Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kingston Pike at Golfclub Rd. - Knoxville TN
Social Time: 6:30 PM /Meeting: 7:00 PM
A NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT - Our February meeting will be a banquet for our eyes and souls. The 2018 Challenge quilts will be revealed using our theme “The Four Elements – earth, air, fire, and water. In western astrology, it is believed that the universe is formed by the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Each of the four elements contains its own unique properties, which work simultaneously to create one united universe. Like the elements, each member of our guild has their own unique resources, background, quirks, and talents. Members sharing these attributes with the guild is how we survive and grow.
We are going to have another challenge at the February meeting. As you walk into the Church, you will get a scavenger hunt. You will need to walk up to people at the meeting and find someone who answers one of the questions on the hunt. Introduce yourself and find out what makes her/him special. You cannot have one person for more than one question. The person with the most questions with an answer will win a prize. If we have more than one person with the same amount, we will draw for a winner. One of the best parts of being in a guild is making new friends!
Another way to meet your fellow guild members is to get involved - work at the quilt show, be on a committee, join a bee, showcase your talent at a guild meeting. When I joined the guild, I wanted to see the judging at our quilt show. I didn’t know if that was possible, but I knew who the quilt show chair was that year. I called her up and offered my services. I thought for sure if I was on the committee I could see the judging. (I discovered I didn’t have to be on the committee to watch the judging, but I was already committed at that point.) Joining the quilt show committee was the best thing I ever did for myself. I made so many friends. I must confess, I am a very shy person. Making the first contact with the quilt show chairperson was difficult. It is always difficult to take that first step - to greet someone you don’t know, to volunteer to work the quilt show, to be a board member or quilt show committee member. The rewards are worth taking that step. As Elizabeth Andrew said, “Volunteers do not necessarily have the time, they just have the heart.”
Lynn Sykes
SMQ President
WINTER WEATHER NOTICE
Just a reminder about winter weather – if Knox County schools close due to inclement weather on a guild meeting date, our guild meeting will be cancelled.
2018 SMQ MEMBERSHIP DUES
It’s time to pay your 2018 SMQ membership dues. The fee for the year is $30. Please make checks out to SMQ (cash is OK too) and drop them off to new Membership Chair Wanda Brown at the February meeting. You may also mail your check to:
Smoky Mountain Quilters
P.O. Box 30692
Knoxville, TN 37930
If you have not paid your 2018 membership by February 28, your name will be removed from the membership roll and you will no longer receive notices and newsletters. Smoky Mtn Quilt Guild pins will be on sale at the Membership Desk for the next two months - cost $5.00.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Please see attachments to this newsletter for the SMQ Financial Reports for the year ended 2017, and 2018 YTD as of Jan 11.
For any questions regarding the report, please contact Jane Dunham, Treasurer
FEBRUARY SHOW AND TELL - You should always bring your latest completed quilt. Our special themes are to encourage everyone to show off something. It does not mean we don’t want to see what you are working on currently. So…bring what you are currently working on AND bring something to showcase your other talents. Do you knit, crochet, work with wood, make clothing? That’s what we want to see this month.
CHALLENGE QUILTS & HANGERS–
It's time to unveil the 2018 Quilt Challenge Entries! I know everyone is looking forward to seeing them. As a reminder, several members said they had free standing quilt hangers and were willing to bring them. If possible, please arrive a bit before6:30so I can set them up before the entries begin to arrive. If you are bringing a quilt to display, please cover your name on the label, so the voting will be based on the quilt and not the quiltmaker! Let the Elements in!
Mali Glazer
BLOCK OF THE MONTH –
RED, PINK, AND WHITE RAIL FENCE
Cut four strips of reds, pinks, and whites 2 inches wide x 6 ½ inches Wide. Sew strips together to make a 6 ½ by 5 ½ square.
SECRET PAL
Don’t forget your secret pal gift. There will be a table set up for you to drop off your brown bag before the program begins at7:00. Write your pal’s name on the outside of the brown bag. If you cannot be at the meeting, be sure you get the bag to someone who can drop it off and pick yours up. As you leave at the end of the evening, swing by and pick up your present.
NEED A RIDE?
If you have to miss guild meetings due to transportation issues, please send an email r call Lynn Sykes at865-382-5976. If you are able to provide rides to the guild meetings for other members, let me know. We don’t want anyone to miss all the fun!
SCAVENGER HUNT – At the February meeting, we will have a scavenger hunt for everyone who is interested. At the membership table, you can pick up your list. During the social time, everyone who participates will have time to “find” their items. The person with the most “finds” will win a wonderful prize.
MYSTERY QUILT QOV – Clue two will be sent in an email. It’s not too late to join. If you are not a fan of red, white and blue, use other colors. Not all QOV quilts are those colors.
BOOK CLUB FOR FEBRUARY – The next meeting of the book club will be Tuesday, February 20th at 5:30 p.m. at Panera at Mercedes Place, 4855 Kingston Pike. We will be reading “Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood and “A Vintage Affair” by Isabel Wolff. Yes, these are the same books as January, but we had to cancel the meeting due to snow. Join us!
BOUTIQUE GIFT SHOP FOR 2018 QUILT SHOW – The guild is trying something new for the 2018 Quilt Show. We hope this will benefit our members and the guild. The small quilt sale has been changed to a Boutique Gift Shop. Proceeds will fund our charity work – the Ronald McDonald House and Quilts of Valor. Items made by members will be sold. Twenty-five (25) percent of the sale price will remain with the guild, the other seventy-five (75) percent of the sale price will be paid to the member who made the item. Prices will be set by the member. The guild will provide the sale tags. Items can be anything made by the member. You may also elect to donate the entire amount to the guild. If you have any questions, give me a call at 865-382-5976. Lynn Sykes
WE NEED YOU – Traditionally the quilt show has a chair and a co-chair. The co-chair steps into the role of chair the next year. We need someone to be that person. You will have a unique opportunity to serve under a two-time Quilt Show chair. Betty Sparks is currently in her second year as quilt show chair and will mentor you for your time as show chair for 2019. Terrified to take on this task alone, grab a friend and do it together. Cyndi Herrmann and I worked together a few years ago. Sharing the job makes it so much easier. Give this some serious thought. Without a chair, we have no show. Will you be the member who saves the show?
2018 Challenge Chair
2018 QUILT SHOW
Please think about volunteering at least 1 or 2 hours if possible during the show or the week priorto the show. I will have sign up sheets ready and out beginning with the March meeting. If you’re attending the show,plan your day so you can enjoy the show and help out either as a hostess or working at admissions. You may also help the week prior to the show by helping with hanging quilts, taking in quilts, or judging. Or you may prefer to help out at the end of the day on the last day of the show.We will need helptaking down quilts, mailing back quilts or giving back quilts. It's a great way to get to know members you may not know very well or at all. The committee chairs and I appreciate any help you can give us no matter how much time you can spare. If you have questions on what is involved with any of the different
committees, please email or call me at the information below.
Please contact me if you wish to sponsor a ribbon for this year's show. Special Ribbons for 2018 are $75. each, category ribbons remain the same as last year, 1st place - $150,2nd place - $115, 3rd place - $85.
There will be a committee meeting at5:30 pmprior to the quilt guild meeting in February for committee chairs. Everyone is
welcome to attend the meeting and see what it's all about. It may peak your interest to chair a committee for 2019.
Thank you for your consideration to help.
Betty Sparks
2018 Quilt Show Chair
SHOP LOCAL – January 27, 2018 is Local Quilt Shop Day. This worldwide event is designed to raise awareness of the importance of independent quilt shops to the local economy. It is a day for consumers and retailers to celebrate the creative pursuits of quilters, sewists, fabric enthusiasts, and crafters everywhere. Every year more and more local shops are closing due to internet sales. Support our local shops. Be sure and tell them you are a member of SMQ and thank them for being there to support our fabric addiction.
NEW MEMBER IN JANUARY JudyBludworth. Judy is new to our area, moving from TX. She has been quilting for 25+ years and has served as an office in previous quilting guilds. She has traveled the world and purchased fabrics and observed techniques. She said her "enthusiasm outstrips her talent"!
She is looking forward to meeting new friends and adding new methods to her adventures.
PAST MEMBER - rejoining - Debbie Cooper. Debbie originally joined in 2005 and has returned after a few years off. She has been quilting most of her life and loves traditional quilt designs and machine quilting.
SMQ FACEBOOK PAGE
This note is for all the SMQ Facebook friends and "wanna be friends" too. Please remember that SMQ has a Facebook page when posting your quilting news. If you have a quilt-related announcement that you want other members to see, be sure to post it on the SMQ Timeline. If you are on Facebook and are not yet friends with SMQ, send your request so you don't miss out on any of our posts. I am going to try and post SMQ related news as I receive it or photograph it. If you have something you wish to share and don't have your own Facebook account, you may send it to me and I'll put it up for you. If you can write a blurb and attach a photo, you can join the Facebook fun!!
Becky Harriss
Social Media Chair
Quilts of Valor
The North Knoxville Chapter of the Quilts of Valor invites you to our 5th Annual National Sew Dayison Saturday, February 3rd from 10:00a.m. to4:00 p.m. Dennis and Doyleen Taylor have been working hard to prepare for this event. Those of you that attended in past years already know that we make this a special and fun event. We will have multiple prizes, games, projects, and most of all, LOTS OF CHOCOLATE! Oh, did I forget to mention? The event is FREE!
We will be sewing in the Cultural Center at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at 6024 Grove Rd in Fountain City, Tennessee. If you need directions, or have other questions, call Doyleen at865-310-2016, or Dennis at865-310-3625.
Our goal is to make enough Quilt blocks to piece together about 25 quilt tops for the Quilts of Valor. We will provide the block kits for you to sew. All you need to bring is a sewing machine, scissors, thread and extra bobbins, and a pot luck item. We supply the rest. If you do not have a sewing machine we will have a few available. Please come and bring a friend. We especially invite beginning Quilters and non-Quilters. We have jobs for everyone. Enjoy the fellowship while we make some beautiful quilts for our Nation's Heroes.
The Great Search
Does anyone happen to recognize these blocks or know who created them? The fabric may be 1920’s to 1930’s. If so, please see Christy Fagiana.
Quilting Tips:
- Use only plain water when washing out water soluble marker pens from your fabric, and hand wash well, as detergents and ironing my set the ink permanently.
- Take photos and keep a written record of all your completed quilts. Make sure you label each of your quilts properly too on the back, so there is always a permanent record of who, when and for whom the quilt was made.
- Use different widths of masking tape to guide you in an easy way to quilt parallel lines without marking the quilt top.
- Look around you – when designing patterns for your quilt, don’t forget you can use everyday items to draw around. Plates, cups and saucers and even cookie cutters all make great templates.
- Always bring the bobbin thread to the top of the quilt before beginning to sew so you can avoid any tangling on the back.
- Quilting can be good exercise too! Keep your ironing board well away from your machine and get in the habit of getting up to press every seam you sew.
- Make your hanging sleeve from a patchwork of all the fabrics used in your quilt. Then, if you need to repair anything on the quilt top later, you will have a selection of the right fabrics to use.
- An oldie but a goodie – for smoother sewing or pinning, run the needle through your hair to oil the metal a bit.
If you have a quilting tip you would like to share, email the newsletter at .
2018 Quilt Book Releases:
Coming in February
- A Cottage Garden: Stitch and Enjoy a Bounty of Beautiful Blossoms by Kathy Cardiff
- Lunch-Hour Patchwork by That Patchwork Place
- Mini-Charm Quilts compiled by Lissa Alexander
Coming in March
- Jo’s Little Favorites III: Enduring Designs for Classic-Quilt Lovers by Jo Morton
- Oh, Scrap! Fabulous Quilts That Make The Most of Your Stash by Lissa Alexander
Coming in April
- More Free-Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3: 62 Fast-and-fun designs to finish your quilts by Lori Kennedy
- Patchwork Loves Embroidery Too by Gail Pan
Coming in May
- Simple Whatnots: A Batch of Satisfyingly Scrappy Little Quilts by Kim Diehl
- Stitches form the Yuletide: Hand Embroidery to Celebrate the Season by Kathy Schmitz
- Pure & Simple by Maggie Bonanomi
Quilting Trends for 2018 –According to here are the top 5 quilting trends for 2018.
- Something Blue – Blue quilting patterns have been very trendy in 2017, and will continue to be the go-to color this winter. As the cold weather arrives, try incorporating darker shades of blue from powerful royal blues to indigos into your work to create gorgeous quilts.
- Handwork – Many quilting expos have noted that handwork is on the rise. Don’t worry, we’re not suggesting that you hand sew an entire bed quilt pattern. Instead, try incorporating hand sewn elements in with your machine stitching.
- Manmade vs…Nature? – A third popular quilting trend going into 2018 is the homemade and “natural” look of a quilt. Many quilters are excited about traces of the quilt-making process appearing in the finished quilt. In other words, don’t be afraid to experiment with rag quilt patterns, rough seams, and ideas for upcycled and recycled materials with your next quilting pattern.
- Modern Quilts – Modern quilt patterns have been all the rage recently, and we have reasons to believe that their popularity will continue to soar.
- Puff-fect Cat Patterns – Everyone loves cat prints, and they will continue loving cat quilting patterns far into 2018.
To see examples of all five trends, check out their website. What do you plan to work on in 2018?
Mystery Quilt – Clue #2
Cutting Instructions:
White (17) 3 ½” squares
(4) 2” x WOF
Blue (28) 3 ½” squares
(4) 2” x WOF
Patriotic (68) 2” squares – draw a diagonal line on wrong side