Were you confused with my/Elizabeth’s explanation about the upcoming Opportunity quilt?
I assume most people follow my thinking – but as my husband keeps reminding me I have a non linear mind.
My sewing circle was also confused and they pinned me down with questions till I gave them a clearer explanation that I thought I should share.
I am planning a quilt that borrows from Sandy Turner. She gave a workshop in 2004 on “Big Print” fabrics and how to use them in a quilt without chopping them into bits. She later wrote a book on this called “Big Print patchwork”.
If you look closely, this quilt is made from large squares of the crane fabric and “Birds in the Air” blocks. All the big print blocks are multiples of the “Birds in the Air” block so final assembly is easy.
Mary V. graciously agreed to help with the opportunity quilt and made eight focus blocks for the quilt. They are going to be the “Big Print” fabric and the Hourglass Star (HS) blocks will replace the “Birds in the Air” blocks in this quilt.
I am now asking all guild members to help me make a ton (about 100) HS blocks with the feather fabric the guild is providing and a contrasting colors that coordinates with Mary’s focus blocks. If you are unsure about color just choose a neutral color. Click on Hourglass Star Block for instructions on how to make the block.
I will bring 6″ squares of the feather fabric to our next meeting. I am also going to give a stack to Thora who lives in Paso and have some at my house in case you want to get started before the next meeting.
I am resizing Mary’s blocks with partial HS units to build them to the right size to fit as units in the quilt. I hope to have a creative group meeting sometime in February or March when we can put the whole quilt together. The picture here is of just the focus blocks and the few partial HS blocks I made. The final quilt will be much larger but I need more HS blocks (hint hint).
At the meeting Mary V. won the “Golden Needle Award” for having the highest grossing quilt that wasn’t made by a group.
That quilt sold for $675 and when you count all her auction contributions she made our auction ~$1,500. Wow!
Cindy’s Christmas program was a fun “Pass the Package” game for all those who wanted to exchange presents. A fun story and I think people liked their gifts!
The guild tried a new idea to encourage the wearing of name badges. Instead of the punitive 25¢ fine we gave a free raffle ticket to all who wore their name tags. I am not alone is saying I remember faces well but the name that goes with the face – well that is frequently at the tip of the tongue or totally lost. Now i hope no one is bothered when it looks like I am staring at their chest…….
Lastly Mary F. came to the meeting despite a cold and we got to see some BOM not only for Dec. but also for January. We also heard that the template piece is a little small in the January block so add a smidgen to the base if you are making it.
Enjoy the rest of the Christmas season and I will see you in the new year. the meeting will feature a round robin demo. I will try to demo the HS block for any who got confused with my directions.
Elizabeth
Mary has really been an asset to the guild. I’m was fortunate to get her on the board quite a few years ago and she certainly has been a shining star in the guild. Plus she’s so creative
This web site was recommended to me by a former member. I have a quilt that my grandmother made in the 30’s or 40’s. It needs some repair and to be honest I don’t know where to start. Do any of you have experience with repairing old quilts? Or do you know of anyone who has experience with repairing older quilts?
Thank you!
I don’t have anyone in the guild who does this professionally. You might ask some of the professional longarm quilters in the area if they could help. Are you interested in fixing it yourself? If so come to the guild, share your quilt and I think you will find people who will direct you well. We love to teach newbies the wonders of quilting and taking care of old quilts.
This Feb 8th we have a speaker, Arlene Arnold who will show old old quilts and talk about their history. You are welcome as a visitor.
Elizabeth