TWILIGHT QUILTER'S GUILD MEETING

T Q G NEWSLETTER October 2007 Volume 18 #10

In this Newsletter: Future Meetings Previous Meetings Guild Projects Membership and New Members Guild Officers Area Events Web Sites

FUTURE MEETINGS

The Guild meets at 6:30 p.m. on the first Monday night of every month. Meetings are held at the Warner Park Community Center, 1625 Northport Drive, Madison, Wisconsin. Guests and new members are welcome.

Future Meetings:

October 1: Election of Officers and Quilto. Remember to bring buttons for playing Quilto, as well as your Show and Tell.

November 5: Program to be determined.

December 3: Annual holiday party. Please bring your quilts for Elder Care to this meeting.

Future Events:

October 4-7: Quilt Retreat Bethel Horizons Prairie Center Contact Gretchen Hennessy at hd4ever@charter.net

PREVIOUS MEETINGS

September 10th

Business Meeting:

President Ginny Dabel facilitated the meeting.

We wished a happy birthday to Wendy Coe, Donna Senzig, Elaine Sample, and Beverly Monigal

Gretchen Hennessy reported that 15 people have signed up for the quilt retreat on October 4-7. A maximum of 20 people can be accommodated, so there are still openings for 3-5 people. The retreat dates for 2008 are 2/28-3/2 and 10/23-26. There is a $100 deposit required for each reservation; so at any one time, there is $300-$400 on deposit for the retreats. Gretchen has been covering this deposit with her personal checks. Members present voted to have the Guild treasury write the checks for these deposits.

Sharon Miller reported that we have $811.19 in the treasury. It was decided that dues for next year will remain at $20.

Donna Senzig described the status of the newsletter. Somehow, the newsletter was reported as spam to Charter Communications, which means that Donna cannot send out the newsletter with the name of our guild anywhere in the newsletter. Efforts to have the newsletter de-spammed have not been successful. Therefore, we need a new newsletter editor to distribute the newsletter. Donna volunteered to continue as secretary (e.g. write notes for the meetings), but can no longer be the newsletter editor.

Kim Ricksecker reported that Rita Loper had given her a box with items for door prizes. This box is now pretty much depleted. Kim was interested in knowing if members would like to use guild money to purchase door prizes. The general consensus was that we should continue to solicit items for door prizes; if that fails then we should discontinue offering door prizes.

Ginny announced that at the October meeting we will have our annual election of offices. We are looking for volunteers for all offices, including President, Treasurer and Newsletter Editor. In order to assist the new incoming president, Ginny passed around a sign-up sheet for programs for next year. We are also looking for volunteers to plan our annual holiday party in December.

Announcements:

Ginny reminded members that Quilt Expo, September 13-15, is still looking for volunteers. Shifts that need to be filled can be found on their website at www.quiltexpo.com. Volunteers receive free admission and parking for the day they volunteer.

Sharon reported that the Sew and Sew shop is going out of business. Current discounts are 35%.

Donna informed members of two upcoming events. Area quilt shops are looking for volunteers on the weekend of September 21-28 to sew quilts for this year's Quilt Pink workday. On October 6-7 the Ben Franklin store in Oconomowoc is having a Quilt Fest. Quilts will be exhibited through-out the store, there will be sales and also free demonstrations by well-know area quilters.

Program:

Sue and Rick Vollbrecht of Quilting Memories presented a program entitled: So you think you might want to be a Longarm Quilter?

Sue mentioned that Quilting Memories has become an authorized dealer for SewBatik fabrics and she passed around brochures showing the fabrics they offer. SewBatik will be at Quilt Expo. Guild members can also order their fabrics through Quilting Memories or online at http://www.sewbatik.com. When purchasing at Quilt Expo or when ordering online, members should give the Quilting Memories associate number: LA-1075.

Sue gave everyone a handout with sources and websites for more information about longarm quilting, including trade shows, Quilt Expo vendors, associations, classes and manufacturers.

Sue, who has been a longarm quilter for eleven years, showed us many of her quilts that illustrated her journey as a quilter. Her first quilt was an overall meandering pattern. She did not have a stitch regulator, so there are variations in the stitch length. She used a panogram on one quilt and decided that was not something she ever wanted to do again. So she began developing free-motion designs, starting with simple loops and progressing to more complicated designs, including her signature feather designs. She showed a couple of quilts with cross-hatching, explaining that this technique is not easy on a longarm machine, even with the use of rulers. She showed us a small quilt on which she used a magnifying glass to do "micro-quilting" and another quilt on which she used the longarm machine to stitch down some applique. She said that both of these techniques are also not easy to do on a longarm machine. Sue uses fifty-weight Aurifil thread on her own quilts. However, this is more expensive, so she does use other brands on customers quilts if that is what they want. She mentioned that varigated thread can be a problem on the longarm since it seems to break more easily than other threads. Sue does most of her quilting freehand but does use some rulers and stencils.

Along the way Sue purchased a second machine with a stitch regulator and also had a stitch regulator put on her first machine. She eventually sold the second machine since she prefers her first machine. Sue and Rick also purchased a Statler longarm machine to do computerized quilting. However, neither of them want to invest the time needed to become proficient with this machine, so they are selling it (is anyone interested?).

Some advice and hints from Sue for those interested in doing longarm quilting: Try out the machines at quilt shows. Machines cost between $12,000 and $14,000. Before you purchase a machine, take a class in longarm quilting. A two-day class will give you a very good idea whether this is something you will really enjoy doing. Make sure you have enough space to house a machine before you buy it. You don't need all the fancy bells and whistles on your first machine; they can be added later if you decide they are worth the cost. The concept of renting time on a machine has probably come and gone. It was tried in several places, but turned out to be problematical. Sharing a machine can also be problematical since quilters have different work habits, standards, etc. It can be the end of a friendship. If you purchase a machine, you do need to quilt on a consistent basis to maintain your skills. After purchasing a machine, classes can help you improve your skills. They do not have to be longarm quilting classes. Sue took classes from Linda Mae Diny and from Diane Gaudzinski. Sue has not had any physical problems caused by her quilting. She does stand on a foam mat which she thinks helps. Ergonomics, such as machine height and chair height are very important. Some quilters wear back braces or devices to protect their shoulder, arm, and/or wrist. Sue does not use both hands on the machine as some manufacturers recommend. She guides the machine with her right hand and uses her left hand on to control the quilt. If you start your own longarm quilting business, you can purchase quilting supplies wholesale, including batting, thread, fabric, books, etc.

Show and Tell:

Ginny Dabel showed a pillow case she made. Sharon Miller showed a red/white/blue flag wallhanging that her son received as a wedding present and no longer wanted. She also showed a "Women of Grace and Charm" quilt that she made using the quilt-as-you-go technique. Sharon also brought some fabric she has for sale. Donna Senzig showed a French Braid quilt she made in golds and blacks, also using quilt-as-you go. And she has the top finished using her Mary's Triangles blocks. She made a sampler quilt with twelve different layouts for the blocks. Carol Bremigan showed a Christmas tree skirt she made using wedges; she made it before the wedge ruler was available that Diane showed last month at Mill House. She also showed a miniature flying geese quilt she made in 1993 with tiny pieces left over from a large quilt.

Door Prizes and Treat:

Treat were provided by Kim Ricksecker. Carol Bremigan won a Cabin in the Woods pattern. Brenda Larson selected the thread. Katie Walsch selected the Christmas fabric and Donna Senzig received the homespun fabric.

AREA EVENTS

QUILT PINK "American Patchwork & Quilting" is proud to announce The Quilt Pink Charity Auction to benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure is now Live! It will feature weekly auctions totaling nearly 4,000 handmade quilts that showcase the talent and hope of quilters to unite in supporting a cure for breast cancer. Go to stores.ebay.com/Quilt-Pink-for-Charity to view the quilts. Remember to check back each week to see more quilts. http://stores.ebay.com/Quilt-Pink-for-Charity

September 9-December 2 Fabric Landscapes , by Natalie Sewell and Nancy Zieman Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Natalie and Nancy present 30 of their most recent landscape quilts in this show. Many are for sale. Check the Olbrich website for gallery hours. http://www.olbrich.org

September 21-October 7 Olbrich Botanical Gardens Fall Quilt and Flower Show Olbrich Botanical Gardens, 330 Atwood Avenue, Madison, WI 53704

October 4-7 Quilt Retreat Bethel Horizons Prairie Center Contact Gretchen Hennessy at hd4ever@charter.net

October 6-7 Fall Heritage Quilt Show, High Country Quilters and Hands All Around Quilters Mt. Horeb Community Center, Lower Level

October 6-7 Lighthouse Legacies Quilt Show and Competion Lighthouse Quilters Guild, Case High School, Racine, WI Stevie Breit 262-681-8754 steviewill@ameritech.net http://www.lighthusequiltersguild.org

October 6-7 Boscobel Quilt Show http://www.boscobelwisconsin.com

October 25-November 3 Hexaholics Quilt Show, Mill House Quilts, Waunakee English paper pieced quilted items are eligible for entry in this show. Viewer's choice awards of $75, $50, and $25 gift certificates to Mill House. Contact Diane at quilts@chorus.net

October 26-27 Quilting Through the Ages, St. John's Piecemakers, St. John's School, Waunakee Jane Vaughan 608-849-9871 dandjvaughan@tds.net

October 26-28 Treasures of Tomorrow Quilt Show, Piecemakers Quilt Guild of Central Wisconsin Marshfield Middle School, Marshfield 800-422-4541 or 715-384-3454 http://www.piecemakers.org or http://www.visitmarshfieldwi.com

October 27-28 Hilldale Fall Craft Show Hilldale Shopping Center

October 27-28 Quilt Harvest at PumpkinFest Quilt Show Source One Energy Solutions, 112 E. Cook St., Portage 608-742-7831 http://www.portagewi.com

November 3 Country Quilt Show, Ties That Bind Quilt Guild Slinger Middle School 262-644-6647 or 262-644-5210 http://slingerqultguild.org

December 2-4 Dickens of a Quilt Show, Sew Happy Stitchers Horicon State Bank, Ripon, WI Linda at 920-748-3814

WEB SITES

Following are some internet links on the handout from Sue Vollbrecht that give more information about longarm quilting:

Associations Int'l Machine Quilters Assn: http://www.imqa.org Great Lakes Longarm Machine Quilters Assn: Susan Schultz email – auntsusiesmachinequilting@yahoo.com The Quiltropolis Lonarm email list: longarm@lyris.quiltropolis.com Longarm Friends: Linda Mae Diny - http://www.thecalicokitten.com email: ldiny@charter.net House of Hanson (Lots of good info): http://www.houseofhanson.com

Classes Linda Mae Diny – The Calico Kitten – Gammill Machines 1520 Raemae Dr., Reedsburg, WI 53959 608-524-2697 ldiny@charter.net

Sue Schmieden – The Quilt Connection - APQS Machines 21 Adams Street, Elkhorn, WI 53121 608-723-6775 http://www.longarmconnection.com