Clay Center Piotique Quilters Guild: Busy - Busy

Believe it or not, sometimes you can have almost too much of a good thing.

Monday night was PACKED with all the good things you could ask for.

The front table gave us information and the freebie table was so crowded it was sliding off.

Ladies came early to get the advantage of some social time and to work on their projects.

Speaker was set up.

"New Year's Resolution" reveals were stacked on the stage.

and the Show and Tell tables were full.

We started out the night with our guest speaker Barbara Rezac from Emmett, KS

"Closet Serger"

There were quite a few of us that had serger's, and yes most of ours were in the "closet".

Oh weeee! The things you can do with a Serger.

Barbara was teacher for Viking/Husqvarna and astounded us all with the possibilities that we never could have dreamed of.

Quite a few of the samples she carried with her were only tops, and they were so neat on the back without all that fraying and mess. (Easier to carry a multitude in your luggage on a plane that way)

Her slide presentation along with the trunk show helped us to see the points she was making.

You just had to be there to learn the Looper Dance.

Upper looper, bottom looper and (though I missed the leg motion) the needle going up and down.

Get one of the members that attended the meeting to give you an example. Jenell H. gave a demonstration later that put us all in tears laughing.

Barbara's explanation of the all the threads involved,

the number, and even the widths - just never realized there was so many possibilities.

She showed us how to start with simple strips for the seminole look.....

to log cabins, rails and even bargello's.

Braids anyone? Dimensional bow ties, even chevron's.

Quilts are not just for the regular sewing machine.

Even intricate patterns can be achieved when you know how.

What a gorgeous table topper.

And instead of hiding your seam line in back, with a serger you can make it part of the pattern.

Remember, you can click on a picture to have it come in larger to see the details a little better.

Barbara had so many ways to do the crazy quilt with fussy cuts, extra embroidery items, lace, etc. And all is finished off so nicely.

Then she wowed us the possibilities with the gathering, piping, rolled edges, pin tucks, different threads, different widths, different thicknesses of thread.

We know that color of fabric changes the look, now we now a few other things to add to our repertoire.

Rolled edged nakins. Use a different fabric for both sides and you have double the use. Loved the circles that end up looking like trees.

Great way to make a new tree skirt.

So many techniques available when you add a serger to your arsenal of equipment.

Here is a full size quilt that Barbara has done. Some pretty intricate details in those blocks.

Three pocket purses, basket liners, etc.

Thank you to Barbara's daughter for running the slide show.

And thank you to Barbara for the sneak peek into some new possibilities.

Some of the ladies gave her our e-mail addresses so that she can let us know when she is teaching classes in the new year. We might even have enough to get her back for a workshop here.

No way could I give you all the information that she had for us.

Thank you Barbara for a wonderful program.

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"New Year's Resolution" reveal stage

We had an 83% reveal of our 35 participating members and their January's resolution projects.

Sorry not everyone could make it Monday night. Looking forward to seeing the remainder.

Deb. O. finished her BOM.

Carol B managed to get two projects out of her stack of blocks.

And this second one, she practiced several quilting techniques using multiple battings to get different effects.

Marsha K. got the twin's quilt done. Love the back too.

Sara B. finished up her 2014 Spring Quilt

Bev R. has had a very packed year, but she did manage to keep track of her tall tree pattern and is looking forward to 2019's completion of it.

Teresa E. finished her Splendid Sampler.

Verna Lee M. completed her kit. In fact she had it finished last month and encouraged Susie to quilt ASAP as she thought the reveal was in Oct. Kind of sneaky Verna Lee.

Dixie C. got her Saturday Evening Post quilt done. Little picture shows the back and good use of left over fabric.

Lorraine was thankful in getting done her Black and White quilt so some people would quit asking about it. hahahaha

Ruth Ann J. sent her finished quilt in. She just may not get it back, it's so gorgeous.

Donna J.'s hour glass quilt is huge. And Nope, she is not making another.

Cindy K. has her quilt top quilted, just trying to decide whether to bind with bias and keep all those points, or cut them off straight. We vote bias - it is to lovely to cut.

Deb M worked on the charm packs this time around.

Marilyn S. finished up her rail fence.

Coleen Weller finished up her quilt and used left overs on the back (little picture)

Jeanette K. used jeans and shirts from her husband and son and finished up this lovely quilt.

Winnie W. 2011 pattern and fabric is now a finished stunner in her collection.

Jane C. finally put her 10-15 yr old pattern and fabric work into a wonderful Christmas quilt.

Ginny B. completed not only the stained glass alter cloth, but as you can see in the little insert, she also got the lectern drape done.

Geri C. finished her resolution in time for the fair and got a blue. Thank you for letting us see it again.

I, Vevia, finished up my Hawaiian quilt from the BOM that Marcella B. had presented about 10 years ago.

Deb. B. got her rag quilt done.

Christine S. found out that doing 1 3/4" strips was a pain and has decided to cut them wider and make a bigger quilt for her log cabin heart.

Machelle R. was happy she knew where she had put her quilt top and has it on 2019's list to finish.

Carol S. got her 2015 President blocks all together in a lovely quilt with tea cups as well as our names.

Jenell H.'s finished up her jelly bargelly kit she got from Iowana's things.

Karen U. did up all the applique blocks her sister gave her and made this gorgeous quilt.

And last but not least, Virginia G. got her table runner finished.

As you can see - lots of completes when you have ONE item that you aim to complete.

Thank you ladies for participating. Looking forward to seeing the remaining 6 participants and what they accomplished. Hopefully in January.

Remember - Teresa and Stacie are having a "New Year's Resolution" project in January 2019. So get to looking at what you want to complete next year and bring in for the January meeting.

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ROM presented by Sara B.

Quite a few of our ladies are already starting to put their rows together.

Hopefully some will be completed for the January Show 'n Tell segment of the meeting.

Click here to get a copy of the directions for the Diagonal Slice Diamond Block.

Tried to get a close up here so that you can see how Sara did it.

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Vote was taken for the 2019 officers and passed as slated.

Christmas dinner plans were discussed and groups informed of what they are to bring.

Check over on the left side of this post to check out.

Then....................

Donna Jordan informed us of the request for quilt blocks. You can click here to get a copy of the above poster so that you can print it out for yourself.

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Forgive us on the Show 'n Tell portion of the meeting.

Camera's died, rushing to get cell phones to fill in,

but only have one picture here.

Please forward other pictures any of you might have so that we can get them on line for others to enjoy. (see below - Machelle got some more pictures forwarded)