Hats, hats, hats, and a few scarves

The Sewphisticuts kept up with the theme of community service from last month's meeting and did some more charity sewing this month.  Hudson River Housing will be the beneficiary of fleece hats and scarves to be given to clients just as the chilly weather begins to move in.  Eight of us showed up to cut out hats and scarves and sew them up.  Ninety minutes later, we had a stack of over 20 hats made with a few matching scarves.  About a dozen more hats were cut out and a few of us took them home to finish up.

Finishing up some hats

A large size hat is modeled!

Judy did a short presentation about free-motion embroidery to prepare us for trying it at next month's meeting.  She gave us a list of materials we will need and got us thinking about what we want to try.  The list will be emailed to members before next month's meeting.  We also had Show and Tell; pictures follow.

Peggy made a purse for a friend.....

....and a top for herself,

as well as a knitted neckwarmer.

 

RoseAlice has an embroidered quilt started.

Maura's sheath dress from vintage pique, and skirt from stash remnant.

Aprons for Thompson House

Wednesday was a good day to be in air conditioning, what with the temperature outside being in the 90's.  So the five of us who gathered that evening at Hobby Lobby stayed a little cooler as we worked on making aprons for residents of Thompson House in Rhinebeck.  The aprons are designed to protect residents' clothes as they cook, bake or do craft activities, and are made with wheelchair-bound users in mind.   Twelve aprons in larger sizes had been requested, so our goal was to make at least twelve.  By the end of the evening we had cut out 16 from various fabrics in the chapter's stash, finished three and had several others in various stages of being finished.  The unfinished ones were doled out to be completed at home.  So within a few weeks we should have all twelve completed aprons.

Kathia, Connie, Judy and Ronnie hard at work.

We had a few moments at the end of the meeting for some Show and Tell, pictures of which are below.  Next month's meeting will be another round of service sewing, with the plan being to make some scarves and hats for the benefit of Hudson River Housing.

A quilt by Connie

 

Another quilt by Connie

Judy's show and tell photo - sundress for her granddaughter.

Ronnie's potholder using method from July meeting

Potholder back

Hot pads and other stuff

At our pot-luck dinner last month, Peggy had brought along a trivet that her mother had made, using the folded-star method.  Quite a few of us liked it and asked her if she would be willing to show us how it was made.  So our July meeting became a small workshop in making this intriguing hot pad.  Peggy showed us one way to make it, where all the pieces are made from circles.   She had a sample of another method that used squares to start off.  A few of us had brought along pre-cut circles and we made up the trivet as Peggy showed us each of the steps.  Here's my finished project:

Folded star hot pad

Aside from the workshop, we discussed some project ideas for Make A Difference Day.  Thompson House in Rhinebeck can use some aprons and walker bags, and Hudson River Housing would appreciate fleece hats and scarves.  The CAB will discuss it at the upcoming meeting and see if there is anyone willing to organize the event. 

There is no meeting in August.  Our September meeting topic is free-motion embroidery.  This is a previously scheduled program that had been postponed (due to weather issues, I think).  It will be a hands-on session so plan to bring your machine with free-motion foot.  More specific information will come out closer to the meeting.

We ended with a variety of show-and-tell items.

One of Connie's quilts for a co-worker

Another of Connie's quilts for a co-worker

Sue's quilt with 2" strips

Sue's topographical quilt

Child's quilt by Kathia

Table pads almost complete

Ronnie's luggage tag

Little Red Riding Hood by Ronnie

Peggy's wrap-top dress

Embroidered fishing fly

Maura's seersucker shorts

Annual Sewing Room Tour

The song from "Carousel" says "June is bustin' out all over", but for sewists like us, it's usually fabric that is bustin' out all over!   Bustin' out of sewing rooms, closets, guest rooms, basement storage, you name it.  But since June is also when the Sewphisticuts hold their sewing room tour, one person in the group gets some motivation to contain the bustin' out piles of fabric, at least temporarily.  This year Veronica agreed to host our group, so she had to get going on the clearing out so that we would be able to see into her sewing space.  The photos show she had some success.

She has her sewing machine on a low table to the left and a long-arm quilter against the wall to the right.  The shelves hold some decorative items as well as books and patterns.  A folding cutting table is in the foreground.  Fabric is stored below the table and in the closet, and there is a small wardrobe (out of frame) that stores notions and small items.  She has made good use of every inch of space! 

We had show and tell, but my camera battery was dying so I didn't take any pictures, sorry to say, since we had some beautiful quilts and interesting garments and crafts.

Next month we were planning on doing a program on installing a lapped zipper, but we all liked a potholder with a quilt pattern design so much, that we decided to try to make that at the next meeting.  Everyone also liked Sue K's art quilt and many of us would like to learn that technique, so that may be a program at a later meeting.