Newsletter Archives

• March 2007
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• March 2006
• February 2006
• Dec. '05 / Jan. 2006
• November 2005
• October 2005
• September 2005
• August 2005

EVENING GROUP REPORT - Jo-Ellen Rogers
The Gadabouts opened our eyes to the many possibilities for using embroidery in our quilting. Thank you ladies! Sarah Hough and Donna Gibbens gave us some very interesting homework. So, take your gift bag and get creating your 8 1/2 x 11 mini quilt. It will be great fun to see the results in April. The refreshment committee for the April 19 meeting is Angela Mueller, Barbara Sielke and Janet Ramos.

REMINDER: Flamingo Flock Blockers. Please bring in your completed quilts and tops for next month's presentation for the evening meeting. The Flamingo Flock Blockers are responsible for the program.

Sarah Hutton: On March 5th, Sarah Hutton, Joyce Rogers, and Gayle Hodges left for Gastonia, NC. We spent most of Tuesday at Mary Jo’s. We shopped, looked and talked to like quilters and sewers. We also went to Long Creek for thread and some good buys on stabilizers.

On Wednesday we went to a quilt shop in Lowell, NC. It is a real cute shop filled with antiques and collectables. They have Moda fabric and some real nice wool for those who love to work with it. We had a good lunch at a local café then hit the road to Atlanta and the Sewing and Quilting Expo.

We had signed up for five classes on Thursday and Friday. The classes were: Embroidery "Bling-Bling” Extraordinaire with Carol Colman. Fun with Felting with Barb Callahan, Fabulous Fibers for Embellishment with Nancy McElhinny.

On Friday our classes were Sewing w/Knits with Emma Seabrooke, It’s Never Just a Sweatshirt with Nancy McElhinny.

We had plenty of time to visit the Exhibit Hall where all of the vendors were offering all of the stuff we just love to look for. We made a promise that we would not go crazy buying patterns this year. I held up my end but Joyce and Gayle yielded to temptation while my back was turned.

We saw a new surge in knitting at the show. We also found wool roving for our new interest, felting. There were several booths offering beautiful hand dyed yarns. It is just like eye candy and we just had to buy some of it.

If you have never gone to the Atlanta Expo it is a nice trip and well worth the time. There are lots of classes offered covering a wide range of interest. It will be held at the same time next year. The first week in March, starting on Wednesday. and going through Saturday.

WANT QUILTING-RELATED STATIONERY – FREE? Our thanks go to Mary Clark for this source. www.1-computer-stationery.com/stationery_template_papers/country_stationery_
papers/country_stationery_papers.htm

CLASSIFIED - For Sale: Inspira Quilting Frame with sewing machine. I purchased it new for $2,500 and have not used it much. Everything is included to set up your quilts and begin quilting your own. Call Julie Gray 230-2561 or 258-9847.

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Rosemary Martens

The Gadabouts put on a great program at last month’s meetings. They also told us about a trip they took to the Atlanta Sewing and Quilting Expo. I have included Sarah Hutton’s e-mail to me so we all can share in their weekend, and maybe join them next year.

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NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT. Chairman Sue Gulkis and members Carmen Taylor, Helen Russo, Helen Jeroski, and Linda Kelly proposed the following slate of officers for the 2007-2008 year:
President - Susie Pippin
1st Vice President - Jody Marking
2nd Vice President - Jo-Ellen Rogers
Treasurer - Bonnie Holley
Day Secretary - Tammi Lau
Night Secretary - Ann Vassie

The members of the Nominating Committee also offer the following amendment to the By-Laws for the membership to consider. Basically, the change makes the Night Secretary an elected officer.

PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE BY-LAWS OF THE ST. ANDREW BAY QUILTERS GUILD. (changes are underlined)
Article 5: Officers
Section 1: The elected officers of this corporation shall be the President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Day Secretary, Night Secretary, and Treasurer.

Section 8: Both Secretaries shall keep minutes of all their meetings, prepare any business correspondence needed by the Board, and write and submit a summary of the minutes for the Newsletter editor for publication in the next newsletter. At the expiration of the term of office, the Secretaries shall turn the minutes over to the incoming secretaries.

The Amendment will be voted on at the Annual Meeting, May 19.

You will note that the nominee for Day Secretary has changed from the slate presented at the March evening meeting. If there are no further nominations for this position from the floor at the April evening meeting, according to our bylaws, the election is by acclamation.

SOUTHERN QUILT CONFERENCE, RUSTON, LA - Sarah Hough.
I had the privilege of attending the inaugural a meeting of the Southern Quilt Conference March 23-24 at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana. This was the first of what it is hoped will be annual or semi- annual event. The conference began with a keynote address "What We Know About Southern Quilts and What We Think We Know” by Laurel Horton. Laurel is an independent folklorist and internationally recognized quilt researcher. Other presentations included "The Stitches of Gees Bend,” "Rattlesnake Quilts: History of a Southern Pattern,” "Discovering an Aesthetic: Scotch-Irish Quilts in West Virginia,” Representing the Quilts of African Americans in the South” and "Acadian Cotonnade Quilts,” all by noted scholars. There were presentations on research in progress and a report on the Georgia Quilt Documentation Book. I learned that there are a lot of things I don’t know (not only don’t know anything about but had never heard of) and I came away with a deep respect and appreciation for all the research on southern quilts.

I went with three ladies from the Gainesville area. We visited Natchez, MS and took part in the Natchez Spring Pilgrimage by visiting four of the historic homes. We also hit just about every antique shop, flea market and thrift shop that was open between here and Ruston. We even got them to open one that was closed. When four ladies are in a friendly "discussion” on who is to buy a certain quilt, buttons or whatever, it is hard to turn around and convince the proprietor of the shop to lower the price. Will keep you posted on plans for next year’s conference.

Our guild is a member of the following associations. If you are interested in attending either meeting,
please contact Susie Pippin for more information.

SUNSHINE STATE QUILTERS ASSOCIATION MEETING
Saturday, May 19, Lakeland Florida,
Fabric Warehouse, 3030 N. Florida Avenue, Lakeland, Hosted by Ladies of the Lake
"Quilting through the Strawberry Patch. Program: "Art Quilt Collage” with Julie Mainor. Demonstrations: No Y Seam Attic Windows, Free Motion Machine Quilting, Intricate Paper Piecing-Curves and Pleats, Strip Pieced Corn and Beans Pattern and Hot Binding Tool.

GULF STATES QUILTING ASSOCIATION, Saturday, April 28, Summerdale, AL, Baldwin EMC Training Center, 19600 Highway 59, Summerdale, AL hosted by Island Quilters Quilt Guild and Silver Thimbles Quilt Guild. There will be a business meeting in the morning. The afternoon program will be a presentation of quilts made by the Board Members, inspired by music!

TRIP TO HONG KONG - Diane Russell
I just got back from my trip to Hong Kong. I went with a group of 53 women with the American Sewing Guild. We had a couple of ladies from Australia meet us there and a couple from Italy. We were a well rounded group from all over the U.S. Our major goal was to buy lots of fabric. Our flight from San Francisco was around 13 hours. Upon arriving on Lantau Island we were picked up by our guides and transported by bus over one of the longest suspension bridges in the world then taking a tunnel under the Victoria Harbor to the Holiday Inn for a good night’s sleep.

In the morning, the hotel had set up a private room for breakfast. This consisted of just about everything you could think of, lots of choices and ethnicity. The following days consisted of visits to Hong Kong Island and a ride up the funicular tram which was built in 1888, to Victoria Peak to see where all the extremely rich live. At the top of the tram there was shopping, Starbucks and even a Haagen Daz ice cream parlor. The views were incredible. Madame Tussauds wax museum is housed up there also. We visited Stanley market to shop for souvenirs and the elusive search for fabric. The housing for the average person here is an apartment which consists of 200 square feet for a family of four. We were told that only 5% of the population has a car. The houses around Repulse Bay cost $6-10 million. The golf club fee is $1.2 million a year to join. This does not include the greens fee.

We went to Aberdeen Harbor and took a ride on a sampan boat to see the boat people. Our search for fabric took us to the Western Market. It is a huge building full of lots of things, but the whole upper floor is fabric. I think they were thrilled to see a whole bus full of sewers. Almost everyone found some treasures. I found some silk organza to dye or paint. This was practice for our bartering skills. I failed miserably.

Thursday we visited a costume shop that does the costumes for Disneyland which is located on Lantau Island. Next we took the bus to Sham Shui Po. This is the fabric and garment district. Lots of vendors hang around the street. We walked around several streets that sell everything from seafood, snakes, herbal remedies and of course fabric and beads and notions. Next we went to the jade market and bought some trinkets, practicing bartering again, but no luck again. We took the bus to the jewelry market and watched a demo on jewelry making and stone setting. That night we set out on our own to go shopping the local market area. It was packed. I think I would rather be outside than stay in a 200 square foot house also. My roommate and I decided to try the local cuisine. We checked out the menu and decided to pass on the ox penis and the pig intestine. We settled on sharing a chicken and rice dish.

Friday morning we had a huge breakfast and then walked through the underground subway and went for a tai chi lesson. This is a beautiful place overlooking the harbor. We walked back to the hotel and took the metro to the markets on Hong Kong Island again. The guide told us to push and shove or do whatever we had to do to get on the train so we would all be together in town and get off at the right station. We all managed to get on. We rode to the downtown area and shopped the Lanes, Pottinger Street, Chinese arts and crafts, and checked out the Pedder building. The lanes produced the best fabric finds. I found some great silk and practiced my bartering skills. I think I did well this time. My roommate and I were having so much fun we decided to stay longer and walk to the ferry. Little did we know how far that walk would be. We were exhausted by the time we got there and only had to pull out the map a couple of times. After the ferry, we caught a much deserved taxi back to the hotel. We passed on eating out and went to sleep.

Saturday morning we got up early and caught the bus to the ferry to China. The 45 minute ferry ride took us to Shekou and we caught a bus there for our trip to Guangzhou. We stopped at the exhibition of terracotta warriors and horses from Xian and the free markets. The crowd was so thick all we could do was push our way through. Thank goodness one of the ladies brought her very tall husband as we kept an eye on him to see where our group was going. We arrived at the restaurant and they rushed us upstairs to two rooms that were set up for our group of 23. The food was great. One of the ladies said she felt like we all had three heads as the people seemed to be really checking out this oddity. We got back on the bus and rode to the Dr. Sun Yet-sen Memorial Hall and a short visit to the zoo to see the panda bear mother. At the end of the day, we boarded a train back to Hong Kong.

Sunday arrived too quickly and another tour to Lantau Island. Today it is a bit cold and misty not like yesterday where it was hot and humid. This time we took a small coach bus to the back side of the island. Peaceful and relaxing compared to China. People come here to hike and camp. We pass beautiful scenery and even a couple of water buffalo, pass the beautiful Cheung Sha beach which had just been re-sanded and smoothed. There are several prisons on this island, a really beautiful ocean view if you have to be there. We take a walking tour through the unique Tai O Fishing village, where fishermen homes are built on stilts. The coach then took winding road up the mountain to Ngong Ping Plateau where the Giant Buddha sits majestically close to the Po Lin Monastery. We took a guided tour of the monastery and Buddha exhibition hall. There was a ceremony going on which we able to watch. We traveled to the monastery where we were treated to a vegetarian meal served in the monastery. We ended this visit by riding on the sky-rail cable car which offered stunning views going down to Tung Chung. From here we caught a bus back to the hotel. Monday is another free day to go wherever we want. My roommate and I caught the train back to Sham Shui Po and went to the tented markets. Lots of fabric. I found my bargaining skills paid off and I found lots of silk. Next stop, we took the taxi to Kowloon and located the Hard Rock Cafe to buy a tee-shirt. We caught another taxi and went back to the hotel. We walked to the pier for ferry ride to Lamma Island for dinner with the group. We had a meal consisting of several items of seafood, lobster, crab, scallops, fish and, of course, chicken and beef dishes. On the way back we watched all the neon lights and laser light show along the banks of Hong Kong . There were lots of decorations in preparation for the Chinese New Year “Year of the Pig.” Back to the hotel we packed our bags for the trip home in the morning.