SABQG Newsletter

President's Letter
Boy Oh Boy- the month of July no sooner came, before it was GONE! Left behind were at least sixteen quilts for the Child Protection Teams. There were 8 from Clara Roland and then 8 more from Dolores Fowler. Dolores said during Hurricane Dennis she sewed, and sewed, and sewed, and sewed to get them done. Betty Williams will soon be presenting them to the Child Protection Teams

If you missed the Wednesday morning meeting, you missed the first old fashioned "ice cream social". It was a blast. Everyone enjoyed the surprise that had been dreamed up by the members of the Ladybug Bee. They went to a lot of trouble and work to give us all a fun day to remember. Was it worth it? YOU tell them just how much you enjoyed their efforts...their names are somewhere else in this newsletter and they deserve big time thanks.

The ice cream was followed by another event that gave us all a lot of knowledge to assimilate. Edyth Brown did her interpretation of an Alex Anderson program that featured shaving cream and fabric dye. Edyth had a long phone conversation with the originator of the technique and then spent more time practicing her skills with the help of friends. She gave us a wonderfully entertaining and informative demonstration of dying fabrics. (The main thing I learned was that this isn't for me, no thank you. I'll buy my hand dyed fabrics from a pro!)

Lynn Page drove down from her new home in Tallahassee to present the program on Colors for the Thursday night meeting. From the twelve color families she taught that warm colors come toward you while cool colors seem to recede. The warm and cool colors are on opposite sides of the color wheel. Also that VALUE is how light or how dark a color appears relative to the other colors you put it with. Linda Kelley and friends then proceeded to give us an impromptu fashion show. Linda's older sister, Peggy, from Colorado provided the fashions. The jackets and vests, which are OUTSTANDING (how does she get her ideas?) were modeled by members.

Notes from Linda
Our evening guild meeting had 55 members and 5 guests in attendance. Lynn Page, who recently moved, was kind enough to travel back to Panama City to do our evening program on Color. She shared her artist knowledge, and shared examples to help us with the color choices for our next quilts. Look for her painted fairy quilt in Bonnie Lyn McCafferys' new book. Carol Schulz displayed the last challenge block. She made extra blocks that will be given to the winner next month. Betty Williams presented several quilts to Sally Bendschneider for the Head Start Program. Sally knows how worthy our other charity projects are, and is so appreciative of all our work, but Bay County has a new center with over 40 children. They are in need of stuffed toys and small quilts. Please be generous, and remember them.

My sister, Maggie Winfield, mailed 5 of her recycle garments to me this month. So we had a mini fashion show to share her garments with everyone. She spends a lot of time on design, quilting and beading. She is very generous with her talent and I always learn something new when I am around her. Maggie lives and teaches in the Denver, CO area.

It was great to see everyone and I am looking forward to the retreat and all the other projects we have planned for the year. I appreciate all the volunteers who signed up to help. You make my job so much easier. Our August program will be "Teaching Your Grandchildren to Quilt" by Lee Brahier. I hope to see you there.

Each month I am going to try and tell you a wee bit about one or two of the Bee's, we are now up to 11 different groups.

The Baltimore Album Group was formed for the purpose of fellowship, appliqué, and learning techniques pertaining to appliqué. Baltimore Album appliqué patterns are the primary type of blocks being stitched. Some members of the group are adding 3 dimensional flowers that include ruching and folded buds. They meet the 4th Thursday of the month at each others homes.

The Dothan Ladies meet the 4th Tuesday of the Month in the Westwood Presbyterian Church and pretty much do their own thing—they bring a lunch and invite lades from the Church and community to join them. If any SABQG member plans on being in the area they are welcome to join them. Call Shirley Vaucher first to make sure they are having a meeting and directions.

Travels by Sue Elliot

In June, Pete and I set off for yet another road trip—this time to a wedding in Ohio. But this road trip was really special as the National Quilting Association Quilt Show was on our way home. What a treat for me! When we arrived at the hotel we had a surprise—we were upgraded to the Presidential Suite! Now, this was living - a quilt show, a quilt class and the Presidential Suite!!

I had been looking forward to the class I was taking with Sally Collins and almost every minute exceeded my expectations (the unsewing part wasn't so much fun). Most of Sally's work is miniature but her techniques and tips apply to all machine piecing. Here are some of the tips she shared in her morning lecture—before we made those tiny
basket blocks.

Use 50 weight thread - it doesn't take up so much "space"
Use a microtex 80/12 "sharp" needle Use a straight stitch throat plate to keep your fabric from getting caught in the throat plate Sew straight—watch the start and stop and sew the entire piece before reaching for the next one when chain piecing. Sew on a scrap piece before and at the end of piecing
Use fine pins (Clover 2507 or IBC silk pins)
Use a hot, dry iron - steam dampens and stretches the fabric.

Sally had her trunk show with her—amazing! Her book The Art of Machine Piecing is now out of print so I consider myself lucky to have a copy as it has a lot of valuable information.

The quilts in the quilt show were works of art, inspirational, incredible and amazing! Pete and I enjoyed seeing them all yet we both had favorites.

SABQG is a chapter member of the National Quilting Association.

Return to Top

Have you been trying to squeeze quilting time into your life? Here's your chance! The fall SABQG retreat at Blue Springs Baptist Conference Center will be Friday, October 14 through Sunday, October 16. The setting is beautiful, the area to work is terrific and the time is all yours to work on UFOs, start a new project and get to know your fellow quilters. The cost includes Friday dinner, 3 meals on Saturday and Sunday breakfast, sleeping accomodations and quilting space.
The cost is as follows:

$111.00 - 100 room double occupancy (rooms closest to the cafeteria and work area)
$103.00 - 200 room double occupancy
$150.00 - private room

So your best quilting buddy and regular roommate can't go—please don't let that keep you away. There are quilters who need a roommate. What a great chance to spend time with another quilter.

Pat Watson is handling sign-ups. Your space is secured with either payment in full or a $50.00 deposit and the balance no later than September 15, 2005.

Return to Top

Sign Guestbook

View Guestbook