July - Sew Much Fun

The ladies in Sew Much Fun are working a bunch of projects.  Check out just a sampling....some are finished and some are still "Under Construction".

 Pat M is busy on her latest handwork project.

Andrea's latest quilt is still under construction.

Terry ordered this special tool for her Jelly Roll rug

 

Terry has also been working on some paper piecing.  

 Check out this paper pieced beauty!

 Mary F is also working on her Jelly Roll rug.  So pretty!
         

July Charity Chics

The Charity Chics took time at this meeting to make fabric flower pins that will be attached to the fleece hats they are planning to make later this year.  They also took a break from sewing to hold their annual indoor "picnic".  Everyone brought a dish to share and a fabulous time was had by all.  

They often receive  correspondence from recipients of their projects.  Here are two such letters:

Florence made a set of 4 placemats using the Jelly Roll Rug technique.  Her tip is to "press the heck out of it" to get keep the strips from rolling. :-)

 Kathy E. created multi-sized mitten patterns and samples for future Charity Chics' fleece sewing projects

 Mary made this large tote bag and matching zippy bag using the Jelly Roll technique (even on the side seams).  The top of the bag and straps were made using bias tapes.  The bag closes with a large zipper.

 Do you love these bags?  They are actually one of those freebies
with some modifications.  Did you ever make a quilt block just for fun, but didn't want to make the whole quilt and didn't know what to do with the block?  Mary took a couple of those quilt blocks and made pockets.  The fun part is you get to enjoy the quilt block and it covers the logo on the bag.
If the bag is super big, adding a zipper may be helpful.

Already have enough tote bags?
How about sharing them with family, friends or donating one of these beauties to your local family shelter.  

This crocheted scarf was originally only cream color.  Mary had some multi-colored yarn the worked just perfectly as accents down the sides, in the centers and in the fringe.  Isn't it so cute?

July Sew-phist-icuts meeting

The Sew-phist-icuts have been working on a number of different projects recently and July meeting had Sandy teaching the group how to make a boxy style zippy bag.

 
These cuties were made by Peggy.  (Of course) she just had to make these using fabrics with a cheery cow print on it :-)







Show &  Tell:

 Peggy has been a super-sewist this summer.

First is a Cross-Body Bag, a free pattern from SewCanShe.com.

Next, is this comfy tunic top that she modified by removing the neck facing and stabilizing with the neckband.  Changing the directions of the stripes provides a lot of interest at the neck and sleeve hems.

 Finally, Peggy created this summer t-shirt using some fabric leftover from a different project and fabric "shared" at the Sew-In this summer.

June 29 Chapter Sew-in

June 29 was the date for this year's chapter sew-in.  If you couldn't make it, we're sorry we missed you but here is a quick re-cap and some photos to fill you in on the fun.

Approximately 20 members and 2 non-members enjoyed a full day of sewing, learning, lunching, and all-around wonderful socializing at the Powelton Club in Newburgh. Their continental breakfast featured delicious pastries, fruit, and beverages providing us with lots of energy to start.  Luncheon was a scrumptions full-course dinner finished by brownies, cookies and fruit after our presentation. This is the second time we've been hosted at the Powelton, and they do a wonderful job catering to our food and space requirements.  

Lots of room to spread out with separate cutting and pressing areas

 Everyone brought their own projects to work on and some even completed them.  

 

Kathy E. made this cute reusable sandwich wrap.

The lining is washable and saves you from using plastic bags.

Isobel finished her quilt-of-the month club. Yeh!

Kathy completed a Linus quilt top

Between luncheon and dessert, Terry Perri gave a short presentation on making strip-pieced rugs.  She shared some of the various techniques for strip sizes, batting or no batting, tools she likes to use, and stitching details to help those who were planning to try this out. What you don't realize until hearing her talk, is that this technique can be used for making more than just rugs.  Things like table runners, tote bags, placemats, zippy bags......Check out some samples below:

Terry's presentation and showing her roll of pre-cut batting strip.

The rug "slice".

Rugs and place mats

Rug slice and placemats

Charity Chics June Meeting

June found the Charity Chics making medium-size tote bags for a local church's food pantry.  With advance planning, Sue pre-cut 30-40 bags, allowing Florence (the day's project leader) to organize and direct all of the worker bees as soon as they arrived.  Nylon webbing was used for the handles. We completed 20 of the bags before the end of day.  The remaining bags will be finished at a later time. With the "no more plastic shopping bags" law soon to go into effect, we may receive requests for more of these in the future from different agencies. 

Show & tell:

Florence completed this t-shirt quilt top for her granddaughter.   Great job!

Check out this easy styled giftcard holder made by Flo

Kathy E. finished this lovely wool scarf for herself.

Mary was busy using quilt blocks from a past sew-in to make zippy bags for the shelter ladies.  One block was used for each side and the bags were lined with left over stash pieces.

Front

Back

Flo has been super busy!  Snap bags, eyeglass bags, and pot holders.

June Sew-phisti-cuts Meeting

The June Sew-phisti-cuts meeting was one of sharing.  Various small projects that members have made (either recently or in the past) were presented as options for this year's community service project.  We plan to work on items of our own choice at home and will consolidate them together later in the year for distribution to local family shelters.  The focus will be on items that would be appreciated at the holiday time by female clients.  

From top, clockwise:  zippy bags, shoulder bag, snap bags, chiffon and keyhole scarves, mini-zippy bags in different shapes, knit or crocheted cowl neck wraps, fleece hat, mini-purses

Peggy Norton is collecting the directions for as many of these items as are possible.  She will supply them upon request as they are available.

Show & Tell

  

Peggy made herself a white t-shirt and decided to decorate it with some self-covered buttons.  She "fussy cut" the button covers from interesting Asian-style prints and varied the button sizes for additional interest.  Great idea!

Peggy's paper-pieced cat blocks

Maura had always wanted to make a purse with the metal frame and closure.   She recently found this cute pattern in a kit and decided to try it out.  Success! and not hard too do at all.

 Pat's most recent baby quilt in a simple block and strip pattern.

These are Pat's most recent purses.  This style could also be used for our community service project selections.

Connie recently finished this Judy Niemeyer quilt top

Connie's Judy Niemeyer retreat quilt - awesome!!

Connie's Vintage Print Quilt for a retiring friend

Closeup of Connie's vintage  print

quilt

Bobbin Work with the Garment Gals

This month's Garment Gals meeting had Judy Longacre sharing her knowledge of bobbin work.  This is the technique whereby a bobbin is wound with a fiber heavier than normal thread and the project is sewn from the reverse side.  The possibilities for various embellishments are endless.

 Several samples for practicing different stitches and threads 

Judy shares a pic of the grommet-topped valance she made for her granddaughter's bedroom.

 

Spring with Charity Chics

Charity Chics met this month to sew Mariner's ditty bags for the Seaman's Church. They worked so efficiently, they were able to start sewing tote bags for the local family shelter.  Next month they will finish up the bags.
P.S. the shelter ladies stopped by to pick up some items.  The new director was so thrilled at the donation, especially the tote bags and zippy bags.

The Chics at work...

Taking a break for lunch, and show & tell:

Ann's Puffy Hot Pad

The first square in Connie's snowman quilt top

Connie - latest Judy Niemeyer quilt top

.....and what she's done so far. WOW!

More hot pads

Ann's latest tote bag

Sue's denim quilt with squares on point

Kathy's x-mas stockings from a prior meeting