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