February 2022

We met at Joan's house today and everyone was able to attend.  Joan prepared a beautiful table setting for us and served a delicious walnut cake with fresh strawberries.  Her centerpiece showcased dinner plate sized camellias.

Our next meeting will be Friday, March 18 at 1:30 at Betsy's.  At Sandy's request we also talked about moving the meeting day and time since her commute back on a Friday night involves a ton of stop and go traffic to get out of the Bay Area.  We arrived at the second Tuesday at 2 p.m. as a possibility.  We will discuss next month before making a final decision.

Marty mentioned she was now using a wool pressing mat and how much she liked it.  Someone suggested looking at Wawak  (https://www.wawak.com/) as a source.  We checked it and didn't find any there.

Joan and Betsy shared their versions of two English Paper Piecing patterns.  It was great to see these side by side and amazing what different results color choices give.

Betsy demonstrated her ability to work with small EPP pieces.  One is a black, gray and white table topper and the second was a smaller hexagonal piece composed of 1/2" pieces.

Bobbie brought a quilt top made with gorgeous Asian fabrics and a block design she created. 

 Bobbie mentioned there will be a memorial for Roger in March and that roast beef and Necco wafers [2 of his latest craves] will be served.

Mary's Teddy Bear quilt is nearly done.  She asked for input on quilting density and we all agreed it is fine as is.  The quilted bears in the corner squares are amazing and we all loved the leaf border quilting.

Arleen shared the inspiration for her latest blocks--a book she got from Deanna last meeting.

Deanna shared a completed Community Quilt that she quilted.  Despite supply problems with the batting, the result is a happy one.

Deanna is working on a new one block wonder.  She showed us the fabric she is using and a photo of the quilt on her design wall.

Sandy shared homework from her curves class with Patricia Belyea.  It involved a lot of partial seams.  Sandy asked for input on backing fabric.

Mindy brought a completed project bag.  She wanted to point out all of the mistakes she had made, but we voted her down.

She also shared her quilt for Voices in Cloth which she promises to finish in time for the show.  This beautiful quilt will end up with Vawnie, her granddaughter.

Marty wore a stunning button down shirt that was impeccably tailored that she had made.  She promised to let us know what pattern she had used.

Marty also showed a photo of her beautifully colorful rainbow lattice quilt on her design wall. We'll add the photo to this post when she forwards it.  [Betsy's attempt to send the photo from Marty's phone failed.]

January 2022

 We met at Deanna's house today and Mindy provided the desserts, cookies and a cake with strawberries and ricotta filling.  The next meeting is February 18 at 1:30 at Joan's house.

 Bobbie gave us an update on Roger.  He fell and broke his femur and had to have surgery at Kaiser.  He is currently in care at Kaiser San Leandro, but will soon be moving to El Cerrito Royale assisted living center.  Bobbie plans on moving to a smaller unit in her same building when one comes open.  We all send best wishes to Roger.

Mindy shared some Tula Pink fabric pieces she will be using to make bags with heavy duty zippers, a clear window, and Tula Pink ribbon.

She also shared her Voices in Cloth entry.  She still has to complete the borders.

Betsy shared her granddaughter Eve's first quilt for Eve's stuffed animal Hobbes.  Evie picked where each fabric was placed, helped to sew, and to quilt.

Betsy also showed a blue EPP quilt that was quilted by Melissa Quilter using feathers and a feathered wreath.

Melissa also quilted Betsy's next quilt using fabrics by Tim Holtz.  It's a stunner.

The back is equally beautiful.

Sandy showed a t-shirt top that she has made.  The fabric has safety pins on it and it fits her like a glove.

Arleen showed some more hexagon blocks using Kaffe striped shot cottons.  This is a different block from what she showed last month.  These blocks use half hexagon shapes.

Notice Arleen's cool t-shirt.

Mary showed her teddy bear quilt which got lots compliments.  She has quilted in claws on one paw and plans to quilt teddy bears in the corners.

Mary also showed a heart quilt which she finished assembling shortly before our meeting began.

Deanna showed photos of three quilts she recently finished.

 

 

She also showed a Community Quilts project she quilted.  Turns out Marty had made the top and chose the back fabric.

Marty shared her first finished Bishop's Ranch project, a large colorful pot holder.

Marty shared a completed rainbow lattice top inspired by a quilt Betsy made a few months ago.

Joan asked for suggestions on how to quilt the border of her Roberta Horton tribute quilt.  Marty gave her a great suggestion.

Joan also asked for suggestions on pricing two quilts she plans to put in VIC Marketplace.   The embroidery on the first one is amazing.

 

The other quilt combines black, white, and acid green and Joan had enough blocks left over to make a second quilt.

December 2021

We met this month at Bobbie's home and everyone was able to attend.  Bobbie made two kinds of donuts for refreshments -- chocolate and cinnamon nutmeg.  Both were delicious.

At the end of the meeting we did a different process of our holiday gift exchange at Marty's suggestion.  Each person chose a gift from the pile on the table.  Clement Moore's Night Before Christmas was recited and every time a word began with the letter "t"  the gifts were passed to the right.  At the end we each opened the gift we now held.  Wonderful gifts were received by all.

Next meeting is at Deanna's house on January 21 at 1:30.

Joan shared photos from her Mexico trip for her son's wedding celebration.  The setting was beautiful and the photos were lovely, particularly Joan in her new dress.

Photos and text courtesy of Sandra Ellison for this post.

Mary shared first with an EBHQ Community Quilt that she was quilting.  In each square she quilted a beautiful flower motif.

The quilting shows best from the back.

Mary also brought her llama baby quilt with free motion llamas quilted.

Mary also shared a Unicorn baby quilt designated for someone who wanted unicorns and pink.  She quilted unicorns (some of which she added Glow in the Dark thread to) onto the quilt top.

Mindy finished another detailed Christmas stocking, this one destined for Payton.  

Mindy also brought her finished top from her Round Robin experience.

Sandy showed a Christmas table runner in progress that was done in reverse applique.

Betsy brought two disappearing nine patch flannel baby quilts.

The fabric used on the back of the doggy quilt was named "blood splatter" on the selvage.

Arleen designed a new mask pattern that has a neck strap incorporated into the ear loops.  You never lose your mask when you don't have it over your nose and mouth.

 Arleen showed a small Kaffe stripes quilt she made a while ago.

And then she made a large Kaffe quilt out of fabric she had left over and some given to her by Betsy.  We all would be happy to have this quilt in our collection.

Joan hand pieced a Christmas tree skirt that Richard thinks should be layered and quilted.  We think it looks good as is, but perhaps she might try fusible fleece to give it some body.

Joan also mentioned that she is working on publishing her great grandfather's letters from the Gold Rush time.  There are over well over 200 letters that his wife kept.  She hopes that they will be housed at the Bancroft.

Deanna is using up fabric from her stash and made this quilt with two unique sides which she quilted beautifully on her Baby Lock.  She wanted to feature the center fabric instead of cutting it up.  She found a pattern that would work and searched for the perfect blue for the border. 

The other side of the quilt features a Japanese fabric split into three sections.

Bobbie showed her finished pillow top, possibly for the EBHQ VIC Marketplace.

Bobbie also showed several blocks made from Japanese fabrics she got in LA years ago.

Marty has been playing with sewing scraps together when she has a free hour.  Beautiful work.