200903 News

SEW 'N TELL March 2009 Issue No. 210 Web Address: http://www.aaqg.net

Mailing: Ankeny Area Quilters' Guild, P.O. Box 961, Ankeny, IA 50021

“Sharing a common thread!”

Board Meeting The next board meeting will be Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 6:30 p.m. at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Ankeny. Come see the trunk show of Sandy Gervais's quilts at our March 10, 2009 meeting, 7:00 pm, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Ankeny. The show will be presented by Pat Lucas from Heartland Quilts, (Sandy Gervais will not be at the meeting). Many of you recognize Sandy's name from her Moda fabric lines or her patterns from her company "Pieces from My Heart." In the spring of 1994, she attended her first International Quilt Market in St. Louis, where she was discovered by Moda. Designing fabric allows Sandy to work with different color palettes, which is her favorite part of designing. Join us for Carol Doak's presentation "Paper Piecing, When, Why and What If" in April. Don't forget to sign-up for Carol's workshops too, you may contact Linda Northwick for details, 964-5594 As a best-selling author, celebrated teacher and lecturer and award-winning quiltmaker, Carol Doak has greatly influenced the art and craft of quiltmaking for more than a decade, both in the U.S. and internationally. Carol Doak has been called the "Queen of Paper Piecing"—she has raised the popularity of paper piecing, her trademark technique, to heights never before seen in the world of quiltmaking. Her accomplishments include a sizable collection of popular books, including Easy Machine Paper Piecing, which was named by Quilter's Newsletter Magazine as one of the 30 most influential books in the past 30 years. An impressive range of her beautiful blue-ribbon quilts have been featured in several books, such as Great American Quilts 1990 and The Quilt

Encyclopedia and on the cover's of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, Quilt World, Quilting Today, Ladies' Circle Patchwork and McCall's Quilting.

PRESIDENTS LETTER RETREAT TIME!!!

Retreat is my favorite quilting time of year, I get more sewing done on those 4 days than any other time of year. Let me explain. I have already started preparing for retreat I get out kits (quilts that I have cut up or just have fabric and patterns matched up) and then I decided to get more ready for sewing. My next step is to start sewing some of the kits because I don't like to do any of my re-cutting at retreat, I get tired and will make mistakes I fear. Then there is the retreat it's self, along with all the fun with friends I usually get 5 or 6 quilt tops most of the queen done at retreat, it makes my little heart happy. I also get some of those jobs done that I do not like to do with the "encouragement" or should we call it harassment of friends, like quilting the 5 donation quilt tops that I have had done for four months. Come to retreat you will love it. I hope most of you heard that Anita Uthe passed away and if you wished had opportunity to go to the visitation or funeral. Anita was a long time member of our guild and will be missed. To pass news like this on we have started this year to email those on our newsletter list and ask that they pass the word along since it would not be possible to call each one of you. Because nice matters, Debbie Pierschbacher, your president

Secretary's Report

It's Challenge Time!

AAQG Board Meeting Minutes, February 3, 2009

Members present: Kim H., Deb P., Pam Messer, Randi, Susan Body, Mary Lou, and Ramona. The garage sale earned about $287. The checks were sent to the State Fair and the Chamber. For the State Fair we will be awarding the 2nd and 3rd place winners in the pieced category. Went over the budget. The newsletter ads were discussed – help is needed to keep track of the ads for the newsletter. It’s not an overwhelming job but just a little additional help for Susan would be great. The quilt show still needs an advertising person. The set up position has been filed. Quilt Guild Meeting Minutes, February 10, 2009 There were 82 members present and 6 guests. Deb announced that almost $300 was raised for the guild by the garage sale. The President’s Challenge is NO purchased fabric for the front or back- only bating can be purchased. Remember this is a Stash Buster! The deadline is June. There are still 8 slots open for the retreat see Therese Lumley for more details. Therese also thanked everyone for his or her kindness during this difficult time. Pam Clarke will be the featured speaker at the Quilt Show. She is a Long-arm Machine Quilter and has a book out. The raffle quilt will be on display next month and packets for tickets will be available. Mickey Depre presented a program: Tips, Ticks and Other Stuff; which was excellent. Who would have thought there was another use for the pencil eraser that we put on our pencils when the eraser wears out! There are still openings for class tomorrow. The meeting continued with the door prizes, block lottery, and the b-day honorees. The Challenge was unveiled- it must be a 9x12 or smaller, and the theme is: When I am old I will… Refreshments were served. Respectfully submitted, Ramona Tapper

If you missed our last guild meeting you missed the announcement for the guild challenge on May 12th. This years theme is “When I am old, I will _______”. This year's challenge quilts have a maximum size of 9” by 12”. You may consider donating your challenge quilt to the Priority: Alzheimer's Quilt Project. Quilts need not be about Alzheimer's---they only need to fit our challenge theme “When I am old, I will ________. If you were inspired (last year) by Ami Simms' “Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative, but never got your quilt made (or maybe you would like to make another quilt), please consider entering the AAQG Challenge ! You may donate your quilt directly to the Priority: Alzheimer Quilt Project or after the quilt show in July Donna Jo and Kay will be sending in a group donation for the guild. If you have any questions, please contact: Donna Jo Smith, 963-9224 or Kay Huntimer, 964-1851. Learn more about the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative: www.AlzQuilts.org

Many of us were touched and inspired by Ami Simms when she spoke of the Alzheimer's Initiative & her mother. So it is with sadness that we share the news Congratulations to Linda Schlenker , the lucky block lottery winner. The block lottery pattern for March, the that Beebe Moss, age 85, of Flint Michigan died Saturday, November 29, 2008 after a seven year battle Virginia Reel, is on our website, www.aaqg.net The with Alzheimer's. Beebe was the mother of Ami March pattern should be made in greens & white. Door prizes were won by Gloria Ross & Gloria House. Simms.

February Prizes

Retreat Update! Therese Lumley announced at the last guild meeting that there were still a few openings for retreat on March 26-29. Call her ASAP if you would like to join the fun too! Phone Therese at 964-3328.

Introducing a new bundle of joy— Kenna Jo Parker!

Adel Quilting & Dry Goods Co. 909 Prairie Street in Adel, IA phone: 515-993-1170 www.adelquilting.com —and Chat with us at our new Blog! www.adelquilting.blogspot.com

Country Quilt Studio

Congratulations to Laura and Ryan Parker on the birth of their new baby girl, Kenna Jo. She was born on January 25, 2009. She's so adorable!

Vicki Swensen 975 W. Lincolnway; Suite B Nevada, Iowa 515-382-1815 www.countryquiltstudio.com LONGARM RENTAL—CUSTOM QUILTING Classes, Retreats, Workshops

Quilting Connection 238 Main Street, Ames, IA 50010 phone: 515-233-3048 www.iaquilts.com [email protected] Over 6,000 bolts of quilting fabrics, kits, notions, hundreds of books, patterns, Husqvarna Viking Sewing Machines and Sergers, on site machine repair and servicing, quilting classes and classes for machine and software mastery. Celebrating 10 years in downtown Ames!

Best Wishes for a Happy Birthday! Kris Brighton Laura Parker Ruth Chitwood Kelly Snyder Sandra Foster Louise Whitlow Connie Ryan Linda Balentine Kerry Stanley JorJan Johnson Louann Hunt Peggy Palmer Jan Hart

March 2 March 8 March 9 March 10 March 14 March 14 March 16 March 18 March 26 March 27 March 29 March 30 March 31

March Treats Thanks to Patti Whitham, Judy Pierschbacher, Lois Harmon, Joann Olson, Pat Taylor and Cecilie Vogt for our March treats. Please bring a liter of pop and 2 dozen cookies or bars. Also have someone in your group bring cups and napkins. Thank you so much! Quilters are rarely accused of using performance enhancing drugs--but if they start testing for chocolate, we're all in big trouble!

Program News—Coming in January 2010 We've got some great programs lined up for next year. Shelly Burge presents "Collecting Toy Sewing Machines." Come to the Lecture and Trunk Show of vintage machines and quilts, either made on or inspired by antique toy sewing machines. Plan on attending Shelly's Workshop: String Piecing-Building on Tradition. Learn more about Shelly at her website:

http://www.Shellyburge.com

LOOKING FOR YOUR OPINION Would you be interested in a BAGS-BAGS-BAGS (AKA Bag-apalooza) workshop next year? There would be 3 instructors, 3 bags, and a full day of creating. All attendees would have a chance to learn how to make all 3 bags. This would be a springtime workshop. Mickey Depre returned to our guild in February. Her program “Tips, Tricks and Other Stuff” was loaded with inspiration & clever ideas. You can see her again at the AQS Show in Des Moines this October.

Eastern Polk Guild—Program News The Eastern Polk Guild has some exciting programs coming up over the next few months that you may want to attend. Susan Cleveland will be speaking in April. Many of you may remember, she was our featured quilt show speaker in July 2005. She's known for her “piping hot binding.” Dorothy Faidley will speak about entering items in the fair, in May. In June, Karen Spencer shows how to do fabric discharge dyeing. If you missed her workshop when she visited us in September 2007—now's your chance! To learn more about these programs and the Eastern Polk Guild visit their website: www.http://epqg.home.mchsi.com/

Central Iowa Shop Hop Thursday, March 26, 10-7 Friday & Saturday, March 27 & 28, 10-6 Visit shops in Ames, Ankeny, West Des Moines, Adel and Clive. Earn 15% discounts (some exceptions) at all shops and participate in a scavenger hunt with a chance to win great prizes. The grand prize, to be drawn from those who answer all the scavenger hunt questions correctly, is 35 years of fabric!

What bag designs (styles and/or patterns) would you like to see included? What day of the week would you prefer? Planning is underway, so please let me know your opinion as soon as possible. Thank you! Pam Messer, Program Chair Elect, phone: 220-4240, email: [email protected]

Quilter's Cupboard We are moving! We will be closed March 15-17 to move to our new location. New Address: 706 SW 3rd Street, Ankeny, IA 50023

phone: 515-963-8758 Hours: Monday-Friday., 10 am-5:30 pm Thursday, 10 am-7:00 pm Saturday, 10 am-5:00 pm http://www.quilterscupboardiowa.com

Posh Fibers modern & traditional inspirations full bolts at wholesale designer fabrics, patterns & kits quilting, sewing, crafting excellent service great prices secure online shopping POSHFIBERS.COM 5YARDSHOP.COM becky mcgregor, owner 720 ne 42nd St., ankeny, iowa p: 515.975.0906 e:[email protected]

Block Party Studios, Inc. Unique products for quilters including hand printed fabric, patterns, kits We now sell quilting fabric 30% off select notions all the time! 1503 West K Avenue, Nevada 800-419-2812 check our website for directions to our store Secure shopping online Hours M-F, 8:30-5, Sat 10-5

Creekside Quilting 9926 Swanson Blvd., Clive, IA 50325 515-276-1977 www.creekside-quilting.com Hours: Mon-Wed 10 am-5:30 pm, Thurs 10-7 pm Fri-Sat 10 am-5 pm, Sun 1-4 pm 3700 bolts of fabric, notions, books, patterns Classes, Friendly staff of experienced quilters

Quilt Show 2009--it will be here before you know! submitted by Lanae Rohwer We’ve had several inquires regarding which gemstone baskets groups have adopted so here’s the list of baskets with the groups who adopted them. Amethyst-Purple Kit---Show committee contact: Lanae Rohwer Sapphire-Blue Kit-------Quilt Divas contact: Kim Manthe Emerald-Green Kit------Evening Stars contact: Cecile Vogt Ruby-Red Kit------------Sew Flakes contact: Deb Pierschbacher Topaz-Yellow Quilt-----Piece be with you contact: Kay Huntimer Baby Quilt----------------Rippin’ Strippers contact: Lynn Koester Baby Kit------------------Hunny Buns Becky McGregor Basket content needs to be given to Lanae or MaryLee by the May meeting. We will put the contents in the baskets and take the baskets to the quilts show. Pam Clarke is the featured speaker at the quilt show this year, here is a little about Pam and the lecture topics. Pam Clarke has been quilting since the late 1960’s and sewing for 46 years. She lives in Spokane WA and grew up in Sacramento CA. Pam has been machine quilting and teaching machine quilting, piecing and appliqué classes since 1988. She is the owner of Homes Stitches, a professional machine quilting business that was started in 1988. Her work can be seen in several published magazines and books.

Pam Clarke’s quilt show lectures titles and short descriptions: Quilt As Desired and Design Works: Learn how to read a quilt and know what designs will work best for different types of quilts. Pam will share with you her knowledge on what type of designs to use for Traditional quilts, Contemporary quilts and Appliqué quilts. Design with Lines: Whether you are a confident beginner or an advanced machine quilter, you will find this lecture packed full of valuable information so simple to learn that you will be amazed at the versatile and exciting ways you’ll approach machine quilting.

winning acclimates for my quilts, published artist, public speaker, and a pretty good dancer. And I have to mention extremely lucky in marriage and family.” “I might also mention I do have a life outside of quilting and that is golf for which I thank my husband, Mike, to help in the achievement of that goal.” Pam Clarke has a quilt shop, Log Cabin Dry Goods, in Spokane, Washington. It is the largest shop in the area offering thousands of fresh fabrics, quilting supplies, classes, and long-arm services. Country Store Donation Like we said, the Quilt Show will be here before you know it. Think Spring! Think Country Store donation! We really appreciate your creative and generous donations!

Coming in November 2009, Betty Lenz "Oh, Those Crazies!" lecture and workshop. Website: www.bettylenzquilts.com

Try Something New! submitted by MaryLee Martz

Designs With Lines is a machine quilting technique developed by Pam Clarke to speed up marking quilt tops, using simple lines as a guide to create individual designs. This Old Quilt: Are you unsure of Machine Quilting and older/antique quilt top because it will loose its value? Pam will discuss the how, why and when or if they should be finished. Elegant Borders: Borders, borders and more will be the topic of discussion in this lecture. Working with corners and sashing/lattice is the goal using several straight line stencils as reference points to develop outstanding designs to help speed up your marking and quilting time. A little bit more about Pam Clarke...in her own words. “Quilting has been an important part of my life for over 30 years along with, of course, the most important people in my life, my husband and my three children.” “I was born sometime in the 50's, which makes me about twenty-something. I have achieved award

As a fellow quilter I want to share a wonderful web site with you all. You can learn quilting tips, techniques and make new quilting friends here in Iowa. Just follow these easy steps for your connection to a new quilting experience. Go to www.connectingthreads.com then click on “Quilt with us” click on the sign up (at no cost) then click on “Meet & Share” at the top. Then click on “Groups” there is a group that is for “Iowa Quilters” click on that. You can make your on page and add friends, you can see what others are doing, all across Iowa! Enjoy!!

Monica only needed one project to payoff her longarm but so far had found no takers for a silo cozy. Beard guards (AKA whisker guards, chin guards, or chinners) once protected quilts from mustache wax, whisker burn, skin oil, drool, and any number of other things. Typically they were basted in place then removed for washing.

Vice-President's Letter submitted by Laura Parker I am so proud of our guild! At last count, our guild has made 48 donation quilts and five kids' activity bags. It will be an honor to present these quilts to Children & Families of Iowa, ChildServe and the Children's Hospital in Bangladesh. Remember that the quilts going to Bangladesh should measure 32 x 42. The other quilts can be of any size. The activity bags are new this year. The directions and fabric for these bags will be available at each guild meeting. The directions were also printed in the February newsletter, still available at www.aaqg.net. I hope to make 50 bags this year to use up all the donated fabric. I know we can do it! Thank you to everyone who has taken time to generously make a quilt or bag, I can't wait to see how many we can make by Quilt Show time.

unique, entertaining, humorous, and beautiful to make the public aware of breast cancer, to memorialize those lost to the disease, and to honor survivors. This exhibit will tour South Carolina until Oct '09 at which time individual Artfull Bras will be auctioned and the proceeds donated to the Best Chance Network, a program to provide care and treatment of uninsured women across the state who are diagnosed with breast and ovarian cancer. We only have room for a few photos in the newsletter so go online and take a look---these bras are amazingly creative & hilarious too!

Great Tips for sharpening your scissors & blades. submitted by Cyndee Davis I have Gingher Applique Scissors bought almost in 2000 and I learned from other ladies on the lists (online groups) how to sharpen ALL my scissors at home myself - even my pinking shears - and Applique Scissors - with Aluminum Foil and it WORKS.

Sports Bra - Angela Faulkenberry

Take a sheet of Aluminum (Tin) Foil and fold it in half and half again. Take your scissors and cut through it, and do this 3 or 4 times. How many times this will take to sharpen your scissors to their original or better sharpness will depend on how dull they are. I sharpen mine once a month. Be careful after sharpening because they may be even sharper than when you bought them - I have even re- sharpened my rotary cutter blade this way.

THE ARTFULL BRAS PROJECT Thanks to Judy Ward and Cyndee Davis for sending us the link to The Artfull Bras Project. This is a website you are ALL going to want to visit—it will make you smile.!!

Tickled Pink , My Sister's Sense of Humor Linda Vandiver

http://www.quiltersofsc.org/artfullbras/artfullbras.htm

Members of Quilters of South Carolina have created one-of-a-kind bras for Breast Cancer Awareness. The exhibit consists of fifty original works of art which are

When making a T-shirt quilt, consider donating the backs of the T-shirts for cancer patient comfort caps.

Pine Needles Sewing Center 1000 Old Marion Road NE Cedar Rapids, IA 52402 319-373-0334 www.pineneedles.net OK, I admit it---I’ve never been to Cedar Rapids. But wow, what have I been missing!?! What a cool shop! This building was actually built to house this quilt store. As I entered the shop, I was really impressed by the natural light and how I was able to see all the true colors so well. Then you realize just how big this shop is! One neat feature at Pine Needles is a color wall of fabric. It's so amazing to see bolts of fabric all lined up, gradating from color to color. filled with Berninas. There are classes on Bernina machine mastery, machine embroidery and a wide variety of technique classes. There are sewing clubs and classes for young sewers, girls night out, using scraps from your stash for projects, making bags, garment sewing—you name it—there's a class on it.

Pine Needles is really a quilting destination carrying LOTS & LOTS of fabric, threads (a huge selection of silk!), many patterns & books, Bernina machines, embroidery software, sewing tables, the list goes on and on! The new Pine Needles store opened last April with Alex Anderson cutting the ribbon at the grand opening.

Pine Needles services all makes and models of machines. I'm always a little scared to turn over my trusty machine to a shop for a long period of time, so I asked about the turn-around time for servicing. They told me you can call and let them know you’re coming, drop it off--shop a while or have lunch, etc.-and they could have it done in a few hours!!! Wow!

Pine Needles has quite a line up of “Quilt Celebrities” visiting this spring. Quilt, fabric designer, teacher, Kaye England, will help kick off the new “Block of the Month” program. When you register for “Be There, Get Your Square 2009”, along with the 28 fat quarters, & the patterns for the program, you will also get to attend a party with KAYE ENGLAND on Friday, April 17. Ricky Tims is coming to Cedar Rapids on May 8 & 9th for a dinner concert and luncheon classes. All the events will be held at the Marriott and Pine Needles is now accepting registrations. Seating is limited, so register SOON. In case you were wondering Pine Needles offers classes---LOTS of them! There are two classrooms in the store. Upstairs is a huge loft with a classroom

It's time for new spring fabrics, new inspiration and a road trip to Pine Needles in Cedar Rapids! It's an exciting shop—well worth the drive. You can find driving directions & store hours on their website.

Ankeny Area Quilters’ Guild P. O. Box 961 Ankeny, IA 50021

FIRST CLASS

Bad Weather Policy

If Ankeny schools or school-related evening activities are canceled or dismissed early due to inclement weather, no monthly guild meeting or monthly board of directors meeting or any other guild activity will be held that evening.

Moved? Article ideas? Questions about the newsletter? Please send items or address changes before the 20th of the month to: Susan Body (984-6937) or Celeste Muehlenthaler (965-8966) Or email: [email protected] Please put “aaqg” in the subject line

AAQG BOARD MEMBERS 2008-09 President

[email protected]

Deb Pierschbacher

685-2036

Vice President

[email protected]

Laura Parker

986-4172

Secretary

[email protected]

Ramona Tapper

984-6401

Randie Bartleman

979-8141

Treasurer Director at Large

[email protected]

Donna Jo Smith

963-9224

Diretor at Large Elect

[email protected]

Kay Huntimer

964-1581

Retreat Chair

[email protected]

Therese Lumley

964-3328

Retreat Chair Elect

[email protected]

Roxie Brown

963-0558

Program Chair

[email protected]

Linda Northwick

964-5594

Program Chair Elect

[email protected]

Pam Messer

220-4240

Quilt Show Co-Chair

[email protected]

Lanae Rohwer

963-8186

Quilt Show Co-Chair

[email protected]

MaryLee Martz

779-2538

Quilt Show Chair Elect

[email protected]

Lisa Starr

988-6127

Newsletter Co-Editor

[email protected]

Susan Body

984-9637

Newsletter Co-Editor

[email protected]

Celeste Muehlenthaler

965-8966