From Cathy Williams, Western Hanover Emergency Action Team

I wanted to thank CSQ for their generous donation of $733.00 in cash and checks and 227 containers of different foods for WHEAT’s Pantry. I figure the retail value is approximately $230.00 for the foods…making the total dollar donation $963.00 I thank all who contributed and am honored to represent WHEAT. Thanks for your interest in feeding the Food Insecure in our community. You are appreciated.

 

Also, the WHEAT raffle quilt was won by Kathryn Williams, who is not a quilter but is a Master Gardener. I sold her the ticket at Scotchtown in the spring. She was excited to get it. She bought only one ticket.

 

Thanks, and Merry Christmas.

December Meeting and Sewing Days

 Our December Meeting is Tuesday the 10th at 7:00 PM. We are not doing a pot luck but, if you feel compelled, you are welcome to bring a treat to share!

December Sewing Days are December 18 and 19

For the meeting, our program is going to be a mug rug swap. It's not a Christmas themed swap. Just make a fun mug rug to swap. If you don't know what a mug rug is, just read this:

https://www.allfreesewing.com/Basics-and-Tutorials/What-is-a-Mug-Rug

At this meeting we will do our regular collection of donations (food, hygiene items and money) for WHEAT. Cathy handed out a list of suggested donation items at the November meeting. I've lost my sheet but I'll include here the old list if you didn't get. But if you have the list, or know someone who got the list, please check that first!

Also, bring show and tell!

Items for WHEAT

Boxes of breakfast cereal

Boxes of instant oatmeal

Oatmeal

Pancake mix with syrup, some low sugar or sugar free

Boxes of Mac ‘n cheese

Any size and type of tomato products

One pound boxes of spaghetti noodles

Containers of Spaghetti sauce to feed 4-6

Ramen noodles

16-ounce jars of peanut butter and/or jelly

6-ounce cans of tuna

Cans of chicken

Other cans of meat

16-ounce cans of any vegetables

Cans of dried beans, pork and beans, black and pinto beans

Pound bags of white or brown rice

Cans of fruit, some low sugar or sugar free

Any size or kind of soup

Any type of one-dish meals, Brunswick stew, chicken and dumplings, beef stew

Quart envelopes of dried milk

Envelopes of dried potatoes

Dressing Mix

Meal starters like hamburger helper

Paper grocery bags

The last quilt delivery of 2024!

 

Today, Saturday, I am making the last quilt delivery for the year. This stack of 34 quilts brings our YTD total to 163!!

By comparison, in 2023, we delivered 116 quilts and, in 2022, 114.

Since 2020 we have delivered an even 600 quilts! 

Out VA contact is always eager for more quilts. They mostly, but not exclusively, go to cancer patients and she says they have a minimum of 15 - 20 ports a month. That's over 180 a year but probably over 200. These quilts make a big difference.

Trash To Treasure Results + Dues

Look at all the great stuff we were able to shop Tuesday night! It was an outrageously successful fundraiser for us with a grand total of $1165!!

All of this will go toward our purchases of batting and backing.

We also discussed dues for 2025 and forward. Since we now have to pay rent, as modest as it is, we all agreed to raise dues to $25 to help cover that expense. Of course, any member not financially able to pay the fee is still welcome. 

Our December meeting will not be a pot luck,but we will have a mug rug swap. We will also do our usual collection for WHEAT. More information will be provided on that soon.

Quilters’ Luncheon Nov. 22

 The next two weeks are busy. The Trash and Treasure program will be Tuesday, November 12. Sewing Days will be on Wednesday and Thursday (November 20 and 21) of the next week.  So let’s finish that week by meeting for lunch on Friday, November 22. Come to Kitchen 33 at 12:30 for laughter and relaxation. This will be our last luncheon for 2024 since the holiday season is here. Please let Brenda know by Wednesday, November 20, if you can come. Hope to see you there!

NOVEMBER MEETING

Our November 12 meeting is our annual Trash to Treasure/Silent Auction program, which is our fundraiser for purchasing batting and backing fabric for our veteran quilt project. This year we will give a record number of quilts to our veterans and we couldn't do it without everyone's help - piecing quilt tops and those who machine quilt them. Thank you to everyone who makes this possible.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m., as usual, and we will start setting up by 6:30. It's always a great time to donate stuff as well as take home some goodies!   

A number of kits have been donated, never opened, by Shabby Fabrics, Primitive Gatherings, as well as others. 

🧵 🧵 🧵 🧵 🧵 🧵 🧵 🧵 🧵 🧵 🧵 🧵 🧵 🧵 🧵 🧵

2025 Meeting Dates

 Our meeting schedule has been set for 2025. Here are the dates for you to add to your calendars. The dates will always be posted on the sidebar of this blog for you as well.

7pm Meetings

January 14

February 11

March 11

April 8

May 13

June 10

July 8

August 12

September 9

October 14

November 11

December 9

 

Sewing Days

January 15, 16

February 19, 20

March 19, 20

April 16, 17

May 21, 22

June 18, 19

July 16, 17

August 20, 21

September 17, 18

October 15, 16

November 19, 20

December 17, 18

Quilty Luncheon on November 1

 The month of October is busy for many people so our luncheon will be on Friday, November 1. We will be at Kitchen 33 at 12:30. Bring your quilts and tops for a little show and tell. Please let Brenda know by Wednesday, October 30, if you can attend. A text, phone call, or voicemail will be fine. Come and share some laughter and fun. See you there!

Oct 8 meeting canceled

Reminder: We will not have a meeting on October 8 

November 12 will be our Silent Auction Trash to Treasure program. Tidy up your sewing room and bring "goodies" to donate - all money goes towards supplies for quilts for veterans. 

NEW QUILTING TOOL

A digital scale is my new quilting tool - it was in my kitchen!  Hope this information helps you in counting quilt pieces. 

I thought it would be fun to make a very scrappy veteran quilt that would be a project that would take me longer to make.

These two blocks make an interesting design, so I started cutting pieces for 9 inch blocks.  The quilt will be 45 x 54, so I’ll add borders. Two color quilts are so much faster with strip piecing, cutting multiple layers at a time, etc., but I wanted the “scrappy” look – the more the better, right? That means getting out a lot of fabrics and only cutting several pieces of each one – pressing, cutting, refolding, putting away, repeat, repeat, repeat.

Okay, so now I have stacks of each shape. Have I cut enough? The quilt uses a total of 630 pieces and I don’t want to do all that counting so I came up with a new tool to do the work for me.  That new quilting tool is a digital scale from the kitchen.

Here's what I did:  weigh 10 pieces.  10 pieces weigh 8 grams

Then I added the 10 pieces back to the stack and it weighed 96 grams. 

So the math would be 96 g divided by 8 g = 12.  Each twelve grams is 10 pieces so 12 x 10 = 120 pieces of fabric.  A little math does all the counting.

I can stop cutting now and start sewing, because I have enough for TWO quilts!

                                          🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵

 

Red Center Quilts for Veterans

UPDATE: Quilt #3 has been added!

Thank you to everyone who made blocks with red centers. . .the blocks just keeping coming and now I'm working on quilt #5 with red centers. Here's a review of the easy block with a 2-1/2" center. (see July 8 post for more information)

The first quilt is finished. I decided to set it on-point so I trimmed the blocks to 7-1/2" - Here is the quilt and the directions for blocks on point to make a veteran size quilt. 

Here's the 2nd quilt using red centers. 

Here's quilt #3 - Brenda set the blocks together with a patriotic flag fabric. 

 

Trash to Treasure RESCHEDULED!

 While we were at sewing this weekend we discovered that there is a conflict at the Montpelier Center with our October meeting. Since Trash to Treasure is probably our most important meeting for raising funds for the veterans quilts, we decided to move Trash to Treasure to November and to cancel the October meeting.

We will have October Sewing days on the 16th and 17th, as scheduled. If you have quilt tops or quilts to deliver in October, you can drop off at sewing days or wait until the November meeting.

If you want to do something on October 8th, you can still go the the Montpelier Center and enjoy some musical entertainment.

___________________________________________________-

An update on the request for quilts to display at Verena on the Glen. I currently have the quilts that were on display at the Montpelier Center so have offered those for the 2-hour exhibit at Verena. That will be October 10. Brenda may also have another opportunity to show off our quilts at another senior living center in the area. The quilts will be included in our December delivery to the VA, but in the meantime we can use them to bring some happiness to others.

September 18 & 19 Sewing Days

The rainy/cloudy weather didn't stop us from loading up our cars and sewing for 2 days at the Montpelier Center. There were lots of quilts in progress and a few completed projects! 

When we finished sewing on Wednesday the veteran quilts were taken down and they will be shared at Verena at the Glen (retirement community) and also at Morningside Care facility before their final destination at the V.A. Hospital in Richmond. It's great to share our quilts with others. Thanks to Brenda for taking these sewing day pictures.  

Navy Band Concert Canceled at Montpelier Center

The U.S. Navy Band Concert at the Montpelier Center today (Sept 13) has been canceled due to sickness in the band. It has been rescheduled for Oct. 20 at 5 p.m.

This is the event where Country School Quilters will have a booth and give away 4 quilts to veterans. Mark your calendars for Oct 20.  

CSQ Luncheon on September 27

Join us for our luncheon this month on Friday, Sept 27, at 12:30. We are meeting at Lakeside Barbeque (formerly Virginia Barbeque and recommended by Betsy S.) at 6920 Lakeside Avenue, Suite E. 

Bring your projects for show and tell. Then let’s proceed to Quilting Adventures at 6943 Lakeside Avenue. The Quilting Adventures website states there is additional parking behind their building or in The Hub Shopping Center next door. These are the preferred spots. 

Please let Brenda know by Wednesday, September 25, if you can attend.  

Join us and find an inspiration for your next project!

Veterans Quilt delivery!

 I wasn't planning to make a quilt delivery to the VA Hospital representative until after the event this weekend, but I picked up so many quilts at the meeting Tuesday night that I needed to go ahead and move some out. I try not to deliver more than 30 at a time because I don't know how much storage space they actually have at the office. We had 30 more quilts so I asked if she was ready to receive more. She said "yes" and I delivered. We can add the Montpelier Center display quilts to the next delivery.

Out YTD total is now 129! That's 13 more than we made in all of 2023! I think we might hit 150 this year.

Well done ladies!

Invitation to show quilts at Verena at the Glen

 

WHAT:  Quilt Show

WHEN:  Thursday, October 10 2:30-4:30 pm.

WHERE:  10286 Brook Rd., Glen Allen, VA

Country School Quilters have been invited to participate in a quilt show that will be hosted by Verena at the Glen, located at 10286 Brook Rd., Glen Allen.

The event will be Thursday, October 10 from 2:30-4:30 pm. 

It will be a time to visit about your quilts with residents. 

For more information or to let her know you plan to come, please call Judy Nguyen, Life Enrichment Director at 703-362-7217 or email jnguyen@verenaattheglen.com

September meeting

Our September meeting is Tuesday, 9/10, at 7 pm. The program will be “Christmas Gifts and Decorations.” Bring a homemade Christmas gift or decoration you have received or made and tell why you absolutely love it. We’ll do this in a Show-n-Tell format. It might give us new ideas for gift giving and future programs on how to make some of these items. Hope to see everyone there!  We’ll start the holiday season early!

August Sewing Days - Part 1

The machines were humming as we sewed together in our beautiful room at The Montpelier Center for Arts & Education. 

 

August Sewing Days - Part 2

The machines were humming as we sewed together in our beautiful room at The Montpelier Center for Arts & Education. 

Get an early start for our December meeting

You are invited to join the fun!

MugRug Swap

 

Who: CSQ members,

What: 9x12 max or 4x6 minimum,

Where: December 10, 2024 meeting

 

Any technique, any pattern, any fabrics, any theme.

 

Try something new on a small scale, do something out of your comfort zone. Anything goes, the only rule is to have fun with it!

 

Thanks

Margaret G

Quilting Friends Luncheon - August

(From Brenda)

First, Wow! Becky gave a wonderful program at the last meeting, and then you turned in 12 completed quilts for the veterans. You folks are great and so giving. 

Second, JJ’s Grille has a reservation for us on Friday, August 30, at 12:30. JJ’s is at 10298 Staples Mill Road. It is in The Shoppes at CrossRidge, which is anchored by Publix. JJ’s is at the opposite end of the strip. The stoplight at Staples Mills and CrossRidge offers a convenient entrance into the parking lot. Please let Brenda know by Wednesday, August 28, if you are attending. 

Third, Betsy recommends that we enjoy a lunch at Lakeside Barbecue  (formerly Virginia Barbecue) and a visit to Quilting Adventures on September 27. So mark your calendars now!

Letter to CSQ from The Montpelier Center for Arts & Education.

If you would like a receipt for the amount you donated, please contact MCAE (804 883-7378)

Quilt delivery and Quilting Friends Luncheon announcement

 

On Thursday, I delivered the next batch of quilts and we had 42! I think that's a record for one delivery. Jennifer told me they had gifted the last quilt yesterday so these were perfectly timed. This brings our YTD total to 99. That's another record! Of course we have 16 quilts hanging at the Montpelier that will be in our next delivery. That means that we are easily going to beat our number of quilts for 2023, 116.

Quilting Friends Luncheon July 26

It’s summertime hot, the gardens are demanding attention, and vacations are calling. So let’s meet at Kitchen 33 at 12:30 for lunch on Friday, July 26. Please bring your projects to share. Good food, friends, and laughter are a great way to end the week. Please let Brenda know by email, text, or phone/voicemail if you are coming by Wednesday, July 24. See you soon!

A note from WHEAT

 Thanks you for your generous donations of 112 pounds of staple foods, $90.00 in cash and $425.00 in checks yesterday at your meeting. It is folks like you who give to those in need in Our Western Hanover Community that allow us to do what we do…you are greatly generous and loving towards others, allowing families to receive emergency services when needed and additional food to feed their families through WHEAT.

Love You Gals,
Cathy williams, WHEAT

Info about the Flickr account and the quilts are up!

The quilts have been hung at the Montpelier Center! There are being displayed in support of the Music Under the Stars and Stripes event in September. CSQ will give 4 quilts to veterans at the event and will have a ten there so we can talk about our service quilts. Everyone at the meeting last night got to see the quilts and you can stop by and see them any time you want. They are exhibited in the dance studio.

About the Flickr account. Margaret Griffiths has been kind enough to take photos at all of our meetings and load them to our Flickr account. There's a link to it on the right side of this blog called New Photos that links to the album. Well, very few people access it and we are also running out of space in it.

We discussed in the meeting about what to do. To keep excess burden on Margaret, we decided that she could delete all photos over 2 years old and that we would, going forward, keep a rolling 2 years of photos. If you think you might want to see some of the older photos, or download some of the images for yourself, now is the time before the photos go away!