Guild Meeting set for Thursday December 15th

Advent Calendar by Ahhh...Quilting

Hear ye, hear ye!! The Janet Goeske Center is NOT available for us on our normal night this month, so we have confirmed with the Center to reschedule the meeting for

Thursday December 15th

Same location (The Janet Goeske Center), same time (6:30-9:00pm). Please be sure to mark your calendars!!

As as additional reminder, this month's meeting is our Semi-Annual Potluck where everyone is invited, but not required, to bring a snack to share. It is also when we will be receiving the annual Raincross Quilt Guild Board Member nominations. If you would like to nominate yourself or to nominate someone else (with their permission!) to a board member position or to volunteer for a Chairperson position, please be prepared to do so during the meeting. We will vote on the board during the January meeting and the board will take affect at the February meeting.

We will also start receiving 2017 membership dues of $25 at the December meeting; we request all membership be in by the February meeting. Please note that all of us are busy people (especially so this month!), so checks written to the guild may not be cashed immediately. If this poses a problem, please consider paying in cash or with a cashier's check and thank you!

See you on the 15th!

- Cassandra G.

November 2016 Meeting Review

"Merry Christmas" to Alice after she stole Jeri's quilt!

Now that the tryptophan has worn off (and I'm over my cold - ugh), here's your November 2016 meeting review!

It was an action packed evening with our annual Grab Game exchange and our intrepid leader, President Jeri R. started us off with words I think we all feel - "I love being here!" We do too, Jeri, we do too. :)

Sharon C. spoke about Threads of Love. Garments made for Threads of Love from Raincross go to those in need at Parkview Hospital. Sharon said that we unfortunately need more garments and she will have more kits ready to go in January. If you have a kit, please do your best to get it finished and bring to the next guild meeting. We are also planning a Sew Day for Threads of Love coming in the spring. We talked about getting the patterns for the crocheted caps and booties here on the blog and I haven't gotten those yet from Sharon - will post those when I do.

Road to California is coming up fast and now is the time to sign up as a volunteer! Most volunteer positions are for white-gloving, which means donning a pair of white gloves and turning over quilts so visitors can see the back side. I volunteered last year for the first time and I loved it! You get to see the quilts SO much better and share your passion with visitors. You also need to police your area and make sure "handy" visitors don't touch the quilts - it's sad, but there are some who don't understand and I had to admonish a few folks last year who should have known better.

Anyway! If you volunteer for one 2 hour shift, you get a Road ticket/wristband FOR FREE! Do two shifts and you also get a "ROADIE" badge to add your cascading Road pin, and with three shifts, you get early sign up access to next year's classes.

Also of note, Road is teaming up with the Robert and Beverly Lewis Cancer Care Center and Anita Grossman Soloman to make as many quilts as we can on Saturday night, January 21st. Here click to learn more. If you can't make it that Saturday night, you can make blocks ahead of time and either turn them into the Road office in Ontario or Renee will be collecting them at both the December and January guild meetings.

Elly H. introduced us to our last BOM pattern called Another Star - no, really, it's called "Another Star". So creative! Now's your chance to get caught up on your stars as we'll be bringing in our completed 2016 Star BOM quilts at the February meeting.

Next we had our Show N Share and you can check out all the beautiful quilts in the photo gallery. One quilt of note: Elizabeth E. shared her beautiful Circles Quilt that she's finished and the flabbergasting news that it was rejected by Road - WHAT?! The judges must have been blind...we loved it, Elizabeth! Check out more photos and some free patterns for the circles on Elizabeth's blog.

And the main event - the annual Grab Game featuring the winter theme inspired Itty Bitty Picture Perfect Quilts! We saw many amazing mini quilts - and if you couldn't quite see them, definitely make sure you check out the photo gallery! Thanks to everyone who "made something so awesome they want to keep it for themselves" - it really elevated the quality of all of the quilts!

IMPORTANT! The next guild meeting WILL NOT BE ON THE NORMAL DAY! We hope to finalize the date in the next day or so and I will post it as soon as we know.

UPDATE: The meeting is now scheduled for December 15th!

Having said that, the next guild meeting is of course our semi-anual pot luck and everyone is invited, but not required, to bring a treat to share! Jeri also requested that we bring quilts and hand made items from Christmases Past for the Show N Share - this will be a time for you to show something that perhaps you made years ago.

Also a reminder to those in Susan M.'s 9 Patch group - your next batch of 30's themed 9 patch blocks is due at the next guild meeting!

Door Prizes:
Christmas Yard Sign - Jeri R.
Wizard of Oz Santa - Linda A.
Snowman Boot - Julie M.
Moose - Sue C.
Giant mug - Dawn M.

Mystery Box:
Vangie

- Cassandra G.

It's tough, but it's a short week that ends in pie and shopping

Sorry I'm still a little late on the November guild meeting review, but I do have the pictures up and Elly H. already has our last 2016 BOM pattern up so you can get busy on that this weekend.

Many of you may be traveling and/or super busy getting ready for relatives and the ginormous feast, but think about a post I saw on Facebook this week..."it may be a busy week, but it is short and it ends in pie and shopping." I'm definitely down for that!

So, as a pre-cursor to the review and in light of shopping, here a few upcoming shopping events you may not want to miss!


From M&L: "M&L Fabrics and Jenny's Fabrics are offering to you, our friends and customers, 20% everything in our store!

There is no coupon to clip, just visit the store between November 25th - December 11th and stock up! 20% will automatically be deducted from your total at checkout."

OMGosh OMGosh OMGosh!!!1!!1! That brings the flat fold fabric down to just $2.38 a yard!


Piecemaker's is also having a few sales coming up that you might be interested in. First, the entire store is 25% off for Black Friday! Woohoo!

And on Saturday December 3rd, from 9am to 4pm, they will hold the Piecemakers Christmas Fair: "A whimsical holiday event in a quaint village setting. Over 70 artists with the finest in hand crafted treasures, and antiques/collectibles. Kids activities, stage entertainment by Swing Shift, Piecemakers’ Band, and Cripple Creek Cloggers. Great food booths. Admission and parking are free." Click here to learn more.








If you know of other awesome sales, please let me know! Or if you score something awesome on Black Friday, tell us! OMGosh SHOOOOPPPIINNNG!!!1! (and pie!)

And the warmest of Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I am thankful for all of you, for our community of fabric hoarders and quilt craftspeople, for titanium plated topstitch needles, and for fancy seam rippers that make me almost happy when I have to rip out yet ANOTHER seam. What are you thankful for? :)

- Cassandra G.

Reminder: Guild meeting Tuesday!

I always try to find interesting and inspiring quilts to show on my posts and with Thanksgiving right around the corner, I really wanted to show a quilt that featured my favorite part about Thanksgiving but gosh darn, no one has ever apparently made a "mashed potato quilt", or at least taken a photo of it and put it on the internet. Get on it, quilters! :)

Miniature Fall Art Quilt by UniquelyJenCreations

You've got a few days left before our meeting to finish your Itty Bitty Picture Perfect quilts for our annual Grab Game:

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!

Please bring it (and NOT the acrylic stand - leave that at home) in an unmarked bag.

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
• Itty Bitty Picture Perfect quilt
• If you were born in March, May, September, or November, you are invited to bring a snack to share (but it's not required!)
• Bottled water or other nonalcoholic drink

See you all Tuesday!

- Cassandra G.

Making your own custom fabric and fabric labels

Quilts of Valor chairperson Susan C. has discovered a nifty online store called Spoonflower where you can design and have printed your own custom fabric on a number of different types of fabrics.

From Susan..

As an ambassador for The Quilts of Valor Foundation, I have been blessed to receive many beautiful quilts from all over the US that I award to our veterans.  On some of the quilts, I noticed a printed label with all the required information as well as details like washing instructions and places to list all the artists that created the quilt.  I contacted The Quilts of Valor Foundation and they referred me to www.Spoonflower.com where I discovered we could order anything we could think of printed on any type of fabric.  I found a quilt label for my church quilting group, and the designer modified the label for my church at no charge.  The designers receive a small royalty when an order is placed.  We were able to bring the cost of our label down from just over $1.00 to $0.18.  I found exactly what I needed from many options for our Quilts of Valor (see photo) at just $0.39.  Just imagine what we could design!

- Cassandra G.

Don't forget to vote!

As craftspeople and curators of the beautiful art of quilting, which is quite literally a part of the fabric of this great nation, we as quilters and as so many strong women and men need to remember to vote today. Thank you to the many beautiful, courageous, and brave veterans who fought and sacrificed for us and our country to ensure our freedoms and the right for all citizens to vote.

So get out there and let your voice be heard!

- Cassandra G.