october 08 meeting

show and tell
Look at Flora’s mind-bending, sparkling blue labyrinth wall hanging! She also made a mini-version for the group quilt.

Harriet showed us quilt after quilt that she has finished. Also, she impressed us a suitcase full of wonderful fabric finds from her travels.(Wait! Isn't that Harriet with an armful of floral material in Sarah’s store!)

Janet moved ahead and finished the FY quilt with the fun lime-green squares.

Patricia showed the final piecing of her Little Man baby boy quilt.

Miriam had two projects to show us, the most noteworthy being the "green" quilt.

Sarah proudly displayed a quilt, inspired by the seashore, that her older sister made for her.

As the evening came to a close, we descended into Sarah’s basement store--Ruby’s Daughter. It was filled with an exception selection of delightful quilting fabrics.

august 08 meeting

show and tell
Miriam made us all cloth grocery pages in wonderful fabric with trim details. We each seemed to find one that matched our personalities. Miriam also showed us a YF quilt project made with the pattern that Maurine shared with us in June. She is about to head off to Norway for a birthday party. What a jet setter!

Maurine had just completed two quilts for Plymouth Healing Communities as well as the two family quilts made of her deceased nephew's Hawaiian rayon shirts. They were deluxe with extra soft velour backings—see photo. Maurine also shared some of her hand-dyed threads with us.

Janet created a remarkable piece of jewelry that she presented to Maurine as a Thank You for being such a generous soul. The silver pendant framed an American stamp of a Gee's Bend quilt, with a fun drop-bead detail. Check out that attached photo for the look on Maurine's face when she opened her gift.

Pat, our newest member, showed us project after project. A remarkable hand stitcher, her most impressive project was a Crazy Quilt made with gorgeous velvets. She also had some unfinished projects that others adopted for potential YF quilts.
Patricia showed an unfinished YF quilt with central pieces made by Maurine in a Nancy Crow workshop. She is hand quilting it together . She is also working on a simple table topper made from hand dyed fabric bought from Elin Noble at Quiltfest plus a very un-babylike baby quilt.

Flora had two table toppers made with precise star piecing. And Harriet came to see all the inspired projects and join in the great conversations.

february 2008 meeting

Harriet brought three tops that were pieced together with Chinese Coin craziness. They are bright and quite suitable for young men--which could help with our Youth Forum needs this spring. We need to discuss how best to finish these up.

Mary, who has been busy at the QFC pharmacy, brought her quilt-as-you-go project. She commented that working on small squares makes for a lot more work with the long pieces (sashing?) that pull it all together.

Janet let us know that she is caught up with a long-standing, hand-quilted project at home. It is all one huge piece of white (beige?) fabric that is finished with just hand stitching. Hopefully she will bring it to our next meeting to show us her progress.

Miriam, our oldest quilter, brought a fluffy and fun baby quilt for a Plymouth baby. We learned that Miriam likes to get up early in the morning and quilt for about three hours, often by hand, before she gets started on her day. Tremendously prolific, Miriam admits that she was born with a sewing machine in her arms.

Patricia showed progress on her YF quilt that is made with bold pieces of South African fabric. So far she has finished freestyle quilting half of that quilt-as-you-go piece. On the side she has been making a "quilted afghan" for her living room. Composed of graphic squares of green, gold and brown fabric, Patricia showed strips of piecing ready to sew into the final top.

the founding of piece makers

Maurine in Ohio with a quilt she made with vintage squares, 2009.

Maurine Noble, a nationally recognized quilter and teacher, founded Plymouth Piece Makers in 1989. Its initial focus was to make quilts for new babies born to church families. If enough quilters joined the group, Maurine hoped that quilts could also be created for the new House of Healing ministry. An ad was put in the Herald newsletter, inviting quilters and would-be quilters to join the group.

Participants in early meetings included: Emilie Adams, Sue Bechtold, Rosetta Elliott, Inge Freund, Helen Gorsuch, Shannon Kahn, Ruth Kiemle, Maurine Noble, Diane Roubal, Caryl Trager, Sally Wagner, Susan Underwood, Marcia Almquist, Karen Gwilym, Jane Alley, Julie (does anyone know Julie’s last name?), Bertha Hanson, Jackie Mampel, Joan Davis and Carol Fick.

days of creation banners

In our Chapel hangs a series of 5x10 foot banners depicting the Genesis story. Maureen Noble, Sally Wagner and Dana Taft were the key creative women who, in the late 80’s, bought $100 worth of sportswear fabric and worked for months on the six banners. Each scene includes freemotion stitching of the bible verses around the binding. They are very impressive modern-day tapestries in a house of worship.