Annual Meeting and Luncheon

Last Saturday, November 4th, was the chapter's annual meeting and luncheon.  This year it was held at Christina's Restaurant in Kingston.  Guest speakers were Bob and Doreen Browning of The Kiltmaker's Apprentice, a business in Highland NY that makes, alters and repairs kilts as well as renting out full Highland regalia for weddings and other special occasions.



 Bob Browning told the  history of the business and presented lots of facts about tartans, such as how they are made, named and registered.  Doreen explained the steps involved in making a kilt and showed some in various stages of manufacture.  She showed how much fabric might be needed to make a kilt (almost 24 feet, the length of the room!), and how to figure out the pleating, both size and number of pleats.  On the finished kilt, it was possible to see the interior finishes as well as closures used - an amazing amount of detail work for a seemingly simple garment.







After the presentation, the business part of the meeting was conducted.  New officers for next year were announced;  since all offices were unopposed, there was no need to issue ballots.  Approved for next year were President Maura Kristofik, Treasurer Andrea Diamond, and Secretary Connie Pennisi.  Outgoing President Peggy Norton thanked all members of the Chapter Advisory Board for their help over the past year.

There were a number of hand-made items donated by members for raffle prizes, and the lucky winners took home beautifully-crafted wall-hangings, placemats, afghans, bags, baskets, etc.  One raffle-winner got a great collection of notions donated by Cindy Hopper from her Sewcology shop.

The meeting concluded with a Brown Bag Challenge:  attendees were given a sealed brown bag which contained some fabric and notions.  The challenge is to make an item or items using most of the materials in the bag, which may be combined with anything else the person wishes.  Next spring there will be a chapter event (still to be decided) that will include "The Big Reveal" when everyone can present their creations.  If you did not attend the meeting but would like to participate, contact anyone on the CAB to get a bag - there are several left.

How many days until Christmas?

The holidays have a way of leaping upon us rather suddenly, so the Sewphisticuts tried to get a little jump on the season by making some ornaments and decorations at last night's meeting.  Pat Melilli and Peggy Norton led the group through the steps to make two different ornaments, both starting from fabric circles (yes, even the square ornament started as a circle!).  We also had some show-and-tell.

Holiday Ornaments and Decorations

Judy's ruana - a woolen wrap

Kathia's backpack in progress

Kathia's embroidered quilt blocks

Kathia's embroidered cork needle holder

Peggy's zippy bag assortment

Sandi's fall-theme coasters

Maura's knit top

The Big Reveal

Last spring the Sewphisticuts took on a Brown Bag Challenge, in which each person received a bag containing a half-yard of fabric (or two fat quarters).  The challenge was to make something - anything she chose - using at least 75% of the given fabric.  Anything else could be added - more fabric, notions, trims - and there were no restrictions on what could be made.  Last week the group met and brought along their creations for the Big Reveal.  There was quite the assortment of items!

Pat made an apron from the retro-print fabric.

Connie received 2 fat quarters and made a placemat.

Peggy made a child's dress.  The binding, lining and sash were the fabric she received.

 

Kathia received the dark green fabric and used it to make 14 mini-wallets for a group of friends.

Maura combined 2 fat quarters with 2 others and a cotton knit to make a swing-tee shirt and matching purse.

Mary Ann made a matching pin cushion and scrap bag plus a couple of coasters to go along with a sewing machine caddy.

And with all the creative display we had some show-and-tell as well.

Sewing vest to hold supplies as you work

Fall-theme tee-shirt by Mary Ann

Recycled scraps become a fancy vest.

Quilt by Connie

Strippy quilt by Connie

Pillow bag by Pat for grandchild

Reverse side of Peggy's table runner

Peggy's table runner from workshop

Green with Eco-Awareness

Green is no longer the color of envy, but instead is the color of eco-awareness.  At last Wednesday's meeting of the Sewphisticuts, we explored the concept of up-cycling.  Similar to recycling, where items may be broken down to make something new, up-cycling is the concept of adding something to or changing an otherwise unusable item to increase its value (make it usable again).  As sewists, many of us do this all the time, repairing clothes or using up fabric scraps in quilts or as embellishments on all sorts of things.  We may have been the original recyclers/upcyclers!

During the meeting we looked at pictures from Pinterest and similar sources for ideas and inspiration.  The recent edition of Notions magazine also featured upcycling as the lead article, and led us to look at a Brooklyn-based company Zero Waste Daniel that is making new garments from cutting room scraps gathered from designers and manufacturers.  Their web site features photos of the clothes they offer and it certainly gave us food for thought on ways to reuse our scraps.

Peggy's sweater lengthened with lace trim

 Peggy brought along some items she had upcycled.  One was the sweater shown here.  Too short to look stylish any more, she used an old lace shawl that she no longer wore to furnish lace trim for the bottom edges of the sweater and the sleeves.  Voila!  A sweater long enough to fit again and with a fresh, stylish look.

Mary Ann brought along walker bags that she had made by combining cotton squares left over from various other quilting projects.  The streamlined design only requires 10 or 12 inch squares to make useful pockets for fastening over a walker handle - just the right size to carry a book, water bottle, tissues, glasses, etc.

Her other item, a large tote bag, is made from smaller squares in a patchwork fashion.  Her method is to cut up leftover fabric as she finishes a project and stick it on her felt wall board (a felt-backed tablecloth, using the wrong side).  Once enough are collected there, she sews them up as totes or walker bags.

Mary Ann's tote bag

Mary Ann's walker bags from cotton squares.

We also had some Show and Tell items.  Pat showed us her elegantly simple Christmas ornaments made from a folded circle of fabric.  She also had a mini-purse which was meant to hold sewing notions or similar small items, but all of us immediately adored it as a miniature purse for any little girls in our lives (or for our own inner-child!).  The pattern is available at ShabbyFabrics.com and has a YouTube video to allow you to sew along to make it.

The mini-purse

Christmas trees from folded circles

The inside of the mini-purse

 Cyndy wore her one-seam pants from a Garment Gals project earlier in the summer.  They coordinated beautifully with the t-shirt she had.

Cyndy's one-seam pants

Judy showed her tunic and skort ensemble made in a flowing rayon.  She also brought along some of the pieces from the Days For Girls project that she had been working on with the American Association of University Women.

Judy's tunic top

Matching cullottes

Days for Girls project that Judy was working on.

Our next meeting (September) is when our Brown Bag Challenge items will be revealed.  We also decided we would share information about favorite blogs, web sites, magazines, and other sources that we use most often for inspiration and/or instruction.

Yum! Layer Cakes, Cupcakes and Jelly Rolls!

The title may make you hungry, but for sewing, not food!  It refers to a series of patterns for quickly making quilt blocks, even if you have little sewing experience.  Sue K presented this information at the recent Sewphisticuts meeting.

Sue shows various fabric pre-cut sizes.

I had seen pre-cut fabric blocks in various sizes advertised in sewing catalogs, along with something called charm packs and jelly rolls.  But I was unaware of the pattern books that use these pre-cut fabrics to let a person churn out quilt blocks so quickly and easily.  Sue brought along samples of the fabric packs as well as the patterns.  So I learned that 10" squares are called layer cakes, 5" squares are called charm packs, and jelly rolls are cut 2.5" x width of fabric.  There are also jolly bars which are 5"x10" rectangles.

Sue prepares to cut along the indicated lines.

So you can use these pre-cut pieces in standard quilt patterns if you like, or you can use "recipe cards", printed patterns sold in a tablet form, which you layer with your fabric and then sew through on the specified lines.  It's somewhat similar to paper-piecing, with numbered sewing lines to indicate sewing order.  And like paper-piecing, after you have sewn on the lines and trimmed on the other lines, you have to tear away the paper to get your finished piece.  The "recipe" gives directions on how to layer the colors and also has suggestions for various layouts of the pieces.  The process is ideal for someone new to sewing and/or quilting, but is also enjoyable for experienced quilters.

A recipe page - arrows and lines show where to sew.

Sue said that the cost of layer cake squares starts around $30.  Recipe books range between $8 and $12 for layer cakes, $6-$8 for cupcakes (patterns using the smaller size pre-cuts).  She shops on-line for hers;  there are various sources.  The main ones are listed here:

• Missouri Star Quilting
• Quilt In A Day
• Fat Quarter Shop
• Sew Lux
• Miss Rosie's Quilt Company

I hope this whets your "appetite" to try some sweet quilting patterns.  It sure has made me hungry to try one!

Following are some pictures from show-and-tell from the group.

Kathia's $49 bag - from an embroidery class.

Baby quilt by Kathia

Another baby quilt in progress by Kathia, all embroidered blocks.

Pat's bag from vintage tablecloths.

Same bag pattern, different fabric

Tote by Pat, made from twill

Drawstring pouch bag by Pat

Judy's tee shirt

A Little Bit of Everything

Last Wednesday the Sewphisticuts met for an evening of working on a little bit of everything.   We had decided to use the meeting for UFO's or any project that might be in need of advice.  Judy, Maryann and Maura used the time to decipher the ASG Wish-Pillow directions in preparation for doing some service sewing.  Peggy, both Pat's and Kathia brought along some hand sewing projects, while Sue brought her machine to sew some quilt blocks from a layer cake pattern.  So it was a busy and varied night.  Pictures follow.

Maryann's quilt from her Florida chapter friends

Bag for Maryann's quilt

Quilt that Kathia was working on

Pat's English paper-piecing project

Pat's hand-sewing sampler

Sue's layer cake quilt project