2014-2015 Officers

Co-Presidents: Mary Colley and Pat Dwinell President-Elect: Chris Langone 1st VP (Member ed.): Linda Zacker 2nd VP (Membership): Linda Murray Secretary: Kathy Burkes Treasurer: Terri Bear

Committee Chairs Bee Keeper: Mary Ann Cox Challenges: Barbara Redman Community Service: Sue Brassard and Diane Klonowski Door Prizes: Deb Henderson Fundraising: Bobbie Monk Show and Tell: Bobbie Monk Internet: Charles Nicolosi Library: Jodie Seila and Madeline Hawley Publicity: Denise Stanchek Social: Brenda Richardson and Barbara Flick Sunshine: Pat Schroder Quilt Show: Frances Arnold Newsletter: Nupur Kittur

Cotton Patch Quilters, PO Box 49511, Athens, GA 30604 Email: info@cpquilters.org

Website: http://www.cpquilters.org

Cotton Patch Dispatch

CPQ Calendar August 12, 2014 Lecture by Cheryl Almgren Taylor “Through the Year” August 13, 2014 Workshop by Cheryl Almgren Taylor “Wrapped up in Ribbons” September 9, 2014 Lecture by Gyleen Fitzgerald “The Shape of Things to Come” September 10, 2014 Workshop by Gyleen Fitzgerald “Star Struck” October 14, 2014 Orientation 101-102 October 28, 2014, 7 PM CPQ Board Meeting (members are welcome to attend) November 4-7, 2014 Cotton Patch Annual Retreat November 8, 2014 Workshop by Patti Hempen “Free Form Symmetry” November 11, 2014 Lecture by Patti Hempen “Serendipity…An Evening with Patti” March 6, 7 & 8, 2015 A Journey in Quilts -2015 CPQ Quilt Show

Message from the Presidents

We think we got off to a good start at last month’s meeting. Everyone seemed to have fun and were enthusiastic. After our program we should all know what gadgets to buy and which ones to leave in the store. This month’s program and workshop by Cheryl Almgren Taylor look like they will be interesting. Be sure to check out the information that is in the newsletter and also the web site. We would like to say thank you to several people: Kelly Paul for making our meeting signs, Fay Rawls for making our program bookmarks, and Phyllis Rother for hosting last month’s speaker and his wife. We would like to encourage you to participate in guild activities, such as bees (contact Mary Ann Cox), workshops (contact Phyllis Rother) and retreats (contact Joan Garland). See you at the meeting August 12th and enjoy the rest of the summer. ~ Pat Dwinell and Mary Colley

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Programs and Workshops Coming Up!

AUGUST: In this month’s meeting on Tuesday, Aug 12 at 7 PM, Cheryl Almgren Taylor will give a lecture titled “Through the Year” which shows holiday and seasonal quilts and includes lots of Christmas projects. The following day, Wed, Aug 13, she will lead a workshop “Wrapped up in Ribbons” to create a festive birthday (pictured above) or Christmas (pictured below) themed table runner.

The supply list is here on our website: http://www.cpquilters.org/august-workshop-cheryl-almgrens-wrapped-up-in-ribbons/ More about Cheryl Almgren Taylor: http://atimetosewquilts.com/

SEPTEMBER: On Tue Sep 9 at 7 PM, Gyleen Fitzgerald will give a lecture titled “The Shape of Things to Come”. Step outside the "square" to evaluate the mechanics of pyramid, diamond and hexagon quilts. It starts with the simplicity and elegance of the one patch and continues with The Polygon Affair. The look can be modern with just the right twist.

The following day, Wed, Sep 10, she will lead a workshop “Star Struck”. One day is all it takes to make a 22” x 80” table or bed runner. Awl struck to star struck, one day can make a difference. You’ll love the butterfly seam technique that makes the piecing effortless.

More about Gyleen Fitzgerald: http://www.colourfulstitches.com/  

To register for either of these workshops, please pay the $25 workshop fee to Linda Zacker. OCTOBER: On October 7, 2014, we have a program with a difference. Orientation 101-102 is all about learning about the guild. Members will learn how to navigate the CPQ website, how to use the library and much more. Plus, we will have tables set up with a make-and-take project where you will be able to use colorful fabric scraps to make holiday cards.

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The guild has a 'sunshine' committee this year. I am chairing the committee and will most

likely handle the correspondence myself. I would like the sunshine effort to not be limited to sad occasions but to include share joys. So if CPQ members learn of a member's illness, a death in the family, a trying circumstance, a birth of a grandchild or child, a special honor earned by a member or a member's family etc. please have them contact me. My address is in the membership list in the members- only section of the website and my e-mail and phone number is below. In other words, I will be glad to send a card or note on behalf of the guild for a reasonable member/family event.

~Pat Schroder 706 206-3645 (cell) 706 227-1416 (home) E-Mail: knitnpurr@yahoo.com

Checking out books: Once the library is reopened, members can check out books on guild night or on Wednesday during the Charity Bee. Members need to return or renew the book in 30 days. There will be a limit of 60 days. When the library reopens we will add another list by Category on the Cotton Patch website. Replenishing our library: Our library books needs updating, but the guild budget supports the purchase of only a limited number of books. If any member has duplicate copies of more recent published books by well-known quilt personalities, and could donate them to the library, it would be extremely helpful. It would be important to check with the librarians to see if the book you wish to donate is needed. If a member, or group of members would like to purchase individually, or as a group, a new book for the library, we will mark the book with the name of the person or persons who made the donation. You could also donate a book in a quilter’s memory. The library will also be very pleased to receive any cash donations that can be applied to the purchase of new books. Any cash donations would be great prior to the quilt show so we can buy books from School House Quilts or other vendors during the show. If you have suggestions of books you would like for the Librarians to purchase, please let us know. We have too many books that were published in the 1980’s that use techniques quilters don’t use anymore. We will consider removing them from the collection. Books of the Month: Our featured books for the month of August from our library are on Appliqué.

   The Bookshelf Block Changes: Our library is undergoing a change. We moved the books from the downstairs location to the Fiber Room. The books are in the cabinets with doors, on the right as you enter the room. At the present time the library is closed. It will reopen by our September meeting. The books are arranged by Category and alphabetical order by Author. All books will be labeled by Category for easy return.

There are other appliqué books in our library to check out. They will be available on the cart for checkout during the August guild meeting. ~Jodie Seila and Madeline Hawley

Appliqué in a Day by Eleanor Burns, 1994. Eleanor Burns teaches her technique on machine appliqué. She writes for the beginner. She shares her designs and shows you how to stitch your appliqué by machine.

 

The Best Ever Appliqué Sampler by Piece of Cake Designs, 2013. Becky Goldsmith teaches her technique for hand appliqué. She gave a workshop for our guild a couple of years ago and donated the book. Her book is for the beginner with good ideas and tips for perfect appliqué.

Website of the Month Sew Mama Sew

This blog features hundreds of free tutorials for everything from quilt blocks to bags and gift items. They also post interesting articles every day; a recent one discussed current quilting trends (the trends are medallion quilts, friendship block swaps, half rectangle triangles and super-sized blocks, in case you’re curious.)

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   COTTON PATCH ANNUAL RETREAT

 

Our guild retreat is coming up. The dates are November 4 thru 7th, Tuesday through Friday. We have room for about 3 more people. The cost of the retreat is $165.00 which includes a private room for 2 with two double beds in each room with a private bath. We will have a total of 10 meals, starting with lunch the first day and ending with lunch the last day. Quilting instructor Patti Hempen will be joining the retreat and will be teaching a workshop at the retreat. Read more about her at http://www.pattihempen.com/ Past retreats have been full of laughter and lots of finished UFO's. We have had tons of fun and camaraderie; it's such a great way to get to know your fellow guild members. Full payments must be made by the end of August to Joan Garland (please pay either at the August meeting or by mailing her a check). Joan’s number is 770-965-7212 and her email is jagarland@bellsouth.net if you have any questions or if you need her mailing address.

Social Committee Thank you to the guild officers as well as others who brought refreshments for the July meeting. Thanks to those who signed up to bring food during the coming meetings. There are a number of slots open for November through May. We will bring the sign-up list to the next meeting or you can email bdrichardson49@gmail.com to sign up. ~ Brenda Richardson and Barbara Flick

Many thanks for the outstanding leadership Terri Bear provided the Bee last year. There was a total of 1301 hours of volunteer work!

This summer the Bee has been very busy, cutting, quilting, making kits and organizing. Recently twenty-seven quilts were delivered to the NICU and the Pediatric sections at Athens Regional Hospital, as well as, fourteen juvenile quilts and nine adult quilts to Project Safe.

Several dog beds were delivered to animal rescue. If you have fabric scraps, please collect them- we can use them for stuffing dog beds.

The Bee is coordinating with the Fiber Arts group to organize the room at the Lyndon House for better usage.

~Diane Klonowski and Sue Brassard 

Community Service

DOOR PRIZE WINNERS for July

Frances Arnold won a red fabric bundle, Chris Langone won a red, white & blue fabric bundle, Chris Reynolds won a BBQ apron kit and Diana Carrillo won a quilting book.

Did you know that along with coordinating the door prizes, Deb Henderson is donating all the door prizes this year?! This means that 100% of proceeds from door prize tickets go directly to the guild. We thank Deb for her generosity.

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(There’s no business like)

Quilt Show Business

QUILT 101 Are you new to the Guild and wonder why everyone is so excited about the upcoming show? Are you interested in getting involved in the show but just don’t know how? Do you have questions about how to enter quilts, what quilts to enter or what is all of this talk about Judging?? If any or all of these questions apply to you, plan to come to "Quilt 101" at 6:00pm on October 14th....just prior to the Guild meeting. We will meet in the Fiber Room at the Lyndon House and hopefully answer all of these questions and any others that you might have. Important dates for the upcoming Quilt Show...... October 14, 2014 (6:00pm - prior to meeting) - Quilt Show 101 January 13, 2015 - Due date for Show entries February 12 (5-8) and 14 (10-1) - Receiving/photography days March 5, 2014 - Show set up (all hands on deck) and Show Opening (5:30pm) March 6, 7 & 8 - Show......ENJOY!! March 10, 2014 - Show Wrap-Up Celebration at guild meeting ~ Frances Arnold

Show Boutique

All guild members are invited to make items for our Boutique. If you are making a small gift for a family member or friend, consider making a few extras for the Boutique. Potholders, luggage tags, and totes are just a few ideas.

Contact Terri Bear if you have questions. bearwalksinbeauty@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

Quilt Events in Nearby Places

2014 Atlanta Quilt Festival @ The Clara Ford Foundation July 27 – August 9, 2014 http://clarafordfoundation.org/2013-atlanta-quilt-festival/ Georgia Quilt Show Sept. 11 & 12, 2014 http://www.sewingexpo.com/GeorgiaQuiltShow.aspx Festival of Quilts in Seneca, SC, Sept. 19 & 20, 2014 http://www.lmqg.org/quiltshow.html Quiltfest of Jacksonville, FL September 25 - 27, 2014 http://www.quiltfestjax.com/ Georgia National Fair Quilt Show, October 2-14, 2014 http://www.georgianationalfair.com Chattahoochee Evening Stars Stars ‘n’ Stitches Quilt Show October 4-5, 2014 http://cesquiltguild.com/ Etowah Valley Quilt Guild Love of Quilts 2014 Show October 17-19, 2014 Cartersville, GA Civic Center

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Due to the responses from the recent guild survey, the “Bees” (interest groups) that we are going to try and start are listed below. Also listed below are “Bees” that are already active. There will be separate sign-up sheets available at the August guild meeting for those interested in being involved with one or more of these groups.

UFO (Unfinished Objects) Afternoon Bee- leader and location to be determined.

MORNING TRAVELING BEE to visit quilt shops, quilt shows etc.- leader and location to be determined.

HANDWORK BEE-to include, but not limited to applique, redwork, hand-quilting....-leader and location to be determined. Separate bees may form depending on areas of interest.

AFTERNOON BEADING BEE-leader and location to be determined.

ART QUILT BEE- leader and location to be determined. Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting January/February 2013 magazine page 59 defines art quilts as quilts that are usually hung rather than used on a bed and incorporate a range of fabric manipulation techniques and use a variety of mixed media including paint.

MODERN QUILT BEE-leader and location to be determined. Again referring to the same issue of Fons & Porter, page 60, “Trademarks of a modern quilt include on-trend colors, improvisational piecing, and minimalist design. Modern quilters tend to create their own rules... focusing on personal standards of workmanship.”

NIGHT OWLS to meet at Denise Stanchek’s * home the first Monday of each month at 6:30 PM.

MONDAY MADNESS to meet at Judy Caputi’s* home the second and fourth Monday of each month beginning at 10:00 AM.

WOOL APPLIQUE BEE will be meeting at the Lyndon House in the Fiber Arts Room. This Bee will be led by Sherry Paul* and will meet the 4th Thursday of each month beginning at 1:00. Please come join the fun, learn a new technique, work on a project you’ve already started, begin one you are interested in starting OR just come see what’s happening.

STITCH AND BITCH will also be meeting at the Lyndon House in the Fiber Arts Room on the first Saturday of each month (unless there is a home football game) from 10:00-3:00. This group is being led by Mary Grider*. Bring a project you are working on and join the fun.

CHARITY BEE- meets at Lyndon House Arts Center every Wednesday from around 9:30 AM to noon. Contact Sue Bressard* or Diane Klonowski* to be added to the charity bee e-mail list, or just show up and participate.

Remember that a time, date and location cannot be given for the Bees that do not have a leader. If you are interested in getting one of these Bees started, please call Mary Ann Cox at 706-353-1406 (mabcox@charter.net) or come to the Bee sign up table at the August guild meeting to let your interest be known.

~Mary Ann Cox, Bee Keeper

*Check our directory on the Member’s-Only section of our website for phone number and home address.

BEES

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~ Barbara Redman

The first challenge for this year is to do a stained glass type of quilt. In stained glass windows, panes of colored glass are held together by glazing; in stained glass window quilts, the same effect is achieved by bias tape (usually black or gray) in place of the glazing. Almost any quilt could be done as a stained glass quilt, by sewing bias tape over the seams (which as it happens will hide mismatched corners), but designs with curved lines (whether pieced or appliquéd) can make particular use of this technique because it is possible for the bias tape to cover the raw edge of the curve without the need to sew curved seams.

Aside from religious themes, the most common types of stained glass designs include floral (such as some of the Tiffany stained glass), giant dahlia (think rose window), and Celtic, but plenty of art nouveau, landscape, mosaic, and oriental designs have also been published. If you have a certain quilt you’ve always wanted to do but couldn’t face the piecing, this may be your chance!

Suggested resources:

There are a LOT of free patterns available on the internet. Try www.freepatternsforstainedglass.com. For Celtic patterns, Philomena Durcan has a series of books, especially Celtic Spirals, which may give

ideas as well as instructions for laying bias tape. Dover Publications has a few books devoted to stained glass patterns.

Tips (from me):

If you want to recreate the effect of stained glass windows, I’d suggest jewel tone solids.

Try not to pick a pattern with a lot of lines meeting at one point (usually the center). You are likely to end up with a small mountain of bias tape as the strips overlap each other, creating a raised lump.

You really do need to lay the entire quilt top out (aside from the bias) before you start sewing; for one thing, to make sure your fabrics work together, and for another, to be able to plan how your bias strips will be laid out and in what order you should affix them.

The ends of pieces of bias tape have to go under whatever bias they are intersecting, so that the junction is hidden. (Don’t permanently affix tape until whatever has to go under it has been laid.) A given piece of bias tape has to be long enough for its segment; if it isn’t, you have to cut a new longer strip and recycle the short one for something else. So lay the longer pieces first, to avoid waste.

You can’t have bias strips ending in nowhere land, unless it’s the edge of the quilt which will be covered by binding. Think about how a window is held together. You can have your tape turn sharp corners, in which case you have to miter the tape. If the corner forms an angle of less than 90 degrees, you’re going to have to trim the underside of the miter so it doesn’t show or present too much bulk. Actually, it’s best just to plan your design without such acute angles.

You can, of course, make your own bias tape, but it is a lot less trouble to use a roll of Clover Quick Bias Fusible Tape, which in 11-yard rolls can be found at www.anniescatalog.com. While the adhesive can’t be trusted to last very long, it will at least hold its shape when ironed so that with assistance from a few pins you can then sew it down. You can reposition this tape if you lift it while still warm from the iron. Another option is to buy ordinary bias tape and trim the width to the desired thickness, press the new raw edge under, then pin and sew. With wider bias, you have more room for error in its placement, but you will also have more trouble turning corners and following along curves. I’d recommend bias not less than 1/8” and not more than ¼” wide. One further

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way you could do such a quilt is to incorporate extra pattern pieces, representing the glazing, into the sewing of your top – but I suspect that this will be a lot harder than using bias tape over the seams.

Although the bias tape can cover the raw edge of appliqué, I think it best to sew the appliqué pieces together as much as possible, then lay the bias tape over the seam – all the more so if you are using very narrow bias. Alternatively, you could fuse the pieces to a background before laying the tape. If you fuse, I’d recommend a very slight overlap of the pieces so you have only one raw edge to worry about hiding. And if you must lay the tape over a raw edge, BE SURE to sew first the edge of the bias which is next to the appliqué fabric with the raw edge, to be certain the appliqué will hold. Then sew the outside edge of the bias (and not before you insert any bias coming to meet it). I’ve had too much trouble with appliqué fabric working out from under the bias tape, no matter how carefully I thought I had stitched it.

It may save you some work if you are able to sew only the inside edges of the bias tape while assembling the top, and sew the outside edges in the course of quilting. You probably would want to quilt along the tape lines anyway, and this could save a step. But it does require some preplanning.

There is no size restriction on this challenge, but unless you are either planning a very intricate design or intending for people to view it from a distance I would recommend keeping it fairly small. Large pieces of the same fabric (especially if solid) can become monotonous, and this is a situation in which it’s the design rather than the fabric which you want to feature. (But pieces which are very small can be a real pain to work with, and they do need to be large enough so that after the bias is applied they can still be visible. If your chosen design has some very small pieces, consider either enlarging the intended quilt size or consolidating these tiny pieces with their neighbors.)

This challenge is due at the December meeting.

Amazon Smiles If you shop at Amazon.com there is a very easy way to donate to CPQ and it costs you nothing! Amazon.com has a program named Amazon Smiles, where .05% of every purchase goes to a 501c charity that you designate. Small amounts can add up and help CPQ! Basically, when you want to shop at Amazon, go to http://smiles.amazon.com, instead of the regular http://www.amazon.com website. You will be asked to designate a 501c charity and from that point on every purchase you make will donate a little money to CPQ- it's as easy as that! You can even pass this information along to your friends and family, because a little extra money in the budget could go a long way!

- Charles Nicolosi

Like CPQ on Facebook & share posts with your friends!

https://www.facebook.com/CPQAthensGA

Amanda Whitsel has the following for sale:

Soy wax for sale $5 a pound Many colors of 108" wide quilt backing; $10/3 yards,

9$/6 yards of the same color

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“It took forever” by Pat Dwinell

Around 1972 a woman moved into my neighborhood who was from “Appalachia”. Naturally I asked her if she knew how to quilt. She readily agreed and had all the equipment — in those days, newspaper and scissors. But she did have a very large quilting frame in her basement where we met periodically to cut pieces for a Bow-tie quilt out of fabric scraps from my daughters’ homemade clothes. It took forever! All the stitches were done by hand and also, of course, the quilting. I swore I would never make another quilt. It was 30 years before I gave it another try.

“Every Quilt Needs Some Yellow” by Jodie Seila

I grew up around quilts. My Granny, Mother and Aunts made quilts and I always wanted to make one. When I was pregnant with my daughter Amy, in February 1976, my husband’s Granny gave me some fabric to start my first quilt. She told me that every quilt needed some yellow to represent the sunshine. She directed me thru the process of hand piecing my quilt. Sewing machines were not allowed. There were no rotary cutters, cutting boards, or acrylic rulers. I used sandpaper patterns to make the squares and cut each square with a pair of Wiss scissors Andy gave me for Christmas the first year we were married. I was so excited about learning to quilt. The fabric that Granny Lee gave me was old and musty. By the time I finished making the quilt top, I had asthma and many allergy problems with my pregnancy. There was no way I could work on my musty quilt! I decided before I quilted it, I would have to wash it to get the mold and mildew out of the fabric. So like any inexperienced quilter, I washed it in the washing machine. When I opened the washer, I pulled out my hand pieced quilt in pieces. I couldn’t believe what I had done. It was in shreds.

Piece of Mind Mini essays by the Cotton Patch Quilters

This month’s topic is “My First Quilt”

I said to myself. I am giving up on this hand piecing and got out my old trusty Singer sewing machine and pieced my quilt back together. There was no way to square it up so I trimmed the ragged seams up with my scissors as I pieced it back together. You wouldn’t believe how crooked the seams were. Granny Lee was very disappointed with me because I didn’t hand piece it back together. Using a sewing machine just wasn’t the way to sew a quilt together! I followed Granny Lee’s instructions on how to put a quilt on a wooden quilt frame. She taught me how to hand quilt and told me to practice wearing my thimble. I used a cake pan, a plate, and a saucer, to draw the circles around my blocks. The borders were hand quilted in an old fashioned fan drawn with a pencil and string. Granny said to form a quilting bee with my friends. We found out how much fun it was to gossip, sew, and plan other quilts around the frame. I continued to quilt around a frame for many years.

I had Amy in November, 1976, we moved to New Jersey in late August. I was away from my parents for the first time in my life that Christmas. They were very special to me and I wanted to do something for them for Christmas. So I decided to wrap up my precious first quilt and give it to them for Christmas. I mailed it to North Carolina wanting so much to see my mother open her gift. I had a phone call Christmas Day, with my mother in tears. She knew I had parted with something very dear to me. I think it was the best gift I ever gave her and the best hobby I ever started!

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 Perfectly Imperfect by Frances Arnold

When I was expecting my first child in 1985, there was a friend whose due date was only a couple of weeks ahead of mine and I decided that I wanted to make her something special....a quilt. Now at this point, I had not attended any formal quilt classes, but after all, I had watched my Mom do it and I KNEW what to do. My first job was to decide on a pattern and I quickly found one that I had clipped from a magazine many years earlier. It was a duck wearing galoshes and holding an umbrella. The second step was to make the applique pieces. I did this by drawing the pieces onto the fabrics and cutting them out, leaving a ½ inch allowance and then hand basting the folded edges to give the pieces a finished appearance. I was now ready to attach the applique, but decided to do it by machine rather than by hand, so I pinned it onto the background fabric and layered the top and bottom with a thick polyester batting. I then set my machine on zig-zag and proceeded to sew happily around the applique pieces Of course, the result on the back was disastrous as there were tucks, folds and lots of wrinkles. However, the front looked ok. I didn’t put any other quilting on the background fabric, but just left it loose......any judge would have had a heart attack.

A Bicentennial Quilt by Marlena Deck When my husband was stationed in Greece in the military I went with him. I had gone to some quilting classes for the wives that were in the area and decided it was time for me to make a bicentennial quilt. I got red, blue and white fabric and some gold material that I used for the corner squares of a nine-patch pattern known as "reversing windows". It was a simple pattern that I felt I could do and I quickly finished the top. On the 4th of July of 1975 I had a "Signing" ceremony of the corner squares with our sons, Bob and myself. We signed the gold corners with a sharpie pen, my grandmother helped me quilt the top when we came home and then it was finished by the ladies of the guilt group in Warner Robins. One lady reassured me that she could hide any mistakes when she did the final sewing. The quilt shows it has had some years of wear, but I keep it in my room so I see it each day. One of my ancestors signed the Declaration of Independence so I know that freedom is not free. His wife was killed because she refused to tell where he was or leave to escape the danger but leave their farm to be destroyed. She had sent the children to safety and so the family survived even though she did not. I do not know if she did any quilting, but some of her daughters and granddaughters have been quilters.

I proudly gave the finished quilt to baby Sarah although I knew in my heart that my technique wasn’t so wonderful. However, the quality of my work was pushed to the back burner the night that I saw Sarah being brought into a friend’s home with my quilt wrapped around her to keep her warm. That simple sight brought my quilting experience into focus. Well, 29 years have now passed and I am still quilting, but I am always drawn back to the picture in my mind of Sarah being kept warm by my very imperfect and un-professional quilt, and that is good enough for me.

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“A Little Bit of a Miracle” by Madeline Hawley

My first quilt was made from every blue fabric I could lay my hands on: sewing scraps from friends and family; a white dress of mine with blue machine embroidery; blends of poly-cotton prints from Minnesota Fabrics. The main fabric was a blue solid with more poly than cotton.

When I moved to Atlanta in the mid-seventies, I joined New Neighbor’s League. That group had sub-groups, one of which was a little group of quilters led by a woman named Polly, who moved from Alabama. She was the only one of us with any knowledge at all about quilting. She encouraged us.

I wanted a Dresden Plate quilt. I began by cutting eleven inch squares of blue for backgrounds. From an old soap powder box, I made a template for the plate.

After cutting out assorted prints, using the template, I started stitching them together, with my size 7-between needle, just like my Grandmother had used. I kept stitching, spreading them out occasionally to see if they would lie flat, and they didn’t, so I stitched on. When I finally had a circle that appeared flat, I spread it out and was shocked to find the squares were much smaller than the circles. Four of them stitched together did the trick, though it was necessary to make another run to Minnesota Fabrics for more blue solid fabric.

Eventually, there were equal numbers of print circles and squares of blue for a double-bed quilt, and that’s when I realized the circles had to be stitched onto the squares. This was my introduction to self-taught applique. Polly had not offered any help in the mysteries of quiltmaking, but she did provide some excellent desserts. We gathered once a month to stitch our quilts.

Most of my quilt questions were answered during long-distance phone calls to my Mother. She included in a letter, a little square of paper towel folded into a prairie point, with directions on how to apply them to the edge of the quilt. I made prairie points of blue-checked gingham for the edge.

That quilt, with its enormous print circles that have no kinship with a Dresden Plate, is folded today across the end of a bed in my guestroom. That blue poly-cotton background is just as blue as the day I put in the first stitches. There is a minimum of quilting on that quilt, all done by hand, and the quilting is not a quarter inch away from the seams. For someone who had no clue on how to make a quilt, it seems a little bit of a miracle that it held up all these years, and I feel rather fond of it.

   

I invite you to submit articles and news items to the CPQ newsletter. Suggestions and comments are always welcome. I truly enjoyed reading the “first quilt” stories submitted this month. (Especially the ones about disasters; as a new quilter, they give me hope.) We’re at the end of summer, the season of holidays and vacations. So in the style of “What I did this summer” essays, the topic for next month’s mini essay (300 words or less, even a short paragraph will do) is “The Trip that Inspired a Quilt”. Tell us a story about a memorable vacation or a place that you visited and how it inspired you to make a special quilt or use certain colors/techniques in your quilting. I don’t get out much, so please humor me and tell me about your travels to places near and far! All submissions to the September newsletter are due on August 30th; please e-mail them to me at nupur.kittur@gmail.com ~ Nupur 11

 

 

 

The Financial Section

Part I Annual Audit

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2014-2015 Approved Budget Proposed Income: Member dues 2000 100 members @ $20.00 Member Education 1700 Money Market 3150 Total 6850 Proposed Budget: Challenges 50 Community Service 750 CPA 0 member donation Door Prizes 0 member donation Fall retreat 0 self sufficient Fund Raising 0 self sufficient Internet & Historian 50 plus member donation Library 100 Member Education 5000 Membership 150 Newsletter 50 President 175 President Elect 0 discontinue practice Publicity 50 Social 300 Sunshine 25 Treasurer 150 Total 6850 In addition, the Mary Ann Ware Fund is designated to be divided equally between Community Service and Member Education. It is approximately $1500. Approved July 8, 2014  

 

The Financial Section

Part II Annual Budget

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Date June 1-30, 2014 CHECKING ACCOUNT (operating budget + non-operating funds) Beginning Balance 6.1.14 $1805.99 CREDITS: Donations Non-operating Budget Funds (Ware Memorial) $ 890.00 Money Market (deposit into checking acct) 1088.99 TOTAL CREDITS $ 1978.99 DEBITS: Community Service (Charity Bee supplies) $355.50 Member Education (postage: return materials, program cancelled)" " 15.85 Newsletter (printer ink, paper, envelopes) 15.00 Social (June covered dish supplies) 100.46 Treasurer (Book Stamps: (1)York, (1)Bear) 19.60 TOTAL DEBITS 506.41 Ending Balance 6.30.14 $3278.57 Bank Balance $3278.57 less total Ware donations (1500.00) non-operating funds less total Retreat funds" (1778.57) non-operating funds total operating funds" -0- MONEY MARKET ACCOUNT Beginning Balance 6.1.30 $7534.27 Credits -0- Interest 0.64 Debits (1088.99) Ending Balance 6.30.14 $6445.92 Treasurerʼs Report/Terri Bear CPQ Monthly Report

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The Financial Section

Part III Monthly Treasurer’s Report

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See you at the next guild meeting!

Tuesday, August 12th 2014

At the Lyndon House Arts Center

Cheryl Almgren Taylor’s Lecture starts at 7 PM

Refreshments and socializing at 6:30 PM

Please remember to bring

1. Your $20 dues for the coming year (cash or checks) if you haven’t paid them yet

2. Your name tag (There is a 25 cent charge if you forget your name tag!)

3. Your show and tell

Please be on the lookout for several sign-up sheets:

1. To sign in as a member

2. To sign up to bring refreshments for future meetings

3. To buy tickets for door prizes

4. To register for the September workshop

5. For different bee groups

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2014-2015 Cotton Patch Quilters Membership Form

Annual Dues $20.00

Name: ____________________________________________________ Address: __________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Birthdate (M/D): ____________________________________________ Phone: ____________________________________________________ Email: ____________________________________________________ NOTE: The Cotton Patch Newsletter is available via the website at www.cpquilters.org. You may submit this completed form and $20.00 annual membership dues at the regular Cotton Patch Quilters guild meeting or mail (do not send cash if remitting via U.S. mail) to:

Linda Murray, Membership Chair Cotton Patch Quilters

P.O. Box 49511 Athens, GA 30604