Mid January Meeting

We had back to back meetings this month because the first Wednesday of the month fell on New Year's, so we shifted that meeting. Our second meeting on the 15th was a sew day, but we did have a great demo from Kat on her gem squares (love that name!). Her process is much like what I have seen referred to as crumb quilting but with a little twist. 

Her process begins with a triangle in the center of a fabric foundation, and each successive piece that is added is a triangle. Her story board shows the succession of how she pieces a block. At the outer edges of the block, she may have to add a strip or two instead of a triangle.

You can see this quite clearly in this photo. I think Kat said her blocks finish to 5" square. 

Kat uses her gem squares in a variety of ways. In this quilt in progress, she is using them as the centers of star blocks for a Quilt of Valor. 

Here is a close up of one of the blocks. 

And here is a larger quilt Kat made, 'Scrappy Cat', using her gem squares. You may not be able to see it well in this photo, but there are cats going up the quilt from the bottom right quadrant.

Most of the quilts that Kat makes are original designs, and one of her designs won an Honorable Mention at Maine Quilts 2023.  

 

Show and Tell is a part of all of our meetings. These fun table runners are Ann's 'Crazy Christmas Trees' from Cut Loose Press. She chose to spice up the background with pinks. 

Ann also made 'Iceberg', a pattern from Villa Rosa Designs, which will also be our charity workshop in February. This pattern only uses half a jelly roll and still produces a good sized quilt. 

Diane J is another of our members who makes mostly original designs. This little quilt, 'Heart of Mary, is part of a series she is working on. The subject matter of this quilt was a little too graphic for some members of her family, lol. 

Meliss's quilt is an original interpretation of 'Duck Duck Goose', which was the theme of one of the shows at Maine Quilts. 

And so we begin 2025!

Barbara's "joy" quilt block is from Carried Away Quilting. 

Barb designed this cute Christmas ball table runner. 

"Candy Cane Twist" from Nana Quilt. Barb is on a roll with her Christmas projects. This one could be just the thing for Valentine's Day, too. 

Janet C. has been away for a few months but she certainly has not been away from her sewing machine. She has a nice bunch of table runners, placemats, and small quilts to show us. Nice job, Janet. 

We have been showing our log cabin quilts in keeping with the theme for this year's Maine Quilts show. Judy L. brought in this beautiful wall hanging that she made 20 years ago. Still beautiful, especially with that nod to Maine pine trees. Really lovely, Judy! 

Diane enjoys designing her own quilts, as can be seen in past Tacoma Show and Tell posts. This time Diane is developing a series of quilts based on Greek Icons. Heavenly!

Donna M. made this quilt called Four-Patch Fun by Seams Sew Perfect. 

Donna is showing the Wave Runner pattern by Gudrunerla of GE Designs from Cut Loose Press. See our Nov. 27 post showing a quilt Donna made using this pattern. 

Until next time, keep on sewing!

Christmas Party Time!

 

Donna W. proudly shows us her "Derby House" quilt. The pattern is from Minick and Simpson. Several of us are working on our own versions of this beautiful quilt. Exceptional!

Meliss stitched her apple core quilt from a large array of red and neutral fabrics. All those curves and that curvy binding, too; someone is going to cherish this quilt. 

Diane J. learned to do trapunto quilting with this quilt. Diane always designs very interesting quilts. 

Leanne T. used in the hoop machine embroidery for this fabulous quilt called "Autumn Days". Wow!

Sue Rap made three unicorn themed  items for her granddaughter who is crazy for unicorns. At the top is a fabric basket to organize her scraps and below that is a quilt with lots of unicorns, all done in the girl's favorite colors, of course. Sue also made a pillowcase to complete the set. It is easy to see that Grandma loves her granddaughter!

Sue introduced Hope H at the meeting. Hope may be joining our group in the future; let's hope she does! Anne T. helped Hope make this nine patch variation quilt. Very lively.

 Using fabric panels and yellow applique hands of all the grandchildren, Joyce created this quilt for her son-in-law. I'm sure her will love it!

A fun time was had by all at our Tacoma Christmas party! A big thank you to our team of Christmas elves for their hard work to make our gathering a success.

Almost Christmas Meeting

 Multiple members were apparently out sick at the December 4 meeting, and I was one of them. Hopefully everyone will be fully recovered and in attendance for our Christmas party on the 18th. I was delighted to learn that we will be having a Stay In Your Own Bed retreat in April. Yay!

Of course there was also Show and Tell, an activity we have without fail.

Lori had several mug rugs she made from patterns on allpeoplequilt.com. I like that these are oval shaped instead of rectangular. 

 

 

 

Lori also showed a 'Point of View' table topper like the one she displayed at a previous meeting.

Susan had a couple of lovely scrap quilts. This one is "Martin's Pennies" from the 'Big Book of Scrappy Quilts' by Gayle Bong. 

There was also a big block quilt (from an unknown source). 

And there was a chenille throw she made from several years ago. I've never tried that, but it seems like an easy quick blanket to make.

Early Thanksgiving

Tacoma Lakes Quilters enjoyed an early Thanksgiving feast on November 20. Andrea and her husband have supplied us with a delicious roast turkey for three years now which is always appreciated and always delicious. Our members brought in all the necessary dishes to accompany that turkey. So good to be able to share the lovely meal with all of our friends. But first, of course we had Show and Tell. After our meal some of us cut strips with Go Cutters. We are preparing to make Log Cabin quilts for next year's Maine Quilts. Plenty of ways to keep busy!

Lori H brought in this mat made with "cheater" cloth. 

Another mat or rug made with cheater cloth. 

Point of View Table Topper, a Plum Easy Pattern.

Donna M made two table runners using the Wave Runner pattern by Gudrunerla of GE Designs from Cut Loose Press.   

Betsy brought in a very old log cabin flimsy. The pattern was from Eleanor Burns, Quilt in a Day. Betsy said she has been using it as a tablecloth. Always nice to see a log cabin quilt!

Jean P showed us a log cabin quilt she made with narrow strips. She used a special ruler from Creative Grids. I remember watching her making these blocks and admiring how useful those rulers can be. 

Jean P with her Scrappy Churn Dash by Jen Kingwell that appeared in American Patchwork and Quilting magazine. 

Jean P. again with The Iris Quilt by Erica Jackman  of Kitchen Table Quilting. 

Shout out to Jean P and Donna M for making life easier for me! They always give me the pattern name and author before Show and Tell! Thank you, Ladies!

We all want this quilt! Donna made her quilt with 1930s fabrics, buttons, and embroidery. She bought the pattern at Maine Quilts. The pattern is Button Bouquet by Lori Smith. 

Kat brought in two quilts for us to enjoy. The first shows quilt blocks Kat's niece picked out from Kat's spare blocks. The second is a Villa Rosa pattern done in vibrant colors. 

Carol made a pretty runner for her bureau. 

Barb made a happy yellow quilt using the quilt block that Sharon C. presented at our workshop. The pattern is from Eleanor Burns. Sharon is an Eleanor Burns certified teacher. 

Barb's beautiful scrappy log cabin quilt. Endless variations for these quilts. I'm sure we will see many more at Maine Quilts 2024. 

Last but not least, we have Sue R and Barb D showing off their barn quilt creations! They took a class at Dark Star quilt shop and painted these beauties. What a fun experience for them!