Seven of us gathered at Flora’s home—Flora, Janet, Miriam, Maurine, Harriet, Patricia and Diane. It was a fun evening of sharing and nibbling on a generous selection of cookies, crackers and cheese, and tasty grapes.
Show ’N Tell
Janet has been having fun with her 12' long-arm.The teal swirl quilt has swirl stitching. The next two quilts are by Jeanne Neptune, a co-worker. Jeanne and Janet sketched ideas for the stitching of clear overlay plastic to plan the stitching designs. The stitching includes loops and fun flowers. To remember how to finish up a binding, Janet made a "work aid" that she shared with us.
Harriet was kind enough to find Maurine at her son's home at the northend of Edmonds and bring Maurine to the meeting. The bright quilt at the top is for a four-year old niece with a birthday coming up. The back is pre-printed flannel that Harriet bought from Sarah Stine at Fabric Crush. The next two quilts are for surviving children of her recently deceased brother-in-law—made with his old shirts.
FYI: When Maurien asked Harriet if she was still doing interior design, Harriet answered "No, I’m a quilter now." Yeah, Harriet!
Diane is busy helping out her parents who have a lots of issues with health and old age. The top batik quilt is from a kit she bought at the Ben Franklin store in Monroe on the way to a QA retreat. Diane sewed the bottom colorful quilt top in a day (after the pieces had been cut out with a special ruler). The pattern is so cool that Diane may use it for her YF quilt.
Miriam gave us a full report on the apartment our group furnished. The Sunday of the move-in was the day of a big Seahawks game, so church and the move-in event were lightly attended. Miriam took everything up to the room on her own. When Harriet and Robert arrived 15 minutes later, the job was almost done! (Rob set up the clock and hung the hooks for the shower curtain.)
When the room was complete, Karen Gwilym came by to check it out. Seeing all the details and the quilt on the bed, she said “This is the Piece Makers apartment.“ (There were three quilts total made for the apartments—created by Pris, Harriet and Miriam. Go Team!)
Miriam has been making more green blocks for her YF quilt—she needs 64 total. The baby quilt in the lower photo, now finished with red plaid flannel on the back, was a hit with everyone due to its Gee’s Bend spirit. That quilt will be delivered to June via Harriet, to be given to the next Plymouth baby boy.
It's a miracle that
Maurine was able to join us. She has lost 80 pounds since she began her medical journey to rid herself of back pain two and a half years ago. The pain is as bad as ever so it really impacts her life. Maurine spent one month, stitching ten minutes as a time, making the pretty quilt top with yukata cottons. Ironing as she went (because Maurine is a quilt pro) was the hardest for her.
Maurine and Ed bought a single-level house in Edmonds, one mile from their old condo. As they wait for final renovations to be made to the hew home, they are living with their son and daughter-in-law in the northend of Edmonds.
Patricia brought a copy of the Spring edition of Stitch to show an article on Japanese textiles that included quotes from her, photos of her yukata cottons and a link to her Okan Arts website. Patricia also handed out postcards for the fall Quilt Retreat with Joe Cunningham. (It's another fundraiser for La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum.)
For the month of February Patricia’s heading to Victoria to help out her parents.
Flora was beaming about the long-arm quilting machine bequeathed to her by Diane. The delivery of the professional machine inspired Flora to rearrange her garage studio—where she now has a new carpet from Lowe's for a whopping price of $17!
Now Flora can play with the concept of working part-time and taking in quilting projects to help pay her bills. The pictured quilt is one she stitched for a co-worker.
Flora is getting more active with QA. She is taking a week off in March to help out at the QA show in Monroe. It’s the week of her birthday and she wants to do something she loves at that time.
Brigitta: There was discussion about how to teach our senior minister how to quilt. Everyone hopes Brigitta will attend the February meeting so she can meet the Plymouth Piece Makers. Flora has volunteered to privately teach her if Brigitta can find a few hours to come to Flora’s home. Maurine is also interested in teaching Brigitta how to make a baby quilt. Brigitta would have to wait until Maurine came back from California in early June.
