Christmas Giving

Posted in Mostly about quilting, Special Events on 11/06/2011 08:40 am by jbonnie

When I was young, very young, like 8 maybe, I was given $2 and turned loose in the Dime Store to buy Christmas presents for my family. I had Mama, Daddy, and 3 sisters to buy for. If I had done the math I’d have known that was 40¢ for each person. Two dollars seemed like an awful lot of money so the first thing I did was spend a nickle for a candy bar (you can see it was a long time ago).

Daddy was easy, a crystal ash tray. For Lois one of those blue glass tubes of Evening in Paris; do you remember the ones with the tassel on the cap? I don’t remember what I bought for Ginny and Mama, but I know that I still needed to get Lola something and all I had left was a nickle.

Because there was so little to work with, I spent a lot of time shopping for Lola. I did regret having started with the candy bar, so that was a good lesson and the Evening in Paris was way over budget at 75¢. I had paid for each gift as I choose it, so there was no returning anything.

After scouring that Dime Store I finally settled on one of the little packages of Kleenex, which at that time cost a nickle. Looking back on it, I see that we had definitely been raised to be gracious about gifts because Lola didn’t disparage the meager gift, but said ‘Thank you, just what I need for my purse.’

Lola says now that she doesn’t remember the year I gave her a nickle package of Kleenex, and no wonder. But I remember, I think of it every year when I do Christmas shopping.

We don’t do much Christmas gifting anymore. Dick & I don’t exchange gifts and the grand children are grown up and just want gift cards, which are easy. But I do look forward this year to buying gifts for the family the Guild will adopt for our Christmas. I think of the pile of gifts we gave last year and the way we made the mother feel when she saw that she needed her whole car to carry things home.

Merry Christmas, fellow quilters. I cherish you all.

Jan

 

Quilting for Others

Posted in Mostly about quilting on 06/27/2011 10:53 am by jbonnie

I love to create, especially with fabric, making quilts of all kinds. I hate to hear the question “Who is that one for?” because most of the time the answer is “nobody special”. I just like to make them, do I have to have a reason for each one?

If I could only make quilts that have a definite purpose, I might was well sell my 4 sewing machines, toss my stash in the trash and sit there and do nothing. Not me! Not when there are so many opportunities to make quilts for others. I see that as one of the main reasons for a guild to exist…so I have a place where I can sew with friends, visit, and whatever and be sewing with a purpose.

This past weekend Michigan Quilt Network (MQN) sponsored a charity sew at the Alpine Lodge. We made “texture quilts” that will be given to Alzheimer patients in the various nursing homes in our region. It was fun and what an opportunity for creativity. I made four. They are only 18 to 20 inches square, to be held on the person’s lap. With all the different textured fabric we used, corduroy, chenille, velvets, lace, texture magic pieces, wool..it was fun. We worked on muslin foundations, no batting, finished with a pillowcase turn.

The quilts The Heart of the Pines has made for the homeless veterans center, opening soon here in Gaylord, are another case in point. I haven’t seen two alike. I like to sew my ‘charity quilts’ with this motto: “Charity quilts should be beautiful too.” They should be made with the same love and care we use when we make them for our grandchildren and wedding gifts.

About those, here is a note from Judy. She needs some help…

Ladies, I am sending out a plea for assist. I have 3 of the twin veteran’s quilts, and two smaller comfort quilts that are quilted and need someone to do binding. I have in my possession 3 more of the vets quilts that I will be quilting, and am expecting one more at least to come in.

Can anyone take the time out of your busy summer to take one of the quilts and do binding? It could be done completely by machine, since these quilts will be washed repeatedly.

I don’t think that last sentence above contradicts my motto about charity quilts. Bindings put on by machine look good and the durability factor is important. Call Judy if you can. I’ve got one to do and is it a pretty one, all red and white. I could probably find a bed in my house could use it, but it was made by someone for somebody really special…a veteran!

 

Help… Book Overload!!

Posted in Mostly about quilting on 04/11/2011 12:46 pm by jbonnie

It’s so easy to get “book overload”. There you are, happily adding quilt books to the shelf and one day you realize you’re out of room! Time to clean house.

Fortunately you remember that the quilt guild is starting a quilt book library, so many of the books you no longer want can be donated for someone else to enjoy. So you take all the books off the shelf and start sorting through them. I sort in to various stacks… that way I can organize the books I put back.

Can’t get rid of any of my art quilt books. I especially like Gloria Loughman’s Luminous Landscapes and Quilted Symphony. Another favorite is Improvisational Quilting by Vickie Pignatalli. The books on thread work are keepers too.

Under reference books there are the 5 machine quilting design books, Jinny Beyer,s 4050 blocks, and Quiltmaking by Hand. I have one that has 101 variations on Log Cabins and another just for pine trees. Love the Ruth McDowell workshop series. Not making much progress here.

I start a new stack for books like Eleanor Burns quilt in a day series, but I put at least one of those into the “donate” stack because I know I’m never going to make it and someone else might enjoy it. Since I seldom make full size quilts any more, I find several books that can go, but there are other books I’ve gotten to make a specific quilt and I find I still imagine I might make it someday, so I keep those. Got to remember I have 6 grand children who might need wedding gifts someday. Geez, maybe I better get started.

Now I’m looking at books from my mother’s library, all in black and white. Why did I keep those? Sentimental? Well, just looking at her name in her handwriting makes me teary, so I keep them.

Then there are books that I picked up just to learn a technique but didn’t care for. Somebody else might like them. Stack 5, the discards isn’t getting very big, but there are a few and my book shelf is organized. That’s a plus.

I don’t just look at the books I have, I read them pretty much from cover to cover and highlight things that I may want to find again. I never can, of course, because I don’t remember which book what I’m looking for is in. Sometimes I just look through my books because all the quilts are so pretty. Book overload? For sure, but hard to cure, don’t you agree?

 

Using Color

Posted in Mostly about quilting on 03/04/2011 12:36 pm by jbonnie

Did anybody ever tell you your color sense was off? When I was in first grade I colored my horse with many colors, like a rainbow. I stayed in the lines, it was neatly done, but the teacher ridiculed it, hung in on the bulletin board as the worse one of the day. For 45 years, I was afraid of color. Oh, I knew what I liked, but I didn’t trust it.

I also bought into the judgment that I couldn’t draw. Nothing I tried ever looked like what I wanted it to. Then I found out that we don’t draw with the pencil, we draw with our heart and mind, and further more, it didn’t have to be perfect.

Every quilt book we buy has the obligatory section on choosing colors. I skip them; they’re boring and less than helpful. I have two books that are just about color and they aren’t very helpful either. I’ve switched to a better method…I use what I want to and I very seldom get something I don’t like.

A design wall is essential for me. I put up color samples, step across the room and see if it works. If is doesn’t, I pin something else in the place where the “don’t fit” fabric was until it hums for me. Those who see my quilts know I like brights and that I seldom use white. Do you know that the old Master Painters never used white or black? They thought they weren’t true colors and they would use a deep wine, or blue etc instead of black and a cream or yellow instead of white.

I like the advice of looking at nature to see what goes together. You’ll find out that all colors can be arranged to work. Take a picture you like, either a photo or something from a magazine and find fabric to match the colors. Then use that combination in your next project and see what happens. (Make something small so you won’t feel like you’re wasting fabric.)

Do you have a color story? Please share with us.

 

Blocks of the Month

Posted in Mostly about quilting on 01/12/2011 04:15 pm by jbonnie

Those blocks of the month are finally done. I got so sick of that applique block I was making every month for 19 months. I’ll bet the rest of you felt the same. Anyway, they are finally done and I think there were worth it. I have 2 pictures for you of quilt tops already put together: Let’s get pictures of all of them up here. Send me your picture as an email attachment. Better yet, bring them to the February meeting and I’ll take the pictures. They don’t have to be quilted, just the tops put together for now.

I thought the new meeting place was a great venue and that the first meeting there was a lot of fun. We were doing the kinds of things I remember when I first joined the guild. We have to keep having fun while we do good for the community. The Class in March with Ann Loveless is something I’m looking forward to and it’s one of the bonuses of being a member and having a successful Quilt Show. Get signed up! There’s only room for 20.

I know you have things to do, like making your Challenge quilt for Quilts From the Heart to hang in March (National Quilt Month) in the library. Last year they were remodeling and not many could be hung, but this year, different story. I’ve made some of the 9 patch blocks using the Quick n Easy way Delphine showed us and it is a smooth way of doing it. Time to get colorful with it!

 

What kind of quilts do you make?

Posted in Mostly about quilting on 11/05/2010 06:02 pm by jbonnie

A quilt guild is a difficult entity to describe. Some members don’t want any business, they just want to meet and sew. (I’ve noticed that some of these same people never bring anything to work on). Others want to gnaw every bone of decision making to bits and will still grumble if things don’t go their way. Then there are those few who show up and help out everywhere. What to do?

You can’t put on a successful quilt show like the Heart of the Pines just did without organization and participation. Yet, don’t we have fun? At our last meeting, during the sit and quilt and/or visiting portion, Linda showed us how to make a 10 minutes table runner. That was fun and easy, but some of us had to embellish, and fret over seam lines, or whatever, so we took more than 10 minutes. We also laughed a lot. Linda plans a short project like this for each meeting this coming year. Don’t we do beautiful work? Aren’t we an asset to our community?

I think we could have the best of both organization and non-organization if we had some active smaller groups that just sewed and did projects together and then came to the business meeting once a month do things like the quilt show and Quilt From the Heart projects. What great “show & tell” we could have to see what’s being done in the smaller group.

The smaller groups could meet in people’s homes, at the time and regularity of their choosing. Theme based would be good: applique aficionados, creative artsy types, traditional quilts, etc. You think of it, you start a group. Just let everybody know what, where, and when and we’re jumping.

I personally, would like to meet with others who like to be creative, to try new things. How do we get groups started? IF anybody wants to, speak up, show up at a meeting with a sign up sheet. OR, put your idea into a comment to this blog.

 

Did you miss the fun?

Posted in Special Events on 09/15/2010 05:20 pm by jbonnie

Report from Gorton House Bed & Breakfast, Lewiston where 8 Heart of the Pine quild members spent 2 nights and 3 days having fun.

For a paltry $70 (which included supplies for a mystery quilt project, daily breakfast and lunch and a bed) these ladies had a quilting and fellowship weekend. First supper plans were to eat out, but everybody got together and brought stuff instead. Two of the choice recipes, I was told by more than one attendee. were most excellent and you’ll find one of the recipes for Corn Chowder here, but the other one for Strawberry Spinach Salad was not formatted so I could use it on the blog so maybe Jerri will e-mail it to you if you ask.

This is what I heard happened: They arrived Thursday around noon and were given cutting instructions for their “mystery” project.

On Friday they began to sew. Since it was a mystery, there were no pattern instructions, or I guess very sketchy ones, but this is what finally appeared to them: mystery quilt

Some people finished the project more quickly than others and worked on other projects they had brought. Some even knitted!

Paddle boats, kayaks, and fun toys were available, but some people went shopping in Lewiston (read Pine Tree Quilt Shop) and some went on a tour of the lake with Tom & Lois, the hosts of Gorton House. They saw loons and lots of nice homes and enjoyed the hour long ride.

That evening they relaxed, shared wine (all bottles were reported e-m-p-t-y), played the piano, and sang.

On Saturday they motored to Hillman to visit Sandy Dee’s fine quilt store, were fed a delicious lunch upon their return, packed up their machines etc and came home.

Thanks to Linda West and Lois Gorton for planning all of this. Next year? Sign up early when they announce it, as sleeping space is limited to 9 at this Bed & Breakfast.

 

Various things….

Posted in Mostly about quilting on 08/10/2010 01:33 pm by jbonnie

Eleven of us met at Gale Rice’s place on the lake for a potluck on August 3rd. We had 3 salads and 8 deserts and several bottles of wine. Weather was great and we missed all of you who couldn’t make it.

One of the salads was an Oriental Cabbage Slaw and just about everybody wanted the recipe so I said we’d put it on the web site.
My husband found this on Swanson Health Products website and we tried it and it’s special!

You will need

    1/4 C of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
    1/4 C of Sesame or Peanut Oil
    2 T. apple cider vinegar
    2 T. sugar
    1 tsp. salt
    1/4 to 1/2 tsp pepper
    1 package of Ramen noodles with flavoring pack
    16 oz of chopped cabbage, and 1 green pepper.
    1/4 Cup of Sunflower seeds and 1/2 C Almonds.

Mix together oils, vinegar, sugar, sale & pepper and the power mix from the Ramen noodles. Add cabbage and pepper to the dressing. Break up the dry ramen noodles (do not cook) and add them along with the sunflowers seeds and nuts and add to the cabbage. Mix well and refrigerate. It’s best if left in refrigerator at least 12 or better yet 24 hours.

Enjoy!

 

Quilt Show Buzz

Posted in Mostly about quilting on 03/19/2010 09:54 am by jbonnie

The quilt show committee is moving things along. Bookmark fliers are being put in quilt shops all over. I was in the Upper Peninsula last week with my Texture Magic and left a stack of fliers at each of the 10 shops I called on. Now the website has the forms you’ll need to enter your quilts in the show.
Members have been bringing in great things they’ve made from the Challenge Fabrics for the many many 3rd place raffle prizes. Purses, place mat sets, I can’t remember it all, but I haven’t seen a thing that I wouldn’t like to own!
I need to get busy and finish my Compass quilt so I can display it. I think we need a UFO workshop to get some of the projects we’ve started finished. I know I do. But then a new magazine comes in and I want to make that, and that, and try this new technique! What a hobby we have.
Just thinking…the Blind River Retreat coming up would be a perfect UFO workshop. Think about it.

 

Spring color forecast?

Posted in Mostly about quilting on 01/12/2010 01:01 pm by jbonnie

I came across a website by Pantone the other day. They style themselves as the global authority on color for the design industry and they have just published their color trend forecast for Spring 2010.
I recommend you Click on the page to see these.

The top 10 colors are:
Tourquoise, Tomato Puree, Fushion Coral, Violet, Tuscany (a dark beige), Aurora (a subdued yellow), Ampao Blue, Pink Champagne, Dried Herb (dark drab green) and Eucaluptus.

I like some of these colors and wonder if we’ll see quilt fabric with these in? I think a tourquoise, blue, and coral combination would sparkle. Too bad I’m up to my armpits in unfinished projects. Texture Magic is some of my businessness, but I’m also trying to finish quilting my Mariner’s Compass, a Bear Paw for my Aunt, and assorted smaller projects.

I’ve been visiting a lot of quilt shops across the state and am amazed by the variety of fabrics I see. The shops reflect the taste of the owners, I guess. I’ve been in a couple where I didn’t see a thing I like and others where I’d like it all.

I’ve decided to stop buying fat quarters. When I get around to maybe using them there is never enough for a project and, of course, you can’t get more. Then there’s a problem of I bought 2 yards and I hate to cut into it for just a smaller project. Can’t win?

 
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