May Fellowship Quilters Meeting

 Greetings Quilters!!
The May meeting of Fellowship Quilters was a big one with over 40 people present.  We had some new members so we continue to grow.
The morning program was a felted wool and embroidery project brought to us by  Carmen              of Cousins Quilt shop.  It was a fun project and we all stretched our hand sewing abilities as well as our vision threading those needles.  The project can  be made into a pin cushion or a needle holder when finished.  Lots of fun to make and to socialize as we sewed together.

 We had two guests from Habitat for Humanity, Nancy and Angela, who came to updated us on the current house projects.  They also thanked us for our work and presented us with a certificate of thank you.  We heard several stories of grateful families who received our quilts.  The best story was about a young man who was in Iraq and the only thing he wanted his Mom to send him from home was the quilt he received from us at the time his family built their Habitat House.  It brought tears to many eyes and is a affirmation of our Mission
                "to provide quits when needed to enrich the lives of others".

 Queen for the Day was Bobbie who showed us many wonderful quilts.  This is the pattern that Joan"s son Bob showed us, a fractured 4 patch, and we now seem to be calling "Bob's Pattern"  It looks wonderful.

Bobbie had a great story about this quilt.  She joined Fellowship in 2000 and this is one of the first quilts she pieced in the group.  She had packed it away and forgotten about it till finding it recently....sooo she quilted it last week just in time to show us.
 That is a great UFO story!

 Sally always makes us laugh but really outdid herself with this adorable pink baby quilt with so many wonderful different blocks.  Note Bob's block in the middle!!

Show and tell is always a wonderful place to  get great ideas and marvel at the talent in the room.  Gail proudly shows off her latest creation....love that purple!
We are winding down for the year and the June 11th picnic is the last meeting for the year.  It has been a fun year and the Leaders have done a wonderful job.
There will be two Strip Parties this summer...June 25th at Elsa's and July 23rd at Ruth's....more specifics later.
Keep up the great work ladies....Kathy Nolan

Apriil Fellowship Quilters Meeting

 Greetings Fellowship Quilters

The April meeting of Fellowship Quilters was a fun one.  We had the morning program with some great  sewing machine covers. The one to the left and the one below are just two examples.   The creative juices were flowing as each member brought their own interpretation to this project.  It was a practical and fun program!  Thanks to the leaders once again for helping us expand our sewing repertoire.

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                                                           Gail and Joy working on projects

                                                    Judy giving some direction to members

 Sharon was the Queen for the day and brought some of her quilts to show us.  The one above is made of individual pieces, many with memories from dresses her mother made for Sharon and her sister when they were girls.  Wonderful to have those memories.  The quilt below is her Dear Jane and is spectacular!

Joan's son Bob was visiting from Vermont and brought many wonderful quilts he has made and quilted on his long arm quilting machine.  He gave us the pattern for this quilt...a disappearing four patch as seen by his quilt to the left.

Dates to Remember
     June 11th is the end of the year picnic
     May 28 th meeting last day for 1/2 square triangles  
     May 14th work bee.. pillow case sew-in ..kits will be ready

Hope to see you all in May
Kathy Nolan


   

March Madness

 Yes it is March Madness in Michigan and at the Fellowship Quilters March meeting it was all about pillow cases!!
However we did have time for some beautiful show and tell items...Sharon put lots of time in on this scrappy quilt...Beautiful!
The Zentangles morning program was a hit with all who participated.  It is always good to stretch ourselves and learn new things.
Spring is slow in coming so we still have lots of indoor quilting time.

 We have started a new project for a charity...The Foundation for Mental Heath helps get people off the street and into housing.  We are making pillow cases to give to this organization that can then  share  them with clients.  We need about 90 to start with and got a good sampling at the meeting.  Belinda  Tracy, Ruth and Joan(who missed the picture) were hard at work as you can see.  Barb has fabric from the closet you can pick up to make a few or dive into your stash and clean house.  You can find patterns on the Internet.  I found a super easy one called.. Roll it Up from American Patchwork Quilting... just google " make a pillow case " and you will get lots of options

 Lots of colors and patterns that we hope will bring smiles!

     

Della has new twins in her family and made these adorable critters.
We continue to remember our two members, Leah and Marcia, who we lost this last month and those who attended the funerals were very moved.  We got many messages about how much they both loved the quilts we sent them.
Discussion about how to handle the memorials resulted in a collection to start a separate fund in order to make memorial contributions without using our funds for supplies. $205 was collected and we will keep this separate and add to it when needed.
We will also start on some blocks to put together quilts for members in need...stay tuned for more on that.

Happy Spring to everyone and hope we see all of you in April
Kathy Nolan

Feb Fellowship Quilters Meeting

I was not at the last meeting but have some pictures to share of some beautiful quilts!!

Phyllis did an outstanding job with the two beautiful quilts pictured here.  She has been busy!!

The garage sale was a success and we raised $134 for our group!  Great work ladies.

Pat Fisher showed some great items...the cat below looks like it would jump off the quilt!!

 We had a speaker , Emilee Syrewicze pictured below, from the Foundation for Mental Health.  She reviewed what services her group provides in our area and what their needs may be  for us as a group to help with.  We will be starting out making some pillow cases so stay tuned for some of those awesome kits from Barb Roberts!!!
Keep our members in need in your hearts and prayers and remember the work bee is March 12th.  Hope to see you all there!!!  Kathy Nolan

Feb Work Bee

 Greetings Quilters

Today was the Fellowship Quilting Work Bee!

I attended with my granddaughter Finnley to introduce her to quilting.  She loved the colors and all the creative quilts.

 Vi Brott put together one of Barb's crazy quilts and quilted it beautifully!  We were very impressed!

 Can you see the faces below?

 Lots of quilts that were tied and a few that were pinned.  It was a small group but lots of laughs and work!

 Sewing machines were flying with much of the "closet material" being assembled into quilts.

 Barb ran the show with much organization and lots of smiles and laughs
We will meet again in two weeks.  I will be out of town and will send the reminder at the end of this week.
We will be having a garage sale so start cleaning your sewing rooms!
 Also keep members Leah, Marva and   Marcia in your prayers with their health needs.
 I recently ran across this quote and find it humbling...
"If the only prayer you say in your whole life is thank you, that will suffice"  Meister Eckart
Hope that all is well with all of you.   Kathy Nolan

January Quilters January Meeting

 Greetings fellow quilters.
The cold of January is upon us but the hearty joined together for our meeting this month.
Tracey was our Queen this month and brought some of her antique quilts

They are beautiful and brought lots of discussion of old quilts as well as well as stories of how quilts were made years ago and how to care for them.

The quilt above is heavy weight with a warm lining and the white top is a mustache cover!!

These adorable blocks Tracey put together into a quilt after buying them at an estate sale...they are from the 30's as the X Y Z block indicates from the date.

 We had a wonderful guest speak in the morning and show us her beautiful art quilts. Gail Ingrham from Suttons Bay joined us and gave us all lots to think about as she talked about her art quilts, their inspiration, methods she used, how she strives for texture and how her quilting has evolved.  She was a Fellowship Quilters member years ago and it was amazing how far she has come.  We all were inspired.  The quilt above is her barns quilt...sorry the pic is not better.  The detail is amazing as is the materials she used.  The quilt below is an owl that seems to jump off the quilt.  Gail and her husband own Bellweather Gardens in Suttons Bay.  She is part of an Art Quilt group that will be having a show there July 13th...I am sure we will hear more about this but it would be worth putting it on your calendar.  Good idea for a field trip!

Barb Roberts read a wonderful thank you note from the Baby Pantry...their clients numbers continue to increase so our contributions were very needed.  Good job ladies!!
Quick reminders...Feb is indoor garage sale...start cleaning your sewing room!
March is Zentangles and will be done in the morning with a kit and a cost of $25

REMEMBER THE WORK BEE IS FEB 12TH   ALL WELCOME
Kathy Nolan

 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Quilters

We had our Holiday Lunch at the Elks last Tuesday and a great time was had by all.
It is fun to get together and not have to do any food prep...just show up.
Lots of wonderful show and tells...many Christmas themed.
Della showed her wall hanging that she quilted herself...Yea Della.

 Phyllis  showed us this adorable wall hanging that has a gingerbread recipe in the house...lots of special touches on this creation.

 Sue made this log cabin out of scraps and many of the strips are not the same size..very interesting to look at and a different way of laying out a log cabin.  I cut Sue off in the picture(sorry)  she is on the right. side.

We collected baby and toddler items for the Grand Traverse Baby Pantry and I think we can pat ourselves on the back for a good job.  Lots of unique made items, quilts, bibs , toddler clothes and diapers.  They do such a great job and we are so happy to help them out.
Claudia was our leader this meeting and did a great job organizing and planning for our meeting.  Thank you so much to her and to our other leaders pictured with the baby pantry items.
I hope this blog finds you all well and anticipating the holiday season with joy.     Kathy