Material Girls would like everyone to know how much fun we had at our end-of-the-year luncheon on Wednesday, December 18. It's always fun to get together and see how creative our friends are, and this was the first meeting after Sunny gave us a mini-challenge of making something with a sparkly, sequined fabric. The challenge isn't actually due until the January meeting, but some over achievers wore their creations to lunch, thrilling us all. Fortunately, Kristie took pictures, so you can all see the results.

The back of Justi's simple black shirt was edged with silver sequins tied into a bow.

Kathy used her fabric and some eyelash yarn to create a stunning peacock.

Margaret couched some sparkly thread around her reverse-applique flowers.

Nancy's elegant tailored shirt was given some classy fun with sparlkly cuffs.

Isn't that fun? Now, the rest of us can be either intimidated or inspired by the early results, but in any case show up on the third Wednesday of January in JoAnn's of Redlands at 12:30 to see more.

The San Bernardino group held ita annual Potluck-and-Planning meeting on December 6. We had a guest and potential member that evening—Naomi Bruce—but we were just as rowdy as ever, so that was fine.

Marilyn allowed our meeting to begin with food, because the dishes brought to share were so delectable we couldn’t contain wait for any boring old business discussions. I especially remember Rosalie’s go-to rice dish, Ricki’s delectable cheese ball, and Kristie’s home-made hummus (don’t ask for a recipe—it’s different every time.) I won’t mention the desserts because just thinking of them makes my mouth water and I hate to drool on the keyboard.

Naturally, I didn’t take pictures during show-and-tell because I keep forgetting my cell phone has a camera, but if Carolyn sends any pictures that she took to me, I will post them later. Meantime, here is a picture of Gina’s Christmas tree rag quilt that she forwarded to me. 

Gina was on her way to the meeting when she got a call from her son, so she talked to him instead. Family first—right, Gina? We approve.

Next, we had a brilliant example of Marilyn’s excellent leadership: she encouraged us to plan our program for the upcoming year without ever raising her voice. Although she did mention one time that she was not going to sit there all night while we came to a decision.

Here it is, our upcoming year of sewing fun:

January: Guest Speaker about drapery fabrics

February: Clothesline Bowls with Shyron and Barbara

March: Hand stitching techniques with Marilyn

April: Vinyl Organizer with Nancy and Kathy

May: Steering wheel cover with Ricki and Shyron

June: Teddy Bear Trunk Show

July and August: No meeting while we finish up our challenges

September: Potluck and Challenge Reveal

October: Paper Piecing with Barbara

November: Kreativity with Kristie

December: Potluck and Planning with Laughter and Love

This month's ASG Quilters gathering was quiet. Bad weather and holiday obligations kept some members away, and we missed them--but lunch was good, anyway!
Barbara Coonce finished her paper-pieced pillow that she has been working on, and we really admire her color choices and the precision of the design that the paper-pieceing made possible.

Carol did some stippling on the photo quilt that she learned how to make from Janet, and Rosalie used her Accuquilt-Go to cut tumbler blocks for a quilt she is making for a son. Rosalie wondered if mixing flannel and non-flannel fabrics would be a good idea, and the consensus was "No." Although I thought the difference in textures would be interesting, everyone else pointed out that the difference in shrinkage potential could be disastrous.
Our guest Zia is almost through with the Nativity quilt she is making for her church.

She got the embroidery designs from San Bernardino Sew and Vac, and the help and encouragment from all the friendly people that hang around. She also shared ice cream, but--honestly--we would have been helpful and encouraging anyway.
Several of us worked on non-quilting projects because that is the way we do things at ASG Quilters--free form, all are welcome.
We also made the decision to forego a meeting in December. I am sure you understand. Just the same, if you have any pictures of completed projects that you want to show off, send it to my email address, and I will try to post it. (You can find the address on our asgie.org website under board members: use the one for the secretary.)

The regular meeting of the San Bernardino Neighborhood group was conducted in its usual sedate, lady-like manner on Thursday evening. Primly and properly, we listened to Beloved Leader's description of the General Meeting and calmly discussed our own plans for our group's future and our participation in the Chapter. Among the politely phrased requests was that I help publicize our refined and delicate group's exquisitely formal get-togethers on the ASGIE Blog. Then they demanded that I not use real names and reminded me of our motto, "What happens at Ray's, stays at Ray's."
That is why you won't know that:  X flew the coop early, there was a needle fight at table one, and that some people find it hysterically funny that disposable enemas were hidden under the table.
We have a great Show-and-Tell in our group, because our ladies are so creative. We were honored to meet Shyron's cousin Sandy, who is the designer of the lovely purse that Shyron carries. We were not at all surprised that Kristie made the iron caddy designed by Barbara Coonce and also a great-looking purse from a thrift shop pattern and some free fabric. Those who had not been to the Fashion Show were awed by Marilyn's jacket, and admired Jacquina's purse that she made THAT DAY, including free motion quilting as an accent. Rosalie shared the finally-finished monkey quilt and has apparently been channeling her inner Margaret because her entry in the scrap challenge was a jeans purse. Barbara Baker and Carolyn had some machine embroidered cuties to share because sewing on a Baby Lock Ellissimo is too much fun.
All that, and we did a project, too!

This little ornament--made by Carolyn--was taught by Marilyn, and was sewn by hand--because ladies love hand-work.

Our next meeting will be December 5, and following our long-standing tradition will include the sharing of food and making glorious plans for even greater sewing achievements in 2014. You are invited to attend.
I understand that some people have trouble leaving comments on the blog, but if you really want to say something, send me an email and I will post it for you. My address is the same as Barbara Baker's, and you can find it in the newsletter.

Okay, this is really a Yikes! My calendar tells me that it is time to send a reminder email to the ASG Quilters, and I haven't even updated our blog from last month's meeting. Fortunately, I have have some photos to share, which will jog my memory about what happened. I know that actually taking notes while events are occuring is a better way to remember things, but if I were any good at taking notes I would be the Chapter Secretary, right?
The first picture is of Margaret Grider's quilt, which is a very colorful Wonky Nine-Patch--that is a technical quilter's term for "I don't do squares". The colors are exciting, and the irregular patches just make the whole quilt look like fun.

The next picture is Margaret's No-Sew Sewing Apron--made from jeans! Margaret also turned some old jeans into a couple of handy little purses. Where some people see denim headed for the rag-bin, Margaret sees creative opportunities.

Note how the pockets from the jeans are now helpfully storing sewing tools. You may think this picture is upside down because I don't know how to flip photos, but this is the orientation a apron has when it is in your lap, so I think it works well.
By now you are thinking that last month's meeting was the Margaret Grider show, but I have memories of :
cutting out Christmas fabrics, Phyllis working on a wall hanging, Earline sewing a quilt for her grandson, and Barbara Coonce doing some exquisite paper piecing as she worked on a gift for her friend. Actually, I may remember that last bit from the previous month, but it really is exquisite.
What we can take away from all this is: never get rid of jeans, it's never  too early to start sewing for Christmas, babies are the best reason for making quilts, and it's nice to sing while sewing.

Here is the photo of Gina's Quilt! I hadn't lost it after all, I just hadn't received it yet. 

I do have to reassure you that in real life the border is NOT yellow, but a beautiful deep-sea blue giving the impression that the colorful fish are all swimming happily in a coral reef.

Here is a comment from Barbara Cortez:

It's nice to get away, relax, enjoy your sewing friends and good conversation….for me it's a time not to even think about what might be going on at home!  

Come join us, we always have a great time!

Barbara Cortez

Thank you for the comment, Barbara. We like to know that we are achieving our mission of relaxing with friends. Getting some sewing done is a nice plus.

The latest meeting of the Quilt Group was embellished with pizza! That was a special treat that we could all relate to. Gina brought her latest quilt top--a colorful school of fishes in a blue ocean. We had a picture taken which I have some lost in the "cloud", so I can't show it to you. When It comes back from the quilter, I will take another picture for you. Sadly, once it is quilted you won't be able to see what a beautiful job Gina did in pressing her seams--something that I noticed while I was holding it up for the portrait. I would like to repeat an earlier phrase: "When it comes back from the quilter." Did you know that it is perfectly acceptable to send your quilts out to be finished? Sometimes people put off making a quilt because they know they will never have the time for basting the layers and quilting and binding. We don't let that worry us because there are professional long-arm quilters out there who do a wonderful job of finishing off our creations. Of course, if you are sure that you will someday find the time to quilt it yourself, I can give you some storage tips, and ways to rationalize the delay.
All the Barbaras had projects that are inching ever closer to completion, Sunny worked on a T-shirt quilt, and I think Rosalie was doing oven towels. I didn't take good notes, I'm afraid.
Janet gave an excellent demonstration--with examples--of two quilt-as-you-go techniques. This is another solution for those who can't face shoving a full-sized quilt through a domestic machine.  Most techniques involve a bit of hand sewing, and in a future meeting I think I should demonstrate the modified ladder stitch that I love so much. Please don't worry: you will not be forced to participate. Honestly, if our grandmothers had been so averse to hand-sewing as this generation is, we would all be wearing animal skins held together with thorns.
Once again, I apologize for losing the photo, but I will continue to search for it. In the meantime, please remember that we sew on the third Saturday of every month at San Bernardino Sew/Vac & etc. (The 'etc.' means pizza)
Here are a couple of websites you might find interesting. Barbara Cortez found this site that has patterns for modern-looking quilts: http://www.psiquilt.com
Superior Threads sends out an infomative newsletter about threads, and their archives are available at their site: http://www.superiorthreads.com/newsletter/retail/subscribe/

Saturday, August 17 was the regular meeting of ASG Quilters, and this meeting was special because Barbara Coonce thought it would be fun to have a baked potato bar for lunch. Members brought their favorite potato toppers to share, and Barbara provided the potatoes all snuggled in their foil jackets and baked in a crock pot. That was a new one for me, but apparently those in the know have been preparing their party potatoes this way for a while. I think I may have to get a crock pot. Of course, I will wait for BabyLock to come out with a computerized crock pot so I can buy it at San Bernardino Sew/Vac with my 15% ASG discount.

It was interesting how many members brought out their projects saying, "I haven't done a thing with it since the last meeting!" This shows how important sewing with friends is for project completion. Barbara Coonce was working on her paper-piecing project and Margaret finally got to see expert paper-piecing in action. 

We had two visitors--Darcy and Julia--and I hope to see them again in September. I'm pretty sure that I will see Darcy again, because she is my sister and I know where she lives.

Since I am the only reporter, I couldn't see everything that was going on, but I know that Barbara Cortez sewed ALL of the rows on her Northern Lights quilt--even while carrying on a conversation with Sunny who was busy cutting up T-shirts to make a quilt for another beloved grand-daughter. Since Sunny has four grand-daughters, I am sure that she will be our chapter's expert on T-shirt quilts whether she likes it or not. Gina was crocheting, Rosalie finished her monkey quilt--it was handwork which always takes forever--and Earline got some computer tips from Suzanne. See? You can do whatever you want at ASG Quilters and get support and encouragement.

Denise was trying to find out more information on quilt-as-you go techniques, and Jenny and I said that we would be able to give her more information  and examples at the next meeting. That is code for “We’re going to ask Janet,” but if anyone else has some samples of quilt-as-you go we would love to see them.

Fashion Show!

We had a lot of fun sewing the Christmas stockings--can't you tell by all the smiles?

Our next big event is the Fashion Show on October 5, which is a lot closer than you thought was. If you have not received an email with the reservation form and model form attachments, please contact your favorite group leader and ask her to send them to you. The fashion show is a great tradition for our chapter, and every year we are all thrilled with the beautiful clothes and accessories made by our members.

Speaking of accessories, remember to bring them with you the day of the fashion show, or send them with a friend who is attending if you can't make it.

More from ASG Quilters

This is the update on ASG Quilters, whose regular meeting was on Saturday, July 20. Another muggy July day where it was almost too steamy to get anything accomplished at all. Especially since there was an electrical problem at the shop. This is not surprising, because I believe that building was built before San Bernardino had electricity, so it's all retro-fit anyway. The problem was that there was no electricity available for sewing machines, but that wasn't a big issue because most of us were cutting fabric instead of sewing it this month. That's what quilting is--cutting fabric up and then sewing it back together. Isn't that fun?
We had a discussion on color, and how to determine the value of colors so that you use lights and darks and mediums in the proper manner in your quilt. Some of us think that is valuable information in quilt planning, and some of us don't see the point. The latter group feel that if they like the colors in their quilt, that is all that is necessary. We ended the discussion by concluding that the rules for using color are helpful if you are insecure or a beginner, but not binding.
Barbara Cortez began cutting fabrics for her Northern Lights quilt. I think it would be great if we had three of the same quilt to use at our Sew What's New Fair display. No pressure, though. Barbara Baker and Phyllis got most of their fabrics cut for the mystery quilt they will make at the Long Beach Quilt Festival, Gina got help from Janet for her next quilt--a Christmas rag quilt that sounds like a lot of fun, and if you want to do one too, contact Janet because she is very helpful.
Barbara Coonce was the only one actually sewing, and we put her in a place of honor on the sewing machine side of the store. Mainly because that's where the electricity was. Barbara is making a pillow for a friend and using her favorite technique of paper piecing to make some lovely flowers. I was so sorry Margaret wasn't there, because we tried to describe paper piecing to her on the quilt run, and she would have been very impressed by Barbara's project.
Denise shared a good tip: save the net bags that garlic is sold in to use as thread nets. This is also a good excuse to buy more garlic, and we should probably start sharing garlic recipes.
Our next meeting will be August 16, and I hope to see you at San Bernardino Sew and Vac for a day of sewing, sharing, and garlic-laden potluck. And you don't have to worry about the electricity because Ray has called in a twenty-first century electrician to make sure we can get up and sewing.

Upcoming meetings of interest

How are we going to know if anyone reads these posts unless we get some comments on the posts?
Here are some upcoming events that I know about that will be a lot of fun.
First, there is the Second Saturday Sit and Sew at San Bernardino Sew and Vac. This is a regular sewing event sponsored by the store to encourage sewing in our community. All are welcome from 10:00 to 3:00. There is also a regular Free Sew at the same time an location on Thursdays.
On Wednesday, July 17, the Material Girls will meet at JoAnn in Redlands (near the Citrus Center) from 12:30 to 2:30. I believe that we will continue to discuss the adorable dress that many of us are working on (or thinking about working on) for the Fashion Show. Come to the meeting to learn more about garment sewing, and more about the Fashion Show which is so very much fun.
Saturday, June 19 is the regular meeting for ASG Quilter's. San Bernardino Sew and Vac--as usual--from 10:00 to 3:00. Be sure to bring what you are working on to share with the rest of us. There will be a little extra this time: when I was putting away stuff I bought while on the quilt run, I found a three-way color tool for quilters that I am going to demonstrate to those who are worried about using color in their quilts.

Introducing: ME!

Hello ASGInland Empire!
Thank you to Jayne for inviting me to write for this blog, and I do hope to share the excitement of ASG with as many members as possible. Pictures seem like a good idea, too, and I am sorry that I did not take pictures while I was on the recent Southern California Quilt Run with many of my ASG friends. All is not lost, though, since Judy McDonald was along with her camera, so if I ever figure out how to post pictures, I will be sure to do that.
I would love to stay and chat some more, but it seems that I over-bought a little while on the run, and until I get some things organized, I will not be able to sew. I loved Sunny's idea of not buying anything new until she had sewn up something old--such discipline! I'll bet right now you are thinking that you should be sewing instead of surfing, too, so I will shut up for now.

DVD Mini-Class

At Peggy's Church several of us attended the min-class taught by Betty Renick on the first 6 lessons from Louise Cutting's dvd collection.  What a great opportunity it was to to utilize this DVD.  So many things to learn.

We learned how to make a very trim "unbunchie" collar points.  Everyone is working away on the concept here.

  Were Awed- by some of the ideas.  But all in all GREAT time.

Thanks to Betty for all the hard work getting packets together for our class and the great instructions compiled over a couple of months time.
Now, to put into pratice.......Just check out our garment sewing in a month or two!!!!

Sew What's New Fair April 20, 2013.