May 1 meeting
We had eleven lovely ladies at our May meeting: Barbara, Sharon, Susan, Michelle, Dianne, Margarita, Lou, Marsha, Sondra, Debbie, and Robbie.
Annoucements: Lou clarified volunteer hours/parking (She passed around the latest schedule for volunteers, so find your spot and sign up!). For every 4 hours you work in the registration booth, you get one two-hour class free (so you don't have to pay for that day). If you have any questions about volunteering at the registration booth, call Maria Trevino at ASG National. For every 4 hours you work at the Sales/Hospitality booth(s), you get that day's parking free. Check with Suzy Seed for details.
Sondra announced that she is stepping down after MANY, MANY years of being Group Leader--so many she couldn't remember how many! Robbie will be Interim Group Leader until the group can formally vote in December.
Show And Tell: Lou showed off the fantastic scarf she knitted. She got the yarn from Mary Maxim's website (the instructions are there also) but Joann's carries the same yarn with the instructions on the wrapper. Marsha has been very busy--she passed on some good information she got from patternreview.com: when sewing on rickrack, use your roller foot. The roller foot holds the rickrack in place (I never would have thought of that--thanks Marsha!) She made a wonderful knit top (sorry I didn't get any photos) from Kwik Sew 3740 and a raglan sleeve tee for her husband from Kwik Sew 2561. Debbie brought in a number of wonderful old dollies that would make great embellishments (Margarita got them so be sure to bring your creations in for Show and Tell!) Michelle showed off a couple of "instant gratification projects": pencil rolls that would be great for knitting needles or crochet hooks, too. She's been working on her Simplicity ASG project and brought it in for some advice. She made the jacket as a reversible vest with piping all around the edges and armholes. Her question was how to put in the piping around the armholes without stitching on the exterior. This is going to be so great, Miche, so when you get it finished, be sure to bring it in for more photos! She also showed off the bias jacket she made and painted at the Patty Dunn workshop. Robbie and Lou also wore their bias jackets but I didn't get photos of them--Debbie's still working on hers but when everyone has their jacket finished, we need a group photo! Robbie brought in the quilt top she made with thread painted panels and a top/jacket combination she's been working on.
Program: Instead of a regular program, Robbie asked for suggestions for programs for the rest of the year. The general consensus was that the membership wanted more hands-on programs. Some ideas were: jelly roll quilts, thread painting, knitting Lou's scarf, and fabric bowls. Since the conference is coming up, and the Chapter plans to sell kitchen stuff in connection with our cookbook, the group decided that the next two meetings (June 5 and July 10 --date tentative!) we'll work on potholders, aprons, tea towels, and whatever else strikes our fancy for the Sales Table.
The August 7 meeting is TBD right now--but since the conference is just days away, we'll likely be talking about it and making any last-minute arrangements.
Our September 4 meeting will be about the conference, talking about the great classes and wonderful vendors.
In October, we'll work on a jelly roll quilt top and in November we'll show off our IQF finds. The year will end with our Christmas Party on December 4.
2012 is going to be a fun, busy year for You Sew Girls!
Continuous Bias Binding Instructions (January handout)
Judith sent us the handout from the January meeting on how to make continuous bias binding.
Thanks Judith!
Attachments:
March 2012 Meeting
We had thirteen members and guests at our March meeting: Debbie, Sharon, Marilyn, Barbara, Lou, Sondra, Dianne, Margarita, Pamela, Karen, Judith, Jere, and Robbie. (The Webster groups were also the biggest single contengent at the 2012 Retreat at Camp Allen with 11 ladies representing the great south side!)
Show And Tell:
Pamela showed the cute, cute, CUTE little onesies she made and finished at retreat. Karen showed off the great flower she made at Monday's Wearable Arts meeting from Lou's poinsetta pattern. Jere Smith brought in a great needlepoint case she made during her Needlepoint Cruise to New Zealand and an absolutely fabulous Texas quilt she made from fabrics she got at last year's Quilt Hop. We talked about two local quilt shops that may not get much attention: Catcus Quilts in Texas City (http://www.cactusquilts.com/) and Pinwheels and Poises in Dickinson (http://www.pinwheelsandposies.com/). Check them out! Debbie showed the beautiful butterfly she made at retreat. The butterfly was supposed to be a placemat, but Debbie said (and we all agreed) that it was much too pretty to eat on so she's going to do another one and have them as wall hangings. Robbie showed the great jacket she made at Retreat from the shoulder princess block she made in Lorianne's Fit for Life class. She also brought in a new book, Color Mastery: 10 Principles for Creating Stunning Quilts by Maria Peagler and the workbook she started doing the exercises in the book. Marilyn brought in 21 clicker bags she made. (Yea, Marilyn, Way To Go!)
Annoucements: There are about 270 recipes for the ASG Houston Cookbook but we'd like to have at least 300. Even though the webpage says the deadline was 2/19, Robbie is still accepting recipes--so please send them on!
Registration is now open on the ASG webpage for Patty Dunn's Bias Jacket class. Register EARLY as the two classes will be limited to 20 participants each!
Program: Dianne and Lou presented the program on making flowers and ribbon trim. Dianne talked about yo-yo's, which became popular in the 20's and 30's but are now so much easier to make with Clover's templates (http://www.clover-usa.com/). Yo-yo's can be flat, fluffy, hexagon, or flower shaped. Debbie said that Clotidle (http://www.clotilde.com/) has yo-yo templates for butterflies! Dianne brought in a jacket Georgia did--she purchased a basic jacket and embellished it with bias trim and yo-yo flowers....spectacular! Other places for ideas on using yo-yo's are Sew News February/March 2012 issue and the book Fabulous Flowers by Sharon Baker. Also, the latest issue of Threads has an article showing how to make leaves using a hair crimper! Lou talked about the two beautiful Christmas latticework vests she made. She originally took a class and liked the look but not the techniques the instructor used, so of course, our ever-creative Lou figured out a better way! For the poinsetta, she bought a silk version and took it apart to use as a pattern. The latticework is made from fabric tubes. For the first vest (the traditional colors) she threaded a bit of batting into the tube but for the second one (that gorgeous pink) she didn't use the batting. She said that one trick to remember is that the latticework has to be pinned to Solvey until after the facing is attached. She discussed how she uses wired ribbons to make flowers (and said the trick is to secure one end before starting to pull the wire and gather the ribbon (ask her how she knows!)
Dianne presented "shell smocking" by Kennth King (it's also in the book Ribbon Trims by Nancy Nehring) and the group spent the rest of the meeting making their own ribbon trims! See the article in Threads by Kenneth King (http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/22717/how-to-make-ribbon-trim/page/all).
2/7/12 meeting
Eleven ladies showed up for one of the most informative meetings ever! We had: Constance (who is in the process of moving to Kansas City), Margarita, Karen, Dianne, Judith, Lou, Debbie, Marsha, Naomi (from the Wearables group), Robbie, and a guest, Barbara.
Announcements: Remember that the 2012 Conference will be here, at the Hotel of the Americas, from August 16 through August 20. Lou is in charge of volunteers--and she will be needing each and every one of us!
Craftsy.com has on-line classes and a Block of the Month class for FREE! Check them out. Two other great online sites are gorgeousfabrics.com and fabricmartfabric.com..
Judith and Karen presented "The Burn Test" to help identify fabrics. We learned that the burn test is reliable for 100% fabrics (like 100% cotton or 100% polyester) but less so for blended fabrics--but it will at least get you in the ballpark. The ladies had some great handouts--and, if they can send them to me electronically, I'll post the links to them (instead of trying to summarize all that information)
Attachments:
YOU SEW GIRL Christmas Party
YOU SEW GIRL held its Holiday Party on December 6, 2011, with lots of good food, good laughs, and most importantly, GOOD FRIENDS! Nine members were present: Dianne, Constance, Pamela, Sondra, Margarita, Judith, Karen, Lou, and Robbie.
Here's to a Happy and Healthy 2011!
Mad Hatter Tea Party
The Houston Chapter's Annual meeting was a "Mad Hatter Tea Party"--and, as you can see from the pictures, the ladies from YOU SEW GIRL were well represented!
September meeting
Kudos to Margarita who took the notes and the photos! (And my humblest apologies for taking so long to get them posted!)
ASG You Sew Girl NG September meeting:
Ladies attending were Sondra Smith, Margarita Johnston, Dianne O'Dell, Judith Allen, Sharon Mitchener, and Marilyn Simmons.
A comfortable, low-key, friendly evening of just talking sewing! (I love this group!) Sondra reminded us of the change in schedule for the nest two months of meeting -the second Tuesday of October and November.
For Show and Tell, Sharon shared with us a technique of pulling fabric through a canvas to make rugs and all sorts of crafty things; a really clever craft idea. She showed us a beautiful little throw rug she had made and some samples of trivets.
This was the month we were to show off our 2011-Make a Bag, and five of us had met the challenge. Judith, Dianne and Karen got together for a "sub"-challenge and made bags from the same pattern; each was unique and really fun! Margarita tried to incorporate three of the techniques we had talked about at meetings this year -Crocheted flowers for embellishments, the use of texture magic, and the machine ruffler attachment. She was successful with two of the techniques, and recieved lots of information to become sucessful with the texture magic for her next purse! Sondra showed us her delightful bag made out of old husband jeans and new embellishments. Sharon showed us her bag she had made a while ago with quilting/seger techniques -bright and fun!
Great job! Now that we have the perfect bags -we can head for days of shopping at the Quilt Festival!
We also talked about the upcoming year. Sondra asked for ladies to volunteer to lead a month. This would be a great help and the rest of us LOVE to hear what everybody is doing!
July 2011 Instructions for the Puzzle Blouse
Lou demonstrated the Puzzle Blouse at our July meeting. Here are some instructions I put together for this neat and simple top.
Attachments:
August 2011 Meeting
WOW! We had a nearly full house for August! What a great turnout.... We had 15 ladies for the meeting, including two guests. Members on hand: Jere, Marsha, Robbie, Emily, Dianne, Debbie, Marilyn, Margarita, Pamela, Sondra, Judith, Kay, and Bobbie. Our two guests were Peggy (from the Wearable Arts group) and Kristi. Kristi thought the shop was open and came in to look around--but she stayed for the meeting! Hooray!!
Show and Tell:
Sondra just redid her daughter's bedroom and reminded us that the most cost-effective way to change up a bedroom is with a "Bed In A Bag" (ask her how she knows!) She made a dust ruffle and used her ruffler foot! We want to see it, Sondra!
Debbie showed us some patchwork bargatello with serged seams on the outside--can't wait to see how she uses this!
Ask Karen about her pink skulls...............
Pam wanted to know what kind of elastic would be best to use in baby's clothes. . . .the general consensus was soft cotton, in 3/8" or 1/2" widths. (We want to see the finished product!)
Kay brought in the bias top made using the instructions in Threads #143 and one of the popular wristlet purses she'd made (but didn't realize it was reversible!)
Emily showed off a knit block for a top inspireced by Lorianne's class. She stressed the importance of using clear elastic on the shoulder seams with knits to keep them from stretching. She also told us about the importance of doing test strips whenever you start to sew--machine settings can get messed up!
Marilyn had a BIG THANK YOU for the donations to the 4-H Camp! She showed off a photo album made from folded paper that looks really fun as well as the super dinosaur quilt (and book) she made. She asked if anyone knows what fabric is used inside reusable snack bags. . .
Marsha brought in a pair of exercise shorts she made for her husband using a pattern from Kwik Sew. She passed around a snap setting kit she got from snapsource.com in Troy, Michigan.
Margarita says she's geared toward the upcoming Cotton Patch; her girls are working on retro dresses. She's following that trend herself but has had trouble finding the right cotton--black cotton twill. But she dropped in to Hobby Lobby and there it was!
Karen is working on her challenge for the Wearable Arts group on surface manipulation. She's doing reverse applique for an eyeglasses case. Reverse applique just sounds HARD!
Dianne brought in a velveteen shoe bag and her copy of Ready, Set, Serge. The book is a great resource for little gifts--something to keep in mind with Christmas coming up.
Robbie made a quilt top and hopes to have it finished by Christmas.
Announcements:
Deadline for the Cotton Patch is August 12. The Cotton Patch Fashion Show will be August 27--see everyone there!
The meetings in October and November will slip a week, to the second Tuesday of the month (10/11 and 11/8).
Purse challenges are due next month!!!
Program: Sondra demonstrated how to make an 'almost no sew' Quilt Star Potholder. These are quick and would make good projects for kids cause there really is almost no sewing. The instructions are attached in a pdf file.
Attachments:
July 2011 meeting
First, a HUGE THANK YOU to Margarita who kept the notes and took the photos.
There were six ladies at the July meeting: Margarita, Lou, Dianne, Gloria, Debbie, and first-timer Georgia. Georgia attends the Wearable Arts group and we're delighted she came to visit us!
There was lots of show and tell (as normal for this super creative bunch!): Georgia wore a fabulous top she'd embellished with a hand-painted flower. She also brought along an album of her hand-painted silks and other creations for us to droll over! Lou brought in a finished handbag she'd created with the Texture Magic she demonstrated earlier this year. It's a wonderful piece! Gloria brought some patterns and fabric that have inspired her to get sewing again (You Sew Girl!) Margarita showed off her latest shower curtain to show how she'd learned to use her ruffler successfully! And major Kudos to Debbie who showed up with FOUR Painted Turtle pillows!!
Lou demonstrated how to make a Puzzle Blouse; these are very easy and cool summer tops that lend themselves to creative variation.
July Birthdays!
Let's have a shoutout for all our July birthday ladies! Except I don't know who you are. . . .so please let me know who you are so we can celebrate!
June 2011 Meeting
Ten members (Judith, Karen, Marsha, Dianne, Emily, Kay, Margarita, Marilyn, Sondra, and myself) and two guests (Shannon and Lana) were on hand for our June meeting. Sondra talked about her New York trip (says it was HOT!) and it sounds like the ASG ladies were BUSY, BUSY, BUSY! Besides the usual NYC sights, the group was able to get a 'behind-the-curtain' view of the garments used in "Wicked" and a tour of McCall's Paterns. Of course the group hit the NYC fabric stores (including Mood, made famous by Project Runway) and many of the ladies had to have their fabric purchases shipped home!
At McCall's, Sondra learned that they are coming out with Kathryn's wedding dress (from The Royal Wedding) as well as Pippi's bridesmaid dress. Speaking of wedding dresses, Margarita brought in some photos of the wedding dress she made for her neice last year and oh, was it gorgeous!
Show and Tell: Emily brought in the most wonderful soft cottons made in Indonesia. She had yards and yards and yards in blue and brown and the best part was that she was giving them away!
Dianne talked about the very successful Charity Sew In; we completed three Painted Turtle Pillows there and she got two more than were taken home and finished. Plus loads and loads of Cool Ties--keep 'em coming, ladies, these are really needed in this terrible hot weather we've been having lately. Besides the Cool Ties she finished, Marsha brought in a cute little apron she made from Kwik Sew 3518 (view A) and that chic little wrist bag she made from Vogue 7354. She was wearing a cool cotton blouse and skirt that she'd made too. Great job! Karen showed off the fabric panel she'd altered using Texture Magic; it's going to be part of the purse she's working on for the Wearable Art group's challenge (and our purse challenge, too, I hope!) Judith told us her "Hancock's 40% off coupon" tale (question: when is a notion not a notion?) and the phone conversation she had with Hancock's Regional Manager. His name is Richard Robinson, his phone number is 713-614-6518, and his email address is RRobinson@hancock.com. Mr. Robinson sounded very helpful when Judith talked to him, and said that he couldn't fix the problems we've all encountered at Hancock's unless he heard about them and apparently the best way to make sure he hears about the problems is to contact him directly. (Of course, it would be good to let him know about any GOOD experiences you have at Hancock's, too!) Marilyn told us that she welcomed any and all donations to the 4-H Camp (including cook books); you can drop the donations off at Fabrics Etc and she will pick them up. Sondra was inspired after Margarita's crochet lessons and brought in two roses she made using the rose pattern---but as they are in totally different types of yarn, the two flowers are very different! She also brought in her daughter's favorite skirt--which she replicated to make her daughter's NEW favorite skirt. Sondra wore a lovely mock-wrap skirt she'd made from a Connie Crawford pattern and described shopping in her closet and finding lots of tops to wear with it. Robbie wore the shirt she made in Lorianne's fitting class and demonstrated just WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO MAKE MUSLINS! She also brought in an apron she made from the basic apron pattern from www.sailrite.com and showed off the fancy ruffle.
PROGRAM: Robbie demonstrated how to use the ruffler attachment and by the end of the evening, everyone was ruffling right along! She brought in two of her machines, Margarita brought in her machine, and Lana brought her machine, so we had four machines up and ruffling.
Here are some good websites for ruffler instructions:
Ruffler Foot Instructions by Parksbird Patterns (http://www.sharkatek.com/ruffler.htm)
Why You Can't Live Without a Ruffler Foot (http://blog.sewingpartsonline.com)
The Ruffler. . .Unruffled: A guide to buying, optimizing, and using a ruffler attachment (a free download from You Can Make This.com---https://www.youcanmakethis.com/info/featured-products/free-the-ruffler-unruffled.htm)
Another good resource is the Sewing Machine Attachment Book. Look for it on amazon or barnes & nobles.
I'll be posting a link to photographs of rufflers at work at www.robbiesews.blogspot.com in the next few days.
Finally, Sondra reminded us that our purse challenge ends in September, so get working on 'em. She also would like us to share photos of a non-sewing item that now we can't live without in the sewing room. These should be really interesting!
This last is 30 pages of just about everything you need to know to be a happy ruffler.
Charity Sew In June 11
What a wonderful, successful event! We worked on Painted Turtle Pillows and Cool Ties and I think I hear Juanita say we'd finished 200 Cool Ties that day, plus three Turtle Pillows!! Plus, we all had a great time! :-)
During the course of the day, two folks came into Fabrics Etcetera looking for seamstresses--so the day may turn out to be profitable for a couple of You Sew Girl ladies!
Shout out to our June birthday girls!
Well, actually, I don't have anyone on the list with a June birthday--but it's a pretty small list! So send me your birthday and contact information so I can give you a shout out by NAME!!!
Louise Cutting 2011
YOU SEW GIRL NG was very well represented at the Louise Cutting seminar on Saturday, 5/21. Can't you just see all the inspiration dancing in those beautiful eyes????
Quite a few of us were also at the Friday Sit N Sew with Louise--unfortunately, my fingers were too busy sewing to take any pictures!
May Meeting
Eleven members joined us for our May meeting: Lou, Debbie, Margarita, Sondra, Marsha, Jere, Dianne, Pamela, Bobbie, Michelle, and Robbie.
Announcements: There's a lot going on! Upcoming events include the Cottonpatch, our NG's purse challenge (due in September, ladies), Louise Cutting, and Linda Lee. Lorianne Reeves is offering a "Fit for Life" fitting class at Fabrics Etc--those of us who have taken the class just rave about it! You can contact Sondra, or Lorianne at lmreeves@aol.com, or sign up at Fabrics Etc. She is planning on a second class, two days this time, covering princess seams.
Lorianne is one of the co-leaders of the Wearable Arts group that meets at Fabrics Etc twice a month. She asked if our group would be interested in getting together from time-to-time with the Wearables NG? We might bring in a special speaker or have a joint retreat. YOU SEW GIRL members thought this was a great idea, so let's see what we can come up with!
Margarita wanted to know if anyone was interested in having a "Sewing Day" (this wouldn't be the same as the charity sew in on June 11th). We could invade her house for a long day or maybe find another spot.
Remember that the June meeting will be the SECOND Tuesday of the month (June 7). Lou and Sondra will be in New York at our usual time with an ASG tour. WAY TO GO, GIRLS! (The October and November meetings will also slip a week.)
Show And Tell: (sorry, ladies, this is going to have to wait until I upload the photos tomorrow)
Sondra had a great idea: there's always something in the sewing room that we can't live without that isn't primarily sewing-related. Let's take photos or make an example of what each of us have and post them on on a YOU SEW GIRL bulletin board at Fabrics Etc.
Program: Margarita continued with crochet instruction and, by the end of the evening, all of us were well on our way to having our own lovely crochet flowers. There are lots of good instructions for making crochet flowers on the web; two sites that Margarita found very useful are: attic24.typepad.com (crochet flowers with leaves) and favecrafts.com (flower patterns).
April meeting
Ten wonderful ladies were on hand for the April, 2011 meeting. There were eight members (Robbie, Michelle, Margarita, Dianne, Lou, Judith, and Debbie) and two guests (Betty and Penny). WELCOME! Betty is a quilter and Penny sews home decor items and loves to embellish!
Announcements:
May 6 is the deadline for the Simplicity creativity contest so get those needles moving!
Don't miss Louise Cutting on May 21. She'll have lots of wonderful ideas and inspiration and will be reminding us that "Did you make that?" isn't a compliment! <VBG>
The Cotton Patch Style Show and Luncheon is 8/27 (Saturday). Tickets are $20.00. This isn't a contest but a chance to showcase our talents--and since this is a super talented NG, I know we'll be well-represented! <hint, hint>
Speaking of well-represented, YOU SEW GIRL had more members at the Houston Chapter Retreat than any other NG! They're thinking about adding a day next year, and remember, it'll be earlier in the year, too, to give us plenty of time to get ready for the 2012 ASG Convention right here in Houston!
One of the projects the group worked on at the retreat was "Cool Ties"; these are really important and very much appreciated by the folks at Meals On Wheels who hand them out to people needing to stay cool during our summers!
Sondra has been group leader for 10 years now and would like to pass the baton on.
Two very active quilting groups in the area are the Lakeview Quilt Guild and the Bay Area Quilt Guild.
Show and Tell:
Judith brought in 15 draw-string bags for the troops that she'd finished--WAY TO GO, Judith!
Lou's sister-in-law is undergoing chemotherapy and Lou suggested that we make some Chemo Caps. She brought a pattern if anyone is interested.
Debbie brought in the beautiful quilted table runner that she was working on at last year's retreat--and finished it during the meeting! She also brought me (to show how much I was missed at Retreat) 19 cool ties, all cut out and ready to put together.
Michelle showed off a beautiful quilt top she made as a wedding present; she plans to have it quilted and bound in the next 3 days. The group suggested she try hand-tying the quilt with embroidery floss to save time--Michelle thought this might just work and save her a lot of time. We'll be wanting a report at the next meeting on how it went!
Program:
Hooray for Margarita, who stepped in at the last minute when the regularly-scheduled presenter had surgery. She talked about how to make money on Etsy and showed off some of the absolutely stunning shower curtains she's been making (and selling!) at her Etsy shop (Peeled Bananas To Go). It's not as easy as it might seem to make money--and one important factor is that it is difficult for small-scale operations to purchase supplies at wholesale prices. Fabric is about the biggest expense; Margarita stressed the need to shop around for the best prices.
Margarita followed up her discussion about Etsy with a demonstration on making crocheted flowers to use as buttons or embellishment. I'm not going to repeat the instructions she gave us as she promised to have a written set of instructions for everyone at our May meeting.
See you then!
March Meeting
YOU SEW GIRL! had nine ladies at the March meeting: Debbie McConnell, Sondra Smith, Lou Scanlon, Constance Spaulding, Jere Smith, Judith Allen, Dianne O'Dell, Margarita Johnston, and Robbie Brewington.
Announcements:
Remember that the Chapter retreat is April 1 through 3 at Camp Allen, Navasota. Registration forms are on the ASG Houston website and be sure to get them in soon! Annual Retreat is a wonderful time to sew, laugh, joke, work on projects, get help, make friends, and sleep late (or not at all!). Last year YOU SEW GIRL was well-represented at Retreat, and just ask anyone of us who were there how much fun it was! Camp Allen is a beautiful spot outside Navasota, far away from hassles and traffic. It's a great place to spend time doing what we love with good friends.
Louise Cutting will be here on Saturday, May 21 at the Hampton Inn, Galleria. She's have two presentations, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Louis is an energetic and knowledgeable teacher; the two sessions will fill up fast so get your reservations in as quickly as possible.
There's going to be another Community Sew-In on June 11 from 10-4. Like the last one, ASG Houston will have two sew-ins going on the same day--one on the north side of town and ours here on the south side at Fabrics Etcetera. This time we'll be making the Painted Turtle Pillows for this year's charity project. Each neighborhood group will be responsible for making 3 to 5 pillows. Both Sondra and Lou will be out of town that day, so they're looking for someone to coordinate and host the event.
The 2011 ASG Conference will be in Los Angeles from 8/19 to 8/21 and the 2012 Conference will be here in Houston. The Houston Chapter will be making snappy bags as a 'Welcome to Houston' gift for conference attendees.
The Annual Meeting will be at Jersey Village this year on Saturday, December 3.
Show and Tell
Constance led off the Show and Tell with a beautiful reversible jacket she made from Vogue 8522. She used view C with view B sleeves.
Margarita brought in some of her very practical pincushions for sale. These are her most popular item on her Etsy store!
Jere brought in a really cute duck-themed quilt top she made for the baby boy ("Victor") of one of the Foreign Exchange students who had lived with her. She's already sent off a ducky bath towel. We'll be looking for more creations for Victor!
Robbie brought in a ruana made from one of the lengths of fabric she'd picked up at the Stash Sale and her latest craze, Sock Dolls! (Check out the book, Stray Sock Sewing, by Daniel). She also passed around an embroidery piece that will be used for her son's wedding. The image was digitized by Penny Muncaster-Jewell, one of the leaders of the new Wearable Art NG.
Program
Lou gave us a great lesson on texture....after all, our sense of touch is one of the things that makes us human, and, as seamstresses, we all are Fabric Fondlers! (Did you know that gently stroking the pad of your thumb will relax you? Try it--it works!)
Lou passed around some copies of a few of the pieces she keeps on her 'idea board' that showed a few ways to add texture: simply sewing buttons around the v-neck of a tee-shirt, adding beading, channel stitching, or using bias tubes made from duponi silk (I know I've misspelled that but the dictionary is way over yonder and spell-check is NO help!).
Another idea for adding texture is to use Texture Magic (available on the Superior Threads website). Check out the photos to see how this just makes designs POP!
Lou also uses elastic thread in the bobbin for free-motion quilting with Solvy stabilizer. This is just fabulous!
Lou also passed around a RTW jacket she embellished with felting needles and various decorative threads and yarns. She admitted she hasn't washed the jacket yet--we'll be waiting for a report on that !
A couple of the books Lou brought in were Joyce Drexler's Sulky's Secrets to Successful Stabilizing (which has the instruction on free-motion leaves!) and Collette Wolf's Manipulating Fabric.
Finally, Sondra announced that Maggie is in the process of moving back to St. Louis. She has a new grandson there ("Gus") who is a real cutie. She's already up there but will stay on our mailing lists and we know she'll come visit us when she can. In the meantime, we're going to miss you!
Attachments:
March Birthdays
One birthday girl for March: Robbie!!
February Birthdays
We have two February birthday girls: Michelle and Georgia
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
ASG Houston Style in the City
YOU SEW GIRL was well-represented at the ASG Houston Style in the City Fashion Show! We had our own table, with Dianne, Karen, Lou, Sondra, Jenna, Michelle, Margarita, and myself from You Sew Girl, joined by Amanda (a long-time ASG member but this was the first event she attended). Our own Gloria was there, too, sitting with the Wearable Art folks. Constance was there, too, but I don't remember where she was sitting.
Lou, Michelle, and Robbie contributed entries and Lou, Michelle, and Jenna modeled their own creations as well as others' creations, too. Lou modeled Jody's black lace jacket, so it was like she was there with us, too.
There were lots and lots of wonderful vendors, but the biggest hit (I think) was the ASG Stash Sale! Can't beat patterns for a quarter and fabric at $1.00/yard--unless you were there at the end, when the fabric was 50 cents a yard!!!
The silent auction earned about $1600 for the chapter, and since four baskets were unsold, we'll be selling chances for them down the road, so the bottom line isn't in yet on how much the chapter made from the baskets.
The baskets were wonderful!!! Our "Day at the Spa" overfilled one basket, so it was divided into TWO! Other baskets that I remember were: Breakfast, Tea Time, Gardening, Quilting, Beginning Sewing, Advanced Sewing. . .and I know there were others, but I can't remember what they were. Margarita went home with the Tea Time Basket and I snagged the Beginning Sewing Basket.
This was a tremendous amount of work to put on--and I'd like to give a HUGE THANK YOU!!! to the ASG Chapter members who volunteered to pull it together.
February meeting
2/1/11 meeting notes
Unbelievable! In spite of the nasty, cold weather we had 14 members at our February meeting: Michelle Gafford, Lou Scanlon, Georgia Way, Pamela Beeth, Margarita Johnston, Dianne O'Dell, Karen Guerra, Judith Allen, Jere Smith, Marilyn Simmons, Sharon Mitchiner, Susan Siefert, Sondra Smith, and myself, Robbie Brewington.
Announcements:
Lou said that she will be going up to the Hess Club on Friday, 2/11, and will be glad to take up any garments we have in the show. She said that there were lots of entries now and the jewelry that the models are going to get to wear is fabulous! If you are one of the models, you need to be there before 10. (Speaking of jewelry, a big THANK YOU to Lou, who brought in a number of her no-longer-worn pieces to share. I've gotten lots of compliments on the black onyx se!) Lou also said that if you don't have your tickets to the Style Show, you need to get the form and money in to Janelle Archer as soon as you can. The ticket request form is on the ASG Houston webpage (there's a link to it on our homepage).
Sondra reminded us that the ASG Retreat is coming up April 1 through 3 and that there will be another sew-in in June.
Show And Tell:
Pamela showed off a set of hand towels she embroidered for a friend. The embroidery is wonderful--you'll need to share your tips on embroidering on terry cloth!
Georgia is now our 'selvage queen'! She brought in two (yes, TWO) completed tote bags for this year's challenge made from fabric selvages sewn to a foundation fabric and then pieced. They're just spectacular.
Lou gets to wear her faux fur-trimmed wool coat only a few times a year--and, lucky for us, yesterday was one of those days! The faux-fur collar is from a workshop she took with Donna Salyer at one of the ASG Conferences. (Donna's website is: http://fabulousfurs.com/)
Margarita has been (to use her own words) a 'sewing fool' this past month. She finished the wedding gown for her niece, doing her usual meticulous job matching the lace on the bodice but apparently the skirt (made of someone else) was a good example of the why it's important those little finishing details are so important. She commented that it's great that young women want to sew and jump right in--but sewing instruction is also very important and young women are just not learning it these days.
Margarita was inspired by Michelle's lace tunic at our January meeting, so she added rows of lace to one of hers. Looks fantastic! She also made some more cover-up shirts, copying them from a purchased knit version. And made herself a beautiful skirt with green lace overlay. . .and, in her spare time, sewed one of her daughters a beautiful dress for the wedding.
Jere brought in a really cute baby gift she’d made. Ahhhhh……………..
Michelle showed off a lovely trench coat she’d made for the Fashion Show (and finished sewing on the buttons during the meeting!) and modeled a sweater she’d repurposed from a pullover to a cardigan.
Program: This meeting was all about our purse/bag challenge. Sondra reminded us to incorporate the fabrics from our January meeting if we can.
Jere showed us how to make bag closures using metal carpenter measuring tapes. She brought in some instructions modified from the “Snap Happy” class she took at Sew Contempo, some ‘in-progress’ bags, and fabric to take home and try our hands at these neat little bags.
Being the super creative group that we are, ideas started flying around about other ways to use this unique closure, including how to use the metal carpenter’s tape as a closure on an inside pocket. (Can’t wait to see what our group comes up with for our March meeting!)
Sondra reminded us that, since the Houston Chapter is going to host the 2012 ASG Conference, one of the things we do as a chapter is put together the little ‘welcome bags’ for conference attendees. . .and this bag is going to be part of that ‘welcome bag’ so we’re going to be making several hundred of them between now and the 2012 Conference.
Finally, if you’re going to the Fashion Show (and of course we all are!), you might consider carpooling with me (my van sits 8). Just give me a call and let me know—Margarita and Michelle will be going up with me so I have room for more.
See everyone in March!
January 15, 2011 Sew-In
WOW! What a wonderful day! We had a visitor from up north, Bonnie Monsanto, as well as Juanita Bynam from the Chapter who brought all the materials. Plus we had 9 local NG members: Dianne O'Dell, Karen Guerra, Judith Allen, Susan Siefirt, Sondra Smith, Lou Scanlon, Gloria Riley, Michelle Gafford, and myself, Robbie Brewington, for a total of 11 sewing mavens. Not a bad turnout, not bad at all. Especially considering we completed over 160 Cool Ties and had lots of them in work at the end of the day.
Fabrics Etcetera also had a number of sale items for us to check out during the day, so several of us went home with a few new goodies.
January 4, 2011 meeting
What a great way to kick off the new year! We had 16 ladies show up, including Sharon Mitchiner, who saw the notice about our meeting in the Chronicle! Another 'visitor' (who's actually been a member for a long time but hasn't been able to make the meetings was Susan Siefert. Regulars: June Strebel, Georgia Way, Marilyn Simmons, Dianne O'Dell, Debbie McDonnell, Pamela Beeth, Kay Avery, Karen Guerra, Judith Allen, Jere Smith, Margarita Johnston, Sondra Smith, Constance Spaulding, and myself, Robbie Brewington.
Announcements: Remember your entries for the ASG Houston Chapter Style Show! The deadline has been extended; contact Loretta Phipps (ldphills43@gmail.com) for more information. Tickets to the Style Show are $35.00 for ASG members and $40 for non-members. Besides the show, there will also be exhibits of dolls, quilts, vendors, and a big stash sale! The Style Show is Feb. 12, at the Hess Club in Houston.
The Charity Sew-In for us south-side ladies is on Saturday, 1/15, at Fabrics Etcetera, starting at 10:00 to 2. We'll be making tote bags, pillow cases, and Cool Ties--ASG will provide the fabric but of course, if you have some to donate, bring it along! Bring your machines--but if you don't want to, come anyway, because there will be lots else to do! After we finish the sew-in, if we have time at the end, we may look at making that lovely Infinity Scarf.
Our NG's retreat is on hold. We're looking at a few options, so stay tuned!
The ASG Houston Chapter retreat is in April, at Camp Allen outside Navasota. It's a lovely spot and a great place to get away and SEW!
Other events to mark on your calendar:
Louise Cutting will be here Saturday 5/21
Linda Lee will be here Friday and Saturday 9/16 and 9/17
Georgia announced that Sulky is holding a Certification Class in Houston in August. The cost should be somewhere between $400 and $500 dollars. For more information, check out Sulky's web site.
Show And Tell: Margarita finished the lovely lavender slippers (hand kitted!) for our spa basket for the Style Show. She's also been busy knitting wool hats from baby alpaca wool (so soft!) and her Etsy site has been doing pretty good. She also brought in the fabric she plans to use for her kitchen windows--it's a lovely silk print that everyone agreed would look much better as a jacket than on kitchen windows!
Marilyn brought in a sweatshirt-to-jacket that is SO CUTE! We all raved about the fringe--as well as the border detail.
Georgia found fabric stamps/paint at the IQF and brought in some samples of the the stamping she's been doing. Really pretty stuff--and more than a couple ladies suggested it might make a good project for one of our meetings.
Sondra brought in a nightgown she'd made for Jenna for Christmas.
Program: Sondra talked about the purse/bag/tote challenge for 2011. You can use any pattern or design for any sort of a purse/bag/tote. From now until the project is due in September, there will be several meetings in which we'll discuss techniques, construction details, and embellishments that can be incorporated into the project. To help get us started, Sondra brought in a huge bag of scraps (mostly home decor samples) and dumped a handful on each table. The creative juices bubbled up almost immediately, with matching fabrics and textures to look for just the right combinations. This is going to be fun!
December meeting
If you were there, you know I had a slight problem keeping up with the sign-in sheet. . . .so it might not come as a complete surprise that I lost it again. Anyway, there were 13 of us and we had a wonderful time! Check out the pictures....we're such a good-looking bunch of ladies!
Lou announced that we're trying to put together a You Sew Girls Sewing Retreat at a Galveston beach house (loaned by our very own Jody Urbani!) for the weekend of January 7 through 9, 2011 and asked who might be interested in attending......if you weren't at the meeting, you can email Lou directly to add your name to the list--or respond here and I'll pass the information along.
This will be at the same beach house Jody let us use last year. It's on stilts and is located on the bay side of the island. It's a really lovely house, with lots of room to set up our machines. Everyone will have to bring food and we'll take turns cooking. BTW, the photo of Sondra on our welcome banner was taken at last year's YSG retreat!
Our next meeting will be January 4 (Tuesday). Don't know what'll be on the program yet, but stay tuned!!
There was so much food at the December meeting that I could hear the table groan!! Yes, really!! It was just fantastic--and a big thank you to everyone who brought nibbles. They were wonderful!
After eating, Lou asked us to go around the room and 'gossip'--what was the best and/or the worst thing that had happened to us in 2010. There were a couple of new grandbabies, an upcoming retirement, a lot of travel, a lot of house selling (or, more accurately, try to sell houses), Etsy sales, and relatives visiting from out of town.
There was some Show and Tell: Jenna is restyling tee-shirts and Jody showed off her lovely poncho. I finally got my quilted jacket made. The hit of the show and tell, tho, was Georgia's "Wired Women".....check out the pictures cause they're just darling!
Finally, we had our White Elephant Gift Exchange. Fabric, fabric, and more fabric! Jody started the stealing, ending up with a gorgeous dark red velvet burnout. After that, things were flying back and forth....cottons, rayons, mesh, it seemed everything crossed the room at least once.
And now we can bring the curtain down on 2010. It's been a good year, overall. We are a super creative, talented bunch of sewers, and I know 2011 will just build on the successes of 2010.
Have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and the BEST POSSIBLE NEW YEAR!!!
Robbie
November meeting
Twelve members attended our November meeting: Constance Spaulding, Jody Urbanik, Jere Smith, Judith Allen, Karen Guerra, Lou Scanlon, Dianne O'Dell, Sondra Smith, Marsha Renals, June Strebel, Maggie Klaverkamp, and Robbie Brewington. We also had a special guest: Jenna Smith.
Announcements:
12/4/2010: The Houston Chapter Annual Meeting/Christmas Party will celebrate our 30th anniversary!! It's at Jersey Village and remember to bring a covered dish (family-sized)--but not desserts as those will be provided. This is going to be a fabulous event, so be sure to come! We'll be electing our 2011 officers and drawing for that marvelous anniversary quilt Suzy brought to our September meeting.
12/7/2010: The You Sew Girl! Christmas Party (also our December meeting) Bring a dish (see the Sign-Up Section to sign up for what you plan to bring) and fabric for the fabric exchange. The fabric exchange is a minimum 1 yard of fabric (could consist of coordinating fabrics), wrapped for a White Elephant gift exchange. This is going to be a lot of fun and a great closeout to a very successful year of sewing by all our very talented, creative members. YOU SEW GIRL!
The Houston Chapter is still looking for recipes and sewing stories for the cookbook.
Next year is already shaping up to be fantastic:
1/15/2011: Sew-ins at Bunker Hill (for the north side ladies) and at the Rosemont Assisted Living (for the south side ladies). Rosemont is located at Hwy 3 an Clear Lake City Blvd, with an elevator to the community room on the 2nd floor. We'll be working on charity projects--and telling stories, jokes, and just plain ol' having a great time!
2/12/2011: Houston Chapter Show at the Hess Club. We'll be auctioning off our baskets (remember to bring your spa-related items to the December or January meeting!). The show will consist of a style show, quilts, dolls, and vendors--a little something for everyone! This isn't a contest, ladies, but a chance to show off your creative talents! Don't be intimidated--this is going to be FUN!!!
4/1 through 4/3/2011: Annual retreat
5/21/2011 (although the dates may change): Louise Cutting will be here! More details to follow, but we expect she'll be here for 2 or 3 days--enough time to do a trunk show and a class. Stay tuned!
6/11/2011: Our second sew-in. More details to come
8/19-8/21/2011: ASG Annual Conference in Los Angeles
9/16 & 9/17/2011: Linda Lee will be here!
2012 Annual Conference will be right here in the Bayou City, hosted by our very own Houston Chapter. Part of the host chapter's responsibility is preparing a small gift for the attendees, and the Houston Chapter selected the 'snap-it' bags first seen here at You Sew Girl!!! We're going to be making about 500 of these cuties--more details will be coming soon.
A new Neighborhood Group will be meeting at Fabrics Etcetera beginning February, 2011. This is a sit-n-sew group that will meet the 1st and 3rd Mondays monthly from 9:30 to 3:00 to work on wearable art projects. Doesn't that sound like great fun?
Update:
This month's Threads has the patterns for the 2011 Simplicity Challenge.
Show and Tell:
Jenna started our Show and Tell with her stuff cat. Good job, Jenna! Lou showed the reversible table runner she's working on and the really cute apron she's putting together for a Cookie Basket. Karen talked about the classes she took at the Quilt Festival and passed around the class materials for one of the classes--How To Organize Your Sewing Room (taught by a mechanical engineer). That is definitely on my "MUST DO" list! On the theme of organizing, Susan also showed the fabric bolts made by Polar Notions that she found. (I'm a big fan of Polar Notions!) Judith talked about the Halloween costumes she made and the great walking tour of Kaffe Fassett's quilts she went on--led by Kaffe himself. Maggie is another fan of Fassett's quilts. Both Judith and Maggie commented on the simple shapes Fassett uses in bright colors and eye-catching patterns. Judith also reminded us that great projects aren't perfect! Constance brought in a fabric bowl she'd made from wrapping clothesline with scrap fabric and stitching the coils together. The bowl is darling--and maybe a project for a future sit-and-sew? Constance also picked up some great fabric, patterns, and vintage buttons at the Quilt Festival. Jere told us a chilling story about the importance of second opinions--something to take seriously to heart, ladies! She also passed around a lovely purse insert she'd made. This would make great Christmas gifts! Along the same line, Marsha showed off her 'infinity scarf'. She wrote a review of the pattern on Pattern Review (she's renren), so be sure to check it out! Dianne's project for next year is a memory quilt--you'll have to keep us posted, Dianne, cause this is going to be one Very Special Quilt! Maggie showed us one of the books she'd gotten at the IQF on Kaffe's quilts and talked about the cape she'd brought in St. Louis. Kwik-Sew has a pattern for this cape--another great Christmas present idea! Jody didn't make the Quilt Festival, but did go to a motorcycle show (You Go, Girl!) and found a great leather expert (Texas City Upholsters) for any of us wanting to experiment with leather. She also showed off her cute little sewing basket she'd crocheted. Robbie found a great way to use up all those scraps--make rugs! She found the loom at Old Made Quilts. She also found some cute sewing machine fabric--and says she can identify most of the machines!
Remember that our year-long project for 2011 is going to be a purse or bag that incorporates all of the embellishments and techniques we learn during the year! (I've already picked out the technique I want to teach and can't wait to see the fantastic and creative ways you very talented ladies use it!)
October meeting
We had 11 members and 2 guests at our 10/5 meeting: Sondra, Marsha, Jeanette, Minnie, Maggie, Bobbie, Karen, Judith, Margarita, Diane, and myself, Robbie. Our two VERY SPECIAL guests were Alena and Angelique, Margarita's daughters and Cotton Patch winners! (Margarita, where's my photo?)
Announcements: For the Fashion Show (2/12/11 at the HESS Club), our group's basket for the Silent Auction is the SPA BASKET! We decided on lavender and turquoise colors and a lavender scent. Sondra reminded everyone to keep track of the cost and let her know the value of our donation. She passed a sign up sheet for basket items (at least one of which must be sewn); plan on getting your item(s) to Sondra by the end of December.
There'll also be a Stash Sale at the Fashion Show; tables will be $15.00 each if anyone wants to sell their handmade treasures (or clean out your stash!)
The Fashion Show is NOT a contest but a chance for everyone to show off--there's a limit of 2 entries per person. YOU SEW GIRL is a very creative and talented group and I know we can make a major showing in February!
Our group's Christmas Party will be Tuesday, 12/7. it's a potluck, so everyone should plan on bringing one food dish. We'll have a fabric white elephant exchange, so start going through your stash and pick out something really nice we can fight over!
The Chapter's Christmas Party on 12/4 at Jersey Village will be a celebration of our chapter's 30th anniversary. We'll draw for that gorgeous quilt Suzy brought to show, with proceeds funding our charitable works next year. You don't have to be present to win, but this is going to be a wing-dinger of a party, so don't miss it!
Show N'Tell: Marsha showed off the great purse organizer she made from Vogue V8376. Sondra showed what a little sewing creativity can do with a 'much-too-small" zipper pocket in a purse. She also showed us her kitchen towel project (can we post the template here, Sondra?) Maggie continued the 'sewing for Christmas' theme with directions on making cute aprons from kitchen towels. (I've put the directions on the Message Board.)
Meeting: This time we talked about what we want to do next year and WOW! We really have an ambitious program! It's going to be fantastic, and really have something for everyone of us.
Here's what's on next year's agenda:
1. "Roosting Robin" challenge: create a purse (your choice of design) using the construction and embellishment techniques provided at our meetings. May include an "Ugly Fabric" challenge.
2. A Sewing with Knits class with Joann Farmer
3. My California jacket
4. A serger class with Diane Bossum
5. Community projects sew-in (pillowcases, cool ties, pillows)
6. A group retreat in the May/June/July/September time frame
That's a GREAT start to a very active sewing year! Now, ladies, your homework is to think about what else you'd like to do, what how-to's you'd like to learn (or teach!) next year.
Our November meeting will be a Quilt Show show n'tell, so see everyone then!
September Meeting
We had 8 ladies at our September meeting: Margarita, Dianne, Constance, Lou, Debbie, Sondra, myself (Robbie), and one guest, Lana. Not a bad turnout, considering how nasty the weather was!
Announcements:
Margarita's two daughters won at the Cotton Patch! Elena won a Janome sewing machine for her Audience Award and both girls won their their age divisions. I'll post pictures as soon as Margarita gets them to me.
Lou announced that the 2011 ASG Conference will be in Los Angeles on 8/18 through 8/22--but most importantly, the conference will be HERE in Houston in 2012! She raved about a class she took at conference on "A Scientific Approach to Design".
Lou also announced that she will be organizing two 'sit and sews' for next year down in our area. These will probably coincide with the two being planned for the north side of town on January 15 and June 11. More details will follow.
Sondra talked about a sewing on knits class she's organizing--the class will take longer than our usual meeting period, so she's looking at several possibilities for holding it, including having 1/2 the class at a regular meeting and the other half on a weekend or having the entire 4-hour class on a weekend. She'll get back to us with more information as it becomes available. She also said that the pattern that Joann uses is no longer in print, so she's researching other possible patterns we could use.
Show and Tell:
Lou showed off her beautiful skirt. She also told us that her monthly advice is to read the instructions first....... But we all assured her that no one could tell she hadn't, the skirt is so cute and the fabric outstanding!
Constance brought in the finished top she was working on last meeting. She used a beautiful plaid fabric and did an outstanding job of matching the plaid, even on the pleated front! (The photographer goofed and didn't get a picture of the top, so Constance, would you mind bringing it back next month?)
Program: Debbie led the program on making prairie point pine cones and using counterstitched fabric to cover round balls. She passed around several pine cones and Christmas ornaments she'd made as examples....as everything Debbie does, these were exquisite.
The group was about evenly divided between those who folded, cut, and pinned prairie points and those who worked on counterstitch..which turned out not to be as hard as it looks! I'll be posting instructions on both techniques in the next few days, so if you missed the meeting, you can still make beautiful Christmas and Thanksgiving decorations!
August 8, 2010 Meeting
We had 13 members and one guest: members were Jere Smith, Lou Scanlon, Emily Austin, Kay Avery, Sondra Smith, Dianne O'Dell, Karen Guerra, Margarita Johnston, Minnie Harria, Jeanette Hays, Constance Spaulding, and Pamela Beeth. Our guest this month was Jean Nudelman.
Margarita announced that she's made her first Etsy sale! Congratulations, Margarita!! (Check out her shop, "PeeledBananas" on www.etsy.com.)
The Lakeview Quilter's Guild is having their annual fundraiser auction on the 3rd Monday in August (that's this coming Monday, ladies!) at St. Paul's Catholic Church, Nassau Bay.
Jeanette brought us a website that might be of interest: www.jillionsofbuttons.com It's owned by Jill Gorski, phone number 719-661-9218.
Sondra reported on her trip to Switzerland (where she had to wear jackets!) and Lou regaled us with her adventures working in a sail loft.
For our Show N' Tell, Emily brought a Book she'd put together on bag-making (and check out the neat name tags she and Kay are sporting!) and Robbie wore her California Coat and bias top from the June, 2009 issue of Threads. Margarita brought her flouncy black-white-and red skirt that she's thinking about entering in the Cotton Patch Contest. Constance showed off a gorgeous jacket, top, and pants outfit she's made, while Karen and Lou wanted some fitting advice. (Here's a good rule of thumb we learned, thanks to Karen's dress: Take the height from shoulder to floor and divide that in thirds. Two thirds of that (starting from the shoulder) is the best place for your skirt/dress hemline.)
We had a good discussion about having a Sewing Round Robin for the group, and everyone likes the idea of a Rousting Robin. This is how it works: Everyone works on their own project, whatever it may be, but every month the group decides on a new technique (drawing it out of a hat) and the participants are supposed to use that technique on their project. The following month, everyone brings a sample of the previous month's technique and gets a new technique to take home and try. At the end of the Robin, everyone brings in their projects so we can all see how the different techniques turned out! That sounds like a lot of fun, doesn't it? With this super-creative group, the sky's the limit!!
Sondra is going to try to set up a class on knits and will let us know next month.
The class on Prairie Point Pine Cones was postponed until September. Sondra showed us how to weave piping into the seam so it's practically invisible. She used the beautiful pillow she made for her sewing room. I'm going to have to write out her technique--maybe even with a few drawings--and will post it here on our site.
Until next month, keep those bobbins bobbing along!!
Luncheon & Style Show by Linda's Creative Couture
Maggie Klaverkamp and I represented the You Sew Girls! group at La Strata Restaurant on Wednesday, 7/14/10 and we are both so glad we went!!
Linda Thompson is one mighty creative and supertalented lady! (As well as being super nice!) Her designs have simple, flowing lines that showcases the fabric and her embellishments....and what fabric! Silk organza and silk georgette embellished by various Shibori dying techniques (pole wrap, folding, resist, and tying) and wonderful cottons and linens that have been discharged then stamped and hand-painted, or appliqued with hand-dyed silk organza.
Coming after our excellent "Your Favorite Embellishments" meeting, this event had both Maggie and me drooling to learn more about fabric dying. We heard that there will be a workshop--still in the planning stages--on silk screening in connection with a Fashion Show scheduled for February 2011. Stay tuned for more information!
Linda had several marvelous tops made using the "Bias Top" method that came out in Threads last year (I'll have to look up the issue information and post it). She also had a great jacket/duster she calls the "California Coat" that's constructed from a large rectangle of cloth. Linda encouraged us to figure out how to make the patterns--my attempts will be posted later today at www.robbiesews.blogspot.com so check them out!
Letter from Lou
Lou asked me to post this letter about our last meeting:
“Dear Ladies,
I am so pleased with the participation in our meeting last Tuesday. Everyone there made a contribution by showing and talking about an embellishment they had used. Two or three years ago we would have had maybe two or three people demonstrate an embellishment showing me that as a group we are all learning new techniques and improving our skills.
Way to go, gang.
We need to put all of this knowledge to work by setting up demonstrations of these techniques as part of our meetings. If everyone demonstrated their technique (one or two per meeting depending on the complexity) we would then would be well prepared to do a round-robin vest, big tote bag or other item. I don’t intend for this demo to replace our regularly scheduled program, but instead be an addition to the meeting.
I won’t be at next month’s meeting but maybe someone would volunteer to go first with an in depth demo. What do you think?
Our “You Sew Girl” group is really getting into Sewing!
Congratulations,
Lou
July 6 Meeting
What an exciting meeting! We had 16 ladies present, with one guest (Jean Nadelman), and two visitors from the Houston Chapter (Suzy Seed and Veronica Cox). Regulars were Dianne O'Dell, Kay Avery, Emily Austin, Lou Scanlon, Margarita Johnston, Maggie Klaverkamp, Bobbie Cox, Minnie Harris, Jeanette Hays, Jody Urbani, Debby McConnell, Jere Smith, and Robbie Brewington. Missing in action (because she's in Switzerland, so it's ok) was Sondra Smith. Lou led the meeting.
Show 'N Tell: Emily and Kay showed off their "quilt as you go" quilts. They were made in Diane Bossom's Serge for Charity from a Kay Woods Pattern. Margarita brought a sample of the fabrics she's planning to use for her kitchen--such rich colors! Kay also brought some of the gifts she makes at Christmas: credit card holders, shoe bags, and little potholders. Lou told us about the Purse Class she recently completed, and showed us a sample of the vinyl home decorator fabric she used. She also told us that Hancock's will honor Joann's coupons--as the clerk said, "anything to keep you out of Joann's!"
Suzy Seed brought in the absolutely stunning quilt made by members of the Houston Chapter. It's going to be raffled off at the annual meeting in December (tickets are $1.00 each). Estimated value of the quilt is $1,000.00. Each block was made by a Houston ASG member; the quilting was donated by Cheri Blocker, Time Treasure Quilts. (Thanks Cheri!) The money from the tickets will be used to buy fabrics for charity, to increase the 4-H schlorships we currently support, and to donate a schlorship to Houston Community College in Fashion Design. (HCC is the #2 school in the United States for Fashion Design!) The quilt contains 30 stars, to celebrate the Houston Chapter's 30th anniversary.
Suzy also told us that the annual party (scheduled for December 4 in Jersey Village) will be a HUGE blowout so we all need to mark it on our calendars and COME!
The program was Favorite Fabric Embellishments and oh, the pictures do not do justice to all the beautiful things people brought in. Jody showed off her wonderful fabric name tag and Bobbie brought some of the pieces she'd purchased at Thrift Stores and embroidered. Suzy had her Round Robin jacket and one she'd embellished with paint sticks ("Crayolas for adults"). She also brought in a jacket she did for a class offered at a shop in San Antonio recently that demonstrated a number of fantastic techniques. Emily showed us her applique and Margarita had a dress she'd made for her daughter. She likes to use piping, but has found that doing a satin stitch makes great "faux-piping." Debbie loves to play with different techniques, like tie-dying the fabric, the cutting it, sewing it back together with ribbon between the pieces, then cutting the fabric along a different line and rejoining. What fun! Lou's jackets included a bluebonnet vest to wear at ASG Convention and a "Frank Lloyd Wright" duster she made to wear to the ASG Convention in Chicago. Lou also brought in her award-winning "Mother of the Groom" jacket she made from duponi silk. The jacket was embellished with self-fabric bias strips; it won Best Use of Embellishment (Threads magazine) in 2001.
A truly inspiring display of creativity--many thanks to everyone who brought their work and shared their ideas.
Next month promises to be equally good--Debbie will show us how to make prairie point pine cones. She says to bring Christmas fabrics with a small print and embroidery floss to match.
June 1 Meeting
For our June 1 meeting, we had 10 members (Jody, Lou, Sondra, Margarita, Bobbie, Emily, Kay, Michelle, Jere, and Robbie) and 1 guest (Vivian Darko) attend. That's a great turnout! Highlights of the Show and Tell were the Snap-Happy Bags, Lou's beautiful quilt, and Margarita's tunic with ruffles. Sondra shared an important decorating secret: find the fabric FIRST and match the paint to the fabric! Turns out it's much easier to start with the fabric then to start with the paint and try to find matching fabric (ask Sondra how she knows!). She also recommends Glick's Textile Warehouse up by I-59 and Kirby (road trip!)
Sondra read a letter ASG Houston received thanking us for our drawstring bags. The letter will be up on ASG Houston website. Speaking of ASG, the Children's Wish Foundation is looking for monetary donations for "Shirley's Dream Sewing Room" -- more information on ASG.org.
Sondra also told us that she's been talking to Diane Bossom about coming for a visit, but didn't have any details yet. Check out Diane's website (http://www.sergerplace.com/)--this should be a great meeting!!
Jody Urbani made a presentation about making tote bags from tee-shirts. SUPER-EASY!! Sew up the bottom, boxing it if you like. Then, cut the arms off, making the sleeves bigger, and cut the neck opening bigger. Jody also suggested sewing a pocket on the front of 'give away' totes to hide the logo.
Sondra showed us the tote bags she's working on, based on the "Natural Selection" pattern from the latest Sew News. She used upholstery material, so these totes are fancier (and heavier!) than the tee-shirt totes.
Next month we'll meet on July 6. Sondra will be in Europe, so Lou will be running the meeting. We'll be looking at Favorite Fabric Embellishments, so bring samples of your favorites!
Til then,
Robbie
May 4 meeting
We had a wonderful turnout at our meeting on May 4 and welcomed Heather McIntyre as a guest. Heather recently moved here from California and we're very glad she found us!
After Show n' Tell (and ladies, we've been very busy!), we got down to business -- pattern fitting. For this group, fitting is a group activity, as we all offer suggestions and learn from each other. We worked on a couple of pairs of pants, a vest, and a dress and hope to see them at next month's Show n' Tell!
