July meeting and sew days!

 Our July Meeting is this coming Tuesday, July 14 at 7 pm at the Montpelier Center. Our program is being presented by Margaret Griffiths. She will share a trunk show of a lot of veterans quilts that were made using crumb blocks and scrap fabrics. You will be awed and inspired by all the new veterans quilts that she has made.

We will also have our annual July collection for WHEAT. Cathy Williams will be in the parking lot before the meeting to accept the donations. Donations can be product or monetary/checks. For a list of current needs, check out their pantry page here.

Our sewing days are July 15 and 16, this Wednesday and Thursday. The Montpelier Center is having summer camp this week so we will use the old library space for our sewing space, this same as last month.

Generosity Delivered

Thanks to you generosity, we delivered $675 to the Montpelier Center from our collection at the June meeting! The new director,  Ryan, was excited to receive it. 

This week I also delivered 30 more veterans quilts to our contact, Jennifer. The Interventional Radiography department at the Fredericksburg center still isn't operational so she is splitting the quilts between Richmond IR and Fredericksburg for general use. She reports that both facilities are thrilled to have them.

Our total for the year is 69!

Sew Days - Change of location!

Because of summer camps at the Montpelier Center,  we will have sewing days in the former library. The AC is better in that space too!

Opportunity to try an Accu Cutter!

 Annette has an Accu Cutter and lots of dies, which she plans to bring to sewing days next week.  This is your opportunity to try out the cutter – bring your scraps or bigger pieces of fabric that you’d like to cut.  She will be there both Wednesday and Thursday.

Thanks, Annette!

Chandelier Quilt Instructions

To go along with the June program on quilts set on point, I've written cutting instructions for one of my favorite veterans quilt patterns.  Sharon Gustafson introduced me to this when she made several veterans quilts a few years ago. I make at least one a year now. It comes together very quickly.

(I don't know why Blogger insists on putting this photo sideways.)

Even if you don't like this particular block, you can substitute any 8" block and use the side triangle cutting instructions in the pattern.

Download the instructions here.

June Program and sewing days

 The June meeting is this Tuesday at the Montpelier Center for the Arts at 7pm. Becky is going to present a program on designing on-point quilts and I (Vicki) will have instructions for the easy and popular chandelier quilt in veterans quilt size. Don't forget to bring show and tell!

We will also take up our annual collection for the Montpelier Center. We pay very little in rent to meet at the Center in addition to providing them with a quilt each year for a raffle fundraiser. Some members wanted to donate more to the center and we all agreed that the best way to do this was through an annual collection for anyone wishing to donate extra. We are blessed to have such a nice place in our community to meet and we can show our appreciation through extra donations. We will have an envelope for anyone wishing to donate.

June Sewing Days are the 17th and 18th. The room is open by 9. Bring your sewing project and machine and spend some time sewing with us. This time is for you to work on any project that you wish.

Upcoming:

We need someone to volunteer to provide the program for July and we will do our annual collection for WHEAT in July as well.

May Program and sewing days

 Our May Meeting is Tuesday, May 12 at 7:00 pm. Denise Zaph is presenting a program on Custom Quilting Ideas. As always, we will be collecting veterans finished quilts and tops that need quilting. We have several quilted tops to return to you. Don't forget to bring your show and tell  and pinwheel blocks to share!

Sewing Days are May 20 and 21. Bring your machine and sewing project and hang out with us. Stay for 1 or 2 days and come and go as you please. It's all very casual.

Future Meetings: We need programs for the rest of the year! If you haven't done a program please consider sharing anything that you would like. It could be a new pattern that you have learned, quilt collection to share, tips to share or even something from a different craft. We all have something interesting to share. You could even bring in a special guest. You can sign up here.

Additional notes:

In June we will take up our annual collection for the Montpelier Center. They charge us very little to rent the space for the year. Just a few hundred dollars plus a quilt. Some members wanted to donate more so we decided to do that through an annual donation drive. It's all voluntary.

In July, we will do our semi-annual food/donation drive for WHEAT. In June we will post a list of needs.

To keep the post interesting here are a few veterans quilts that have been quilted this month.