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!

Quilts of Valor group in Carrollton, TX

I attended a Quilts of Valor Sit and Sew yesterday. They meet on the 2nd Tuesday of the month from 10 - 4 at the The Old Craft Store in Carrollton, TX. 

Some quilters brought in quilts to show.

 This snowman quilt is adorable and made from Jelly rolls!

The workspace area is very spacious.

Each quilter is working on her own project.

Stars are quite appropriate for Quilts of Valor.

 

The view from the other side of the room.

And this ironing station is awesome!!

When I went to set up my sewing machine, I found out that I neglected to put the cords with the machine when I put it in the "do not pack" pile. So hopefully the power cord and foot pedal are packed safely with the sewing room stuff. I won't find out until we move into the house.

Luckily, there was an extra sewing machine I was allowed to use.

Dianna Martinez is coordinator of this Quilts of Valor group. You can see more about this group on their Facebook profile US Sew Quilts of Valor.

Dianna handed me a stack of squares that were already cut. Showed me a pile of fabrics I could pull from to coordinate with the squares. Then pretty much turned me loose to do whatever I wanted.

I quickly came up with a plan and was soon well on my way!

I worked 10:30 to 3:30. I had a stack of 18 blocks at the end of the day. I was pleased with the progress.

Even though the official group is once a month, Dianna said I could come in on Tuesdays or Thursdays to work on Quilts of Valor projects. I may take her up on that if I don't find a weekly group fairly close to home.

Just 11 miles!!

Yesterday we had a walk-thorough at the new house with the constructor. He took his through the house, room by room, and gave us the run down of special features. We learned things like how to turn water valves and gas lines off, how the windows open for cleaning, how the fireplace has a gas line if we want to put in a gas log instead of burning wood, how set the alarms, heater and water sprinklers... So many things! The ceiling fans have light switches with a slider to change the high-low speed!!  No more jumping at the light fixture to pull the chain! Lol, I feel like I've been living  in a time capsule and have jumped into the future. My Heartbeat and I are very pleased with our new house, waiting for closing is difficult.

Sitting in my car, after the Walk-through, my Heart on his way to work, I decided to see how far to the nearest quilt shop 😁.

It's just 11 miles!!

Minding My P's and Q's

I suspect the shop was empty because it had become a very blustery day. One of those days for hot chocolate, fuzzy slippers and blankies on the couch.

Fortunately, I was already out and about 😉.

And received a warm welcome when I stepped through the quilt shop doors.

I met long-armer Fran, who was finishing up a client's quilt.  The custom quilting is fantastic!!

Minding My P's and Q's quilt shop has a big classroom!

One of the newest classes is the Poppins tote that's sitting in the floor. It is a very roomy and sturdy tote!

I found scrap bags!!

And look!! They've pulled a collection of fabrics to match the new Bonnie Hunter mystery colors!! Very thoughtful!

The shop has so much yummy stuff, and this is all I left with.  I'm trying hard to wait until we're settled into the new home.

Minding My P's and Q's quilt shop

Their calendar is full of classes and activities. 

All just 11 miles from where I'll be living (hopefully moved in by Thanksgiving!)

This shop may become my second home ☺️.

Material Girl Quilt Shop

I hadn't planned on finding a quilt shop yesterday (two days ago now, because it's taken me that long to write this short update. 🙄)

  We were driving around and looking at furniture stores when I saw a quilt shop on Maps right on our route to the next store.

Material Girl Quilt Shop

(I put a link to the shop's website, but as of today it hasn't been updated since Nov '11.)

It's a sweet cozy shop!

The shop owner Alice greeted me warmly.

Alice didn't mind me taking pictures for my blog 🥰.

There's possibly a classroom back there. I didn't explore too much because my Heartbeat was waiting for me in the car.  

Alice and I talked about our quilting, getting to know each other a bit.  The shop isn't offering classes at the moment as she's without a teacher.  ....hmm, a future opportunity, perhaps? ☺️!!

An evening with the Quilt Guild of Dallas

Just a quick FYI before I tell you about my day...
It. Rains. In. Texas!!
The saying is that "everything is bigger in Texas" seems to hold true. Even the raindrops feel bigger here!
Ok, onto my day....

I am often amazed how easy it is to get information these days.  Social media is a fantastic resource!
I am a Facebook fan. You can find a group for just about anything! (At least I assume so. I have only looked for quilters or needle crafters myself.)
When I moved to Texas, I did a quick search for quilting groups and found the Texas Quilter's Group (tm). It's a closed group, I did have to "apply to be a member" by answering  three questions before I was accepted.
I made a post to introduce myself and to ask for guilds close to where I would be living. I can tell you, I was thrilled to get responses!
I was invited to six guilds, a quilting bee, and a Quilts of Valor group! There were also mention of several quilt shops in my area. It's going to take me a while to visit each one!!

I was told that the Quilter's Guild of Dallas meets on the 2nd Thursday of the month.
Guess what yesterday was?! Yep, it was the second Thursday! And even though my GPS showed that it is a 40 minutes drive (into Dallas), I was determined to go because Linda took the time to comment on my FB post and invite me. Thanks, Linda!!

The November meeting happens to be the guild's charity sewing event. Which takes place at the Best Little Retreat Center in Texas.
I walked into a room that was buzzing with activity and sewing machines running.

Tables were littered with color coordinated scraps.

Looks like some were also theme coordinated too.

Many design walls were in use.

I noticed that the walls were custom made design walls! I mean, the whole wall! Corner to corner and as high as anyone could reach!
In the first room, ALL the wall space was covered like this!

Quilt tops were not limited to string piecing.

One quilter was attaching bindings.

She had a pile of quilts that needed to have the binding turned and stitched down.

This is Bonnie who invited me to turn bindings with her when I pretty much walked in off the street and asked for a job 😆.

And so I spent the next two hours or so chatting with Bonnie and stitching this binding.

And though I haven't made the commitment to become a member yet, I was given a welcome packet.

And I won a door prize!

I'll have to return when there's a regular meeting. I walked into the frenzied end of day rush to get a much done as possible. Only a handful of ladies introduced themselves to me. But I felt very welcomed. Almost like a raindrop falling into a puddle.