July 2011 Meeting

We met at Helen's house and shared a delicious dinner of Helen's taco salad, Linda's stuffed jalapenos, and Randi's strawberry shortcake with homemade biscuits. Yum! Former member Rachael (Linda's daughter) also joined us for this meeting. She is visiting with her children from Washington.

Next Meeting

Our next meeting will be a "packing party" at Randi's house. Note the change in day and time as well.

• Tuesday, August 9 at 4:00 PM at Randi's

As discussed at the meeting, please bring your LARGE suitcases -- at least 26 inches. Here is the suitcase count from the meeting: Margie - 2, Rachael - 2, Linda - 1, Helen -2, Peggy - 1, Randi - 1. That should be enough, but there was uncertainty about whether some of the suitcases would be big enough, so extra large suitcases would be welcome in case they are needed.

After the hard work of packing up all the quilts, the Bees will treat themselves to going out to dinner.

DragonLord Business

Final Count: 73 military children will receive quilts made with love by quilters from across Northern Nevada. Randi has been collecting the quilts, and her house is overflowing. Although a lot of work, this project has been a privilege and a blessing, and we learned many things from the experience. Although Randi is the first one to say she didn't know what she was getting us into, all of us are proud of this major accomplishment and are particularly grateful to Randi for her unflagging leadership and for our wonderful group of Bees who are giving our all to finishing up the project.

Here are just a few of the quilts that will be donated to the DragonLord children.

Quilt Packing and Delivery: As mentioned in the "Next Meeting" section of this month's blog, the quilts will be packed into large suitcases and hand-carried to Nashville by Randi, Linda, Peggy, and Helen where they will be distributed to the children. Southwest Airlines has generously donated four round-trip tickets, and their free, two-suitcase baggage policy is making the trip possible. The journey will begin on August 17 and last through August 22. Linda's daughter Molly, who has been an integral part of the project, will be opening her home to the quilters and has planned some fabulous activities for the quilters to experience Nashville and the surrounding area during their trip.

Purse Workshop

Here are the cute "mini-messenger bags" made by some of the Bees at the June purse workshop. This pattern can be easily made in less than a day. It has lots of pockets and ends up being a very practical as well as attractive purse. The strap hardware gives this bag a particularly professional, finished look. More purses to come next month!

June 2011 Meeting/Workshop

In June, rather than a regular meeting, we had a purse workshop instead with Randi, Linda, Helen, Margie, Peggy, and Tricia attending. Dawn and Carol were not able to come, and we all missed them.

Next Meeting

Tuesday, July 19, usual time and place with food volunteers as follows:

• Helen: Taco salad
• Linda: Stuffed jalapenos
• Dessert: Randi

Workshop

With all the time spent at the previous meeting selecting patterns, everyone to a person, chose a different pattern. Peggy, Tricia, Margie, and Helen all made the "mini messenger bag," and Linda and Randi both made zipper bags, each from a different pattern. Everyone made good progress with Peggy and Helen finishing their mini-messengers. By our July meeting, hopefully everyone will bring their finished bags so we can take photos.

Tricia shared some deviled eggs as an afternoon snack. The recipe is available on the blog's recipe page.

Dragonlord Business

Many of us brought our finished Dragonlord quilts. Several are still in the works, and some that were collected from other groups are being finished by Bees members. A new deadline will be discussed at our next meeting. Still pending is a method for shipping all the quilts. Peggy suggested that volunteers could take on shipping and paying for 5-7 quilts each. Apparently UPS will give us an 80% discount if we ship over 150 pounds. We're not sure how much the finished quilts will weigh or of the criteria for packaging to take advantage of that possibility.

Peggy and Tricia made quilts for sisters. Peggy's girls are 2 and 5; Tricia's are 6 and 8.

Helen really outdid herself! What a lucky little boy!

Randi also shared with us a beautiful prize-winning quilt she made for her son.

May 2011 Meeting

The meeting was held on May 24 at Helen's house. (We are grateful to Helen for being such a gracious hostess!)

Attending: Peggy, Linda, Dawn, Helen, Margie, Randi, Tricia

Margie brought a delicious Southwest salad that reminded her of a tostada salad from her childhood. It was served over blue corn tortilla chips with a spicy dressing. Tricia brought home-baked beer bread, and Dawn served delicious chocolate chip cookies (homemade) and brownies for dessert.

Next Meeting

*** June meeting is canceled ***

Purse Workshop

Instead of the June meeting, we will meet for the purse workshop on Saturday, June 25 at 10:00 AM at the Cooperative Extension meeting room in Carson City.

*** Bring finished DragonLord quilts ***

Supplies: Bring your own supplies for the purse of your choice as listed on the pattern. Peggy and Tricia will bring assorted miscellaneous supplies, such as grommets, buttons, magnetic snaps, and various stabilizers and batting for those "just in case" moments.

Ironing stations: Most purses use fusible batting, so everyone will need to do quite a bit of ironing, so multiple small ironing stations would be helpful.

Food: To maximize sewing time, we will all bring our own bag lunches. Snacks and goodies to share are optional.

Business

Project DragonLord

Randi distributed the quilt labels, including those for the Ditch Stitchers, which Dawn will deliver to Donna. All quilt labels have now been delivered. The deadline for the Bee's quilts is June 25 to be delivered to Linda at the purse workshop. Linda and her daughter are currently exploring options for shipping the quilts.

Our group will also be making pillowcases for the deployed mothers of the DragonLord children. We didn't do "sign ups" for who would be making the pillowcases, other than Linda, so please contact Linda if you want to help. About six pillowcases will be needed.

Angel Quilt

The quilt top is finished. It is finished and awesome! Much thanks to Linda, Helen, and Peggy for their hard work on this project. Linda has volunteered to do the quilting; she will take the quilt to the Jill Schumacher workshop she is attending in June to get some ideas. Thank you, Linda!

Show & Tell

Randi took two workshops from Janet Fogg, a well-known "art" quilter, and she highly recommends them. Janet gives the following advice for free-motion quilting: "Do what you're good at." Janet has mastered 7 patterns and combines those in different ways on her quilts. Randi continues with her free-motion quilting class with very impressive results!

Peggy is working on a cute "Art to Heart" calendar set. She has currently completed all the numbers and the months of May and June.

Peggy has new "toy" called a cutwork tool. It fits into where the needle goes on the machine, and it cuts out appliques or heirloom cutouts in the hoop. Peggy is becoming the master of all kinds of machine techniques and complicated software.

Linda made an adorable dress and hat for her 1-year old granddaughter. She also made some cheerful placemats for Margie.

Helen gave a table-runner to Randi. This is a complicated story, but I think it goes something like this. Helen originally gave the table runner to Carol, but then Carol returned it because the colors didn't work in her house. Helen already had made one from the same fabric for herself, so she gave it to Randi, who had always admired the fabric.

During May, Peggy traveled to the Big Island of Hawaii. While there, she visited Kimura's Fabrics, an old, funky fabric shop, and she brought back fat quarters for the Bees.

Geraldine

Our mascot bee, Geraldine, is going to travel with Margie to Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. She is the Bees' version of "Flat Stanley." Margie will compile the saga of Geraldine's adventures when she returns home. Geraldine attends our meetings and travels home with a quilter each month to be part of the action.

April 2011 Meeting

Attending: Peggy, Dawn, Helen, Linda, Margie, Randi, Tricia

We had Dawn's delicious tortellini soup and Peggy's yummy spinach salad with strawberries and her own homemade dressing. Peggy also brought homemade bread. For dessert, we had delicious chocolate/raspberry ice cream bars, courtesy of Linda. Dawn brought her soup recipe, and it will be sent out to the group shortly.

Flat Stanley attended our Bees' meeting this month courtesy of Randi. He has gotten around a bit in Northern Nevada and will soon be on his way back to California.

Business

Our basket for the quilt show is due soon, and Randi is taking on the responsibility of collecting the items and making the basket. Everyone made their own arrangements for getting items to Randi by the following week. Of particular note are the Longaberger basket and star shaped pottery donated by Peggy.

Randi passed around a handy sewing aid called "Quilt Your Heart Out." She is going to make 6 copies to bring to the next meeting.

The angel quilt will have the "Cancer Cannot" poem in the center. It will also be embellished with crystals on the halos. We discussed the idea of putting "in honor of Carol" on it somewhere.

Our 2011 Goals are now available on a separate tab at the top of the blog page. That should give quick, easy access to help us keep track of them.

Next Meeting

Tuesday, May 24 at Helen's (note change to the 4th Tuesday)

• Main dish: Margie
• Dessert: Dawn
• Bread: Tricia

Peggy and Tricia will bring purse patterns and and samples of interfacing, batting, and notions needed to complete a purse. The purse workshop will be on Saturday, June 25 at 10:00 AM at the cooperative extension meeting room in Carson City.

Show and Tell

Dawn's son found an old, discarded quilt that was pretty badly damaged, shown in the photo on the left. Dawn made a copy of the quilt, which she is holding in the photo and called it "Almost Lost."

Randi and Dawn showed their challenge quilts from one of their other quilting groups. Randi's is called "Remember the Price of Freedom"; Dawn's is "Ahh, to Be Free."

Peggy completed one of her Project Dragonlord quilts.

Other miscellaneous projects. I apologize for not having better notes, ladies. I will try to write down more details in my minutes at future meetings.

Respectfully submitted,
Tricia

March 2011 Meeting

We met at Helen's house as usual and enjoyed delicious albondigas (meatball) soup made by Helen.

Attending: Randi, Helen, Linda, Margie, Dawn, Peggy, Tricia

Next meeting: **IMPORTANT ** Wednesday, April 20 (note change from Tue to Wed)

• Dawn - main dish
• Tricia - salad
• Linda - dessert
• Peggy - bread

Nothern Nevada Quilt Guild

After dinner, we held our business meeting. Randi registered the Bees as a charter group with the Northern Nevada Quilt Guild. Our group's responsibilities as members includes:

• $40 membership fee (paid by Randi and reimbursed from Bees' dues)
• A representative to attend meetings
• A donated door prize basket for the quilt show
• Donated items to sell in the Country Store at the quilt show

Dawn had the idea of doing a patriotic themed gift basket, and other members thought it would be fun to do red wine, white chocolate, and blue fabric. Sounds like winner! We have many creative ideas for Country Store items, including coasters, placemats, and purses.

Dues

Dues remain $2.00/month to be paid whether or not the member attends (with the exception of Carol). Dues payment will be on the honor system with Margie no longer collecting from each member monthly. Margie will remain treasurer; however, members will be responsible for putting money in the envelope and marking the payment records for themselves.

Quilts for the Dragonlords' Children

We discussed the procedure for selecting children and for making the photo inserts. However, this became a moot point when Linda's daughter volunteered to make all the photo labels. After the meeting, Linda emailed a spreadsheet so that we could all select our children. Goal for finishing the quilts is by June 25 or at the June meeting so that Linda can take them when she visits her daughter in July.

Show and Tell

Randi's mother's "block of the month" quilt is shown below. It will be displayed in memory of Randi's mother,who recently passed away. May she rest in peace. Her loved ones, as well as future generations, will surely appreciate her beautiful quilt legacy.

Later in the meeting, Randi demonstrated the special ruler she used to make the pinwheel quilt on the right below. 

Peggy will donate this quilt to Nevada Greyhounds Unlimited to be auctioned at their summer picnic during Carson Valley Days.

More great quilts, including Margie's bug quilt in the center. 

Upcoming Event - Purse Workshop

Saturday, June 25, 10:00 AM

To be held at Margie's meeting room in Carson City. Peggy and Tricia will bring patterns and sample supplies to the May meeting.

Randi's Demos

After the business meeting, Randi demonstrated how to create a "10 minute block" that looks like three-dimensional curved piecing, similar to the Cathedral Window pattern. She also demonstrated a special ruler she used for making one of her quilts. (I'm sorry, Randi; I didn't write down the name of the ruler -- I was too busy watching.) It's always fun to see how to use the specialized tools of our trade. Thank you, Randi.

Respectfully submitted,
Tricia

February 2011 Meeting

The meeting was held on Tuesday, February 15 at Helen's house.

Attending: Randi, Helen, Margie, Peggy, Dawn, Linda, Tricia

Despite the blustering wind and looming snow storm, we all managed the drive to Helen's house and arrived there safely. For dinner, Margie made a delicious Israeli stew, which was warm and hearty, and Linda made a light and yummy couscous salad. For dessert, we had Peggy's "reduced guilt" brownies, which, despite being made with nonfat yogurt, were surprisingly gooey and choclately.

Business

We briefly discussed the status of the angel quilt that will be donated to the Cancer Resource Center in Carson City. Only one block is still being completed by Linda, and Helen is the keeper of the squares. Helen, Linda, and Peggy will put the quilt together. It is not clear whether there is an anticipated date of completion for this project.

We discussed whether the Bees as a group should join the Nevada Quilt Guild as a "chartered chapter" at a cost of $40 to be paid anually from our dues. The benefit to group members is that individual memberships are reduced in cost from $25 to $20, but we decided the main reason to join is to support quilting in Northern Nevada. There may also be some competitions and other activities we can participate in as a group. The group voted Yes; Randi and Margie will followup with application and payment.

We also discussed the quilting project for military families (I don't remember the name of the project or organization). Interested families are in the process of applying, and Linda will bring more information when it is available.

Randi was honored by the Nevada Quilt Guide by being considered for a position on the board, and she was also asked to submit three quilts to be photographed for an article that will appear in the Spring issue of Quilter's Quarterly magazine. What an accomplishment!

Show & Tell

Dawn's quilting was awesome, as usual, on both these projects.

Helen completed her placemats as well as a project made from charm squares.

Tricia is enjoying small projects these days.



Peggy had a busy month with both small seasonal projects and finishing a quilt top.

Upcoming Quilt Shows

May 18-20: Nevada Quilt Guild's annual show in Fallon. Complete information, including and entry packet, is available at http://www.nvquiltguild.org/.

July 16: Fabrics Unlimited. This is a free show for exhibit only (no judging) hosted by the Fabrics Unlimited quilt shop at Lake Tahoe. They will hang quilts among the trees on their beautiful property, and it should be a fun day to gather and enjoy the day.

Next meeting: Tuesday, March 15 at Helen's house

Food:

• Helen -- main dish
• Randi -- salad
• Linda -- dessert

Respectfully submitted -- Tricia

December 2010 -- Holiday Party

We met on December 7 at Helen's house for an early celebration of the holiday season. Our potluck theme was "International" and we had excellent representation with tamales, lasagne, German potato salad, Thai green salad, and Indian naan bread -- among other delicious side dishes and deserts.

Attending were Helen, Margie, Peggy, Randi, Linda, Dawn, Tricia, and Ellie.

Business: After a festive dinner, during which we shared many hilarious and touching family stories, we held a short business meeting with Randi presiding. She presented some "food for thought" about service projects we might like to take on in the coming year, specifically the idea of making quilts for our military personnel. One organization to consider is Quilts of Valor (http://www.qovf.org/).

Ellie volunteered to make fleece dog pillows to donate to the shelter from any scraps or "overstocks" of fleece we might have, so please start bringing those to our meetings for Ellie.

Show and Tell: Margie brought her placemats for the 2010 challenge project. Even though we extended the deadline for this project until January 2011, Margie completed hers and is giving them for a Christmas present, so they will be gone by our next meeting.

Tricia showed a Christmas stocking she made for her grandson, which she planned to drop off for him immediately after the meeting.

Peggy made a cute wallhanging showing trucks for her grandson, Jackson, who loves all kinds of trucks and construction equipment. (Footnote: I got to see Jackson, 20 months old, open this present, and his reaction was everything a grandma could ever hope for. His face lit up and he started pointing at it and saying, "Dump truck." He then laid down on the quilt and started snuggling with it. Grandma "P" was beaming.)

Dawn showed us placemats she made with the tool featured by Fabrics Unlimited on the shop hop, which really showed off the technique that yields a three-dimensional pattern. She also showed her yard sale quilt.

Then, everyone exchanged cards and gifts. I'm sorry I didn't take notes on them all, but a big hit was the rotary cutter blade from Randi, which is actually a carpet cutter from Harbor Freight. This could be a huge money save for all of us!

We then ended with our Round Robin gift exchange followed by dessert. Again, I didn't write down the details, but the gift of the season was Peggy's tree-topper angel made from freestanding lace on her embroidery machine.

Food for January

• Dawn will bring a salad
• Randi will bring chicken casserole

GOALS, GOALS GOALS! We will discuss our goals for 2010 and 2011 at the January meeting. You can review the goals for 2010 in this blog in the month of January 2010. (Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, and then click Older Posts.)