December Meeting Info - Our Annual Holiday Pot Luck!

Our December meeting is our annual pot luck and collection for WHEAT. The meeting is December 9 and we will start at 6:30. Bring your favorite dish to share along with show-and-tell.

We will also collect food for WHEAT again this year. Here's a list from Cathy Williams of items that WHEAT needs. She also said that they will take large sacks of rice or beans as they repackage those into smaller bags.

The following items are needed for WHEAT's twice monthly Open Pantry. We fill bags with very basic items to promote wellness and help families be less food insecure in Western Hanover County. We currently are assisting 140 households and welcome your partnership:

1 lb. boxes of noodles

spaghetti sauce

cans of tuna or chicken

cans of vegetables

bags of  dried beans

cans of fruit, some low sugar or sugar free

boxes of breakfast cereal, oats or pancake mix (please include syrup, some sugar free)

boxes or envelopes of stuffing or instant potatoes

envelopes of dried milk

boxes of mac 'n cheese

small jars of jam or jelly

gift cards to any area grocery store

quart storage zip bags (Carolyn, please give me your snack bags)

prayer for us and your neighbors

Blessings To You, 

Cathy Williams, WHEAT's Open Pantry Coordinator

WHEAT    P.O. Box 171, Beaverdam, VA 23015

www.wheathelp.org

wheat1@embarqmail.com

CRUMB BLOCKS

This month we are stepping way out of the traditional quilt block box and will be making CRUMB BLOCKS. 

 

CRUMB

1. A small piece broken or fallen from cake, bread, or other baked goods.

2. A small fragment of scrap - (that's us!)

We usually throw away our smallest scraps of fabric, but Vicki shared some of hers with me and they are just perfect for this project, so let's try making an ART QUILT and see what happens, okay? 

There aren't many rules for making these blocks; just take a pile of fabric crumbs and sew them together until they are the desired size, in this case the trim size is 6 1/2". Don't worry about the width of your seams and any thread color is fine. Just have fun sewing fabrics together. 

I have made a Crumb Kit for each of you, using Vicki's beautiful hand dyed fabrics along with a few others I've thrown in. If you need or want to, just add a fabric of your own to the block you are making. (batiks would be a good choice)

The directions are pretty simple.

1. Sew two pieces of fabric together and press open (pick a light and dark).

2. Trim one side (any side) so it is straight.

3. Sew a fabric to the side you just trimmed and press open.

4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 until the block is slightly bigger than a 6 1/2" square.

Here are step by step pictures:

 A pile of fabric crumbs

 Sew 2 pieces together - light & dark

 

 Trim one side

 

Add piece 3 to the side you just trimmed

 

 Trim a straight line (it could be on any side)

 

Sew another crumb to the side you just trimmed

 

 Trim to make a straight edge

 

Sew another piece (here I sewed two blue crumbs together)

 

Sewn and ready to cut a straight edge 

 

 Here I made a unit of crumbs to attach to the first section

 

 Keep sewing crumb pieces together until the desired size

 

 The blocks will be trimmed using a 6 1/2" square

 

 Ready to trim

 

 Finished block trimmed to 6 1/2"



 Doesn't it look good with black sashing - wonky, of course!

I'm hoping we can make an ART QUILT with our CRUMB BLOCKS.

Perhaps it can be a fundraiser quilt for The Virginia Quilt Museum. 

Please, return the blocks at our December meeting.

You do not have to trim the blocks - I'll be glad to do that when I add the sashing.

NOTE: We will not have a Block of the Month for December.

Happy Sewing!

 

 

 

 

Tuesday Meeting and batting

The Tuesday meeting is going to be a demo of screen printing. I'm going to bring a few basic inks and some screens and will have some fabrics you can screen print and take home with you.

Don't forget that we now have a roll of batting to be used for charity projects. If you need me (Vicki Welsh) to bring you fabric please call or email me by Monday evening and let me know what size you need. I don't want to put my number on the web but it's listed in the white pages if you don't have it.

We will also be discussing how/when we want to deliver quilts to McGuire.

Looking forward to seeing you Tuesday night!

Taco Soup

Friday and Saturday were our usual fun days of sewing together. Lots of sewing progress and just as much visiting.

Nancy brought soup for our lunch on Saturday, and boy, was it good. Here's her recipe:
 
(Rosemary is Nancy's cousin, and a former CSQ member, before she got too busy to sew!)

TACO SOUP FROM ROSEMARY WILLAFORD

1 pound hamburger brown & drain

1 onion

2 16 oz. cans pinto beans
2 16 oz white corn
l large can diced tomatoes
1 pkg original buttermilk ranch dry mix
1 pkg taco seasoning dry mix

I cooked the onion and hamburger together and then added the seasoning mix to the hamburger.

I found you can taste the taco seasoning better when added to meat.

Do not drain the beans, corn or tomatoes. 

I cooked mine on the stove top in a Dutch oven.  You can also use a Crockpot.

Combine everything together and cook until you feel all ingredients have blended together.

Sour cream and shredded cheese on top can be added or anything you like. 

 

Nancy

 

 

Sewing FRIDAY & SATURDAY

Sewing is THIS Friday and Saturday. 9 a.m. - until 3 or 4.
Come to sew and visit one or both days and bring your lunch or go to Subway, or Domino's which are nearby.

I'll bring my laptop to give a Triangulations demo.

Hope we have a roomful of sewers!