Very special program on Tuesday, November 8,2011. Pat Knoechel is returning to entertain us with what is new at Quilt in a Day

We are honored and thrilled to once again have Pat Knoechel as our featured program. Cactus Patchers and Nimble Thimbles have teamed up to have a super meeting for Eleanor Burns' sister. Please join us!

Barb Janson from Scottsdale will be visiting N.T. on Tuesday, June 21

Nimble Thimbles will be hosting Barb Janson on Tuesday, June 21. Barb is from Scottsdale, and recently won first place in the themed category at the AQG show. She has several interesting tips and a great show and tell for us. See you then!

TRUNK SHOW OF WOOL PENNY RUGS BY JANET MOREAU

On Tuesday, September 21, Janet Moreau will share a trunk show of wool penny rugs with our Nimble Thimbles group. Janet has taught for years, and has quite a collection to share. As an added bonus, Janet and Nancy Haldeman have made up a project that we will each be bringing home. How fun! We are all looking forward to a great evening with our speaker.

Trunk Show by Diane Pitchford on August 17,2010

Diane Pitchford has graciously agreed to do a trunk show for Nimble Thimbles on Tuesday, August 17. Diane has been quilting for over 30 years, and is a long time Nimble Thimbles member (including past President). She is active in several quilting groups around the state and beyond, including the National Quiltering Association. Diane also has a love for antique quilts and hand quilting. Please join us for a tremendous trunk show from Gilbert, Arizona's own award winning longarm quilter.

Trunk Show by Ken Casey

On Tuesday, June 15, Nimble Thimbles is pleased to have Prickly Piecer Ken Casey present a trunk show for us. Ken has been quilting for years and has amassed a tremendous collection of quilts. His creations are interesting, colorful and fun. He has won awards for his quilting efforts, and has been featured in several regional shows. Please join us and welcome Ken to our Nimble Thimbles group.

Bags, bags and more bags!

At our May 18 Nimble Thimbles meeting, we are pleased to welcome Barb Cressy. Barb is a local teacher who is known by many people, having taught at several shops and venues over the years. She is joining us to do a trunk show of bags, totes, purses, carry-alls, and miscellaneous fun projects. Her creativity and clever tricks for changing patterns is her trademark. We are really looking forward to having her join us!

May 4, 2010 Nimble Thimbles program

May 4, 2010 Nimble Thimbles program:

Nimble Thimbles is extremely fortunate to have national teacher, Susan Vassallo, join us on Tuesday, May 4. Susan is an award winning artist and quilter, who will share a extensive trunk show with us. Please join us from 7-9pm.
This program is possible due to the continuing education funds raised at our fabulous March Chinese auction. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Pam's Piece by Piece Quilt Designs

Please join us for a trunk show and pattern sale on February 16 by Pam's Piece by Piece Quilt Design. Pam McMahon is from Mesa, Arizona and a former Nimble Thimble who started her own pattern company a few years ago. She describes her work as classical patterns with a twist. Her designs and color choices make them exceptional.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.