Aren't you excited?  I am.  There are now 15 of us doing the 4-patch exchange.

Yahoo!!!

Okay, so I may be a little goofy - but here is the scoop!

Donnis                         Pat

Deb                            Jan

Esther                          Susie

Shirley                          Vevia

 Machelle                     Leila

Carol                          Janet 

Lorraine                      Lisa

Juanita

Yeah ladies!  These are the 15 ladies that are involved.  Congrats for taking the plunge.

What we are doing is each of us will take 600 - 2 1/2" scrap squares (or strips, or whatever and however you want to do it)

Put them together in twos, and then in fours

For 150 - 4 patches that measure 4 1/2" unfinished

Then you give 10 of your squares to each of the other ladies on the list and keep 10 for yourself.

Wow!  What cool quilts this exchange will make.  Any rules as to color and such - NOPE!

Deadline is not until November, so you have time.  And yes, you may bring them in and hand them out before.

The greatest fun - besides seeing what colors and fabrics everyone uses - will be seeing how each of us put our 150 4-patch squares together in the finished design.

Thank you one and all for joining in.

Now - as to our meeting on Wednesday.

Three cheers for a rousing attendance (think there were about 15 there) and welcome to all the newbee-s that joined us.

(and make sure you click on all the underlined words for the sites and additional info available)

What great fun to see what everyone was working on.

And if you did not have anything to do and came anyway - you had the chance to jump in and help others as Leila did with Lorraine.

There was so many things going on.

Not going to tell you who is working on this - but the start is fantastic, looking forward to the finished look.

Carol worked on twilling and putting on binding.

Some of the ladies brought in there machines and went to work.  Love seeing all the different brands of sewing machines that our ladies use.

Jan found out that if things go all wrong and you can't get started - there may be a reason.

Sewing problems saved her from using the wrong fabric for a binding (or so we told her).

Juanita took the opportunity to copy her twilling work, thanks to Susie who brought in her light box.

Leila helping Lorraine match up her strips.

Janet brought in this soap/wool/lanolin bar she got at Kansas Troubles shop.  If you have never been there - you are missing a lot of nifty ideas.  This "ball" keeps your needles sharp.  They have lots of notions - and of course patterns and KT fabrics, etc.  Fun place to visit in Bennington.

Everyone was busy working on their various projects.

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Donnis had to leave right after lunch for an appointment, so we had Show 'n Tell early.....

Donnis brought in some of the hot pads she has been making.  Love the black and white one.  So easy and next month she will bring in the pattern and show us how she does these.

Lisa showed her paper piecing blocks that she had been removing paper from all morning and the quilt blocks of a Crab.apple quilt she has been working on.

Esther is embroidering her gift from her husband....remember.....

Susie got it printed out for her.  Esther is also working on a disappearing 9-patch.

Susie had gotten a cross stitched table cloth that she quilted up and was turning the backing over and sewing down - wanted to keep the crocheted lace border.

Susie also brought in two quilters slide lock rulers so that we could all see how they work.

Little pricey, until you realize how much they help you cut.  Using suction, they really keep your layers of fabric from shifting when you are cutting multiples.

Besides copying her patterns on to fabric, Juanita had brought in her twilling to show us the blocks she has finished and the blocks she is doing in the paper piecing class that Lisa is teaching.

Juanita is really ahead of the game on these projects.  The twilling is a two year BOM.

Lorraine showed off some of her patches she was able to finish thanks to Leila, Sara and Machelle - I think.  You know how you sometimes forget that you need certain tools - the more of us that come, the better the chances that someone has brought something that you are missing.

Last month, Carol had brought in her blocks that she saved from a deteriorating quilt top that she bought at a farm auction.  After hearing all of our suggestions - this is the finished top that she is sending along with Susie to quilt.  Looking great Carol. 

Carol had a few spots that she was a little worried about, but after looking them over - no problems.

Carol's hunter star quilt was in the process of being bound - had to show it off as there are many that have not had a chance to see it yet.  Lynne Hagmeier (Kansas Trouble designer) has this pattern with the raw edge applique.  Love the border fabric and it was very helpful to hear the tips and hints that Carol shared.

Deb finally got her fat quarter bag finished - AND - her Lola Jenkins workshop portrait done.

Wow and double wow!  Deb, what a fantastic job, love the border.  Worked beautiful with this.  And Deb stated she had the border fabric in her stash.  Don't know about the rest of the ladies that took the workshop - but the border is what has me stumped.

Janet is working on her twilling and doing such a great job of it.  This block is especially tiresome - so much to do on it and as they are the corner blocks - she has three more of the same block to do.

You go Janet!

This is the quilt that Jan was trying to sew the binding up for.  Good thing she had sewing machine trouble............

this is the back and everyone agreed this would make a better binding fabric - more pizzazz on the edge of the quilt.

All things do work themselves out.

However, we are sorry that Jan's machine was so ornery to begin with.

Not only is it a joy to see what people have finished, what they are working on and hearing the stories behind them.........................it's also fantastic to hear about products that they use.

Machelle is getting ready to do a winter quilt with lots of embroidery on it and she was tracing it off on her fabric - Lisa had a few pointers.

These owls are put on the fabric with "Transfer Eze".  You can get it at "All About Quilts" in Manhattan.....10 sheets for about $15.  There are a lot of sites on the web that you can go and learn more about it, or other sources to buy it from.  I picked this one to show you....click here.

What is great is that you print on it, lay it on your fabric and after you are done embroidering - it washes out.

You can also try Sulky's Super Solvy stabilizer or Marathon Threads - Sticky Wet N Melt .  I learned something new from Sulky, when you scroll down and click on the instructions for use tab, you find out about all the products - PLUS - all that stabilizer that you cut away after you are done embroidering and before you dissolve it away - save it.  You can make liquid solvy out of it.  

Thank you Lisa for all the info you shared with us.  

Susie finished sewing down the back to her quilted table cloth.  With quilting up to about 1/2" away from the edge, she was able to cut away the batting and turn under the edge to keep that lovely crocheted lace edging as part of the quilt.

Close up of the cross stitch and the quilting.

Looks good from the back also.  Fantastic job Susie.

We learned a lot at the get together, including information about insurance.......Christian Health Ministries, and - Deb learned not to leave right after lunch - she has really missed some fun times.........but not yesterday.  hahahahaha

All of you have a wonderful month and a great time sewing your projects - no matter what they are.

Yeah! Welcome to Old Friends returning and New Friends coming in!!!!!

Not only was the day absolutely beautiful.....

the meeting also shined with all the friends that were able to gather.

Susie showed Esther the last block for her hexie quilt.

You may want to go ahead and mark your calendars for

Monday, November 21st at 7 pm

ATTEND the Piotique Quilters Guild meeting in Clay Center at the First Baptist Church

to see and hear all about the hexie.  Susie and Deb M have a wonderful program planned.

Susie and Esther also talked about the challenges for quilting on Esther's quilt.  We do not always think about the extra fabric that a yo-yo presents to a long armer - not only could it break a needle, it could also put the machine out of timing and such.  Looking forward to seeing this quilt when it is totally done.

Welcome New Friends - course we all know Janet H. and Carol S., but how exciting that they can join us on the first Wednesday of the month.  Ladies - everyone, please remember - we love to see new projects and love to be involved, after all - we are quilters.  hahahaha

These 20 Sunbonnet Sue blocks Carol had gotten as a top.  She has no idea who's it was or when the work was started - she did know that the setting was not to her liking ....... so Carol took it all apart and kept the blocks - now comes the fun about how to put them back together.

Did you notice that we started out with one row of tables and changed to two?  Friends kept coming in and joining us for the day.  

The more eyes on a subject, the more ideas that roll out for possibilities.

Carol hunted through her stash and found some 30's repros and of course we just had to start auditioning.

Carol and Susie also got a chance to look at Carol's twilling and go over how many more blocks to go.  This is a two year BOM at the PQG.

Janet visited with Esther to see what she was up to, while Deb worked on a binding for a friend.

Check out Esther's ironing pad.....2 layers of the Insul-bright padding that you use in hot pads.  What is great for Esther is that she can roll it up and carry it to workshops a lot easier than lugging around an ironing board.

Now that school is out, we will get to see Lorraine more.  Great to see her and her redwork project.

Did I mention that the fabric Esther is working on is from a friend?  Exciting to see what all scrap fabrics were in the bag.  And speaking of bags......see the zip lock on the bottom right of the picture above.  .  .  Esther put together a bunch of Iowana's fabric and made four patches for folks to remember Iowana by and maybe use in our swap exchange.

Machelle is on a mission.  She brought in her note books from the years of the group, trying to find the information on the quilt that Bonnie had everyone doing way - way - way back.  Know how you think you are taking clear and precise notes and then find out later that you left out all the obvious info?  hahahaha  That is what Machelle is finding out.  Okay Bonnie and other friends - what was the run down for the brown bag quilt?  Machelle remembers everyone had to bring in some fabric - not what size or how many.  And then some how pieces got put into brown bags and then you got to pull and sew and NO!  you could not put a yucky back and draw another.  hahahahahahah

Okay - HELP!!!!  Who remembers how this was done and when?

Leila is the best-est presser in the group and she lent her talents to Carol as she was getting the Sunbonnet Sue blocks ready to square up.

That was a great challenge as the blocks were not the same size and Sue was not identical in all as far as how she was laid out.  Some hats were higher, some feet lower.

Carol learned a few techniques from others and in no time at all the job was done.

This is part of the quilt that Deb is binding for a friend.  Wow, wait till you see it at Show 'n Tell.

Donnis got to make it back from Kansas City and was excited to see everyone and get her mind on other things.  So good to have you with us Donnis.

Look at the bags that showed up holding supplies.  Top left is one that Janet's sister makes.  She buys the zippers by the yard and then cuts them to the size she needs.

Bottom right is one that Hayley made and Grandmother gets to have.  Started as a log cabin block.

Esther took Iowana's 4-patch blocks and tried a few lay out ideas.

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After lunch was Show 'n Tell.  Esther started us out with her great storage idea for 5" charm size blocks.  A scented candle came in this box and now it holds her 5".  Great idea.

We finally got to see the quilt that Janet was working on (binding).  Not only do we all want it - Janet's not sure now if she wants to give it away.  But it would be destined for a good cause.  One of her cousins in the Abilene area lost everything during the recent storms and tornado's.  Janet does such great work.  This quilt would definitely bring some good feelings to the loss they must be experiencing.

And Susie did a wonderful job quilting in wheat stalks through out.  (click on pictures to make them larger)

Okay, I think we were all a little riled when Deb told the story about how this quilt came to be.  'Nuff said!  You probably can guess that this is one of Eleanor Burn's patterns and Deb - you knocked it out of the park with your skill and know how.  Do I hear a Yeah Deb!!!!!!!

Okay, Susie's $2 finds are going to become legend before long if they have not all ready.  This was destined for a coverlet at some time in the past (along with a pillow cover piece that Susie has not finished yet).  Susie picked it up finished in the embroidery and that is all - and with gigantic stains on it.  So of course no one wanted it - however, Susie laid it over the fence and started to spray it down with instant antique spray to give it that mottled look and hide the stains.

Okay, I took a lot of pictures, but as you view them,  you will see why......

Hubby Marc calls this quilting within the basket handles a peacock look.

The embroidery is done with 6 strands, with the larger flowers jam packed with lazy daisy stitches.  Similar to what you would get with crewel work, without using the wool thread.

We looked at the back of the quilt to see the white backing without the antiquing, wow what contrast.

Susie even put in some pebbles to fill in.

Great job Susie and what a pleasure to be able to see it.

This one should be a keeper just so you can see what 20-30 hours of quilting can accomplish.  hahaha

Okay, here is the quilt that Deb bound for her friend.  Now I am not into purple myself - but this is gorgeous and so different.  Ann H. did the quilting and it is perfect with waves and circles.

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After lunch and Show 'n Tell it was back to projects.  Carol finally decided that she would frame the blocks in the lighter fabric and then sash in the darker blue. Janet helped her get the cutting done, so now Carol can start "whipping it up".   Looking forward to seeing the end result.

Susie gave her some pointers on how to make sure you have your rows lined up by using corner stones, even when you use the same fabric.  That will also be interesting to hear what Carol learned in the process and how it works for her.

NOW!  

Okay - what is the update on the swap exchange?

Thirteen of us are now going for it (Pat - remind Deb that she owes you an outing for fabric).

Welcome Carol, Janet and Lorraine!

Okay......

We each make 130  -  4-patches and give away 120 of them.

Begin with 2 1/2" squares, or strips. 

Put 4 squares together and end up with a 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" - 4 patch.

Put 10 in each of 12 bags to swap

at the November meeting.

Now this is getting exciting.

So many ideas tossed around on how people thought they may be doing their 4-patches.

From how to put them together, to color schemes or draw from a bag type of scrappy.

The possibilities are endless and then...........wow on what we hope to make with them.

REMEMBER.......

Have Fun!

Till next time........keep your gardens growing.