September-30's Mini Group Meeting

Members showing their "Rosebuds" block from the Egg Money Quilts book by Eleanor Burns.

Patricia Knoechel - "Quilt in a Day"

“Nouveau Wedding Ring”

 

Patricia Knoechel, Eleanor Burns' sister, from "Quilt in a Day" presented a program Friday, 8/29/14 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Willmar Community Center.   Pat shared tips, tricks, new products and patterns from "Quilt In A Day" including “Nouveau Wedding Ring” and “Pineapple” with twists for modern quilters. Plus she had a trunk show of lovely quilts for us to see.  She is such a delight and it was a wonderful program.

A little history of Eleanor Burns-
The story of how Eleanor Burns became so popular, mirrors the process of constructing an heirloom quilt. Her life, like a patchwork quilt assembled from pieces collected over time, has blended into an inspiring and beautiful story. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1945 and quite early on began sewing on a small, crank-handle toy sewing machine. Seeking out any available fabric, she discovered her Aunt Edna’s chicken feed sacks, allowing her hours of stitching time. By thirteen, she polished her skills up on her mother’s newly purchased green Elna sewing machine. Her childhood brought out an enterprising spirit that was expressed in persistent tenacity. Being dyslexic developed her extraordinary ability to make difficult things simple, and teaching others was a way for her to impart her passion for learning. As a young woman, she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Edinboro State College. Her graduate work at Penn State University culminated her preparation to be a special education teacher, and she began teaching for the Pittsburgh school system. In 1967 she met and married Bill Burns and the process of piecing together her work with family life began. Quilt in a Day. 

June - Laura Murray "Laura Murray Designs"

Our speaker for the month was Laura Murray, of Laura Murray Designs. This program was about her unique and beautiful designs using innovative techniques with paint, stencils, and stamps.

Her company was launched in 2000, immediately after the end of her 30 career as a Human Resource Manager with Honeywell. It was an easy transition, thanks to her lifelong interest in sewing and needle arts. She lives in Minneapolis, MN, and travel extensively to vend and teach at quilt and sewing shows across the country. You can check out her website here http://www.lauramurraydesigns.com

Country Quilters was started in 1983. Each June we celebrate this event with cake and coffee.

Sgt. Gayle Liebe, our Quit of Valor quilter, was given a "Quilt of Valor" by the guild.  Gayle quilted the majority of the quilts that will be given to the  Minnesota National Guard's 849th Mobility Augmentation Company in July.

This is the quilt Gayle received. If you are wondering if she quilted it, the answer is yes.  It did not meet the requirements to be given as a "Quilt of Valor" because it was to large.  Our guild can not thank Gayle enough for all her hard work and long hours quilting these quilts.

Block of the Month from May, "Broken Arrows"

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Some of the amazing quilts make by our members.

Fiber Folk Mini Group - April Meeting - Loretta Fenske "Gel Printing"

Country Quilters Fiber Folk Mini Group met April 28th at 1:00 at the Willmar Community Center.
Loretta Fenske gave a inspiring demo on "Gel Printing".

 

The gel plate was made from gelatin. We used fabric paints and lots of fun objects including; feathers, leaves, cupcake liners, plant fibers, empty thread spools, and many other objects.

This is one of Loretta's amazing quilts that she incorporated some of the blocks using this gel printing technique. Loretta has "Quilting by the Lake" custom quilting in Spicer MN.

Just a few of the samples members made. 

The next Fiber Folk mini group meeting is Monday, May 19th, 1:00 at the Community Center in Willmar.  The demo will be on "Color".

April - Celine Perkins "Perkins Dry Goods"

Celine Perkins from "Perkins Dry Goods" was our speaker for the April Country Quilters Meeting. The quilt she is holding in this photo is "Grandpa's Best". This quilt was made for her dad and she said it is one of her favorites.

 

Perkins Dry Goods was established in June of 2002.  Celine's quilting life began in 1983 when she took her first hand piecing class at Glad Creations Quilt Shop in Minneapolis, MN. You can check out her website here http://www.perkinsdrygoods.com.

 Anna has been busy quilting while she was a snowbird in AZ.

Barb showed a quilt she made for her 12 year old granddaughter.  She also showed an antique summer coverlet.

 This photo doesn't do this quilt justice. The colors were amazing on this beautiful bright stars quilt.

 Daphne showed a cute wool project.

Carmen belongs to an art quilt group called Crossing Boarders. The theme last month was faces disguised. She came up with this fun mask.

April - 30's Mini Group Meeting

"Grandmother's Flower Garden" is the 2nd block we are making from Eleanor Burns: "Egg Money Quilts" book. 

Included in the "Egg Money Quilts'' book is this Grandmother's Garden Purse pattern.

 "Old Maid's Puzzle" finished blocks from last month.

Deb showed her hand pieced "Double Wedding Ring" quilt in progress.  The batiks against the black background is gorgeous.

Smitty's quilt from our last block of the month.  This photo doesn't do this quilt justice.  It is made out the Minnesota fabric. This was a brilliant way to use this MN fabric.

Linda showed her hand pieced "Grandmother's Flower Garden" quilt in progress. This is made from reproduction 30's prints. This cheerful quilt just makes you smile.

Karen's quilt is made from fun bright fabrics.  This is a gift for a granddaughters first twin bed. What an awesome gift.

This is one of the Quilts of Valor quilts. This is from Eleanor Burns:  "Quick Trips Quilts" book.  This is one of Tami's first quilt project.

March - Block of the Month

Fiber Folk Mini Group - March Meeting

There is a new Country Quilters mini group called Fiber Folk.  This group meets the 4th Monday of the month at 1:00 in the afternoon.  This mini group promotes quilting art with all types of fibers.

 

Portrait collage was the theme for the March meeting.  Member were able to choose an image of a face that was stamped on fabric to make their portrait. The creativity flowed by adding fabric and other fibers to finished the collage.

 

 

March - March Madness

March Madness at Country Quilters. Members were asked to bring a scrap (size between 5 inch square to 10 inch square, though doesn't have to be square) of "spring-y" fabric. We needed some color after a brutal winter!

 

Members were placed in random groups and were challenged to make a quilt block on a felt board using all the fabrics in our group, scissors, and painters tape.

 Group one

 Group two

 Group three

 Group four

 Group five

 Here are the blocks the groups came up with.  What a creative group we are!

 Block of the month from last month.

Some of the amazing show and tell projects.

March - 30's Mini Group Meeting

We started a new project this month.  We are making the blocks from Eleanor Burns: Egg Money Quilts. This is a photo of the first block "Old Maid's Puzzle".  Four "Old Maid's Puzzle" blocks were combined to make this one block.  Eleanor's books are so well written.  She has many amazing tricks and short cuts.  The block we will be making next month is Grandmother's Flower Garden.

Theresa finished her gorgeous quilt from our last block of the month project.

A few of the show and tell project.