A New Charity Opportunity!

In an effort to have more of a charity sewing component to our guild, we've been talking about ways to a) get more members involved and b) find projects that are relatively inexpensive and quicker to complete than an entire finished quilt.

Darci introduced the idea of working with an amazing charity called Beads of Courage, which is a program that works with seriously ill children who are hospitalized either frequently or long-term (or both) as a way to help support them through their treatments. The children receive beads in different colors and styles for various types of procedures or treatments that they undergo. For example, having blood drawn might be a red glass bead, while an MRI might be a purple clay bead. 

Some sample Beads of Courage

It gives kids something to look forward to at a time when they might not have a lot of brightness in their day, and is a physical display to the rest of the world of their courage.

The children collect their beads on long strings, and unfortunately, often end up with many, many beads. A project called Beads of Courage Bead Bags was started to give the kids a place to store their beads. Crafters from all over the country work either in groups or on their own to make small drawstring bags, they attach a special Beads of Courage label, and then send them either to a local hospital that participates in the program or to the national organization for distribution.

The bags can be made in a variety of styles, (though the organization provides a general pattern), and only need a simple drawstring--no zippers or complicated closures :) They're a great way to use up colorful scraps, or a fun way to showcase novelty prints that you can't resist buying.  The bags are needed for children of all ages, from toddlers up through older teenagers, so there's a wide range of fabrics you can choose from.  Fun, bright fabrics are preferred though.

A quick image search brings up all kinds of examples to give you some inspiration.

We'll be talking over the next few weeks about how best to get this project going in our guild, but the good thing about this type of project is that there are A LOT of ways to be involved. If all goes well, this will likely be a long-term project for our group, so there won't be deadlines or required finish-by dates. Bags will be collected at each meeting and donated every few months.  Darci has ordered labels, so she'll be distributing those to anyone interested, and we'll be posting links to some great bag tutorials.  The bags don't take a lot of time to sew, so you can make one or two when you have some free time. Or you can make a stack of 10 in a couple hours. If you're short on time, but rich in fabric, think about donating FQ's to our guild to be distributed to other members for sewing. We will also be planning a sew-in day for some assembly-line sewing so that we can get many done at once. (Sew-in days with our guild are always fun, so its a chance to do some feel-good sewing while having a great time, and with yummy snacks.) 

September 2016 Meeting Recap

Meeting Date: Thursday, September 22nd 2015

Location: Grandview Library

Time: 6:30-8:30PM

Thanks to everyone for attending our September meeting. 

Beginning in September, attendees will have a chance to win a door prize.  This month's door prize was sponsored by Sunflower Quilts!  They graciously gave one of their awesome thread cutters to us to raffle off.

How do you enter the raffle?  You can enter the raffle multiple ways. 

1 ticket - Wearing your name tag

2 tickets - First time at a meeting

1 ticket - Returning member

1 ticket - Bringing a friend

At the end of the meeting we'll draw the winning ticket.  This month's September winner is Christina!

We also did our Alison Glass fabric swap.  You can read more about fabric swaps here.  Its a great way to get different cuts of fabric.

This month's queen bees were Jennie and Katy.  Katy requested colorful HSTs that will be turned into a fish quilt.

Here's Leigh holding up one of Jennie's economy 9 patch blocks.  

Next month's October queens are Heather and Chris.  Heather decided on a paper pieced exploding pineapple, and Chris chose a house block.  If you did not receive your instructions please contact Leigh or Chris.

Joanna led a discussion on color valuation.  We divided into groups to discuss colors and the important role color plays in our quilts, including saturation, high and low contrast, warm and cool colors, complimentary colors, and black and white combinations.

For our inspiration quilt challenge, here are Leigh's, Heather's and Cassandra's entries.

They each won a FQ bundle of Cotton+Steel Sprinkles.  Thank you Dabble & Stitch for carrying awesome fabrics!

Darci talked to the group about an awesome charity opportunity with Nationwide Children's Hospital and Beads of Courage.

For those not familiar with the organization, you can read more about it here.  As a group we will be making drawstring bags for the kids to hold their beads.  Instructions for the bags can be found here.   We will be planning a sew-in so we can get together and make the bags.  But, if you can't make it, you can contribute FQs or you can make the bags on your own.  We'll be collecting materials and bags at monthly meetings.  Please choose fabrics that would be suitable for a child.  More details will be available soon in a separate blog post.

Since the holiday's are just around the corner, we will postpone the next member swap until 2017. 

Next month is the Columbus Modern Quilters' Birthday!  The meeting will be held at Northwest Library Meeting Room, Thursday, October 20th, 6:30-8:30.  Please note the date change from the fourth to third Thursday for this meeting! This is a chance for us to play some sewing-related games, win some fun prizes, and eat some delicious food. Sign-ups for food will be posted soon.

For the December meeting we will have a potluck and gift swap so be on the lookout for details.

New members are always welcomed!  You can send us a message or join our Facebook group to learn more about us.  See you next meeting!

October 12 month Bee Block

Name: Heather P.

Name of Block: Pineapple Block

Link to Block Tutorial:
http://www.quilterscache.com/P/Pineapple2Block.html

Color Selection:
Super Scrappy with bright colors. No Browns or blacks. Triangles can be white or white on white

Please name some designers or line of fabrics you like that will help us pick the right fabric for your block:
Any

Will you be providing fabric:
No

Directions:
The link has two templates. One for paper piecing and one for cutting each piece. I chose the paper piecing. For the white triangles I cut 5.5 squares and cut diagonally. For the strips I cut them 3 inches wide. I have found with paper piecing that it is easier to over estimate the size of the piece needed and then to trim down. Make sure the test square is 1 inch when you print. I had to increase the size by 18% to make the square one inch. I will be handing out copies of the templates at the next meeting so you don't have to mess with printing them. I can also mail copies to those not at the meeting. This block took me about 2 hours to complete.

Block Example: