A Lovely Christmas Party!

 The Guild had our annual Christmas party for our December meeting, but with a pandemic twist.  Instead of a potluck, the food was provided by the guild.  We had tasty breakfast pizza (from our local Tops Market) with fruit and Dunkin' Donuts.  It meant less variety, but also less work for the members in attendance- who didn't seem to mind not having to cook!

MANY thanks to president Martha Lorshbaugh- for arranging all the food- Mary Kozub- who delivered the pizzas, hostesses Terry McGuire and Sue Chiddy- who served the goodies, Ann Renica,  and all the members who generously donated to pay for the meal.

                                      (apologies to those I caught with their mouths full!)

 

Before the food arrived, we enjoyed our monthly show and tell- always the best part of any guild meeting! I apologize for the lack of details in the descriptions.

                                                    Elaine Lemley finished this little UFO

                                               Elaine embroidered the motifs in this cozy pillow.

There are more puzzle pieces in this project, which creates a road for Elaine's grandchildren to play with!

Terry McGuire used her cricut to make these quick and easy gifts- and is willing to have other members come try it out as well!

 

 

I missed part of this one- Nancy Schraader is making alternating light and dark blocks with I spy squares to make a nice sized quilt (probably for her sweet grandson!)

 

Nancy is making these folded fabric ornaments- and isn't quite sure what goes in the center!

Nancy made this from left overs of a larger quilt she showed us last summer.  

Nancy made this with fabrics she got at the Plank Road flea market table last summer.

Nancy found fun buttons to mark birthdays on this growth chart for her grandson.

Mary Lowe uses "One Block Wonder" pieces as her leaders and feeders, so makes rather a lot of these.

 

Ann Renica picked the pink fabric for this one up at a recent guild meeting.  It is for a new great niece. 

 

In an effort to find her quilting mojo again, Ann made this for the "Sleep in Heavenly Peace" project the Community Service committee is now supporting.   Ann said she had forgotten how many pieces go into a larger quilt, after making so many smaller ones.  

Martha Lorshbaugh finished her Monarch from the class with Linda M Poole several years ago.

To all the guild members- please have a safe and happy holiday season!

We are looking forward to the reveal of the "Rock Paper Scissors" challenge at the January meeting- we hope to see you there!

November gathering and games

 Our November meeting was for fun and games! Those who stayed after show and tell enjoyed playing several games of Bingo for fabulous prizes (donated by our members).  The "Boards" were quilt blocks made of colorful fabrics and were donated Community Service.  Theywill now become quilts to donate from our  group to community organizations.   Thanks to all who made blocks but didn't play as well.  Of course I didn't get pictures of them....

I did get pictures of show and tell, though.

                            Martha Lorshbaugh made this to donate to a cancer treatment center.

                                                     This is Martha's Halloween table runner

                              Mary Kozub has been weaving instead of quilting.  Aren't these lovely!!

Donna Tonski found the stitchery piece among her UFOs and used Jelly Roll strips to make it into a pillow.  She's so happy it's finished!

Val Schultz didn't enjoy some of the paper piecing on this- originally planned as an entry for the "Rock, Paper< Scissors" challenge, but it kept growing and is now too big.  Her husband has claimed it!

Val made this as a sample to try out these free form log cabin blocks.  She'll be sharing this technique with us on Demo Day in February.

Donna Sofokles made this with a charm pack she was given.  It's for Community Service.

Donna used pretty William Morris style prints to make this- also for Community Service.

                Cheryl Doody made this for the Consortium Wee Little Quilts fundraiser

Cheryl used a jelly roll to make this beautiful top she donated to Community Service.

With Jenny's help, Connie did a sewing project with the students in her 4th grade class.  They each drew a picture inspired by a book they had read.  The pictures were turned into quilt tops to be entered in the School Block Challenge, sponsored by Moda and the National Quilt Museum. I didn't get pictures-good ones anyway- of all the drawings. 

 

 

 

The blocks will be on display at the National Quilt Museum once the contest closes.  Connie plans to quilt them for the children when they are returned to her next spring.

This piece is Elaine Ross' entry for last year's QCNYS challenge, "Focus on the Future.  Winners will be announced soon.  All of the entries will be part of a traveling exhibit at member quilt shows in 2022.

Apologies to Elaine Lemley.  I omitted her piece from the last Community Service update.  She donated this at the October meeting, which I was unable to attend.  

In December, we'll be having our annual holiday party.  This year, we're having breakfast pizza, donuts and fruit, safely served by our hospitality committee.  As always, please bring your drink and a place setting.  

We'll also play another fun game. See the newsletter for details!

Community Service news

September 27 - Thanks to everyone who stayed after our September business meeting to help with our community service projects. As a result of those efforts (as well as all the time members have spent over the past several months working diligently on community service items at home), we have a  big stack of quilts ready to be gifted!   We recently dropped of 10 quilts to the Lipson Cancer Institute in Batavia. Many thanks to our members for their beautiful work!  

October 2-  Community Service has donated ten more quilts -  this time to the WNY Foster Closet.  Thanks to our fantastic members who support our Community Service projects. 

https://www.facebook.com/FosterLoveCloset/

 

September news and announcements

 Our September meeting was held at the lovely Fellowship Hall at the United Methodist Church in Batavia.  They are gracious hosts and we are very grateful for the opportunity to enjoy their facility again.  However- Drum-roll, Please- the VA has approved us to return to holding our meetings in their auditorium!  That's right, folks- We're GOING HOME, beginning with the October meeting!! 

MASKS are REQUIRED inside the VA facility, especially when entering/ exiting and using the restrooms, i.e. in places where you might be exposed to or exposing residents.

We will once again need helpers to set up for the meeting: tables and chairs, snack table, sound system.  Contact Martha if you want to sign up.

 Show and Tell continues to be on the small side.  Maybe, like me, you all are just now getting your sewing mojo back up to speed?  

Nancy Ellers made this blanket to be donated.  She had yarn left over, so made a matching hat for the baby.

Nancy Schrader brought in the pillow she made to celebrate the end of her cancer treatments.  It is heavily embellished with layers of buttons and bling!

Nancy and her mom brought this fabric to be used for teddy bears which will be donated to a foster care program (I think- I missed the name of the organization)

Ann O'Geen made these pillows from shirts of a loved one who passed as a memorial for the family.

Val Schults repurposed some orphan blocs to make this in answer to a challenge which had to include churn dash blocks, flying geese, hour glass blocks and one block of your choice (her center block)

Melanie Tubinis quilted this Community Service quilt, pieced by Carol McNally.

Mary Ann Watson made this to donate to community service

Kathy Belluscio's niece picked out some very cool fabrics in a shop in Oregon  and asked Kathy to make her a quilt.  This is the back!

The front features the beautiful scenic panels and a selection of colorful fabrics, which the niece wanted in a random arrangement.  Kathy used the blocks from the "Yellow Brick Road" pattern to make it appear random!

Our activity this month was to finish up some community Service projects, including heart pillows for breast cancer patients, and teddy bears.

Working together also offers the opportunity to chat with fellow members

Donna and Carol shared the work on this piecing kit, and got the top finished!

 

Doing these work days gives Connie and Jenny a nice supply of items to pass on to the organizations in need, including another stack of quilts that went to the VA last week!

In November we'll be playing Bingo, using blocks to be donated to Community Service.  Instructions are in the newsletter.  Here is a picture of a small quilt I made when my online group played this game at our virtual retreat in 2020.

 Finally, it's time for the commercial- please consider volunteering for one of the open positions in the guild.  I know there's still plenty of uncertainty going around, but our guild can't thrive even in the best of times unless we all work together!