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Thursday, December 22, 2011

NEWBY Quilting Bee - Quilting 101 Start To Finish!



Well, here we go together!  An exciting and creative adventure, learning and sharing.  For those of you just thinking about joining us, the classes are FREE, we will be learning the basics of quilting and completing a new quilt block each month for 9 months, in month 10 we will be putting it all together and finishing our quilts!  Each block that you make, you will learn and master something new that will take you on your quilting journey.

Meetings will be held the second Friday of each month, starting in January with our first meeting on:

Friday, January 13, 2012
From 9am to Noon
At the LDS Church Cultural Hall
20895 Todd Valley Road, Foresthill, CA  95631

Before we get started with the materials list, I would like to suggest that you get a binder and some plastic inserts.  As we go along you will have printouts with patterns and valuable information on them, if you will put them in your binder in the plastic inserts you will always have them handy as a resource for you after our class.

You will need to bring the following:

Your sewing machine, including bobbins, electrical cords, foot peddle.  (I know that sounds funny, but people forget simple things and we don't want you to be sitting on the sidelines not having any fun)
Scissors, Rotary Cutter, Rotary Cutting Mat, Rotary Cutting Ruler (size 6" x 18" will serve you well, see below), thread, pins, a chalk marking pencil and sharpener or a "mark-b-gone" double sided pen and if you have an extension cord that would be a good thing to bring as well.  We will have irons and ironing boards set up at each meeting.

For the first block, you will need 2-3 fat quarters of fabric.  Don't know what a fat quarter is?  It is a piece of fabric that is cut 18" x 22".  Here is a link that will help you understand fabric dimensions and "quilting speak". What is a Fat Quarter?  (print out the link pages and put them in your binder) Don't freak out if you don't have a fat quarter...bring what you have and I will teach you how to work around it.  Fat Quarters will just make this block go fast and easy, which is what you want when you are learning.  Where can you get fat quarters?  Most all fabric stores carry them.  If you are not by a fabric store, like those of us who live out here in the mountains, there are plenty of online opportunities to select your fabric and have it delivered right to your door.  Two companies, Keepsake Quilting and Connecting Threads, have been gracious enough to provide their fabric catalogs for our first meeting and I will distribute those on January 13th.  If you want to go check out their websites before hand, here are a couple links:   www.keepsakequilting.com  and www.connectingthreads.com  . Make sure you put in your e-mail address and get on their mailing list for their catalogs...it's fun to look at all the new fabrics and they are chock full of fun ideas and interesting color combinations for your inspiration.   The thing to remember when you are selecting fabric...get 100% cotton.  Mixing fibers when you are quilting is not a good idea.  Polyester fibers will cut through your cotton and over time you will have a stringy mess on your hands.  If you are going to take the time and effort to make something beautiful...you want it to last a long time.

If you don't have a rotary cutting mat, rotary cutter or rotary cutting ruler...there are several places online to get one, they also have them available at Beverly's in Penryn and Joann's in Roseville.  The cheapest way to get started here is to get a kit, it comes with a mat, cutter and ruler.  If you sign up online with Joann's they will e-mail you 50% off coupons and you can purchase your kit at half price...it will cost you about $25. +/-  You can also use your coupons in their store, so either way it's a win/win.  Now here is my suggestion...Fiskars Rotary Cutting Set  it comes with a ruler, mat and cutter all the right size to get started!

For those of you who cannot physically attend the classes, we invite you to join us here online each month.  All lessons and tips will be posted and you can quilt right along with us.  There will be plenty of photos to show you step by step how to proceed and if you get stuck, just drop me an e-mail and I will try to help you out.  As an added incentive to attend the meetings, those in attendance will receive a "bonus" pattern each month...so not only will you have your quilt finished before the holidays, but you may even have some of your stocking stuffers completed as well!

Again, tutorials will be posted online after the meeting, complete with how to photos, photos of our meeting, participants quilt blocks and more!  Finished quilts will be displayed at the Fall Harvest Party!  And I have set up a link at the top of this blog to link to our "Flickr" site to display your blocks and quilts.

Charity Opportunity:  If you would like to join us and make one extra block each month, we will put those together for charity quilts.  Drop me an e-mail if you are interested in participating meyerkaren99@yahoo.com

Here's to a Happy New Year with Lots of Quilting Fun!





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