Campbell House Retreat Day 1

I promised myself I'd be more proactive about reporting on the retreat this time around so you all can get a taste of it - we wish you all could join us!

Our organizers Barbara M., Jeri R., and Andie B. have really outdone themselves with our set up for our retreat, arriving early to get us started. About half of us arrived a little after noon and immediately jumped into sewing, visiting, and laughing.

We started with our first make and take - a cute little name badge! Here's Linda showing her's off - great job! We'll presumably start the rest of the make and takes tomorrow as some attendees aren't arriving until tomorrow.

For dinner we enjoyed a super tasty taco salad bar right in our sewing room...and followed that with a surprise birthday party for our very own birthday girl, Melissa! Happy Birthday Melissa!

Check out all the pictures* from Day 1 and stay tuned for the next installment tomorrow!

*all the pictures I took - I'll eventually get more pictures that everyone else took and posted them all in phone album.

- Cassandra G.

Sad news

From Jeri...

It is with a heavy heart that I must announce the passing of Dawn Miller, former Raincross Quilt Guild treasurer and dear friend. I know this may come as a surprise to many as you may not have known she was ill, but Dawn was a very private person and requested that her illness been kept private. Her family has given me permission to post this information.

Dawn was diagnosed with uterine cancer in August of this year, which advanced quickly, and she passed away on Sunday, October 23rd, 2016. She is survived by her son, two daughters, and partner.

A memorial service for Dawn will be held on November 5th at 11am at The 412 Church at 1450 W 7th St, San Jacinto. A reception will follow afterwards at Dawn's home at 7877 Littler Dr, Hemet.

Our prayers go out to her family during this sad time.

- Jeri R.

A Walk in the Woods by Sue Garmston

Please feel free to post a happy memory or story about Dawn below.

- Cassandra G.

October 2016 Meeting Review

Tuesday night was the monthly meeting for the ladies and gentlemen who HAUNT the Raincross Quilt Guild and it was SPOOKY how much fun we had! On top of visiting SPECTERS we haven't seen in an age, we enjoyed some GHOULishly delicious food and we saw many BOO-tiful quilts!

All silliness aside, our President Jeri R. started us off by welcoming our guests and listing some of the many good things going on in our lives...

• It was a great surprise to have Bonnie H. visiting us from Surprise, AZ! So good to see you, Bonnie! We also welcomed another guest, Jackie H. - we hope to see you again soon Jackie!
• Stephanie Z.'s daughter was diagnosed with cervical cancer 5 months ago - and has recently been confirmed as cancer free. Hallelujah!
• Brenda A. is getting her hip replacement surgery and was able to get in two weeks early - she's be ready to rock n' roll by Christmas time!
• Lois L. also had her knee replaced recently and is recovering well.
• Linda H. had major open heart surgery on August 9th and was able to attend the guild meeting - woohoo!
• It was also great to see Rebecca and Ken in the guild meeting - we missed you guys!
• On October 15th, our own Alice J. and her 95 year old husband Max (Ed. note: I think it's Max - correct me if I'm wrong) celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary - so inspiring!

Finally, Lois L., with Bonnie H. and Jeri R. helping, showed us some simple stretches we should try to utilize if we are sitting too long, like sewing or working at a computer. Remember, you've got to take care of you!

Next we had Show N Share - check at the photos here. Of note, Christine S.'s sister Kathy in Tucson learned about Happy Bag project and got so excited, she made 17 Happy Bags. Thank you Kathy!

This month was also the due date for the fabulous Overwhelmingly Selvedges Challenge issued by our own Elly H.! What a cornucopia of selvedge projects - be sure to check out the photos!

There are several quilt shows coming up in January and February, all of which have been added to the Raincross Google calendar. If you have a Google account, you can copy any event from the Raincross Google calendar into your calendar - give it a try!

• Road to California Classes: January 24th-30th, Ontario
• Road to California Quilt Show: January 19th-22nd, Ontario
• Valley Quilters 37th Annual Quilt Show: February 10th & 11th, San Jacinto
• South Bay Quilters Guild 2017 Quilt Show - World of Color: February 18th & 19th, Torrance

Upcoming Raincross events include:

• This Saturday is a Happy Bag Sew Day at the Goeske. We've got "kits galore" ready and we'll work on Happy Bags in the morning, then enjoy a Salad Potluck lunch (you are invited to bring a side to share) and then feel free to work on whatever in the afternoon.
• Next weekend is the Raincross Fall retreat at Roughley Manor (now called The Campbell House) and 20 lucky ducks from Raincross will be headed out there next Thursday and Friday for long weekend of major sewing fun.

Our next guild meeting will be our annual "Grab Game" featuring the Itty Bitty Picture Perfect Quilt challenge. Everyone is invited to make a winter themed Itty Bitty Picture Perfect Quilt, which will fit perfectly on an 8.5" x 11" stand up acrylic frame that each member received from the guild at this month's meeting as our annual gift (if you were unable to attend, you can still get your frame at the next meeting).

Jeri R. and Cassandra G. will formalize the directions and get them posted soon, but the quick and dirty version of it is:

1. Make a winter themed mini quilt that has a raw size of 8 3/4" x 10 1/2" before binding. The quilt should be in portrait orientation. 
2. Hem one of the short edges of a piece of fabric 8 3/4" x 9 1/2" and add it to the back of the quilt, raw edge aligned to the top. This will act as the sleeve for the acrylic stand.
3. Add a binding as normal.
4. Stand back and marvel at your creativity and craftsmanship/womansship!

To make sure everyone who participates goes home with something awesome, please make your quilt beautiful and steal-worthy, something that you'd really like to keep!

Kilroy Rebecca was here

Elly shared with us our next Star Block of Month called the Two Color Star - although yes it is technically 3 colors with the background, but Elly pointed out the name of the block is Two Color Star, so...there we go. The pattern is now available on our BOM page.

Sharon K. said a few words about Threads of Love - several folks have taken kits but not yet returned. Sharon has kindly requested that if you took a kit to please try to get it completing it soon, "move it up in your priority just a little". Thank you Sharon for the gentle reminder! Jeri announced we'll have a Threads of Love Sew Day sometimes in January or February, so stay tuned if you're interested in helping.

Speaking of sew days in the new year, we have already set to participate in the annual National Quilts of Valor Sew Day on February 4th at the Rancho Caballero Carefree MH Community Clubhouse. Can't wait!

Door Prizes
Christmas Charm Pack & bobbin saver - Liliana D.
Christmas Charm Pack & gray Aurifil - Jan C.
Rule rack - Julie M.
Pedal mat - Ann M.
Bag kit - Jeri R.

Mystery Box - Gloria

- Cassandra G.

A bit of fun

From last night's Raincross monthly guild meeting, there was a rare sighting of the villain of fabric stores, the scourge of sewing machines, the Annie Oakley with a rotary cutter...

Just kidding! Meeting review will be up soon. :)

- Cassandra G.

Reminder: Guild meeting Tuesday!

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore--
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

from The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe

And it was this friendly reminder that our October Guild Meeting is right around the corner!

by Carol from Just Let Me Quilt

Here's your reminder list of things to bring:

• Your homemade name badge
• Your Raincross Quilt Guild pin, which is now worth an EXTRA ticket in the door prize drawing! If you don't have one, you can purchase one for $5 at the door.
• Star block of month
• Selvedge Challenge Project
• If you were born in April, October or December, you are invited to bring a snack to share (but it's not required!)
• If you're attending the Roughley Manor retreat, the rest of your payment
• WATER! Please bring your own non-alcoholic drinks!

See you all "Nevermore" Tuesday!

- Cassandra G.

Ready for the Selvedges Challenge?

Hey folks, just your friendly bloggery reminder that you've got less than two weeks to finish up your Overwhelmingly Selvedges Challenge...

If you need some inspiration, here's a look at my work in progress!

A few tips I've learned working with selvedges:

• If you want a bit of the fabric to show, make sure you include at least .5" of it above the selvedge when you cut the selvedge off your fabric.
• Use LOTS of pins* (the strips like to wander about when you're sewing them down).
• A zigzag stitch covers a multitude of sins!

*I akin this to my grandmother's stalwart motto "use more tape", especially on Christmas gifts. Fort Knox had NOTHING on her.

Can't wait to see everyone's project at the Guild meeting on the 18th!

- Cassandra G.

Odds and Ends

Hi folks - we've got a bunch of random news to share, so without further ado...

Photo by Marcy Anderson

Our next challenge, the "Overwhelmingly" Selvedge Challenge, is due at this month's guild meeting on Tuesday October 18th. The challenge - make anything that is comprised "overwhelmingly" (75%+) of real selvedges, not selvedge cheater fabric allowed. Elly would like to bring it finished if possible, but bring it anyway if it's not completely finished - we wanna see them! Contact Elly H. if you have questions.

Also "due" at this month's guild meeting is for you to PLEASE bring your own beverage (non-alcoholic only). The burden of schlepping bottled water in and it is getting to be too hard and expensive. (Ed. note: And honestly, let's stop the environmental waste that water bottles are.)

Happy Bags are almost due we're still missing items for the bags. If you grabbed a Happy Bag donation slip from the August meeting, we really need to bring in those items to this month's meeting. We're especially looking for 240 boxes of 24-count crayons and 30 boxes of 12-count colored pencils.

Following this month's guild meeting, we will have a Happy Bag/Free Sew Day at the Goeske on Saturday October 22nd. We'll work on Happy Bags in the morning and then you're invited to work on whatever you'd like in the afternoon. We'll enjoy a Salad Potluck as usual and you're invited to bring some tasties!

Looking forward, the Quilts Of Valor Foundation will hold its annual Quilt of Valor Sew Day on Saturday, February 4, 2017, and we already have booked the Rancho Callabero Carefree MH Park Club House! Susan C. would like to remind everyone that the ideal size for a QOF is 60" x 80" with the minimum at 55" x 65" and the maximum at 72" x 90". Click here for more information.

And finally, for those who enjoy looking at the pictures from our guild meetings, I had to update the little slideshow thingy on the top right due to technical reasons - it's now a YouTube slideshow video with both links to a full sized video as well as the full size images on Google Photos. Hopefully it works for everyone. :)

I've also changed our Previous Photo Albums on the sidebar as it was getting a little long in the tooth and have created a new Photos page available directly from the top menu bar. This will store permanent links to all our photos that are older than 6 months. Enjoy!

- Cassandra G.