~ Please bring a finished block for our guilds QuiltCon donation quilt. The first modern quilting conference located in Austin, TX. 46 modern quilt guilds have been invited to participate in a mass donation project for QuiltCon 2013. Quilts will be donated to Austin Children's Shelter. The Eugene Modern Quilt Guild will be making a Twin Size (68x88) Quilt.
Deadlines: completed and in the mail Feb. 1, 2013. Block deadline is Dec 2012 meeting. We are looking for donations of $$ for shipping, a twin size batting and Kona white and/or light grey for sashing/background.
~Big Thanks to Wanda for a wonderful demonstration of hand quilting. You did a great job of providing a lot of information, samples, and notes for us. Thank you for your time and energy!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HAND QUILTING THOUGHTS by Wanda
· Plan Ahead
1. If you know you are going to hand quilt your project, consider pressing your seams away from the area you will quilt. (Quilting through seams more difficult than quilting through non-seams.)
2. If your project is a table runner or wall hanging, AND you want to hand quilt it, consider using a polyester batting. (Cotton and cotton blend battings require more needle push than polyester battings.)
3. Pay attention to your fabrics. (Busy prints obscure hand quilting which is okay if you are a beginner and working on stitch consistency. Otherwise, your hand quilting gets lost in the project. Lots of work with little impact.)
· Tools
1. Big eye needles a must! The size of the needle impacts the size of your stitches. (I’ve included my favorite in the packet.)
2. Finger protectors. I prefer the self-adhesive leather dots by ThimblePad. Sometimes hard to find. My sources are Fabric Depot in Portland and on-line. (On-line says they are available at JoAnns but I’ve never seen them there.) New to the market are red jelly dots. (I’ve included one in the packet.) Unfortunately, they quickly lose their self-adhesion. Piece-by-Piece sells an oval shaped self-adhesive protector, which I find too large. I’ve cut it in half and shaped by own dots. They’ll work in a pinch. Spot bandages also work nicely.
· Thread
1. Use short (12-15”) thread lengths. (Longer lengths tend to tangle more and fray more than shorter lengths.)
2. Consider the “look” you want to achieve. Quilting cotton thread more visible than machine cotton thread. Pearl cotton thread very visible and ideal for larger stitches. Metallic thread is difficult to use—very important to keep thread lengths short.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
MENTIONS:
~ Richard and Hemmings milliners size 10 big eye needles
~ Where to get big eye/chenille needles size 24, Mindy's Needlepoint Factory located in 5th Street Market
~ ThimblePads. Self Adhesive leather dots for finger protection. Available at Fabric Depot in Portland, or online. Here are links to a few resources: Amazon.com, Colonial Needle, and Connecting Threads.
~ Richard and Hemmings milliners size 10 big eye needles
~ Where to get big eye/chenille needles size 24, Mindy's Needlepoint Factory located in 5th Street Market
~ ThimblePads. Self Adhesive leather dots for finger protection. Available at Fabric Depot in Portland, or online. Here are links to a few resources: Amazon.com, Colonial Needle, and Connecting Threads.
~ Congratulations to the LEFTOVERS (strips and a good time!) game winners: Table 1 winner was Ann and Table 2 winner was Kim. You won a mess load of 2 1/2 inch strips and an opportunity to make a project for show and tell in the January meeting. We cant wait to see what fun you had with your leftovers!!!
~December's demonstration: Appalachian Quilt with Lela.
~ Please note the changes to the sew day for Dec. December 15th @ Our Sewing Room from 10-5
~ 2012 Quilting Bee coming to an end. Finishing up the year with Virginia and Kathleen's blocks. We know there is increased interest for the coming year. For 2013 there will be a new leader for the Bee and sign ups will be coming. No worries, all who want to be involved will get a chance to join in soon.
MENTIONS:
~ Some of our modern quilters mentioned these as good resources for reasonably priced jelly rolls: Missouri Star Quilt Company was mentioned. And the other was Green Fairy Quilts.
Note from the Pres:
Hi all-- Kesch took great notes (thanks so much!!) the tardiness in getting it out is all ME. Show and tell shots will come out tomorrow-- life has been varied and maybe too up and down for my liking, but we all move forward right?! Do not become fossilized!!
We are meeting THIS coming Wednesday, December 12 @ Our Sewing room. Please bring your dollar for the meeting kitty and any donations you have for our QuiltCon charity quilt. I have a little baggy of money leftover from our last "love" offering to add to shipping fees and I bet I can dig out some white for sashing. Cyndy donated a piece of backing a while back and I will bring that along to see if it works.
I also received a surprise box of delicious from Michael Miller fabrics today, maybe if I get enough comments on this post I will let you in on a secret MQG challenge... Maybe...
See you Wednesday! Bribe me with comments and I will tell you about a little place called Madrona Road. Stay on the sunny side!
--Jessica
