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, November 9, 2012

Maine Modern Quilters--Upcoming Meetings

The next meeting of Maine Modern Quilters will meet at Quiltessentials in Auburn on November 14th from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Please park on the side street.
 
Betsy Dorr, owner of Quiltessentials, will do a presentation on "Color and the Color Wheel". Beth Maitland will do a demo on the Floating Tumbling Block.
 
Don't forget your show and tell!
 
The December meeting will be held on December 8th from 2:00-4:00 p.m. at the Buker Community Center, 22 Armory St., Augusta. 
 
Bonnie Dwyer will do a demo on different ways to do circles in quilts. Please bring a few dollars and some change to divide up the cost of the room.
 
If you have questions or need more information, please contact Betsy Cannan at bjtulip@aol.com or phone 207.212.7600.
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Saturday, October 13, 2012

Did you say "FREE" Patterns?

Yes, free. With the high cost of fabric, free patterns sound pretty good to me!

To the right, you will find a listing of the major fabric manufacturers who offer free patterns for not only quilts, but clothing, baby accessories and gift ideas. I must, however, give you a word of advice on these sites--they do remove patterns and add new ones, so if you find one you would like to save for future use, it might not be on the site when you are ready to use it.

You can either print it or save it as a pdf on your home computer. If you need help with that, just let me know. Another bit of advice when opening up the sites--there is a lot of information and it does take a minute (or two) to come up, so please be patient.

One thing I would like to remind you is that there are lots of patterns that give you the modern look vibe, so if you would like to dabble in this theme, here is your chance--and for free!

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Friday, October 12, 2012

Quilt Won Comes From Down Under


As many of you know, I belong to a quilting board on the HGTV website, started back when Alex Anderson was the hostess of "Simply Quilts."

Each year, they hold a retreat in a different part of the county and in an attempt to give back to that area, charity quilts are made by members to donate to the hostesses particular cause. I was fortunate enough to attend one several years ago in Manchester, NH so I got the opportunity to get to meet many of the quilters on the boards. It's a delightful group of quilting sisters with hearts of gold willing to band together and help with each other's projects, charities and participate in fun swaps.

As of late, most have been made and raffled off with all monies going direct to that retreat areas "Ronald Mc Donald House" Charity fund. This year, I won a quilt made by an HGTV member, Kentucky Sunshine, who lives in Australia (or the land of Oz, as she calls it). By her board name, you can tell she loves the South and visits with her family often.

Usually, as quilts are donated to this cause, photos are taken to encourage members to buy and sell tickets. Any where from 30-40 quilts are made, using the hostesses theme (this year it was black and white with a bowl of ... (in this case, cherries for the red). For some reason, a photo of this quilt was never taken or posted, so when I found out I won I didn't have a clue as to what it looked like. Imagine my delight when I opened up the box to find this eye-popping quilt with beautiful machine quilting. To make it even better, I know the maker and she is delighted to know a fellow quilting sister will find it a good home!

Next year's retreat will be held in Harrisburg, PA, near Lancaster and Intercourse--Amish quilting heaven! My late husband and I traveled there many years ago for a week of shopping and taking in the ambiance of the area. It's beautiful country and I look forward to returning back there in June of 2013.

In lieu of making quilts to raffle off, our Harrisburg hostess will be having all quilts made and donated to the "Quilts of Valor" program. Lucky for me I have a vast supply of the required red, white and blue fabrics in which to make at least one quilt to bring. Stand by for future posts and pictures of the quilt I will be bringing along with me.
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Thursday, October 11, 2012

Area 3 Meeting-Turner, Maine


 An Area 3 meeting co-hosted by Country Aire Quilters and Village Scrappers was held on October 9th.

A total of 58 attendees from eight chapters, floaters and even some special guests rounded out the group. Many thanks to Brenda and Karen for your chapters working so well together to put on a stellar meeting.

After a delicious supper and "low-calorie" desserts, speakers Beth Allen and Joanna Timberlake spoke on machine applique methods and the 4-1-1 on free motion machine quilting. I'm sure everyone left the meeting with a new tip or shortcut on these topics.

The winner of the 22 signature blocks was Mary Lee and the winner of the Quilt-a-noply game was Joanna Timberlake. Besides all the nice door prizes, each lady left with bead-laden stilettos, scissor fobs and fat quarters.








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Pumpkin-Oatmeal Cookies

I'm all about the pumpkin and fiber, so why not join the two for a terrific tasting cookie? This recipe makes two dozen yummy treats at less than 100 calories per cookie.

1-cup wheat flour

½ cup quick-cooking oats

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. salt

1/3-cup butter, softened

½ cup brown sugar, packed

½ cup white sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

½ tsp. vanilla extract

2/3 cup pumpkin puree

1-cup raisins
 
Handful of pumpkin or sunflower seeds (for extra calories, you can also throw in a handful of chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients; put aside. In another bowl, mix wet ingredients; stir into dry ingredients until well blended—add raisins and nuts.

Drop onto greased cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes. Leave on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
 
If you wish, you can make a powdered sugar glaze by mixing with cream or milk to make a drizzle consistency.

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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Maine Modern Quilters Meeting October 17, 2012

The first meeting of the Maine Modern Quilters (MMQ) will be held at
Quiltessentials Quilt and Yarn Shop, 909 Minot Avenue, Auburn.

Date: October 17th

Time: 1-3 p.m.

ALL skill levels wanted and welcome!

What to bring:1) Pictures, articles, magazines, books; anything to do with
modern quilting (if you have it). If you don’t have anything, no problem!

2) A fat quarter of modern fabric, or not, that is wrapped (for a swap)

3) Pen and Paper

4) Calendar

5) Desire to share and learn

6) Friends, of course, are welcome to come with you. Hot water will be
available for anyone who wants to bring their own tea, coffee bag,
 etc., and cup.

We hope you can join us for this very first meeting of Maine Modern Quilters.
 Be part of history in the making. (Really!)

Contact person: Betsy Cannan, Minot

#207-212-7600 bjtulip@aol.com



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Monday, October 1, 2012

Quilting with Flannel

 
With winter nipping at our heels, many of us turn to using flannels for our latest quilts.
Using flannel instead of cottons for quilts does bring along some special steps to ensure a perfect quilt. By using these tips as a guideline for sewing, you too will have a successful (and cozy!) quilt.

·         Always prewash your flannels.  Shrinkage can vary between different quality of flannel  fabric and you need to have consistency for your quilt. Use the hottest water setting and a hot dryer to ensure there will be no more additional shrinkage. If you are using a flannel flat sheet for backing, be sure to prewash in the same manner.

 ·         Iron your fabric, careful not to stretch it. I use fabric sizing or starch to give it a bit more crispness.

·         For flannels, the simpler the pattern, the better the results. Staying away from those bias cuts will be best. If you want to sew on the bias, you can try to back with a dot of washable glue stick and cheap white tissue paper for stability when sewing. Or, perhaps a lightweight fusible interfacing might work better for you.

·         Don’t use your regular rotary cutter! Flannel dulls it quickly! I have a secondary cutter marked with “flannel” marked on the storage case and an “F” marked with a Sharpie on the cutter itself.

·        Since flannel frays, I could use some fray check on the edges, but I just add ¼” to my pattern pieces and use a ½” seam allowance.

       ·         I sew using my walking foot to avoid an distortion when sewing. This is why I keep away   
               from directional prints. 


·         And speaking of sewing, you will want to use a size #14 or 16 needle and since the flannel dulls it, be prepare to change it if needed.

·         AND be sure to stop and clean your machine during sewing—flannel makes a lot of lint-especially around the feed dogs.

·         Put some serious thought when selecting a batting for your flannel quilt—you don’t want it to be too warm (or do you?).

·         Best of all, now you should have a warm and comforting quilt to keep or give as a gift.

 


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