SSQG Meeting Minutes - February 19, 2015
- President/Call
to order (Pam T.) – 6:36pm
- Sign
In, Welcome to Members and Guests – 16 Members attended
- Reading
of the minutes and motion to accept –
a) Motion
made by: Sharon Holder
b) Motion
seconded by: Betty Braud
c) Accepted
by membership? - yes
- Reports of officers
and committees
a) Treasurer’s
report (Elsie H.)–
i. Beginning
Balance: $1,007.00
ii. Deposits: $156.00
iii. Expenditures: none posted
iv. Ending
Balance: $1,163.00
v. Motion to
accept:
1. Motion
made by: Karol Guidry
2. Motion
seconded by: Becky Fincher
3. Accepted
by membership? - yes
b) Secretary/Blog
site (Valerie V.) – Posts are added as they occur. If anyone has a link, information, picture,
etc they would like posted, please let Valerie know.
c) Historian
(Marilyn H.) – a few pictures from the Giving Quilt Bear Stuffing table have
been posted to the blog site. Marilyn is
now determining the best way to post large numbers of pics, whether direct to
the site or via link to a photo album site.
She also took lots of pics of the evening’s activities and will post
those soon.
d) Unfinished
Projects (UFOs – Kathy S.) – Kathy has volunteered to oversee the UFO challenge
and has set up a Treasure Box
system. As members complete their UFO,
please bring it to the meeting for show and tell. The member will then get to pick a “treasure”
from Kathy’s box. The treasures run the
gamut from fabric to notions to CHOCOLATE.
If you have any items to donate to the Treasure Box, please let Kathy
know. Many thanks to Kathy for taking on
this task and to Jessie Comeaux for her service with this challenge in the
past.
e) Tabs (Betty
B.) – Collects tabs at the meetings. To
test if your tabs are acceptable for donation, you can check them with a
magnet. If they don’t stick, they can be
donated.
f) Door
Prizes (Renee H.) – Renee has set up a system of naming the door prize bags to
give winners a slight idea of what inside.
Winners of this weeks door prizes were Elsie Hamway, Karol Guidry and
Mynan Guidry.
g) Just Do
It (Pam T.) –
i.
All blocks have been finished for the Quilt in a
Box project. Boxes with leftover fabric
were returned to all participants who will be making their 12th block
prior to the March meeting (Please contact Pam with your 12th block
choice so none will be duplicated).
Bring your block to the March meeting, where everyone’s Quilt in a Box
blocks will be revealed and returned.
ii.
We would like to display some Quilt in a Box
projects in the August Quilt show so please allow time to complete your quilts
by then if you want to enter your project in the show.
iii.
New Just Do It challenge – KRAZY QUILTS! Any size from a block to a quilt, or any
project you have in mind. Timeframe TBD.
h) Quilt
Show (SSQG membership) – No volunteers to become chairperson so the show this
year will be a group activity and organized by the entire membership.
i.
Some ideas for display sections:
1.
Quilts of Valor
2.
Quilt in a Box
3.
Charity Quilts
4.
Small “storybook” themed quilts for the children’s
section
5.
Members’ personal quilt projects
ii.
Betty Braud volunteered to be Library liason to
determine show dates.
i) Charity
Quilts/Projects (Merlene L. & Cheryl A.) –
i.
Stuff a Bear at the Giving Quilt show was a huge
success with 135 bears completed and ready for delivery, and many more stuffed.
1.
Discussions were held on the proper construction of
the bears
a.
Please do not trim seams too close or they rip open
when stuffed.
b.
Bears should be stuffed softly as they are used as
pillows for the chemo ports of cancer patients.
c.
Please leave larger opening at bear butt for easier
stuffing
d.
Elsie described her technique for closing bear
butts: leave larger seam allowance (1/2
-1 inch) so that blind ladder stitch can be used to close opening.
ii.
SSQG will continue to donate both bears and quilts
to Cancer Services and Our Lady of the Lake
iii.
Pam issued a goal to the guild to have at least 500
bears completed and donated in 2015.
iv.
Themes and sizes for the charity quilts to be
donated were discussed:
1.
Dancing squares – any quilt that uses squares in
construction
2.
Quilt safari theme – quilts that use animals, bugs,
nature fabric patterns
3.
Any size is accepted by OLL and Cancer Services,
but preferred size is minimum of 50x60 inches for youth through adult quilts. Baby quilts can be smaller and are also
accepted.
v.
Merlene Lewis and Cheryl Armstrong will request and
choose fabric from Wasted Women. They
will look for fabric that can be used for this year’s theme.
- Unfinished
Business –
a) Guild
banner status. Will discuss this topic
at the March meeting.
- New business
a) Pam
presented a list of “Quilter’s Codes”.
These were posted to the blog site
b) Programs
are being scheduled and possible presenters are being solicited from
organizations such as the Rug Hookers guild and CFAL.
c) A road
trip is being planned to All Stitched Up in Slidell. Please let Pam know if you’re interested in
attending. Further details will be
forthcoming.
- Program Report –
a) Mynan
Guidry presented a pattern for an Inverted Star and brought some fabric for
people to make blocks with. If members bring the blocks back to Mynan, she’ll
put them together into a charity quilt.
Valerie will post the pattern on the blog site.
b) Mynan
Guidry also gave a demonstration of machine binding, a much faster method of
attaching a binding than hand stitching one down. Here are some of her tips and tricks:
i.
To start with, the binding should be initially sewn
on the back of the quilt, then folded over to the front (the reverse of a hand
stitched binding).
ii.
If the binding is a 2 ½ inch double fold, then the
stitching should be 3/8 inch from the edge of the quilt (a 2 ¼ inch double fold
should be stitched ¼ inch from the edge). Pressing the binding is optional.
iii.
Match the bobbin thread to the quilt back to blend
in the stitch line on the back. (Also optional).
iv.
Stitch length seems to work best at 2.5
v.
For the initial sewing of the binding to the back
of the quilt, when reaching a corner, stop at 3/8 (or ¼) from the quilt edge,
then stitch diagonally off the corner.
Fold the binding as usual and begin stitching again. This helps with
mitering the corners when the binding is folded over to the front.
vi.
After folding the binding over to the front, the
stitching should be close to the edge of the binding. This should minimize any stitching showing on
the back.
vii.
When a corner is reached, carefully fold the fabric
to miter the corner and catch the edges as you turn, then continue on.
viii.
You can use a decorative stitch along the edge of
the binding instead of a straight stitch.
(Also optional)
ix.
FYI – if your quilt is to be entered into a judged
show, the binding must be hand stitched down.
Machine binding is a disqualification.
- Show
and Tell – members showed off projects, both old and new, and briefly
described their interests. Marilyn
took pictures that will be posted soon.
- Announcements
–..
a)
Quilts of Valor Foundation now has a local
representative – Roxanne Brown (Roxanne.brown@qovf.org). More information on this foundation, along
with information on how to donate a QOV quilt may be found at www.QOVF.org
b)
Next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 19th.
i.
Quilt in a Box blocks will be revealed.
ii.
Please bring a fat quarter for the game
iii.
Valerie Valle will present her method for sorting
scraps and fabric.
- Adjournment
– 8:26pm