Happy Holidays and on to 2018!

The Holiday Potluck in December was filled with delicious food, fun and games ornament exchange.  We had wonderful show and tell items and storytelling fun and beautiful poinsettias.

Ornament Exchange game

some of our Show and Tell projects!

At the January NCN meeting we will be working on making the 2018 Raffle Quilt. Members have signed up to help be cutters, sewers, and pressers.  Please bring your items for the various stations.  If anyone has a 10 1/2” square ruler please bring it as well. Sounds like a fun night of sewing with lots of friends - all hands on deck!

Upcoming Events 

2017/2018 NEORQC Shop Hop -  We’re so excited about the NEORQC Shop Hop! Join quilters from all over the North East Ohio area in our new shop hop venture for 2017-18! Car pool with your friends and visit a wide variety of quilt shops. What better way is there to introduce yourself to new quilt shops, reacquaint yourself with those shops you may not have been to for awhile and say “Hello” to those shops you visit frequently. NEORQC has added a little fun!

Each time you visit a NEORQC quilt shop, ask a store clerk to initial or stamp the back of your card! Bring your completed card, with six initials/stamps, to the general meetings, put it in the hopper and we’ll dray names. Drawings will be held at October, March and June meetings. Completed cards may be turned in for a new card.

Names will stay in the hopper for one year - then we’ll dump the names and start again! You must be present to be a winner! Download and print your Shopping Card from the NEORQC website

Feb. 16 - 18 2018 NEORQC Getaway, “Quilting Binds Us Together Holiday Inn, Boardman, OH To get more information, check out their website at neorquonline.org

Sat., Mar. 3 NEORQC General Meeting - 10:00 am Host will be Memory Makers Quilt Guild. Guest Speaker is still to be determined. There will be Show ‘n Tell. Bring a covered dish for the pot luck lunch

April 5 - 7 Original Sewing & Quilt Expo at I-X Center Meet the trendsetters and see the latest in sewing, quilt making and embroidery as you take in special presentations and find artistic inspiration. Exhibit Hall Hours: Thursday and Friday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm; Saturday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm. Ticket information and pricing will be available approximately ten weeks prior to the Expo. Class registration will open approximately ten weeks prior also.

April 6 - 8 Annual Rising Sun Quilt Fest from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Rising Sun History Museum, 212 S. Walnut St., Rising Sun, IN   The Ohio County Historical Society and The Sunshine Stitchers are pleased to organize and host the annual “Rising Sun Quilt Fest.”

November meeting reflections

North Coast Needlers November meeting our guests were the folks from Lunn Fabrics of Lancaster, Ohio.  They brought with them their wonderful batik fabrics and patterns.  We learned about their process of creating high quality batiks and the opportunity to add some to our stash!

Luscious batiks for sale

Snowman pattern

copper batik stamp

 November show and tell - as always we were wowed by our members quilts and projects that they have created for themselves, friends, family and community service.  Below are a few from the meeting - thanks for sharing!

Community Service - Activity Mat

Let's make a Raffle Quilt for 2018!

Back in the day (as they say) all of the North Coast Needler raffle quilts were made as a group project. Sometimes at evening meetings and other times during all day sewing sessions at Porter Library or a member's home. Over the years, some of our quilts have been a little more complicated, or due to the amount of appliqué, just weren't suited to being created by a large group. This year, we will be having a Throw-back Tuesday and will be working in teams at a Tuesday meeting to make a quilt which will be raffled off in 2018. 

A group of us met a few weeks ago and decided on a String X pattern for the group raffle quilt that will be assembled at the January meeting. We are asking that guild members bring scraps in “Skittle” colors. Bright, pure colors – no Batiks please! If you would like to pre-cut some pieces, we will be using a mix of 1.5”, 2.25” and 2.5” strips 10” in length. We will also need 8 1/2” squares of white on white.

The plan is to have 8 teams made up of a cutter, sewer, presser and runner/support person. A few people will be needed to layout the quilt and run the blocks over to the machines. We can trade off and will gladly accept any help! The goal is to make 72 blocks at the meeting and hopefully assemble the top.

A sign-up sheet will be circulated at the November and December meetings. If you will not be at the meetings, please call Gini to volunteer - 440-823-9557. We will be looking for 8 machines with a ¼” foot, cutting and ironing stations.

Upcoming program - November 14th meeting

Lunn Fabrics will share with us how batiks are made and will sell their wares. The shop will be set up by 6:00 pm, so come early to shop.

Lunn Fabrics is co-owned by Debra Lunn and Michael Mrowka, who for the past 25 years have also been partners in life, art, and fabric design.

Lunn Fabrics offers the complete line of Artisan Batiks,  Prisma Dyes, and Patina Handpaints which are designed by Debra and Michael, produced by Robert Kaufman Co., and manufactured in our "Green" factory in Solo, Java, Indonesia.  Also, we have an assortment of very special one-of-a-kind batiks and handdyes created by Debra and Michael in either their studio in Indonesia or their dyeworks in Ohio.   These exclusive batiks are only available online or see them at our shop in Lancaster, Ohio.

To give back to our batik workers and the people of Indonesia, Michael and Debra created Ganesa Study Center, a very popular non-profit, free-lending library in Central Java, Indonesia.
10% of all gross sales online and in our Lunn Fabrics store in Lancaster, OH go directly to support the Ganesa Library.

http://www.lunnfabrics.com/


Upcoming Events

Oct 13 - 14 Mutton Hill Quilt Show, John S. Knight Center, 77 E. Mill Street, Akron.
There will be workshops both Friday and Saturday, vendors and of course quilts.
For more information, visit http://muttonhillquilts.org. Sponsored by the
Summit County Historical Society.

Oct 15-20 Quilt Camp - Ripley, WV
Quiltmakers gather each October to enjoy four days of quilting classes and
friendship in the lovely highlands of West Virginia at Fall Quilt Camp. Sign up
for a fabulous class or for open sew… but do so soon to save your spot at this
rustic setting. For details: http://pegspatches.com/TQC_home.html

Oct. 19-21 Sacred Threads Fiber Art Quilt Exhibit - Toledo
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church 428 N. Erie St. Toledo, OH
The SACRED THREADS exhibit is a unique display of 40 art quilts based
on themes of joy, spirituality, grief, healing, and peace. Each art piece is
accompanied by a narrative describing the inspiration or event that guided each
artist in their creative process. The artwork themes provide thought-provoking
insights, encouragement, inspiration and healing responses to grief and human
hardships.
Begun by Vikki Pignatelli, curated and juried in Philadelphia, the traveling
exhibit includes work from fiber artists around the country, and has attracted a
wide array of visitors of all ages. Live music, conversation areas, cash wine and
organic drink bar, further enhance the show, making it a thought provoking, yet
joy-filled experience. Exhibit Times: Thurs Oct 19 4:00 pm - 9:00 pm; Fri Oct 20
4:00 pm - 9:00 pm; and Sat Oct 21 10:00 am - 2:00 pm.

Oct 20 - 21 Valley Quilt Guild 2017 Quilt Show
First United Methodist Church
1725 N. Wooster Avenue, Dover, OH 44622.
Presented by Valley Quilt Guild, Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Free parking,
handicap accessible, all on ground level. Raffle quilt, vendors, boutique, Quilter’s
Café lunch counter. For additional information please call 330-343-5617 or visit
our website: http://valleyquiltguild.org.

Nov 3 - 4 Rocky River Senior Center’s Harvest Holiday Craft & Quilt Show
This annual show is held in the Senior Center at the Rocky River Complex. Come
enjoy the quilts (many submitted by members of our guild), vendors and food.

Feb 16 - 18 2018 NEORQC Getaway Weekend
Looking for a great way to spend a weekend in February? NEORQC has the
answer for you. Join us for “Quilting Binds Us Together” – 2018 NEORQC
Getaway Weekend being held February 16-18, 2018. A spectacular offering of
classes, techniques and teachers for all quilters. Plan now to attend to learn new
things, connect with those you know and make new friends.
Registration is now open. Access the registration form and brochure here at
the NEORQC website. Check out the information, complete and send in the
registration form today!

Glorious Fall

I love the Fall, the cool crispness of the air is so refreshing. Well, maybe not so much this year. A record high of 92 degrees last week! The Fall colors are what you'll find in most of my quilts and wool folk pieces. Soft, subtle and rich... the mixture of greens, oranges, maroons and brown tones are soothing to my soul. My next door neighbors have a spectacular Japanese Red Maple tree in their back yard. The color last year was outstanding and I can hardly wait for it to start changing color this year. Brought a smile to my face every time I walked out my back door.

The nuts trees are loaded and there are probably some black walnuts in my backyard up for grabs if anyone wants to try their hand at dying wool. I saw an article about a YouTube video using a microwave, food coloring, vinegar and water that I plan on playing with this week. My friend Pat and I have been busily shopping thrift stores for white and ivory wool. Thursday is going to be our play day, wish us luck! As soon as those maple leaves start changing, they'll be in my dye pot too. I'm about out of orange...  Gini

Welcome!

Hi and welcome to the North Coast Needlers Blog! Our old website was accidentally deleted and we're replacing it with a blog instead. Our plan is to post information about upcoming meetings, shows and other events in the quilting world, as well as sharing tips and tidbits, photos, videos...

The new board just got together to talk about the upcoming year and we're very excited about the plans being put in motion. Linda Sekerak is busily working on programs and has already secured Cory Goodheart of Olive Grace for the July meeting. February's program will be of use to all of us with Whole Body Health coming to talk to us about the way we work, stand and sit along with other information to better our health so that we can keep quilting longer and more comfortably. In the works are Kathy Doughty author of Material Obsession from Australia, Rayna Gilman with Studio Art Quilts and Sue Spargo with her wool folk art pieces. We may see the return of the "Garage Sale" and a night of Demo Stations and will be planning an evening to create a raffle quilt as a guild. The plan is for this quilt to be raffled in the fall of 2018.

Many thanks to Jean Bailey for completing the Chicken Quilt which is on it's way to the Northeast Ohio Adoption Services. Along with the quilt, Jean created a table runner and four placemats, which will be raffled of at the September meeting with the proceeds to benefit Community Service.

Please note:
It will be appreciated if you can remember to wear a nametag at the meetings. Paper nametags will be available at the Hospitality table when you check in, but it's so much more fun to see how creative some of you are.

All requests for reimbursement of funds need to be accompanied by a receipt. No exceptions! A form will be available at the Hospitality Table that you are being asked to fill out prior to approaching Beth for funds. Let's try to make her job as easy as possible.

We have had volunteers step forward for both Hospitality and Refreshments. Thank you ladies! Other committee assignments will be made after the meeting and a list published then.

Many thanks as well to the outgoing Board. Your willingness to serve with and along side your fellow quilters goes a long way.

"Every successful individual knows that his or her achievement depends on a community of persons working together." Paul Ryan

Now on to some quilting! I was on a weekend getaway last week and I need to go unbury my sewing room. AGAIN! This happens to me all the time...

Piecefully,
Gini