Delicate Stitchers Newsletter President: Mary Hofhine 259-5802 Historian: Cyndy Peters 423-366-1778 Vice President Elect: Lou Gostlin 259-1082 Librarian: Shauna Dickerson 259-0906 Secretary: Bonnie Crysdale 259-0246 Friendship: Lou Gostlin 259-1082 Treasurer: Murine Gray 259-5514 Newsletter: Peggy Harty 259-4270 Lesson Committee: Marian Eason (Chair), Lou Gostlin, Pat Garlett, Darleen Nelson, Monica Scowbo, Peggy Harty, Mary Hofhine
Happy New Year!
January 2014
Important Dates Next Meeting: Tuesday, January 14, 2013 January 18: UFO Workshop at Grand Center - Landscape techniques – Marian April – Quilts due for the Museum of Moab Quilt Challenge HMQS – SLC May 8-10
Program for night includes: Book Review: Featuring Paper-piecing books Mini lesson: Principles of Design - Line - Murine Gray Lesson: AccuCut Machine - Crystal Day BRING: $15 Check or cash to renew your membership, your Calendars or day planners so you can put the dates of all our meetings and functions for the year, your show and tell, and your name tags. FOR SHOW AND TELL BRING ANY GREAT QUILTING STUFF YOU GOT FROM SANTA AND OTHER LOVED ONES...
Meeting December 10, 2013 Delicate Stitchers December meeting/Christmas party was held at the Grand Center. President Mary H. called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. There were 14 people present. The weather was cold and snowy, which probably kept several folks away. We had a wonderful potluck dinner. After eating, we did show and tell. Murine was up first with a gorgeous Mexican Star that was a UFO. Then Marian showed some little spoon hooks she bought at the arts and crafts fair. She made a goat apron and a sheep apron to go with the hooks, and put applique goats and sheep on the pockets. They will be for her granddaughter. She also made a quilt for herself, a scrappy stars pattern, and tied it. It was another UFO, and she started it back when Verlynn was still alive. Audrey showed a very nice UFO, # 1 on the list. It is squares in an avocado green, red and tan, and is a full size flannel. The back is pieced. Donna had bags for groceries that she decorated with a maple leaf block on both sides of the bags. Patty showed a casserole cover that Sandy made for her for her birthday—very nice. Mary gave mug rugs to everyone who attended the meeting as a thanks for participating Continued on next page... 1
Pat Marshall – January 4th Patti Jerrell – January 18th
and that we are all unique. Mary received her president’s blocks, 22 of them, that have a yellow background and various colors of maple leafs in the blocks. They will be fun in a quilt. February 21-23 the art quilt guild of Grand Junction would like our guild to do a trunk show at their retreat here in Moab. Marian mailed the dragonfly quilt to Mahnaz’ daughter, who will take it to her in Iran.
doesn’t change the fact that I take great pleasure in quilting, it just means that much of the time, I need to hustle to get quilts done in time for publication. Obviously I had to speed up and learn a different way of doing things. I bought a decent sewing machine and practiced matching points and seams. Along with the sewing machine, came a fine seam ripper. It was and still is my best friend at times. I attended quilt shows and noticed that machine quilters were no longer just making large meandering patterns on quilts. Instead they were doing custom quilting that had elevated machine quilting to an art.
We did our gift exchange, which everyone had a lot of fun with, and there were some very nice gifts! The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Bonnie Crysdale, Secretary
Hmmmm, perhaps I needed to rethink my stance on machine quilting. So I looked and I talked to machine quilters and came to the conclusion that it really didn’t matter how it was quilted, just that it was quilted well and that the person who had made the quilt was happy with the results.
What Kind of Quilter are You?
The technique wasn’t the only aspect about my quilting that has changed over the years. I have also learned to use colors that I previously avoided. When I began, my first choice was red, then purple.
I, Peggy, was perusing the internet musing on quilt stuff – looking for ideas for the newsletter, I think. This happened back in December so I’ve kind of forgotten what took me on this path. I googled, “What kind of quilter are you?” The following is an article that I really enjoyed. I hope you do too.
It bothered my mother that I liked the color purple as much as I did. She would tease me and say she didn’t understand why I would make a “burple” quilt. I got annoyed about her comments and used purple even more.
I belong to a quilting group on facebook and a recent posting by one of the members said that someone at her guild had asked her what kind of quilter she was. She replied that she had only been quilting for a few years and was still trying a bit of everything. There were many comments posted in reply as quilters thought about the issue. Happy, contented, frustrated, traditional, utility, professional, eclectic, art, hand quilter, machine quilter, nostalgic, scrappy, and creative were some of the descriptions quilters applied to themselves. As for me, I’m having trouble with this question. I am not crazy about being put into a box when it comes to quilting. As I look at where I began, what I’ve done along the way, and where I am now, the answer to that question would have changed time and time again. It would depend on when I was asked. And in six months, a year, two years, who knows what the answer might be. Had I been asked this when I first started quilting, I would have replied, “I piece and quilt by hand.” Back then, I thought that was the “proper” way to make a quilt. You can define “proper” as “the only right way” to make a quilt. I especially disliked machine-quilted quilts. At that point in time, many machine quilters were doing pantographs that made a pieced quilt look a great deal like a mattress pad one bought at a department store. No way was that happening to one of my quilts. Then several things happened to open my eyes and my mind to other possibilities. I began writing books and had deadlines. Hitting a deadline changes quilting from a leisurely hobby to a career. Don’t get me wrong, that 2
Then I branched out and started using feedsacks. I thought as soon as I finished the quilt I was making, I would be done with them. But I stayed entranced with that old fabric and the wild variety of prints one could find. I also enjoyed “the hunt” and finding rare sacks and adding them to my collection. I found that by using feedsacks so much, my quilts were all taking on a sameness in appearance. Off I went to the fabric store. I came home with fabrics that were a softer hue. It took some time but eventually I was even bringing home brown fabric, a color I had previously avoided like the plague. So what kind of quilter am I? I hope I am never able to answer that question with any degree of certainty. I just want to be a quilter who continues to grow and learn and who is never satisfied to stay in a rut. If I can do that, I ought to be able to keep playing with scraps of fabric for the rest of my life. After all, quilting keeps me off the streets and out of the bars. That’s not a bad thing, you know. From: http://www.pickledish.com/2012/08/17/what-kind-ofquilter-are-you/ Kansas City Star Quilts