October 2008 Newsletter

The Quilting Bees met on Monday, October 20, 2008. We were delighted to have such a great turnout. Members present included Randi, Tricia, Peggy, Lori, Margie, Dawn, Trisha, Helen, Lacey and baby daughter Paizley, Carol, Linda and guest Ellie. We missed you, Rita. The evening was festive with cookies, candy corn and ice cream with hot fudge. I had fun sharing my tea cup collection so we could all have a tea party.

As we introduced ourselves we talked about the recent Shop Hop – Sierra to Sage. The journey from shop to shop extended from South Lake Tahoe to Truckee and Portola, Reno, Fallon, Topaz Ranch and Gardnerville – a quilter’s dozen in all. Tricia and Peggy, Dawn, Randi and Linda made it to all the shops and it seemed like everyone won something. It was great fun and the intention is to expand next year so we hope more bees can join the journey.

Quilts were finished for Carol and everyone was excited to see the finished projects. Dawn completed the pumpkin quilt and exhibited it in the Annual Quilt and Fiber Arts Show sponsored by the Silver Springs Entertainment and Arts. She was also working on the embroidered quilt featuring grown up Sunbonnet Sues. This is a lovely quilt with a scalloped border. Randi completed the Box Quilt ’06, Carol’s Friendship Quilt. The backside was a work of art in itself and featured the label signed by each member in the middle. I worked on the Cherry Quilt, a cheery wall hanging. Carol was delighted to have her projects back, ready to cherish and enjoy.

The Queen Bee shared tips from Mark Lipinki on removing age spots from antique quilts. According to Tulip’s Tips http://www.marklipinski.com/Tulip%25Tips/TTcontent.html
“To brighten colors and remove age spots and yellow discoloration from quilts…
Combine: 1 gallon of water
1 quart of buttermilk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Soak the quilt in this liquid for as long as you think it will take (I usually soak my old yard sale finds for about 2 hours in my washing machine).

After soaking, hand-wash the quilt with a mild soap (Try SOAK – it’s remarkable). The natural ingredients are safe with no danger of damaging the quilt.
**********************************************************
From the same site is the recipe for spray starch which I made up for the bees. It only costs 2¢ a quart!

Dissolve 4 Tablespoons of liquid starch into 2 cups of cold water while you boil 1 quart of water.

Add the starch mixture to the boiling water and return the mixture to a boil, then remove from heat immediately.

Add 2 more cups of cold water to the mixture. Your starch should be clear and not milky. Store your starch in a mist spray bottle in the refrigerator. If you get any starch or starch burns on the faceplate of your iron, clean it with a wet terry towel.
**********************************************************
Randi also shared ideas for covering plastic crates from Laura Gunn and gave away books from her quilt library.

Show and Tell was great! Peggy finished a UFO – a Thimbleberries quilt with a snowman theme. Tricia completed the flip and sew project from a recent class she attended and did a great job on her first bias binding. Hooray for Tricia! The fabric is from the Laurel Burch collection. Those two are certainly getting ready to decorate their homes for the holidays!
Carol was busy working on quilting projects too. She made a pillowcase for her grandchild, finished a baby quilt with appliquéd lambs created from fleece, created a lovely appliquéd quilt with flowers and lavender butterflies. She completed the Sunbonnet Sue quilt for her little great granddaughter, Paizley. A sweet quilt for a sweet little girl!

Carol reported that the Cancer Research Center is being so good to her and her family. They accept cash donations and quilts to auction at their annual dinner. They also give each cancer patient an angel quilt. She suggested that we may want to consider a way to give to this organization since they give so much to patients and their families in a time of need.

The Quilting Bees then gave our angel, Carol, a quilt for her to know how much we love and cherish her. During the past month, members of the Bees and the Ditch Stitchers worked to complete Sun Bonnet Sue blocks. Now, I need to be honest and admit that creating an appliquéd Sun Bonnet Sue block made many of us groan. We all admire Carol’s talent yet many of us have not mastered the fine art of appliqué. When there is a will, there is always a way and squares were sent from different communities to Randi. She “beesily” assembled the blocks and created a lovely quilt for Carol to cherish as she goes through radiation and chemotherapy. Dawn and Linda were held captive in Randi’s home until the quilt was sandwiched and the binding and quilting were finished. Randi finished attaching the binding the morning of our meeting. Lori created a beautiful label with each participant’s name. Quilters that contributed to Carol’s quilt include: Ellie, Pam, DeAnn, Donna, Randi, Helen, Margie, Dawn, Tammy, Tricia, Peggy, Rita and Linda.

We gathered around the quilt and offered our prayers for Carol as she faces this challenge in her life. I read a verse about cancer,
What Cancer Cannot Do Anonymous

Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple Love
It cannot shatter Hope
It cannot corrode Faith
It cannot destroy Peace
It cannot suppress Memories
It cannot silence Courage
It cannot invade the Soul
It cannot steal eternal Life
It cannot conquer the Spirit.
Each person took a ribbon and attached it to the front of the quilt adding a special, silent prayer or thought for Carol. We enjoyed the refreshments and appreciated Helen’s hospitality. The next meeting is on the third Monday of November the 15th. We need to keep each other in our prayers for wellness. Randi is having surgery to have her thyroid removed on Nov. 12 and Carol is continuing her treatment. I am writing this newsletter on the morning following the election of our 44th president, Barack Obama. I am thankful that our nation, too, will now be focused on healing and unity. Keep bzzy and enjoy quilting,
Linda

September 2008 Newsletter

We welcomed three guests to the September meeting, held at Helen's home. Carol's daughter, Trisha; granddaughter, Lacey; and sweet baby great-granddaughter, Paizley, joined us. Lacey is interested in learning to quilt so welcome! We hope that all of them will continue joining us. Due to illness, Carol decided to relinquish her role as the scribe for the Quilting Bees. Hopefully this is a temporary situation because Carol is blessed with a writing "voice" that can be compared to a comfortable, well-worn and cherished quilt. A writing style that just wraps around you. We were actually delighted that Carol joined us at the meeting because she didn't think she had the energy. All of us are keeping her in our hearts and prayers.

All the members present introduced themselves and told how they got involved in quilting. The stories were great and we enjoyed learning more about each other. The only Bees missing were Rita and Trisha. We missed them!

Margie delighted us with family quilts. The blue and yellow silk quilt was sewn and tied for Baby Margie by her paternal grandma, Myrle Lindt. The 1930's quilt, sewn from flour sacks, was created by her mother's Friendship Club. It is also a signature quilt and her mother, an unmarried woman at the time, embroidered her first and last name, Bernice Freemyer. The married quilters signed "Mrs. _____" Have times changed!

I was excited to bring two quilts; a birthday quilt from Dawn ( I love it!) and the quilt I created for my granddaughter, Chaja. I used three spools of Aurifil thread in quilting this...dragonflies, lily pads, cattails. It was great fun! Now I finally finished my grandkids quilts and am excited about returning them as they were originally Christmas gifts.

Dawn had a busy month and finished quilting the cross stitched Iris Quilt embroidered by Emma Dell Myers, born in 1921. The echo quilting was beautiful as you can see in the photo. In her spare time, Dawn uses the selvedge that she cuts off fabric to crochet rag rugs. She demonstrated how she chain sews the fabric strips together and this gave everyone a great idea how to use those narrow fabric strips.

Peggy brought along two beautiful quilts - a "Flip and Quilt" project that she took at a recent workshop and a quilt she made at a "Thimbleberries Quilt Camp." Such talent! Peggy is remodeling her home and creating a quilting studio! We know the end result will be well worth the effort.

Randi surprised all of us by bringing in her finished Box Quilt 2006. This was the Friendship Quilt - with each Bee completing a square. She had to negotiate with her granddaughter who adopted the Sunbonnet Sue square designed by Carol. The result was two quilts, one for Randi and one for Helen. Both of them were happy with the end result!

The blocks are all collected for the donation quilt we are making for Moms on the Run. Randi plans to assemble the quilt and pass it off to Dawn and she will quilt it. The blocks are beautiful!

The next meeting will be held again at Helen's home on Oct. 20. Thank you, Helen, for being such a gracious hostess and sharing your home with us. So, as the days shorten think of those longer evenings when you can sit at your machine and quilt the night away.

Have fun and keep bzzzy!

Linda C

2008 - The Year of the UFOs

So, for those who are not out peering into the night sky, searching for UFOs, you may be at your sewing machine with the 2008 Quilting Bee Challenge to finish those Un-Finished Objects...aka quilts.

That is our 2008 Challenge and all UFOs will be featured in color photos. So bring those UFOs, completed to the meeting and show off your stuff.
Randy started this project as a baby quilt and it wasn't working for her so it was put aside for a LONG time. When she resurrected the quilts squares they were assembled into a quilt for her granddaugher, Helen. Great Work!!

Randy's first quilt project became a UFO. A class she took at Windy Moon, the Stars Across America were assembled for her hubby, David, for their July 4th Anniversary. Wow!!

Box Quilt 2006

Dawn's Box Quilt 2006

We decided on a project during 2006 which involved each member gathering fabric and placing it in a box. The box traveled from member to member and each of us made a 12 1/2" quilt square for the owner of the box. At the end we each had nine squares to make into a quilt. To honor those that do not have their quilt squares in a pile of UFOs, pictures of the quilts will be posted on the blog. So, if this provides incentive to get it done....great!!!

Linda and her Box Quilt 2006

Randi

finished her 2006 Box Quilt in September 08. As you can see, there are actually two quilts here because her granddaugher confiscated the little Sunbonnet Sue and Randi had to make a dolly quilt for her. Stunning work, Randi!

August 2008 Newsletter

August 22, 2008

Hi Bees!

Sorry I’m late getting this on line. Life keeps getting in my way. You know all the quilts I need/want/have to get done.

I’ve been working on one for a class I’ll do called Butterfly Kisses. I fell in love with the name (because of the song, by Bobby Carlisle I believe) and the colors. Anyway it has a bazillion leaves on it and of course being who I am, I had to needle turn appliqué them. Well I finished the leaves – finally. YEAH! Now to this letter…

Seven of us showed up, Dawn, Linda, Rita, Peggy, Tricia and Margie, oh yeah me (Carol). Helen stopped by long enough to drop off her squares and left.

Randy was out on vacation. Delivering a quilt to a friend it was a doozy too. Always they are. This was the one she wasn’t sure she cared for the colors, but knew her friend would love it.

Linda forgot the starch she was going to share. Maybe she could just e-mail us the recipe, and then if she forgets the “sample” we could do our own. Said she needs to be reminded before the meeting. So everyone, make a note and we can all call her the week/night before our next meeting.

I believe (see I should have done this letter sooner) it was Tricia and her sister Peggy who took a class at the Grand Sierra the latest quilt and sewing show. They took a class on a Flip'n’ Sew technique. They said it was 3 hours long, should have been 2hrs but it was great. The quilts were fabulous. One did Halloween and the other did Christmas. Tricia said she’d bring in her Christmas quilt, next meeting.

I went to the CVQG 3rd Saturday class for Pearls Way of Appliqué according to Cecile. It was fabulous. I was lucky enough to have had a chance to see a Video before the class. I was of course skeptical of the glue part. When I was finished with my square I was convinced it was fantastic. What a difference. I can use some of the techniques in my needle turn appliqué as well.

Dawn has the nicest boyfriend. He went to a garage sale for her as this man was getting rid of fabric and of course Dawn too likes/loves fabric. Well he got more than he or she ever imagined. The man was selling his mothers fabrics and embroidery thread. He said all the thread for I believe $20. And then there was a box of fabric he’d give it to him for $10.00. Well when Dawn opened the box of fabric it was full of 45 that’s FORTY-FIVE roughly 12 x 18” squares of Iris flowers she had cross stitched.
She (Dawn) went to the man and wanted to know who did these. He said his 88year old mom, Emma Dell Meyer, had and she was now in a nursing home. Well Dawn put together 6 of the squares to make a lap quilt for Dell. Dawn was very moved by all the work done on these quilts and we all hope and pray Emma Dell recognizes her own workmanship in the quilt Dawn gives her.
Rita had a good one for us. She said she was attempting to satin stitch a project and couldn’t find the button for sating stitch. She ended up reading the instructions and finally found out how to do it on her machine. Good job Rita. And so we learn.

Our drawing tonight – Linda won. Carol forgot and didn’t bring a prize will do so next time and we can have two drawings.

We all brought in squares for the Moms on the Run quilt. They sure are beautiful. We did well on the colors.

Donna G also donated to our fabric finish cause for this and now we have $43. plus change.

Randy will piece it together, put top, batting and backing on and Dawn will quilt it. Can’t wait till all the squares are done. We are missing a couple but I’m sure will have all of them in soon.

I goofed on my square – as usual my 12 ½” came out 12”, so we all discussed it and I put a gold border on it. Its ok but I really liked it the way it was. Oh well.

Dawn forgot to bring in her 3 x 7 x 6” squares so promised to double up next meeting.

Peggy forgot to bring in the fabulous pattern for that Rotary Cutter and Mat Tote she and her sister had made that Randy I thought had absconded with, when actually she had returned it. Anyway, Peggy said she’d bring it to me. (And she did its great.)

Meeting adjourned about 6:50PM. See you all on Sept 15th, 3rd Monday of the month.

Keep bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,
Carol G.


Peggy with her Retirement Quilt Carol displays a quilt she is teaching in a class.

Sierra to Sage Shop Hop, September 26-28. "Explore the greater Reno/Tahoe area by criss-crossing the California-Nevada border while visting twelve of the region's quilt shops."

Homestead Fabrics - Portola, CA

Donna's Stitchery - Truckee, CA

We R Sew-N-Sew - Sparks, NV

Windy Moon Quilts - Reno, NV

Sew-N-Such, Reno, NV

Sierra Sewing Center - Reno, NV

The UnCommon Thread-Fallon, NV

Workman Farms, Crafts and Nursery - Fallon. NV

Fabrics Unlimited - Stateline, NV

Quilting Tahoe - So.Lake Tahoe. CA

Quilter's Quarters - Wellington, NV

The Quilt House - Gardnerville, NV

There is a drawing featuring three great prizes for the quilters that visit all twelve shops. Let's hit the road.

July 2008 Newsletter

July 21, 2008

Hi Bees!

Well what a turn out this meeting was! We had Peggy, her sister Tricia, Helen, Linda, Randy, Dawn, myself (Carol) and our two new bees, Rita and Margie. Is that cool or what?

I gather we were all excited about the new quilt we are doing to donate. We were to bring our pattern and cut them out. Yeah right! Helen didn’t have her pattern (couldn’t locate it). But best of all both Linda and I just plain left them home. I was so tickled to have found a great pattern; I even went to the trouble to drive out to Topaz to pick up this special ruler for this particular pattern. I was so mad at myself. Anyway, it all worked out well. Everyone there got to cut out what they needed. Of course Dawn, our template gal, had her little templates there and got her pattern all cut out. It looked really neat. Helen and I made ours on Monday. I believe Linda went ahead and did a different one.

I received a call from Dawn and she asked if she could do the extra one we needed. Would I say no? I did hint at the meeting that maybe she would be the one to quilt this when all the squares were in, but she totally ignored me. Hmmm. On the phone though she said she got the hint and thought that yes she would do it. She thought she would have the time. We don’t have to have it done until next April for May I believe. Thank you Dawn, you really do beautiful work and it shows you love what you do.

We were introducing ourselves to our new bees and show ’n’ tell kind of slipped in there along with it. Rita had also gone to Sisters, Oregon and she took a class. I believe the class was from Velda or Velma Newman. It had to do with painting on cloth and texturing cloth by sewing. What an addition to a quilt. Wow. It was fabulous the pieces she brought in to show. And as luck would have it she will do a class for us in January. She will get a supply list together for us in November so we can have everything we will need. I personally can’t wait. Me, Miss Traditional don’t do anything new. For some reason this one really fascinated me. I’m sure I’m not alone here.

Peggy and her sister Tricia they also went to Sisters and they brought each of us back a button that says Sisters, Oregon and a fat quarter. Thank you for thinking of us, that was really sweet (honey sweet of course). They also brought back a gift for our drawing. That was really neat; it was a panel of the Sisters, Oregon Quilt Show. Dawn won that, so Dawn we expect to see what you did with it next meeting. Only kidding, you should have it done by September though, right?

Dawn’s show ‘n’ tell was a Rosie the “Quilter” panel she did as a wall hanging for her sewing room. The back of it was all roses. It really was a show stopper. Now I’ll have to do mine and I wonder if I could possible do as well. She really is a hard act to follow. Too much talent

Randy brought in a picture of her mom and dad with their new quilts. Yes they lived to receive them. They looked great, both mom and dad and the quilts. They appeared to be very happy with them. This quilt was a whole year in the making. I know she was very happy to do the last stitch and deliver them. She also brought in a quilt that she claims to be the ugliest ever. Well, we all know that isn’t possible. Randy doesn’t do ugly and this one was just beautiful. It’s to be a gift to a friend that likes lavender and this is just beautiful. That is to be one lucky friend.

Randy also bestowed a prize to Linda for the most recruits to the Bees. She gave her an Army mouse pad that said something about recruiting. It was really cute and the picture should be on this blog.


Margie also brought in a show ‘n’ tell. She made this quilt ALL by hand. No sewing machine stuff for her. It was beautiful. She was going to do the same for the quilt block she will be doing for the one we are donating. Wow. I love appliqué, but I’m not so sure about the WHOLE enchilada by hand. That’s a real WOW!!!

I mentioned that Dawn won the panel from Sisters, Oregon in our drawing and Helen and I both won a prize as well. I guess that means we’ll have three prize drawings next month, or only two and the one from Sisters was a special thing. Anyway, Helen and I for sure will bring the next prize.

Linda will bring in the spray starch (she forgot it along with her pattern) she mentioned last meeting. We will also get a copy of the recipe for it too. It apparently works as well as the Best Press and is definitely cheaper. You just need to keep it in the refer. I’ll bring my bottle back - I did remember a couple of things.

I brought in the placemats the Quilt Guild Third Saturday Class did. It was quite cute and is of Santa. Helen thought you could probably do a Nutcracker out of the pattern too. I’ll bring the pattern next time for those that may wish to do them for a gift.


I also got money from those who weren’t at the last meeting for the balance to finance our quilt’s backing and such. As of this evening we have $29.00 to work with. Thank you ladies for your donations. I believe this quilt will be awesome and I hope and pray the Mom’s on the Run get a nice sum for it when it’s auctioned.

Well, we cut and cut and finally we adjourned at 7:20PM. We will see you all I hope in August, on the 18th. If your square is done, please bring it so Dawn can start when she has the time. Note that we are requesting they all be in to her by September’s meeting.

Hope you’re enjoying these summer months and that not too much California smoke is coming your way and as always keep bzzzzzzzzzzz.

Respectfully submitted,

Carol G.

June 2008 Newsletter

June 16.2008
Hi Bees!
Well this meeting was very small, there were four of us in attendance. Could we try to improve this Bees? You miss a lot. You surely did this time. The smiley faces, the great show “n” tells, and the stories, you really missed it. And we miss your input and your smiley face. I know summer is hard but let’s try.

Remember our “coffee money”? Well Dawn had called on the group “Moms on the Run”. They raise money for breast cancer and all monies raised are kept here in Northern Nevada. They told her they would love to have a quilt donated and they would put it in their silent auction. They hold their “run” on Mother’s Day every year. If you would like more information on them go to www.momsontherun.com.

So again, for this quilt those in attendance picked out fabric for the quilt. I must say we did a great job. The colors are beautiful. So “nanny, nanny” to those of you who missed out. It was a great time had by all four of us. We had $33.96 in the envelope. We each added $5.00, we spent $44.91 on fabric for the top. So currently we have $9.05 left. We would like each of you to donate $5.00 too so we will have enough for thread, batting and backing ok? We were looking at four colors but ended up with six. It is so hard to pick just four colors. The ones we picked are beautiful wait till you see them.

We would also like to extend an invitation to all members on sabbatical or otherwise to participate with us at the next meeting. We are asking each of you to bring a 12” (finished size) pattern you would like to make. We thought each of us could do a separate square like we did for Lori. So next meeting you will need to bring a pattern, rotary cutter and mat (Dawn bring templates). We will cut out our squares at this meeting. This way we can see how much fabric we will use and if we will need to purchase more for the backing etc. We are planning on a 12 block quilt.

Linda is doing a blog. This blog will now carry your newsletter. If you still would like your newsletter mailed please let me know and I will continue to mail it to you. This should be kinda neat. She will include pictures, but will delete last names.

With the blog in mind I suggested and am requesting that each of us send her a BIO on ourselves. Send to carsonriverlady@yahoo.com. Include as much as you like. I like to think this is “our story”. No last names so we shouldn’t have any concerns or qualms right? If you do please let Linda know. The blog will be at www.nevadaquiltingbees.blogspot.com, check it out.

Randy was going to her parent’s home this weekend . You know why? You guessed it. The quilts are done and mom and dad had been told “you can’t die”. Bold or what? I hope she takes pictures.

She also brought in her first attempt at quilting. Pictures should be on the blog. Also her second attempt from Pioneer Girls. Really neat, both of them.

The gal that Linda was bringing in to join our group is Rita B, is a Graphic Arts teacher at Douglas High School. She should be a great addition to our group.

Wow, see all you missed. Hope to see all of you at the next meeting on July 21, don’t forget your pattern, rotary cutter and mat!

Hope your enjoying this nice weather, keep bzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Carol G.

May 2008 Newsletter

Hi Bees!

Well those of us who attended were as usual blessed with a beautiful display of completed projects and a wealth of information.

We started off with signing in and dispersing our 6” squares. We have been giving 3 six inch squares times approximately 7 or 8 people. I suggested counting our squares as the pattern requires approximately 442 squares if you are doing the 90 ½”x99”quilt. Should you choose the smaller version of 63’ x 811/2” you will need approximately 252 squares.

I personally like this quilt pattern and would love to do the larger one. I currently have 205 squares. So if we continue to bring 3 squares for each (7-8 people) by November we will have an additional 186 squares. Should we bring 5 squares per person we will have an additional 210 squares by November and if we brought in an additional 6 squares per person we would have 42 squares per person at each meeting times 6 more months gives us an additional 252 squares. So if you want to make the smaller size, does that mean you then stop bringing in squares because that makes my pathetic math problem obsolete if we all don’t continue on the same venue. I will bring enough, I leave the rest to you each of you and we can then discuss further.

Our unfinished discussion so to speak about future meetings for the rest of the year is as follows - we will continue to meet. If you can not or choose not to attend July and August that is fine, no penalties. We are too easy going for that. But you will need to either bring squares for while you are gone or bring square to make-up for while you were gone, ok?

Dawn brought in a wedding gift she made. It was Donna’s table topper pattern and she made 2 pot holders to match with the silver cloth for heat resistance in both, but with one she didn’t put in the batting. Felt, unsafe I guess. I mean we seem to think if it’s thick I won’t get burnt, if it’s thin I may get burnt. But both were beautiful. She went on line to find out the wedding couples colors and lo and behold there it was, everywhere - “ red and black. Great gift and homemade with love.

Dawn also brought in her ¼” idea. Even if you use your quarter inch piecing foot w/flange sometimes it just isn’t that ¼”. So she suggested you try taking three (3) strips 2” wide, sew them together with ¼” seam allowances then measure ¼´” it should be 5”. If it is not, try to move your needle sometimes the machines allow us and some don’t. If your with a machine that doesn’t allow a needle to move then adjust a tape to your machine to help with this ¼” problem. That quarter inch really makes a big difference in the out come of your quilt. Oh believe me!

We are still looking into doing a quilt for breast cancer donation. Randy brought in an article on this “Moms on the Run” and it appears it is local and for only breast cancer research nothing else. She gave it to Dawn to see if she could find out about donating a quilt that they could use or raffle. More on that next meeting.

Tricia gave a demo on Thangles. What a great idea! They came in packages of a
“bunch” and it’s like paper piecing I gather. Anyway, that really helps with
1/4" problems.

Next meeting Peggy will demo on “Easy Angles.”

Randy brought in one of two quilts that she is doing for her mom and dad. She is hoping to finish these before too long as Dad is now 90 yrs old. They (mom and dad) named their quilts, dad named his “Harbor Lights” and mom named hers “Ocean Breeze.” And you know they are beautiful. Randy did a great scrappy backing with the leftovers.

Linda brought in granddaughter Chaja’s quilt. You know all the children have an animal and Chaja’s is the frog. The block is “Toad in a Puddle”; this was really cute with the centers being fussy cut with the frog. She had asked us for help - she received more than she needed and couldn’t decide still. Sorry :(

I brought in a picture of a gift I made my girlfriend for Easter of the Table Graces placemats. I wish I could finish these things closer to our meeting dates so I could bring them in. I will try to do better next time.

Drawing was done with Tricia and Carol winning. They will bring prizes next month.

See you June 16th. Enjoy our summer weather. (Today we had snow flurries. Guess that’s where we live - lucky us!)

Happy Sewing and keep bz-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z,
Carol G.

April 2008 Newsletter

Welcome to Spring Bees!

Our meeting on Monday the 21st was great. We did have a new “bee” her name is Tricia S. and she is Peggy P’s sister. Twin I believe.

Tricia brought a show ‘n’ tell called Monarch Maize it was beautiful.

We first passed out our 6”x6”squares x 3 for each person. We are at seven right now and so please keep looking for new bees to join us.

I was given an envelope at work of all our money we had given in the beginning when we first started up. Remember we used to give a dollar. Well some of it got used for coffeE and then I guess we quit drinking the stuff and so the money stayed in the envelope. We were wondering what to do with it and decided it would be nice to make a quilt and give it away to a good charity. Dawn had suggested the Susan G. Komen Foundation for a cure for cancer, but it was brought up by Peggy that they also support Pro Choice and as a Catholic cannot support that group. So with that in mind we are looking for a place to donate a quilt to. Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Maybe you just know of a family in need or. . . . . .

Helen brought up Jean Cavanaugh is having a quilt retreat at St.Mary’s Art Museum in Virginia City and if anyone would like to go contact either Helen or Jean.

Also don’t forget the Shop Hop of many area quilt shops - September 25 - 28th.

Randy showed us a cute potato bag she made in a class. She also used it as a prize for tonight’s drawing. There is warning on these that if you have a newer microwave or one that cannot be used on a lower setting that these can catch fire. So if you have one please be careful.

Peggy brought in a tote bag she made to take a multitude of things to class in. She also brought the pattern to share and Randy absconded with it, but promised to bring it back to share again. The bag looks so handy.

Randy also shared her new toy, her ipod, it was a mini quilt show of all her quilts. Her husband downloaded all of this for her. What a wealth of quilts. They were just beautiful.

Linda has been crocheting a beautiful afghan as I mentioned in last meeting notes. But this time she explained what it was. Apparently, when she was pregnant with her daughter Molly, she was going to make this afghan for her midwife. As time passes so quickly, the baby came and grew and it was never finished. Molly not so long ago found it in her mom’s closet and asked what it was. Linda explained it and Molly said it should be finished, she loved the colors. Of course the pattern was now gone and the midwife, too,so Linda went looking for more yarn to match and blend and now Molly is graduating from college and guess what she is getting for her graduation. What a neat story and gift. It is a wool blend in shades of mauve.

Linda will be going to Michigan for Molly’s graduation and had asked for local places that have quilting. She found what needs and can’t wait to go.

Linda also brought in her grandsons’ quilts. As they have Totem names their quilts reflect that and how neat they are. One is bear cub - of course there are bears and bear paw squares. And there is an Owl - very wonderful fabrics she choose. I’m sure the grandsons will love these quilts.

Dawn brought in a wall hanging or table topper size quilt of scraps she had left over from a kit she did. The colors were wonderful and of course her quilting is too.

Peggy and her sister Tricia will be going to Sisters, Oregon for the quilt show, it was suggested we all go as a group next year. Maybe…… They will check on accommodations etc. and we can discuss it as a great project.

Peggy also started our quilt project (the one with 492 approx squares). She said she wanted to start it to see how difficult it is. She said you definitely need to read your directions VERY carefully for accuracy. One tip she had was to be sure you cut on straight of grain.

Helen quilted the purse she brought in tonight and so showed and told about it. Very neat.

Also Helen and Linda won the drawing prizes tonight and so will provide the prizes for next meeting.

It was also discussed that we meet as usual for July and August. Helen said if I was gone and we needed a place to meet, her house was open as she lives in Carson City and would be a centrally located place.

Nothing was settled. Discuss at next meeting on May 19th, 2008.

See you then, keep B-zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,
Carol G

March 2008 Newsletter

March 19, 2008

Hi Bees!

Well we started our meeting with Randy asking how we felt about
continuing the Quilting Bees with so many ladies on sabbatical or actually dropping out.

Well she started with Linda, and then Randy spoke, Dawn, then me and then Peggy. We all agreed that we like who are with and that this group is just different enough we’d like to keep it together. In fact we would like to recruit. So if you know of someone who might like to become a BZZZ Quilting Bee send them on in. We would like to keep us at 10 members if possible.

Show and Tell was really neat. Randy made her grandson, who turned 7, a birthday quilt. He is into outer space and all that entails. The quilt was really something. She got her great space fabric on line. I’m sure he’ll love it. She also did a quilt for her husband for Valentines. Seems he liked what he saw in the colors and stuff but she didn’t spill the beans about who it was for till Valentines Day. She had special things attached to the back. The button from the dress she wore on the day they met. And the first ring he gave her. It was a ring from the merry-go-round. I had to call Randy to get the description as I had forgotten as I got all involved in the story. But the ring is something you reach for and if you get one you throw it towards or into a clown. She couldn’t remember if there was a reward or not. I think there was - her husband. He was very surprised that she still had it. Perhaps the sentimentality wasn’t as strong in him as we women would like to see, but I believe that it meant something special to him too.

Dawn showed us an attic quilt she had worked on and said she has made several and really enjoyed the pattern. She contacted the publisher of the book and was telling them how much she enjoyed the pattern; they gave her the e-mail of the artist saying she would really like to hear from her. So she e-mailed her and the lady asked her to send her some pictures of quilts she had done. She did and the lady then asked for her address. The artist (I didn’t get her name) then sent her 2 more books she had written. She autographed each and wrote her a thank you note. Neat huh? I wonder if more artists wouldn’t appreciate hearing from the individual quilters.

Linda was crocheting something very pretty. Show & Tell Linda.

Dawn showed us her template class project. It was really neat, however, she couldn’t show us how to cut using the templates as she left her turning cutting board in her car and it was “tweaked” out of shape. Maybe next time. Looked really neat. She was very impressed with how accurate it made each piece come out. Randy on the other hand wasn’t as sure.

I mentioned I had entered into the Challenge Quilt contest for Carson Valley Quilt Guild and I placed third. I was pretty tickled that my peers gave me third. I said the quilts were on display at WNC in Carson and was open till classes were over. They decided to go there after the meeting, I wish I could have gone, but my husband was waiting for me at Cactus Jacks, the meeting was long enough for him to be here. Hope they got to see all those quilts,they were amazingly beautiful.

We started to discuss who would teach what next meeting and somehow we never finished that conversation. Anyone have an idea or two?

Randy and Peggy won the drawing this month so they will bring the drawing prize for next month.

Peggy said her twin sister (who doesn’t look like her, she says)would also like to join our group so she will join us next meeting.
See you then April 21st at Sierra Sewing.

Keep bzzzzzzzzzzz!
Carol G
PS: Keep those squares coming, we are still collecting we need approximately 420 plus. We need 6”x6” 3 per person and figure 8 people I guess, we can adjust as we go and grow.

PPS: They did get to see those quilts at WNC. Randy said they were just
beautiful each so different. Glad they got to go.