Monday, May 18, 2015

Everything Is Coming Up Quilts: May 9th Gathering

It has been a couple of months since we have posted, but it is not for a lack of quilting. Last month, we had a Sew-Saturday instead of a regular meeting. Several members gathered in Weston to sew together all our charity quilt blocks from the past year. Here are two beauties bursting with color.  


Don't you love everyone's half-square triangle blocks? So many configurations can be created with this simple block.


These flying geese stay in formation with a beautiful coral color. Can you spot the geese that are following the beat of a different drummer? 

We tentatively scheduled our next sew-in for August. Keep an ear and eye out for the exact date. We agreed that nothing beats the gathering of creative minds for a good cause. 

So after admiring some charity quilts, we reconnected with quilting friends once again, and welcomed some new ones to the SCMQG mix.  A big welcome to Claire and Helena! If you didn't have a chance to meet them, make sure to say hello at the next meeting. As luck would have it, Helena also started off our show-and-tell. 


Helena's reversible bag started up a conversation on where to buy linen. The cool fabrics and linen combo made us wonder where the best places to buy linen would be.  Jo-Ann's received a thumbs-up. Maybeth also recommended an online fabric store. You can find different weight linens for various projects, and they have some beautiful colors as well. Where do you find your linen?  We'd love to know. 


Terrie created this quilt in memory of a friend's beloved son.  His story, and his love of music touched all our hearts. Such a beautiful tribute with quilted notes all over.


Sheri holds up another award winning quilt!  The 3/4" stripped paper piecing impressed the judges and us alike.


Can you see the lines of quilting as well? 


She also surprised us with a sneak peek of a pattern design she created for the CT and RI Shop Hop. The design above is for The Bolt in Monroe, CT. You receive the pattern for free only by visiting the shop.  


 Check out more of her patterns, like this one, at her Whole Circle Studio Website.


Parthena decided to bring in a quilt that she treasures immensely.  Her husband's great-grandmother handpieced and handquilted this beauty. She loves how every quilt has a "her-story".  



She created this quilt for a friend whose kids attend a summer family camp each year. 


Our quilt viewing took a different turn with Lori's presentation.  Curves come together beautifully in this baby quilt.


 The amazing half-square triangle strikes again. The Herringbone design really catches the eye. 


The adorable backing with the embroidered name is equally striking. 


Next,  Betsy wowed us with her six inch paper pieced blocks. 


 Look at all those intricate little blocks!


We were duly impressed with this hand-quilted gift made for her daughter a while back.  


Just imagine the time and love put into hand-quilting this large quilt!


Maybeth showed us the wonky crosses she is putting together.  Look at those color combinations!


Here Michelle presented her yellow and gray quilt made out of half-square triangles.  Again we saw the wonderful versatility of this block in a new design.


Michelle also shared some practice quilting done in a class taken with Leah Day.  She recommended that everyone take a class with her if they can. 


Lastly, she showed us a hexie quilt she is working on at the moment.  The trick to this quilt is to put the hexies together like tumbler blocks.  Good-bye Y seams! 

It was another productive and motivating meeting.  So many quilts to make, so little time! We look forward to seeing everyone on June 13th at the Weston Library at 10:00.  What fun things are you working on right now? Don't forget to bring them next month!