November 2014 Meeting

We met on Tuesday, November 25 at Helen's house with Margie, Peggy, Rita, Helen, Dawn, and Tricia attending. Rita made pasta with sauce made with tomatoes from her garden and stuffed zucchini, and Peggy brought homemade pumpkin pie with whipped cream. It was quite a pre-Thanksgiving feast! We missed you, Randi and Linda.

Next Meeting

Instead of meeting on our usual fourth Tuesday, we will instead meet on the last Tuesday of December for a post-Christmas holiday party.

*** Tuesday, December 30, 5:30 pm ***
J's Old Town Bistro, 30 Pike St, Dayton
(775) 246-4400

We will carry on our usual holiday tradition of a $10 round-robin gift exchange as well as whatever other discretionary gifting each Bee might choose to do on her own. 

Business Meeting

Holiday party: We discussed moving the December meeting from San Marcos Grill in Carson City to a more centrally located restaurant. First & Ten in Dayton is option, but Margie suggested J's Bistro in Dayton because they have a separate meeting room. During the meeting, Margie called J'S Bistro to inquire about using the room, and she ended up leaving a message for the manager to get back to her. (Update -- time and place are set as shown in the "Next Meeting" section above. Thank you, Margie.)

Mackenzie: Peggy brought the second Mackenzie quilt, which is now complete, but in a very sad turn of events, Mackenzie passed away on November 13. The Bees decided to give the quilt to Mackenzie's father, and Rita offered to take the quilt to Mackenzie's celebration of life and give it to him there. Making these quilts was a very personal and moving experience for every Bee as we got to know Mackenzie through her Facebook page and the postings made by herself and her mother. As Peggy said, her heart broke for Mackenzie's mother who posted, "I don't know how to go home without my best friend." Although sad, these types of experiences help us to open our hearts and to grow in caring and compassion, and for that we are thankful. Our prayers continue to go out for Mackenzie and her family.

Show and Tell

Peggy made Christmas baking aprons for her niece and grandniece.

Dawn is making a quilt for her boss who is retiring. She said that he has seen just about every quilt she's made for other co-workers throughout the years, and she can't believe she never thought to make a quilt for him until now.

Dawn also made a quilt for her future daughter-in-law's sister's baby.

Tricia made a rag quilt for her boss who just retired. 

Helen is still busy making quilt tops for donation. 

Thanksgiving Blessings

Rita wanted to share this video with the Bees, but her phone was too small for us all to watch it on. Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

Louie Schwarztberg: Nature. Beauty. Gratitude.

October 2014 Meeting

The Bees met on October 28 at Helen's house with Linda, Margie, Helen, Peggy, Dawn, Rita, and Tricia attending. Margie brought a chicken piccata pasta for dinner, which was accompanied by a salad from Linda and homemade brownies and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies from Dawn.

Next Meeting

*** Tuesday, November 25 at Helen's house ***

Rita - main dish;  Linda - salad;  Peggy - dessert

Queen Bee: Helen

Business Meeting

We had a very limited business meeting with Linda updating us on Mackenzie, who is in the hospital at Stanford awaiting a lung transplant. Mackenzie is gravely ill, but Linda was able to send the Cabbage Rose quilt to her to have in the hospital. Mackenzie's Facebook page is www.facebook.com/BreatheforMackenzie, and it is being updated daily (and more) with status on her condition. The family is also accepting donations to help with traveling and lodging expenses while Mackenzie is in the hospital. 

Because the fourth Tuesday falls two days before Christmas this year, Linda brought up the idea of doing our holiday party after Christmas on Tuesday, December 30 at 5:30 pm. We discussed going to a restaurant this year, rather than doing a potluck supper, and we decided on the San Marco Grill, 260 E Winnie Lane, Carson City. Tricia will call to make the reservation. We can discuss this more at the November meeting. 

Demonstration

Last month, Margie expressed interest in a chenille project she had seen on the shop hop, so Tricia volunteered to do a chenille demo at the next meeting. Tricia showed a finished potholder that was made with four layers of the same fabric. Using the same fabric for each layer is essential for preserving the pattern on the fabric. She also showed a sample of how to sew the layers together on the bias and then how to cut through the fabric using the chenille cutter, and each Bee tried cutting one of the rows. Tricia won the chenille cutter from Sylvia's at the shop hop a few years ago, so she doesn't know how much it costs but thinks about $25. For a small project like the potholder, small sharp scissors could be used, but to make something larger, like a scarf or a blanket, a chenille cutter would be essential. 

Show and Tell

Dawn has been a very busy lady. She made quilts for friends who have cancer. 

 

And baby quilts for her friends' grandbabies.

Rita showed us some projects from her art students that reminded us a bit of zen-doodling.

She also showed us a hand-dyed wall-hanging she made in honor of one of her students featuring a Bible verse from Isaiah 40:31. 

September 2014 Meeting

The Bees met on September 30 at Helen's house with Randi, Peggy, Linda, Helen, and Tricia attending for dinner and Margie arriving later. Randi made a chicken salad and Peggy brought homemade beer bread, making for a healthy yet hearty supper. Linda made a FABULOUS fresh ginger cake, which we enjoyed later during the meeting.

Next Meeting

*** Tuesday, October 28 at Helen's house ***

Margie - main dish;  Helen - salad;  Randi - dessert

Queen Bee: Tricia

Business Meeting

There was very little business to discuss. Linda gave a brief update on Mackenzie with the hope that she and her mother might be able to attend one of our meetings to receive the quilts. One of the quilts is finished. 

Tricia mentioned that she was making a Christmas jelly roll quilt for her daughter, which Margie had admired at the sandwiching day, and Tricia brought up the idea of the Bees cutting some 2-1/2 inch strips from any left-over project fabrics and that they save them for an exchange to make donation quilts. A jelly roll quilt could be made by each Bee during a sewing day at the coop, so that's an idea to ponder for next year. 

Show and Tell

Not too many Bees had things to show this month. Peggy made a beautiful turtle wall hanging using a reverse applique technique where the dark layer on top is the cutout to be appliqued onto the lighter fabric. Peggy also made cute little watermelon purses for both her 2-year old grandnieces. 

Helen made a purse, custom designed to meet her needs. 

Tricia made a Christmas jelly roll quilt for her daughter.

August 2014

The Bees did not meet in August, but instead, Linda reserved the Coop Extension meeting room for a "sandwiching" day. Linda and Peggy met there in the morning and sandwiched seven quilts for themselves and the other Bees. Thank you, Peggy and Linda, for your hard work and generosity!

July 2014 Sewing Day

Instead of a regular meeting in July, the Bees decided to have a sewing day for the Mackenzie quilts at the Coop Extension meeting room in Carson City. With fabrics in hand, the Bees engaged in an assembly line system of cutting and sewing to get the quilt tops completed and sandwiched before wrapping up for the day.

The system worked well, with Randi and Peggy sewing and the other Bees cutting, pressing, and laying out the squares. Both quilt tops were finished, and the "Wild Roses" quilt shown below was sandwiched and ready to go home with Linda for quilting and Peggy for binding. 

The "Cabbage Rose" quilt was not sandwiched at the workshop because the backing needed to be laundered, but Randi took it home for sandwiching and then passed it on to Dawn for quilting with Randi then doing the binding. 

Great teamwork, Bees! 

June 2014 Meeting

We met on Tuesday, June 24 at Helen's house with Peggy, Randi, Helen, Linda, and Tricia present for dinner. Tricia brought a taco salad that she thought would be enough for the whole group, but just the five of us managed to clean out the whole bowl. Dawn arrived later, but there was nothing left. Fortunately, she'd had dinner earlier with her grandson. Later we had Drumsticks for dessert.

Next Meeting

***  No Tuesday meeting in July  ***
Instead:
Sew Day, Saturday, July 26, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Coop Extension meeting room, 2621 Northgate Lane, Carson City

Business Meeting

Peggy served as Queen Bee for this meeting, and she presented for our discussion an idea called "The Slow Stitching Movement." She had watched a webinar presented by Mark Lipinski, which she found inspiring because it brings back the idea of sewing what we really want to sew for pure enjoyment instead of feeling as though we need to hurry up and produce a finished product. It also introduces the idea of making a "legacy" quilt as one's lifetime quilting achievement. Definitely food for thought. More information can be found on Mark Lipinski's Slow Stitching Movement blog. 

After that, we mainly discussed the Mackenzie quilts, and Randi (who ended up purchasing the fabric instead of Tricia) showed us the fabrics. Almost everyone preferred the red and purple fabric, and Peggy and Tricia volunteered to purchase coordinating fabrics for the the sew day. Linda volunteered to find coordinating fabrics for the pink and green fabric. We decided the materials could be paid for from our dues, so those purchasing supplies can bring receipts to the sew day for reimbursement by our treasurer. 

For the sew day, We will all bring our own snacks and lunches. Linda will bring spray baste, Randi will bring batting, and Peggy and Helen will bring irons. We didn't discuss who would bring sewing machines, thread, and cutting tools, so I'm guessing that most of us will bring all those things. The goal is to get at least one quilt top completed and sandwiched. I don't have in my notes anything about backing fabric, but I think Peggy is going to bring backing to go with the red/purple fabric. Although Dawn will not be able to attend the sew day, she has volunteered to do the quilting. 

Demonstration

Peggy demonstrated the square-in-a-square ruler and highly recommends it for accurate piecing. She demonstrated how to cut square-in-a-square as well as flying geese, and we all had a chance to give it a try.

An important tip about flying geese came up (from Linda, I think). Instead of ironing the point of the goose unit up, which seems the natural way it lies, iron it downwards, which is called "breaking the beak," to make the perfect point stand out more. Ironing up can cause the bulk of the seam to obliterate the point. 

Show and Tell

Peggy showed us the newspaper article about her award winning quilt. It was a very nice piece in the Minden/Gardnerville Record Courier.

Randi made a quilt-as-you-go table runner with the back being just as fabulous as the front.

Linda made a fabulous scrap quilt that Tricia loves but just can't seem to figure out how it's made. 

Speaking of scraps, it seems as though some of the Bees were truly inspired by Linda's "Sunday Morning Quilting" talk at the April meeting. Helen started making little fabric storage boxes last month, but now she has them all organized on shelves, and Peggy and Tricia sorted out their huge scrap bin into color-coded (mostly) containers. 

May 2014 Meeting

We met at Helen's house on Tuesday, May 27 with Rita, Helen, Randi, Linda, Margie, and Tricia attending. For dinner, we had super-scrumptious homemade cannaloni from Rita, a salad made from home-grown lettuce courtesy of Randi, along with bread and other accompaniments from the other Bees. We acknowledged the sad events of the past two months, including the passing of Randi's father and of Peggy's and Tricia's mother, and Rita said the comfort food she brought to the meeting was made with much love.

Next Meeting

***  Tuesday, June 24 at Helen's house  ***
Tricia - main dish;  Dawn - salad;  Randi - dessert
Queen Bee: Peggy

Business Meeting

Tricia served as Queen Bee for the meeting. We began with Helen asking for tips on constructing a polar fleece quilt. Ideas from the group included tying and just clipping the edges into fringe. Many memories and much laughter arose as we reminisced about ourselves and our children's favorite blankets and stuffed toys. It was one of those perfect spontaneous "Bees moments"!

We then discussed the Mackenzie quilt(s) and Tricia passed around some print-outs of fabric she found online. We decided that Tricia would order some of the fabrics and bring them to the next meeting. Helen showed a sample block she made, and we all agreed it's a major contender for at least one of the quilts.

Demonstration

Tricia demonstrated the "kaleidoscope ruler," which is used to cut 45-degree wedges that can be sewed into an 8-spoke circular design. There are wedge rulers available in several different sizes that allow for more than eight wedges per circle. For example, a 22.5-degree ruler makes 16 spokes per plate. She shared a few tips she learned at a Kaye England workshop about constructing a Dresden plate type of unit that can be appliqued onto a background.

   

Show & Tell

Inspired by Linda's "Sunday Morning Quilts" demonstration at the last meeting, Helen made adorable fabric boxes to use for her scraps. The color scheme of the box indicated the color or scraps stored inside. Very, very clever.

Helen attended a home-based workshop sponsored by the Old Clear Creek Quilters and made a beautiful wallhanging. The poppies prompted Tricia to share her recent experience of painting a picture of poppies at a place in Reno called "Picasso and Wine." Rita mentioned that there is a similar place in Minden on Airport Road called "Van Gogh and Vino," and we discussed the idea of using some of our Bees' dues to do a girls' night out there, maybe some time during the summer.

(I don't have anything in the notes about it; please fill me in.)

April 2014 Meeting

We met at Helen's house on Tuesday, April 22, with Peggy, Helen, Linda, Margie, Dawn, and Tricia attending. We missed Randi, Rita, and Ellie. Peggy brought delicious chili, which was accompanied by Dawn's gluten-free bread and a salad made by Helen. Margie brought an assortment of ice cream, sherbet, and sorbet, which were enjoyed later in the meeting.

Next Meeting

*** Tuesday, May 27 at Helen's house ***

Rita - main dish;  Linda - salad;  Margie - bread;  Helen - dessert

Queen Bee:  Tricia

Business Meeting

Linda was the Queen Bee for April, so she chaired the meeting. We discussed the Carson Valley Quilt show, which will be held on June 7-8 at Carson High School as well as the Sewing and Craft Expo at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno on June 12-14. Both events are shown on our Bees' calendar along with some additional information about times and links to their websites.

We mostly discussed the quilts for Mackenzie. Helen made a quilt top from 15-inch trellis blocks as an example of a square that showcases large prints.

We didn't make a firm decision on when/how/who would purchase fabric, but left with a resolve to search stores and websites for rose fabrics, possibly in purples or reds.

Later in the meeting, after Show & Tell, Linda shared an idea for organizing scraps by color from a book called Sunday Morning Quilts. She showed us how she has started putting the idea to use in her own sewing room with baskets overflowing with colorful scraps. Linda had a shelf mounted over the window in her sewing room to store the baskets for easy access. Best of all were the tags she made from the fabrics that provide a "visual" of what is in each basket. Many of the Bees agreed they would use more scraps if they were sorted and easily accessible.

Show & Tell

Dawn made a Linus quilt from fabric she got in a children's fabric exchange. Randi finished a UFO baby quilt made with "Stars by Magic" blocks.

Helen showed a "golden anniversary" quilt top she made while working at Joann's, which she gave to Linda. That gives Linda plenty of time -- five years -- to finish it for her 50th anniversary

March 2014 Meeting

We met on Tuesday, March 25 at Helen's house with Margie, Dawn, Helen, Linda, Tricia, Randi, and Peggy attending. Dinner was a scrumptious Tuscan soup made by Linda, salad from Randi, and lacy cookies (Trader Joe's) from Tricia.

Next meeting

*** Tuesday, April 22 at Helen's ***

Peggy, main dish;  Helen, salad;  Margie, bread;  Randi, dessert

Queen Bee: Linda 

Business Meeting

Dawn was the Queen Bee for March, so she chaired the meeting. She did a demonstration of "blendable curves" (from a book of the same name), and everyone took a turn cutting and sewing a curve. It was actually much easier than it looked both to cut and piece the curves, and each block ends up looking just a little bit different.

We discussed further the idea of making a quilt for Mackenzie, the girl Linda knows who has cystic fibrosis. Linda read from Mackenzie's Facebook page so we could get to know her better. She is clearly a young woman who has goals and dreams, and we hope and pray she will be able to fulfill them. 

We decided to make two quilts -- one for donation and one for Mackenzie. Linda said that Mackenzie is particularly fond of animal prints and purple, so we will keep that in mind for her personal quilt. Margie was looking up colors for cystic fibrosis on her phone and stumbled across an article about "65 roses"; it's a story about how a little boy thought that was the name of the disease when he heard his mother talking about it. The name "65 roses" has become synonymous with cystic fibrosis, so we decided to incorporate fabric with a rose pattern into the donation quilt. Helen presented an idea for a block that would showcase a large print, and she will make some samples to show us next month. Everyone else, please also think about ideas for both quilts. 

We discussed some ideas for other donation projects we could do individually and Dawn distributed instructions for the Alzheimer's quilt. Other members are always welcome to bring ideas for donation projects. 

We decided that a quilt show would be too much work and could end up being expensive, so we discussed the idea of having a trunk show instead. Peggy will look into the possibility of have a trunk show for the residents of Sierra Place, the assisted living facility where her mother lives. She will report back at the next meeting. 

We discussed the date of the next Shop Hop, which will be September 4-7. Tricia will add the dates to the Bee's calendar, which can be viewed by clicking the Calendar tab at the top of the blog page. Tricia tries to keep that calendar updated with local events. Please be sure to let Tricia know if there is a quilting activity of interest to place on the calendar.

Show & Tell

Linda finished a baby quilt for a little girl who is now one year old. She also made a surprise quilt for Dawn's grandson, Owen. The squares are from Owen's baby shower and were drawn onto fabric from color book pictures.

One of Peggy's friends, whose mother recently passed away, asked Peggy to make "memory bears" from her mother's PJs and nighties. Peggy's friend plans to give the bears to her family as keepsakes.

Helen finished six quilts: a baby quilt for her daughter's friend and five quilts to donate.