We met today at Joan’s house on a sunny spring day. Joan opted to have the meeting in the house as she explained to us later about the lingering skunk odor from next door. Being outdoors would have been nice, but we were glad to be indoors. Alice and Bobbie were both unable to make it and they were missed. Sandi had some fabric for Alice, but will bring it to the next meeting. The next meeting will be at Mary’s house on May 8 at 130.
Joan
Joan was first up and she had a lot to share. She started with her Magnolia quilt to show us how she quilted it from the back. It makes a lot of sense to quilt from the back in some quilts when there is so much going on in the front. Her second quilt is from the pattern Chill Out which uses 2.5 inch strips from her solids stash in an effective offset pattern. The backing fabric was chosen so she can quilt this from the back with the wavy lines. She likes this pattern so much she is planning a third.
Deanna
Deanna looked through her ufo projects from years past and came up with these two. The first is a view of Santorini that she thinks she did in a Laura Fogg class. The landscape was assembled, a tulle sheer or organza fabric was put on top and the quilt was quilted to hold the tiny pieces down. She placed metallic threads and fluff to create clouds and waves. The reason why she didn’t finish it was the mitered corners. She has mastered the eyelash and mitered corner with the red and blue border. Good job. The second quilt also needed a border. It started with a muslin foundation in a New York Beauty pattern. She used French fabrics and a tablecloth that she got for $10 from a place in Martinez. She couldn’t figure out how to cut the tablecloth to create a nice border. Well you can’t tell, but this is also a mitered corner.
The due date to submit the unfinished projects challenge is July.
Mary
After finishing Betsy’s hummingbird quilt, Mary has decided to start sewing for pleasure. She has started a crayon quilt. It was a challenge for her to pick out the colors from her scraps. We discussed how hard it is to find true colors in different values. Talked a little about Angie’s color classes and how valuable learning the basics of color theory has become when choosing colors for the crayon. Still working on the filler fabric whether light, dots, dark or none at all.
Arleen
I brought two quilt tops. First is the Reconsidering the Grid that was shown in the last meeting. A third border of straight lines placed in a circle pattern has made this quilt much bigger. I was hoping to get this finished for PIQF, unfortunately, I just found out that PIQF has been cancelled due to the Soccer Games happening at Levi’s Stadium. Bummers.
The second is another grid pattern using shirting material and some of my old hand dyed muslin. It looks very calming. I really like using the grid patterns.
Sandy
Sandy has decided not to work on her two ufos that she showed us last month. Instead she pulled out a One Block Wonder project that she started and never finished. She made a runner with some of the completed blocks. She also gave the unfinished blocks to Marty in the hope that she can make something of them.
Mindy has two round robin projects that she couldn’t show us. But she could show the possibilities of what will be her part of the project. The first is a strip of squares made using 3/4 inch strips. So tiny and so like Mindy. The second rr will use a lighter color palette since the first two were on the darker side. She is also making paper flowers to use in her fans.
Marty
Marty had three projects. The first is from the Thursday quilters gather with a dark a light and a pop of color. She chose to make a wonky nine patch. Unfortunately, it did not come out to 10 inches. The second project was from a Diane Harris hexagon. Instead of using Diane Harris pattern, she drafted her own. Unfortunately the hand sewing of the fabric has inflamed the Reynard in her hands and she has decided to stop. The third quilt is a finished project. Yeah! She made a bow tie quilt using Betsy’s fabric.
Betsy’s name came up so many times in this meeting and it was decided to give you her son Eric’s email address. Elivak@gmail.com. Feel free to send him pictures of how you are using Betsy’s fabric or how much she inspired us all.
Joan sliced a pound cake, whipped up a bowlful of cream and sliced some strawberries to make a wonderfully light dessert. Thank you Joan for hosting and reminding us what a joy it is to be with good friends.
This is a picture of my next grid project.
