Fire Quilt Workday

We got together to make quilts for a Piecemakers by the Bay charity project dedicated to victims of fire. Those that experience such a loss are given a quilt to bring comfort in a very difficult time.
Pictured right are Judy McKinley and Judy Williams trying to salvage some wobbly star blocks donated to our cause.

And here is what the wobbly stars ended up becoming. GREAT!

Sometimes it is like putting together the pieces of a puzzle, that all came out of different boxes.

The blocks in this sampler were brought together from a variety of block exchanges our guild participated in over several months.
At the end of the day we had three finished quilts, one quilt that needed binding and 5 quilt tops that still need to be pinned and quilted.

Photo Imaging

Susie Monday conducted a workshop for Piecemakers by the Bay Guild Members. The class was designed to show quilters how to transfer photo images onto fabric, then incorporate the image into their quilt art. Susie showed examples of her work for inspiration.

Note: Double click on images for a larger view.

Charlotte McDonnell and Karry Crump become technology wizards, when printers and laptops replaced sewing machines for a moment.


Mimi Braniff and Terri searching for the right button.

Jettie Lahoud and Linda Sumner

Susie Monday gave a lecture with slide show presentation the following morning.

While students of the class got to show some almost finished projects.

Mary Ann Miller and Terri Welthiemer

Mimi Braniff, Laura Davidson, and Roxana Boinker

Throwing Down the Gauntlet

We are all eagerly awaiting the new Challenge project for the next show (to be announced at the next PBTB business meeting), so there has been a lot of talk at Wednesday night Bee about the different type of challenge projects out there in the world. There has also been a lot of talk about English Paper Piecing and Judy Williams' penchant for all things small. There has also been some talk about knitting.

So what came of all this talk? Well last Wednesday at Bee Mary Ann Hedge challenged Judy to knit using toothpicks (small).

We just happened to have two toothpicks and the rest....well, let the pictures speak for themselves.

Quilter's Have Baggage

Piecemakers by the Bay (PBTB) Quilt Guild has had some fantastic classes over the past two years. Mimi Braniff and Karry Crump head up our Education Committee and they helped enrich our quilting experience by bringing in great teachers. Some of our best teachers are also guild members.

PBTB member, Laura Davidson taught our guild members how to make a Quilter's Travel Bag. I attend part of the class to finalize some treasurer duties and take pictures.

I heard her talk about using a French seam finish inside the bag. My mind raced back in time to my college tayloring class where we learned all about seam finishes: flat-feld seams (used in blue jeans), and the Hong Kong finish (used in very expenisive suits). Man that class was hard, but I loved it.

Sewing/quilting classes are fun. Nothing is more fun than finishing a project and here are pictures to prove it.

Sue Fisher made a small version of the bag.

Flora Boren made a bag big enough for her cutting mat.

Sue at work.

Linda Sumner

Annette Fowler

Raffle Quilt

This is the 2010 Piecemakers by the Bay raffle quilt. The blocks in the center were made by many members of our guild. The applique borders were done by: Mary Schott, Sheralyn Humble, Pat Harrington, and Brenda Burk (pictured above). They are all known for the applique work. The machine quilting was done by Jody Smith. Jody has a long-arm and knows how to use it.

All proceeds from this quilt will go to n0n-profit organizations in this community. Ticket are $1.00 each or $5.00 for six. How many do you want; I'm taking orders.

Christmas in July 2009

Well, maybe I should just call this blog the Christmas in July blog since I seem to only get on here once or twice a year. No, I'll get better.

We gathered once again to show off Christmas crafts and eat food while listening to Christmas songs. Our craft project was Christmas mittens.

Joanne trying to figure it out.

Sandy cutting on wool she felted.

Cheryl working with the freezer paper.

Linda Rae, our newest friend.

Final products. Some of the grandmas are making them for their grandkids, and putting money in them. I asked them if they were going to put $100 dollar bills in them. You should have seen the looks I got.

Merry Christmas Y'all!

The Man Quilt

What is a "Man Quilt"? I was asked at Wednesday night Bee. Mary Ann heard me referring to the Man Quilt and she posed the question. It's a quilt made of manly fabric, like the one here of deer in a field just begging to be shot by a hunter, fisher, killer type man.

This pattern is called Just Can't Cut It. It is a great pattern for big scene fabrics or those with a 12 or more inch repeat. It is very easy to make.

Jeri Cox, Joanne Ray and I are working on this version of Just Can't Cut It (seen here without the border) for a friend Greg. Right now the quilt is at the quilter.

I like team work better than flying solo.