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.