Rockbridge Pieceworkers Quilt Guild

Volume XVI Issue 8 August 2010

President's Message

Dear Quilters,
What a great quilt show. The quilts were wonderful and so different - as we all are! Eighteen of our guild members entered quilts; I only wish more of us had. I think all the visitors enjoyed the display.

We had fun at our July meeting showing and admitting to our oldest UFO. I really had to search to find mine since the pile is high!! And we have much in store for all for the remainder of the year: Bargello placemats in August, paper piecing trunk show and workshop in September, rag quilts in October, Dear Jane trunk show and discussion in November, and then our annual Christmas party. I hope you can all join in the fun.

Did you know that our guild was started 15 years ago with just a handful of enterprising quilters? We will celebrate the 15 year anniversary at the end of this year. Look for information in the upcoming newsletters.

Keep cool and keep sewing.

Carol

Meetings and Programs

AUGUST: Mary Adkins will lead a Bargello Workshop. There will be a small amount of homework for this class which was given out at the July meeting and is also is posted on the website under Upcoming Events.

SEPTEMBER: Jane Hall - Foundation Piecing. The meeting at the W&L Law School will be very special with a Friday night trunk show at 7pm by Jane Hall called Firm Foundations:Past and Present. The following day Jane will be holding a workshop with the same name. She will teach us a potpourri of ways to foundation piece. The lecture will be free and open to all guild members. There will be a charge for the workshop. The Materials List is on the website under Upcoming Events. Jane has published a couple of books, one of which is "Every Quilter's Foundation Piecing Reference Tool" - 2009, co-authored with Dixie Haywood. Visit Jane's website at www.janehallquilts.com

OCTOBER will be a Denim Rag Quilt Workshop led by Joanna Lotts.

NOVEMBER we will have a "Dear Jane Show" by several of our master quilters who are working on or have finished this amazing project.

CHARM SQUARE EXCHANGE

There has been some discussion about continuing the Charm Square Exchange which seems like it has been going on forever; or, perhaps changing it to an exchange of Jelly Roll Strips (2 1/2 inches) or something else. Give it some thought and we will discuss your ideas at the next meeting.

2010 RPQG & Rockbridge County Fair Quilt Show

Many Hands Make Light Work!! from Sue and Alma.
  • 25 Members helped with setting up, receiving, hanging & returning the quilts, taking notes for the Judge, printing the descriptions, providing a display on quilting, loaning quilts, taking it all apart...all the labor of making it happen.
  • 27 Members served as hostesses during the 4 days of the Show, helping the public understand the beauty they were seeing and keeping them from touching!
  • 6 Husbands volunteered their help setting up and taking down the racks: Bert Brasz, Pete Gruner, Lash LaRue, George Richards, Elmer Vansant, & Dave Vehrs .
  • 3 Youngsters - 2 children and 1 grandson also helped with the set-up and take down.
  • 18 Members plus a Junior member (Jason Hutchinson) entered .
  • 30 Quilts in the judged categories, showing a high level of skill and design.
  • 12 Ribbons were won by RPQG members, including Judge's Choice! See photo of Marcia's Stars Around the Garden below.
  • 15 Quilts were loaned (6 Challenge, 4 comfort quilts, 3 red & green quilts,1 double wedding ring hanging and 1 Quilt Diva) for decoration and examples of our work.
  • 13 Non-members (from Blacksburg, Hardy, Lynchburg, Roanoke, Rockbridge Baths, Staunton & Vinton) entered 23 Quilts in the judged categories.
  • 295 Votes were cast for Viewer's Choice.


    • Alma Flippen and Sue LaRue wish to thank all of you who helped make this show a success again. Things went smoothly with these many hands! The only real glitch was having the air-conditioning broken for 3-4 days before coolness again reigned.

    We sincerely hope we haven't forgotten anyone as we made this list of folks who offered their time, ideas, strength, and talents.

    Set-up crew (putting the racks together) and Hanging the quilts: Scottie Belanger, Teri & Bert Brasz, Judy Glick, Brody Flippen, Pam Gatlin & George Richards, Ann & Pete Gruner, Shirley Hemmings, Lash LaRue, Karin O'Callaghan, Christine, Brody & William Taylor, Kerry & Elmer Vansant, Marcia & Dave Vehrs & Helen Wilkinson. Many of these folks showed up several days.

    Receiving the Entries: Sally Carter, Mary Quarles, Sue Smith, Carol Schoner.

    Judging Crew (white-glove ladies, scribes): Mary Ann Bowden, Deb Carsillo, Sarah Fitzgerald, Pam Gatlin, Judy Glick, Ann Gruner, Zora Jenkins, Nancy Leoncavallo, Melou Piegari, Carol Schoner.

    Returning quilts: Gail Caldwell, Sandy Davis, Pam Gatlin, Judy Glick, Nancy Leoncavallo, Karin O'Callaghan, Carol Schoner.

    Hostesses: Special thanks to Julia Kozak for chairing the Hostess Committee and Linda Baldwin, Mary Ann Bowden, Teri Brasz, Gail Caldwell, Sandy Davis, Bonnie Gates, Judy Glick, Shirley Hemmings, Dianne Herrick, Erin Hutchinson, Karen Jackson, Zora Jenkins, Kim Kerschl, Julia Kozak, Nancy Leoncavallo, Marcy Molinaro, Kathryn Park, Debbie Pfeiffer, Melou Piegari, Mary Quarles, Carol Schoner, Bonnie Spoon, Janice Vaughan, Marcia Vehrs, Ruth Washington, Helen Wilkinson for service as hostesses..

    Guild table, Quilting Information & Winner's Board: Dianne Herrick, Julia Kozak, Ann Gruner

    Publicity: Carol Schoner, Deb Work

    Quilt description Cards: Deb Work

    Our special thanks to Carol Schoner for being such a huge help in our planning and for being there at each stage to assist us as needed

Check here each month for quilting related items to buy, sell or trade by members. If you have something to include, send your ad copy and photo (if applicable) to Nancy at webmistress@rpqg.com

AUGUST Birthdays

Kitty Tilson - 8/4
Zora Jenkins -8/6
Christine Taylor - 8/16
Judy Glick- 8/17
Nancy Badertscher - 8/25
Melou Piegari - 8/27
Edie MacCorkle - 8/28

Bits 'N Pieces

KUDOS, THANKS and "ATTA GIRLS" to Alma Flippin and Sue LaRue who probably got very little rest last week as they seemed to be at the Quilt Show most of the time. For what it is worth, ladies, you did a marvelous job. Granted, you had many willing and reliable helpers, but you took responsibility for the show and made it happen. Julia did a great job coordinating hostesses and our president, Carol, was everywhere making sure everything was running smoothly.

There were a few excellent quilters on the RPQG Membership List who were missing from the entries this year. It is hoped that you are working on something Spectacular for 2011!!

I noticed in the local newspaper that two of our members won ribbons in other areas at the fair. Darin Docekal won a second place ribbon for her pastel in the Art Show and Aline McKenna won several ribbons in the Horticulture Show. Congrats, ladies.

Shirley sent me a neat website for you free motion ladies to check out. www.daystyledesigns.com offers over 150 video tutorials, each on a different free motion design.Also, you can check her out on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V94ishGR1II&feature=player_embedded#!. Shirley says " She has TONS of small how-to free motions designs done on the sewing machine. Thought it was a great resource for ideas when it came down to quilting your own quilts of a manageable size. They're sized for blocks and open spaces. She demos a new one for each day of the year. (Ran across this via a blog link for some long arm tutorials)." Thanks a bunch, Shirley. I really DO appreciate all the help I receive from our members regarding interesting items to pass on to all of you.

Our new Comfort Quilt Ladies are Christine Taylor and Gail Caldwell. If you have made a comfort quilt to donate or you know of a need for one, call or e-mail one of these ladies and they will be glad to help you. Their info is in the latest Guild Directory.

In June Sue Smith told us about a doctor she knows at AMC who has been diagnosed with brain cancer - after surviving prostate cancer. A beautiful "manly" comfort quilt was donated by Sarah Fitzgerald. Sue mailed the quilt to the doctor who called her immediately after he received it with many thanks to her and the group who makes these wonderful quilts. I know we all hope that the quilt will bring comfort to him and his family.

September will mark the 15th Anniversary of our guild. My mailbox is not overflowing with stories from the earlier days of the guild. Kerry has sent me some information and so far she is the only one! Doesn't anyone else have a story to tell?? I would really appreciate your help with this.

RPQG QUILT SHOW WINNERS

Hand Quilted Machine Quilted Duets Innovative Other Youth Group
  • HM Betty Harris - In the Pink


    • THE RPQG CHALLENGE

    For those of you who are new members, this Challenge was issued in July of 2009 and lasted until the December meeting. Lots of nice wall hangings were produced by our membership, nine of which were available for entry and/or display at the show and are pictured here. I will post individual photos in subsequent newsletters.




    Viewer's Choice Award went to Eleanor Pletta (our president's sister-in-law) for her Blooming Nine Patch. The vote was SO CLOSE so I would like to give the results of the top vote getters. A total of 295 votes were cast. Eleanor Pletta won with 25 votes. Jessie Pullen (Casey's Wedding Quilt) and Nell Townley (Hawaiian Breadfruit Tree) had 24 votes and Marcia Vehrs had 23 for her Stars Around the Garden. Congratulations to all.

    Recipe Corner

    Sweet Potatoes and Black Bean Enchiladas from Ruth Washington Preheat oven to 450 degrees
    Steam or boil sweet potatoes.
    Mix with curry, salsa and salt; mash until creamy
    Drain and rinse beans. Mix with garlic, cumin and lime. Set aside.
    Grease a large baking dish and coat with salsa.
    Place tortilla in dish, top with sweet potato mixture, (about 2 Tbsp) and bean mixture (about 2 tbsp). Wrap and roll to the end.
    Repeat with remaining tortillas.
    Top with salsa and cover with cheese.
    Bake at 350- degrees for 30 minutes.
    Top with salsa and sour cream when serving.


    Hostess Schedule

    Thanks to the July Hostesses: Sandy Davis and Sue Smith

    August: Marcia Vehrs, Shirley Hemmings, Linda Baldwin, Debbie Pfeiffer
    September:
    October:
    November: Bonnie Spoon and Bonnie Gates

    As you can see, a little more help is needed. Please sign up for hostessing a meeting.

    Carol Schoner has put together a list of Hostess Duties and a checklist of supplies. See her if you have any questions.

    Artists in Residence

    Ruth Washington

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    I was born a yankee in Lowell, MA. At 19 I married my sweetheart, Hal, and moved to Atlanta, GA where he attended Georgia Tech. I consider myself a southerner.

    We have 2 sons, 5 grandchildren, one great grandchild and another one on the way.

    After several moves, we came to Lexington in 1970 and didn't want to leave. Hal was with Columbia Gas and also was a western style square dance caller. I traveled with him. I had a "traveling square dance shop" and made all the dresses for the shop.

    Hal and I hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, living out of our back packs for 5 1/2 months and 2145 miles. Our trail names were "Flash" and "Hot Flash".

    I joined the quilt guild in 2007. I have made many friends and have learned so much.






    If you have something you would like to include in a newsletter, please contact the Webmistress at webmistress@rpqg.com.