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Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Merry Christmas!

On December 12, 2018, we will be having our Annual Christmas Party as part of our monthly meeting.  This year, we voted to have a pizza party, and I love pizza, so I, for one, am looking forward to this!  Various members are also bringing salad and deserts, so there will be plenty to eat!  Yum!  I had been planning on doing one of my yummy deserts, too, but yesterday, I discovered my oven is on the blink--it won't turn on at all! So, unless I bring something from the store...

We also do a Yankee Swap, which is a blast.  We put a $20 limit on the item, which has to be quilt related and wrapped up prettily.  The way we run it is everyone who brings a gift gets a number.  We go in order.  They then get to either keep what they picked from the gift table or trade it for something someone already picked.  After everyone has picked, the first person who chose gets to trade, if she so desires.  Sometimes, there are some hot trades going on, let me tell you!

Our meeting in November was fun as we had a special presenter, Louise Pankiewicz.  She is a certified Quilt-in-a-Day instructor and she brought a number of her quilts and presented us with a trunk show of them.  She also brought patterns, tools, etc and we had a fun time in the mini-store.  She also informed us she would be hosting a Retreat at the Hampton Inn in Coventry soon.  3 days of sewing, chatting, sharing and learning.  Sounds like a fun time!

We also had a Sewing Bee on November 17.  This is not a Bee in the old sense where everyone sits around a framed quilt and quilts the layers together.  Everyone brings their own supplies and works on their own projects.  The fun comes from sharing what we are working on and getting help.  For example, after I sewed a couple of strips together, we determined they needed to be in a different order and a couple of the other ladies actually took a couple of the strips away to 'frog' them for me.  This is what a community does.  They help each other.

So...

Wednesday, December 12, is our next meeting.  Come hungry.  Bring your own drink.  Bring a desert, if you like.  Don't forget your Yankee Swap gift.  The Fat Quarter theme of the month is "Silver Bells."

Friday, August 24, 2018

A New Year-A New Resolve!

Oh, my.

I just looked to see when the last time anyone had posted anything to our blog actually was.  I knew it had been a while, but...

5 years?!

Well, things have to change.

We are planning on taking our Social Media presence a bit more seriously here at IRQG.

We are turning over a new leaf with the start of a new year.

We have a new slate of officers and Executive Committee who have planned the coming year with many exciting and interesting activities and we are anxious to see everyone after the summer hiatus.

We are also anxious to meet new friends and invite any who may be interested in sharing the traditional and non-traditional skills of quilt making and other crafts.

Meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of the month (except for this September, when we will meet on Tuesday, September 11, due to the Primary elections) at the Smithfield Congregational Church, 514 Smithfield Avenue, Smithfield, RI.  Yearly membership is $25.  Current members should pay this as soon as possible.  Visitors are allowed to come once or twice before having to pay membership.

The doors will open around 6:30 for Meet-and-Greet and the meeting will get underway around 7:00.  Members are encouraged to bring examples of their work for Show and Tell.  Various members bring refreshments, as they have the opportunity to do so, however, be aware that we have been doing BYOD (Bring Your Own Drink) for the past couple of years.  Everyone seems to like it better as everyone gets what they like!  We are usually done by around 9:00.

Everyone who comes in the door and signs in gets various raffle tickets for drawings at the end of the meeting.  Drawings are for Attendance, having your Nametag, bringing a Fat Quarter, bringing items for the Food Pantry, bringing tea Tags and Can Tabs, bringing covers for Hasbro, Show and Tell and, finally, the Basket.  Most of the drawings win Fat Quarters from the Guild FQ Basket.  If you win the FQ drawing, you win all the FQs brought that evening.

I started putting notes in the paragraph above "See below for details," but realized I was doing it for every item! So!  Let me give you a few more details on each of them:
  • ATTENDANCE  We ask each person, member or visitor, to sign in when they arrive.  This helps us keep track of who is there each month.  If you are visiting for the first time, you will be asked for contact information, also.  This is simply so we can follow up with you.  WE DO NOT GIVE OUT ANY CONTACT INFORMATION TO ANYONE.
  • NAMETAG  Each member is asked to make their own version of the official Guild nametag.  There is a pattern for it in the membership folder.  It is based on the Waterwheel block and can be made in any size.  However, it should be large enough to be seen and to have the Guild name and your name along the sides.
  • FAT QUARTER Each month, members are encouraged to bring one or more Fat Quarters.  The member who wins this drawing wins all of the FQs brought to the meeting that evening.  The choice of the FQ is based on a color or theme announced ahead of time.  The actual choice of the FQ is up to the member's interpretation of that color/theme.  The FQ Team have been busy beavers this year and composed a musical theme:
    • September     "See You in September"
    • October         "Monster Mash"
    • November      "Thanks for the Memories"
    • December      "Silver Bells"
    • January          "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"
    • February        "My Funny Valentine"
    • March            "The Wayward Wind"
    • April              "Singin' in the Rain"
    • May               "Strolling in the Park"
    • June               "The Rose" (yes, by Bette Midler)
  • PANTRY Members are encouraged to bring shelf-steady, non-perishable food items that can be donated to a local food pantry.
  • TEA TAGS/CAN TABS  Collect all those tea tags and can tabs.  They are brought in and given to a charity which converts them to cash to help people with medical needs.
  • HASBRO We ask members to help Hasbro's young patients by making covers for their IV bags.  These are two simple rectangles with one open end and a small opening in the other.  The nursing staff cover the blood bags with these to help the youngest patients be less frightened.  They need a LOT of these bags as they can only be used once and have to be discarded after use, so the cheerier the better for the little ones. 
  • SHOW AND TELL Show us your skills!  Show us what you've found somewhere!  Show us whatever!  Each item you show gets you a ticket for the drawing!
  • BASKET The Basket is one that has been organized by one of the members (who has signed up ahead of time to do so).  These baskets usually contain sewing supplies, fat quarters, storage, patterns or whatever the organizer can figure out.  Those tickets are sold separately at $2 or 3 for $5.  Proceeds are used by the Guild to support activities like speakers, group projects, materials and supplies, etc.  These have been very popular over the past several years and the winners are quite envied.
In addition to these regular activities, there will be a packet for the BLOCK OF THE MONTH.  Members will receive these packets at the September meeting.  Details will be given at that time.

The September meeting will be a busy one.  Not only will it be our first of the year, with all the greetings and catching up to do, we will also have a workshop on the Joan Shay technique of flower-making.  President Brenda Devine will show us how to make the flowers and make them into corsages.  A materials list will be passed out for anyone interested in making the pumpkin project in October.  I call it a project, because when we talked about it at the Board meeting, we said members could make it into a pillow, a wall-hanging, a quilt block, or anything they could think of!  We didn't want to limit your imaginations!  We look forward to seeing the completed projects.

We are also planning on having a couple of Sewing Bees where you can bring whatever project you would like to work on and get advice and/or help on it.  We may even work on a Guild project.  We actually have a couple of dates in mind, but just discovered a possible conflict, so we are going to nail it down before definitely announcing them.  There's plenty of time.  Keep watching here for that announcement.

Wow!  Well!  I think that's enough to make up for lost time right now!  Don't forget to check out our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/irqg.pawtucket)

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Welcome to a New Year!

Welcome back, Everyone!  We hope you had a good summer!  Its certainly been a busy one for me.

I made an entire quilt set for our great-niece in July for her wedding on August 9.  We traveled to my hometown to take care of estate issues and take care of business before that, also.  When we returned home, it was time to prepare for school.  On top of this, we are looking for a new house (which we may have already found)!

Well, our new year is set to begin on September 11 when our Guild meets in our new home, the Smithfield Congregational Church on Smithfield Avenue in Pawtucket.  The doors open at 6 pm, as usual.  We have an exciting year planned with everything from a series of Back to Basics demos to Guest Speakers.  Our first meeting will have a visit from Just Quilts of Bristol, RI.  They will be bringing various fabrics and patterns for purchase as well as a variety of new rulers that are available.  We hope to see you there and don't forget to bring your wallets!

If you will be attending the meeting, don't forget that the President's Challenge from last year is due at the meeting.  This is a quilt made from the BoM we made.  The BoM for September is the Dahlia block passed out in June.  The FQ theme is Ghosts and Goblins.  Remember to bring something for the Pantry!

See you there!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Barbara is happy to accept invitation

Amusing Cartoon

Hah!!!

May 8, 2013

Welcome to Mentoring May!

Tonight we have demonstrations of many different skills and whatever dealing with quilting.  I have to say whatever, because I don't know what you call blogging!

We'll take some photos and add them to this post as soon as we can.

Maybe we'll even get some of our members to add comments!!!!!!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Keep Viewing!

We are so happy to see so many people enjoying our blog.  We are trying to get more of our members writing and adding posts about all things about quilting. 

We have been thrilled to have visitors from many different countries all over the world, let alone from other areas of the United States!  If you are visiting from outside the New England area, please leave a comment down below.  Tell us how you found us and what you think of our quilts.

Speaking of our quilts, we hope you enjoy the slideshow at the side of the blog.  In the rotation of images, you will see various projects our members have worked on.  Some are very simple and some are very complex, but they are all quite beautiful.  Tell us what you think, please!

If you have a favorite quilting website, please let me know so I can add it to our growing list.  We have sites that range from online stores to small quilt shops to major names in quilting.  We are especially interested in shops we can visit in the New England area.

In the meantime, get out and enjoy the improving weather.  I have to go work on a quilt for my grand-niece's wedding this summer.  Wish me luck that I have all the supplies and enough time!  I've had a grand time designing it using EQ7.  Now I just have to make it!