October 2024

 Today we met at Mary’s house on a hot and sunny day.  Everyone was wearing either a cool dress or shorts.  After the heat wave we’ve been having, it was nice to get into the cool house.  Marty was the only one missing.  The next meeting will be at Bobbie’s house on November 4 at 130.

Mindy started us off but unfortunately forgot to bring her show and tell.  She did find Bobbie’s lost phone so Bobbie was happy to get it back.  She told us about her broken dishwasher and recommended Mikes Appliances in Pinole.

Mary

Mary was next and showed us three projects.  The first was from a kit for children’s quilt.  It was quilted in a serpentine S but it came out as ovals on the second pass.  I’m going to have to try that quilt pattern.  The second quilt came from a 2004 Jane Herlily Block of the month pattern.  At first she didn’t like the color but we all agreed that it came out very nice.  The third is an old project that she completed.  She’s not sure which class this was started in.  It looks like she took 4 same sized fabrics and cut three gentle curves then shuffled them.  I think it looks great, but Mary is thinking of cutting it up and making a tryptych.

Bobbie

Bobbie was next and is working on 12 small 4.5 inch squares of hand embroidery on cut up fabrics.  She is  using Susan Brandeis Stitching book which says to choose the stitch design first and then choose your fabrics and design. 

Joan

 Joan is working on her Sisyphus quilt and has decided not to quilt it herself. She is looking for a long arm quilter since Melissa said she is too overbooked and won’t be able to accept it until after the holidays.  I think the border she added really pulled the colors together.

Her next project has something to do with a lighthouse.  Mary was able to find a lighthouse picture for inspiration.

Sandy

Sandy showed us her new project.  She was thinking of naming it Circus Circus.  Someone suggested 3 Ring Circus.  She chose the colors first.  Although she doesn’t like the colors, they do work well together.  You can see the influence of Maria Shell and the improv classes that she’s been taking.  Well done.

Deanna

Deanna had two projects to share.  The first was a layer cake that she had.  I think the pattern was from The Fabric Patch.  She said something about putting two fabrics right sides together, drawing a diagonal line and sewing on each side.

The second project was an Irish chain quilt.  She found a dog fabric for the focal center and surrounded it with the red and white checkers.  Nice.  How did she get her points so straight. Pins.  She pins everything.

Arleen 

I had two projects.  The first is the same pattern as the red and blue silk quilt.  I used a layer cake of brights and a layer cake of whites.  For an 80 x80 quilt, I used 84 10 inch squares and some leftover 2.5 purple strips.  The batting is a 80/20 from Joann’s.  After using the Quilters Select which is a lighter batting from The Batty Lady, I found it harder to quilt a large quilt with the thicker batting.

The second project is the same pattern from Sarah Nishiuras workshop.  This quilt uses yarn dyed leftover fabrics.  It has a homey feel with all the neutral colors.  I’m thinking of using bright colored threads to quilt it.  Thanks for all the suggestions.

We discussed some challenge options which when we make the final decision will be due at the May meeting in time for the Alameda County show.  Limited to 80 inches.  Here are some ideas

1each person bring an ugly fabric to be swappped

2 black and white and 1 color

3 only use 2 fabrics

4 opposites attract.

5 pick a word that starts in RE. Rebel, refinish, redeux, restless, remember, repose, reveal, renaissance, reverberation, rebound, etc.

Thank you Mary for hosting this month.  We all enjoyed your delicious peach cake with vanilla ice cream.  The cold water and seltzer water was just right for a hot day.  

September 2024

 Today we met at Marty’s house on a beautiful day although the weather was a little chillier than yesterday.  Everyone especially Sandy was not complaining after the heat wave we had. We decided to go back to our 130 start and keep it at the first Monday of the month.  Deanna and Alice were both missed.  The next meeting will be at Mary’s house on Monday October 7 at 130.

Joan

Joan started us off with three projects.  The first was completing Betsy’s English paper piecing project.  She found the perfect border and added more fabric to the backing.  Melissa Quilter will do the quilting on her long arm.  The second was the smaller EPP piece which she appliquéd onto a backing.  This piece was simply quilted in the ditch with with minimal quilting and will be a nice table topper.  The third pice is called Sisyphus an Ode to a Greek god.  She took her EPP pieces, took off the paper backing and appliquéd them onto a pretty green background.  Her trick to appliqué the pieces was using a rotating Olfa mat, basting them on the fabric and going slowly.

Mindy

Mindy has also been busy with three projects to show.  The first was her improvisational round robin piece.  They just finished the round robins on Saturday and everyone got their pieces back.  She said next time she is going to just do the administrative work.  With so many projects going on, it gets too hectic.  The second project is completing stockings for George and herself.  George’s is almost done and she is just starting on hers.  The third project is a mobile that she made using beads. I wonder if this is for the baby?

Mary

Mary returned from Bishops Ranch with two projects almost completed.  The first is translating a picture to a quilt.  She saw a stained glass that she liked and copied the basic sun, foreground, background and path. She took it to the Copy store and had it enlarged to 200%.  Then Ruth McDowell style she put the pieces together.  She’s not quite satisfied,  but it she’s getting there.  The second project used scraps on a Victoria Finley Wolfe pattern that she got from Sandy.  She called it a Crumb quilt which used scraps of 4.5 inch green and orange crumbs put onto an aqua background. Nice.

Sandy

Sandy took a short three hour workshop from Maria Shell.  She was able to make grids with a selected color palette.  She made four pieces which will be turned into pillows.  The piecing is incredible.  She started off ironing the back seams open but after a while didn’t worry about it too much.  I agree it takes a lot of concentration to iron all those pieces.

Arleen

I had three projects to show.  The first is the silk grid piece from last month.  I found a nice yukata back and quilted it using the yukata flowers as a guide.  The second is the same grid pattern using white and colorful 10 inch layer cakes. I put a border and additional squares to make it 80 by 80.  The third project is the Sewpowerful purse project.  I bought the webbing at PIQF looked up the pattern on the internet and made 10 purses.  I’m going to check to see if any of my friends want any.

Marty

Marty has been very busy.  She has 4 projects .  The first which I couldn’t take a picture was of a pinwheel from EBHQ Quilters Gather Block Party.  She took the four days of scrap quilting, which gave her some ideas of how to use up those scraps.  She mentioned Ginger Barlow and a quilter who prints her EPP pieces on freezer paper and some other ideas for scraps.  The second is a block using 2.5 x 4.5 pieces.  It looks like an expanded bento box to me.  The third project is an EBHQ pattern using 3.5 x 6.5 pieces sewing 12 pieces in a row and putting sashing in between 4 rows.  Very nice. I think you can find the pattern on the EBHQ website.  The fourth project uses the 2.5 x 4.5 blocks sewn together in pairs and scrambled.  Every time she scrambled it, her hands would try to make order out of the scrambling and it came out very orderly.  I think it looks nice.

Bobbie

Bobbie made a baby quilt which she sewed and quilted.  Nice job Bobbie.  She had a list of events and shows happening in the next few months.  They included Ileana Sotos show in Marin, the Diablo Valley quilters show on 9/21, the Joe Cunningham show at St Joseph’s Church in SF which runs until December and the SAQA show in Rancho Cordero on 10/5.  Let her know if you have any interest in going to any of these.  

Marty made a Raspberry and Blueberry cake from the recent Cooks country episode.  With ice cream.  Everyone devoured it.  Thank you Marty for hosting and filling us up with coffee and dessert.  Thank you Sandy for making that long drive to the Bay Area.  Until we meet again, stay safe.

August 2024

 We met today at Joan’s house at 130 on a bright sunny day.  Mindy was the only one who was not able to come but hopefully she will be able to make it to the next meeting.  We are trying to find the best date so everyone can make it.  Next months meeting will be at Mary’s house on September 9 Monday at 2:00.  Hopefully the later time of half an hour will help.  It’s much more fun when everyone is there and we can all catch up with what is happening.  I know I learn so much from just listening to the stories that people share.

Joan

Joan was the first up because she was so excited to share her new book.  The books proof just arrived after years in the making and it is something to be proud of.  This will be printed in a limited run for family members.

Sandy

Sandy made the long drive to the Bay Area and we were very glad to see her.  She wants us to think of what our next group challenge will be.  She needs a kickstarter and hopes this will get her mojo back

Deanna

Deanna has been busy. She brought three projects and a box of books some from 1974 when she first started quilting.  Wow.

The first quilt was made of 10 inch squares of Maria Horner and Kaffe Fassett fabrics paired with leftover backing grunge fabric.  The fabrics were so beautiful and it went well with the grunge.

The second quilt was made with a layer cake from Betsy’s stash.  Deanna thinks that Betsy must have first picked the central fabric and then added the colors in that 1 fabric for all the other colors.  She made the patch by putting two 10 inch fabrics right sides together.  Sew around the four ends and then cut on the diagonals to end up with four half square triangles. Genius.  The placement of the patches made for a beautiful composition.

The third project was the Mandala dyeing kit from Cindy Lobeck.  She had 12 fat quarters which she folded in 6 sides then each tied with 3 rubber banks.  She picked her 3 colors yellow, blue and magenta. Soaked her fabric in soda ash, mixed the dye with urea, soaked it, iced it, rinsed and washed in hot water then tada it’s done.  Lots of work.  It came out beautifully.

Thank you Deanna for your tips on going to Jenny Lyon’s newsletter about the basting spray which is now available as a glue stick.  Finding petite thimbles at Dick Blick. Sharing your vegetable fabrics and oldies but goodies books.

Mary

Mary also had three projects that she wanted to share. The first two are donation quilts which she used to practice her free motion quilting. Instead of circles she is doing free hand continuous loops and flowers.  Good job. Your confidence in free motion quilting is inspiring to all of us.

The third quilt is one of her UFOs started in a 2002 Angie Woolman class on basic blocks.  Her daughter wanted her to make a tshirt quilt and this was the perfect class to get her started in quilting.

Arleen

I had 2 quilts to share.  

The first is a quilt top made with scraps from old recycled kimono and silk ties from the tie factory.  I saw a quilt pattern that I liked from Quiltcon 2024 and drafted the pattern on graph paper.  This was supposed to be just a study so I did not even back the silk with interfacing.  It came out so well, I’m going to try and finish it.

The second quilt is the Gay Parker quilt top.  I decided to make it bigger by adding a border so it would be able to use as a foster youth or twin size.  I found a golden yellow fabric and just sewed it straight on the sides of the top.  When I started quilting it, I realized the border was stretched out in places.  I should have stopped then and taken out the border and redo it.  But I just went ahead and kept going. Mary suggested I first measure and then cut and pin.   She is right of course.

Bobbie

Bobbie made two pillows to go with her new bedspread she made.  She is also on the lookout for patterns to make two quilts for her grandsons who are getting married in the future.  She has drafted some patterns and will probably use those but also wants inspiration.

Marty

Marty had two quilts and a book to share.

The first is a children’s quilt that she pieced and quilted.  Good job.

The second uses 2 packs of 5 inch black squares paired with 84 bright color squares.  This was enough to make 168 half square triangles which she made into this beautiful quilt.  She doesn’t normally use black, but after this it may change her perspective. This is improv.  Do you see the heart at the top.

The book she shared is a treasure.  Youngmin Lee The Art of Korean Textiles.  It is a treasure.  Thank you for sharing it with us.

Joan made a lovely peach cake with vanilla ice cream. Yummy.  She also made a pitcher of iced tea with mint and lemon. So refreshing after a long day.  It is so inspiring to see all the beautiful quilts and projects that our group of friends are making.  I know that I have been inspired and have gotten some good ideas that I want to try.  Hope you have too.