???  Mystery Quilt Information  ???

     In November we will be starting a mystery quilt designed by Debbie Caffrey, who has written several quilting books, including the Noodle Soup series.  When you are taking part in a mystery quilt, you will be given a list of fabrics that are needed, along with specific cutting and sewing directions, but here's the mystery...you will not know what the completed quilt looks like until the final clue is handed out!

     Sign up will be from the September Guild Meeting until our October Guild Meeting.  The cost will be $6.00 per participant.  There is no limit to the number of people who can participate...but you must sign up and pay your money by October 29th so the patterns can be ordered.  

     In November, we will hand out the initial set of clues which includes the supply list, specifics about fabric choice and amounts, and the first set of cutting instructions.  Choices will be available for lap, twin, and larger-sized quilts.  Don't worry, we are giving you time to complete all your holiday projects, for the Mystery Quilt steps can be done in January.  Then, at the January meeting, you will receive the second set of clues.  Complete these and receive the next set at our February meeting.  You will continue receiving mystery clues again in March and in April.

     In May, we will have "The Big Reveal!"...  a Mini-Quilt Show of how our mystery quilts turned out.  At that time, we would like the participants to bring in their pieced quilt tops, or their finished quilts, for an awesome show-and-tell!

     We hope that this Mystery Quilt Activity will be one that's fun and gives you lots of joy!

 Suzi Walker and Carol Waudby  (posted Sept. 25, 2012)

Summer Time Fun

 

Monday, August 27 started out raining so it was a perfert day to go to Hankerd Inn for a workshop with Anita Shackleford - Focus on Fabric.  Anita showed us how to take a simple shape to cut out pieces from our focus fabric and then to create a background using a porportional guide throughout the piece.

That evening at the Guild Meeting Anita gave a presentation showing her collection of older quilts that she had purchased and the flaws that had keep them from getting finished.  With her eye for detail, she took them apart and put them back together with great care. 

Our guest speaker July 30th was Jennifer Burg of Jennifer's Quilt Shop in Pinckney, Mi.  Jennifer's love of 30's fabric shown throughout her trunk show.  She also carries Civil War Reproduction Fabrics.  I think I see many road trips being planned to Pinckney.





Jason Novak from Gall Sewing in Lansing, Michigan spoke at our June Guild Meeting with loads of great information on the proper care of our sewing machine along with tips on the proper thread and needles to use. 



And the Winners are!

It was hard waiting through the Guild Meeting Monday night to find out who had won People's Choice at our Quilt Show over the weekend.  We are pleased to present our winners.



First Place - Cynthia Feller



Second Place - Becky Kopicko



Third Place - Denise Olson





Fourth Place - Marie Dunlop (tied)



Fourth Place - Joanne Wyatt (tied)










 


 




Sixth Place - Ruth Royer



Fifth Place - Karen Penrod



Congratulations Ladies - Great Job on your  quilts!

And here are the winners of the Quilt Show Raffle Quilts.  Hope you enjoy them.



Quilt #1 - My Grandmother's Bunnies
Suz Poufcas of Jackson, Mi






Quilt #2 - Hop To It
Ruth Lee of Portage,  Mi

#3 - Trip Around The World
Jeanne Perrine

#4 - 4-Patch Posies
Darlene Smith with Quilt Designer
Mary Lou Hallenbeck

May is our Guild's business meeting and next year's officers were elected as follows:

President - Cheryl Zombo                                          Directors

President Elect - Pat Abersold                                    Becky Kopicko 

Treasurer - Lyn Compu                                              Karen Trumble

Secretary - Karrie Howe                                            Vikkie Grueneberg

Corresponding Secretary - Bonnie Streeter

                                                

Dorothy Lowe led us through a "Scavenger Hunt".  Four gals were sent to four different locations to find items that could be used in our sewing rooms.  They shopped at an Office Supply, Hardware, Dollar Store and Goodwill..  We had great fun with all the items they came back with.

2012 Challenge Quilts

At tonight's April 30th meeting, all the gals who took up the challenge of "Pure Michigan" brought in their projects for the members to vote on.  A total of 44 kits containing the fabric piece were sold but only 12 ladies finished this challenge.  Everyone who completed this task did a great job and it was hard for the members to vote for only one in each of the two categories: those who have won before, and those who have not.

(left to right)

Previous Winners
Third Place - Jane Wilken     Second Place - Maryke Collard     First Place - Marie Fisher
First Time Winners
Third Place - Yvonne Radford      Second Place - Connie Kress     First Place - Cindy Perez

Our thanks to Marj Hobe and Debbie Barrett for putting together this years Challenge!

The ladies that took Cathey Newhouse's Ricky Timm's Kaleidoscope workshop last month brought in their finished wall hangings.  Everyone started out by making strip stratas to cut into different triangles and then sewed them back together, not knowing how they would turn out.  They all turned out  to be beautiful!

Janet Rochefort announced our our proposed slate of officers for next month:

President - Cheryl Zombo

President Elect - Pat Abersold

Treasurer - Lyn Compu

Secretary - Karri Howe

Corresponding Secretary - Bonnie Streeter

Directors (3) - Sharon Bannister, Karen Trumble, Becky Kopicko

March - National Quilting Month

As a way to honor National Quilting Month, we chose to watch an episode from The Kentucky Quilt Project's Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics. This is a very interesting and inspiring series that was aired on Public Television. The 2-disc set can be found in our library.  This nine-part television series presents quilts as more than just a hobby. It takes the viewer on a journey and introduces new ideas and uncovers the depth of the quilt culture through history.

During our break there were two demonstrations to stop by and see.  Debbie Barrett showed how to make chenille quick and simple.  And Aggie Straub did a "Fold and Stitch" runner. 
 

During the day Cathey Newhouse held a workshop on Ricky Tims Kaladoscope quilt.  Linda Burke had her strata piece from the workshop with her.  I'm sure it's very simple but it sure looks complicated!

Our Favorite Valentine

Our very own in-house Quilt Designer, Mary Lou Hallenbeck, was our guest speaker for February. We can always count on seeing something new and very special when she speaks at the Guild.  Leave it to her to find quilt patterns in antique glass dishes!  Her presentation on seeing the pattern in glassware and designing quilts patterns was so enticing.  Mary Lou had us all going home to see what patterns we could find in our dishes.

New Beginings for the New Year

Debbie Barrett started out the evening with a simple explanation of how to do the “Y” seam in the LeMoyne Star for this month’s technique segment.

Sue Stanton from Sew Unique Threads Quilt Shop in Battle Creek had so much to show us using many different techniques to enhance and embellish our quilts and projects.  She shared many different embroidery tips using different threads and yarns.  She also explained how to paint on fabric to make our own unique blocks. 

Cathey Newhouse showed an example of what is in store for her March workshop.

Asymmetrical November Fun

Marj Hobe introduced the second block in our Block of the month. Many of our members have a good start on the first block, including Clara Rauner who scaled it down to a miniature size.



Debbie Barrett demonstrated how to cut and weave strips fabric for a dimensional effect. 

 

Many of our members took the workshop held during the day and it was fun to see what they had accomplished.

 

We had a great time with our guest speaker Sheri Jaqua showing us several asymmetrical blocks and multiple ways of putting them together to create quite a variety of different looks.

Everything Coming up Quilts

Make sure you check out the information for our Quilt Show in May.  Click on the pages to the right to see the four raffle quilts and more details on the show.