September Meeting Recap

Here is a quick recap of our September meeting:

- A BIG welcome to the 6 visitors we had!  We hope you will return and join us.

- Liz H. won the block-of-the-month drawing and it was a jackpot - 21 BLOCKS!

- We collected 16 bags for the Red Cross volunteers.  Way to go ladies.  Our deadline for donated bags will be the October meeting and then they will be delivered to the Red Cross.  Thank you to everyone that has participated so far!

- Vickie and Jen T. quilted and did the binding on our donation quilt - THANK YOU!!!  This quilt will be given to the Dowd YMCA for their upcoming auction.

- Beth P. talked about the Sari Bari quilt auction she is participating in again this year.  The auction will be held in November and is for a great cause.  The quilts she showed are stunning in person.  Here is a link to complete details of the program http://www.saribari.com/about/

- Bianca gave an update on here recent trip.  She had just returned from Africa where she helped with the Fashion & Compassion program.  She spent over a week helping women learn to sew and create items.  Some of the items may be for sale in the Charlotte area and I will update you as we get more information.

- Elaine has been doing a great job with the guild library and showed 3 new books.  One is by our fellow member Dee!  Check it out (pun intended).

- Our program was Handmade Holidays - Part 1.  Elizabeth B. gave us a nice handout of online tutorials for gift ideas and then Jen B. enlightened us on what is a Turtle Mop.  It is such a CUTE little thing that can be used to mop up spills around the house.  Thanks ladies!

p.s.  Diane M. did a great post on her blog about the program and included the links to the gift tutorials. Go check out her blog and the links http://oquilts.blogspot.com/

- The Swap For Someone You Love items will be due at the October meeting.

-  October's BOM is:

Block:  Fresh Lemons 2 Color Star
Colors: Gray & Aqua (Cindi, our BOM Captain, made a sample to show.  Thanks!)
Link For Tutorial:  http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com/?p=1709

Have a wonderful week.  If you ever need to contact the guild you can click over to the blog and use the CONTACT US button at the top right.
http://charlottemodernquiltguild.blogspot.com/

Karen E.

September Mtg - Handmade Holidays Part 1

I hope everyone can make it to our September meeting.  If you are new and have been thinking of checking us out, then COME ON DOWN.  We would love to have you join us!

Thursday, September 26 at 6:00

Dowd YMCA

400 East Morehead Street

Charlotte, NC 28202

704.716.6100

Conference Room #4

Take the elevator to the 7th floor,

Take a left out of the elevator and the room is at the end of the hall.

Our Program Committee has been hard at work planning some great upcoming programs.  The September program will be:

Handmade Holidays Part 1 - Gift Giving

Jennifer B. will demonstrate how to make a "turtle mop" great for mopping up spills in the kitchen and customizable with all kinds of fabrics!  Elizabeth B. will be sharing a handmade gift idea sheet with tutorial links.  

September BOM - St Louis 16 Patch

The block-of-the-month for September is an easy one.  Two fat quarters make two blocks and they go together quickly.

Block: St Louis 16 Patch (Sew With Sass blog)    

http://sewwithsass.blogspot.com/2013/04/quilts-st-louis-16-patch.html.

Color:  Modern Scrappy

Have a great weekend,

Karen E.

Swaps

Our wonderful Swap Captain, Xandi, would like everyone to know the following:

1.  September Meeting

The Block in a Bag swappers should bring the bags they have to the meeting to pass on to the next person (the same person they gave to last month).


2. October Meeting

The Swap for Someone you Love is ongoing and will be due at the October meeting.


3. December Party

We will be swapping ornaments.  You can make any style you want and as many as you want to swap. 

Here are some of the ones swapped last year.

Have a wonderful week,
Karen E.

Red Cross Tote Bags - Want a really easy version?

I have not been very motivated to sew lately.  I think the hustle and bustle of the summer zapped my creativity.  However, after the meeting the other week I was inspired to come home and get sewing!  I love the sew-n-tell and hearing what you are making, patterns to try, books to see...

I decided to start by making a tote bag for the Red Cross program.  I wanted a tutorial that was EASY, quick and makes a nice size bag.  A little "googling" on the web and I found this tutorial:

http://www.thelongestyear.typepad.com/EasyToteTut.pdf


Easy - check
Quick - check
Good size - check

A couple notes if you use this tutorial:
- I used interfacing on the exterior, lining and straps.  I like bags with some structure to them.

- Step 5 shows the "boxing" of the corners.  She does not specify a distance, but I used 2.5" up from the point and that worked well.

It feels good to be sewing,
Karen E.

Two smiling faces - Handmade dolls

I thought periodically I would feature a pretty sew-n-tell item, a book, notion or other item we see or discuss at our meetings.  Today I want to feature some adorable dolls made by Joanie.  She brought the dolls to the August Sew-N-Tell and the detail and workmanship are incredible.  You can read more about the dolls on Joanie's blog and Etsy shop:

Joanie's blog http://joanieinnc-quiltershaven.blogspot.com/

Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/JoaniesTrendyQuilts?ref=pr_shop_more

p.s. I goofed on the due date for the next BOM block-of-the-month.  The 16 patch block is due at the SEPTEMBER meeting.

August Meeting Recap

Our August meeting was held last week and we had a great group of quilting fans (24 members and 8 visitors).   Jenn T. and Vicki from The Quilted Thimble Cottage gave a presentation about their shop and a neat tool for making easy flying geese.  Thanks ladies!

Also, a HUGE thank you to Vicki for volunteering to quilt the Dowd YMCA donation quilt.  The top was made by Joyce M. and the ladies that attended the spring Sew Modern retreat.  This quilt will be donated to the Dowd YMCA for their fund raising auction later this year.

SWAPS
Xandi (Swap Captain) kicked off 2 swaps.

The first was the Block-In-A-Bag program.  This month was the first exchange of bags and I can't wait to see these blocks at the end of the exchange.

The second swap is the Swap For Someone You Love (swap items due in October).  I have Beth's 4 year old granddaughter as my swap recipient and I can't wait to sew something girly girly!


BLOCK OF THE MONTH (BOM)
We have a new BOM Chair, Cindi.  She will be selecting the monthly BOMs, themes/colors and running the BOM program.  Thank you Cindi! Remember for each block you turn in you get a chance to win all the blocks submitted that month.  I LOOOVE the block for September.

Block: St Louis 16 Patch (Sew With Sass blog)    http://sewwithsass.blogspot.com/2013/04/quilts-st-louis-16-patch.html

Color:  Modern Scrappy
Due:  September Meeting


RED CROSS BAGS
Woohoo, bags are already being made and turned in for the Red Cross.

One of the beautiful bags already turned in!

If you can help, the American Red Cross needs tote bags for their volunteers.  These volunteers assist veterans and they need to carry various supplies with them.  The bags should be big enough to hold a 3 ring binder.

You may use any pattern/fabric/style, but here is one the Red Cross shared with us http://mamaspocketbook.com/freebies.htm.

The bags will be due at the OCTOBER meeting.

UPCOMING DATES/EVENTS

September Meeting: 
9/26/13 at 6:00 - Dowd YMCA

BOM St Louis 16 Patch


October Meeting: 
10/24/13 at 6:00 - Dowd YMCA

Red Cross Bags Due
Swap For Someone You Love Due


Have a great weekend,
Karen E.