Nov 8 2016 Meeting @ My Sewing Room

Our Nov/16 meeting was held at My Sewing Room in SW Calgary.  This is probably Calgary's largest LQS.  We were able to have our meeting in the large classroom space at the back of the store.  Thanks go out to MSR!  

I have to add that we were showing up in T-shirts and sandals - our predicted "long cold winter" has not materialized yet and a 93 year temperature record was set on Nov 8 (our meeting day) of almost 22C.  

And here we all are - almost 40 of us!

We got rolling with Show & Tell.  

Up first is Terry with her elephant - a smaller version of the one she showed us previously.  A Violet Craft paper pieced pattern.

Terry with another Violet Craft pattern made for a grandchild.

And Terry with a tote bag she made using her long arm - a new twist on "quilt as you go" - I'm going to try this!!  She says she will do a demo for us!

Janet introduced Barb, our My Sewing Room host.  Barb was very helpful and friendly.  We like Barb.  :)

 Terry also told us she used a Piping Hot Binding tool to make some narrow piping used as an accent on her quilt (the elephant?).  Barb ran and found us this tool in the store so we could see what it looks like (and maybe buy it!).

Here's where I add the disclaimer.  I'm not good at multitasking - if I take pix (which I did) that's about all I can manage at one time.  So....  if it's not in the meeting notes (thanks Charmaine - you do such a fabulous job!) I may either not get it, or I may get it wrong.  Please let me know in either case and I'll make the appropriate edits.

I believe this lady is Darcy - a new member to our group.  Welcome aboard!!!!

And I should know this lady, she comes to most of our meetings, but my apologies, I just don't have a name.....

Here is the always expressive Brenda!  This time with a quilt for a future grandchild.  Clearly she has expectations!  :)

And I believe this is a customer quilt which had a technical problem she had the customer correct before she finished quilting it.  Looks pretty darn good to me!

Lee made this for a friend.  Apparently her tension was less than perfect on the back so rather than rip, she simply put a second back over the first back and called it a day.  Good call!

And here she is again with another of her scrappy quilts.

Next up - Linda with a SuzyQuilts quilt made and quilted.  She did her quilting freehand - i.e., not computer, not panto.  I have to admit I thought it was either one of those thing it looked so "perfect" from where I was standing.  Great job on that Linda!

Karen showed us this quilt top.  She made it (of course!) and is looking for quilting ideas.  And we are happy to oblige!  Bring it back to show us when it's finished, Karen!  The pattern is Starlit Evening by Heather Peterson.  Apparently the pattern is in this book.

Joan showed us a fabulous hand appliqued quilt.  She also asked if anyone knew of a panto with a large swirly design to fill up space.  Jessie's Swirls was suggested - but I have to say after Googling this there are millions of pantos out there that would probably work!

Sharon showed us this sideways cowboy boot quilt.  :) OK - so if she turned it, it would actually be proper cowboy boots.... 

And here is Allison.  She's pretty excited these days - she's officially a Handi Quilter Educator now and has been doing a lot of travelling to teach and demo.  

This is one of her sample pieces - she showed us how she uses Preview Paper to sketch out her designs before she quilts them.

She has also managed to make some quilts - this is one of them.

Phillipa showed us this little gem.  It's a Jaybird Quilt pattern - Glimmer.

The always entertaining Deb showing us a couple of Halloween quilts.

Vanecea always has amazing things to show.  That, and she is a font of information, having been quilting for a lot longer than, say, me!!!!

And then it turns out that she and Terry do challenges - the above and below are quilts each of them have made using the same block.  Terry's (below) is not quilted yet.  Vanecea noted that she used clear Monofilament thread from Fil-tec.  

Janet was asking for ideas to quilt this quilt (below).

Show and tell done and on to sketching on the white board.  Allison started out with one of her new favourites...Karen's Quilts Crows and Cardinals.... 

Terry showed us a candy border.

Lee attended a Jamie Wallen class recently and showed us one of the things she learned.

This is my contribution.  I got the idea here....

Terry hopped up to show an easy idea for new quilters - or if you need to fill up some space quickly.

Deb has Christmas on her mind so demoed holly.

Brenda jumped on the Christmas band wagon....

During the course of Show and Tell and our art project, we had some discussion about a variety of topics:

Fish Creek Quilt Show: the quilts are hung (thanks to all the volunteers), almost 90 quilts - 28 of us provided quilts.  Take down day is Nov 25 - be there @ 9:00 am to pick up your quilts or make arrangements for them to be picked up.  Deb has posted a video of the show - although I couldn't find it - Deb (or anyone) send me the link and I'll put it here.  Rhoni and I also went over to see the show and I took a bunch of pix, which I posted here.

EDIT:  I am very sad to report that the FC Quilt Show has been taken down.  One of the quilts was stolen and it was decided to remove all the others to avoid another theft.  I am personally outraged and very sad for Pauline whose quilt was stolen.  She would have spent many hours and put much love into making this quilt.  Just sad, sad, sad...

Homework Blocks:  There was some confusion about distributing the monthly "homework block" so I will resend - probably today.  These blocks are optional of course, but the idea is to have each quilter sketch out how they would quilt it and share with the group.  I will scan the blocks and post them on the homework block page on this blog so they can be a reference for anyone looking for ideas.  Also, Deb has a contact who will compile them into a book at the end of our year (June-ish) that will be available for purchase.

Piping Hot Binding Tool:  see above and also here.  OK - so I just watched the video - I'm sold.  Gonna get me one (well I absolutely cannot get more fabric until I use some of it up so I have to get something!!!!  :) )

Longarm Machine Rentals:  Deb (Loopy D), Allison, Wendy and Irene rent their machines.

Thread Breakage:  once thread hangs around for a year or two or three in this dry climate, it becomes brittle and is prone to breakage.  What to do, what to do???  This was my question as I have been having this issue lately.  Since I was standing in my pix taking spot I was able to see all the more-experienced-than-me quilters nodding their heads so I thought my theory wasn't so off-base after all!  There were a number if suggestions:

1. put thread in a (wine) fridge with a glass of water
2. dip thread cone in mineral oil
3. coat thread with "Sewer's Aid"
4. store thread in baggies
5. store thread in freezer
6. put a wet sponge in the drawer with the thread

We had an interesting discussion about the merits of, for example, (mis)using a wine fridge for thread.  :)  But seriously - apparently each of these methods has been tried.  For me, the most interesting thing was learning that "Sewer's Aid" (at $6/14.8 ml) is actually mineral oil ($5/500 ml).  I did a bit of research on this - turns out mineral oil is the main ingredient in sewing machine oil and baby oil.   Talk about a racket!  I did put some Sewer's Aid on the spool of thread that I used on my last quilt and it seemed to do the trick, so I picked up a bottle of mineral oil at Wal-Mart yesterday for $5.  And I picked up a small paint brush at the dollar store today - I'll just brush it on. 

Ordering from Erie Quilt Art:  Lee and sometimes Gail are our EQA contacts.  Lee noted that she can deliver orders to the longarm meetings if she has them about a week in advance as she does not work there every day.  Next meeting is at EQA and she requests orders be put in ahead of the meeting to avoid a line up at the end of the meeting (it's not a store so they are not really set up for sales like a store would be).  Also, as a note, EQA is actually a wholesale distributor so in general, an account is needed to purchase.

Replying to group emails:  Remember, when you see an email with a bunch of names in the "To" box at the top, that you are not the only one who is getting the email.   If you are using Outlook, if you hit "Reply All", your reply goes to everyone on the list, if you hit "Reply" your reply goes only to the person who sent the email.  I'm not sure how other email platforms work, but if you have an option to reply only to the sender, chose that when you are replying to the "RSVP" requests, etc.  If it is something that is of interest to the entire group, then sure, "Reply All".  Also, be careful when you are replying that you are replying to the correct email.  I sent out the "homework blocks" and got back a number of RSVP replies to a previous email in the string.  I should have started a new email, but used the group list from a previous one because I don't have the group list on my computer.  Take a second to determine who sent you the email, and to whom you need to reply.  That is all.  :)

Slash Your Stash for Cash Event: Airdrie and District Guild is hosting this event on Saturday (Nov 12?) from 10 am to 2 pm at the Golden Rod Hall.

180 Doodle Quilting Designs by Karen Burns: Janet circulated this book.

Hunter Star: reminder that we are submitting a group entry to the 2017 Heritage Park Festival of Quilts. Use any of the layouts in book Hunter's Star Hidden Treasures.   So far about 11 people participating - room for a few more (up to 15).  Let Janet know.

Thank You Janet!: Vanecea has been collecting purple quilting items for the past few months and she presented the collection to Janet from all of us as a big "Thank You" for being such a great leader!  Janet remarked that "now I can't quit".  No - you can't Janet!  THANKS FOR DOING SUCH A GREAT JOB!!!!!

Quilt Appraisals: suggestion was made to invite Dawn Hunter, a quilt appraiser, to speak to the group.  Everyone is agreeable to this idea.  No charge.

Cheryl Arkison: will be our guest next meeting.  There will be a charge.  Amount per person will be determined at the meeting depending on numbers.  Obviously, the more attending, the less each person will have to pay - estimate between $10 and $20/person so please bring enough cash to cover your share to the next meeting.  Thanks in advance.

That's about it for now.  If you read this far - congratulations!  See you next month!