Color My Quilts with Jackie Fox

Jackie Fox was our Guild guest speaker on Monday, July 25^th.  Jackie did a wonderful job in explaining a simple color wheel and how we can use it to enhance our quilts. The first thing we all notice in a quilt that we like is the color and how the quilter played with the placement of color in the quilt.  Even when we look at magazines, we are drawn to quilts because of their color.  Challenge yourself to take a simple block, draw it out on paper, and color it in using colors and shades of colors to see what happens.  Learn to experiment and have fun using color with your quilt designs.

Jackie had taught a workshop on border designs during the day at Hankerd Inn.  It can be a lot of fun designing an intricate border to put on a quilt to make it pop.  If you don’t have enough border fabric to frame your quilt, next time use a border technique to fill it out.

Doretta Wilson did the mini demonstration of how to make an apron out of a man’s shirt.  It is a great idea for those of you who still use aprons.  Take the left-over pieces to trim a towel and potholder.  Pair them with the apron and you have a nice shower gift!

In August there will be a workshop on “paper-piecing” with Dan Burke as the instructor.  The table-runner that will be made is quite striking in design.  It is also a good time to try out what we learned regarding color use at out last meeting.  I’m looking forward to learning some good tricks and techniques to improve my skills with paper-piecing.  Dan will be showing his trunk show during our Guild meeting.

Mary Jane Erwin spoke about the workshop coming in November with Sherrie Jaqua on making an asymmetrical block and being able to arrange it in many different ways for many different looks.  You are not going to want to miss the opportunity to work with such a great quilter and teacher!  We will post more information in the upcoming months.

July Guild Meeting - Workshops

Are you having the "dog days of summer"? The guild is here to help you out. Our July workshops feature Jackie Fox on Monday, July 25, teaching us new methods of putting on borders to enhance our wall hangings and quilts. (Last year's workshop was great with 30 participants...and now she has NEW methods to show us.)

Tuesday, July 26, Jackie's workshop will be on applique using the Teflon sheet. With this method you put your applique together on the Teflon sheet and transfer it to your background. Great technique for raw edge applique lovers.

Next month brings us a paper-piecing workshop on Tuesday, August 30th, with Dan Burke. Check out his samples at our July meeting.

Each class is only $20.00 for 6 hours - what a bargain! Please call Janet at if you want to sign up for any of these classes.

Guild Meeting February 28, 2011

Our guild meeting for February will be with Edyta Sitar from Marshall, Michigan.  As a guild we have watched Edyta grow from a young mom just starting out in business to a "rock star" in the quilting world.  She now has 150 patterns,  various tools and templates, a line of colorful thread and 10 fabric collections from Moda Fabrics.  She has been to our quilt retreats many times and shared her knowledge.  Edyta has three books published books, Appliqued Blocks and Projects, Friendship Triangles and Friendship Strips and Scraps her latest. Taking the suggestion from that book we will be exchanging 2 1/2 inch strip quilt shop fabric at this meeting.  Pam Henry from Everlasting Stitches in Holt will be on hand to cut fabric for us along with bringing some fabric of Edyta's with her in case we wanted to add to our stash.  It is sure to be a great evening of fun for all.  Meeting new friends and exchanging fabric and a great speaker what could go wrong!  Hope to see you their.

JNKS was a hit!

Our speakers for the November meeting were great.  The four ladies from Midland, Jennifer, Nancy, Kathy and Stephanie did a wonderful job in entertaining us.  For the last ten years they have challenged one another with projects and been very creative about it.  They would discuss the project and give a date for completion and wait until the time was up to show one another their interpretation.  It was amazing how each one saw something different.  The hour went fast and the members enjoyed every minute of it.  Lots of laughing!

The business portion of the meeting went quickly with announcements on the retreats to be held in January and February at the Hankerd Inn, Hospice Quilts,  Lineas, and library information.  Show and Tell was wonderful with some beautiful quilts and wall hangings.  Our quild is blessed with some great quilters that are willing to help and encourage one another.

Thanks Chris Carothers for showing us how to make the disappearing nine-patch in the mini-workshop that began at 6:00.  A great way to do a "fast" quilt that looks like it took alot of time.

Get Ready for the Challenge Coming in April, 2011!

The Stichen Sisters comprised of JoAnn, Diana , Mary and Linda have put together a great challenge for the guild.  Everyone loves purses so they decided to have it as their theme.  There are 3 categories to this challenge, embellished, totes and traditional. The nominal cost is $2.00  for each entry.  You can enter as many times as you wish in any of the categories.  Already there has been over 60 entries.  This is a great chance to make something that is usable everyday!  Have fun with your imagination and win some money, you have over 4 months to get the project done.  There are lots of books and patterns out their you can have lots of fun with this.  Don't forget that this is a secret and when you bring your project in it must be in a bag so that your friends can't tell you are the maker!

Upcoming Quilt Meeting, November 29th, 2010

I am so excited that are meeting for Monday will have a group of gals from Midland, Michigan called JNKS.  These quilters have challenged themselves over the years and now show audiences how to challenge one another.  This is similar to the Stichen Sisters- of our quild comprised of Linda Mumby, Diana Redman, JoAnn Hammock and Mary Dodge that have challenged us with this year's theme of "purses".  I know you all will enjoy it and I look forward to seeing you all, don't forget to bring your "show and tell".

Welcome!

Welcome to the Pieces and Patches Quilt Guild from Jackson, Michigan.  We were formed in January, 1990 by a small group that had an interest in quilting.  Our members now vary in experience and style but share the desire to promote quilting and improve our quilting abilities.  Our guild provides the opportunity to meet other quilters and share ideas, talents, and knowledge regarding all aspects of quilting.  The membership in the guild provides quarterly newsletters, monthly guild meetings, access to the guild library, and the friendship and support of other enthusiastic quilters.

Meetings are generally held the last Monday of each month from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the First Church of the Nazarene, 3905 Clinton Road, Jackson, Michigan with Mini-Demonstrations and Social Hour from 6:00 to 7:00.  In addition to the business portion of the meeting, we sponsor a presentation or activity designed to help broaden our quilting experiences and knowledge.  Another important part of the meeting is "Show and Tell" where members share their current projects and discuss successes, as well as consult others for solutions to quilting problems.  Workshops, field trips, and retreats are occasionally planned for members as well.