by Sherry Worley, valued at $90. Included is large bag, set of 3 smaller bags, Meori mini folding box and Oh Sew Organized Stash ‘n Store
5th Prize: Gift certificate donated by Sew Let’s Quilt It, valued at $25.

Go online and renew your membership for a chance at the fun prizes.

10/1 JoAnn Langloys
10/1 Karen Finch
10/3 Pam Lane
10/4 Heather Ewald
10/5 Linda Burton
10/6 J "Michelle" Watts
10/6 Rebecca Williams
10/7 Jackie Galubenski
10/7 Judy Johnson
10/7 Barbara Pena
10/11 Mistey Jones
10/13 Caryn Pesek
10/14 Marge Krempl
10/14 Peggy Dull
10/17 Carroll Thune
10/17 Karen Rainville
10/17 Monica Hendewerk
10/18 Debbie Seher
10/22 Ruth Bernabo
10/24 Denee' Nelson
10/25 Rebecca Ellis
10/27 Cheryl Morschauser
10/27 Linda Kaiser
10/27 Connie Hansen
10/28 Linda Castellano
10/29 Tressa Nisankarao
10/31 Sarah Ann Lee
10/31 Sandra Vinzant

I finally got around to counting the stockings, a little less than 1600. The ones in the “barn” will probably put us over that amount. Good work guys! I am so glad that we completed this before the shutdown. I hate to think how we might have been scrambling to complete this project as the deadline came. Y’all are so wonderful!

I contacted Soldiers Angels to get the process started of passing them along. In the past, we have met at the Starbucks across the street from Joann’s in McKinney. Not sure how we will get drop off to work now. We shall see.

Yep, I still have beds donated in March. YAY.

Most of you know that one of the small groups in our guild is “Art Quilter’s of Plano”. We take turns demoing a technique, and I had signed up for June. Since our group is no longer meeting, I did mine totally online using stocking leftovers, and the tutorial is on the Facebook group, including pictures of each step, if anyone is interested. I will have a very beautiful quilt when I’m done.

A friend from church gave me a big bag of quilt leftovers. Mixed together I found yardage, fabric that I can use for stockings, fat quarters still in their packaging, fabric and batting pieces big enough to be cut up and used, crumbs, sliver trims; a very nice assortment. Very little of it needed to be put into a pet bed. No, I don’t want anyone else to do the same. That would be quite overwhelming if everybody did it. My point is that we need to be creative with our leftover chunks of fabric, as shelters are taking fewer beds.

I also found something that I had not seen before. My friend had taken a jelly roll of batting and cut it into about 10 inch sections then used it for crumb piecing. Crumbs are pieces that most of us would discard, but that measure at least 1.5 inches. She sewed these crumbs going down the length of each and it yielded units of about 2.5 inches by 10 inches, batting on one side and fabric on the other. She made dozens of these. She had taken one, and put a backing onto it, making a bookmark sized little quilt. My guess is she did what I have done so many times. She came up with a grand idea, spent lots of time working on it, and at the very last step found out that OH, NO! It doesn’t really work. So, I took them and applied them to a fat quarter. The joining method that I used was the same on most of us use when we join sections of batting. I zigzagged between two. After each seam, I checked and made sure I was happy before doing the next. POOF! I had a “pieced” cuddle. It turned out really cute. It is ready for the next Community Service drop off. I did a bunch more. I will have several cuddles to take.

I saw an article about taking what I would call slivers and threads and making a new fabric out of them. She arranged them between a sandwich of wash-away stabilizer, and then stippled all over it. After washing away the stabilizer, she had a new fabric to be used as embellishment or whatever. It was very pretty.

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