Meetings
We warmly invite members of the quilting community to attend our program meetings. All visitors will be required to pay a fee of $5 at the door. The guest fee may be applied towards a membership fee that day. We meet the 2nd Wednesday each month, coffee at 9:30, meeting from 10 AM - 12:30, at the North Chevy Chase Christian Church, 8814 Kensington Parkway, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 (click here for directions.) Workshops require registration in advance of the event.
| Winter Weather Policy. NeedleChasers follows the lead of the Montgomery County Public Schools: if school is cancelled, our NeedleChasers meeting for that day is also cancelled. If the schools have a delayed opening, our NeedleChasers meeting will take place at its regular time. |
Our Next Meetings.......| January 22, 2020: Sit and Sew 10:00 AM Community Room Challenge Yourself Day Part 1 We sincerely ask that everyone who signs up to make one of these more complex, but accessible, items will commit to complete the item. We have broken the process down into very easy steps and very small groups. We promise you will have LOTS of help. Belt Purse - an updated sling purse or worn as a fanny pack this 2 compartment bag will be a popular gift. Limited to 8 participants. Retreat Bag with Handles - this is the best sewing bag you can make. Woven handles, exterior pockets and a wire frame inserted to provide structure. Limited to 5 participants. Passport Wallet - with RFID fabric embedded in this beauty you will be stylish AND safe from prying electronic "eyes". Working in leather will be the highlight of this straight forward but wonderful project. Limited to 8 participants. Sign up by contacting Debbie Lamb-Mechanick. |
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January 29, 2020: Annual Cut-AThon AND Quilt Spray Basting Day (Lunch Provided) Community Room 10 am It's that time again for our Annual Cut-A-Thon. Change those rotary cutting blades and grab your rulers. We will be rotary cutting, using the accu-cutter; counting, sorting and packaging kits to be ready for our April 1 Quilt-A-Thon. so come one and all and join us. Also, if you have a quilt top that you need help spray basting, we'll take care of that also. Bring your top, back and batting and we will supply the spray baste and the manpower. So join us for a fun-filled time starting at 10 am. It could help if you could let Debbie Lamb-Mechanick know that you are planning to come so we will have enough lunch for everyone. |
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February 12, 2020: Quilting in Today's Japan With Our Own Maria Rogers (Naito) 10:00 AM Originally from England, Maria has lived over 25 years in Japan. After graduating college, she started to backpack around the world, at one time for 2 years aboard a ship making weekly TV documentaries. She has always loved textiles and collected pieces during her travels. While in Japan in the early '90s, Maria met and married her husband. While raising her family and living in Japan she went most years to the large Tokyo International Quilt Show, as well as smaller shows in Yokohama. She visited local flea markets buying kimonos, yakatas, and indigo fabric scraps. She began quilting in 2013. Her talk and slide show will be a little glimpse on everyday life in Japan, and a lot of wonderful photos of the amazing Japanese quilts from the various quilt shows. Maria will be able to answer questions you may have if you are considering visiting Japan yourselves. |
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February 26, 2020: Artisan Boutique Sit and Sew 10:00 AM Community Room IMPROV Day Learn to create "new" fabric entirely from scraps! You will receive curated bags of fabrics to start this fun and exciting process. Multiple methods will be demonstrated and, as ever, you will learn something new for your quilting 'tool' box. Sign up by contacting Debbie Lamb-Mechanick. |
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| March 11, 2020: Beads, Buckles, and Buttons! with Karen Fricke 10:00 AM General Meeting Karen says "my medium is fabric, my method is quilting, and the source of my inspiration is frequently the written word. It may be a poem, a quotation, a prayer. The thoughts and feelings ignited by those words form mental images, which I first sketch on paper, and refine until I am satisfied with the design. The sketch becomes my working pattern.....I enjoy sharing my interest in art quilts as an instructor and lecturer, and as the author of numerous articles for quilting and sewing magazines. March 11, 2020: "Wise Women" Pins Workshop 1:00-4:00PM Several of our members asked for this workshop and we are happy to provide the opportunity to them and to you! Create a one-of-a kind piece of jewelry that expresses your wise woman. Click here to register. |
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March 25, 2020: Artisan Boutique Sit and Sew 10:00 AM Community Room Quilter's Projects Projects include: Scissors or Rotary Cutter Zippered Pouch A Clear Zipped Vinyl Pouch - to see your notions at a glance Microwave Bowls - incredibly popular at our last boutique sale! Potholders and Mug Rugs. Contact Linda Fasules, LLfasrn@aol.com to sign up. |
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April 15, 2020: Our Annual Quilt-a-Thon for charity 10:00AM NOTE: Date change from our usual second Wednesday! Under the able tutelage of Debbie Lamb-Mechanick, we will again be teaming up to create donation quilts for local organizations. |
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April 22, 2020: Artisan Boutique Sit and Sew 10:00 AM Community Room Projects include: Water Bottle Carrier Oil Cloth Lined Garden Tote Business Card Holders Sign up by contacting Linda Fasules, LLfasrn@aol.com |
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May 13, 2020: Julia Graves - "Color Exploration" 10:00 AM General Meeting Julia Graves of Special Occasion Quilts has been sewing since she was ten. She has always loved fabric and sewing and needle arts in general and the whole creative process! Julia did her apprentieship as a quilter by making a quilt for each of her nephews and nieces (there were 35!) They got to choose their colors, so she greatly expanded her repertoire of color schemes! Since then, Julia has made many quilts for special people, incorporating various ways to let them know how much they were cared for, especially enjoying color and incorporating information on color. She has been Artist in Residence at the Empty Spools Seminars in 2019 and is a Gem Quilt Affiliate. This lecture will discuss how to choose beautiful color combinations for your quilts and provide tips on how to fix color combinations that just don't seem to be working. Classic color combinations will be displayed by slide show and actual quilts. |
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| May 14, 2020: Julia Graves workshop "Shimmering Triangles" 10:00AM to 4:00 PM Make this gorgeous quilt that gives the effect of water rippling in a stream. It is a perfect pattern to showcase beautiful fabric, especially large-scale prints. You will achieve the shimmer by applying easy to understand color and value concepts that you can use to enhance all your future quilts! This quilt looks complicated, but it is actually easy to construct. You will learn a quick piecing method for half-square triangles with perfect points using a Jennie Bowker pattern. By the end of the day, you should have a design layout for your fabrics, completed several blocks, and understand how to finish the quilt on your own. Registration will begin in February. |
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| June 10, 2020: Phyllis Hatcher "Fabric Down Under: Aboriginal Dot Art in Quilts" Aboriginals in central Australia have created dot art designs in sand for thousands of years. See how current indigenous outback artists' dot paintings are now being transformed into fabric used by quilters everywhere. Discover the true meaning of the fabric designs as they relate to Aboriginal culture and real life today in the desert outback. |
LOOKING AHEAD.... NeedleChasers' meeting line-up for 2020
| January 22, 2020 | Artisan Boutique Sit & Sew |
| January 29, 2020 | Community Service Sit & Sew |
| February 12, 2020 | Maria Rogers - Quilting in Japan |
| February 26, 2020 | Artisan Boutique Sit & Sew |
| March 11, 2020 | Karen Fricke - Embellishments on Quilts/Dollmaking workshop |
| March 25, 2020 | Artisan Boutique Sit & Sew |
| April 15, 2020 | Quilt-a-Thon NOTE: This is the 3rd Wed. of the month due to the Jewish Holiday on the 8th |
| April 22, 2020 | Artisan Boutique Sit & Sew |
| May 13, 2020 | Julia Graves - Color Exploration |
| May 14, 2020 | Julia Graves - Shimmering Triangles |
| June 10, 2020 | Phyllis Hatcher - Fabric Down Under: Aboriginal Dot Art in Quilts |
About Our Other Programs........
"Wee Bees"- 1st Wednesday of each month benefiting various not-for-profit organizations.
- See Community Service page for further details
"Sit-and-Sew Bees"
- Generally held the 4th Wednesday of each month
- Meet in the community room at NCCC Church from 9:30 am to 2 pm.
- Sit and Sew - Members come to work on a project of their own or Community Service Projects or just join in for some caffeine and calories!
- “Boutique Bees” specialty meetings where techniques or projects for the Artisan Boutique are constructed. Members wanting to sit and sew on their own projects are ALWAYS welcome!