Happy Easter Calico Quilters

First allow me to wish you a wonderful Easter full of the Lord's blessings. It is a joyous day for me, to celebrate the resurrection of my Lord and Savior, I am truly thankful for His many blessings in my life.

Well the first round robins have been passed on and I can hear all the creative juices and ideas starting to stir. The first 9-patch variation exchanges have been handed out and they were beautiful. I hear comments like "I love that one", "oh that gives me an idea" "I am totally inspired now……. It is so exciting to hear and I look forward to seeing all the news items. I personally played it safe this time; I am just doing the 9-patch variation and the Surprise Round Robin. Between the samples for the shop and really trying to get my UFO's done .. that is more than enough for me. I must say that it is motivation to be part of the UFO's Club, although I have ran into a couple that I am not quite sure why I ever purchased that fabric, which means I may not finish it.

A huge gigantic THANK YOU to Nela and Jan for all their hard work on our Quiltalk for so long, thank you keeping us informed and for all your hard work. Jan has passed the Quiltalk over to Meagan Duffy, and I am personally excited to see what she has in store for us. Thank you Meagan for taking on this job. And of course Jan is busy starting to work on the Quilt Show and all of us are excited about it, Jan always brings her special talent to our show and we are so lucky to have her.

On a personal note, I am feeling old tonight, Ted and Laurie my youngest have turned 18 and both also received their driver's licenses. Where did that time go, I will let you know ahead of time when they are on the road. HAHA (I love you Ted and Lauren HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY)

Have a wonderful month, enjoy the longer days..More time to quilt!!

Remember you can never have too much fabric or too many bears…..

President, Calico Quilters,

Two and a half months until the quilt show! Are you working on your wonderful quilts yet? Because the entry forms are due April 14th. You can download a copy at the website, just click right here. The file is a little big so it may take a bit to download.

If you need help getting a photo of your entry just give me a call and you can bring it over to Nela's and we will snap a picture for you.

There is a committee meeting March 18th so don't forget.

Thanks!

~Jan, Quilt Show Chair

I was asked if I could give another workshop on beaded embellishments and if it was possible to be on April 5th. I checked my work schedule first to see if I would be available on that date and unfortunately I have to work on that date.

Here are a few other dates and times that might work,

• April 10th at 6:30pm (Thursday night),
• April 12th at 10am-2pm(Saturday),
• April 19th at 10am-2pm(Saturday) and
• April 26th at 10am-2pm(Saturday).

How do these dates work out for everyone? Please let me know what works for you and I will set up a date with Highlands.

Looking forward to giving another embellishments workshop. I do enjoy the art of crazy quilting! Speaking of crazy quilting, here are a couple of other fun sites to visit on the web. Exceedingly Curious www.jfingalls.com. This site has embroidery patterns that are copyright free. These patterns date back to 1886. I also joined Crazy Quilting Magazine online (www.CQMagOnline.com) and its free. I like things that are free!

~Desi

  Welcome to Betty McShane, we are so glad that you made it to our meeting. We had a full and fun meeting, lots going on. Marge Walker handed out the nicest block pattern for us to make this month. In red, white and blue, she is hoping the winner will make a QOV out of the blocks. Betty McCloud was the winner of the HEART blocks and there were was really cute ones. Next month's pattern will come from Marilee Knight. Thank you Marge.

Marty Voght proposed that we get together a workshop that would show us different ways to put a panel together; we are all looking forward to that.

See you Tuesday,
~Margi

Just a reminder to bring your exchanges, if you are unable to make the meeting, you are welcome to drop them off with me at QITS.

ALSO, please remember that we are still collecting blocks for QOVS, you are welcome to make 9-patch variation blocks in red, white and blue for QOV's whether or not you are participating in the exchange. Keep those blocks coming.

~Margi

 On Saturday, March 8 a whole bunch of Calico Quilters, 25 to be exact met over at Highlands for a special class given by Barri who owns Sierra Cottons and Wools.

And it is the group's general consensus that IT WAS A BLAST!! If you have not yet made it up to June Lake and visited her store and met Barri…thank you are missing out on a very special thing. Not only is the shop adorable, and full of things that we can not live without, the nicest experience awaits you when you meet Barri. She is a soft spoken, talented and fun lady.

And we were treated to a class that lasted from 10-3pm. She shared her candle mat patterns with us and even designed one especially for Bishop. Full of Iris'. Those of us fell in love with the technique and patterns, managed to buy a couple of the other kits she brought to share.

Thank you to all of you who made it to the class, and if you have finished your project bring it to either the Day Lilies or the Nite Owls meeting.

~Margi

Just a quick reminder, that I have QOV quilt labels, just let me know when you need some. I have 8 quilts ready now to ship out I am waiting on destinations from the Foundation. Thank you for your dedication to this task. I collect quilts every month from at least one of you if not more, and Calico Quilter's are always stopping by the shop with yet another QOV that they have completed. Let us not tire of this work we have placed before us. It is a good thing and an honor to give back a little of comfort and home to our wounded soldiers. Especially after they have given so much.

As the foundation founder always says.. Still at war ..still quilting.
~Margi

May 24,
Sat

May 25,
Sun

May 27,
Tue

Just a reminder that our first drawing will be at the next meeting. If you bring in a finished item, that you have previously shown us and entered into the UFO Club, then you can still add your name this month, the first drawing will be at the Nite Owls Meeting.

Please know that the tickets are not divided between meetings, all are put into the same can. Get busy….

~Margi

Kay asked me to send along an update to the Opportunity Quilt for 2009.

"We have been collecting blocks, both filler ones and also the appliquéd ones and they are incredible. Thank you so much for your hard work. Stacy and I will be getting together to put it all together. I am sure that you will be so pleased when you see it."

You have done it again, Calico Quilters, a task is placed before you and your rise to the occasion with such talent and dedication. I know I speak for the guild, when I say that I can not wait to see it.

Thank you Kay and Stacy…

~Margi, Opportunity Quilt Chair

No, this is not a typo…I meant to draw your attention to the next op quilt that will be raffled off at the Quilt Show in 2010.

Our goal is to always have the following quilt up and ready to go by the time the present one is raffled off. The Doll Show and the Quilt Show always allows us some good early exposure.

So, put on your thinking cap, what should be our next theme for the 2010 op quilt? I am also looking for someone to chair this committee. Now please do not stop reading this article yet. The Chairperson is mainly the organizer of the quilt, making sure everyone is informed of the theme, handing out any materials, collecting the blocks or items that the guild members contribute, making sure that the quilt is assembled and quilted.

Yea, I know that it sounds like a lot, but remember you can do much of it during guild, or in a workshop, or think about forming a committee. I remember the time that Margaret asked me to do it. I was excited but scared too. I presented the idea and the guild ran with it, and we had the beautiful Advent Calendar Quilt.

So you see, you can do this.
Let me know if you have any ideas, and would like to step up and be chair. Thank you,
~Margi

• Congrats to Katie Poole on winning the door prize at the Night Owl meeting! She won a great thread and sewing supply organizer container. Don't forget to bring the next prize.
• Round Robins. Well, the Round Robins are off and running! Just remember, that if you can't make it to the meetings with your round robin, please make sure that you designate another person to bring it and receive it for you. Lets keep things going smoothly! Have fun everyone!

Workshop with Marty Voght - 6:30pm at Highlands.

Let's Face It! You do not always want a visible binding on a quilt, particularly a wall quilt designed with a framing border. Marty will show you how to put all that binding on the back, and it's really easy!

You will need a quilt or wall hanging that is ready for binding. It should be at least 18 inches on every side to use this technique. If you don't have anything ready for binding, cut, layer, and machine quilt an 18 inch square. This would be a good use for one of those pre-printed panels you bought back in 1991. DO NOT TRIM THE BACKING AND BATTING FLUSH WITH THE TOP. We'll do this in the workshop.

The fabric for your facing should be lightweight cotton that matches in color the last border of your quilt, or the predominate color in your final border.

Before coming to the workshop, cut strips of your facing fabric 1 5/8 in. wide across the width of the fabric. Cut enough length to just about go around your quilt.

Using this facing method, you will actually need a little less binding than the measurement around your quilt. Bring 1/4 yard of your backing fabric for the corner pieces.

You will need:

• Rotary cutting equipment, with a board big enough to trim the edge of your quilt. You might want to share this with someone else, so we don't have too many huge boards around.
• Sewing machine and a lamp to illuminate your work. An extra extension might be a good idea.
• Basic sewing supplies, including scissors to cut paper, equipment for hand sewing, and a good seam ripper. Picking out seams is part of this process. NO KIDDING.
• Thread to match your facing fabric (This is important.)

If you have any questions, call Marty 873-3055, or e-mail mlvoght@schat.com