January 23, 2019: Sit & Sew: 10 AM in Community Room

CANCELLED DUE TO HEATING PROBLEM IN THE BUILDING

We will be sewing blocks that form the basis of the components of future community service quilt kits (such as half-square triangles and stitch & flip corners.)  Bring your own lunch please.  Sewing machines desired but hand quilters willing to iron and assist in sewing (drawing lines, pinning etc.) are also truly needed!

Or bring your own sewing work and enjoy the company of your fellow NeedleChasers.

February 13, 2019: Melinda Lowy - Spice Up Your Quilts with Unusual Fabrics, 10 AM to Noon in Harlow Hall

Our very own Melinda Lowy with be telling us about her evolution in quilting that brought her to thinking outside the box when it comes to fabric selection and about how to use fabrics other than cotton in our next quilting project. Fabrics with great possibilities include silk, upholstery, velvet, linen, and metallic fabrics. She will give us tips on how best to use them and we will find out how easy it is to incorporate these wonderful fabrics into a stunning quilt. She will be showing us many of her own stunning quilts.

February 27, 2019: Sit & Sew: 10 AM in Community Room: The NeedleChasers' Annual Cut-A-Thon

We need all hands to help prepare kits for the Quilt-A-Thon which is April 10. We will be using our studio accucutter as well as hand-cutting a number of blocks.  Please bring your favorite rotary cutter and ruler and be ready for a day of fun.  Ironing, organizing and counting skills highly sought after!!  LUNCH PROVIDED. 

Or bring your own sewing work and enjoy the company of your fellow NeedleChasers. 

March 13, 2019: Becka Rahn - The Power of Designing Your Own Fabric, 10 AM to Noon in Harlow Hall

Becka Rahn is a digital fabric and clothing designer, specializing in engineered fabric prints. She is the co-author of The Spoonflower Handbook, a how-to guide to designing your own fabric. What is Spoonflower? It is a company that will take your uploaded fine and print it onto fabric or paper one or more yard at a time. Becka lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two black labs. She spends a lot of time thinking about pixels.

March 27, 2019: Sit & Sew: 10 AM in Community Room: Baste-A-Quilt Day

Sign up to bring you quilt top, batting and backing to be spray-basted with your NeedleChasers friends.  We’ll be providing the spray baste 505 (temporary repositioning spray) and a demonstration of how to machine baste your quilt with dissolvable threads.  Sign up required to ensure that we have plenty of time to baste your quilt.

Contact Debbie Lamb-Machanic for a time slot for basting. If this day fills, there is another opportunity to baste in July.

Community Service Sewing projects also available for sewing!

Or bring your own sewing work and enjoy the company of your fellow NeedleChasers.

April 10, 2019: Quilt-a-Thon - 10 AM to 3 PM in Harlow Hall

For those of you new to NeedleChasers this is an extraordinary day when our members come together to sew for others, laugh, win prizes, go off their diets, and just generally have a blast doing what we love most – creating quilts.  Our goal is to create at least 20 twin sized quilt tops for HSC Pediatrics which is a children’s specialty hospital in Washington DC that serves children and their families from infancy through 21 years of age.  Children and their families learn to work with the challenges of chronic illness and long term physical needs.

People work in teams of 4 to create the top in 1 day from carefully prepared kits.  We are ready to put needle to fabric at 10 am and generally finish about 3 pm.  We need sewers of course, but we also need designated “helpers” who enable the sewers to put the petal to the metal and sew up a storm!  That includes, marking, pinning, keeping things in order, pressing, etc. 

A fabulous lunch will be provided by the NeedleChasers' board.

May 8, 2019: Rita Verroca - Travel Through Quilt History, 10 AM to Noon in Harlow Hall

In this one-hour lecture/ trunk show Rita will give you an insight into different time periods of American quilt making, from its humble beginnings as utilitarian necessity to it’s glorious statement of a Baltimore Album Quilt.  Rita will explore on the basis of her quilts, various aspects of the art of the American quilt and quilt making. Rita will explore the history and versatility of patterns, the development and use of color in fabrics and find meaning in the artistic expression of quilters, which characterized the lives they lived.

May 9, 2019: Rita Verroca - Flower Bouquet Workshop, 10 AM to 4 PM in Community Room

Multilayered with nature inspired details, Rita uses ombres and printed fabrics to give her delicate roses and flowers a three dimensional effect. Baltimore Album stitchers used many different fabrics, each piece carefully selected and purposefully chosen for a desired effect. Rita teaches needle turn appliqué. In this class Rita focuses on stitching techniques for both novices and advanced quilters. Students will have the opportunity to learn all the basic appliqué skills: basic stitch, perfect points, inverted v's and valleys, reverse appliqué, and skinny stems and split leaves.

To turn under a seam allowance with the help of a pin or needle requires a left hand- right coordination. Find out how to move your hands, how to pin correctly and how to position your stitch to achieve a masterful blind stitch. Learn how to turn under your seam allowance to master smooth curves, inverted v's and sharp points without any frays or unwanted noses.  

Furthermore Rita will discuss the tricks and techniques of choosing solid and printed fabrics that will enhance the design, shading, and dimension of a pattern. Rita will also demonstrate how detail inking and embroidery can further enhance your work.

This workshop will be $60. Please fill out the registration sheet found here and send it along with a check to either of the addresses provided with the registration sheet.

July 10, 2019: Sit & Sew: 10 AM in Harlow Hall: Baste-A-Quilt Day

This month we will have a Sit & Sew on the day of the general meeting in Harlow Hall. The day trip to Quilt Odyssey will take place the day ofter the normal Sit & Sew day. The details of the trip are outlined below.

Sign up to bring you quilt top, batting and backing to be spray-basted with your NeedleChasers friends.  We’ll be providing the spray baste 505 (temporary repositioning spray) and a demonstration of how to machine baste your quilt with dissolvable threads.  Sign up required to ensure that we have plenty of time to baste your quilt.

Contact Debbie Lamb-Machanic for a time slot for basting.

Community Service Sewing projects also available for sewing!

Or bring your own sewing work and enjoy the company of your fellow NeedleChasers.

July 25, 2019: Day Trip - Quilt Odyssey, Hershey, PA 8:30 AM to 7 PM
 

Join us on a fun get away to the 20^th Anniversary Quilt Odyssey Show in Hershey, PA.  Please note that the date is a Thursday and will replace the regular Wednesday meeting.  We will leave the Church parking lot at 8:30 and take a luxury coach (bathroom, wifi included) to the show’s front door.  No waiting in line – you will get your pass before leaving the bus.  Upon arrival, you will be able to plan your own itinerary.  There are 4 restaurants on site, a wonderful display of quilts to enjoy, and a large vendor hall, all on one level.  The return departure time will be 4:00 with an estimated church arrival time of 6:30-7:00.  The cost is only $35.00 and includes the bus and admission to the show! 

Click here for the registration sheet.