Beyond the Basics class at wctc fall 2009

Alright
Guilty as charged

Several people have told me that they are disappointed that I have not updated by blog in a long long time! First of all I didn't know people were actually reading it! Nice to know I have friends who want to read about what is new and upcoming in the wacky world of Wendy. Busy would sum up my life. Beyond just plain busy... even for me. From 7 weeks of camp this summer it was right back into teaching, getting the kids ready for school, an intergenerational quilting retreat, a cruise in New England with friends, a college visit to Ohio, another retreat for my quilting buddies, a trip to Seattle to visit my sister and then the sale this weekend at Frank's. So that perhaps is my excuse for not blogging!

Brad is hosting a very nice sale this weekend if you can come. Who else is so generous as to offer 40% off your entire purchase of quilting notions, books, thread and software! Hope to see you there tomorrow.

Nest week is BOM at the store. We are doing the center block of the quilt! We are getting toward the end! I am proud of how many people are committed to keeping up to date with this BOM!

I have a mitten class this Sat at WCTC there still might be 1 seat available.
THe 17th starts the Beyond the Basics quilt at WCTC. That too has one spot left. I will try to post a picture of it. Dec 5th I am having another scarf dying class that is open to anyone. It is 9-11:30 that day at Trinity U.C.C. in Brookfield. The cost is $25. Let me know if you can come!

We are also having a "sleep in your own bed" Quilting retreat at Frank's Sewing Center on Nov 20th thru the 22. The cost is $65. Let the store know if you want to join in the fun.

Well I think you are up to date now. I will try to not let it go so long again!!!

Wendy

What is coming up?!?

Serger club at Frank's was a lot of fun tonight. I learned so much this week getting ready for the club. Our theme was how to use the gathering foot to put on ruffles. I made a purse with ruffles this week and it turned out so cute. At serger club I demonstrated how to put a little ruffle on a pillowcase. Serger club will start up again in the fall and I will offer a class at 1 in the afternoon and at 7 if there is enough interest.

Saturday I am talking to the sewing club at Frank's. My topic is threads. There are so many choices and so much to know about thread. Come at 10 to find out more!

Block of the month will be next Tuesday the 9th and Friday the 12th. We are doing the Drunkard's path block. I will demonstrate several different ways to put the block together. The picture of the table runner is three of the blocks we are doing that I made in three different ways.

If you are part of my Monday Creativity Studio group, remember you are invited to the church picnic at 10AM. Anyone is welcome to attend whether you come on Mondays or not! It is at Wirth Park in Brookfield. The service starts at 10 with some great contemporary music and then there will be brats for sale and a potluck. We are at the pavilion by the pool.

It is a busy time of year with gardening, confirmations, graduations, birthdays and anniversaries. Take time to enjoy them all! (But squeeze in a little time to sew too!)

Pictures of retreat

The spring retreat's theme was Hope. The blue hat that is being worn in the third picture was our helmut of hope. The Bible tells us to put on the helmut of hope. At this quilt retreat the helmut of hope was worn by someone who was having a hard time with things. The idea was that the hat would give you hope. After wearing it, it was passed on to the next person who needed a little hope and levity! It was a feathery blue hat probably from the sixties. My husband called it the smurf hat.

This should give you a little glimmer of what fun we have at the retreats!

Retreat and BOM

Thanks to all who attended the quilting retreat at Pilgrim Center on Green Lake in Wisconsin. We had a wonderful time. I hope to post a few pictures soon. We all got a lot of sewing done and the food was wonderful.

Just a reminder that BOM is May 8th, 12th at Frank's and 18th at Creativity Studio.

Paducah and my birthday

We had another great year in Paducah Kentucky. It was strange as neither Chris or I took any classes or went to any lectures. Don't worry we found plenty to do. I have included pictures here of the winning quilt, the best hand work quilt and the winning wall quilt. My demo for the All Star Review went well. It was so nice of Bonnie Browning to invite me to teach there. We left on Friday so I could be home for my daughter's prom. What fun. Sunday was my birthday so it has been a busy week. My class on Monday threw me a really nice birthday party! There was food, cake, a flashing birthday pin, jewelry, balloons and even a money tree! Thank you! Chris put together a birthday cake made from fat quarters. Isn't it clever? Quiltina liked it too.

Paducah

Chris and I arrived in Paducah this evening. It was a rainy ride down here. We didn't make any stops except for a brief visit with Superman in Metropolis! We went to Flamingo Row in Paducah for dinner and that was very nice. We walked around the inside of the hotel this evening to scout out were they moved the vendors to and as we were returning to our room, we saw a small animal scampering about...It was a racoon. Should a racoon be inside the Executive Inn? Perhaps he is hoping to attend some qulting classes!

Block of the Month is 4-10, 13,or 14

My 6" square lecture for the Lake Country Guild was lots of fun. Nice to see a lot of familiar faces there! When I got home from that, it was either start cutting BOM blocks or paint silk scarves outside in the sunshine instead of in the basement as I have been doing it. The nice weather won me over. I was able to paint 17 scarves today. Now they will all need to be heat set, washed and then ironed. I think I am going to take them to church to decorate the snctuary for Easter before they go up for sale. They are so pretty and elegant! After dinner, I worked on BOM paperwork and started cutting out the blocks. This months block has 49 pieces in it. Luckily there was fabric in the kits from last month that gets used for this one so I did not need to cut all of it! Looking forward to seeing many of you in the next few days. Have a Happy Easter

Creative Fun

I have been a bad blogger...also translates to..too busy! But as always it is a fun busy!
If you do not recieve the newsletter from Superior Threads I would highly encourage you to sign up for it. There is always valuable information about thread, needles and more in the newsletter. This month he talks about the advantage of Titanium needles. I am going to buy some...they always sell out at Frank's before I have a chance to get them!


Sew Much More!™

Here is today's agenda to show you a little glimpse of the Rieves insanity

• Get ready for the lecture for Lake Country Quilters which is Thursday at 9AM
• Grocery shop for BOM recipe
• Make homemade marshmallows for BOM (these are nothing like store bought ones! You will love them)
• Finish writing the letter for the retreat May 3-6 at Pilgrim Center
• Paint 7-9 more scarves for the Elm Grove Woman's Club Luncheon. (They are using my scarves as part of the center pieces and they will be for sale) Note to self, make marshmallows first so hands are pristine for working with food! Not blue stained from the paints! Isn't that appetizing.
• Finalize directions for April's BOM for Frank's Sewing Center and figure the number of cuts to make of each fabric. Cut the fabric tomorrow.
• Go over the paperwork for BOM and update the Excel spread sheet
• Cut Brown fabric for the exchange at BOM into 3" strips
• Go to West suburban Quilter's Guild meeting at 7 tonight
• Get off the computer and get going on this stuff!!!!

Have a great day

Wendy

Fall Retreat information

Fall Quilt Retreat October 13-16, 2009

Pilgrim Center Green Lake, Wisconsin

Join me for four (several people last year expressed an interest in making this retreat one day longer!) days of uninterrupted quilting and enjoy the fall foliage in a beautiful setting, right next to Green Lake. Bring whatever you want to work on! I will be there to help you! Those who have gone before know the food is great and the fellowship cannot be beat! .
Arrive anytime after 10:30 on Tuesday morning. Retreat will end at 3:00 on Friday

You will be responsible for your own lunch on Tuesday. There are places to eat in Ripon or you can bring a bag lunch. There is always coffee, tea, water and fruit available.

A few weeks before the retreat, you will receive a list of things you need to bring with you to camp. (Towels, bed linens etc)
For information about the Pilgrim Center and a map, go to http://ucci.org/default2.htm

Cost: $200:00 includes 8 great meals and loads of fun
$150 if you choose to come after breakfast on Wed
Talk to Wendy if you are interested in coming for one day and not stay overnight

E-mail me for more information
wrieves@aol.com

Here is the current BOM colored in blues for a different look

Next Beyond the Basics QUilt

There is still one opening in the Beyond the Basics Class at WCTC. Below is the link to the pattern we are doing. Print it off and you have your supply list except you will also need 2" finished half square triangle paper. You can leave off borders to make a smaller size. The picture to the left is just the center of the whole quilt. The link will show you the whole quilt.

http://www.redroosterfabrics.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/4b25070c4cb6225ddb80bc195f484eef/pattern/xmasquilt.pdf

Jean's Quilt

Another BOM quilt from last year

Jean Hilgeman finished her BOM quilt. She did a great job and she calls herself a beginning quilter!

Sue Fox sent me a picture of her completed BOM that I designed from last year. She added her own twist on it by adding 4 basket blocks in the center. Didn't she do a great job? Very creative. Nice job Sue.

Here are some pictures of Chris and I in France

QUILTINA

Quiltina

When Chris and I went to France, we came up with our own version of Flat Stanley...a little doll you could take places and photograph. We had a lot of fun with her. This weekend I worked on writing up a pattern for her.

Spring Retreat

If you are interested in signing up for the spring retreat that I hostess for the United Church of Christ, you will find the information here
http://www.ucci.org/event%20desc/quilt.htm

My fall retreat that I do on my own but at the same location is Oct 13-16th. Stay tuned for more information about that

More Project Linus News

This Saturday, Rebecca is coming to collect the quilts for Project Linus. She has to sew labels on all of them! (remember we collected about 300) I offered to round up help for her. We are going to sew labels on Saturday afternoon. Let me know if you can come and help. They can be sewn on by hand or machine.

Project Linus

We collected almost 300 quilts at Frank's Sewing Center for Project Linus. The women who braved the snow made 30 blankets on Saturday. The sewing machine was won by Sally S. Thank you to everyone who particpated!

Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day! I taught my scarf class in the morning. We had so much fun. In the afternoon, it was on to Beloit to Tori's gymnastic meet. It is amazing how young girls can flip and bend in ways I never ever did!

My Basic Plus class at WCTC still needs a couple people...3 in the day and 2 at night. It is such a cool quilt. It looks complicated but is quite simple. Sign up by Tues afternoon or it will be cancelled!
Here is a picture of it in progress. The completed quilt is hanging in the classroom at Frank's Sewing Center.

304-620B-009 21793 Quilting - Basic Plus 3 0 Rieves, Wendy L $49.00 .25 03/03/09-03/24/09 T 09:00am-11:55am WK115

304-620B-010 21794 Quilting - Basic Plus 2 0 Rieves, Wendy L $49.00 .25 03/03/09-03/24/09 T 06:00pm-08:55pm WK115

Operator Assisted Registration
Call 262.691.5578

Scant 1/4"..what is that!

Sewing a scant 1/4 inch is so important for getting your piecing accurate. If you measure your seam and it is exactly 1/4 inch it is too big! You must allow for the folding of the fabric when you press the seam to one side and for the thread used in the seam. Make this allowance by either moving your needle position slightly to the right, or using a quilters 1/4 inch presser foot. (even here you must double check that it really is scant!)

Here is a site that has some good information about that elusive scant 1/4"
http://www.scrapquilts.com/accurate_seams.html

Some people find the scant 1/4" and then mark their machine with a Sharpie, or put a piece of tape there, or a piece of Moleskin or a stack of post it notes to mark the spot.

Please post a comment if you have other ideas on how to find that scanty thing!

scarf class

I am doing a class on silk scarf painting for my guild this weekend. Valentine's day from 9-12 at Trinity UCC in Brookfield. The cost is $25. I could still take a couple people. Let me know if you are interested

Classes at Frank's

If you go to the Frank's web site you can download the class schedule but I thought I would include it here, as Brad did not have a chance to let his customers know it had been posted.

Franks Sewing Center
272 W Main Street
Waukesha
547-7774
Frankssewingcenter.com
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Spring Class Schedule

Join One of our Clubs!
Embroidery Club meets every other month on the 4th Wed at 1 or 6. Each session of Embroidery Club is full of embroidery designs, projects and ideas that can be used on garments, home dec, kid’s stuff and more. You will receive full color direction sheets for several projects as well as original designs on a diskette in your particular machine's format. No need to download from the Internet or convert designs. During this fun lecture-demo class, held every other month you will also learn helpful hints on embroidering and hooping techniques, stabilizers, marking and new products. Bring your own projects for “show and tell” and there’s always a chance to win a door prize. Join in anytime! It is hosted by Patty Otto. Cost is $20 The dates for the rest of this year are: April 1, May 27, July 22, Sept 23, and Dec 2.
Serger Club also meets every other month on the first Thursday at 6:30. It is hosted by Wendy Rieves. Cost is $5 Dates:Feb 5, April 2, June 4

Sewing Club is held the first Saturday of every month from 10 to 12. Different topics relating to sewing and embroidery are presented by members. This is a free club!

Block of the Month Club meets the second Tuesday at 1PM or the second Friday at 6PM. The new Block of the Month begins in Feb! Wendy Rieves is the designer and host of this meeting. Contact Wendy directly if you are interested in joining this group so she can give you all the information and sign you up! wrieves@aol.com

Classes:

Wool Mittens: Come and see how you can add new life to an old wool sweater. Students will felt a sweater at home before class and then learn how to make a pair of lined mittens. Use of the Baby Lock embellisher will also be shown for decorating them. These warm mittens are perfect for our cold winter! Great gift idea.
Date: Feb 12th 6-9 or Feb 17th from 1-4. Cost: $25. Instructor is Wendy Rieves.

Jelly Bargelly: Join in the excitement of combining colors into a beautifully patterned wave. This pattern can be made with yardage, fat quarters or jelly roll strips. Purchase of pattern is required. Dates: Feb 26, March 5th and March 26th from 6-8:30. Cost $50. Instructor is Wendy Rieves

Basic Serger: Let’s use your serger to the max! Learn how to adjust your serger for the best stitch. Learn a balanced overlock, flatlock and rolled edge stitch along with some easy shortcuts. The use of regular serger thread and decorative thread will be taught. Dates: March 12th and 19th from 1-3:30 Cost is $45 The instructor is Joan Gapinski. Class min is 5 people.

Serger Project Class: It’s time to sew for Spring with ruffles and flourishes using your serger. Try some new Picture Frame Placemats using decorative threads in your serger’s loopers in the morning and in the afternoon, we will ruffle away trimming basket liners, runners and even clothing. You can use the ruffler attachment with bias strips and rolled hems. Pick up materials list when registering. Bring a bag lunch. Date: March 28th from 9-3. Cost is $45

Puffing and Star Pincushion: See what happens when you combine heirloom techniques with a little appliqué! Joyce Ensor will guide you through the delicate art of Heirloom sewing. Date: March 14th 9:30-12:30 Cost: $30

Free Motion Quilting: In this class students will learn how to drop the feed dogs and sail into free motion quilting. No mark patterns will be shown as well as how to use a stencil for quilting. Students are asked to bring a quilt to use as part of a discussion on where to put quilting and how to put it there! Date: March 17th 1-4 or March 19th from 6-9 Cost is $25 Instructor is Wendy Rieves.

Beginning Quilting with Diann
Make an easy log cabin quilt. This is a very popular quilt pattern. Skills to be taught include fabric selection, rotary cutting, strip quilting, simple block matching, border construction, and basic machine quilting. 4 student min Dates: April 20,27th May 4th and May 11th from 6-8:30 Cost is $55

T-shirt Quilt: Are you looking for the perfect graduation gift for someone special? A t-shirt quilt is a great way to showcase life’s memories. (and get all those t-shirts out of the drawer!) Date: March 22 Sunday 1-6 or May 9th 9-2. Cost: $40. The instructor is Wendy Rieves

Young Adult Sewing Classes:
Make a Pair of Comfy Lounge pants! The class is designed for students ages 8 and up, with or without an adult partner. Date: April 3 and 17 from 5-7pm Cost: $40 Instructor is Wendy Rieves

Make an Appliquéd Fleece Lap Blanket. This fringed quilt is two sided with an appliqué in the corners. A variety of appliqués will be presented. Date: March 21 from 3-6 Cost:$25 Instructor is Wendy Rieves

Class Registration Information
Sign up early as classes fill quickly! You may register for classes at the store, or by phone (262) 547-7774. Payment must be made at the time of registration. If you wish to register by telephone, please have your credit card ready. Most classes require a minimum of four (4) students. Supply lists should be picked up at the store. We would appreciate it if you purchase your supplies at Frank’s. We will be happy to assist you in gathering all the necessary materials, and give you a 20% discount! You must cancel at least two (2) weeks in advance to receive a refund. No credit for no-shows. We look forward to having you in class!

Project Linus

I am not sure how effective Brad has been at getting the information out about Project Linus this year. Everyone has a chance to win a sewing machine....So you should enter!!!


10th Annual Make a Blanket Day
February 21, 9-5
Frank’s Sewing Center

Donate a blanket from now until Feb 21,or come and sew with us on the 21st and you will be entered into a drawing to win a Babylock Grace Sewing machine from Frank’s Sewing Center.
See the Project Linus website for ideas and size recommendations if you are making your own blanket. http://www.projectlinus.org/
Blankets can be knitted, crocheted, or sewn.

Please sign up so we know how many people to expect on the 21st. Participants are asked to bring 1 yard of a fleece fabric. Bring your own sewing machine, scissors rotary cutter and pins if you are able.

Everyday things get a little better at the Rieves and the Korslin household. Tomorrow I get to go and read a story to my nephew's second grade class. I am reading Robert the Rose Horse. It was a family favorite as I was growing up since my brother's name was Robert. I often wondered why there was not a book with Wendy in the title. I will have to settle for Wendy being a major character in Peter Pan.

My friend Chris Kirsch has come to my rescue and is finishing the binding on the BOM quilt. I had it sewn on and some of the hand work done but this morning it was more than I could handle. She is taking it to Frank's as soon as it is finished.
I had Julie Meeks quilt the quilt except for the borders. (She did a great job) That was a great way to go. It kept the cost down and it let me add my own flourish with my feather quilting in the two outside borders. Another added benefit of that is that it was basted around the edge so I did not need to do any pinning. I really like this quilt. The Block of the Month groups will have a great time making it. The club starts next week! (except for my Monday Ladies) We will start with a simple block and you will not need any of your own fabric for this block. It will be great fun!

Block of the Month

The Block of the month quilt is almost done. It just needs the binding!

Unfortunately my brother passed away this week, unexpectedly and I have been spending everyday with his wife and 4 boys. I hope you all will understand if things are a little behind for the next few days
Wendy

I spent the day preparing for a lecture for the Wandering Foot Quilt Guild in Oak Creek. I did my Fat Quarter Fiesta lecture. I had a little trouble finding the quilts in the basement abyss with unresolved things from the whole house remodel. But I found the suitcase with all of the quilts and did some cleaning in the process!

I had such a great time visiting that guild. What a fun audience to talk with!

Tomorrow I hope to get going on the Beyond The Basics Quilt for WCTC, which is the Christmas Quilt from Elmcreek Quilts. Here is the pattern if you want to look at it. http://www.redroosterfabrics.com/content1175.html

How nice that the weather has warmed up a tad. It was nice to be able to take the dog out for a walk. Today I helped take down Christmas decorations at church, then went to one of my favorite places...St Mary's Thrift shop. I bought some ric rac...never pass up packages of ric rac...some day I will have the perfect project for them! I also bought a bag of lavendar and a hat. (thus the walk with the dog...I had to try out the hat!) Then it was on to Joanne Fabrics. What a zoo. When I was walking around looking at stuff, there was hardly a line...but then when I was ready...Yikes! I bought some new books with money I was given for Christmas. Later in the day Tori had 5 friends over after a movie. Nothing fills a house like 6 giggling 13 year olds! I want that energy and Joi de Vie. Now on to some more sewing!

Cold Day

What is a girl to do on a cold day....Sew!!! I worked on the Basic Plus quilt for the spring semester last night and am looking forward to some good progress on it today. I love it. It is so simple. There are still spots open in the day and night class. It is in March on the first 2 Tuesdays.

I still need 3 people in my day Basic Quilting Class and 6 in the night class if you know anyone who wants to start quilting! It is on three tTuesdays, starting Feb 3. Tell them to sign up fast as the classes will be cancelled on Monday if they are not full! We are making a simple star table runner.

You can register for the WCTC classes and see pictures, by going to wctc.edu and then click on class search. Put quilt in the subject field. Seniors get to take the classes for half price!

Explanation of the BOM 2009-2010

BOM 2009-2010 at Frank’s Sewing Center
The name of the new Block of the Month is, A Quilt of Blessings. It was designed by Wendy Rieves for Frank’s Sewing Center. This is the fifth block of the month she had done at Frank’s.
The block of the month meeting lasts about 45 min to 1 hour. The meeting starts with show and tell, by members. Wendy then shows new things that are in the store. The meeting usually concludes with an explanation of how the block goes together. A recipe is included in the Block of the Month color hand out and samples of the recipe are served. During the year there are other little project instructions that are given out as well as fabric exchanges between members. Frank’s Sewing Center offers a 20% discount to members for the day of the club.
The new Block of the Month at Frank’s Sewing Center will begin in February. Participants can choose to come on the second Tuesday of the month at 1 PM or the second Friday of the month at 6PM. The first meeting for the Tuesday group will be Feb 10th and for the Friday group it will be Friday the 13th.
This quilt consists of 14, 12” blocks, two of which are the same block, with a center larger medallion square.Each month a different block will be given out. Wendy’s tries to have a different aspect of quilting taught through each block. In A Quilt of Blessings, there will explanations on how to use an Easy Angle ruler, strip piecing, half square triangles, quarter square triangle, curved piecing, paperless paper piecing, Tri Rex blocks and so much more.
Participants can choose to get the block patterns and use their own fabric for a cost of $50 for the 14 months or pick up fabric from Wendy for the blocks for a fee of $90. You can also pay $7 a month (the month of the medallion block will be $10). Setting triangles, sashing and borders are not included in the cost.
Members will also be required to own an Easy Angle Ruler and a Companion Angle Ruler. Quilters who are buying pre cut fabric from Wendy will provide 1 yard of their own gold background fabric and 1 yd of black (Kaufman, Kona Black is recommended, purchase 2 ½ yds if a black border and binding are desired) This way if a mistake is made in piecing or when weird pieces are needed for paper piecing, this fabric can be used. Members will also be asked to put some of this gold and black in some of the pieced blocks. If all this is confusing, don’t worry, it will all be explained at the first meetings.
Quilters can do anything they want with the blocks. There is no requirement to make it as it is shown. Creativity is encouraged. In the past, people have made table runners, window valences, baby quilts, and wall hangings from their blocks. Directions for completing A Quilt of Blessings, as made by Wendy will be available at the conclusion of the project.
In April we will do a fabric exchange of 3” strips so people can border their blocks as in Wendy’s quilt.
If you are interested in joining this Block of the Month, email Wendy at wrieves@aol.com. Indicate to her if you plan on using your own fabric or purchasing blocks. Fees will be collected at the first meeting. Last time there were 70 people who joined in the Block of the Month fun! Space is limited so sign up soon.

The Tuesday Block of the Month group met today as they were snowed out of their last meeting. There was some really nice show and tell. I wish I had my camera with me today! We talked about the last quilt, viewed the new quilt, did the gift lecture and had a fabric exchange!

We are all looking forward to the new BLock of the month. It turned out really pretty.

Email me if you are interested in signing up for it.