Big Quilts workshop this Saturday

This Saturday, July 27 is our Choo Choo Quilters annual Cuddle Quilt Workshop. Our goal this year is to make "big quilts" for the Chambliss Center for Children and our Cuddle Quilt workshop is always very productive for this endeavor but it's also a fun day to sew and visit with fellow guild members, both past and present.

August block: Triangle Surprise Disappearing 9-patch with plaids.

What to bring
If you don't already have something to work on, kits for this year's Big Quilts project will be available at the workshop on Saturday. Two ironing boards with irons will be set up for shared use. Other items to bring are:

• sewing machine and an extension cord 
• the usual sewing supplies—pins, scissors, seam ripper, etc.
• 18" x 24" (or similar size) cutting mat—if you want to work on a Big Quilt kit
• rotary cutter and cutting ruler
• a snack to share (orange juice and coffee will be provided).

Time and Location
The workshop will be held:

Saturday, July 27

9 am - 3 pm

Cross of Christ Lutheran Church

3204 Hixson Pike 

(next door to Stuart Heights Baptist Church)

Hixson, TN

Please park in the lower parking lot in the back. Enter through the door to the nursery. Contact Sherry Reed if you have any questions.

Choo Choo Quilters start 2019 with "big" Cuddle Quilt goal

First 2019 bed-size quilt top: Cristy Clark (left) and Veronica Hofman-Ortega
show a bed-size quilt top (72" x 90") that Veronica designed and pieced.

If the amazing, generous and talented Choo Choo Quilters can make over 50 baby and lap size quilts in about 12 months, it's a mere stretch of guild members' quilting know-how to accomplish a goal of several bed quilts for the Chambliss Center for Children group home and its Transitional Living Program. Right???

In 2010, with a plea for larger quilts in the late summer, our guild members pieced and finished 9 bed-size quilts for delivery in December of that same year. Read the blog post here. "It's been a few years since we made our charity quilts to benefit the older children...," said Cuddle Quilt Co-Chair, Ginny Minninger. "Wouldn't it be wonderful to provide them with quilts [again]?"

To respond to this need, our guild will be focusing on making larger bed quilts—approximately 72" x 90" and 80" x 90"—for our community service project this year. Cuddle Quilt Co-Chairs, Sherry Reed and Ginny Minninger, have sourced several easy block patterns and will be providing patterns and "quilty incentives" for participation in and contribution to this endeavor in upcoming meetings.

"Town Square" block. Pattern distributed with permission.
View a tutorial here.

The first block pattern, Town Square, was distributed at the January meeting. Packets of the focus fabric (black squares) and inner (light grey) strips were also given to meeting attendees.

To view an on-line YouTube tutorial for the Town Square block, see this video.

If you'd like to make and contribute a block (or 2, or 5...), here is the requested color placement: use a black fabric for the squares and a light (cream, white, or light grey) for the inner strip. All other fabric strips can be scrappy.

Turn in completed blocks at the February meeting for a chance to win a prize. Or turn in blocks, quilt tops or even finished bed-size quilts and your reward will be the appreciation of a youth at Chambliss.

So, Choo Choo Quilters... are we up for this challenge? Be thinking about our Cuddle Quilt Workshop in July (TBA) and the group basting session which is always so efficient and productive.

If you don't have space to baste a larger quilt top, get the top assembled and take advantage of the group spray basting session! Batting and backing fabrics will be provided by the guild.

A Year with the Choo Choo Quilters

Nancy presented a program on creating and using "scrap rolls"
at the November guild meeting.

2017 was a wonderful "Make Do" and "Make it Work" year for the Choo Choo Quilters.

From getting creative with fabric swatches and scrap rolls, re-creating with vintage textiles and orphaned quilt blocks, attending a workshop and lecture with nationally-known author and award-winning quilter, Mary Kerr, to learning how to calculate the math for making patchwork borders "fit" through participation in the Medallion Guild Challenge, the Choo Choo Quilters guild members pumped out exciting new quilt projects... in addition to the numerous cuddle quilts for the guild's community service project.

Not only did we "make do," we made—and learned—a lot! And, here are the highlights from another fun, creative and inspiring year at our guild. Sit back, scroll down, and take a look—there are lots of pictures!

A Year of upcycling, repurposing and "Making Do"
The 2017 year started with the kick-off of the theme of "Back to the Future." The concept for this year-long theme was to generate ideas for using, re-purposing or elevating UFOs (unfinished objects), rescued or vintage quilt bits, or whatever half-finished projects were languishing in closets and fabric stashes.

Ideas for using fabric bits and leftovers to make blocks.

Knock-knock jokes introduced the February program on "Making Do"—quilt block ideas for using scraps. Fabric swatches from fabric company outdated sample cards were donated and distributed among guild members. The scraps resurfaced in scrappy, improv quilt blocks that made their way into quilts during the annual Cuddle Quilt workshop.

Guild members collected fabric swatches to make blocks for Cuddle Quilts.

Early in the year, the Medallion Guild Challenge was presented. Instructions were given for a large, center, medallion block.

Ideas for making a medallion quilt with multiple pieced borders.

Throughout the first half of the year, Cristy presented designs and instructions for pieced borders that could be used to surround the center medallion. The Challenge reveal was at the November meeting.

Cristy presents border options.

Want to add dimension and embellishments to your quilts? Delores, Ginny and Martha presented ideas and a plethora of examples for enhancing the surface of quilts.

Delores (left) and Ginny discuss embellishment possibilities.

Delores is the Queen of embellishment.

Martha with her Noah's Ark quilt.

Other guild program topics included T-shirt quilts, tips for making quilts look modern, and using blocks of different sizes. Visit the Choo Choo Quilters Facebook page for other photos.

Let the good times roll

In October, Nancy presented the "scrap rolls" concept and her team provided several samples to stimulate our creative juices.

How long can you make a scrap roll???

A fast and easy strip quilt made with scrap rolls. 

Project ideas for scrap rolls.

Workshop and Lecture with Mary Kerr

In April, the Choo Choo Quilters teamed up with another local quilt guild and brought in Mary Kerr for "A Wonky Star" workshop and a lecture that featured quilts from Mary's book, "Twisted: Modern Quilts with a Vintage Twist." Several of the participants finished their quilt tops in the workshop!

Dawn (left), Mary Kerr and Kim with their Wonky Star tops.
Dawn and Kim used pieces from the same vintage quilt top.

Cristy's Wonky Star

Ginny made multiple sizes of her Wonky Star blocks.

Veronica's stack of vintage Churn Dash blocks turned into this top.

Garie's Wonky Star

Ginny (left) and Vista discuss possibilities.

There were several interesting antique and vintage quilt tops that people brought to the workshop. It was fun to see the popular block patterns and fabrics from days gone by.

The goblet block.

Lots of vintage prints! 

Little red "bow ties" or "butterflies" flit among the vintage shirting fabrics.

A nine-patch fabric bonanza!

Mary's lecture and trunk show was very motivating and inspiring. Seeing the quilts from the Twisted book and exhibit up close and in person was a treat that can't be experienced through photos.

Mary Kerr lecture and trunk show.

2017 annual Cuddle Quilt workshop
The all-day Saturday workshop for working on cuddle quilts was again very productive—especially the group basting session. We set a new record with 45 basted quilts! (Thank you, Sherry Reed, for contributing workshop photos.)

The basting crew (from left): Ginny, Veronica and Kaye.

Garie (left) and Cristy.

Martha (left) and Nancy.

Veronica free-motion quilted 5 quilts during the workshop.

Linda (left) and Theresa.

Choo Choo Show and Tell
The guild was again treated to beautiful quilts made by members, visitors, and others this year. Sometimes the "others" are anonymous quilters whose quilts, tops or blocks were rescued by or gifted to guild members. We enjoy seeing them all.

Sherry's (right) disappearing nine-patch.

A lovely panel was incorporated into this quilt.

Members brought Show and Tell examples for the "Make Do" program.

Garie's (left) vintage quilt.

Ginny's (right) stash-buster quilt.

Betty's quilt made from men's shirts.

Delores showed a vintage scrappy 9-patch.

Antique applique quilt. The red flower fabric has disintegrated. 

Antique hexagon, Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt top. Look at the fussy piecing!

Three guests also delighted the guild this year with trunk shows and stories about their journeys in quilting. We enjoyed having Martha Steel, Jean Larson and Stacy Slockbower at our guild meetings.

Nothing outshines or surpasses a Choo Choo Quilter!
And, not to be upstaged by the August 21, 2017 celestial event—a total solar eclipse (the last time a total solar eclipse was seen in the contiguous US was in 1979)—Ginny, one of our "Star" Choo Choo quilters, commemorated the event by making a Solar Eclipse quilt!

Ginny's solar eclipse quilt.

Thanks for a fun-filled 2017. The Choo Choo Quilters are looking forward to 2018.

Happy New Year from the Choo Choo Quilters!

35 Cuddle Quilts delivered to Chambliss Center

Choo Choo Quilters, Sherry Reed (left) and Ginny Minniger, dropped off
35 cuddle quilts to the Chambliss Center for Children in early February.

Right in time for Valentine's Day, Sherry Reed and Ginny Minninger, representatives from the Choo Choo Quilters, shared "Cuddle Quilt Love" with the children and staff of the Chambliss Center for Children. Thirty-five quilts—in an assortment of child, lap and bed sizes—were dropped off at the Center and received with open arms by Center's staff.

35 Cuddle Quilts.

Each year, the Choo Choo Quilters adopt the Chambliss Center for Children as the recipient of the guild's community service project. Throughout the year, bright and fun cotton fabrics and flannels are sewn together and quilted by the members of the guild to create child and lap-sized quilts. The guild's annual Cuddle Quilt workshop—usually held on a Saturday in August—is set up for group sewing, quilt top assembly and quilt basting as well as day of camaraderie for the guild members. The sandwiched quilt tops and backings are then quilted and bound by the members and turned in by the end of the year.

Ideas for block and quilt patterns were presented at the recent February guild meeting for this year's Cuddle Quilt workshop. Ginny Minninger, one of the team members that presented the February program on "Making Do," cited that about 15 of the 35 quilts that were recently delivered to the Center were from a quilt design presented at the 2016 Cuddle Quilt workshop.

"Let's see if we can surpass the 35 number this year," said Ginny. "One year, we made and donated over 70 [quilts]," she added. In 2010, the guild received a unique request for bed-size quilts and members generously responded with a donation of 9 bed-size quilts. Game On, Choo Choo Quilters! Let's make an impact.

Cuddle Quilt workshop 2016

Thanks to our fabulous Cuddle Quilt Coordinator, JoAnn, and the CQ committee, the annual Choo Choo Quilters Cuddle Quilt workshop this Saturday was fun and productive.

JoAnn (left) and Martha cutting strips sets at the August Cuddle Quilt Saturday.

In addition to working on Cuddle Quilts, those attending also discussed and pondered the great mysteries of the world: the Single Sock Syndrome, why "bra" is singular and panties are a "pair," and the invention of the "Needle Trip Meter" to notify quilters when to change the needle in their sewing machines.

Saturday's activities started with kits for the "Summer on the Beach" strip quilt. The majority of the strips were cut from the Choo Choo Quilters CQ stash of donated fabrics. However, a few packages of strips were needed to have enough for the kits. The additional pre-cuts were purchased at local area quilt shops: Chattanooga Quilts, Hyderhangout and Pins and Needles Quilt Shop. Note: the Choo Choo Quilters shop local! 

Step-outs for the quilt top.

JoAnn had examples of various steps in the process and gave demonstrations throughout the day. Everyone sewed, sewed, sewed... chain-piecing strips together.

Janice (left) and Teresa sewing strips.

 Look at those piles of strips behind the sewing machines!

Cristy chain piecing.

Then to the irons to press the seams...

Ironing the pairs of long strips.

After hours... and hours... and hours of sewing strips, the cutting went quickly. Using the diagonal line on the ruler, the blocks were quite easy to cut from the strip tubes. Each strip set yielded 6 blocks.

Martha cutting strip sets into blocks.

The fun part was seeing all the colorful blocks emerge and arranging them into a quilt top.

Veronica laying out the blocks.

This is one example quilt layout using batik fabrics.

Batik blocks in a diamond pattern.

Then we decided to swap a few blocks and introduce polka dots, checks and prints to the mix.

Blocks from different strip sets makes a fun, scrappy quilt.

When cut, these blocks are approximately 8.5" or 8.25" square (about 8" finished). The quilts can be rectangular or square, in any design. To make a child size lap quilt at 40" x 48", use a 5 x 6 layout. Alternate plain blocks might also be an interesting setting.

Quilters should bring any unused or leftover blocks to the next guild meeting so they can be combined to make additional quilts.

We missed those guild members that could not attend the CQ workshop. We didn't solve all the mysteries of the universe, but we enjoyed fabulous door prizes, food and beverages, and we got a huge pile of quilt blocks made!

Be sure to visit the Choo Choo Quilters Facebook page for more photos.