Tucson Quilt Show

The Tucson Quilt Show is coming up soon after the holidays. It is January 16, 17, and 18th at the Tucson Convention Center.

For More Information - Tucson Quilt Show

Free Holiday Tags, Small Boxes, Paper Toys and more

I just learned about a website, http://www.thetoymaker.com/, that I thought many of you might enjoy. There are lots of tags and small boxes for various holidays that you can print out and use for free. There are also tons of coloring pages and small paper toys to print out too. You don't have to be a kid to enjoy this site.

I haven't tried this, but you might even be able to print some of these things on the special cloth for ink jet printers and use them for quilt labels. If anyone trys this, leave a comment to let us know how it worked.

Nimble Thimbles Quilt Block

Wow, Johnnie did a great job piecing this block and Kathy did a great job with the embroidery! This is Nimble Thimbles contribution to the new state quilt that AQG is putting together with a block from each of its chapters. It will be a lot of fun to see it. Hopefully, it will be shown at the 2009 AQG quilt show.

Free Sew-in on Sunday

Just a reminder that Nimble Thimbles has the community room at the Desert Breeze police substation reserved this Sunday Dec. 14th from 9-5. Come finish up holiday projects while you socialize.

Project Linus Blanket Bee

Here is some information on an upcoming Project Linus Blanket Bee that I thought some of you might be interested in attending.

Blanket Bee
Jan 17, 2009
9am – 2pm

Oak Room at the Gilbert Community Center
100 N. Elm St

For more information please call
MaDonna Baker
Phoenix SE Valley Coordinator
480-399-3501
www.orgsites.com/az/project-linus-se-phoenix

Chairty Quilt Update

Happy Holidays to all Nimble Thimbles quilters!

Just wanted to remind you that we will be making one more delivery of our donated quilts to The Chandler Fire Department before the end of December.

You can still bring in pieced tops, fabric, and batting, as well as finished quilts to the Holiday Party next Tuesday, or call me to arrange for pick-up. We will add whatever is ready to George's stack of 20 he turned in last month. We are also expecting 4 quilts due back from Cheryl Bennett, who volunteered to longarm quilt for us. She will be able to do a few more for us this month, so bring in your pieced tops. We also welcome donations of 80/20 batting anytime, as per requested by longarm quilters. Thank you all so much for all your generous donations of labor, resources of all kinds, and time. See you at the party!

Delores Jenisch, Community Service Project Chair

Correction to A Card for a Soldier

Unfortunately,Walter Reed does not accept mail addressed to A Recovering Soldier for security reasons. If you wish to send mail to wounded servicemen and women the Red Cross sponsors Holiday Mail for Heros. You can send cards to

Holiday Mail for Heros
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

For more information go to:www.wramc.amedd.army.mil ORwww.redcross.org/holidaymail
- Carol

Amazing Photos Through History

Millions of photos from Life Magazines archives are now available on-line through a photo archive hosted by Google. The archive includes photos that we never published in the magazine. You can do a search on a particular subject by adding "source.life" to your Google search term. Or you can go to the home page and do a search there or click on a decade to view - the 1860's through the 1970's. You can also click on famous peoples names, places, events, sports, and culture. The pictures are pretty amazing.

Home Page of Life Magazine Photo Archives

Quilts Photos from Life Archives

A Card for a Soldier

Gudrun passed this idea on:

GREAT IDEA!! When doing your Christmas cards this year, take one card and send it to this address. If we pass this on and everyone sends one card, think of how many cards these wonderful special people who have sacrificed so much would get. When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following:

A Recovering American Soldier

c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center

6900 Georgia Avenue,NW

Washington,D.C. 20307-5001

Holiday Party

Have you bought your ticket yet for the Nimble Thimbles Holiday Party? It will be held on Tuesday, December 9 at 6:30pm. It will be at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 739 W Erie, in Chandler. (This is not where we regularly meet.) The cost is $15.00 for members and $18.50 for non-members. You need to get your reservation in to Karen by November 18th.

At the party, we will be collecting the following items for My Sister's Place, a shelter for abused women and children:

• Paper Towels


• Paper Plates


• Toilet Paper


• Cold Cups


• Facial Tissues


• Coloring books for kids


• Washable crayons for kids

November 11th Meeting at Chandler Center for the Arts

There is no meeting today, Nov. 4 because it is election day.

The next meeting Tues. Nov. 11th. We will be meeting at 7:00 at the Chandler Center for the Arts at the corner of Arizona Ave. and Chandler Blvd. We will be having a private viewing of their annual juried art quilt show.

Donate Your Old Eyeglasses

On Halloween this year, scare up your old prescription eyeglasses, non-prescription sunglasses and hearing aids. Girl Scout Troop #736, Ocotillo Neighborhood, Chandler, is collecting these items to donate to the Lion's Club. Every year on Halloween, the Lion's Club does a collection drive to benefit those less fortunate. Please bring any unwanted items to the November 11 Chandler Center for the Arts activity, or any time that is convenient. The downtown Chandler Public Library has a drop box for these items, also. Thank you for your support!

Kathy O'Brien, Nimble Thimbles Member and

Leader, Girl Scout Troop #736

Oct. 28 Meeting is a Pajama Party

Come wearing your favorite pajamas and you'll be entered into a drawing for a prize. Bring some sketch paper and something to draw with (pencil, pen, or marker). We'll be watching a DVD on quilting techniques that will alow us time to practice and improve our free motion quilting skills.

Chairty Work Day Opportunities

If some of you are free on the following dates and would like to lend a hand at finishing a few more quilts for Project Lines, to be delivered on the 25th, why, I'd love to have you join me at my home for a bit of stitching. We have about 6 sandwiched quilts to bind and label.

These are the days I'll be dedicating to the Project Linus quilts.

Tuesday, Oct 21...6:00 PM to 10:00 PM (evening) Wednesday, Oct 22...10:00 AM to 3:00 PM (day)

I have room for:
3 machine sewers...bring your own favorite sewing machine and tools
2 rotary cutters...bring your own favorite rotary cutter (mats provided, or you can bring your own)
4-5 "gophers" to sort/pin/hand sew binding and/or labels

Bring whatever food you need. I'll provide a variety of drinks. Maybe we can do a potluck type lunch on Wednesday?

Please contact Delores or send an email to nimblethimbles@gmail.com if you are interested in participating.

-Delores
Community Service Project Chair

Small Quilt Auction - October 7

Next meeting Oct. 7th we will be having our annual small quilt auction. The always entertaining Sarah Meland will be our auctioneer so come and join us for the fun. Also the first clue for the mystery quilt will be available and we will be unveiling our ugly fabric challenge results.

Note: This is a great meeting to bring friends to that might want to buy small quilts for themselves or as gifts for the upcoming holiday season.

Picture: This is my donation to the small quilt auction. It is a modification of Party Time Table Runner by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes (From Me to You). I got this pattern at Zoe's Trunk quilt shop in Chandler.

Rim Country Round Up

Here is some information on the upcoming quilt show in Payson, AZ. -

We are planning a beautiful quilt show, with approximately 15 vendors, many different classes, lectures and an awards banquet at the newly remodeled Mazatzal Hotel and Casino in Payson, AZ. This is a wonderful time of the year to come up and enjoy our Rim Country. This is a new venue of us, recently remodeled, and it will be the Rim Country Quilt Round Up's home for years to come.

Classes are still available, please go to the website, www.rimcountryquiltroundup.com, check them out and get your registrations in. Pam Bono and Brenda Henning are coming from out of state and need to be supported by class attendance. Many ladies from the Valley and all over the State and Country have participated in the past to make this show a huge success. (please note that some classes are being held November 13 to 15 and the quilt show is from November 14 to 16)

Please get your beautiful quilts entered. We would like to hang up to 150 quilts and have many monetary awards along with ribbons for the different categories. Your entered quilt(s) can be dropped off in the Valley at Sally's and Quiltz from November 5 to November 11. Check the website for the address nearest you. These quilts will be picked up on November 12 by Rim Country Quilt Round Up Staff. Make sure your entry confirmation number(s) are securely placed on the bag(s) containing your quilt(s).

Thank you for your assistance and support of our Rim Country Quilt Round Up.

E. Putnam
Rim Country Quilt Round Up
Chairman 2008
eputnam@npgcable.com

Fons & Porters at Tuesday Morning

I don't want to put ads for anyone on our website; but, I thought you might be interested to know that the Tuesday Morning stores have some quilting stuff. I went into the one on South Alma School Rd in Chandler with some friends yesterday. They have an aisle with craft items. I discovered some Fons & Porters directional pins for $1.99 a box (they list the regular price as $12.99 but I'm not sure what other stores sell or sold them for). They had a variety of Fons & Porters pins on one of the aisle ends at the back of the store. They also had some scissors, some Fiskars rulers, a Olfa rotary cutter, and a quilting tote bag. The craft stuff is all sort of intermingled so you have to look carefully to find things.

Design Your Own Pumpkin Carving Pattern

Okay, this has nothing to do with quilting; but it is fun. Better Homes & Gardens has a website where you can design your own jack-o-lantern. You can email it to a friend or just print out a stencil to use for carving your pumpkin.

Free Snake Quilt Pattern

A big thank you to Silvia Hirsch from Triangles on a Roll for doing our program on Sept. 16. One of the quilts she showed was a cute children's quilt with snakes on it. The pattern is available from her website - Snakes with Triangles on a Roll. There are also other free patterns available on the website. Triangles on a Roll are available at our local quilt shops.

Important Information from AQG

I have a couple of announcements I would like for you to share with your members:

1) Registrations for the October 11, 2008 Fall Meeting are currently lagging behind our registrations of last year. Therefore, I am extending the deadline for registrations to September 26, 2008. This year’s host chapter, A-Z Quilters have done an incredible job on the
table decorations and favors. You have to see them to believe them! A special thank you goes to our 15 Chapters who donated $25 each for raffle coupons which will be redeemable with our onsite vendors. We will also be having a raffle for a $200 gift basket. We encourage
you to attend this annual meeting to meet up with old friends, find out what’s going on at AQG and hear an outstanding, award winning quilter, Andi Perejda.
2) We also have a number of vacancies for Andi Perejda classes. If you are unfamiliar with Andi’s classes and her expertise, I encourage you to visit Perejda’s website is: www.andiperejda.com.
3) The deadline for Ricky Timms group reservations has passed but we have extended the deadline for individual registrations until October 1st. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity!
4) Also, please not the following corrections to the Traveling Teacher schedule for Audrey Waite which was published in the September Chatter.

Sep 16, not Sep 18 for Miniature Applique Landscape at Estrella Mountain Quilters

Sep 26, not Oct 4 for Not Necessarily Navajo at Quail Country Quilters

Sep 27, 2008, not 2009 for Watercolor at Prickly Piecers


In short everyone, we need and would appreciate your support and participation in these activities. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I appreciate your assistance and support!

Judy Taylor
AQG President

A Great Use For Your Stray Blocks

Delores announced at the September 2 meeting that she had spoken with one of the women at the Wildhorse Ranch Resuce to see if they could use quilted items in their gift shop. "Oh, yes!" They had a few quilts at various times and they always went fast. If you would like to donate items for their gift shop, you can bring them to the meetings or send an email to nimblethimbles@gmail.com to arrange for a pick-up. Some ideas: use leftover blocks to make small wallhangings or potholders. If you need the insulated batting to make potholders for this purpose, Judith has some that she is willing to donate for this purpose.

WILDHORSE RANCH RESCUE
Phone: (866) 926-8007
Address: Wildhorse Ranch
P.O. Box 415 Gilbert, AZ 85299
Web site: http://www.mudpony.com/

Wildhorse Ranch Rescue
Public Hours for Gift Shop and Ranch are noon to 6pm Saturday and Sunday and during special events Physical address: 11811 S Lindsay Road Gilbert, AZ 85296 (county street
number)
email: mudpony@aol.com

September Meetings

The Sept. 2nd meeting for Nimble Thimbles will be Diane Hansen from the Prickly Piecers doing a trunk show.

The Sept. 16th meeting will feature Sylvia Hirsch of Triangles on a Roll. She will show us what's new as well as reviewing her older products.

Wanted - One Quilter to Make Nimble Thimbles Block for State Quilt

AQG has sent the following request out to all of the Chapter Chairs.

One of the very nicest things about being a Past President is the task of doing a really "fun" project. We would like to put together a State Quilt with the current chapters being represented. We do have a state quilt which was made more than ten years ago, and at this time we 51 chapters and the members at large.

With your help we can get a quilt made before the Quilt Show, and we will be able to display it at our functions. Actually, I'd like to get it done before the Chapter Chair meeting in February. Would someone in your chapter please volunteer to design and complete a 10 1/2" unfinished square that has your chapter theme and name or whatever you wish? Send them in to the office as soon as possible, or you could bring them to the Fall Meeting.

If you are interested in making the Nimble Thimbles block, please send an email to nimblethimbles@gmail.com or let Kim know at the next meeting.

Project Linus

On October 25, I will deliver quilts to Project Linus at their Blanket Bee in Fountain Hills (instead of at our October 7th regular meeting). Please make an effort to finish up those kits you checked out and/or those quilts you started way back when, and get them in to me by October 21 so I can put labels on them. If you need fabric, kits, backing, and/or batting, please let me know by using nimblethimbles@gmail.com (Subject heading: Community Service), or see me at regular meetings. Keep in mind that working on a simple comfort quilt for others is a great way to teach a young person how to quilt, or even a recently retired friend looking to fulfill a long cherished dream of quilting. It's also a way to use up stash that you may have lost interest in, but that still would make a colorful scrappy quilt. See you at the meetings!

-- Delores

Community Service Update

On Monday, Aug 11, two members of the Chandler Fire Dept.'s Community Services team came to pick up 45 quilts and one large bag of used blankets. Of these quilts, 30 were made by our own George; 10 were donated by quilters at Papago Buttes Church of the Brethren; and 5 were made by members of Nimble Thimbles. The CFD team was very happy to see our quilts as they are beginning to get ready for the cold months ahead.
We are sure that our quilts will not only provided physical comfort in needy situations, but their visual appeal and quilted beauty will bring refreshment to the very hearts of each person receiving them. Thank you all who donated these quilts.

September 2 - Meeting

The Sept. 2nd meeting for Nimble Thimbles will be Diane Hansen from the Prickly Piecers doing a trunk show.

Start Shopping for the new Mystery Quilt Project

Mystery Quilt

We will be starting in October and will have a new clue each month (except December) to make a 51"x51" mystery quilt.

Fabric Requirements:
Dark fabric 2 yards
Medium fabric 1 1/2 yards
Light Fabric 1 yard
Backing and batting 57" x 57"

The fabric requirements include borders and binding and you will even have some fabric leftover.

New Buttons! Upcoming AQG Events!

I have learned how to add buttons to this blog! A little bit more complicated than adding buttons to a quilt but still, I just had to follow directions. :) You will notice to the right a "Home" button and a "AQG Newsletter" button. If you click on the "Home" button it won't do anything unless you've moved to a sub page and it will take you back to the main page. If you click on the "AQG Newsletter" button, it will bring up the most current version of the AQG newsletter.

The AQG Fall Meeting will be on October 11 at ASU West. You must pre-register and there is a fee because you will be getting lunch. Information is available in the AQG Newsletter.

The 2009 AQG Quilt Show will be March 13 and 14 at the Mesa Convention Center. Mark your calendars now.

Aug. 24 Stitch N'Pitch at Diamondbacks Game

This event was brought up at the meeting last night, so I thought I'd provide some links to information for those who are interested. It looks like tickets are available on-line and at some local shops like Fiber Factory in Mesa. You get into the game early and go to a needlework expo. It looks like this focuses more on embroidery, needlework, knitting, and crocheting than quilting but could still be lots of fun. You get a t-shirt as well.

Info on buying Stitch N' Pitch tickets
AZ Diamondbacks info about event
Official Stitch N' Pitch website

Aug 10 Free Sewing Day at Desert Breeze

Come to the Desert Breeze Police Substation, north side of Chandler Blvd., between McClintock and Rural Rd on Sunday Aug 10 anytime between 9:00am and 5:00pm. You can bring whatever project you would like to work on. You can come for part of the day or the whole day. You can bring a sack lunch or make a quick trip to a nearby fastfood place to get your lunch.

August Meetings

August 5th will be Carol Rich talking about quilt appraisals.

August 19th we will be having a (kosher) ice cream social. Nimble Thimbles will provide ice cream. Bring a kosher ice cream topping if you want. Bring handwork to do and plan on spending the time chatting with old and new friends.

Kosher toppings must be something you purchase at the store with a kosher symbol (see picture) on it and not something you make in your kitchen. You can't buy nuts at the store and then chop them in your kitchen and bring them in. In order for foods to remain kosher they must come directly from the store to the meeting.

Kosher symbols are from About.com. More about Kosher Foods from about.com.

New Type of Display for Search Results

Sometimes teenagers can be good sources of information. I recently learned about http://www.searchme.com/ from one. I don't think it will replace Google or other search engines for me but I do like it. Instead of displaying short descriptions of the search result matches, it displays an actual web page.

Click here to see the results I got for desert quilts. As usual there were some results that were useful to me and some that were not. I can save the pages that are useful into a stack.

Free Patterns from Vendors

I got my Connecting Threads catalog the other day and discovered that they have a lot of free quilting pattern downloads available on their site. If you scroll down on the right side of this screen, you'll find a box labeled "Free Patterns from Vendors". You can click there to see what is available. Bird Brain Designs usually has a free pattern for embroidery or wool work.

If you have some other favorite links for free patterns from vendors, let me know and I'll add them to our list. You can email nimblethimbles@gmail.com or just click below to leave a comment.

A note from Kathy

At the next meeting (July 15) we will be drawing names out of the bucket for prizes for
UFO, stash builders, and charity quilts. Also, the August 5th
meeting is Carol Rich talking about appraising quilts.

I'm looking for volunteers (3) to come do a Quilter's University for the Prickly Piecers in Ahwatukee on Thurs. Sept. 18th at 7:00pm. I will be happy to give a ride to any volunteers. -- Kathy

July Meetings

July 1st is Gudrun giving a trunk show, which should be pretty neat. Also we are going to do a book and pattern exchange so everyone can bring patterns/ books they no longer want.

Power Paws has agreed to do the program at the July 15th NT meeting. The meeting should be fun, we may have some 15 week old Golden Retriever puppies at the meeting.

Hope to see you all there!

Google Reader - Quilting Articles

I've added a new section on the right side of the blog. It is a box of articles from Google Reader. There will be articles on quilting there that will vary periodically. You can click on any articles of interest to you in order to read them. In some cases, once the article comes up you may only be getting a summary and may have to click on the article title to see the whole thing.

If you are interested in making the news of any type you select, come to you, you can sign up for your own free Google Reader account. Then, you search for and sign up for various feeds of news stories that would be of interest to you. No, I am not advertising for Google, just letting you know what is out there.

Sue’s Tips on Preparing Your Quilt for a Long arm Quilter

(These tips are also pretty good for preparing your quilt for your own quilting too.)

· Press well!!!
· Get all of the stray threads and hanging threads off the quilt. You might want to use a lint roller to assist. You don’t want anything that could get caught in the sewing foot and cause a rip in your quilt.
· Get the borders on the quilt properly. Measure through the middle of your quilt horizontally and vertically and cut your borders to this size. This will make your quilt square up properly. Back tack all seams on the border. Consider adding ½ inch extra to the border to allow for truing up when trimming.
· You might want to straight stitch around the outside edge of the quilt 1/8 of an inch from the edge to prevent stretching.
· Try to keep all fabric weights and types similar.
· On backs rip fabric at edge to find the straight of grain. Use this as your straight edge. When sewing seams use 1” seam allowance and then trim down to ½”. Use a smaller stitch length on the back and always back tack at the start of seams. Always press seams to one side on the backing, do not press them open. the backing needs to be a minimum of 3 inches bigger than the top all the way around - 4 or 5 is better.
· If you provide batting to the quilter, always provide the package it came in so that quilter can determine how closely the quilting needs to be done.
· Make sure you discuss clearly with your quilter what you want done on the quilt and what color thread you want used.
· If you are allergic to cats or dogs, ask the quilter if they have pets in their home. If they do, you should consider using another quilter because it is almost impossible to keep pet hairs 100% out of quilts.

AZ Blankets for Kids

Just a reminder that the Prickly Piecers are holding a sew in for the Az blankets for kids on Saturday the 28th at the firestation at 40th & Chandler. I hope that you and some of your group will join us for this happening. Thanks Diane Hansen , Prickly Piecers

Opportunity Quilt

A big thank you to everyone who took packets to make nine patch blocks for the opportunity quilt. Also, a big thank you to Sharon for coordinating this project. Please bring blocks back to Sharon by the first meeting in September. We plan to have the quilt completely done so that we can sell tickets at the AQG show in March 2009. Boy it does sure seem strange to be writing 2009, before I know it I'll be writing 2010!! This is a fund raiser for Nimble Thimbles.

Upcoming Meetings - Should be fun

June 17th is Sue Williams talking about long arm quilting and preparing your top for a long-armer.

July 1st is Gudrun giving a trunk show. Also we are going to do a book and pattern exchange so everyone can bring patterns/ books they no longer want.

June 22 - Free Sewing Day

Come to the Desert Breeze Police Substation, north side of Chandler Blvd., between McClintock and Rural Rd on Sunday June 22 anytime between 9:00am and 4:00pm. You can bring whatever project you would like to work on or work on one of the charity projects that will be available. If you want to work on charity quilts, bring your sewing machine and supplies for sewing, or bring your supplies to cut fabric into kits, or bring some hand sewing supplies to close up some of George's quilts.

You can come for part of the day or the whole day. You can bring a sack lunch or make a quick trip to a nearby fastfood place to get your lunch.

Fall Quilt Camp

Fall Camp dates are set as 11/14 through 11/16. There is a good likelyhood that we will also get Thursday 11/13 but that has not yet been finalized. See Lee Anna to sign up. Cost is $78 plus an extra $12 if you arrive on Thursday.

Quilts for a Cause

A Tucson group is coordinating Arizona's participation in "Quilt for a Cause, Inc.". They need quilts to help fight breast and gynecological cancer. Quilts will be accepted from 10/1/08 to 7/1/09. There will be a Live and Silent Auction on 10/3/09 at TMC's Marshall Auditorium in Tucson. The proceed recipients will be the TMC Foundation and St. Elizabeth of Hungary Clinic. Quilts must be of new construction. Quilt sizes restrictions: wall hanging - minimum of 18" up to 52" in any direction, lap quilt - minimum of 48" in width, up to 72" in length. They request that you sew a 3" sleeve on the back of the quilt. "Theme" quilts are encouraged. Possible themes include, but are not limited too: Holidays - religious, secular and/or patriotic, Season, Occupations, Ethnic, Sports, Animals, Juvenile, Gardening, Floral, Southwest - desert, cowboy etc. The website is http://www.quiltforacause.org/. For information contact: Jeannine Coleman at auction@quiltforacause.org.

Charity Sew-in With Prickly Piecers 5/24

On Saturday, May 24, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Nimble Thimbles joins with Prickly Piecers for a Community Service Projects Sew-In.

We will meet at The Fire Station at 40th and Chandler Blvd, west of the 10 & 202 interchange, Ahwatukee

If you can be there over the lunch hour, please bring a brown- bag lunch and drink for yourself, as well as a munchy item to share with others.

Using the traditional 3 piece block pattern, we will be cutting some of our Nimble Thimble stash into kits...and making a few quilts if we hustle! We will also be closing George's openings on his quilts, as well as putting labels on finished quilts.

Please bring your own
cutting mat and cutter
8” - 10” plastic cutting template.

And/Or, if you'd like to sew as others cut, bring your own:
traveling sewing machine
neutral colored thread (beige, winter white, pale gray)
preferred sewing tools.

Please get in touch with Delores Jenisch if you would like to:
a. Be a “Quilt Boss” for the Saturday sew-in b. Host a small group Community Service Projects Sew-in/luncheon at your home

*Here is a photo of Courtney Woods and Kanika of The Chandler Fire Department picking up George’s quilts on May 15. “Oh, these quilts! We love these quilts.”

Another Sew-in Scheduled

We had so much fun today at the sew-in that we have scheduled another one for June 22 from 9:00am to 5:00pm. It will again be held in the community room of the Chandler Police Substation - Desert Breeze. This is off Chandler Blvd. between Rural and McClintock roads. So, mark your calendar now for June 22 and start planning which project you will bring to work on.

May 20 - Ken Casey Trunk Show

Ken has some great quilts to show us. He has been invited to participate in a special show of quilts made by men. He teaches quilting classes at Zoe's Trunk. It should be a great program!

Next Meeting - May 6 Quilter's University

As a reminder, there is NO MEETING on April 29th.

A Quilter's University will be held at the May 6th meeting. This is lots of fun. Teachers will be set up at different tables. Every 10 minutes you can rotate tables to learn something new. We have Kim showing how to do her clutch bags, Kathy showing counted cross-stitch, Johnie will show stamping on fabric, Sharon and Jan will do postcards, and Delores will demonstrate her weaving.

There is a meeting scheduled for May 20th at which Ken Casey will present a trunk show. (I'm currently having trouble getting it to show on the calendar to the right.)

Craft Fair Information - Item Drop Off

Kim will be at the Temple parking lot on 4/29 from 7:00pm to 7:15pm to accept items for the craft fair. (Temple Beth Sholom - where we normally meet)

The craft fair is on May 4th and we will be selling items to raise funds for Nimble Thimbles. It is from 10 to 3. The temple is on Rural Road between Baseline and Guadalupe. The address is 5801 S. Rural Road, Tempe, Arizona. (This is not the Temple where we normally meet.)

Spring Camp

Shirley selling opquilt tickets to men in the parking lot outside the sewing building. She did an amazing job. (from Martha)


Looks like lots of fun was had and lots of work got done at Spring Camp this year!

Pictures of Evelyn's Quilts from AQG Show

April 15 Meeting - Suzie & Karen

I can't remember if it was Suzie or Karen that wore the really neat jacket to the Holiday Party last year, or maybe they both did. I remember telling Kathy they should do a program on how to make these jackets. Suzie and Karen say they are easy to make. Come to the meeting to find out how they do it!

Arizona Quilter's Hall of Fame

Maybe you have heard, or maybe not, that there is now an Arizona Quilter's Hall of Fame. They are asking for nominations from March 15 to May 15. The First Annual Induction Luncheon will be on September 28, 2008. Nomination forms are available at their website, www.arizonaquiltershalloffame.org.

An Outdoor Quilt Show - April 19th

There will be an Outdoor Quilt Show at The Farm at South Mountain on Saturday, April 19th from 9:00 to 3:00. Quilts and related items will be on display and for sale. In conjunction with this celebration, The Artist's Studio at The Farm will be hosting Marti Kellogg, a quilter from the Northwest, as a week-long 'artist in residency'. She will be offering classes in their Garden setting Studio for beginning and experienced quilters.

The Artist's Studio at The Farm at South Mountain is located in the far NW corner of The Farm: 6106 South 32nd St, Phoenix, AZ 85042. For information and to register for classes, please call The Artist's Studio at 602-268-5905.

April 1 - Meeting at Gilbert Historical Museum

This is no April Fools joke. The first meeting in April (Tues. April 1st) will be a field trip will be a field trip to the Gilbert Historical Museum to see their quilt show. This is free and we will meet at the museum at 7pm. The museum is at 10 S. Gilbert Road on the SW corner of Gilbert and Elliot. The parking lot is accessible off of Elliot and overflow parking is available in the school parking lot next door.

Charity Quilts Project Sew-In was a great success.

Thank you, Sharon Neidigh, for being our hostess last Friday, March 28, for our Charity Quilt Project Sew-In. As you can see in these photos, we had plenty of room to do everything we set out to do for the day.
Sharon had sewing machines ready for us to use, as well as cutting mats and hot irons for pressing. Being able to sew for four hours, stopping only for lunch, was a real plus. Speaking of lunch, the pot-luck food was quite tasty and varied. The food was so good, and the sun so warm, that several of us got a little drowsy afterwards.

There were nine quilters present, including a new friend discovered by Sharon Neidigh and Delores Jenisch at the AQG quilt show. What a treat to have her join in with us for the day. Her name is Kathy O'Brien, and we look forward to seeing her at meetings when her schedule allows.

Please keep in mind that Nimble Thimbles will no longer be using the 5th Tuesday of the month for Charity Quilt sewing at our regular meeting place. Instead, we will meet in homes and/or at the Chandler Police Dept., Desert Breeze substation at 251 N. Desert Breeze Blvd. This will allow us to have a longer sewing time per meeting. We will rotate the times of our meetings so as to accommodate to our members' varied schedules.

If you would like to hostess a Charity Quilts Project Sew-In, please let us know. The date and place of the next Charity Quilts Project has not been decided yet, but we'll let you know ASAP.

Delores Jenisch

May 18 - Sewing Day Camp

We had so much fun yesterday at the Sew-in at the Chandler Police Substation in Chandler by Desert Breeze Park, that we told Kathy we wanted to do it again. So, she went right into the office and scheduled us for May 18th from 9:00 to 5:00. Come for the whole time or for how ever long you would like. Bring a sack lunch or drive to one of the nearby restaurants for food. The room is spacious and has lots of outlets so there is room for everyone to plug in their sewing machines and ironing boards. You can bring whatever you want to work on and just enjoy visiting with everyone and working on your project.

Sew In on March 30

On Sunday March 30 Nimble Thimbles is going to have a sew-in at the Chandler police dept Desert Breeze substation (same place as the crazy quilt class) from 9-5. Bring whatever project you want to work on, whatever you are making for the craft fair, or just come to visit. Come for part or all of it and feel free to bring food. The substation is next to the fire station on Desert Breeze Blvd. just north of Chandler Blvd between McClintock and Rural Rd.>Kathy is going to be making chenille potholders if anyone wants to learn. You will need 1 1/4 yard of fabric (cheap and ugly works well) and 10 inches of insulbright batting (it comes as 22 in. wide). This will make a set of two potholders. A basic sewing kit and machine with walking foot are also needed.

Report from AQG Quilt Show

I ran into several Nimble Thimbles members at the quilt show. Here is a picture of Shirley and her grandson (age 11) next to the beautiful quilt he made and entered into the show. He also had several other very nice quilts in the youth section of the show.

My mother and I attend Darlene's presentation on crazy quilts and enjoyed it very much!

We also met a fabric designer for Andover in the taco salad line at lunch. Her name is Renee Nanneman. She has designed the Purley Provence line. Check out the Need'l Love website to learn more about her.

Congratulations to everyone who had quilts in the show, they were all wonderful. Shirely Hughes won a ribbon for Medium Mixed Technique - Machine Quilted. Evelyn Link won a ribbon for Small Mixed Technique - Machine Quilted. Carol Rich won 1st place for Small Any Technique - Hand Quilted. Cynthia Huettner won a second place ribbon for Theme Quilt. Diane Pitchford won a ribbon for an Art Quilt. If I left any Nimble Thimbles out, let me know and I'll add them in.

--Amy

Craft Fair Sew In - March 30

I scheduled Nimble Thimbles to have the community room at the Desert Breeze police
substation from 9-5 on Sunday March 30th. (all the Sat. were busy)
This is so people can work on things for the craft fair. But anyone is welcome to come and work on whatever they feel like. Food is allowed so we can bring things to share. The substation is at 251 N. Desert Breeze Blvd which is just north of Chandler Blvd between McClintock and Rural.
-- Kathy

March 18 Meeting - Bernina Connection

Diane & Val from the Bernina Connection will be presenting the program at our 3/18 meeting. We will also have the usual show and tell which is always lots of fun. I expect that a few members will be able to tell us that they won a ribbon at the AQG Show this weekend.

March 4 - Patterns & Quilting History from book by Rose Wilder Lane

I imagine that many of you, like me, sometimes bypass older books of quilting patterns when browsing at used book stores or garage sales. There are many reasons for this, perhaps we think the patterns are too old fashioned or the techniques to difficult or time consuming since the instructions are often from before the advent of the rotary cutter and other wonderful devices. Luckily my Dad did not pass this book set by when he saw it at the library used book sale in his home town. He gave it to me for Christmas. Many of the patterns are based upon historical quilts and needlework. I found them fascinating and inspiring to look at. I'll be sharing them with you at the meeting. Additionally, I'll bring two quilts that my great grandmother's made. Some of you have seen them before, but I know that some of you have not.

And, yes the book is by Rose Wilder Lane daughter of Laura Ingels Wilder.

-- Amy Monahan

Gilbert Historical Museum Quilt Show

"The Art of Quilting" Quilt Show runs from March 1 to May 31 at the Gilbert Historical Museum. The museum is located at the corner of Gilbert an Elliot Roads, in the old Gilbert School building. The museum hours are Tuesdays, Thursday, and Saturdays, 9am to 4pm. Adult admission price is $5 and $4 for seniors. On Saturdays, a group of local quilters (you might recognize of a couple of them) demonstrate frame quilting and they can arrange to hand quilt one of your projects. --Jan Hackett

Pictures from Paintsticks Class

Everyone who attended the paintsticks class on 3/1 had a great time. Here are some pictures from the class. I hope those who attended will bring some of the things they made to the next meeting for show and tell.

Charity Quilt Update - Great Job!!

Have you noticed that magic happens when we quilt? I've seen it happened again just since January 1. First there were Muriel Radcliff's two child-sized quilts. Then there was our work night with George's 22 quilts and Jan Koehn's bright "Attic Window." We had three quilts from late December, two preemies by Delores Jenisch and a purple beauty made by Shirley Hughes, which we have added to the count.

In February we took in several more quilts, including a pink and green four-block, (with a touch of purple) from Shirley Hughes; a stunning "Slanted Star" scrappy on white done by Kathy Krieg; a lap-size purple beauty pieced by "Annie Anonymous," quilted by Barb Barrow, and bound by Martha Hunter; and an original design by Cindy Johnson done in blues, browns, and greens. Suzie Evenstad's friend, Marilyn Walters, stitched six tops for us, using up some precut blocks from our stash. Three bags of fabric stash were donated, to be used by us or passed along, and Sharon Neidigh donated a small sized pieced top.

Please enjoy these January and February Charity Quilts Project photos.
You can also enjoy seeing theses quilts on display at the Gilbert Historical Museum Quilt Show, from March 1 through May 31. The museum is open Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 9:00 to 4:00. Our members who donated these Charity Quilts have agreed to show them in a group theme display to encourage other quilters to participate in the making and giving of comfort quilts for needy folks through an organization of their choice. The display includes a short description of Nimble Thimbles.

-- Delores Jenisch

Arizona Quilter’s Guild Show – Wish Upon a Star

March 14 9:00am to 6:00pm
March 15 9:00 am to 4:00pm
ASU West, 4701 W Thunderbird Rd, Glendale, AZ

We have a great local show put on annually by the Arizona Quilter’s Guild. This years show theme is Wish Upon a Star. There will be quilts made to theme but also many quilts following a theme of the creators choosing. Over 400 quilts will be on display.

This year there is a featured Arizona quilter – Sharon Schamber, who is nationally known. She won the 2007 $100,000 Quilting Challenge. She will have several quilts on display. I have been fortunate enough to see some of her quilts in the past and to hear her speak. They are incredible works of art.

If you are interested in purchasing quilts, there is a small quilt auction. The silent auction runs through noon on Saturday and the live auction takes place at 1:00pm Saturday. Several of the chapters of AQG usually are selling tickets for full size opportunity quilts as well. There will also be a vendor mall with fabric, patterns, and other quilting items for sale on both days.

Feb. 19 - Meet the Spool Hearted Woman

Please attend the February 19th Nimble Thimble meeting to listen to Sharon Neidigh’s presentation regarding her 24-year adventure in the quilting world. You’ll also be
viewing some of the quilts from her collection. This “seasoned” quilter makes, collects and is consumed by quilting, and has a lot to share. Sharon also loves wearable art and will bring a few samples of her work.

Sharon moved to the Valley just a year ago from her birthplace, San Diego, CA.
She had been proactive in the area guilds and was past president of 2 guilds, one of which she spearheaded and lead early in her quilting career.

Being a wife, mother and grandmother of 6 (all boys) has kept Sharon on her toes (and a little insane), but quilting has remained her therapy throughout.

You won’t want to miss this meeting. Handouts will be shared with you.

Evelyn's Shiva Paint Sticks Class

Creative Adventures
In Fiber Arts and Art Quilts
With Evelyn Link and Judy Berry

Nimble Thimbles Workshop, March 1, 2008, 9:00am to Noon

Please note this is a new date, the class will not be held on 2/9.

Location - The Community Room at the Chandler main police department - 250 E. Chicago Ave. They are just south of the main Chandler library south of Chandler BLVD and east of Arizona Ave.

Cost is $25 plus $5 supply fee.

Sign up at a Nimble Thimbles meeting or email nimblethimbles@gmail.com. You do not need to be a member of Nimble Thimbles or AQG to attend this class.

For additional information, email the teachers at creativeadventures@cox.net.

Shiva Paintstiks

Supply List:
8 to 10 - Ten-inch squares of black cotton fabric, pre-washed and pressed
Pad of 3 x 3-inch Post-it-Notes
Masking tape or blue painters’ tape, 1-inch wide
1 plain, black, barbeque-style apron (We will have these available for $8.50)

Optional:
Additional fabric squares in other colors
Simple stencils
Chunky rubber stamps

Equipment:
Scissors for fabric and paper

Attire:
Wear old clothes or bring a smock or apron to protect clothing

Leave the sewing machines at home!

We will supply the following: (Supply Fee - $5.00)
Shiva Paintstiks to use in class, Rubbing Plates,Irons and boards, Table coverings, Pallets/Plates/Brushes, Paper Towels, Stencils/stamps, Written Instructions

Andi Perejda

Kim, our President, asked at the last meeting if we would be interested in sponsoring a class this Fall from the national level teacher AQG is bringing to the state. The teacher who will be coming in Andi Perejda, you can learn more about her by visiting her web site (just click on her name). I believe that sponsoring involves providing a location and lunch for the teacher. AQG handles the class registration process/collections of fees and the class would be open to all AQG members. I believe the class would probably need to be on a weekday. Please let Kim know if you think we should do this or leave a comment here.

AQG Small Quilt Auction

I just got the following note from AQG:

We still need small quilts for the Small Quilt Auction! The deadline will be extended to the 20th of February. Please either use the drop off sites listed on the AQG web site, www.azquiltersguild.org - Small Quilt Auction, or, send or bring them into the AQG office.

February 2008 Meetings

February 5, 2008—Evelyn Link will demonstrate some of her art quilting techniques.

We are going to have an ugly fabric exchange and challenge. The exchange will occur at this meeting. If you want to participate, bring a 1/4 or 1/2 yard cut of ugly fabric to the meeting. You will go home with a different ugly fabric. The challenge is to make a wallhanging usting it. The ugly fabric has to be on the front of the wallhanging and be recognizable.


February 19, 2008—Sharon Neidigh, Nimble Thimbles Vice President, will present a trunk show.

Blogs of our Members

I just discovered that Becky has a great blog. A section has been created on the side bar of this site for links to blogs of Nimble Thimbles members. If you are a Nimble Thimbles member and would like a link to your blog added just send an email to nimblethimbles@gmail.com. Meanwhile, be sure to check out Becky's great blog.



If you are interested in starting a blog, Google blogger is easy to use. There are other free blog providers available from other sources as well.

February 5 Meeting Program

Evelyn Link and Judy Berry have formed a partnership called Creative Adventures in Fiber Arts and Art Quilts. They will present a trunk show on February 5 to acquaint Nimble Thimbles members with the techniques they are playing with. These include decorating fabric with Shiva Oil Paintstiks, bleach discharge, painting on fusible web, heating fibers to change their appearance, making memory quilts and fabric jewelry with photos and other innovative techniques. Come to the meeting to see these fun and exciting things quilters are doing with fabric.
Evelyn will be teaching the class using the Shiva Oil Paintstiks at the Desert Breeze Police station on Saturday, February 9, from 9a.m. to noon. You will have the opportunity to decorate fabric and take home your own painted apron. These paints look like fat Crayons and are easy to use. You can design your own fabric to make an art quilt or make them into traditional quilt blocks. It’s fun and easy!

-- Evelyn Link

Celebrating the Return of my Scissors

I can remember my mother yelling out "Where are my scissors?". It seems that I have inherited the same trait. My good sewing scissors disappeared around November. My daughter was using them in her room but then could not find them despite looking several times. I couldn't go in there and do a through search because she had Christmas presents hidden in various places. So, I waited using a very old pair of not very sharp scissors that I have had since 8th grade Home Economics class! I was tempted to buy a new pair but told myself not to because they would reappear. My daughter was cleaning her room last night and moved a small piece of furniture and found my scissors underneath. Hooray! Now, if I can just find my second pair of good paper scissors, you understand why I have two pairs. :)

Share your scissor stories or stories of what tends to go "missing" in your house by clicking on the comment button below.

--Amy

Gilbert Historical Museum Quilting

As you know, Kim Maples and I are quilters at the Gilbert Historical Museum. The museum is open from 9am-4pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Quilting goes on during those times as well. We have two old traditional quilting frames set up in what is called the Home Life room. Each frame can accommodate 6-8 quilters. We are always looking for additional quilters to join us. You do not need to be an experienced frame quilter to be one of us. We have several quilters who just walked in to the museum one day and said that they weren't quilters but had a desire to be one. The ladies are very welcoming by saying "Come here, sit down and we'll show you how to quilt on a frame. We realize that there is a learning period and we will give you all the time needed to feel comfortable doing so. There are no 16 stitches to the inch (or even
14 or 12) among us quilters. Come with a comfortable fitting thimble too.

We have all become good friends because we have a shared love of quilting. My first quilting teacher always said, "There's a lot of good woman talk that goes on around the quilting frame." and that is certainly true there. We solve the problems of the world (and
ourselves) and have lots of wonderful laughs that mostly only women can understand. If you've gone to quilt camp you'll know what I mean.

I always say that I think I should pay the museum for the privilege of seeing some of the wonderful old (and new) quilt tops that are brought in to us. And the stories that come with some of them are wonderful too.
I know the spirits of those long ago quilters are heaving a sigh of relief that their quilt top is FINALLY being quilted. All of us can relate to that!
You don't have to quilt every day or for long periods of time. It's whatever amount of time you have to give. I've ran down and quilted for an hour just to have some quilt therapy time.

The Museum will be having its 3rd Quilt Show, starting the first week in March until Memorial Day. We would love to have Nimble Thimbles members enter your quilts in the show. Kim will have paperwork available for you to fill out if you are interested. If you have a quilt in the show you will not have to pay the museum admission fee.
The quilts in the show are enjoyed and admired but not judged.
Hopefully your experience will inspire you to enter your quilt in upcoming Arizona Quilters Guild shows where they will be a part of the judging process which is meant to help and support you not discourage you.
--Darlene Reid

Work Night - January 29 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Come to the work night and work on a charity project or bring your own project to work on. This is a great opportunity to visit with other members and get to know them better.

Charity Project Options:

• George has over 20 charity quilts ready for us to close the opening where he turned them. We can also sew the Nimble Thimbles labels on the back. If you want to work on these, just bring basic hand sewing supplies - needle, thread, pins, small scissors.
• Delores also has fabric that needs to be cut up and put into kits. If you want to work on this, bring your rotary cutter, ruler, and mat.
• You can bring your sewing machine if you would prefer to begin sewing a kit together.
• It is always helpful if someone brings an iron and ironing board.

Our charity quilts this year will be donated to the Chandler Fire Department and Project Linus.

Show & Tell

Show & Tell is one of many members favorite parts of the meetings. We have Show & Tell at almost every meeting. This is much better than the Show & Tell you may remember from elementary school. Any member or guest is welcome to bring items to share. Items are usually finished quilt tops, finished quilts, or quilt related objects like homemade purses or clothing. Yes, it is okay to show a top that you have finished before you have quilted it or a quilt that is all done except for the binding. We don't judge or criticize anyone's work - there are no quilt police at our meetings. We just have lots of fun getting to see everyone's projects.

AQG Quilt Show Entries

I just entered a quilt in the AQG quilt show for the first time. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. If there are some of you out there that want to enter, tomorrow, January 15th is the deadline. Mailed entries must be postmarked by then. If you are an AQG member, you can also enter on-line at http://www.azquiltersguild.org/.

I must admit that I have been somewhat intimidated in the past by all the great quilts in the show. To quote Nike, I decided to just "Do It" when it came to entering a quilt. It is okay if it is not 100% perfect. I'm not sure that I'll never make a 100% perfect quilt. It is okay if I get some comments from the judges about how to improve my quilting. That is how I will learn and improve. And, it is okay if I don't win a ribbon. My quilt is called Fancy Chicks and is based upon the Arlene Walsh pattern Roadwalkers. It is a fun quilt and I hope you enjoy it when you go to the show. I hope those of you who might be hesitating too, will decide to just "Do It" and enter a quilt also.

Arlene Walsh has given a great program to Nimble Thimbles in the past. You might want to check out her website - http://www.quiltersstoresedona.com/kits.htm.

Susan Ettl

We are very excited to have Susan Ettl speaking at our January 15th meeting. A lot of her work is inspired by desert plants, flowers, and landscapes. She uses fabric and embellishments to create her pieces. You can visit her Desert Wind Studio website to learn more about her and see examples of her patterns and projects. And, of course come to the meeting and hear her presentation.

January 2008 Meetings

January 15, 2008—A demonstration by Susan Ettl Desert Wind Studio. She does some very neat cactus and desert landscape quilts. Click on her name to access her website and read more about her.

January 29, 2008—This is a work night. We encourage everyone to attend and enjoy working on projects and visiting with other members and guests of Nimble Thimbles. You can bring your own project to work on or work on charity quilt projects. If you want to work on charity quilts, bring a basic handing sewing kit, your sewing machine, iron, or rotary cutter, ruler, and mat. There will be materials available at the meeting and you can chose to cut material up for a kit or start sewing on a charity kit that has been already cut.

Making a Family History Quilt

Darlene Reid will present a program on making a family history quilt at our January 20th meeting. It should be great. She always has lots of great information to share.