April 11 Luncheon and Millstone

 Sharon G. has worked hard to line up our April outing. Let’s meet at Anna’s Restaurant in Mechanicsville at 7009 Mechanicsville Turnpike at 12:30 on April 11. Their website features Italian, salads, etc. if you are interested. Then we are going to Millstone Quilts which specializes in reproduction fabric as well as grunge and some modern fabrics. Millstone is at 8074 Flannigan Mill Road in Mechanicsville. Everyone had a great time last year, and we are looking forward to another fun trip. If you can come, please let Brenda know by Wednesday, April 9. Hope to see you soon!

VA Quilt Update and Call for donation art quilts

Tuesday night we were honored to have Jennifer Farrell, our VA contact, attend the meeting. It was a great opportunity to deliver our first batch of quilts for 2025.  These 25 were bagged up before the meeting and an additional 7 were donated at the meeting for a total of 32! We are off to a great start. Brenda and I brought home 9 more ready for quilting.

Jen came specifically to tell us about the new 470,000 sq ft Fredericksburg VA Clinic! It just opened March 2 and will offer every possible outpatient service, including interventional radiography, that was the target of our quilts the past 6 years. Jennifer has transferred to the new clinic and we all agreed that we were happy to have the quilts used in the new facility. She could also offer the quilts to other departments, like mental health and primary care. We know that she has always treated the quilts as special and has seen that every single one goes to someone who is truly in need. The new head of nursing at the facility is delighted to have the quilts. The facility is just off Route 1 in Fredericksburg and she said the public is welcome to come check out the facility if you are in the area.

Call for art quilts

One thing that she mentioned is that there are a LOT of bare walls in the facility and the Director of Nursing would love to have some art quilts to hang in various areas. These would not be patriotic quilts, but quilts that would be soothing or uplifting. We don't have a ton of guidance as to what they are looking for so I offered to put together a file of available pieces for them to choose ones they would want.

THIS WOULD BE A DONATION! Quilts that are accepted would not be returned and there will be no compensation.

If you have any art quilts that you would like to offer please send the following to vickiwelsh at protonmail dot com

photo of the quilt

size dimensions

quilt name

donor name

I will compile them all on one file and send it for their consideration.

   

 

Pfaff Hobby 1200 for sale

I am sharing this for one of our newer members, Carol H. She has a Pfaff Hobby 1200 Grand Quilter machine to find a new home for. $200. For more information phone or text 804-239-5953.

March 28 Luncheon

 Our March luncheon is set for Friday, March 28, at JJ’s Grille at 12:30.  Please bring your Show and Tell and be ready to relax and enjoy the good company of your friends. Please let Brenda know by March 26 if you will attend. Meanwhile, Sharon G. is checking with Millstone Quilts for a field trip. Friday, April 11, may be the date of this visit. Please check your calendars to see if this works for you.  As soon as we can confirm a date, it will be posted. Thanks!

FEBRUARY SEWING DAYS

 

FEBRUARY SEWING DAYS – Feb 26 & 27

Our regular monthly sewing days were canceled this week due to snow, so The Montpelier Center has opened up NEXT WEEK – February 26 and 27 for us to sew together.  Wednesday from 9 – 4 p.m., Thursday 9 – 1 pm. (notice we will need to leave at 1 on Thursday)

Mark your calendars and hope everyone can come sew together when the weather will be in the 60’s!

Luncheon Is Today

 The luncheon will be at 12:30 today at JJ’s and we are chasing the snow away!  Let me know if you can come and I’ll add your name to the list. Or drop by and surprise us. If you are a little late, that’s okay too. Please bring your show and tell, and I will be collecting quilt tops. Vicki and I need some!  Hope you can come!

Baby Lock Coronet for sale

 Mary Knight submitted this information for a friend:

Baby Lock Coronet long arm quilting machine and 5-foot frame with casters

16-inch workspace

Large capacity M-class bobbins

Stitches in manual or regulated mode

Programmable needle positioning in needle up/down mode

1/4-inch hopping ruler foot and interchangeable open-toe foot

External electric bobbin winder with variable speeds

Coronet 16-inch ruler base

All clamps for holding the quilt to the frame, side bungee clamps

 

One owner with purchase in 2020. 

 

Asking $4,000. Price is negotiable. 

If interested contact Carolyn Jewell -  cejewell at hotmail dot com

February Meeting

The weather forecast for Tuesday is "Snow/Wintery Mix." The Montpelier Center follows the Hanover County School closing schedule, so if Hanover Schools are closed, we will NOT HAVE A MEETING on Tuesday. ⛄

February Luncheon

 Our luncheon will be on Friday, February 21, at JJ’s Grille at 12:30. (Yep, right after Sewing Days. 🤣🤣) JJ’s is at 10298 Staples Mill Road in the CrossRidge Shopping Center which is anchored by Publix. The most direct entrance is to turn at the stoplight at Staples Mill and CrossRidge. Then turn left into the shopping center. JJ’s is immediately on your right. Please bring your show and tell to share. If you can attend, please let Brenda know by Wednesday, February 19, so our reservation can be confirmed. Hope to see you soon!

February Program: Exploring 9-Patch Designs

At our February 11 meeting we will explore 9-patch blocks. Old patterns are timeless and offer so many variations. Please help with the program by bringing quilts based on 9-patch blocks. 

Combining two 9-Patch blocks offers many possibilities. Here's an example: alternating these two blocks makes an interesting design. 

Remember to bring your 9-patch Swap Challenge Block, your regular Show & Tell and your 9-patch quilts.

Stay warm and let's hope for no more snow!

Our 2025 "rent" quilt

 When we moved to the Montpelier Center for our meetings, they offered us a very reasonable rent that included a nominal fee plus a raffle quilt ever year. Last year I was looking for a new project and feel in love with Elizabeth Hartman's Fab Farm quilt, but I didn't have anyone to make it for. Once we moved to MCAE I knew it would be perfect to be one of their raffle quilts.

I named it Hanover Country Life and it's about 75" x 77". I hope you like it!

If you want to see more photos, you can see them on my blog.

We are off to a good start with quilts for veterans this year.  

The snow and cold didn't keep us away from our sewing days Jan 15 and 16 where 10 quilts were collected. Vicki will add them to the quilts from late December and our first delivery in 2025 will be a good one! Thanks everyone - keep those quilt tops coming - size is 48" x 60" - we have volunteers who machine quilt them and return the quilt to the maker for the binding. 

I think this is the start of our 14th year of making quilts for veterans. Great work, everyone!

Sign-up with Montpelier Center

Each year we sign-up with the Montpelier Center for Arts & Education.  This is the link we used in 2024 and it should work for 2025.  Fingers crossed it works!

https://reg.learningstream.com/view/view_month.aspx?as=35...

BLOCK SWAP CHALLENGE

🎉🎉🎉HAPPY NEW YEAR🎉🎉🎉

The beginning of a new year is a great time to start a new group project. Let's make 9-patch blocks for quilts for veterans.

It will be a monthly BLOCK SWAP CHALLENGE.

Here's how it will work: 

Make TWO 9-patch blocks each month, you keep one and bring the other one to our meeting to be swapped with someone else's block. (We will draw numbers to make the swap.) The two blocks you make each month use the same fabrics.

GUIDELINES:

Cut 1 red 3-1/2" square (any red)

Cut 4 dark 3-1/2" squares (let's use green, blue and brown fabrics - NO black)

Cut 4 light 3-1/2" squares (light fabrics, but NO white)

Your finished block will measure 9-1/2"

It will be fun to have a good assortment of blocks, and at the end of the year we will each have our 12 blocks and 12 from the swap. With those blocks there are all sorts of ways of setting them together to make a quilt for a veteran. 

Make your blocks with several fabrics or limit it to just two. Examples, below.

                                                     Example 1                                                                      

                                                    Example 2

I hope we get good participation in this project - the more the merrier, right?  No need to sign-up, if you want to be part of this, just bring a 9-patch block to the monthly meeting to swap!

Throughout the year, let's all be on the lookout for interesting ways to use the blocks - there are many - and we will share them with others. 

Let's talk more about it at our January 14 meeting. 

And remember, if Hanover County Schools close, we do not have a meeting. 

January 2025 Luncheon

 Happy New Year, Quilting Friends!  May 2025 be wonderful for all of you. Our luncheon will be on Friday, January 24, at Kitchen 33 at 12:30. I plan on having pleasant sunny weather for a lunch with terrific friends!  So keep that thought in mind. But before we meet, please remember our meeting on Tuesday the 14th at 7:00 pm. Pokey will be collecting our $25 dues for the year. Then our Sewing Days are the 15th and 16th. Hope you are looking forward to these days as much as I am. See you soon!