September Meeting

We are excited for fall! Above is our Bright Birch Trees 
quilt that will be displayed at our show at Strawbery Banke 
on October 12. 

We're having a fabric printing workshop on September 18 at the East
Kingston Public Library, presented by Hayley. Below is a table runner
her mother made from Hayley's fabric.

Our October 5 meeting at the Brentwood Library will include time to
make baby quilts for an organization helping homeless mothers. 

The November 2 meeting at the West Newbury Town Annex will
feature elections and a workshop by Sue Bleiweiss from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
We will also we be collecting quilting books, notions, and fabrics for

the Navajo at this meeting.

Looking ahead to December, our holiday party will be on the 7th in
Stratham. We will have a Yankee Quilt Swap featuring quilting books,
sewing creations, notions, rulers, etc.

In other business, we decided to extend to October 
the "rickrack" block drawing. Several of these blocks 
are shown below.

For those with the time to go to Lowell, Diane has a quilt on display

at the Whistler House Museum of Art through the end of October.

SHOW AND TELL

Gayle displayed two stunning quilts: the first was from a pattern by

Brigitte Heitland of Zen Chic. (Gayle did her own quilting on this one.)

       

and the second was a pattern by Amy Ellis:

Gayle's final item was a banner:

Marilee took Diane's workshop on shibori dyeing and made potato chip bags 
(so named because you can't make only one):

Haley showed two quilts she made as a result of our timed improv block activity in February:

Hayley also had a star quilt with an eye-catching green binding:

Nancy displayed a sports-themed quilt and a quilt made with shades of gray.

Lou showed a quilt she made for her grandaughter, a fan of all things feline and musical:

We ended show-and-tell with quilts from two ends of the spectrum--a miniature quilt by Kate.....

....and a king-size quilt by Mary (the first she ever made)!

Fabric Printing Workshop

    Fabric Printing/Surface Design Workshop

As part of the Discover DIY series

at the East Kingston Public Library, 

Haley Gray will be presenting at 7 p.m. on September 18th.

Hayley Gray is a local artist (and SMQG member) whose portfolio consists of Fabric Block Printing and Quilting. Hayley lives in South Berwick, Maine with her husband and their three children. She has been quilting for 20+ years and began her journey with printmaking and fabric design roughly three years ago. As a full-time working wife and mother, Hayley uses every spare second she can to continue her many ongoing projects!

To see examples of her work, check out 

http://www.hayleygraytextiles.com/

Hayley will show us how to carve a printing block that can be used to print on fabric. Inspired by nature, these designs will be perfect for use on the dish towel each participant will receive as part of their $10 fee. You can call the Library at 603-642-8333, email us at ekpublib@comcast.net or stop by. 

Each participant will receive a hemmed linen dish towel to print and a 3 “ x 4” printing block. Please bring any additional fabric you would like to print on. We will have inks, carving tools and brayers here for your use.  To complete this project we may meet again on September 25 at 7 p.m.

August Meeting Recap

Just as there’s always lots going on in the garden in August, lots of our creative endeavors came to
fruition this month.

Several of the painted quilt blocks made at Paula’s workshop on Barn Quilts were on display.

Nancy won the lottery blocks that were introduced at the June meeting. 

Diane and Paula won fabric from the Portsmouth Fabric Company as a result of what they made with
fabric from the store. (The fabric, designed by Cheryl Arkison, was distributed at Retreat.) Diane made
a large carrying case for sewing essentials (she enlarged a Noodlehead pattern) and Paula designed
a pillow with applique on the front and "Make Something Every Day" on the back.

Participants in the “Round Robin” quilting project displayed their creations. Each maker sewed a center
block, then sent it off to the other two members, who added new sections.

Sue Ann, Diane, and Suzanne were one team. Their creations are displayed in the picture at the top
of the post. The members of the second team -- Nancy, Sue and Paula -- are shown below.

Also as part of the meeting, Marylee gave a presentation on Modern Dresden Quilts. Below, she is
holding one of Paula's Dresden blocks.

Here, Sue Ann shows off a Dresden quilt she made.

Show and Tell:

Patty showed off her "Made by Rae Washi Dress" featuring French seams and lining. The fabric is
from Alewives Fabrics in Maine.  

Suzanne had a log cabin quilt she made for a nephew who just bought an actual log cabin in Maine.

Paula displayed a "square-in-a-square" quilt for a friend’s son’s one-year-old daughter.

Upcoming Events:

Our next meeting is at 10 a.m. on Sat. Sept. 7 at the West Newbury, Mass. Town Annex.

For that meeting, the “Rickrack” block by the Missouri Star Quilt Company (see below) will be our
lottery block. Directions were distributed at the meeting and there is a Youtube tutorial.

Participants should use Kona White and any solid or textured red.

August Meeting Preview

We will meet on Saturday, August 3 from 10 a.m. to noon at the
Wiggin Memorial Library in Stratham, N.H. 

* We will have a presentation on modern Dresden Plate designs. 

* If you have made something with the "Maker" panel fabric from
retreat, bring it along. 

* The lottery blocks introduced at the June meeting are due.

Updated info on our East Kingston Public Library workshops:

The ancient art of indigo (shibori) dyeing:

      

* Wed. Aug. 21 at 10 a.m. -- prepare your fabrics for dyeing.

* Fri. Aug. 23 at 1 p.m. -- use the dye vats.

A $10 fee will cover the cost of dye materials and one ready-to-dye
scarf for each participant. In addition, there will be ample opportunity
to dye your own fabrics or clothing items.

Fabric Printing class:

     

* Wed. Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. -- learn how to carve a printing block         
that can be used to print on fabric.

For a $10 fee, each participant will receive a hemmed linen             
dish towel and a 3" x 4" printing block. Please bring any  
additional fabric you would like to print on. We will have inks,
carving tools and brayers for your use.

To complete this project, we may meet again on Wed. Sept. 25
at 7 p.m.

Registration for the fabric printing workshop ends Mon. Sept. 9.
To register, call 603-642-8333, email ekpublib@comcast.net,
or stop by the library.

Both workshops are open to the public.

July Meeting

There's no escaping the summer heat--unless you come to one of our air-conditioned workshops!

We are partnering with the East Kingston Public Library to offer three quilt-related workshops from mid-summer into early fall. They include:

* a two-part Barn Quilt workshop at 7 p.m. on July 17 and 24 (see sample above);

* a daytime class on indigo (shibori) dyeing in August;

* a class on fabric printing in September.

There is a $10 fee for each workshop. Members of the guild and the general public are welcome.

Other Special Events:

We are preparing for our Columbus Day weekend quilt show at Strawbery Banke and November's Festival of Trees at the Urban Forestry Center in Portsmouth. 

Plans are being made for a November workshop with Sue Bleiweiss, an award-winning fiber artist and author of Modern Art Quilts: Design, Fuse & Quilt-As-You-Go. The three images below are from her web site.

Main Street 2

Village 1

Moon Over Concrete Jungle

Upcoming Chapter Meetings:

August 3: Meeting at Wiggin Memorial Library in Stratham, N.H.

         * Presentation on Modern Dresden Plate designs;

         * Bring a creation made from the "Maker" panel fabric;

         * Lottery blocks introduced at the June meeting are due.

September 7: West Newbury (Mass.) Town Hall Annex

October 5: West Newbury (Mass.) Town Hall Annex

Show & Tell:

Above are some of the "Lucy Boston" blocks made from our June workshop at Alewives Fabric in Nobleboro, Maine.

Kate made this house-shaped quilt (above) after attending a workshop taught by Alaska's Maria Shell at the Genesee Valley QuiltFest in Rochester, New York.

Christine showed the first quilt she ever had long-armed. It is made from Anna Maria Horner fabric, probably the Mod Corsage line. Below is the back. 

Colleen shared how grateful she is for 10 members of the guild who created a quilt for her as she deals with health concerns.

The quilt is backed with minky, so it is very soft. Colleen told us it is a joy to curl up and sleep with, yet she also biked 20 miles in Vermont on a recent weekend. "I'm active and I'm doing it!" she told us.

Sue displayed a striking elephant-themed quilt for a relative who is having her first baby at age 41. Two hand-knit sweaters are also part of the gift. That is one lucky baby!

Diane showed a quilt she made from fabric she designed. The quilting is done in capsules with quotes inside the shapes.

Nancy and her sister Barbara brought a quilt they made for a friend who is celebrating his 60th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood. Because he is often cold, they wanted to make it as warm as possible. The front was pieced with 60 strips (plus two extras).

I showed a bag made from Noodlehead's "Zip Top Tote" pattern. The fabric is from Pintuck and Purl in North Hampton, N.H.

Stay cool, 

Keep quilting,

See you in August!

July Preview

July’s meeting at Lane Memorial Library in Hampton, N.H. is on the horizon. Join us from 10 to noon on July 13. Blocks for the “Bright Birch Trees” raffle quilt are due at the July meeting. We are looking for a member to spearhead the quilt creation process.

In conjunction with the East Kingston Public Library, we will hold a workshop on Barn Quilts in mid-July taught by our own Paula Krolikoski. The first meeting will be Wednesday, July 17 at 7 p.m. and the second on Friday, July 19 at 1 p.m. Both meetings will be held at the East Kingston Public Library. The cost is $10. Call 603-642-8333 to register.

In other business, Diane Sheckells is exhibiting her quilt "River Dance: A Shibori Sampler" (see image at left) at the Vermont Quilt Festival in Essex Junction, Vt, from Wednesday, June 26 to Saturday, June 29. More information on the festival is available here: https://vqf.org/home/

In Diane's words, she stitched the quilt prior to dyeing in several patterns that are used in Japan. The stitching, when removed, reveals nature-based imagery such as wood grain or ferns. Fabric design  was inspired by a workshop at the New England Quilt Museum with Carol Ann Grotrian.

Finally, our group's early June trip to Alewives Fabric in Nobleboro, Maine was a success. Several members now have a new project: hand-sewn Lucy Boston blocks. The top of this post shows a sample.


For the super-organized among us, here are a few reminders about the August 3 meeting:

* We will meet at Wiggin Memorial Library in Stratham, N.H.

* Members wishing to display their improv mini-quilts minis at the Strawbery Banke show should bring them to this meeting.

* Participants in the "Maker" fabric challenge from retreat should bring their creation.

* The lottery blocks introduced at the June meeting will be due.

May Meeting

There were many reasons to smile at this month's meeting, including Bethany's win of a

stack of fabric from our "Left-Right-Center" game.

Paula displayed her banner with the one word that says it all:

Paula is ahead of the game with her Raffle Quilt block. For those of us who are not quite so efficient, the blocks (in fall colors, with the "Bright Birch Trees" pattern) are due at the July meeting.

Our quilts made during February's "Timed Improv" activity are still on display at the East Kingston Public Library. This one, which features Rachel's favorite colors, will be part of the exhibit.

In other projects, we are working on a "Mini Trajectory" lottery block for the August meeting. Directions for the block have been distributed through email. We are not sewing these blocks together, since we want the winner to decide on the layout. There are many choices.....

We've also decided to collect fabric, notions, and quilting books at our November meeting to send to members of the Navajo Nation to aid in their efforts to make quilts for their families. More information on this project is available here.

In other business, we will be traveling to Alewives Fabrics in Nobleboro, Maine, on Sat. June 8. The cost is $30 plus fabric and travel. Spots are still available.

We are seeking a member to serve as next year's retreat coordinator. This year's gathering was marked by excellent food, raffles, trips to Marden's for fabric, camaraderie, and plenty of time to quilt. Sue's snowflake quilt is an example of a finished project:

Diane worked on this table runner:

Here's a sampling of the swag that retreat attendees received:

Designed by Cheryl Arkison, the "Maker" fabric is part of a larger panel. We have been challenged to make something out of the fabric and bring it to the August meeting. There will be a prize available from the Portsmouth Fabric Company.

Show And Tell:

Sue's baby quilt has beautiful shades of orange and green:

Diane's quilt features fabric she printed herself from a photograph of day lilies.

Kate's quilt uses a cheerful mix of colors.

Patty sewed up some clever pouches that look like flip-flops.

She also displayed her Sew Together bag that we made at the April meeting:

Below is my Sew Together bag. It was much easier to tackle this project -- with its four zippers -- with the help of a group than to make it on my own.

Upcoming Meetings:

10 a.m. on Saturday, July 13 at Lane Memorial Library in Hampton, N.H.

10 a.m. on Saturday, August 3 at Wiggin Memorial Library in Stratham, N.H.

Stay tuned for details about upcoming workshops on barn quilts, shibori dyeing, and fabric stamping.