FEBRUARY 2014

February is a short month for quilting but it seems to me that more quilting is accomplished during this month than, say, July. Perhaps it’s because it’s cold outside and quilters tend to venture toward the sewing machines, quilting machines, quilting frames, and all that glorious fabric.

Which would you rather do?

Go outside and fight the blustery elements or snuggle under a quilt?

Go outside and shovel snow or whip up a quilt top?

Go outside and get stuck in a ditch or stay inside and get stuck quilting?

The February Pueblo West Quilters meeting ran smoothly and all the quilters were on their best behavior. Not a single antic all evening. The quilters must be reading this blog because they did not want to be mentioned.

Stop the presses… New information just in …

The Cactus Kilter Quilter struck again. This time, her antics got the entire meeting into an uproar. How? It all happened quite innocently…

“I’m not buying fabric this year.”

This Cactus Kilter Quilter found some kindred CKQs who couldn’t contain themselves. The theme of the evening was a quilter’s battle cry. “I’m not buying any more fabric until I’ve used up my stash!”

Well, I’ve cried that cry a myriad of times yet my stash seems to grow, not decrease. It’s kind of like saying, “I’m going to lose weight.” Of course you can lose the weight, except the weight finds you and brings a few extra pound friends along….

What I did was change my thinking from losing weight to getting rid of excess weight. So far, I’m maintaining so I don’t think I have any excess weight.

Along similar lines, I must have a fabric deficiency because I’m gaining fabric. So until I need to rid myself of excess fabric, I’ll maintain. Or gain.

Who am I kidding?

It’s an addiction and February’s helping me by producing these bitter, below-zero weather days so I migrate toward my stash… Oh no! There’s been a reduction. I need flannel for the chicken tablecloth I’m making. Couldn’t find wide flannel … oh look … I wonder if this terrycloth would work? Just in case it doesn’t, here’s some backing fabric... Wheewooo, that was close. There’s always a solution. Crisis averted!

February’s Block of the Month is the Square Dance Block, 6.5”x6.5” unfinished block. You’ll need a 2.5”x2.5” black square (center) and from an 18”x2.5” bright fabric strip cut 2-6.5”x2.5” rectangles and 2-2.5”x2.5” squares. For a visual, visit http://www.cluckclucksew.com/2012/06/tutorial-squares-and-strips-bed-quilt.html and check out the pix under #2 step. A variation can be seen at http://jedicraftgirl.blogspot.com/2012/08/square-in-square-baby-quilt-tutorial.html. Notice the square within the square has parallel edges and not perpendicular (on point) edges. Nina Stevens used solids for her demo. I know a CKQ or two will whip up a few to get more chances to win them all in March.

The Cactus Kilter Quilter struck at odd moments. CKQ tends to possess a quilter and the next thing you know … take for instance Sew N Share. Everything was running smoothly until the very end when “She just wiped me out and didn’t call on me! I finally made it to Sew N Share and you just erased me!”  Yes, I know, you had to be there. No worries. In a few months most of us won’t remember who said or did what. You’re just ahead of the game.

I must mention that the above CKQ had a Mary Poppins bag because she kept pulling one quilting item out after another. I thought for sure she’d pull out an UFQ attached to her sewing machine. It was the After Sew N Share Sew N Share Show.

PWQ is tackling a mystery this year. We don’t know what’s going to happen but I’ve heard if we don’t take the clues seriously, there might be vomiting involved.

PWQ has an Annual Quilt Challenge and this year it’s a mystery. Literally. Becky Panariso challenged us with creating a Mystery Quilt. Our mission, if we choose to accept, is to select five fabrics with specific guidelines and cutting dimensions. Exact cutting dimensions.

Becky wasn’t immune from the CKQ. A CKQ popped up and asked, “Do I have to buy my fabrics?” followed by “Can I use fat quarters from the same color family?” Becky didn’t miss a beat and replied, “Stashes are okay but not fat quarters. By the time you finish making this quilt, you’ll probably want to throw up all over it if you used several different fabrics.”

CKQ ventriloquized from another quilter’s mouth, “You want me to cut out all those pieces?” A reference to a certain 1^st Christmas quilt had CKQ hopping out of that quilter’s body fast. Squares are much easier to cut than triangles and diamonds. And no fussy cutting. (See the February Sew N Share pix and you’ll know what I mean.)

So who’s going to make a Vomit Comet Mystery Quilt? That’s a secondary challenge, don’t cha think?

Whether you’re gathering fabrics from your stash or from the fabric shops, the 2014 Quilt Challenge will be different from all the previous challenges. As mentioned above, we don’t know the outcome – yet – and Becky’s coming back for the next few months to dole out more directions Now, you can wait to select your fabrics and create your quilt later in the year (the last-minute CKQs) or you can utilize Becky’s knowledge as you come across those pesky issues now (the as-you-go CKQs), but either way, the deadline’s still the same, the first Monday in November for the unveiling of the quilts.

CKQ will be there to help you cut the strips too small and set your seam allowances too deep. She’s always willing to help – even when you prefer she distracts someone else. So keep diligent and measure thrice and cut once. Test your stitching and quilt on scrap fabrics. Now this doesn’t mean those scrap fabrics need to be tossed, you could create a testing journal, turn them into funky quilts, or functional bags and totes.

Our guest speaker, Terri Allen, demonstrated the 10 Minute Table Runner and brought kits and fabrics for purchase. Of course, a CKQ is now sorry she mentioned using up her stash because ooo la lah, some fancy cat fabric caught her eye…. No worries. Her friend, the quilter will purchase the fabric and CKQ will pay for her gas and the fabric might accidently end up in CKQ’s stash. Loopholes, aren’t they are the best?

Another CKQ turned out to be a future marathon runner and said she could stretch her table runner into a 30-minute runner by stuffing her 10-minute runner, quilting it, and then flipping and stitching it. Not to be outdone, another CKQ who reports on the marathon table runner decided to embellish her results with buttons and ribbons and beads. But the all-around, over-the-top CKQ took it to Olympic standards by reducing the runner into placemats, napkins and cup-holders. Oh and let’s not forget creating a centerpiece holder by enlarging the 10-minute table runner pattern.

Sheesh!

A lot of CKQs are taking over the Olympics! Stay tuned. Some of these ideas might show up in future Sew N Share pix.

It’s such a challenging year and it’s only February. CKQ covered her forehead with the back of her hand and sighed. The first challenge thrown down was the Using up my Stash Challenge. Don’t buy fabric! Failed already? Begin anew. Use up your stash. Next came the 2014 Mystery Quilt Challenge. Trust me, it’s going to turn out great. Only if you don’t mind not knowing where you’re going… Finally, the CKQ challenged all of us. She’s a trickster so beware.

Then the truth came out…

It was cold outside so I sewed.

I couldn’t get out, shrug, so I sewed.

I needed a fabric to tie together all my stash fabrics and I happened to be at JoAnn’s and there was this sale – so I bought a lot!

…there really wasn’t a use up My Stash Challenge.

Tilting the windmill quilt to give you a different perspective…

The Cactus Kilter Quilter

JANUARY 2014

2014 began the year with a new moon. This hasn’t happened in 19 years so quilters know this will be a special year. New moons represent the beginning and what better way to begin the Pueblo West Quilters with a new leadership, a new agenda, and a new blog writer?

It’s cold, bitter cold, outside and no one wants to go to a meeting, at night, in January. It’s not a good time to be on the road – although the roads were dry – or to be lugging massive, bulky items to a meeting only to haul them home again. And the meeting itself. Where’s the fun? The holly jolly? The ??? Seriously, where are the Keystone Cops when you need them?

Never fear, the Cactus Kilter Quilters are here! I don’t know if the 2014 Pueblo West Quilters Board did it intentionally (I think they did.) but I got suckered into the hilarity, thinking I was only trying to help. Note to self: Don’t be fooled or tricked again. That’s how I wound up writing this blog! Remember the word “No”?

You ever see the Keystone Cops? Have you seen them disguised as quilters? You haven’t? Then I recommend attending the Pueblo West Quilters Guild monthly meeting because a Cactus Kilter Quilter will always show the comedic side to quilting. And you never know who the Cactus Kilter Quilter will be… she could be … you.

But I disgress… Quilting is a serious business and the Pueblo West Quilters Guild is serious.

Take for instance the new board, individually and as a group, they’re confident, fun, happy, joyful people. Some could say serious and responsible. They have, after all, volunteered to lead us this year so that’s a serious commitment. Oh? You want to meet them? Okay.

The 2014 officers are Helen Cherry, President; Cheryl Eaton, Vice-President; Linda Coursey, Secretary; and Chris Megan, Treasurer. If you really want to meet them, you can find them every 1^st Monday of the month keeping order between the serious quilters and the – yep, you guessed it – the Cactus Kilter Quilters.

Helen whipped-stitched the “business-side” of  the evening to a fast, secured, perfect binding closure. A $2 cap/person for the in-house drawings and 1 gift/person/evening are the major changes of our drawings. One person “won” in two categories and had to decide if she wanted her 1st gift or the unknown 2^nd gift.

The Cactus Kilter Quilters did their best to confuse the meeting with their antics of distributing the rest of the drawings. Bringing laughter into the quilt business ensured a fun-filled night. Now, I’m not naming names because it would be easy to say it was the Board’s antics that got the meeting off to – let’s just say don’t miss February’s meeting because a Cactus Kilter Quilter can pop up anywhere! It wasn’t the Board’s fault! Remember, sucker me???!!! I, along with others, brought internal exercising to the event… I’d even like to say I’m sorry for my unintentional comic relief because I was serious. I’m a serious person. But in hindsight, I’m the perfect fall guy, I mean, quilter, because I fall for it every time. Note to self: Stop falling. Just ignore them. Although if laughing is the only way I’ll exercise …

A couple new addendums will be the tipster and the membio. Yes, I made up that last word. The tipster: A handy quilting tip added to the bottom of the monthly agenda page. A member will give a tip to Helen before she prints up the agenda – I’d say within a week after the meeting, email her with next month’s “PWQ Monthly Tip” (indicate the month too) in the email’s subject line. If she doesn’t get the tip in a timely manner, … well … you know those Cactus Kilter Quilters … If they have to provide a tip, it might not be pretty!

Membio. Unsuspecting members will be randomly called to introduce themselves at each meeting. Here’s your heads-up so be prepared. We want to know the how and why you became a quilter and what kinds of quilts you make and how many UFQs you have and, and, and … Be courageous and tell us about yourself.

Speaking of letting the stuff out … or … keeping it in …

Pillowcases. Did you know that if you change your pillowcase every day while you’re ill, you can reduce your illness faster? All those germs accumulating will be gone! And you’ll rest easier because one tends to plump the pillow every time a pillowcase is changed. Ohhhh, the comfort of a fresh pillowcase…… but that’s not what happened at the meeting.

Lisa Mollenhauer demonstrated the Hot Dog Pillowcase. I mean, a pillowcase hot dog. Wait! That wasn’t it. Oh yeah, the hot dog style pillowcase. ‘Cept I don’t recall ketchup or mustard…. Seriously, donating fun pillowcases to people in crisis is a way PWQ brings comfort to our community and abroad. (The Wounded Warrior quilts are delivered in their own pillowcase so I’m thinking they travel all over the world once a WW graduate gets their quilts.)

But I digress. Again… Pillowcases. The duvet for your head.

Lisa demonstrated how to roll the fabric into a tube, (all neat and tidy – if someone’s watching. Or, you can cram it into the tube if you’re at home, alone.) to doing a Eleanor Burns’ quilt birthing, to creating the French Seam.

Tip: If you find threads sticking out of the French seam, stitch a slightly wider French seam. Who’s to know except you and your machine? If you keep the Cactus Kilter Quilters locked out of your room, they can’t spread rumors.

Going the extra step (making French seams) is a two-fold reward: tangled, raveling threads are caught within the seam so there’s no thread fight with the pillow, and the finished, sturdy product given to a child is not just a pillowcase but a vital tool for their next adventure. Who knows if a pillow, a bundle of clothes or a toad will wind up in this pillowcase.

If you want the directions, come to the next meeting, otherwise, check it out at TheCraftyGemini’s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAomYjHzUQk

(I recommend making a 3/8” or ½” French seam instead of trimming to 1/8”.)

February’s Block of the Month Drawing, bring your London Square BOMs: Dark Purple & beige/tan and dark blue/white for the Wounded Warrior blocks.

The London Square Block: 8”x8” finished, 8 ½” x 8 ½” unfinished block

Dark Purple/Blue: one 7”x7” block, four 3" X 3" blocks

Beige/ White: one 7”x7” block, four 3" X 3" blocks

http://www.quilterscache.com/L/LondonSquareBlock.html

Good directions. (But this makes a larger block size.)

http://lillianscupboard.wordpress.com/2011/03/12/civil-war-quilt-block-11-london-square/  for the 8 ½” x 8 ½” unfinished block.

2014 LUV Quilt is 60”x60” using sixteen 12”x12” Bento Box blocks. The Cactus Kilter Quilters struck again during the demonstration to the point where I got involved only to confuse things even more. Who knew they did it deliberately? And they were soooo sneaky about it too! I’m telling you, you miss so much by not attending the meetings! Anywhoooo, the directions to creating this masterpiece will be at the meeting but if you’re whining, I mean, wanting to do it now, check out

http://www.pinterest.com/laurieann50/a-quilt-bento-box/ for ideas and

http://quiltsoflove.blogspot.com/2010/06/strip-pieced-bento-box-quilt-pattern.html for the stripped pieced method.

Remember, LUV quilts will be given to people in crisis so make crib to full size quilts. You don’t need to use the Bento Box Pattern to create a LUV quilt. Use another pattern or design your own, just keep those quilts squared up or those pesky Cactus Kilter Quilters will tusk-tusk. Seriously, while making your quilts, think about how you’d feel if you were on the receiving end. So make them with kindness and love in your hearts. (And if they’re a little wonky, I’ll handle the Cactus Kilter Quilters because, you know, sucker me…)

If you’re enjoying this blog, not able to join, but still want to participate, you’re more than welcome to make pillowcases &/or LUV quilts for people in need. Last year PWQ covered floods, tornadoes, fires, the abused, and wounded service women and men who protected others with 89 quilts. You can contact us via email link off to the right side of the page. We can meet if you’re in the Pueblo area or give you an address to send your pillowcases and quilts. Oh and include a LUVbio (A membio but a bio about you because when we showcase the quilts and pillowcases, we’d love to tell the members about you!)

Looking to be quilt-spired? Join us on February 3^rd, 7 pm, at the Majestic Baptist Church in Pueblo West for a night wrapped in warmth … because you just know … if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow and returns to his hole, he’ll predict six more weeks of cold, bitter, winter weather and if he doesn’t see his shadow, Phil will predict an "early spring”. Slushy, soggy, wet weather.

I’ll make a prediction of my own … the Pueblo West Quilters will bring marvelous quilts and quilt-related items to Sew N Share on February 3^rd. We do love to cuddle up in our quilts, while creating them or snuggling with a quilting book and hot chocolate.

Keeping me stitches crooked,

Cactus Kilter Quilter

We are MOVING

We are moving to Majestic Baptist Church 494 E. Hemlock Dr, Pueblo West,Co on the corner of Purcell & Hemlock. February 4th meeting will be at the new location.

All further pictures and postings will be done at our Facebook page please join us there.
www.facebook.com/pueblowest.quilters

Pueblo West Quilters Newsletter January 2013

Quilts, like friends, are warm and comforting; and you can never acquire enough of either.

President: Vicki Becker                            Vice President: Sue Longsdorf

Secretary: Donna Ford-Ferrell                  Treasurer – Jean McDonald

Happy 2013! I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday and will enjoy your New Year’s Eve celebration. We are ready to begin another year for the PWQ guild and hope it is as good as in past years.

As a board we are looking for ideas for programs. If you have ideas (you may have seen something that interests you) for programs, please let any board member know as these ideas help in the planning programs for the year and can be passed along for following years.

Date: January 7, 2013

Time: 7:00 p.m. –Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Place: Gabby’s Diner, 412 S McCulloch Blvd.

Annual dues: $25 for the year (due by February 4^thmeeting) – Please complete the attached membership form and return along with your dues. This will aid in keeping current information on our members. Forms will also be available the night of the meeting.

Guests: $3.00

We will need VOLUNTEERS for Block of the Month, Historical (pictures/blog), LUV quilt distribution, LUV pillowcase distribution, and Christmas Party. There will be sheets available for you to sign up. Remember if we all volunteer a little there won't be a lot for any one person to do.

Fat Quarter drawing: Bling (metallic or sparkly)

BOM: Board will demonstrate February's BOM

2013 LUV Quilt pattern: will be presented by Board

Program: Art Quilts – presented by the 2013 Board

I hope to see you all there! Our recipients really appreciate the LUV quilts that are given to them. All LUV quilts handed in will receive a beaded pin to add to their name tag.


Vicki Becker

President, Pueblo West Quilters Guild

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Things to bring to the meeting:
______ Name tag
______ In house drawing funds
______ Funds for Ways & Means PWQ mugs ($5) pens($2) and pins($3)
______ Completed BOM for club drawing – Katya’s Christmas tree
______ Completed BOM in red, white & blue for wounded warrior quilts
______ Fat quarter for Fat Quarter Exchange – Bling (metallic or sparkly)
______ LUV quilts or pillowcases
______ Items for Sew N Share
______ Your own beverage (or snack if you need one)
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