March Meeting

The March meeting of the Vance Quilts R Us guild was a productive meeting.  March is membership renewal month.  We welcome two new members, Tammy Williamson and Monica Sleboda.  Two guests, Patricia Shepard and Pauline O'Neal, were in attendance. 

Guild members decided to move forward with a block for the Tar River Quilt Trail.  The block will look like our guild pin and will be mounted on the Perry Library, as the library was the first meeting place of the guild.  

Thanks to Kathy Solomon, we now have a portable sound system to use at our meetings.  The better to hear you, my dear!

Faith Smith lead the evening's program.  She showed members an English paper piecing technique.  How many hexies have you made? 

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Linda shares a baby quilt she made highlighting Winnie the Pooh characters in the Attic Window.

Lynn shows a mystery quilt she hand pieced and quilted.

Lynn also shared a Stack and Whack.

Faith shows a Star Quilt.

She also created a Jelly Roll quilt.

Faith also shared her North Carolina symbols applique wall hanging.

Join us for our April meeting with Eileen Davison showing us how to "paint" a landscape with fabric.  You will need to bring a small canvas, fabric scraps and permanent fabric glue.   

February Meeting

The February meeting of Vance Quilts R Us was a busy one as there are many things happening this year.  

Betty Jo Pernell will head up the nominating committee in search of new officers for the next two years.  The current board would like to have the new board in place by July so the new officers can shadow the current board for the remainder of the year.

Debbie Powell announced the last two charity quilt workshops.  The guild has five quilts to complete by April for the St. Peter's Love Quilt Project.  Those workshops will be held at Miss Lou's on Tuesday, February 25 and Tuesday, March 25 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

The annual quilt challenge is on!  Members in attendance were given an envelope containing two paint chips.  Those are your colors.  The rules are as follows:

You may select a third color/fabric - but only 1.

All the fabrics in your quilt must match the 2 paint chips or is your 3rd fabric.

Patterns are allowed, but the majority of the fabric must match the paint chip.

Your quilt must be 30 x 30 or larger

You must have a PIECED BORDER

Keep your paint chips pinned to the back of your quilt for judging.

The evening's program was presented by Debbie Powell.  She showed and explained several quick quilts. 

Faith Smith shared a scrappy quilt she made from some UFO blocks.

 Betty Jo Pernell showed us the Valentine wall hanging she quilted.

 If you didn't see this quilt shared by Stevie Scaramelli, you missed a beauty!  Stevie's "Tuscan Garden" was done on her embroidery machine.

 This is a close up of the work on one of Stevie's blocks.  Gorgeous!

March's program will be presented by Faith Smith.  She will be demonstrating English paper piecing.  Faith will provide the kits but ask that members bring regular sewing thread, 100 weight silk thread, needles and pins.

April's program will be Eileen Davison demonstrating her fabric painting.  Members will need to bring a small canvas and permanent fabric glue.

This month's winners were Stevie Scaramelli, winning the Fat Quarter Frenzy and Kathy Solomon, winner of the Quilts Like Crazy gift certificate.

Remember that 2014 membership is now due.

End of the Year

The December meeting of Vance Quilts R Us was a wonderful Homespun Christmas. 

The Christmas committee of Donna Compton, Rachel Wessels and BK McCloud did a wonderful job planning an evening of

FUN

 

FOOD

FRIVOLITY

FELLOWSHIP

Guild members lucky enough to win Blocks of the Month throughout the year were asked to bring their quilts made from them to the meeting for judging.

Viewer's Choice awards were given to Barbara Bockiaro and Rachel Wessels.

Through the year, the guild members brought gently used or new regifted items.  Those items were put into thirty seven baskets for a Chinese Auction.

Guild members had much fun winning the baskets.

It has been a fun and educational year in the quilting guild.  We are looking forward to the happenings of 2014.

Christmas Gift Ideas

The November meeting of the Quilts R Us guild was an evening of sharing Christmas gift ideas.  Guild members shared patterns and ideas for quick go to gifts they make for those on their gift lists.  One idea was the quick Christmas tree pictured below shared by Debbie Powell.   

Members enjoyed yummy snacks brought by Eileen Davison, BK McCloud, Lynn Currin and Belinda Leach.  Winner of Fat Quarter Frenzy was Georgia Darnell. Sarah Baskerville won the gift certificate raffle. The drawing for the trip to the Mid Atlantic Quilt Show in Hampton, VA was held with Karen Hanny's name being drawn as the winner.

Donna Compton shares her quilt, "Crown of Thorns".

Kathy Solomon shows her completed Quilt in a Box from last years challenge.

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 Eileen Davison shares one of her painting quilts.

Eileen also shows a baby quilt she made with Dr. Seuss fabric.

Belinda Alston showed some quick flannel quilts she made for babies.

The guild's Christmas celebration will be held December 9.  The Christmas committee has been working hard to put together a Chinese Auction and dinner for the members.  It will be a fun evening, so plan to attend.  

The Movies in Quilts

Friday, September 6, Vance Quilts R Us hosted an evening of entertainment.  Guild members, members from surrounding guilds and interested people from the community enjoyed viewing and voting on challenge quilts created by guild members, a wonderful assortment of treats including popcorn and movie theater candies.  The feature presentation for the evening was a lecture from quilt artist, Amy Stewart Winsor.

The guild's annual challenge was to create a quilt around a movie.  The quilt needed to include a pieced block, applique and embellishment and could not be larger than thirty inches.  

(Clicking on the pictures will enlarge them.)

"Lord of the Rings" was created by Stevie Scaramelli and was awarded second runner up.

First runner up was a quilt created by Patty McCrory and depicted the movie, "French Kiss".

Grand prize winner was "The Wizard of Oz" created by Donna Wesemann.

Brenda Seaman entered her quilt of "Yours, Mine and Ours".

Debbie Powell created a quilt depicting the movie "Harry Potter".

Wendy Krusie entered her quilt "Grease".

Also included in the evening was a "Stash for Cash".  Members brought sewing and craft related items to sell and the guild received a percentage of the sales.  There was a wide variety of items and many of those items were sold.

The evening's highlight was a lecture by Amy Winsor about her art quilts and how she creates them.  Many of her quilts do not follow any traditional rules used in quilting.

On Saturday, September 7, members and guests participated in a workshop presented by Amy Winsor on "Curvaceous Pieced Houses for the Precision Impaired". 

It was a weekend enjoyed by many quilters and non-quilters alike.