November Posting

The Holiday season is upon us. Several of us took advantage of our Fall Retreat, that was held on November 14 and 15, to work on some projects that need finishing before Christmas arrives.

The slide show to the right will show some of our members hard at work on theses UFOs or some worked on the aprons and hot pads that were presented. I know that at least one of the aprons made there is a Christmas present so it worked out great.

Those present had an enjoyable time. Good food was enjoyed by all and it was great just to get to stop, relax, eat, then get back to work. Thanks to Suzanne and all those who made our retreat possible.

Our Monthly meeting was held on November 20th. It was "shopping" night. Bittersweet Quilt Shop was there with some of their lovely fabrics and we got to shop before, during and after the meeting. Donna, from the shop, showed us a "Quilt and You Are Done" system for making some quilts we can do on our machines at home.

Drawings were made for door prizes as well as our BOM Fall Tessellation Blocks. Paula was the lucky winner of these and plans to add the other 4 she had already made at home to make 16 blocks total for her project.

Our new BOM was displayed by Coralee which is called "Tall Pine". The background is to be made of tan fabric and the tree can be one or many green shades or prints.

December brings our "Christmas Party" Guild Meeting. It will be on December 18th. If you didn't sign up to bring a food item or forgot what you did sign up for, get with Suzanne. Don't forget your "Mini Quilts" for our gift exchange. No smaller than 12" x 12" and no larger than 18" x 18". See you there.

Aprons for the Retreat

Ok Ok Ok I know. The posting here is very pathetic but here are the two aprons you can choose from to make for the retreat.

The first one is a scrappy apron.
It is made from 40 five inch squares (a charm pack). You can also use a bunch of those squares we swapped in the guild last year and before that.

This is a very old vintage design and should be so much fun to make.
You will also need to bring about 1/3 yard of fabric for the ties.
Some stabilizer for the waistband if you like that.
And lining fabric such as muslin. I am guessing about a yard. (can you tell I have not made the pattern yet. )

The second apron is a bib apron that ties all the way around depending on size. It is another one size fits all.

For this you will need to bring:

2 yards fabric ( more if you want to line it)
and thread.
I will have the pattern pieces there.

Also we can make a square apron on point.

It takes about a yard for the front and another yard for the back. If you want to bring coordination fabric for a trim and the ties that would be great too.

October 16, 2008 Guild Meeting

Another month has gone by and our guild meeting for October came and went. It was a busy meeting since our "5 Fabric" Challenges were due.
Some of the business at the meeting included the Fall Retreat coming up in November on the 14th and 15th. It will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints building. We will start at 10:30 am and go until at least 7 pm both days. We were instructed to bring scraps of fabrics, including denim, to make some pot holders that Vea will be demonstrating. Lucy has also posted some aprons on our blog that we can choose from to make. So check them out and bring appropriate fabrics for these. Suzanne asked that we bring Pot Luck for our meals on Friday. Something that reminds us of havest time. Saturday meals will be sack lunch, or snack on left overs from Friday.
Admission is free for members. A major door prize will be given out on Saturday that will be made up of a fat quarter from everyone attending. So don't forget to bring a special fat quarter to put in the stack for this. Any non member attending will be charged $5.00 for the two days.
Bring UFO's, current projects, and whatever you need for these and come enjoy this time to share and sew.

Our guild is still working on "Project Linus" as our main charity. Paula delivered 50 quilts to our Joplin Area Chapter this month. She received some new ideas for us to work on besides quilts. It should be fun to participate in some of these. One includes the use of a special "SkipStitch" Blade that goes on your cutting tool. This pierces holes in fabric like fleece that can then be stitched around with yarn, crocheting a cute edge instead of fringe. She will bring the blades to the retreat, so anyone who wants to bring some fleece to prepare, please do so.

Door Prizes were drawn. As well as our BOM winner, Marcene who won our Dahlia blocks from last month.

Our new BOM was presented by Coralee. It shows "Tessellations". This is a technique of one block overlapping onto the next as in our "Falling Leaves" tessellation block for next month. It is to be made in fall leaf colors of hand dyes/batiks. It will really make a beautiful quilt for the lucky winner next month.



See you all at the retreat. Looking forward to having fun sewing, sharing and just being together.

Keep checking back as I am going to try to figure how to post our Project Linus pictures, Fall Festival pictures and our "5 Fabric" Challenge pictures so they don't take up too much room on our Blog.

September 2008 Guild Meeting

Our Guild was represented at the Newtonia Fall Festival held in Newtonia, Missouri on September 13, 2008. We had a booth for our quilt show and one for our raffle quilt. Both booths were well attended. We even had a workshop set up where those that wanted could guess the mistake on the Suduko quilt and even color a block for a community quilt.

Our raffle quilt, (shown above) was a sampler with blocks made by our members from reproduction 30s fabrics. We chose to hand quilt it and with the help of our members, 154 hours of quilting went into it. Then it was hand bound by Suzanne who won it at the festival.
It was presented to her on the 18th of September at our monthly guild meeting. She was prepared with a label for everyone who helped with the quilt to sign their names on it. She then presented it and the quilt to our Secretary, Lenore in appreciation for being the sweet and selfless person that she is. It was an emotional moment in our evening.

We learned about "dimensional" quilting during our Program for the evening. Suzanne showed us how to use different techinques and fibers to add layers to our quilts.

Coralee presented us with this "dimensional" block. We can use any color that we feel represents it.

Our BOM block for October is the "Dahlia".

Last month's blocks "Purple Cross" were won by none other than Bobbie. Congratulations Bobbie on winning the blocks that your mother designed the pattern for.

We were reminded that our "5 Fabric" Challenges are due next month. Get busy if you haven't already completed yours.

See you next month. October 16th will be our next Guild Meeting back at the Newtonia Community Building.

Guild Meeting Aug. 21

Here are some little bits from the meeting this month. We are still trying to figure out how we want to run this blog. So as we learn and grow it will only get better and better. :o)

The block of the month we turned in was a wonderfully wild house quilt block that Coralee presented to us.

Mary was the very lucky winner. So many of us were wishing we could win those blocks.

The new block that is due in September is The Purple Cross.



This block was first published on August 31, 1932. It was designed by Bobbie's mom.
The colors we are to use are light and dark country or muted purples. I gather that we are supposed to add seam allowances. Hmmmm... The pattern says GOOD LUCK!!! written across the top. I think a couple of us (me, myself, and I) might just be out of luck. We shall see. It looks like it might be a real challenge.

Physically Prepared to Sew

from Singer Sewing Book "A complete Reference Guild to Sewing" first published in 1949


When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible. Go through a beauty ritual of orderliness. Have on a clean dress. Be sure your hands are clean, fingernails smooth --a nail file and pumice will help. Always avoid hangnails. Keep a little bag full of French chalk near your sewing machine where you can pick it up and dust your fingers at intervals. This not only absorbs the moisture on your fingers, but helps to keep your work clean. Have your hair in order, powder and lipstick put on with care. Looking attractive is a very important part of sewing, because if you are making something for yourself, you will try it on at intervals in front of your mirror, and you can hope for better results when you look your best.
Again, sewing must be approached with the idea that you are going to enjoy it, and if you are constantly fearful that a visitor will drop in or your husband come home and you will not look neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing as you should. Therefore, “spruce up” at the beginning so that you are free to enjoy every part of any sewing you do.

Now isn't that what all the rest of you do?
Thank you Bobbie for sharing that!

Date Nut Bars

As promised here is the yummy recipe for treats served at Quilt Guild tonight.

Date Nut Bars
(brought by Lucy)
3 eggs
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup chopped dates

Beat the eggs well.
Add the sugar and beat until it is thick.
Add the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Mix in well.
Add the chopped dates and nuts. Mix in well.
Pour batter into a well buttered 9x13" cake pan.
Bake at 350* F. for 20-25 minutes.
When it is done, pour 1/4 cup melted butter over the top of the hot bars.
Dust the top with powdered sugar.

The original recipe said to take the bars from the pan, dip them in melted butter, and then roll them in powdered sugar. My way is a little better for you. :o) You choose.

Our New Blog

Here it is!! The blog for the Newtonia Battlefield Quilters Guild!!  Coming soon will be contact information, pictures of our finished quilts, details of our challenges, and more!!!