Crazy Quilters' Quilt Guild

NQA Chapter #PA 497

No. 249 www.crazyquilters.org December 2011

The Crazy Quilters’ Quilt Guild Meets the first Tuesday of every month at The Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit 3461 Cedar Crest Boulevard Emmaus, PA 18049 7:00pm www.crazyquilters.org Email: info@crazyquilters.org Raffle Quilt Marketing Kathy Schuessler The raffle quilt marketing committee recently sold tickets at Allentown Sewing Machine Outlet (ASMO) on November 5th, the first day of the local Shop Hop. We earned $107 there. Thanks to Allen and Maxine Bernstein and Kathy Flickinger for helping us out that day. To date, we have earned $2330 from the sale of raffle tickets! We are continuing to consider other venues for ticket sales, so if you have an idea for us, let one of the committee members know, or bring it up at one of our meetings. Many members have picked up raffle tickets at our recent meetings and tickets will continue to be available for pick-up. Most members are taking either 4 or 8 books of tickets now. Remember, due to having a raffle quilt only every other year now, we are asking that each member sell $40 of tickets (8 books). Eventually, we will publish a list of members who have not picked up their 8 books of tickets, as a gentle reminder! Don’t forget that we have until next September to sell tickets. Thank you for helping make this raffle quilt ticket sale so successful. Challenge	Jane Grove janegrove@hotmail.com Stay tuned! The 2010 Challenge will be presented at the December meeting, and then subsequently printed on the web-site and in the newsletter. _________________________ Web News Allen Bernstein	Almax626@msn.com Hi again from the web, What a great meeting we had in August. Some faces old, some faces new. It matters not as our web site www.crazyquilters.org is for everyone. Take a look at new pictures, our newsletter and a picture of our raffle quilt. AND shortly after our meeting in September there will be some exciting changes. Stay tuned! From the President
Julie Borden
Happy November Everyone!	Or should I say winter? It sure was strange experiencing “Snowtober.” Growing up in Wisconsin, occasionally we did trick or treat in the snow but I didn’t expect it here in Pennsylvania. I hope everyone moved on from the power outages and downed trees. I never would have thought that we might have to cancel a meeting for snow this early. I’m glad we were able to have our bonus November meeting.	I hope you enjoyed our program put on by Jacquie and Sharon. It was great to learn the whole fabric making process. I know we all love fabric and it is good to have a better under- standing of how it is created.	On to my personal sewing goal, I almost made it with 90% of the blocks being completed. I was away so much in October that it was a challenge. However, I will have that completed quilt to share with you in December. My other sewing goal is to create something cute and cuddly for our December auction and I will be making some yummy treats too. Please remember to contribute to our December auction by donating a project, or just bringing your extra money. Also consider bringing along your not so crafty friends to do their Holiday shopping. Keep on Stitching, Julie Community Service Lorraine Bujnowski
Members worked on cutting and sewing bears at a Saturday workshop for our community service guild project for the January guild meeting. At the meeting in January we will be preparing the teddy bears for a local school to complete. It is a nice coordinated effort with both groups "giving back" to our community. The bears are then donated to local hospital emergency rooms and are given to children in the emergency room. We will be needing 150 bears, so I am asking all of you to help out with this project. The patterns for the bears are found on the web site under the community service heading. Patterns for breast cancer pillows, pillowcases and preemie quilts are also found on the web site. Any of these completed items can be brought to the meetings at any time. Thank you.	_______________________________ Hospitality	Diana DeFanti Many thanks to the November volunteers for providing the refreshments. November co-ordinator was Diane Pesola. Assisting her were Nancy Dunham, Ruth Barlow, Bethanne Nemesh, Jeanne Schroder, Nancy Bergstresser and Barb Kissell. December volunteers are Sharon Schaffer, Cynde Vestal, Carol Willis, Jane Martin, Kathryn Helffrich, Pat Karo and Bethanne Nemesh. You will receive a reminder before the meeting. .	______________________________ Bee News	Diana Campbell /Julie Borden The Honey Bees, our daytime bee, will gather at the home of Joyce Haeflinger on December 14th, at 9:00 a.m. If you are planning to attend, please R.S.V.P. to Joyce, and bring some hand work and a bag lunch. See you there!	Programs	Jackie Leipert/Val Johnson The clock is ticking…its almost time for the Crazy Quilter’s Holiday Auction! At our meeting on December 6th if we all bring some items to donate we will all have a chance to do some holiday shopping. Our hope is to have a vast array of hand crafted gift items to bid on and purchase to give as gifts (or to keep for ourselves). Past items have included knitted or sewn garments and accessories, purses, placemats and table runners, baskets, pillows, pin cushions, ornaments, baked goods and candy. The proceeds of the sale will go into our treasury so we can keep dues low while we continue to offer interesting and inspirational programs and workshops. In order to allow adequate time for shopping the format of the meeting will be just a little bit different on this night. We will begin the business meeting at 6:30 pm. We will have a short show and tell after that, approximately 7:00 – 7:10. The auction will begin at 7:15 and go until all of the fantastic gifts are sold! If you signed up to help with the auction, THANK YOU! If you are doing check in or are a runner please plan to arrive by 6:00 so we can get set up and be ready to go on time. If you have any questions please call or email Jackie Leipert or Val Johnson.	_______________________ Challenge	Jane Grove If you did not pick up the directions for this year's challenge at the November meeting, they can be found on the guild's website. They will also be available at the future meetings. The requirement of a minimum of four square inches of each fabric does not mean you need one piece of fabric which is four inches square. It means the total amount of each fabric must be at least that big. You could have sixteen or more one inch squares, thirty-two or more half-square triangles or a fist full of small circles. Nothing has to be square. There is no maximum for the amount you use of any of the required fabrics. Mini-Class Before Meeting Carole Whaling
walingcj@aol.com There will be a mini-class at the June meeting. Topic to be advised. __________________________ Raffle Quilt Nancy Skok nancys@wfmc.com Our raffle quilt is now on display at ASMO. We still need some people to fill-in on Saturday afternoon at the Hershey Quilt show, July 24th. Thanks! . Hospitality	Diana DeFanti	defantid@gmail.com Thank you to the following members for their donations and assistance for our dessert table at the April meeting: Val Johnson, Irene Oehmke, Nancy Thomas, Lynn Gilbert, Nancy Horning, Ruth Hoffman and Diana Campbell. Members who signed up to bring a dessert for the May meeting are: Carole Whaling, Angela Assorgi, Tami Jones, Deb Veshinfsky, Mary Collins, Sandra Mugridge and Liz Dimmich.
Hospitality	Jackie Leipert	djleipert@verizon.net	Thank you the Julie Mc Donell and her committee, Karen Landis, Diane Pesola, Diana Campbell, Linda Herman and Jackie Leipert for the delicious refreshments at our July meeting.
I will be the coordinator for August's volunteers who will be Irene Oehmke, Pat Haberle, Kathryn Heffrich, Karen Hartzell and Becky Marx.
Our September meeting with its Anniversary Potluck Supper is fast approaching. Everyone is asked to bring a food item (protein, pasta, fruit, vegetable, dessert, or drink). Plugging in pots is discouraged for safety reasons. We have tablecloths but our tradition has been to bring our own place settings and to make individual tables more festive, flower arrangements for the table. Put on your thinking caps as to what you will prepare and sign up to bring your specialty at our next month's meeting. Thanks. be Irene Oehmke, Pat Haberle, Kathryn Heffrich, Karen Hartzell and Becky Marx.

Something New and Fun . . . .A new article starts with this edition of the newsletter. It will be entitled: Tips and Ideas from the Crazy Quilter. The content will contain answers to those questions that you never asked or wanted to ask but don’t know how. We hope you enjoy and find informative and fun. Any comments or questions of the Crazy Quilter? Email to info@crazyquilters.org.

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Tips and Ideas	from the Crazy Quilter

Batting 101,

by the Crazy Quilter

Why does my kid say he/she is sweaty under his/her bedcover? Am I really raising a finicky, high maintenance child? Maybe there is something to learn about quilting here. I’m no expert but this and a few other things should be considered when choosing a batting for your quilt.

Things to think about:

Which fiber to choose, cotton, polyester, poly/cotton blend, wool?

Will you hand quilt or machine quilt?

How do you want the quilt to look?

How will your quilt be used? A wall hanging probably won’t get washed and won’t need to be warm like a bed sized quilt.)

Cotton will give you a flat look, low loft, with a good drape replicating the look of old quilts. Natural fibers such as cotton (and wool) breathe.

Cotton can be more difficult to hand quilt because it is a dense batting.

Cotton is likely to need a higher density of quilting (check the manufacturers recommendations.)

Some cotton batting will shrink.

Polyester will be more puffy, that is it has a higher loft.

Polyester retains heat - no more polyester battings for my kid!

A low loft poly will be easier to hand quilt.

Polyester batting doesn’t need the density of quilting that a cotton batting would. Less quilting means you can finish your project faster.

Polyester fibers can migrate through to the top of your quilt (bearding.)

Poly/cotton blends offer advantages of both fibers, a flatter loft, easier hand needling than 100% cotton, and minimal shrinkage.

Wool is said to be a dream to needle by hand - I need to try a wool batting. (I think I have one in the stash! Imagine that!)

Wool is great for a dark colored quilt because it has less of a tendency to beard.

Fibers can migrate, so dense quilting is necessary to hold the wool in place.

Wool is, generally, not machine washable.

Wool is warm.

This isn’t everything – just some basics. It is best to try out different battings and brands until you find what you like best. Ask others what they prefer. Read the manufacturer’s instructions. Then, finish that quilt!

Membership	Sharon Schaffer

December Birthdays

Alison Bessesdotter	12/7	Carol Wigfield	12/24

Nanci Blankowitsch	12/10	Sally Waggoner	12/25

Karen Hartzell	12/10	Ruth Hoffman	12/28

Emily Schneider	12/11	Pattie Heine	12/29

Sandra Evans	12/12	Bethanne Nemesh	12/30

Cynde Vestal	12/15	Nancy Skok	12/30

Guests: Terri Sheckler, Cheryl Hank, Ana Hoff, Sandy Bigatel, Ana Abeniacar, Bridget Biagtel-Abeniacar, Tracey Gretsky

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A Word About Cell Phones	Editor

Shhhhhhhhh!

Or put on vibrate. Let’s be courteous to our guests and to ourselves.

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Raise Your Hands – A Tale for All Ages	Editorial

A teacher walked into her classroom and asked the students there to all raise both of their hands. She then proceeded to tell them that they could lower one hand each time they could answer “yes” to one of her questions.

First question – Have you offered to do a chore around the house without being asked in the past week and felt good about it?

Next question; have you done your homework without any reminders and no complaining and learned something new? And so on – Have you spent some of your free time not watching TV or playing video games? Have you played a game with your siblings, without fighting? Cleaned your room and by doing that found something you thought you had lost? Helped a friend in need and made them smile? Worked at learning a new skill and been proud of yourself?

At the end of the series of questions there were some students who still had hands raised.

The teacher ended the session by saying this; “Those of you who have both of your hands down, congratulations!” You deserve some rest. It looks like you are getting the most out of each day! Those of you with one hand-raised, not bad but you’ve got a little bit of work to do before you get to rest that other

hand. Those of you with both hands still raised, get busy! Your classmates are having all of the fun!!

Class dismissed.

Guild Calendar from the editor December 6, Crazy Quilters’ Guild Meeting, 6:30 pm, LCHS, HOLIDAY AUCTION Calendar of Events from the editor 2012 “Garden of Quilts” by Susquehanna Valley Quilters, 3/2-3/4, 6 to 9pm Friday, 10 to 6 Saturday, 12 to 4 Sunday, Hughesville Fire Hall, Railroad & Water Sts., Hughesville, PA, $5 fee, www.susqvalleyquilters.org “Celebrate 25” by County Line Quilters, 3/24-3/25, 10am to 5pm, Archbishop Wood High School, 655 N. York Rd., Warminster, PA, Admission $5 (seniors $4), www.countylinequilters.org “The Rhythm of Quilting” by Friendship Star Quilters, 4/27-4/29, 12 to 8 Friday, 10 to 6 Saturday, 10 to 4 Sunday, Montgomery County Fairgrounds, Home Arts Bldg., Gaithersburg, MD, $8 fee, (seniors $5), www.fridndshipstar.org “Quiltfest 2012” by Colonial Quilters Guild, 5/5-5/6, 10 to 5 (10 to 4 Sunday), Charles Chrin Community Center of Palmer Township, 4100 Green Pond Rd., Palmer, PA, Admission $7, www.colonialquilters.org “39th Annual Quilt Show” by Quilters Unlimited, 6/1-6/3, Dulles Expo & Conference Center, Chantilly, VA, www.quiltersunlimited.org “Pennsylvania Quilts ll: Patterns and Variations” at Packwood House Museum, 8/10-8/12, Lewisburg, PA, www.packwoodhousemuseum.com “Celebration of Quilts” by York Quilters’ Guild, 6/23-6/24, 10 to 5, Old Main Bldg., York Expo Center, York, PA, Admission $10 (seniors $8), www.celebrationofquilts.com “Quilt Odyssey 2012” - 7/26 to 7/29, Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, Hershey, PA, www.quiltodyssey.com Guild Officers President: Julie Borden First Vice-Presidents: Val Johnson/Jackie Leipert Second Vice-President: Sharon Schaffer Secretary: Jane Grove Treasurer: Anita Hertzog Committees Challenge: Jane Grove Community Service: Lorraine Bujnowski, Kathy Flickenger, Lois Drendel, Sally Waggoner, Ann Lineberger Historical: Nancy Skok Hospitality: Diana DeFanti Library: Maxine Bernstein/Michele McLaughlin Membership: Sharon Schaffer NQA Liaison: Irene Oehmke Newsletter: Allen Bernstein Phone Chain: Julie McDonell Programs: Val Johnson/Jackie Leipert Publicity: Alison Bessesdotter Raffle Quilt Marketing: Kathy Schuessler, Roberta Whitcomb, Sharon Yurkanin, Marsha Heimann, Jackie Leipert, Anita Hertzog Show and Tell: Maria Hance Sunshine and Shadow: Sandra Mugridge Website: Allen Bernstein Workshops: Val Johnson/Jackie Leipert