Area 3 Chapters

Area 3 Chapters in the beautiful state of Maine:


*Bog Hoot Quilters-Mechanic Falls area
*Chickadee Quilters-Bridgton Area
*Classic Quilters of Lewiston-Auburn Area
*Country Aire Quilters-Turner Area
*Country Square Quilters-North Jay/Wilton Area
*Cross Country Quilters-Bethel Area
*Grammy's Choice Quilters-Canton Area
*Ladies of the Lake Quilters-Peru/Rumford/Dixfield Area
*Lisbon Krazy Kwilters-Lisbon Area
*Pine Needle Quilters-Norway/South Paris Area
*Scraps and Patches Quilters-Poland Area
*Village Scrappers Quilters-Livermore Area


Friday, July 25, 2014

Low-Calorie Key Lime Pie Shake

Cool off those hazy days of summer with a cool drink with only 124 calories per serving!

This recipe uses soy milk, but you can substitute low-fat or fat-free milk if you wish. Add a drop of vanilla flavoring to the mix if you do.

1/2 cup cold light vanilla soy milk
1/4 cup fat-free vanilla ice cream
2 tbsp. canned crushed pineapple in juice
2 tbsp. sugar-free calorie-free vanilla syrup
1 tbsp. lime juice
1 packet no-calorie sweetener
3/4 cup crushed ice or 4-6 ice cubes
2 tbsp. fat-free whipped topping
1/4 sheet low-fat honey graham crackers, crushed
Optional lime slice

Note: If desired, you can add a touch of rum or lime-flavored vodka.

Combine soy milk, ice cream, pineapple, vanilla syrup, lime juice, sweetener and ice in blender. Blend on high speed for 30-45 seconds. Pour shake into glass and top with whipped topping and crushed graham crackers. Garnish with lime slice, if desired.

Important note! Now, find a lawn chair in the shade, sit down and RELAX and enjoy!

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Wilton Quilt Show and Raffle


This event will be held during the Wilton Blueberry Festival on Saturday, August 2nd from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Wilton United Methodist Church, 600 Main Street and is sponsored by the Country Square Quilters of Wilton/Jay and local residents.

A double-size quilt will be raffled off to benefit local basic assistance programs. Tickets will be available at the display across the street from the church for $1.00 each or six for $5.00. The drawing for the quilt will be held at 4:00 p.m. that day.

For more information about this event, please contact Barbara Black at babs@beeline-online.net

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Upcoming Hexie and Combo Swaps Sign Ups



Samples of a past TRUE 30's repros swap
 
I have just posted a new 1" hexagon swap (this will be our 12th swap!) and fabric combo swap polls on the hexagon swap blog http://hexagonswap.blogspot.com/

If you are interested in voting or have any general questions, just email me at 2013hexagonswap@gmail.com

Quilting Tip of the Week 7.24.14

Sometimes I swap or purchase preut 2 1/2" strips and need to prewash them before sewing into my quilting projects. Throwing them into a washing machine would be disaster, so I pondered and found a solution.

Salad spinner to the rescue! After presorting my colors (especially with batiks) I fill the base with warm soapy water, put the strips in the basket and put into the base--just cover and spin away! Just a couple of rinses the same way (or until the water runs clear) should give you damp strips you can dry on a dryer rack or clothesline. Give them a quick press before using.

Dempsey Center seeks Volunteers to Sew Sun Hats

 
The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing is looking for volunteers to sew sun hats for their "No Sun for Babies" program. More details of this program are available in the July 17th issue of the Twin City Times.
 
If you would like to sew, contact the Dempsey Center at 795-8259 or email dempseym@cmhc.org

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Quilt and Blanket Collection for Native Americans


Quilt and Blanket Collection for Native Americans
 
 



Drop off a NEW quilt or blanket of any size into the box to keep our Native Americans warm this winter. We also accept knitted baby items.

Donations accepted until September 30th, 2014
Drop off points:
Oxford Mill End Store in Oxford
Whippersnappers in Hallowell
(More drop off points will be posted as they are confirmed here)
Laura will also be picking up quilts at both upcoming Area 3 meetings

Sponsored by: Gathering of Eagles Ministry and Pine Needles Quilt Guild of Norway/South Paris, Maine

Shipping provided by:

Area 3 Meeting-Country Aire Quilters of Turner





 

We invite you to join us for an Area 3 Quilt meeting on Tuesday, September 9th, 2014 at 6:00 p.m. in the Tripp Middle School cafeteria at 65 Matthews Way, Turner, Maine.

 



 Our guest speaker will be Beth Helfter of EvaPaige Designs.  Beth presented her trunk show “Perfection is Overrated" at the April PTQG meeting.  For the Area 3 meeting, she will present her trunk show, “Plays Well with Others”.  This lecture focuses on group quilt making beyond the basic round robin.  Beth displays wonderful examples of her quilts and presents her material in an energetic and humorous manner. 

 

Beth also has a blog, Quilty Hottie Haven, and is a member of the Scrap Squad for Quiltmaker magazine.  To read about her most recent experience go to http://evapaigequiltdesigns.blogspot.com/ and click on the link for turning pup tents into goose poop.  Beth’s writing will give you a sense of how enjoyable it will be to join us for her lecture and trunk show!

 Light refreshments will be served, door prize drawings, a Funky Chicken block drawing, and of course, fantastic show and tell; please bring yours to share!

 We also invite each of you to bring a fat quarter of material that you feel represents Maine.  We will include these in a grand door prize drawing (or two) of Maine fabrics.  Let’s see… blueberries, apples, lighthouses, mountains, chickens, beaches, umm – the possibilities seem endless!

Our block for the drawing will be the Country Aire Funky Chicken in wild and flashy colors and patterns.  The pattern can be found at the end of this post. The chicken block is from the Country Threads Pattern # 426, Chickens In the Cornfield. The original 7 inch block has been enlarged so it creates a 9" finished block.

We hope you will be able to join us for a fun, enjoyable evening to kick off the fall quilting season!

 FMI, contact Jo Thibodeau  sjt@megalink.net

 

Country Aire Funky Chicken Pattern

We invite you to take a walk on the wild side and make a Funky Chicken square for our block drawing at the September 9th  Area 3 meeting.  Funky Chickens like to dress in bright, wild colors for Area meetings!

The Funky Chicken is a 9” finished block (9 1/2" unfinished) set on point.  All seams are a scant ¼ inch.  The lovely chicken is a bright fabric with a white on white background with a contrasting color for the comb and beak.

Cutting:

Pieces:

#1         bright                                1 square 8 x 8 inches

#2         contrasting bright         2 squares @ 2 & ½ inches for the chicken comb

#3         white on white               2 rectangles @ 2 by 5 inches

                                                          2 squares @ 2 & ½ inches

                                                          1 square @ 2 inches

 #4         bright gold                      fuse and cut a small triangle for the beak

 Two small buttons for eyes!

 Use your favorite method and the 2 1/2" squares to make 4 half square triangles.  These will be the points for the comb.

 Refer to the photo for piecing the chicken together.  Be careful when placing the half square triangles together to make sure they are going in the right direction to form the peaks of the comb.

 

 

Fuse and stitch a small triangle for the beak.  Add two buttons for beady little chicken eyes and your funky chicken is ready to travel.






 
 


Monday, July 21, 2014

In Memoriam-Geneva Raymond

Kathy Crump of Ladies of the Lake in Rumford shares the passing of fellow quilter and friend Geneva Raymond...

"As many of you may know by now ~ Geneva Raymond from Ladies of the Lake
group in Rumford, ME passed away early Tuesday morning, July 15, 2014.

She will be dearly missed by all who knew her. Geneva was an avid quilter, always making quilts for children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and various charities throughout our
area.

She was also an adventurous quilter. Every so often she would say to me, "We
need to do something challenging!", so off we would go on another project.
I don't remember where it all started, but we made a wool felt table runner
because we had never worked with wool felt before.

Then we dabbled with curved piecing making monkey puzzles and the like ~
a very versatile block. A "Hunter's Star" happened in there somewhere ~ small bock, many pieces
~ you get the picture. It's still one of my favorites to this day.

Then along came "Winding Ways" with its very precise cutting and sewing.
There's one section of that block where the seams are so closely sewed
together that they run practically side by side. That was a tough one but
one we mastered together. She often had her Winding Ways table topper on
her kitchen table.

We did a sweet bird house, welcome wall hanging one spring just for fun.
Lots of applique and piecing ~ and fun time spent together.

Our next project was to be a "Mariner's Compass". We had the pattern
all picked and she had her fabric chosen. I guess I'll have to do this one
without you, dear friend, but whenever I get complacent in my quilting I'll
hear your voice saying, "ok, it's time to do something challenging"!"


Sunday, July 20, 2014

Quilting Tip of the Week 7.17.14

Who says candy is bad for you? Empty M & M containers are great for your bobbins for taking to classes or just for your current applique project!