Found a Local Quilting Guild

What is a guild?

guild

ɡild/

noun

1. a medieval association of craftsmen or merchants, often having considerable power.

   • an association of people for mutual aid or the pursuit of a common goal.

     synonyms:

     association, society, union, league, organization, company, cooperative,fellowship, club, order, lodge, brotherhood, fraternity, sisterhood,sorority "the copper craftsmen have formed a guild"

   • ECOLOGY

     a group of species that have similar requirements and play a similar role within a community.

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Since moving to Chilton, I have found a spinning guild out in Valders, a weaving guild over in Menasha and a knitting club at the local library.  But I have not found a quilting guild in the area.  Usually guilds are listed in websites about quilting, directories of quilt shops or even on Quiltsy website. I was not seeing any in our local area that were listed anywhere. 

My friend Herb from the Calumet County Historical Society mentioned he knew a woman who was *heavily into quilting stuff* and gave me her name.  So I gave a call to Julie and we chatted for a while.  Besides a little informal group that meets at The Sewing Basket in Plymouth WI, she said there was another informal group that meets once a month at the library in Kiel, WI. That is only 11 miles away.  YAY!!!!

Yes, she invited me to attend. 

About sixteen ladies gathered to chat, share information, arrange outings to various shops and mostly to *Show N Tell*.   Yup, just like kindergarten, these gals brought their current items to show... and inspire the others. 

As we went around the room, introducing ourselves and showing what we were currently working on, or what we had just finished.  Some were lamenting about errors or problems, others were asking for ideas on borders or how to do some fancy stitching on the item to quilt it through the top, middle batting, and backing--- (called a sandwich)  and some just wanted feedback on their work. 

Here are some of the gals and some of their projects~

One by one, each showed their current projects

Some of the items were seasonal, 

like these maple leaves on a table runner

I really liked how these leaves turned out with a taller
center point on the leaf shape.  She even made matching hot pads.

I might try making some of these from batik fabrics

This adorable row of pumpkin head scarecrows were a hoot! 

Some of the gals are ahead of the game,

working on Christmas presents

and even stockings already! 

One of the gals heads up a group that does
patriotic themed quilts called
Quilts of Valor
to give to vets at various nursing homes.

This runner is a great idea

Of course, baby quilts are a common thing to make,
but this one was totally unusual!
The animal sections were made with fake fur and appliqued on. 

Just about everyone had something to share, 

talk about, and ask for suggestions. 

The variety of quilts were amazing at how detailed they were

as well as how colors were combined into a finished product.

This pic is blurry, but one lady even made a jacket

from her quilted sections of fabric.  Amazing! 

I brought along two quilts of my own....  

This first one is made for the newest grandchild on the way. Baby Choate will be here in a few more weeks. Oldest daughter Erin and Waylen asked for a quilt with bright colors, not really either girlish or boyish, but more neutral themed.  

This is called *Orange Peel* where the petal shapes are cut out first and sewed with some fusible interfacing on the back and turned and ironed onto each block.  Then I stitched over the whole petal to secure it down to the white block.  Once I assembled the white blocks into a quilt, then I put it on my frame and sewed the swirly loops called Pointed Paisley... and added a bright zig zag backing.

It came out even better than I expected! 

The quilt I am currently working on is all pieced on my 103 year old Singer Treadle sewing machine.  Yes, the treadle is built into the base of the old oak parlor cabinet, not on a traditional harp frame like most treadles. It closes all up and looks like a regular piece of furniture. I love it! 

While using a treadle, I can really get into my quilting and enjoy it without the whirrrrr of electric parts.  It is so rhythmic and mesmerizing to go tickety-tickety-tickety for hours as I sew. 

This newest quilt will be for our motorhome on the king sized bed.

Here is 1/3 of it completed that I hung on the line to photograph.

This is section I brought to the quilting guild to share. 

It is by far the easiest quilt I have done so far... it is only created out of two blocks

(call log cabin) and it is all in how you arrange them that makes the pattern.

Here it is stretched out on the queen guest room bed and kinda laid out wider

onto my ironing board that is lowered to the height of the bed. 

I hope today to load it up on my Handi Quilter Frame and set in my domestic

Janome sewing machine to quilt the sandwich together. 

It is a cool frame that allows me to use my home type domestic machine.

The prepared quilt top, batting and backing are loaded onto the front beams... 

 I sew back and forth as the completed quilt is rolled onto the back beam.

My friend Connie belongs to a quilting guild over in Oshkosh, WI. It is about 60 miles away for me to get there for meetings so I am not a regular member there. I did join them a few weeks ago for the workshop with Mary Fons of the Fons and Porter Love of Quilting tv show  (I wrote about it in this blog  My Workshop with Mary Fons)

That guild is going to take a road trip
to MY house on Friday to see all my fiber toys,

Her guild wants to see my looms,
spinning wheels,
sockknitting machine
and of course,
 my Handi Quilter Frame setup.

So I better get my butt in gear and load that quilt on it today
so it is ready to demonstrate on Friday!