Our monthly workshop is Wednesday, April 8th
at the Enfield Senior Center, from 6:00 – 8pm.
Plan to continue to make the spring placemats
for the "Meals On Wheels" clients.
We will meet Wednesday, April 15th,
at HB Stowe School on Post Office Road,
doors open at 6:00pm, meeting begins at 7:00pm.
Ginny-Lost Acres Farm "Amish Quilt"
Election of Officers, Raffle & Show & Tell.
Jan. 22 - Apr. 19
Exhibit of Contemporary Swiss Quilters
New England Quilt Museum
Lowell, MA
The New England Quilt Museum is hosting a new exhibit of contemporary
quilters, called “Fabric Connection.” The seven Swiss quilt artists
came together out of a passion for quilting, having long seen and
admired each other's work at exhibitions. Each has her own distinct
style and developed her own innovative techniques. Together, Maryline
Collioud-Robert, Beatrice Lanter, Elizabeth Portmann, Ursula Kern,
Ursula Koenig, Katherina Della Chiesa, and Sylvia Einstein have created
an exhibit that will delight and inspire. In addition to the exhibition
of their works, two of the artists will share their techniques.
On February 7, Sylvia Einstein will give a day-long workshop on her
innovative technique for creating Pieced Spirals, and on April 18,
Ursula Kern will give a lecture on "Color in Design: Between Playing
and Hard Work." For more information, please visit the Museum's website.
www.nequiltmuseum.org
Apr. 15 (Wed)
Close to Home Sewing Center
2717 Main Street,
Glastonbury, CT
is organizing a unique quilting Block Party event to raise woman's heart health
consciousness. Heart disease is the #1 killer of woman over 65 & kills more women
over 65 than all cancers combined. These block parties are happening Wed. April 15,
with multiple sessions through the day. No sewing experience is required, just a
desire to make a special quilt & raise money for a good cause. Refreshments will be
served & there will be door prizes. For more info or to sign up call, 860-633-0621.
Apr. 18 (Sat)
9:30 am
Spring Lecture
Northeast Utilities
Berlin Turnpike
Newington, CT
The peaker will be Mickey Lawlar,
a founding member of the GHQG & creator of Skydykes.
She will present a slide lecture with instructions on painting fabrics & the uses
of these & other hand-colored fabrics in quilts. There will be a trunk show of
painted fabrics & quilts & a question & answer period.
Since her fabrics are generally offered at quilt shows, we have asked her to bring
an assortment of them for sale to us on the 18th!
Following the lecture, a 1-1/2 day class will be offered:
Sat 1:30-5 and Sun 10-4 at:
St. Gabriel Episcopal Church
68 Main Street
East Berlin, CT
Fee is $60.00.
Please see the March Basting Line for the
registration form and further details.
Apr. 25-26 (Sat-Sun)
Traditions & Treasures Quilt Show
Canton, MA
www.rhododendronquiltguild.org
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.
Just a reminder that April is when we start collecting membership
fees for the 2009-2010 year. Membership is $22 for Enfield Quilters
and Greater Hartford Quilt Guild (GHQG). If you pay for GHQG through
another chapter, then membership to Enfield Quilters is $10. We accept
cash or checks (please make checks payable to: Enfield Quilters).
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to speak to me at the April
meeting or to call me at (860) 763-1680 between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Thanks, Pat Mercier.
A reminder that Brown Bag Challenge is due in May,
and don't forget the Triple Block Challenge due in June.
-----------------------------------------------
I received these via email:
www.ewe-niquecreations.com
Hi Everybody, We have free tickets to International Spring Quilt Festival in Rosemont, IL.
If you would like to have your name put in a drawing please email us your name, address
and phone number. Our drawing will be on April 6th. Good luck! Stop by and see us at Booth #162
-----------------------------------------------
As the Enfield Quilter's Guild may know, Little Red Quilt House, a long arm quilting
service, closed it's doors for business at the end of December 2008. As the owner of
Bear Paws Studio, a custom quilt business in Bristol, CT, I was a frequent renter for
6 years. As a result of LRQH closing, Bear Paws Studio has acquired one of their Gammill
machines with the Statler system and all of their patterns. We are now in the business
of providing long arm quilting services and have named this division of our business
"Connecting Quilts". As a "get to know us at Connecting Quilts", we are offering a 15%
discount on our quilting service for the first quilt of any new customer. We know that
during this rough tumbling economy quilters are still quilting! Quilters are using up
their beloved stashes and coming up with wonderful quilts! Connecting Quilts also offers
many services such as binding, squaring, photo printing (using textile inks on pima cotton)
and embroidery. We offer friendly and personal customer service and very competitive rates.
In order to save money on shipping, we will also pick up and deliver for quilt orders of 5
or more quilts in the Enfield area. So pool your quilts and get free shipping!
Side note 1: We are in the process of transferring all of our patterns to our website
(we have hundreds of patterns). In the meantime, let us know the type of pattern that
you are looking for and we will email you several pictures of the different patterns
for you to choose.
Side note 2: We require a $50.00 deposit on all quilts with their arrival. We accept
cash or checks.
We invite you to check out our website which includes all of our services and rates.
We very much look forward to meeting you!
Lorna Shaard, Connecting Quilts
www.connectingquilts.com
lornashepard@comcast.net
860-989-0776
We are still collecting quilted placemats for the Meals on Wheels clients.
Please bring them to the April meeting. Even though it will be after Easter
weekend, Easter placemats will be fine, along with those of more generic
Spring, Patriotic, or any fun designs or fabric.
Thanks again to everyone who participates. Cyndy
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You Know You're a Quilter When...
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- Your child is 6 months old and has already been to a dozen quilt shows!
- Driving 3 hours to go to a quilt store is not a problem.
- The only number on your phone that is on speed dial, is the local quilt shop.
- You start hiding the credit card bill so the hubby won't see all the charges to the quilt store.
- Your fingertips are so rough you can't even pull on a pair of panty hose.
- There's more fabric than food in your house.
- You go to garage sales and look at the clothes, but not with the intention of wearing them.
- You haven't balanced your checkbook in 5 years, but can calculated yardage for your project, with no problem at all.
- You ave more pictures in your wallet of quilts, than you do of your own kids or grandchild.
From: "Embroidery Treasures" info@embtreasures.com
There are
many benefits to pre-washing your fabrics before using them, but I have several reasons
why I don't like to pre-wash my quilt cotton fabrics if I can get away with it. As sometime
pre-washing is necessary, I have come up with some solutions that are helpful in the
following disadvantages of pre-washing.
- Once a cotton fabric has been pre-washed, it loses the sizing in it - that
crisp shape and body. Fabric that has not been washed is easier to cut and stitch
because it still has some crispness to it. The solution I have found to this is starch.
Starch gives it additional body and stiffness to make cutting and stitching even easier
than non-washed fabric. I use both spray starch and liquid starch;
you can see here for some tips on using starch.
- I hate dealing with those raveling edges and twisted yardages. This is not
such a problem with smaller pieces of fabrics, but numerous yards of once piece tend
to ravel and twist on itself which can be a real headache to untwist and press out
the set-in wrinkles from the dryer. To help with the fraying edges,
I either cut a
triangle from the corners of the fabric or I serge the edges. Serging the edges is
a sure-cut way to prevent raveling. As for the fabric twisting on itself, if I can I
try to cut a large piece of fabric in to smaller sections. If I am unable to do that,
I will take the fabric out several times as it is drying and fan it out in the air so
it is flat and wrinkle free and then continue drying. Or another solution is to hang
it flat outside to dry to prevent the rumbling around in the dryer.
- Let's face it, when I'm picking out fabric from a quilt shop or my stash, I
want to get started right NOW, not wait until it's been washed and dried. The
solution to this: plan ahead. Simple. Easy. Sure...easier said than done! But- I can
speed the process along by rinsing in a sink of warm water if it is a yard of fabric
or less. By pre-washing fabrics as you purchase them and then putting them in your
stash of fabric, they are ready to use the moment your fingers touch them.
Even though there are disadvantages to pre-washing fabrics, they are outnumbered
by the advantages of pre-washed fabrics. So even if it takes a bit more time and
effort to serge the edges, wash and dry the fabric and starch each piece, it is
well worth it in the end!
Happy Spring!!
Starting to see some robins and flowers blooming and enjoying the warmer weather!!
I had a wonderful time in Rhode Island with three of my quilting fiends, The Gang
of 4!! I learned a simple strip technique from Twylar and having great fun teaching
this and sewing with my two oldest granddaughters!! ( 9 and 7 years old ) If there
is anything you would like in the monthly EQ newsletter, please contact me at
vickowaa@yahoo.com or give me a call, 745-4956!!
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Submittals for Our News Letter
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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. (May 6th)
I AM A QUILTER, MY HOUSE IS IN PIECES !!
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