Thursday Missions Quilting

This is the group I've been seeking!!

Every Thursday from 9 to 11:30.

 

Hand quilting around a frame in Quilting bee fashion.

 Good conversation while stitching.

The group hand quilts tops for a fee. The money earned is given to a mission that is dedicated to helping women and children all around the world. 

I asked how busy the group is. I was wondering there's ever any shortage of tops to quilt. The answer - there is a waiting-list long to enough to keep them busy for the next two years at least!

The end of the day is at 11:30 sharp.

 

The frames are folded in half and stored in a back room until next week.

Happy Thursday quilting!!

The Denton Quilt Guild November meeting.

I'm continuing to "try on" quilt guilds and groups.  It's been a fun experience. There's so much quilting going on around me it's making my head spin.

The Denton Quilt Guild meets every 3rd Tuesday of the month.
Oh gosh. Where do I start?!
My overall impression of this guild is that it offers many many opportunities. A quilter just has to decide to grab up those opportunities!!

The above photo is a panoramic view of what I walked into this past Tuesday evening. The sign-in table is on the right and the snack table is on the left.

The website states that the guild has more than 200 members. I'm sure by time the meeting started there were pretty close to 100 in attendence!

With that many, I was just another body in a group of quilters.  Luckily, I had met Jo-Rhonda the day before at the Graceful Quilters Bee. She was ready to be a friendly familiar face.  Without her I would've been completely lost.
Thank you, Jo-Rhonda for being my tour guide!

This meeting was dedicated to feature the many quilting bees available to DQG members.  "Bees" are small groups that have formed and meet outside of the guild meeting. Some are technique based. One focuses on wool applique and crazy quilting. 

Another is the Arts Quilting Bee, that promoted so many different techniques I couldn't begin to list.
There is a Book/Blocks of the Month Quilting Bee. A theme is named for the year, like "great women in espionage," then blocks are made in relation to the theme.

An Embroidery Bee is all about machine embroidery.

There are a few are simply Sit and Sew Bees, bring your own project and come for the company.

Some of the Bees meet at a member's house, some meet at bigger venues like church halls.

Some are daytime, some are in the evening.

There are so many options once your a member of the Denton Quilt Guild!!

The guild is a non profit organization. As such, it has a major focus on community outreach. Kids Kuilts, Quilts of Valor, and Habitat for Humanity quilts were talked about during this meeting.

As well as a Stocking drive (not really what it was called but I can't remember) where the guild made over 1200 Christmas stockings this year! I can only list a few of the programs. DQG community outreach is pretty impressive!

It was a lot of information for me to absorb in just a couple of hours. I'm sure I have missed a few things. The meeting was Tuesday evening and it is now Friday morning. That's how long it's taken me to compose this update because I'm still processing!!
😁 I'm pretty sold on this quilt guild. Membership is $35/year. That's a fantastic deal for everything that comes with it! I haven't even mentioned the monthly presentations!!  You can find that info on their webpage Denton Quilt Guild.

Oh yes! Last but not least.
Show and Tell!! (But I only got a couple pictures.)

 

Graceful Quilters Bee

When I reached out on the Texas Quilter's Group on Facebook, looking for guilds or sewing groups, Donna Cost invited me to visit the Graceful Quilters Bee.

She said, "Meetings are on the 1st and 3rd Mondays at Grace Bible Church in downtown Sanger from 9:30-3ish. Many of us at also members of Common Threads QG in Gainesville and some are members of Denton QG. Welcome to Texas!"

I surprised the group when I walked in. They weren't really expecting a newcomer. But when I asked for Donna, she knew exactly who I was. She jumped out of her seat and immediately gave me a welcoming hug! Then she excitedly introduced me to the group and how I happened to be there.

Quilters are encouraged to bring whatever they want to work on. I took my hand piecing project, the double wedding ring. 

Brenda, sitting on the bottom right on the picture above, and Teresa, sitting straight across from Brenda are the group organizers.  Today, they are working on a quilt top that will be given to the Grace Bible Church as a thank you for offering the space for the Bee meeting.

 

Three more quilters walked in after I took pictures and set up tables. There is room for many more!!

(I apologise for the poor quality in my photos. My phone was quite low on batteries and I didn't think to take a charger with me.)

This is Donna in the purple shirt. She was working on putting binding on a prayer quilt that will be given to a family who's house had burned down.

The next photos are close-ups of some sayings written on the quilt.

I'll tell you, there is no shortage of quilting in Texas!
To tell the truth..
Quilt Guilds. Quilt Groups. Quilt stores.
They are all starting to get mashed together in my head. Too many for me to keep track of.
I could easily become overwhelmed.
Instead, I'm going to keep my heart open to opportunities. And I will follow the leads when they present themselves.

Opportunities like - from todays Graceful Quilter Bee group I have been invited to two charity quilting groups (one is a hand quilting group that meets weekly!! THAT is exactly what I've been hoping for!) and the Gainesville Quilt Guild. It should be interesting to see each group. I'll certainly keep you updated 😊.


Back to today's pictures...
I took a selfie to prove my attendance.
I deleted it from my photos because I have a bit of a crazy-eyed look going on. But, as you can see, I restored the pic and added it here because...  well, that's me 🥰!

Whimsy Hita!