Flower pins made from Dyed Silk Cocoons

Marylin F. showed us how to make these festive pins from silk cocoons at the November meeting. 

October/November 2006

It’s been awhile! September’s newsletter was a phone call (live from Colorado!), and October and November are combined since there was no October meeting. Be sure to read below about the November meeting…You need to call Marilyn at XXX-XXXX to ensure she has a kit ready for you!
Katy

Recap of September Meeting (September 28, 2006)
A very, very small group gathered mostly for chatting…perhaps we should reschedule our couching party! Marilyn’s scarf from the August meeting won second place at the Oshkosh Quilt Show in the wearables category!

There was no October meeting; but Theresa, Joanne, Marilyn, and Katy enjoyed our trip to Marshfield to learn from Ellen Anne Eddy. Connie XXXXX and Theresa’s daughter Susan joined us too. Thanks to Theresa for organizing the trip; let’s bring some show and tell to the November meeting!

Reminders and Announcements
Our buddy, the night custodian at the library, has had a serious accident and will not be working his evening shift the rest of 2006. Therefore, we must wrap up our meetings and vacate the library by 8:45.

November Meeting (Thursday November 30, 2006) at the Menasha Public Library
Marilyn will teach us to make fun and easy pins from silk cocoons. PLEASE CALL MARILYN AT XXX-XXXX TO RESERVE A KIT! Kits will be $5. Additionally, please bring an iron, a Teflon sheet, and Angelina fiber if you have them. We will have irons to share, and Angelina will be in your kit if you don’t have any on hand.

Plan on show and tell galore! We haven’t gotten together in a while!

Upcoming Events
November 30, 2006: November meeting, 6:00. Silk Cocoon play with Marilyn.

Conversations with Cloth meets the last Thursday of each month at 6:00 at the Menasha Public Library.

About the September Meeting

By now you've probably gotten Katy's message from Colorodo, where she is enjoying the Ricky Tims workshop. She didn't have time to get the newsletter together this month, but asked me to post something to the blog about this month's meeting >>>

We'll be COUCHING. No one will be officially teaching, however, Theresa will be sharing some tips from the Libby Lehman classes that Darting Needles Quilt Guild sponsored earlier this month.

Bring your sewing machine, and any fibers (or anything else) you want to try couching down.

I'm sorry I'll have to miss this session!

Don't miss The Darting Needles Quilt Show that will be held Oct. 7-8 at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton. There are sure to be some gorgeous quilts on display!
--Michele

Katy's Scarf

Katy made this fun scarf out of eyelash yarn.

Marilyn's Thread Scarf

Marylin's Thread Scarf (a work in progress).

You'll have the chance to see it live and up close (and finished) if you attend The Lakeside Quilt Guild's Bienniel Quilt Show Sept. 9-10, 2006, at The Sunnyview Expo Center in Oshkosh, WI.

Basic instructions (very abbreviated)
1. We used masking tape on the table to act as a template to keep the desired size and shape for the scarf.
2. Lay out a sandwich of water soluble stabilizer.
3. In between the stabilizer layers, threads, yarns, fibers, fabrics, scraps--anything that can be sewn-- are laid down in a desired pattern.
4. Use spray adhesive to hold everything in place
5. Sew! Sew! Sew!
6. Melt the stabilizer in water.

Presto! You have a treasured hand-made work of art!

Nicole's Belt

Nicole made this colorful belt at our August meeting.

Mary W. showed us how to make Thread Scarves.

Ribbon Embroidery Needle Case

by JoAnne

This lovely example of Ribbon Embroidery was the subject of a Conversations with Cloth program a few months ago. The class was lead by Karen M.

This was also on display at The Menasha Public LIbrary in July 2006.

Color Me Summer

Jacket by JoAnne

Another item that was on display at the Menasha Public Library in July 2006.

August Newsletter

I went running yesterday. No big surprise there…but the clouds rolling through on Saturday morning were unusual and breathtaking. What will inspire you this month?
Katy
Recap of July Meeting (July 27, 2006)
Show and tell was the feature event of the evening. Marilyn brought a pin she’d made with dyed silk cocoons. We liked it so much she’ll be teaching us this technique in November! She also showed the book “Casting Shadows” by Colleen Wise. Katy, Michele and Gill brought their show and tell from mess night. Gill had a hand-dyed purple fabric that discharged to a light green—very striking! Michele liked mess night so much, she and her son played some more over the weekend. They discovered that colors tend to pound out completely different from the original flower. Check out photos on our blog, conversations-in-cloth.blogspot.com.

Reminders and Announcements
The Marshfield quilt show is October 27-29. Ellen Anne Eddy and Judith Baker Montano are teaching. See www.piecemakers.org for more information. Because several of us are attending Ellen Anne Eddy’s workshops, we’ll be traveling Thursday night when we’d normally have our meeting. As a result, we’ve agreed to have no formal meeting in October. However, the library is still reserved, so we can discuss having an informal work night instead. Bring your opinions to the August meeting.

Bits and pieces to share…Ben Franklin by the mall is closing and clearing out all merchandise. Friendship Quilts in Green Bay has a huge variety of the new Kaffe Fasset fabrics; Marilyn brought her purchases and we all drooled. Marilyn is the chair for the Lakeside Quilters’ Guild show September 9-10; it’s just $4 to enter. For more information or an entry form, call Marilyn or their registration chair, Leah N---. (P.S. You can get forms for the Darting Needles show in October off their website, www.dartingneedles.com, or call Katy.)

The Bergstrom-Mahler Museum has an exhibit on “Children of Haiti” through September 9th. Local artists, including a quilter, have created portraits of Haitian orphans.

August Meeting (Thursday August 31, 2006) at the Menasha Public Library
Mary will teach us how to make thread scarves. These light, beautiful accessories are prefect for late summer and fall! Supply list:

• Spray baste (Mary likes Sulky KK 2000)
• Variety of yarn/threads or any bits of fabric; variety of weights and textures
• Dissolvable stabilizer of your choice (i.e., Fabri-Solvy by Sulky) large enough for a layer on top of finished scarf; e.g., two pieces 8”×62” for a 6”×60” scarf
• Scissors, wide masking tape, pencil, pins, ruler (24”×6” works well to lay out shape of scarf)
• 30 or 40 wt variegated thread to blend with yarn choices
• Sewing machine with free motion capabilities. OK to do with regular straight stitch, but free motion is faster
• Topstitch or embroidery needle size 12

Upcoming Events
August 31, 2006: August meeting, 6:00. Thread scarves with Mary.
September 28, 2006: September meeting, 6:00. Couching party.
October 26, 2006: TBD. No formal meeting; many are traveling to Marshfield.
November 30, 2006: November meeting, 6:00. Silk Cocoon play with Marilyn.

Conversations with Cloth meets the last Thursday of each month at 6:00 at the Menasha Public Library.

Preview of things to come :

This fall, Marilyn will show us how to make these lovely flowers out of dried and dyed silk cocoons.