Calling for all end-of-the-year quilts!

We are planning on delivering about 40 more quit ls next weekend, some to each of our three recipient groups: Chandler Fire Department, Project Linus, and Child Protective Services. This will put our total given for the 2009 year at 170.

We also have a few Carry Bags ready for Child Protective Services, where they are highly favored and much in demand. Melissa says that the ones we make are absolutely the best because they hold more and are well made.

If you can have any more quilts or bags ready by next Saturday, noon, please contact either Delores or Jean so we can add them to the stack for Christmas. Thank you for joining in and making this year a great one for "Charity Quilt Show and Tell". We've enjoyed seeing each one of the them.

Thank you, thank you, thank you ... for giving comfort to the children.

AQG Quilt Show Entries

Just a reminder that if you want to enter any quilts in the 2010 AQG Quilt Show, you need to print out the form from the Patchwork Chatter and send it in. The deadline for entries is January 15, 2010. The theme this year is Sun and Shade.

Arizona Historical Quilt Study Group

I just saw an article on the Arizona Historical Quilt Study Group that I thought some of you would find interesting. Here it is:

Examiner Article 11/14 on AHQSG

Holiday Party

The Holiday Party will be on December 8th at 6:30pm. It will be at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 739 W Erie St, in Chandler. Dinner will be provided. The cost is $10.00 and tickets must be purchased by November 17th. Bring a check made out to Nimble Thimbles or cash to purchase your ticket to the November 17th meeting.

Please bring your quilts or wall hangings that feature stars and we will hang them for all to enjoy. We will be collecting paper goods for My Sister's Place, a local women's shelter, and for the children, coloring books and crayons.

November Meetings & Sew-in

IMPORTANT - There will not be a meeting the first Tuesday of November.

November 17 Meeting - Gilbert Historical Museum - Pat Knoechel from Quilt in a Day will be doing the program. She always does a great program. She also usually has books and other products for sale at a discount.

November 24 Meeting - Chandler Center for the Arts - We will be viewing the Quilt Show. Significant Stitching. Parking is available in front of the Center for the Arts and also behind the Center in the parking lot shared with Chandler High School.

November 22 Sewing Day - Come join us at Desert Breeze Police Station Community Room from 9:00am to 4:30pm. You can come for the whole day or just stop in for a few hours. Bring what ever project you want to work on. You can also bring a sack lunch or pop-out to one of the near by restaurants.

Community Service Delivery

We had 29 quilts of various sizes, and 2 Carry Bags, ready for Child Protective Services by September 18 when Melissa Zeller, and her son T.J., came to pick them up. We also had a large box of used blankets and quilts to give her. Melissa was so happy to receive our donations. Some of these quilts will be taken to kiddos in St. Joseph's Hospital, some will be made available to children in Foster Care, and the remainder will be kept available in Melissa's office on a needs basis. The Carry Bags continue to be really hot items and are so very much appreciated. Melissa says these are the best they've ever had. If you haven't made one yet for her, you will find the pattern on our Charity Table at our meetings.

Thank you, Nimble Thimbles quilter, for your generous contributions towards this good cause. We're always excited to see what you've created for our project. If you haven't already, please fill out our 2010 Community Service Project planning questionnaire at the next meeting.

Jan's New Job

Ever wonder what it would be like to work at a quilt shop? Follow our newsletter editor, Jan's, new adventure as she starts a full time quilt shop career.

www.quiltersranch.blogspot.com

Folded Star Blocks

Several members have suggested that completed folded star blocks can be donated to make one charity quilt. These blocks are from the Make and Take that Kathy Silva did at the September 1 meeting. One completed block has already been turned in so we are hoping that some others will make their way to the charity table too. Just bring your completed block to any meeting.

October Meetings and Sew-in

October 6 - Lots of action at this meeting. Bring your finished ugly fabric challenge and mystery quilts for this year. (Note if you have the top done but not the quilting, go ahead and bring that.) This is also our small quilt auction. Bring a small quilt or two to donate to the auction. Proceeds will go to Nimble Thimbles. This is also a great time to bring friends who don't quilt. These small quilts also make great gifts so get a head start on your holiday shopping.

October 18 - Free Sew-in at the Desert Breeze Police Substation Community Room 9:00am to 4:30pm.

October 20 - Nimble Thimbles Reunion Party Meeting! This meeting will be held at Art on Boston, 11 W Boston St, Suite 1, in Chandler. We are asking current members not to bring show and tell. We are asking former members to bring one small item of show and tell to share.

Public Art: Crazy Quilt

There was an article in Saturday's Chandler Republic about a woven metal tapestry "crazy quilt" at the Downtown Chandler Public Library. Unfortunately, I can't find the article on-line to provide you a link to the article and picture. So, I'll summarize. The "quilt" is the work of artist Marianne Flenniken who began sewing and embroidery when she was young. She has also done weaving and has experimented with metal window screen fabric. The sculpture was part of a rotation of sculpture in Downtown Chandler but is now part of the permanent collection at the Downtown Chandler Library on the main floor. It is a woven metal tapestry that resembles a crazy quilt.

Downtown Chandler Library - 22 S Delaware St

September 15 Meeting & Sew-in

September 15 - Our program will be presented by the Bernina Connection. These ladies are always a lot of fun and usually have information regarding new products for quilters to share.

September 20 - Free sew-in at the Desert Breeze Police Substation Community Room - 9:00am to 4:30pm. Bring your own project to work on and a sack lunch if you want. You can come for the whole time or just stop by for a little while.

Next Meeting and Sew-in

The program for our August 18th meeting will be presented by Carol Rich on hand applique. She does beautiful work so this should be a good program!

The next free sew-in is on August 23 from 9:00am to 5:00pm at the Desert Breeze Police Substation Community Room. Bring any project you want to work on. Stay for a short time or come for the whole day. You can bring a sack lunch or go out for lunch.

Note: For those of you who are curious, the picture is just a picture of hand applique, it is not Carol's work. :)

Program Changes - July 21 and August 4

"There has been a program change for the next two meetings.

July 21, our Community Outreach Committee will be presenting a program. Delores and Jean have put together a slide show and have invited guest speakers from the recipient organizations to speak to us. Come and enjoy a review of your accomplishments for the year!


August 4 - is the new date for the Ice Cream Social. For those of you who didn't get to participate in July 7th's meeting and still want to participate in the PUP Challenge, just bring 3 unfinished projects to the meeting on August 4th and we'll pick one for you to finish by July 2010 (no, you don't get an extra month!). Laura Alexander will demo her chain piecing method for connecting-the-blocks. Bring some hand work and join us for an evening of fun.

Coming Up in July!

July 21 Meeting - We had so much fun at the July 7th meeting seeing many member's Poor Unfinished Projects and helping them choose one to finish bythe same time next year. A few people forgot to bring their projects. So, if you didn't get to participate at the July 7th meeting and you want to participate in the challenge, bring three unfinished projects to the July21st meeting and we'll chose one for you to finish by July 2010. This meeting will also be an ice cream social. That means bring some hand work and spend some time visiting with other members.

Just In from Jean - Delores and I (mostly Delores) have been working on our presentation for the July 21st meeting. Melissa from CPS will be coming to speak. Delores is also preparing a slide show of the quilts that have been donated. It should be interesting and informative.

July 19 Sew-in - Enjoy sewing in a cool space with lots of friends to chat with? Join us for part or all of the day at Desert Breeze Police Substation from 9:00am to 5:00pm. You can stop by at any time. Bring a project or projects to work on. You can bring a sack lunch or run out to a nearby place for lunch. This is a great time to get help from others on a technique or pattern that is giving you trouble. We will also have a planning meeting at 2:00 during the sew-in for the upcoming reunion meeting in October. (251 N Desert Breeze, Chandler, AZ - just north of ChandlerBlvd. between McClintock and Rural, park in the lot just north of thebuilding)

Small Quilt Auction - The small quilt auction is scheduled for October 6. Laura Harden will be our auctioneer. Now is the time to finish a small project to donate to the auction. If you have friends that like quilts,this is a great meeting to invite them to so they can bid on the quilts along with the rest of us. These quilts make great presents for the upcoming holiday season.

Community Service Quilts Update

Monday, June 29, was a very big "Quilts & Carry Bags Pick Up" day for
us. "Thank You" to Jean Nielsen for helping with preparing quilts and
bags for pick up.

Melissa Zeller, of Child Protection Services, took 26 of our quilts and
35 carry bags (Nimble Thimbles 6, and Suzie Evenstad's quilters 29).
Melissa was very excited to get the bags as her need for them has
increased and supplies have dwindled. She also took more smaller baby
quilts/blankets for use with her "little kidos," to supplement the 100
quilts recently given her by Project Linus. Melissa assures us that
EVERY item we give her is greatly appreciated and put to good use with
her kids.

Two strong men of the Chandler Fire Department gladly took two large
bags of quilts (30), most of which were made by our very own George.
When the guys saw the quilts their response was, again, "Oh, more of
those quilts!" They are already looking ahead to supplies for, can you
believe it, the coming winter.

Another stack of quilts/blankets (18) will be delivered to Project
Linus, SE Valley Chapter, at their next
Sewing Bee on Saturday, July 18 at the Gilbert Community Center. Our
quilts we've selected for Project Linus will be designated for children
in the Maricopa Medical center.
See their web page for info and a check list on items they request, and
how to prepare them:
http://www.orgsites.com/az/project-linus-se-phoenix/

Thank you all for the beautiful, and "beautifully useful," quilts and
carry bags you've made for children and young people in need of comfort
and specialness. We encourage you to continue to do a bit of sewing here
and there as your busy lives allow, and while you're at it, to add a bit
of experimentation with techniques, and even to teach someone else how
to sew.

Thank you all, Delores, Community Service Project Chair

July 7 - Meeting - The P.U.P. Challenge

P.U.P. stands for Poor Unfinished Projects

Bring 3 unfinished projects to our next meeting on July 7th.
At the meeting on the 7th we will have PUP show and tell, where you can
show us your PUP candidates, tell us their age and the issues that have
kept you from finishing them. Your friends and fellow quilters will then pick
one of these projects to be your challenge PUP - an unfinished project for
you to have completed by July 6, 2010.
Participation is voluntary of course, but why not?! This is the time to ----------

* rescue those kits from the closet (you know, the one you bought at
shop hop 2002 and haven't petted since 2003)

* attack the technique (oy vey, inset seams and mitered borders)

* find that fabric (the web mall has grown since you ran short)

* complete that gift promised months (years) ago

Even if you choose not to enter the challenge, your participation is
important. Remember, your vote ensures that your friends are challenged by
their worst P.U.P.

Thank Goodness for Little Projects

After having spent most of this year quilting and finishing up some big projects. It was nice to sit down and do a small table top quilt from charm squares and a fat quarter in one afternoon. At least, the piecing of it. The quilting will be left for another day. If you haven't given yourself the gift of a small quick project in a while, summer is the perfect time. After all, good things come in small packages!

Leave a comment and tell us what you have decided to do. There is so much to choose from: wall hangings, table runners, bags, and more!

Coming Events

Tonight's meeting is at the Gilbert Historical Museum near the front of the museum not in the normal meeting room. Bring some hand work to do.

At our June 16th meeting Laurie Fagen will be presenting a trunk show. Laurie has been a member of the Mavericks and does some beautiful art quilt pieces. She is a contemporary fiber artist. You can learn more about her at www.FagenDesigns.com.

The next free sew-in is on June 28th at the Desert Breeze Police Substation. Bring something to work on. Stop by any time between 9:00am and 5:00pm or stay all day if you like. You can bring a sack lunch or run out at grab a bite at a nearby restaurant.

Book Collection and Sale

Thanks to those of you who have supported Ellen and Kelsey O'Brien as they earn their Girl Scout Bronze Award. The girls as a team have collected 639 books. These books will benefit Chandler Public Library, St. Peters Mission School on the Gila Indian Reservation, and Arizona Health Access programs for lower income children, and nursing homes in the East Valley.

The second half of their Bronze award work involves a book collection and sale at Santan Elementary in south Chandler. After collecting books from families in the school district for two weeks, a book sale will be held on May 1. The sale is a fund-raiser for three teachers who are participating in the 3-day Walk for a Cure for Breast Cancer research. The book sale is on Friday, May 1, from 3:00 to 6:00 pm at the Santan Junior High Cafeteria. Both Santan Elementary and Junior High are located at 1550 Chandler Heights Road, between Cooper and McQueen. The books will be priced at 50 cents to $1.00 each.

All of the remaining books after the sale are consolidated with your generous donations and given to the Chandler Public Library for further distribution. Thank you again for your support. Kathy O'Brien

Pictures from Spring Camp

Patty sent me some pictures from camp to post. It looks like they had lots of fun and got a lot done too!

Marlene Wardell won the opportunity quilt & McGuire the dog was our official mascot!

April Meeting & Sew-in

Please remember that beginning in April, we will no longer be meeting at Temple Beth Sholom.

Our new meeting location will be at the Gilbert Historical Museum, 10 S Gilbert Rd in downtown Gilbert. Meetings will still begin at 7pm. Our meeting room is not in the main museum building, but in the building just south of it. Parking for the museum is available just to the west of the museum, in the Patterson Elementary School. There is a gate that separates the school from the museum grounds, and members can walk through the gate from the school parking lot to the building at the rear of the main museum building. Members will be standing by to help guide the way for the first few meetings.

Our next free sewing day is scheduled for April 26 at the Desert Breeze Police Substation Community Room from 9:00am to 5:00pm. Bring whatever project you would like to work on and stop by for the whole day or just a few hours. You can bring your lunch or run out to a nearby place.

Nimble Thimbles Spring Camp

Nimble Thimbles Spring Camp - April 16 - 20, 2009 Yes! We have Thursday this spring.

$90 covers Thursday to Sunday, if you can't make it until Friday, then it's only $78.

Please join us at Camp this year. We can arrive at Emmanuel Pines starting at 2:00p on Thursday the 16th and have the space until Sunday at 2:00p.
We have a great time, sewing, talking, quilting, walking, quilting, snacking, quilting, napping, and oh yeah... quilting!

Your camp fee includes dinner on Friday, all 3 meals on Saturday and breakfast and lunch on Sunday. We have a potluck on Thursday evening or you can wander into Prescott and find food on your own.

Camp is a lot of fun and a great place to work on that project you've been trying to get done. Nothing is scheduled except for the great meals that Emmanuel Pines provides for us.

Please make sure we have your money by the 1st meeting in April. You can give me or Patti your payment. Please remember - you MUST be a member of AQG in order to go to camp. We use AQG's insurance.

Let me know if there are any questions. My contact information is in the Nimble Thimbles newsletter. You can also email NimbleThimbles@gmail.com with questions and your email will be forwarded to me.

Lee Anna
Camp Queen

Charity Work Party

On Friday, March 27, you are all cordially invited to a cutting party and potluck.

What: Charity kit cutting party
When: 9:30am - 2:00pm
Where: Kathy O'Brien's house, 1613 E. Crescent Way, Chandler
Telephone: 480-855-1318

Please bring the following:

Cutting mat
Rotary cutter
Omnigrid measuring tools
and a side dish/salad or dessert to share.

I look forward to a fun gathering!

Kathy O'Brien

Ugly Fabric - Quilt Challenge

It was so much fun last year that we are doing it again! If you have a piece of fabric that you consider to be ugly that is at least 1/4 of a yard in size, bring it to the March 17th meeting. Martha will put each piece of fabric in a plain paper bag and mix them all up. You will pick a bag and go home with someone else's "ugly" fabric. Just make a small quilt, wall hanging, or table runner, with some of the fabric visible on the front side. You can add whatever other fabric you choose. Bring it to show at the Small Quilt Auction this fall and see what other's did with their fabric. You can chose to donate your quilt to the auction or keep it for yourself.

Borrow Quilting Books from AQG

The Arizona Quilters Guild has a library of quilting books for members to use. They will send you the book at no charge. You just have to pay the cost of shipping it back to them. So check out all the great books available to you:

AQG Library

Book Drive Update

Ellen and Kelsey O'Brien, Girl Scout Troop #736, are working on a service project for their bronze award. They are collecting new and gently used books to benefit the Chandler Public Library, Gila Indian Reservation, and the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer organization. Children's books, chapter books, large print books, and audio tapes are being collected. The library will also accept National Geographic and Arizona Highways magazines. If you are interested in contributing to the book drive, please bring your books to the Nimble Thimbles meetings on March 3 and March 17. If you want us to pick up books at your home, please call 480-855-1318. Thank you.

February 17 - Meeting Follow-up

New Meeting Location
Beginning with our April 7 meeting we will be meeting at the Gilbert Historical Museum, 10 S Gilbert Rd, Gilbert, AZ 85299. You can park at the Museum or at the school adjacent. We will continue to meet at Temple Beth Sholom throughout March.

Book Drive
Cathy's daughters are working on their Bronze award for Girl Scouts. They are collection gently used books for the Gila Indian Reservation. You can bring book donations to the March meetings.

Program
We got a great program from Sue Bunch from Back to Back Fiber Products and Rita Blocksom from Gypsy Studios last night. Boy those alpaca's are sure cute and there fur makes soft batting. Thanks for sharing with us. For those of you who wanted to register for Cosmic Spirals a Wet Felting Workshop you need to email sue@bakctobackalpaca.com.

Desert Breeze Sew-in
Don't forget there is a free sew-in at the Desert Breeze Police Substation Community Room on Sunday, February 22 from 9:00 to 5:00. You bring your own projects to work on and stay for an hour or two or for the whole day.

Meeting Feb. 17 - Program on Alpaca Batting & Needle Felting

Sue Bunch from Back to Back Fiber Products, Mesa, AZ, will share her alpaca fiber products with the Nimble Thimbles at their February 17th meeting. When Sue began her quilting business and her sister, Linda, an alpaca ranch at the same time, their common love of fiber arts and their entrepreneurial spirit directed them to find a way to manufacture their Pacafil alpaca blended quilt batting. She will explain their journey from the alpaca farms in North America to finished Pacafil products and expansion of their products into the felting craze.

Throughout this hands-on evening you will also learn the techniques and tools of needlefelting. If you have not given this fiber craft a try you will be amazed at its versatility and visualize how you might blend it into your fiber crafting. Rita Blocksom, a familiar face to quilters in Arizona, collaborates with Sue. See where this new art form has taken her as she joins Sue in the presentation.

Arizona Block

I had an inquiry from a woman asking if Arizona had a designated block. She is making a quilt with blocks from different states where she has lived. This is a neat idea. You could also do a block for all of the states that you have visited. I found this neat Arizona Block on QuiltersCache.com.

(This picture is a picture of a cactus, not of the block.)

February 3 - Meeting Speaker

Our program will feature "How the Child Protective Services uses our donated quilts."
It will be presented by Melissa Zeller, the Community Liaison of Child Protective Services, East Valley.

Melissa is responsible for overseeing the entire East Valley, which includes two offices. She has been in this position for over a year and does a lot of public speaking as a representative for the Child Protective Services. She will explain to our group how donated quilts/blankets are received, stored, and distributed to the children.
Melissa will have photos and stories of how our donated items have made a positive difference in the quality of life for children in their care.
They do get a lot of their quilts and blankets from Project Linus (Phoenix and the West valley get more from AZ Blankets for Kids), and that they go through hundreds of them every year , and that every child gets to keep the quilt given to them.

Meeting of the AZ Historical Quilt Study Group

We have received an invitation for any interested members to attend a meeting of the AZ Historical Quilt Study Group. It will be held on February 21 from 10:00am to 1:30pm at the Gilbert Historical Society Museum. They are asking for a donation of $2 per attendee to cover the cost of renting the space. They are also asking people to bring strippy quilts. They will be discussing and doing a show & tell of these quilts.

CORRECTION - I spoke with Kayla, Director of Gilbert Historical Museum, and she confirmed that the scheduled date for the Arizona Historical Quilt Study Group is Saturday, February 28. The meeting begins at 10:00. (Correction posted 2/16)

Gilbert Historical Museum
10 S Gilbert Rd
Gilbert, AZ
4800-926-1577

Call For Quilts - Gilbert Historical Museum Show

The Gilbert Historical Museum will be having a quilt show "The Art of Quilting" from March 2 to May 30. Quilts will not be judged. Quilts can be machine or hand quilted or tied. All sizes are welcome including wall hangings. Quilts must be delivered for the show no later than February 21. You must be able to loan your quilt for the whole length of the show. Entered quilts must have a label that includes the name of the quilt, pattern, and entrants name, address, and phone number.

The Art of Quilting IV
March 2 - May 30, 2009

Where: Gilbert Historical Museum
10 S. Gilbert Rd. Box 1484
Gilbert, Az. 85299

For more information and entry forms please contact:
Kayla Kolar, Museum Director
602-291-1142
kolaraz@msn.com

Darlene Reid - Program for January 20th Meeting

My program is all about the process of creating family history story quilts.
Where some of my inspirations came from, working with photos and other bits and pieces.
In preparation for my talk, I would like to have the quilters have a person, place or thing in mind that they could use in making their own imaginary story quilts.

-Darlene

January 18th Free Sew-in

There will be another free Sew-in at the Desert Breeze Police Substation Community Room on January 18th from 9:00 to 5:00. You can come for the whole time or just come for a short while. Bring whatever project you want to work on. You can bring a sack lunch if you want or just run out to a nearby place to get food.

The Substation is located at 251 N Desert Breeze Blvd - off Chandler Blvd between Rural and McClintock. Park on the north side of the building in the parking lot there.

Sponsoring Judy Niemeyer

Nimble Thimbles is one of the sponsors of the classes Judy Niemeyer will be doing through AQG. The class we sponsor will be on February 26 at the Cutting Edge. If you want to go to the class, you need to register by completing the form and sending it in to AQG. One of the benefits of being an AQG member is the ability to take classes from national teacher's like Judy for reduced prices. The cost is $35 for AQG members and $70 for non-members. You do need to register in advance as there are a limited number of spaces available.

Registration Form

Information on all of Judy's classes Feb. 23 - 27

Information about Judy Niemeyer

3 Dudes Quilting

Our program last night was presented by a new quilt shop to open soon in Awhatukee - 3 Dudes Quilting. They are in the location that used to be occupied by Quilter's Koop. They were a lot of fun and we look forward to visiting their shop when it opens - probably next week. They said they have 200 batiks, civil war fabrics, and more.

There are some free patterns available on their website, www.3dudesquilting.com, and the opening date will be posted there.