February 2008
Issue No. 197
Web Address: http://www.aaqg.net
Web Address: http://www.aaqg.net
Mailing: Ankeny Area Quilters' Guild, P.O. Box 961, Ankeny, IA 50021
"Sharing a common thread!"
"Sharing a common thread!"
The next board meeting will be Tuesday, February 5, 2008, 6:30 p.m. at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Ankeny.
Our February speaker is Ami Simms from Flint, MI. Her lecture is titled "How not to make an award winning quilt". It is a slide show and stories of her personal quilting experiences, it is a very entertaining lecture!
We will have a half day workshop the following day, Wednesday Feb. 13., on" How to improve your quilting stitch". The workshop fee is $20 and there is still space available. If you have not yet paid or if you would like to join the workshop mail your check to Jenna Ingle: 213 SW School Street, Ankeny, IA 50023. Please make your check out to AAQG.
For the class you will need: Thimble, hoop (at least 12" diameter), pre-washed 100% cotton muslin to fit it (top and back), batting, contrasting quilting thread, needle, and lamp with extension if available. Reference: See How To Improve Your Quilting Stitch.
Our March 11, 2008 guild program will feature Weeks Ringle part of the husband/wife duo who created FunQuilts! Read more about the program and FunQuilts on page 4 of the newsletter!
Winter is definitely here, fellow quilters! With temperatures like these there's even a better reason to make quilts.
I hope you enjoyed January's presenter Dawn Cavanaugh. She presented a wonderful "hands on" quilting presentation, appropriate for machine and hand-quilters alike. I learned a number of techniques I think will be useful in the future.
I enjoyed seeing all the creativity that was turned out in the "President's Challenge."—I didn't know we had a stand-up comedian in the group (Donna Jo and her "alien barf".) You had to be there.
Congratulations to Therese Lumley, who won the $25.00 gift certificate to Quilting Connection in the "Bring a Guest Membership Drive".. Many thanks to Linda Northwick, who volunteered to take the program Chair Elect position that was open.
TIP of the month: Many people believe putting your thread in the freezer helps restore lost moisture content. Putting your thread in the freezer actually dries it out. Freezers tend to dehumidify things and even food stored in your freezer will dry out if not stored in moisture and vapor proof containers. I'm sure you are all familiar with the term "freezer burn," which is nothing more than dried out portions of your food product. If you have old thread that is dry and brittle, your best bet would be to discard it and replace it with new thread. If you use polyester thread you needn't worry.
President's Letter cont.
It is made from synthetic fibers that will not dry out. Rayon and cotton thread, on the other hand, is made from natural fibers that will eventually become dry and brittle.
Cyndee Davis——President
Thanks to Linda Schanus, De Tapper, Cathy Dimit, Ann Finger, Sherie Johnson, Kris Brighton and Gloria Ross for February treats! Please bring 2 dozen cookies or bars and 2 liters of pop. Feel free to substitute items-like juice for pop. Please also bring the cups and napkins (plates are optional).
909 Prairie Street in Adel, IA
phone: 515-993-1170
131 Ankeny Blvd., Ankeny, IA 50021
515-963-8758 or quilterscupboard@yahoo.com
Hours:
Mon.-Sat., 10 am-5 pm
Thurs: Until 7:00 pm
The 2008 AAQG Retreat, Quiltin' Fever, is set for March 27th through the 30th at the Christian Conference Center in Newton. We have 36 quilters signed up so far with 4 spots left. The cost is $125 for 4 days, 3 nights and 6 meals (3 dinners and 3 brunches) or $90 for 3 days, 2 nights and (2 dinners and 3 brunches). Each room at the Conference Center has 2 queen size beds and a bathroom.
Phyllis Jessen, a past AAQG president, will be offering massages on Saturday, sign up when you arrive at the retreat, cost is yet to be determined.
Join us as we spend 4 days quiltin', laughin', dancin', maybe sleepin' (if you want), not cookin', and havin' a great time. Sign up at the February Guild meeting. Any questions, call or email Sharon Hawthorne. Home - 515-986-1246; Cell - 491-8382; Work - 281-5461; Email - hawthornequilt@msn.com
515-276-1977
Hours: Mon-Wed 10 am-5:30 pm, Thurs 10 am-7 pm
Fri-Sat 10 am-5 pm, Sun 1-4 pm
975 W. Lincolnway; Suite B
Nevada, Iowa
515-382-1815
Classes, Retreats, Workshops
641-774-2116 or carolsampler@mchsi.com
Hours: Mon-Fri 10:00 am-5:30pm, Sat 10:00 am-3:00pm
Monthly report for
Block of the month for March is spring/Easter prints. Make sure you pick up your copy!
It's Challenge time! We have big time changes and surprises for you this year! Packets are $3 each and can be picked up at the February and March meetings. Should be fun!
Diana Weirich and Donna Jo Smith
Thursday & Friday 10:00 am—8:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am—6:00 pm
Participating Shops:
Adel Quilting & Dry Goods, Adel
Ankeny Sewing Center, Ankeny
Creekside Quilting, Clive
The Quilt Block, West Des Moines
Quilting Connection, Ames
The Quilt Junction, West Des Moines
The Quilt Express, West Des Moines
Quilter's Cupboard, Ankeny
15% store-wide discounts (some exceptions may apply at each store)
FREE pattern at each shop
Visit all 8 shops for a chance to win a gift certificate!
Shoppers who visit all 8 shops will receive a coupon good for a future purchase at each shop.
Learn everything from determining the right quilting design through managing the long arm machine. I provide one-on-one teaching and mentoring while you work.
Flat hourly rate $27.00
515-221-2737
629 Main Street, Jewell
515-827-6151
3 miles west of 1-35 at exit 133
Hours M-F, 10-5, Sat 10-3
Long-Arm Machine Quilting
Jennifer Peil
Ankeny, Ia
515-277-0187
peil3104@msn.com
Call for a free estimate.
Our March 11, 2008 guild program features Weeks Ringle part of the husband/wife duo who created FunQuilts, a contemporary quilt design studio in Oak Park, Illinois. She, along with her husband Bill, bring a modern twist to the great American quilting tradition with 24 years of quiltmaking and three art and design degrees. She will be giving a lecture called " Transforming Tradition: Modernism and Quilts". Weeks describes this lecture We trace this transformation as it parallels changes in art, architecture, design and society." She will show how their designs are expressive of the era in which we live in and discuss their quilts, along with a slide show. Join us to see something new, possibly outside your own "box".
Learn more at the FunQuilts website: www.funquilts.com
1/8/08 Guild meeting
Cyndee called the meeting to order and welcomed all guests and new members. The AAQG policy for winter is IF Ankeny schools are closed, the Guild meeting will be canceled. Linda Northwick has volunteered to fill the Programs Co-Chair position. THANK YOU, LINDA!. If you haven't picked up a directory they are available tonight. Cindy announced some of the programs for our 2008-2009 year. Harriet Hartgrave, Carol Doaks, Cathy Bush, Pam Clark are a few. Deb. P. announced that we have collected 60 quilts for Children and Families of Iowa and 8 twin-size. Quilt Show Chair Sharon Mc. announced the categories for the Quilt Show (see listed in newsletter). ..Sharon H. reminded us of the Retreat, March 27-30. Sign-up at meeting. 15 spaces available yet, at the Christian Conference Center. It's a great time to get to know other members, work on projects and have fun. Jenna announced Feb. speaker will be Ami Simms, "How not to make an award-winning quilt"--a workshop is scheduled. —any questions, call Jenna 965-1585. Dawn Cavanaugh was the program for the night—Quilting Camouflage —How to fix piecing mistakes when quilting. We used wipe-off boards and markers to practice "stitching" or "quilting". With Dawn's instructions we learned how our quilting can make up for errors in piecing. It was a great hands-on program. Dawn is an awesome instructor. Show and Tell and refreshments followed.
submitted by Charlotte Stordahl, Secretary
Submitted by Anne Kruse and Sharon McCarthy
2008 Quilt Show co-chairs
It's less than six months until the Ankeny Quilt Show this year to be held July 10-11 at Faith Baptist Bible College. We hope you are making plans to enter your quilts and show your creative work.
The categories below reflect a few changes from last year with two new categories. We have added "Themed Choice" to reflect our theme of "Pieceful Days and Pieceful Nights," which is a black and white color theme. Quilts in this category must have a dominant black/white color scheme but other colors can be added as well. We encourage you to enter a quilt in this category so be creative and design a wonderful quilt in conjunction with the quilt show theme. We can't wait to see these quilts.
The second new category added was "Whole Cloth," which is reflective of a trend of both hand and machine quilting. If you have never tried a whole cloth quilt, now might be a good time to experiment. These quilts are various sizes so don't think you need to make a large whole cloth quilt. There are some beautiful smaller size designs or, better yet, create your own design. How fun that might be!
The 2008 quilt show categories are:
Large pieced
Small pieced
Large applique
Small applique
Miniatures
Mixed technique
Original art
Start to finish
Whole cloth (new)
Theme choice (new)
The raffle quilt has been sewn and is in the process of being quilted and bound. It's going to be beautiful! The raffle quilt is in keeping with the quilt show theme of black and white and has a fairly intricate design. We think you will enjoy selling tickets for this quilt. Raffle tickets and packets will be ready for distribution at the March meeting.
In keeping with previous years, prizes will be given for selling the most raffle tickets so make your list of contacts and sell as many tickets as possible. This is our one of our greatest fund raisers for the guild and allows us to have such wonderful speakers and programs.
Another fund raiser for the guild is the Country Store. At this writing, we have only two items for the Country Store and WE NEED MORE! These are items for the silent auction and money from the Country Store contributes significantly to the guild's expenses for speakers and programs. You decide upon the items and can submit them at any meeting. If each guild member would make one item, we would be in great shape. Our goal is to have the Country Store full of quilting items so attendees have wonderful choices for bidding on one or more items. It's never to early to start making an item for the Country Store so be thinking about your contribution.
Happy quilting!
Anne & Sharon
Submitted by Kay Huntimer
While I was gone in October of 2007, I received a thank you from Children and Families of Iowa. It was a form letter with typed in addition of thanking the Ankeny Area Quilters for your generous donation of quilts, fleece blankets and suitcases from Sheila Kinman.
This past week I received a hand written thank you:
Dear Quilters,
Last summer you donated lap quilts to children and families of Iowa. I saved 11 of those quilts and hung onto them until Christmas. Here at cornerstone recovery, we have 11 teens who live in our residential unit. They are here due to mental health issues and drug and alcohol problems. We try to make Christmas special for these teens but often we don't have much to give. Because of your generous quilt donation, we were able to give each teen a quilt. The kids were very excited to receive such a nice handmade gift. Thank you making their time a little brighter.
Amber Rand, Cornerstone Recovery Director
Be sure to visit them at their new location 109 N. Ankeny Blvd., Ankeny—right next to Curves.
See this quilt show at the Polk County Heritage Gallery located at 111 Court Ave. in Des Moines. It's free and open to the public from Feb. 4th-Feb. 29th, 11 am-4 pm daily, Monday-Friday. The quilt show showcases 100 quilts made by the Hope Quilters group that will go to a Christian family camp in Iwate, Japan. To learn more about this show or the Hope Quilters visit their website: www.HopeQuilters.com
Now through June 7th, there is a quilt show in St. Louis on —Missouri Made Quilts, 1850-1940. The exhibition shows nine quilts that reflect social, economic and political changes in the mid-19th century through the first quilt revival of the early 20th century. It complements "Quilts in a Material World: Selections from the Winterthur Collection," on view March 2 through May 26 in the museum's main exhibition galleries.
This event is located at the St. Louis Art Museum in St. Louis, MO. For more information telephone 314.721.0072 or visit www.slam.org
In past newsletters we've mentioned The Quilt Show, an online quilt community, hosted by Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. We also mentioned a contest that The Quilt Show sponsored; the prize was a lecture with Ricky Tims. Since several of our guild members were very interested in having him as a speaker and since he isn't doing engagements with individual guilds, this is your chance to see him and other nationally known speakers in Iowa.
Pineneedles, a quilt store in Cedar Rapids won 2nd place in The Quilt Show Contest. The contest was so close that both Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson will be coming to speak in Cedar Rapids. Learn more about seeing these or the other nationally known speakers—contact Pineneedles, (319)-373-0334, www.pineneedles.net
National Speakers and dates are: Alex Anderson, April 2008, Susan Cleveland, July 2008, Libby Lehman, Fall 2008, and Ricky Tims in 2009.
Little Amana Holiday Inn, I-80 Exit 225
Sunday, February 17, 2008 10-5
Monday, February 18, 2008 10-4
On Presidents Day Weekend 11 vendors will be offering books, fabric notions, kits and gifts for sale.
Make it a fun-filled weekend with your friends. Create your own quilting/sewing retreat or just have a fantastic shopping day all under one roof. Open sewing area available for a fee each day.
For more information call: Barb 319-668-1977 or Kathy 563-927-8017
Participating Merchants
Rainbows & Calico Things, Williamsburg, IA
The Quiltmaker's Shoppe, Manchester, IA
The Cottage Rose, Marion, IA
Adel Quilting & Dry Goods, Adel, IA
Merry's Stitchins, Jessup, IA
Heritage Designs & Needlework, Amana, IA
Expressions in Threads, LeClaire, IA
Seams to Me, Algona, IA
The Back Stitch, Elkader, IA
When Quilts Fly, Oxford, IA
Nolting Long Arm Quilter, Hiawatha, IA
Block Lottery was won by De Tapper.
January's Door Prize winners: Kelly Snyder & Roxie Brown.
This is the last month for the Golden Oldie Mystery Quilt!
This is the last month of the mystery quilt series by Judy Hopkins. Our "Golden Oldie". quilt is revealed—what a nice quilt. Enjoy!
Submitted by Marlene DaRos
Sewing with silk need not be scary or messy (all those shredded threads) due to its tendency for fraying rapidly on the edges. ?The easiest way to sew with silk is to rough cut the silk pieces for small things and then iron them onto freezer paper. Draw on all the patterns using a Micron pen onto the silk. Let ink set, then paint my fray preventer on the drawn ink line with a No.4 round brush making sure it is soaking through but not overly spreading. Let dry. Then you can cut on the drawn lines and viola - no fraying. Silks are sturdy. Most can take any amount of ironing and washing and they dye or overdye really well, even using simple Rit. Using my paint overdye on silk is also good as it helps the cut edges to stay crisp. Always use the finest NEW needle you can and I highly recommend the use of cotton Aurifil thread to sew with.
Printed with permission, www.gailwilsondesigns.com
Submitted by Marlene DaRos
Supplies needed:
Eight Tea Bags (like Lipton Tea)
Container to soak fabric (large enough for 8 cups of water with room to spare)
20 x 22 inch piece of white quilter's cotton
Boil about 8 cups of water and pour the water into the container. Add seven tea bags and let them steep for 5-10 minutes. After steeping, squeeze the bags by placing them in a large spoon, wrapping the strings around the spoon and squeezing . The tea bags are full of hot water so be careful!
Saturate the quilter's cotton with tap water. Add the wet fabric to the tea water and press down with a utensil until the fabric is mostly submerged.
Soak the fabric for about one hour. Then wring out the excess tea water from the fabric. Lay the fabric on a couple layers of paper towels to dry.
You may add a slightly darker border by soaking one tea bag in a small amount of hot water and squeezing the tea bag over the fabric, about 4 to 5 inches from the edge. Simply let the tea bag drip onto the fabric. Hang the fabric or lay it flat until it is completely dry.
a tip by Mark Lipinski,from Quilter's Home Magazine, June 2006
There is one tip that I've become known for that has been a hit from the time I shared it on Simply Quilts and in each of my classes. It's my recipe for lavender linen water. Folks, there is nothing, NOTHING like using this water in your iron as you piece and press. It's inexpensive, smells wonderful and you might find yourself wanting to iron day and night.
Here's how you make it:
2 cups of distilled water
It MUST be distilled water, not purified, not bottled drinking water and not tap water-DISTILLED!
2 ounces of vodka, Use the cheap stuff.
15-20 drops of 100% ESSENTIAL OIL of Lavender
The oil must be 100% PURE ESSENTIAL OIL and it must say that on the label. You can find this at a health food store . Do not use perfume, crafting scents, or anything that in NOT 100% PURE ESSENTIAL OIL. I'm not kidding!
Just mix this up and use it in your iron. Make one batch at a time and store any leftover linen water in your fridge. Your are SO going to love me for this recipe!
If the Ankeny schools are cancelled (or evening activities at the schools are cancelled) due to weather there will be no quilt guild meeting or guild activities in the evening.
If you haven't thanked Linda Northwick—please do so next time you see her! She filled the board position for program chair elect. Be sure to give her your program suggestions and ideas!
Submitted by Celeste M.
From: The Little Box of Quilter's Desserts. Each dessert also comes with a quilt block pattern inspired by the recipe! This recipe includes the "Milky Way" block.
Cake Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling water
1 (8 ounce) carton dairy sour cream
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
Butter Cream Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
7 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/2 cup dairy sour cream
1 to 3 tablespoons buttermilk or milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour two 9 x 1 1/2 -inch round cake pans; set aside. Combine cocoa powder and boiling water; stir until smooth. cool for 5 minutes. Stir the 8 ounce carton sour cream and 1/2 cup buttermilk into cocoa mixture; set aside. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
Cake cont.
Beat 1 cup butter with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition and scraping bowl frequently. Alternately add the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture to the butter mixture, beating after each addition just until combined.
Spread batter into prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool cakes on wire racks for 15 minutes. Run a narrow metal spatula around the edges of the pans to loosen cake layers. Invert cake layers onto wire racks; remove pans. Cool completely on racks.
For frosting: Beat 1/2 cup butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar; beat well. Slowly beat in 1/2 cup sour cream. Gradually beat in the remaining 5 cups powdered sugar. Beat in enough of the 1 to 3 tablespoons buttermilk or milk to reach spreading consistency.
Place the first cake layer, upside down, on a serving plate. Frost top with some of the frosting. Top with second layer, right side up. frost side and top of cake with the remaining frosting. (Store cake in refrigerator for up to 3 days.)
Makes 12 servings
Submitted by Marlene DaRos
February 14th is St. Valentine' s Day. In honor of the sweetest month of the year, here's a bit o candy trivia!
Life Savers—In 1912, a man named Clarence Crane realized that the sale of candy in the summer didn't do very well because the soft chocolate always seemed to melt. So Clarence Crane invented a better "summer candy" that wouldn't melt. At this time, ships were starting to use round life preservers, and Crane's new little mints were round and had holes in them, so he thought a clever name for his new summer candy would be "Crane's Peppermint Life Savers" His Pep-O-Mint flavor was the first to arrive on the scene. It wasn't until 1924 that he started making fruit flavored ones, but they were solid discs with no holes in the middle. Finally in 1929, the fruit flavored ones started to have holes and by 1935, the five flavors that we know and love today were added to form the Five Flavor Life Savers Roll.
President-Cyndee Davis-289-2868
Vice President-Deb Pierschbacher-685-2036
Secretary-Charlotte Stordahl-965-1556
Treasurer-Randie Bartleman-979-8141
Director at Large-Diana Weirich-289-1189
Director at Large (elect)-Donna Jo Smith-963-9224
Communications Editor-Celeste Muehlenthaler-965-8966
Communications Editor-Susan Body-984-6937
Program Chair-Jenna Ingle-965-1585
Program Chair (elect)-Linda Northwick-964-5594
Quilt Show Co-Chairs-Sharon McCarthy-289-2200
Quilt Show Co-Chairs-Anne Kruse-965-3442
Quilt Show Co-Chair (elect)-Lanae Rohwer-963-8186
Quilt Show Co-Chair (elect)-MaryLee Martz-779-2538
Retreat Chair-Sharon Hawthorne-986-1246
Retreat Chair (elect)-Therese Lumley-964-3328