Newsletter

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Workshop

We won't be having our Workshop this month due to a change in date for our monthly meeting, which will be held a week early this month only!

The Next Meeting

We will meet Wednesday, November 12th,
at HB Stowe School on Post Office Road,
doors open at 6:00pm, meeting begins at 7:00pm.

* Please take notice of the change in date this month! *

Hollace Tumbow-NQA Certified Quilt Judge & Teacher,
Lecture, Raffle, Show & Tell.

Dates to Remember

Through Dec. 28
Sewing Revolution:
The Machine That Changed The World
Windham Textile & History Museum
Williamantic, CT
www.millmuseum.org

Through Jan. 25
Who Was Anna Tuels?
Quilt Stories, 1750-1900
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
600 Main St.
Hartford, CT
A collection and documented history of workmanship.

Apr. 19 (Sun)
Spring Lecture
Northeast Utilities
Berlin Turnpike
Newington, CT
The speaker will be Mickey Lawler!!

June 27-28 (Sat-Sun)
Interfaith Sewing & Service Group Quilt Show
First Congregational Church
Willimantic, CT
This event will include vendors, a quilt drawing, crafts,
and professional quilt appraisals by appointment.
For entry forms & information contact Linda Gardner
at 860-429-7995 or on the web www.fccwillimantic.org

Jul. 31 - Aug. 2 (Fri-Sun)
2009 QUILT SHOW: STITCHES THROUGH TIME
Central Ct. State University
New Britain, CT
www.ghqgquiltshow.com See the latest Basting Lines for more info.

MISC NEWS / INFORMATION

Diane Derose is collecting thread spools for a project at Parkman school. Please save all empty spools for her!! Thank you!!

I was sent the book "A Single Thread" a few weeks ago and just finished it. It is an easy read and would interest quilting woman! I copied these from the author's web page:

• "By the time you finish this book, the women in A SINGLE THREAD" will feel like your own girlfriends - emotional, funny, creative and deeply caring. It's a story filled with wit and wisdom. Sit back and enjoy this big-hearted novel, and then pass it on to your best friend." - Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author of Just Breathe

• "Bostwick makes a seamless transition from historical fiction to the contemporary scene in this buoyant novel about the value of friendship among women... Bostwick's polished style and command of plot make this story of bonding and sisterhood a tantalizing book club contender." - Publishers Weekly

• "In A SINGLE THREAD Marie Bostwick beautifully captures the very essence of women's friendships-- the love, the pain, the trust, the forgiveness-- and crafts a seamless and heartfelt novel from them. Evelyn, Abigail, Margot, and Liza are as real and endearing as my own closest friends, and as I turned the last page I felt that sweet, satisfying sorrow in having to say goodbye that marks the work of a writer at the top of her game." - Kristy Kiernan, author of Catching Genius and Matters of Faith.

On the QT (Shhhhhhhh!!! It's Quilting Trivia)

Beginning at the November meeting we'll hold a drawing based on different tidbits of Quilting Trivia (QT). The answer to the Quilting Trivia will be provided in each month's Enfield Quilter's Newsletter, so those of you reading your newsletters and staying up to date with all of the great info provided by Vicky, will have the answer to the trivia question before coming to the meeting. There will be tickets with each member's name, the question, and a spot to provide your answer. Complete the ticket and place it in the container. Tickets with correct answers will be entered into a drawing which will follow the raffle at each meeting (winning answers/tickets are only good for that month's drawing and do not carry over to any other meetings)

November's QT: The quilting block that Enfield Quilter's uses as its logo is the "Basket Block" Good luck & thanks for playing! Be watching again next month for December QT.

WINNERS!!

In last month's issue, I mention the awards that Cynthia Toolin and Bill Wilson won at the Big E & Vermont State Fair. And I just read about Pat & Vic Allison in Basting Lines!! Congrats!

Pat won @ the Four Town Fair

• 1st place: Trip Around The World
• 3rd place: Bento Box in Blue batiks

Vic won @ the Four Town Fair:

• 1st place: Christmas Wreath Wall Hanging
• 2nd place: Medium quilts: Spider Web
• 3rd place: Large quilts: Lone Star

Charlie Hietala won @ the Vermont Quilt Festival:

• 2nd place: for her Whole- Cloth quilt!!

COMMUNITY PROJECT

For our Community Project we are making placemats for the Meals-On-Wheels clients. We are starting with Christmas/Holiday placemats, then perhaps will do more for Easter/Spring. I have batting left over from last year's projects, so I will cut it in generous placement-sized pieces for your use. I will bring them to the workshop night (Nov. 5) and to the regular meeting (Nov. 12). Cyndy

Please read your latest issue of Basting Lines! I received it Sat. Nov. 1. The Helen & Harry Gray Cancer Center is requesting our help in making soft comfort pillows for breast cancer patients. Two sizes are needed, 9x9" and the other 8 x 16", and should be machine or hand washable, and can be made any color, cotton fabric and lightly stuffed with fiberfill.

Did you know?

• Make sure you are sewing with a 1/4" seam allowance. As a test, sew three 1 1/2" wide strips together. The measurement across the strips should be 3 1/2".

• Before you begin sewing your project, fill available bobbins with a 100% cotton thread.

• Use only top quality 100% cotton fabrics.

• Keep a pressing board and small craft iron (we like the Clover brand) near your sewing machine. It will save you time and steps.

• Triangles on a Roll come in many sizes and work great for half-square and quarter square triangles.

• Make sure your borders fit. Measure across the center of your quilt both horizontally and vertically then cut your border to fit.

The best way to unthread any sewing machine is to always cut the thread at the spool and pull the thread through the needle and out of the machine. If you remove the thread by pulling on the spool, the thread can easily get caught, affecting the tension as you pull. Lint from the thread can also cause the needle to bend at the tip, resulting in snagged fabric or inconsistent stitching.

You should always change your needle after 4-6 hours of sewing time as the tip gets worn and burrs on the needle can damage your fabric and needle plate. Skipped stitches may occur with a worn or damaged needle. It is also important not to sew over pins, as the needle can easily hit the pin, burring or blunting the needle. The pin can also break and be pushed into the sewing machine, causing damage to the internal parts.

The Difference Between Chain Store Fabric and Quilter's Grade Fabric. The following is taken from an article by Jim Salinas in the Winter 2000 issue of "Spools & Tools. His article takes some of the mystery out of fabric manufacture and why most quilters spend a little more for "quilters fabric."

Is there really any difference between the printed cotton found in chain store for $2.99 to $5.99 per yard and the printed cottons found in shops for $7.99 to $9.99?
You bet there is, and understanding these differences is critical...
Premium brands, such as Moda, start with high quality griege goods (pronounced "gray," griege goods are unfinished fabrics in their raw state). Premium griege goods have a minimum of 60 threads on the warp and 60 threads on the woof. Many premium griege goods thread counts are higher than "60 square." Higher thread counts contribute to a silkier hand (feel), less bearding when quilted, increased longevity plus enhanced printing definition.
In addition to thread count, we have the issue of what diameter yarns are used in the griege good construction, the size of cotton filaments used, and the length of the cotton staple. As in all manufacturing, premium components cost more and add to the final cost of the product. The premium brands typically make use of a number of screens (the number of colors used in the print) and more complex engravings normally require using slower and more exciting flat bed presses than the high speed rotary presses used by the domestic mills on most chain store products.
Once the griege goods are printed, they have to be "finished". Finishing is a chemical bath that sets the dye into the cotton fabric. Unfinished goods or poorly finished goods bleed and have an extremely coarse and boardy hand.
As you might have guessed, premium brands are normally finished in a more time-consuming manner. This adds greatly to the silken hand of "quilter's grade" fabrics as well as superior color fastness. The long and the short of it, however, is that consumers do get what they pay for.

QUILT POEM

God grant that I may see to stitch, until my dying day.
When the last thread is cut and the scissors tucked away.
May the work that I have done live on that other folk may see,
The pleasure I have known from the gift you gave to me.

Submittals for Our News Letter

If you have news or events, Classified Ads or other information you would like to submit for publication, please Email it to Vicky, or mail it to Vicky Altenhein, 3 Elizabeth St., Enfield, CT 06082, or call 745-4956. The deadline for newsletter submittals is the first Wednesday of the month. (Dec. 3rd)

    I AM A QUILTER, MY HOUSE IS IN PIECES !!

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