Lela gave a wonderful presentation on Appalachian Style Quilting, also known as Promise Quilting. She had taken a class about it awhile back. Lela brought in a beautiful quilt in pinks with a crocheted border she made in the class. The quilting style is reminiscent of flip and stitch. The foundation is unwashed flannel. Everything is hand sewn and fabrics are traditionally traded among fellow quilters. Quilt edges are turned in and sewn shut. Once the quilt is completed and washed, it becomes soft, crinkly and oh so wonderful to snuggle under. Look for the book “A People and Their Quilts” by John Rice Irwin if you are interested in this style and its rich history.
The theme for this month's swap is “Winter Wonderland”. There were many wonderful items, all of them bright and happy, bringing on the holiday spirit for the season.
We had lots of show and tell this meeting.
Nelda bought to us her cute wall hangings, g.mats and mug rugs with ships, Christmas trees and a Santa with a gold lame belt.
We also spied the Grinch and an angel in her pieces. Some of the work was her first foray into free motion quilting.
Jessica shared her Christmas gift for her in-laws that like to travel Gorgeous blues! She shared her lesson learned on allowing loud and crazy fabric the space to be and breathe by the sashing you put with it.
[insert smiling Jessica picture here-- oh wait... it doesn't exist-- but Deanna's words were so pretty that I had to leave them in}
Jessica also showed her low volume Coin quilt with pretty light green sashing. This quilt was also made from fabric scraps left from other quilts she made for the special people in her life. Don't the memories brought out from those special fabrics and projects just make you feel good!
Lillian shared the foster care donation quilt in cobalt blue she and a group made at Piece by Piece. The fabrics were from Kelly's stash and Piece by Piece donated the backing. She related (and reminded us) how much fun it is to hang out with others and just sew. At these sew days, everything is all planned out, everyone who participates takes a job and it is all accomplished through fun teamwork. If you have the time in your schedule to join a donation quilt class, check the schedule at Piece by Piece and join them!
Denise brought us her Christmas ornament quilt to see.
Loved the aqua colors and the back was oh so cute! Very modern look, kind of reminded me of a California style Christmas (don't ask why or how, it was just a feeling).
Diane showed us her Spider Web top made with all the I Spy fabrics, very vibrant and colorful.
She also shared her quilt made from thrift store men's shirts. She accented it with shirt labels, pocket pieces, all kinds of bit and pieces from the shirts she found. Amazing where you can find the fabric and inspiration.
We also got to see the traveling Christmas quilt Diane was working on. This piece has literally worked on all over the country!
Misc. good news, happenings and attention items:
*Quiltcon is coming to Austin TX in February! Several EMQG members are looking forward to this quilting extravaganza.
*Blocks for the Quiltcon Block Challenge need to be finished soon. EMQG's twin sized quilt needs to be completed and mailed by February 1st. There will be a special sew day January 10 4-9pm @ Our Sewing Room to complete the quilt. Jenni has donated batting. Other donations for backing, shipping, etc. would be greatly welcome and appreciated.
*Are you up for a challenge?! The Michael Miller, Madrona Road Fabric Challenge that is. Michael Miller has donated fabric for a quilt challenge. Each entry must be completed by our February 13th meeting, though Jessica is checking for flexibility of the due date. Your quilt must be three layers: fabric, batting and fabric and must be quilted. The item must be at least 12” x 12”. You can add only solids or Madrona Road fabric to the donated Michael Miller fabric. This challenge will be fun, the fabrics are really pretty! **Michael Miller is interested in having some of the challenge pieces in their booth @ QuiltCon. If you are interested you can post pictures on the Flickr group by January 31. (there are people to help if you have questions on how to do this.) (there is fabric still available!)
*Time to sign up for the 2013 quilting bees! There will be a post on the blog (we will see if I get this together-- seeing as it is Monday-- but ever hopeful?) Please enter a comment if you want to participate or lead the bee.
**Just a note, Missy (and other bee participants agreed) highly recommends joining the bee (if you are at all on the fence about it). She learned so much during last year's bee. She was glad to have the opportunity to try so many new techniques.
*Queen Bee for January is Lillian.
Items up for discussion in our February meeting:
--Making a plan for EMQG 2.0--
How should we organize our group?
Leadership?
Is the current structure working?
Online presence?
What do you want to contribute?
What do you want to be the "boss" of? (being the "boss" is oh so sweet!)
*SWAP for February = Pincushion
Thanks SO much to Deanna for the AWESOME notes-- I loved your colorful commentary! Squeezing this in at the last possible moment was my bad, there has just been SO much to take care of these last few weeks and not enough Jessica to go around-- at least a LOT of it involved sewing and exciting times so I can't complain.
--Jessica
