September Update

Happy Labor Day!  I hope everyone had a good weekend, with family and friends and maybe even some quilting.
As we go into fall, I am hoping to find more time to update this blog.
Since I forgot my camera at the August meeting, these are the most recent photos I have.  Many of them were blurry, and couldn't be used (sorry).
To start, here are some of our recent quilts made to donate to charity.

Here's a Disappearing Hour Glass Quilt, held up by our own Joan D. and Colleen T.   Want to make one?  Click here to go to the You Tube tutorial, by Missouri Star Quilt Company.

This one is called Hopscotch.  Sorry for the blurry photo.

Here's another Hopscotch, with those patented piano keys borders!
There were more quilts for charity, but my photos were a mess.  Even in August, when many of us are busy with vacations and gardening, etc., we had lots of charity quilts worked on, finished, or donated.  Great job, everyone.
Now for some more show and tell.

Love these scraps!

This one was made for a cancer patient.  It has encouraging words.

Great colors!

Wonderful chevrons!

These are scarves Carolyn hand dyed in a class.

Perfect patriotic banner!

Mickey finished her Row by Row!

Ann M. finished the wonderful animal book quilt for her grandson.  We can look for it at Quilt Expo.

Isn't this the neatest organizer you ever saw?  And done it batiks, too.

Mary L. had several quilts.  I think a couple were for charity.  (Having a senior moment here.)

What's coming up for Ties that Bind?

September:  Meeting on Sept. 21 at 7:00.  Suggested food pantry donation is snacks for kids, especially the kind that could go in lunch boxes--granola bars, raisins, pretzels, juice boxes, etc.

September Birthday Strips: Norma: Brights, solids, tone-on-tone; Helen: Pinks and greens; Mary Meyer:1930s reproductions

October:  Retreat(s) at Stoney Hills. 

Meeting on Oct. 19th at 7:00.  Suggested food pantry donation is baby items--baby food, diapers, formula, etc.

October Birthday Strips:  Pat D., Green and Purple; Colleen:  Bright solids.

October Deadline:  Ugly Christmas Sweater Blocks

Keep smiling, and keep quilting!

April Show and Tell

 Thanks for coming to our meeting last night!  We had such a nice group.  Some of our long time members came back to visit, and we got to meet some new friends.

Here we are at last night's meeting, just visiting a little before things get started.
We always have the most amazing show and tell, and last night was no exception.

We started off with some of the charity quilt tops that were worked on last week at a work day.  I didn't get everything photographed (just not fast enough!) and the pictures don't do them justice, but here are two of them anyway.  Above is a bright quilt made from 2 in. wide strips left over from other projects.

This quilt was made from Nancy's pattern Crazy Eights, with a beige background.  There were several others, and even more in the works that are not yet finished.

Look what we've been making!  This is such a talented, productive group!

Wasn't this terrific?
And if that wasn't enough, Ann M. brought her newest in project.

She is reproducing, in quilt form, a book about a giraffe who couldn't dance.  The details are perfect, right down to a bug on a leaf.  All the work is done on her sewing machine.  Ann has permission from the illustrator, and is making the quilt for her grandson.  She did a similar project with a different book for her other grandson.  We got to see several "pages" in progress.  This will be an absolutely stunning quilt.
This was a lovely evening--visiting with friends, delicious refreshments (as always!), and the inspiration that comes from sharing our quilts with others.
See you at our next meeting, on May 18th!

Friendship Star

There are many occasions when we share our friendship with each other.  Most of these are happy times.  Our friendship is most important, however, when our friends really need us.
Sometimes we just need to show that we care.  We can't take away the pain a friend is feeling, but we can let them know that we are thinking of them and praying for them. 
Making a quilt is a small thing we can do.  It takes small scraps of fabric and time. But when we put our blocks together, we can wrap our friend in warmth and love.

Today we're making Friendship Star blocks that finish 6 in. square.  Our colors are blue and white.  Choose whatever blues and whites you like.

To make one block, you will need:
1    2.5 in. square in blue
4    2.5 in. white squares
4    half square triangles that measure 2.5 in unfinished (2 in. finished).

To make the half square triangles:

Cut 2 squares of white fabric 2 7/8 in. square
Cut 2 squares of blue fabric 2 7/8 in. square.

Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the white squares. 

Place each white square right sides together with a blue squares, and sew 1/4 in. on either side of the drawn line.  Cut on the diagonal line.  Each pair will make 2 half square triangles, for a total of 4.

You could also use the Easy Angle ruler to make the half square triangles, or any other method that works for you.

Once you have the half square triangles made, assemble the block like this.  The hardest thing for me is always placing the triangles correctly.

Here are two of them, ready to go.  I used a different fabric for the centers than I used for the half square triangles, but you could use the same fabric.  One of the best things about a scrap quilt, in my opinion, is the variety of fabrics used.

We are collecting these blocks at our next meeting, on Wednesday, April 20. 

Thank you for participating.

February Show and Tell

We have such a good time at our meetings! 
Show and tell is a favorite time for most of us.  We get to share what we've been working on (with people who really understand what we're doing!), and we get inspiration from everyone else's work.
Here are some of the photos from February's meeting.
I didn't write down who made what!  I am an absolute failure as a paparazzi.  If I can tell from the photo or if I happen to remember, I'll tell you who made each item.

This is Sherri L's log cabin.  That's Sherri in the first photo.

This fabulous scrap quilt was made by Nellie.

Beautiful warm stars.  Not flannel, just rich deep colors.

Lovely, professional-quality purse.

Red, white, and black sampler quilt.  The gray and white triangles make an optical illusion.  I can't stop looking at it!

Wow!  I was so mesmerized, I forgot to turn this picture the right way!  I think that's Mary M. under there.  I need to make this pattern.  Where's my graph paper?

Louanne is like me, she talks with her hands!  Check out the amazing quilt.

Here's more of it.  Stunning.

Here's another one of Louanne's gorgeous quilts.  These two now hang over the banister in her new home.

Helen made this one for charity, from her scraps.  She says she chose the colors she didn't really like, and was very surprised when the quilt turned out so nicely.  (I'm not surprised!)

Last but not least is this fantastic scrap quilt by Laverne!  I couldn't even get it all in one picture.  The outer border is 3 squares deep, and all scraps.
Great job, everyone!
Next month's meeting is March 16th.  What will you bring to show and tell?
Keep stitching!