Video: So God Made A Quilter

Jennifer H. sent me this video the other day to share with everyone. Enjoy!

Editor's Note: If you haven't seen this yet, grab a tissue or two, you might need them!

Raincross Quilt Room Home Tour Photos

But first, if I may speak collectively for all of us, our hearts and prayers go out to the families, loved ones and friends of the victims of this terrible attack in Belgium. May they find peace and healing, may we find a way to end this kind of senseless violence. #prayforbelgium

************************************************

Two weekends ago, we journeyed far and wide to tour the quilting rooms of four of our members - Susan M., Dorothy M., Cassandra G., and Carol H. - and what a tour it was! We now have permission from all four home owners to share the photographs taken by our own Ann M. (thanks Ann!). Here is one from each home - you can enjoy all of them here or in the slideshow on the right!

March 2016 Meeting Review

Lloyd Askew

We had another fantastic guild meeting this past Tuesday, which included the fascinating Featherweight guru Lloyd Askew and just small sample of his Featherweight and other vintage sewing machines!

Lloyd gave a brief talk on the history of sewing machines, their manufacturers and some insights on the evolution of the machine sewing. Then Lloyd showed off his babies! Check out a few photographs of his machines here (I'll take the red one please!).

Lloyd will join us again on Saturday April 30th for his Featherweight maintenance workshop, from 9am-12pm and the again 1pm-4pm at the Janet Goeske Center. Space is limited, so call Susan M. today to see if there are any spots left!

Payment of $30 is due on the day directly to Lloyd.

Also, if you're coming, feel free to come for the whole day as we'll have a little Featherweight inspired project to make and take while you're not workshopping!

Bonus: Lloyd has a little museum set up to show off his entire collection, so we'll have to plan a guild trip there this summer. Extra special Bonus: Lloyd lives near M&L Fabric!!! I don't know if my credit card is ready for another trip!

We also got to celebrate another beauty in the form of Alice J. and her birthday with some birthday cake! Happy Birthday Alice!

The lovely Fern F. & Melissa S. show off Jeri R.'s quilts!

Our last Sew Day, members in attendance made TWENTY-FIVE baby quilt tops! Woohoo! Jeri R. took two home and quilted and bound them. Aren't they pretty?! :) Way to go, Prez!

Today is a Sew Day (sorry for the late reminder - fire your time machines!) at Mary T.'s church, from 9am-2pm with a pot luck lunch. We will be working on more baby quilts using fabric cut from the fabulous AccuQuilt machines! Join us at Redeemer Baptist Church at 3669 Madison St downstairs.

We also got to welcome several visitors and new members during our meeting! Sorry I didn't jot down the new member names - I'm still learning the ropes here! - but our visitors included Lynette W., Velda K., Susan H., and Sara Jane M. Welcome ladies and come back and join us soon!

Our 2016 Raincross Quilt Room Home Tour was last weekend and I think everyone had a blast! We're working on confirming permissions from the home owners and will photos taken by Ann M. up on the blog as soon as possible! Can't wait for the next one!!

April is 50% Challenge month and Elly wants us to bring our FULLY COMPLETED projects! She's a stickler for details, so no "and it just needs binding" allowed! You've been warned! :)

quilt by Shelley Swanland

In May, we will be hosting guest speaker Shelley Swanland who'll be presenting hand embellishment. She will also be presenting a workshop on hand embellishment on May 21st at the Janet Goeske Center. More news on the workshop at the next guild meeting (or here when I get it!).

After our workshop with Shelley at the Goeske center, please plan to join us at the University of Riverside Alumni House for a presentation of Quilts of Valor to several veterans. More details to follow.

Speaking of May, Barbara M. would like to remind everyone that their full payment for the 2016 Spring retreat, My Quilted Journey, at the Vina De Lestonnac Retreat Center in Temecula is DUE at the April meeting. Total cost per person with double occupancy and all meals included is $250, so if you put a deposit down, please do the math and bring your checkbooks!

Barbara says she has a few spots left, so please give her a call!

March 2016 Star BOM

Feb 2016 Star BOM

We also saw our first completed Blocks of the Month for the 2016 BOM. Elly H. and Rebecca G. have selected stars as the theme for this year and I for one am over the moon!

Click here for 2016 BOM patterns.





To wrap up, here are the door prize winners (Mystery Box had the month off):
Rotating cutting mat: Sharon G.
Scraps from Rosie's Calico Cupboard: Benita B.
Scissors: Valerie T.
Quilting "chip clip": Jeannie S.
Jinny Beyer fabric: Carol R.

Sidenote: We know that the snack rotation printed in membership guide and in the link here on the blog are out of sync, etc. We will be putting together a new snack rotation and posting it soon.

See you in April and don't forget to finish your 50% Challenges!

Reminder: "Quilts of Valor II" program on KVCR tonight

Sorry the guild meeting review is a little late - I will get it up tonight after work. The luck of the Irish was not with me yesterday and I spent a little time in ER, but the good news is I just have vertigo and not something more serious. Yay?

Anywho, I want to make sure to get this out before it's too late and remind you to set your DVR's! A TV program about Quilts of Valor will be airing tonight, Friday, March 18, at 10:30 pm on KVCR-PBS 24.1 (Channel 9 Palm Springs). From the TV listing:

"Quilts of Valor II reunites national quilting celebrities Alex Anderson, Mark Lipinski and host Marianne Fons from the original Quilts of Valor to work on one magnificent, new Quilt of Valor. As they sew, the quilting gurus share quilt-making tips with viewers, and speak from the heart about what being involved in making quilts for veterans has come to mean to them. The program also features stories from Nebraska, California, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. , introducing viewers to the people who make Quilts of Valor, and the people who receive them."

If you miss it tonight, there will be an additional airing on 04/29/16, at 1:30 am KVCR-PBS 24.1 (Channel 9 Palm Springs).

Speaking of Quilts of Valor, Katie S. shared with us at Guild this week the message she received from her veteran cousin (I think she said cousin!) Ken A., who received one of our Quilts of Valor:

Thank you for your service Ken! And good job ladies and gents - keep up the good work!

- Cassandra G.

Build a quilt design wall on the cheap!

With all of our heads buzzing with ideas and inspiration from the quilt room home tour this past weekend, here's a great tutorial for making a design wall for your quilt room from the blog of ChristaQuilts.com:

from the blog ChristaQuilts.com

I like that they used insulating foam board (instead of the low density fiberboard I used) because it's probably cheaper and definitely lighter to manage and hang on your walls, although I used off-white flannel fabric and not sheets and wrapped each board individually.

Click here for more information on how Christa and her husband made her design wall!

- Cassandra G.

Reminder: Guild Meeting tomorrow!

Hello quilters! This is your friendly reminder that our monthly Raincross Quilt Guild meeting is tomorrow night at the Janet Goeske Center. Our speaker will be the Featherweight Guru Lloyd Askew. He will also be giving a presentation on Featherweight maintenance on Saturday April 30th from 9am-12pm or 1pm-4pm at the Janet Goeske Center. Click here for more information.

Birthday month snack bringers for this meeting: January, March, July, October

Things to bring:
- your name tag
- your Raincross Quilt Guild pin
- your Block of the Month block from last month
- a snack to share if you were born in January, March, July, or October
- a quilt to share
- an octopus (optional)
- your lovely self!

We had a fabulous Quilt Room tour this past weekend - can't wait for the next one!

Cassandra G.'s quilt room

- Cassandra G.

129th Annual Raincross Quilt Room Tour this Saturday!

Okay fine, it's not the 129th time, but it's more than once and besides, I got your attention!

This Saturday we are meeting in the parking lot of Sears, 5261 Arlington Ave, Riverside, CA 92504 (near the Janet Goeske Center), at 8:30am to carpool together for our fabulous four quilting room tour!

We will be visiting the homes of:

Susan M.
Dorothy M.
Cassandra G. (oh I should be vacuuming right now!)
Carol H.

Locations are approximate to protect the innocent!

Full addresses and maps will be provided at Sears. Super tasty nibbles and beverages will be provided at each of our homes. Open to guild members and well behaved guests!

Please contact Jeri R. or Susan M. if you have questions and otherwise, see you Saturday!

- Cassandra G.

Smartphone and Tablet Apps for Quilters

Sometimes I get that itchy, want-to-start-a-new-project AND play-with-my-phone feeling and I found this page on About.com that I thought I'd share!

 I personally have been using BlockFab-HD by Mary Kay Podlecki on my iPad for years. BlockFab is a quick fabric calculator for nearly 100 classic quilt blocks. You can also check out Mary Kay Podlecki's other apps, QuiltFab and QuiltRef!

What apps have you found useful to aid your sewing? Share your comments!

- Cassandra G.