Join the March Classes!!

Hello from Theresa (and her son, Matthew)!!

This is a reminder that Darting Needles Quilt Guild is hosting Joen Wolfrom and the March 17, 18 and 19 classes still have open seats available. Joen Wolfrom is a well known national teacher and author. It would be wonderful to have both classes fill up completely. Be sure to keep Monday the 19 in mind as it still has 12 open seats. Monday's topic will be A Marriage of Blocks.

Women Who Run with Scissors Fiber Art Exhibit

March 2- - April 22, 2007

Gallery 110 North, Plymouth Center
Plymouth, WI 53073-0253
920-892-8409
http://www.plymoutharts.org/schedule/index.htm

Opening Reception Friday March 2
5- 8 pm
Admission is FREE!
Musical Entertainment Drea Wagner 5:30-6:30 pm

Located in the Plymouth Center, corner of Mill & North Streets.
Park at north end of adjacent lot, or accross Mill St. in the Plymouth Medical Center Lot.

February Newsletter

Conversations with Cloth February 2007

Some things just never seem to get done. Laundry, dishes, and this newsletter are tops on my list! Think of it as a “just in time” reminder of our meeting Thursday!
Katy
Recap of January Meeting (January 25, 2007)
Katy had show and tell from an uncharacteristic “finishing jag” at the DNQG retreat earlier in the month. Julie brought Grandma’s photo and her crocheted hearts to watch over us as Karen showed us how easy it is to make her crocheted bead necklaces. Check out the photos on our blog: conversations-in-cloth.blogspot.com.

Reminders and Announcements
Karen is planning to attend the Minnesota Quilt Show June 14-16 and is willing to carpool. Check out http://www.mnquilt.org/mq2007/index.htm for more on the show.

Thank you to everyone who renewed their membership. The 2007 member list is included in this newsletter. Please verify your information and bring corrections to the February meeting. If you’re not on the list, this will be your last newsletter unless you renew. You can bring your dues ($10) to the February meeting or just mail them to Katy.

FYI, the library has lots of “stuff” available for us to use during meetings, including a VCR and TV, an opaque projector, an overhead projector, a DVD/VHS projector, an LCD projector, a slide projector, a projection screen, easels, a piano, coffee urns, a lectern, a portable sound system, and a telephone.

February Meeting (Thursday February 22, 2007) at the Menasha Public Library
Michele will teach us the basics of blogging, and even if you don’t want to blog yourself, she’ll show us how to visit our blog and post to it.

Don’t forget show and tell! We still need programs for the back half of 2007, but check out the lineup we have for the first half of the year below!

Upcoming Events
February 22, 2007: February meeting, 6:00. Computer literacy with Michele.
March 29, 2007: March Meeting, 6:00. Sheer window appliqué with Katy.
April 26, 2007: April meeting, 6:00. Couching.
May 24, 2007: May meeting, 6:00. Fabric Postcards.
June 28, 2007: June meeting, 6:00. Paintsticks.

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

Crocheted Yarn & Bead Necklace

At the January 2007 meeting, Karen M. showed us how to make these necklaces.




All evening, Karen kept saying that anyone can make these necklaces. You don't need to be an expert at crochet.

Ingredients :

• Crochet thread, monofilament line, 28 gauge wire, yarn or other stringing medium on which your beads, buttons and charms can be strung.
• Assorted beads, buttons and charms (pre-stringing is recommended)
• At least two different, three (3) yard pieces of “fancy” yarn. Eyelash works well for one of them.
• Crochet hook (s) appropriate to work with your stinging medium. (Karen will bring extras for those who do not have one)

In brief, here are the instructions (from Michele's notes):
1) String your beads. Take more thread or yarn than you think you'll need as the crocheting takes up more yarn than you'd think ...
2) Make a slip knot in your stringing medium and begin crocheting 4-5 inches of single crochet stitches.
3) Pull up a bead (already on the line) and crochet around it to hold it in place. Single crochet another few stitches and pull up another bead. Crochet around it to hold it in place. Repeat until you get to the end of your beads.
4) Cut the line and tie off the last crochet. Set aside.
5) Stretch out 2-3 yarns that are 2x as long as your crocheted bead string.
6) Fold the yarns in 1/2 and loop them together. At the center point, atttch to one end of your crocheted bead string. Use a safety pin to anchor your line and braid the yarns with the bead string, showcasing the beads and charms. (Remembering how to braid was the hardest part!)
7) Tie off at the end.
8) Attach a button for a clasp at one end. Create a loop at the other end, big enough for the button to pass through.
9) Fluff the yarns if using eyelash yarn.
VIOLA!

Tips from Karen :
* Use a button (shank type works well) as a clasp. This allows the wearer to double the necklace up as a choker.
* This is also a great way to recycle old jewelery.

Beyond neckwear, this has great potential for seaweed, garland, or any other number of embellishments.
--Posted by Michele

Conversations with Cloth January 2007

Happy New Year! We’re having our “White Elephant” Party on January 14th at 6:00 at Good Company (it’s a Sunday). Be sure to call Julie to RSVP if she hasn’t already talked with you!
Katy

Recap of November Meeting (November 30, 2006)
We met exuberantly with lots and lots of show and tell stored up from the last few months. Karen showed us her crocheted wire and bead necklace as well as a crocheted funky yarn and bead necklace that will be our January project! Marilyn showed us what “Paintstiks” can do, and we think this will make a good program this summer. Marilyn also had her jangly bead “hunting” bracelet to show, and Michele showed us her awesome completed thread scarf. She also showed us some jack o’ lantern wall quilts she’d whipped up with reverse appliqué and Soft Scrub discharge. Her “bubble boy” pictorial quilt of her son came for a visit…it’s quilted! Katy brought her work in progress from the Ellen Anne Eddy workshop she attended in October, as well as some pictures from her Ricky Tims quilt retreat in Colorado at the end of September. The silk waste “bits” she showed are called Bella Nonna petals, available at www.bellanonnaquilt.com.

Marilyn showed us how to make beautiful and EASY flower pins from silk cocoons. Michele offered some reminders on our blog—you can post to it by “invitation only,” so if you’ve lost Michele’s initial invitation email, contact her for another invite. To just read the blog, go to conversations-in-cloth.blogspot.com (yes, there’s no “www”). I post the newsletters there every month, sanitized to remove last names and contact information since it is publicly viewable.

Reminders and Announcements
We’re having our holiday party a bit late…join us Sunday January 14th at 6:00 at Good Company for dinner, laughs, and of course, our white elephant gift exchange. Bring a small wrapped gift (the funnier the better!). Preferably, this is something you find in your basement, but if you must shop, the limit is $5. The focus is more on GIVING a laugh than GETTING a gift! Please RSVP to Julie by Friday January 12th so she can reserve us a table.

Please remember to renew your membership for 2007 if you haven’t already ($10 covers newsletter mailing and a donation to the library in appreciation of providing meeting space). Katy can accept your dues at the party or the January meeting.

January Meeting (Thursday January 25, 2007) at the Menasha Public Library
Karen will teach us how to make her crocheted yarn and bead necklace. She assures me that this is “the easiest crochet stitch there is” and it’s appropriate for even a total novice. Supply list:

• Crochet thread, monofilament line, 28 gauge wire, yarn or other stringing medium on which your beads, buttons and charms can be strung.
• Assorted beads, buttons and charms (prestringing is recommended)
• At least two different, three (3) yard pieces of “fancy” yarn. Eyelash works well for one of them.
• Crochet hook (s) appropriate to work with your stinging medium. (Karen will bring extras for those who do not have one)

Please also bring your show and tell and your ideas for programs for 2007.

Upcoming Events
January 14, 2007: Dinner and White Elephant at Good Company, 6:00
January 25, 2007: January meeting, 6:00. Necklaces with Karen.
February 22, 2007: February meeting, 6:00. TBD.

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

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!