QGN letter February 2011 issue

Quilt Gathering Newsletter ~ February 2011 issue

Hello Fellow Quilters~
Welcome to the 6th QGN letter. Reminder time, I still need EVERYONE’S top three weekend tentative choices and of course that includes which month. Please send me that information as soon as possible.
New at the QG this year

“Quilting Jar”
I came across a wonderful book that I highly recommend which I read and then I read it to Mom. She also thought it was a great book. The book is called Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright. The idea behind the QJ comes from the moral of the storyline in this book. This year we will have a QJ where we will be collecting spare change to help with door prizes & game prizes.

New Items on Website
Recently I added a Recommended Book List to the website for all the books either I am putting in the QGN’s or that I am getting feedback from each of you that you think we might like. Please make sure to check that frequently as it will be updated on a regular basis.

Website tips/feedback
Some of you have recently let me know that you would like to be able to add comments to the QG blog and are not sure how to do that.

One way is to create your own blog and sign in, then go to the QG blog and you can leave a comment.

Another way you can try is to go to the QG and leave a comment as a guest anonymously.

Or a third way would be to go to your favorites/bookmarks or through your list of blogs you follow as a subscriber, go to that person’s blog and leave a comment (similar to the first option except that this option says you already had it bookmarked/were following and the first option said you were not).

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Accomplishments & Works in Progress

Several of us have online blogs where we write and post our photos of works in progress and I would like to make others of us aware of those websites. If you don’t have internet at home you probably could view the sites at your local library.
Melissa: http://mo-craftymo.blogspot.com
Mary Jo: http://deltabelle74.blogspot.com
Seth: http://stresslesscraftmore.blogspot.com
Anyone else have their own blog with your projects you’d like to share?
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Monthly Quilt Pattern/Progject
This month the quilt pattern we thought we would share is The Brick Path Quilt:

http://www.amybutlerdesign.com/pdfs/LotusQuilt.pdf . Please see the enclosed insert for everything you will need- template, sewing directions, materials list, and all the step by step photos that will be very helpful. The finished scarf is 72 “x 72”. Enjoy!

Interest & Reading Corner
What kind of upcoming events/happenings/festivals are you aware of that you think others might enjoy checking out?
Any new quilt or fiber stores of interests?
Are there any new books or magazines that you would recommend sharing?
We would love to hear from you of what new & exciting things are happening near you.

This month has been less soggy and we’ve had a few more days of sunshine here on the Canal. Budget wise it still is a juggling act to afford to get out & about. As always though, that does not slow this geography quilter & “girl of many talents” down one bit ;-).

I recently visited Ruby Street quilting store and came across a local long-arm quilter in my area. Her name is Linda Schmitt and her business is called Enchanted Quilts. She is located in the Steamboat Island area on Hwy 101 between Olympia & Shelton. She does very nice quilting (I still think Linda in Omak is amazing!).
“Upcoming Events”
Sewing & Stitch Expo, March 3rd to 6th in Puyallup, WA. Here is the link: http://www.sewexpo.com/about-expo.htm .

Recommended Reading
Came across some books in the library today in B-town that I think several of you would enjoy. Here is the list:
Knitting Loves Crochet by Candi Jensen
Long and Short Stitch Embroidery: A Collection of Flowers by Trish Burr
Crochet In Color by Kathy Merrick
Knit One, Felt Too by Kathleen Taylor
Knit Green by Joanne Seiff
Chicken Soup for the Scrapbooker’s Soul
The Decorated Journal: Creating Beautifully Expressive Journal Pages by Gwen Diehn

New Idea for a 2nd spinoff letter
“All Things Scrappy”
There are several of us who also like to scrapbook and as you can tell this one newsletter can’t contain everything. I’m thinking of putting together an additional letter to cover as a focal point new stores/items/info whatever that have to do with scrapbooking. It probably will come out to all of you on an every other month timeline. Just something new for the New Year and to look forward to:-)!