Dynamite comes in small packages, or is that TNT - which ever, our group of 4 were very mighty at our gathering this month. Gave us a chance to talk to everyone and share some very funny stories - Donnis never seems to run out of things that have happened to her through the years.
Donnis has another convert - Esther has started her bargello - AND - gone completely out of her comfort zone of pastels.
Love it - love it - love it!
That orange red really makes everything pop.
Esther showed us her focus fabric that she started with and tried to match up for the rest of the fabric.
Her green, Bruce did not like and thought she ought to change it - until she had the first 1/4 done - he now thinks it is awesome. Esther says that this color scheme is more in line with Bruce.
Leila brought in her WIP for hand quilting. Some very bright Arizona type fabrics in this one.
Vevia brought in her paraphernalia for making baskets.
And Donnis is working on her buzz saw. She said the most difficult part is making sure that you get the right angle and then lay them out correctly. Yep - you guessed it, this is another from Lynn Edwards' book. Donnis adds just the right flavor to make her versions spectacular. We found out that Donnis used to paint - no wonder she has that artistic flair.
Everyone took a few minutes and had Vevia go through how to make the baskets.
If you all remember - Lori from Linn was the first one to show us a finished basket. Lori used fusible batting. Since that is something that Vevia did not have, but she had lots of little pieces of batting from when she squares up her quilts - she decided to cut them into 1 inch strips. Take the box of left over bindings (cut at 2 1/4") and work with those. She has found that pails/buckets make the perfect tools for holding supplies.
Lay the 1" batting down on the crease of the binding and sew a basting stitch.
Then bring over one edge, bring over the other and then fold in half.
Vevia has tried several different ways and has found that the little binder clips hold the fold very well.
Then another basting stitch to hold them together (see the bucket).
And before you know it, you have a long strip of ready to go "basket" coil.
Because this technique is flat (wrapping the fabric around the close line produces a round "coil"), you need to cut and sew together your bottom first. Then start coiling and zig zagging until
you build up your basket to what you want.
After the demo - Esther went back to her bargello....
Donnis to her buzz saws.......
and Leila to her hand quilting.
After lunch (try the BLT's at the restaurant - they are pretty good, though one of the ladies thought the tomatoes could have been a little thicker), we got down to discussing the possibilities for the rest of the year.
November 4th will be a work on anything and hopefully a chance to sharpen your blades before your last minute rush to finish something before Christmas.
Anyone that has a sharpener - please bring it in.
December 2nd is our last meeting for 2015 and is usually celebrated with a Christmas luncheon.
in
Morganville
Show and Tell for the December meeting will be a Christmas theme. If you have made something recently - that would be perfect. If not, bring in a Christmas item from the past. (Gee, sounds like our own version of "A Christmas Carol" - maybe we should bring in a Christmas item for the future too.)
Gift exchange was discussed and these are the possibilities:
Gag gifts
Sewing items
Scrap bag fabric exchange
White Elephant - something you don't want anymore.
If it is a bought gift - $10 limit.
Final choice will be picked in November.
The ladies spoke of a Round Robin type of exchange or if someone can find a story with the word quilt in it umpteen million times - Donnis will show us how to exchange that way.
Food
A declared menu would be best.
Esther - Chicken Salad won't be here
Donnis - Corn
Leila - Maccaroni & Cheese (will see what she can do about gluten free)
Vevia - some kind of meat dish
Shirely - Dessert
Please get with Machelle in regards to what you would like to bring.
Salad, dessert, drinks, plates/napkins/cups, etc. Still lots of options open
Then
SHOW 'n TELL
Donnis finished one block and she did have part of another on the way also.
Esther said that her work today was still in progress.
Remember how Machelle showed us to make Dresdan blades last month? Well Vevia took her idea and made another Biscornu pincushion with some tiny blades.
It was a good laugh to try and remember how it was done.
Machelle - this might be another demo again. hahahahahaha
Vevia worked very diligently not to have another UFO and finished her Bargello from last month.
She made the center peaks the 3/4" they called for (yuck, not easy). Added a few extra columns where the four squares go together in the middle so that the 'swoops' stayed the same. And took one point and one valley dip down into the borders. John was not impressed with the two different borders, but Vevia thought they made it stand out more.
"Up the Lazy River", Vevia's name for it, is anything but lazy.
The part that was not great was that it had to be washed - using chalk for the marking of quilt lines - ugh! What a mess and it fades in places when and where you do not want it to. Any suggestions for dark fabric markings will be much appreciated.
After lunch and Show 'n Tell, everyone gathered around Esther to give her some ideas of how to border and such her bargello. In the book it showed doing the patchwork type outside border - everyone agreed it was just too busy. Esther now has several ideas and options of what she might do.
We all got a look at Leila's hand work as she was having difficulty after lunch picking up where she left off.
Vevia almost finished up another basket. Look at what was happening here - the repeats on the fabric almost came together to make a picture with the winding. Darn - out of that fabric and don't even remember when and what it was from. Great idea for a possible future design.
Hope everyone was able to accomplish what they needed to and that we will see the whole group there in November and in December.
Till then - stay safe and well!
