February Notes

Welcome to February, Ties that Bind Quilters!  

It may be snowy or foggy, but it's a lot warmer than the last week in January!  I hope we are all staying warm and staying in stitches.

BOTM

Our block of the month (also known as BOTM) for this year is a little different.  We're having a quilt along!  Our fearless leader, Pam W., has created a special quilt just for us.  The blocks are all variations of Friendship Star.  This is a great theme for our friendly group.

I'm going to show you my blocks as I sew along month by month.  Please remember that I quilt to a different drummer and don't always follow the rules exactly.  My quilt will be scrappy, with lots of 1930s reproduction prints, but the pieces will be cut and sewn the same.

Here's my version of the first block:

I chose 4 fabrics for this block:  the red corners, white/blue polka dots, solid blue, and the center print.  Except for the center, all the rest of the sections in this nine-patch block are made from half square triangles.  All nine sections measure 4.5 in. unfinished, 4 in. finished.  This is a 12 in. finished block.

Check out the block center.  I've had this small piece of fabric forever.  It seemed appropriate to the season.  By the way, all the kids playing in the snow in this print are girls.

The printed directions for this block were available at the last meeting and/or emailed to you by Pam W.  If you didn't get the directions, please contact Pam.

Charity Quilt News
Every year, we just make more and more quilts for our neighbors in need.  This year our group gave 85 quilts to charity.  Most of the quilts went to families and individuals in Washington County.  Some of the recipients were Seeds of Hope (baby quilts), nursing homes, Carl's Place, Family Promise, and Threshold.
We can be very proud of all our hard work, and very thankful for the members who work so hard to quilt the tops, bind the quilts, make and hand out kits, purchase batting, organize and store the group's fabric, and pull everything together.  Our efforts are worthwhile, and appreciated.

Big Sale at Sew Many Pieces!!!
Don't forget the big anniversary sale at Sew Many Pieces. 
Friday, Feb. 15th (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Saturday, Feb. 16th (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
Can you believe the store is 5 years old?  Save your money for this sale, it's going to be a good one.

And now, a little show and tell.

Nancy is on vacation, but sent this stack of quilts with Colleen.  Most (all?) are for charity.

These are only a few highlights from our fabulous show and tell. 

Want more?  Come to the next meeting on February 20th!