Mystery Quilt Due

Don't forget that both our mystery quilts plus our Mix and Matches are due at the next Tacoma meeting on May 4. How much fun will that be?

The mystery quilt Barbara designed for us now has a name! Henceforth, her design shall be known as "O' Tacoma".

Area 4 is May 3

Spring Area 4 Meeting

Hosted by: Cabin Fever, Tacoma, Loose Threads, Cumston Area, Sacred Cotton

Date: May 3, 2011 at 5:00 pm

Location: Hope Baptist Church, Route 202, Manchester
If you are traveling via I-95, take the Western Avenue exit in Augusta and head west towards Winthrop. The church is about 1-1/2 miles from the exit on the left.

Refreshments consisting of fruit and veggie platters, crackers and cheese, desserts, and drinks will be served.

Program will start at 6:00 PM.

Speaker: Carolee Withee
Carolee will be speaking on design using the heirlooms you may have found in your attic. She has also incorporated song into her presentation.

If interested, please bring a 12-1/2" block that will be sent to Australia to be pieced into quilts. Australia's colors are red, white and blue.

Admission: $3.00 or $2.00 if bringing a block

Remember your Show and Tell.

RSVP by April 15th to Joan Wiebe  at 685-4725.

Did You Know...

... that the Salvation Army's Women's Auxiliary is hosting a fabric fair on May 6? It will be held at the Portland Elks Club at 1945 Congress Street in Portland from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. And if you'd like to donate items, please call 773-6910 or 883-9780. They're looking for fabric, yarn, crafts, notions, books, patterns, and related items.

Also, the "Spring into Summer" mini shop hop runs June 3, 4, and 5. Shops include Alewives, Cotton Weeds, Mainely Sewing, Calico Basket, Mariner's Compass and Quiltessentials. Purchase a passport now for $7.50 at any participating shop and receive a sign-up gift (while supplies last).

Keepsake Quilting is having their Summer Sale June 3 and 4, from 8 am to 5 pm.

The "Harvest of Squares" mini shop hop runs from Sept. 29 to Oct 2. This is the first annual fall shop hop, and there is a $5.00 registration fee. There are nine shops to visit, and registrations begins at the Maine Quilt Show 2011 in Augusta, or at one of the participating shops. Mystic Maine Quilts in Gardiner is on the list.

Hunter's Star Workshop

Barb conducted the demo for the Hunter's Star at our last Tacoma meeting, and she did an excellent job. She made samples of blocks using two color combinations, three color combinations, or four color combinations. She also made a small tablerunner, which would be a very doable project to try out the technique.

Along with her demo, Barb used a small display board to show the major steps in the process. In the photo below, you can also see the difference in size between the two different hunter's star rulers used in the process. Each ruler makes a set of specific block sizes, and you would use either one or the other ruler in your project.

Although I took a sequence of photos during Barb's demo, I doubt they would be very illuminating without some explanation, which I am unable to do. There is, however, a good YouTube video here, made by Deb Tucker herself, who is the inventor of the rulers. If you can't make the link work, go to youtube.com and search for "Deb Tucker hunters star", and you'll find it.

If you don't happen to have one of Deb Tucker's rulers, Quilters Cache has a nice tutorial here. If you'd like more information, Jan Krentz wrote a book called Hunter Star Quilts & Beyond, and it's available here at Amazon.com.

Have fun!

April 20 Show 'n Tell

Tacoma meeting today looked and felt like a little edge of winter....Snowing in some parts of the state...many of us travelling found ourselves in pouring rain and/or hail. But we were a determined group.

Today was a special demo day that had been cancelled once before because of weather. 'Rapid Fire Hunter's Star' was taught by Barb, who just got back from a month's vacation. She had made several squares with this technique. This was popular and many of the gals will be making them. So look for them in the weeks ahead. Barb demo - Judy looking on...

Corn Husk dolls made in a class while Barb was on vacation.

Helen's 'Night 'n Day' an Eleanor Burns design. Looks very intricate but she said was easy. Wonderful look!!!
Janet's carry bag...delightful colors

Janet with more goodies

Rayna's Quilt

Peggy had a 'bagful' of cute finishes. Anything done with a flag design is popular.

Peggy - House Runner - machine appliqued

Peggy - Tulip Bell Table runner that several of us made in another workshop

Sue R. block...using material from her 'secret sister' (who will be revealed in June). She is having fun with the colors.

Pam's Spring like table runner....love the bird fabric!

We have a very talented group and I always enjoy taking the pics and posting...Next month will be a big one as we have our 'Mystery' and 'Mix and Match' wall hanging reveal. We are excited about them and many have done them ....so until then....

One Foot Square, Quilted and Bound

This is at the New England Quilt Museum, 18 Shattuck Street, Lowell Ma 01852.

It is part of Civil War Quilts display now on view. It is constructed with an unusual technique: "one foot square, quilted and bound."

Unlike traditional quilts, where blocks are constructed and sewn together, then layered with batting and backing and quilted through all three layers, these very special quilts are built like many little mini-quilts, completely quilted and bound, and only then sewn together.

Guest curator Pam Weeks, whose book on the subject comes out this fall, has spent years researching these unusual quilts. The technique seems to have originated in New England. It was a popular way for groups of women to create quilts for the Union war effort during the Civil War. Of the quarter million quilts made for soldiers during that conflict, only twelve are known to survive. Of those, ten were constructed with this block-by-block technique.

This was taken from New England Quilt web site. I thought it was worthy of sharing with you all.

April 6 Show 'n Tell 2011

Our President is on vacation and Sherry our VP led the meeting. I think the saying is 'when the cat's away the mice play. It was a fruitful time of business , sharing goodies and showing all the things we had made...Lots of laughter especially from our 'Rebel quilter' whose name I will not mention. She told the funniest story to end with and had us in stitches. (Barb you can ask her when you get home) What a delight each one is to this group. I am responsible for taking pictures so trust you will enjoy what the members have accomplished. There were other projects of knitting, outfits, little decorated towels etc.

This is called 'Santa skating on mistletoe pond". It is still in process and done by Koleen.

Suanne did these delightful little bags. Pauline finished off these blocks that she won.

Pam's strip quilting.

Jona has the next 3 projects

#1

#2 Casserole Carrier - by Jona

Bags by Jona

More bags by Peggy

Sue donated this to our charity project.

This is the back. I think she said she used 10" blocks..we all agreed it was a wonderful idea.

Janet who made 3 bargello's to show this month. She names each one.

#1 "Theophony"

#2 named "Epiphany"

#3 is named "Autumn"

This was also made by Janet...a delightful wall hanging.

Margo "Squares the Center"

Margo using the technique - disappearing 9-patch.

These are for the top of the washer and drier.

Mystery Quilt Tip #6

Tip #6 - A few measurements you might find useful, provided your blocks are true to size.

Block size: 9-1/2" unfinished

Quilt center before borders are added (blocks with sashing sewn together): 19-1/2" unfinished

Size of pieced borders for the sides: 5-1/4" x 19-1/2" unfinished

Size of pieced borders for top and bottom: 5-1/4" x 29" unfinished

Size of solid outer borders for the sides: 4-1/2" x 29" unfinished

Size of solid outer borders for top and bottom: 4-1/2" x 37" unfinished

Mystery Quilt Tip #5

Tip # 5 - Places to match.

It didn't occur to me until after I'd sewn together some of the sashing and borders that there were a few key places I should have matched. A couple places didn't bother me enough to rip them out, but the borders I wound up ripping and re-sewing. Thought maybe I'd save you some time.

When the sashing is added, you probably want to make sure that the points of the triangles in the blocks are straight across from one another. They'll be noticeable if they're too far off.

To accomplish this, I used a ruler as a straight edge to mark with a pin where the edge of the sashing lined up with the triangle points.

Then I marked the edge of the next block with a couple of pins where the triangle tips were, aligned the two sets of pins, pinned the seam and stitched it.

When you sew the pieced borders to the quilt center, mark the middles of the triangles that fall in the center of each border strip, and align those points with the middle of the sashing strips.

When you sew the top and bottom borders on, match the nine patch units at the corners, and match the middle of the green triangle in the top border with the seam line where you added the side border.

VQF Itinierary

Here is the itinerary for the Vermont Quilt Festival, which is June 24-26. It is tentative, and we can make changes if and when the need arises. If you have questions, please contact Koleen.

Thursday, June 23rd

Rendezvous at Koleen’s between 8-8:30am & be on the road by 8:30-9am. We will travel Route 11 from Auburn to Naples & connect onto Route 302 & then I89 all the way to Colchester, VT.

We’ll make a stop for coffee at Dunkin Donuts (Auburn exit) & a stop for a quick lunch in North Conway, NH (Burger King or Dairy Queen). We’ll make several potty stops along the way as needed (no designated place). We’ll also make a stop off I89 at the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Waterford, VT if you’re interested. Who doesn’t like ice cream? You can check out their cemetery for all the retired flavors, plus they have a little gift shop. Approximate arrival time to the hotel will be between 4-5 pm depending on pit stops. We’ll check in, get settled, freshen up a bit & decide where to go for dinner. There are several nice restaurants close to the hotel & others a little further away (1-3 miles.) We’ll take a vote on where to eat for dinner & the majority rules.

Friday, June 24th

The hotel offers a daybreak breakfast with a waffle station. We’ll meet for breakfast around 7:30am so we all have plenty of time. Depart from the hotel around 8:45am. The show is open from 9-6 both Friday & Saturday with a 2-day pass being $21 or $18 for seniors over 65. We’ll be attending the show all day Friday. It’s much larger than Maine Quilts with 80 vendors & the quilts on display are fantastic. They have a good selection for lunch with a large tent outside but the lines are usually pretty long. Depart from the show when everyone is ready & head back to the hotel to relax a bit & freshen up for dinner. Again, we’ll take a vote on where to eat & the majority rules.

Saturday, June 25th

Meet for breakfast again around 7:30am. Depart from the hotel again around 8:45am to return to the show for one last go around through the vendors & see the quilts if you didn’t get to see both rooms the day before. When we are done at the show, we can visit Yankee Pride, a quilt shop right in Essex Junction. It’s less than a mile from the Expo where the show is held. It’s a wonderful shop. Depart from the show when everyone is ready & head back to the hotel to relax a bit & freshen up for dinner. After returning from dinner, let’s take a little bit of time for show 'n' tell on our purchases from the show.

Sunday, June 26th

Meet for breakfast around 7:30am. Check out & depart from the hotel when we’re ready for our journey home with all of our wonderful purchases & memories of a wonderful trip. We’ll make potty stops as needed with a quick stop for lunch somewhere (no designated place). We’ll also make a stop at Cold Hollow Cider Mill in Stowe, VT off I89 for fresh cider donuts & hot/cold cider…and coffee of course. They have a wonderful gift shop with lots of cook books, jams, jellies, salsas etc if you’re interested. FYI…Stowe, VT is where the 2011 HGTV Dream Home is. Approx arrival time back at Koleen’s to be between 4-5 pm depending on pit stops. Hopefully, everyone will have had a wonderful time with lots of treasured memories.