Members (left to right) Diana Jones, Nancy Bonngard, and Pam Matassarin hold the quilt top made for a charity. The blocks were pieced from strips of fabric sewn side-by-side in a random order, then the blocks were stitched together. White strips were used to form a design reminiscent of tile floors in Italy.
Sue Bart, Publicity Coordinator
A few Desert Threads members made a quilt top for charity in one afternoon of sewing during October. Jody Edwards, community service coordinator, led the attendees in a sewing session to make a quilt top. Strips of various widths of fabric (called “strings”) were stitched on a base of batting to form a square block design. The blocks were then stitched together to form a quilt. Strips were placed randomly, without regard to coordinating the colors. During the morning meeting of the same day, members played card games using strips of fabric they brought as their “ante” to join in the games. Winners donated the strips to the afternoon sewing session to make the blocks for the quilt. Those attending got to know each other a little better, building friendships and learning new techniques.
The Desert Threads meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 8, will start at 9:30 a.m., and will feature a presentation from a professional photographer. Jared Platt is a popular photographer and photo instructor (website: www.jaredplatt.com). He will discuss how to make good photos of our quilts using the camera in our smartphones. Good photos showing the detail of stitching are needed to enter quilts in judged quilt shows. Many quilters enjoy the display of their hard work and recognition obtained from entering and winning at quilt shows. Photos also provide a record of the quilts we make. Many quilters keep scrapbooks of their quilt photos with details about when, where, why, and how the quilt was made and to whom it was given. The photographer will talk about how to use concepts such as lighting, backgrounds, and composition in order to capture memorable images of the quilts we spend many hours making.
Meetings are currently held the second Wednesday of the month at 10 a.m. in the Ceramics Room (A-8) in Cottonwood, at the Sun Lakes courtyard activity center by the golf course and clubhouse. We invite anyone interested in quilting to come as a guest, regardless of where you live. Desert Threads is a chapter of the Arizona Quilters Guild (AQG), which currently offers virtual lectures and classes each month to members all over Arizona. On Saturday, Dec. 4, AQG is holding a Fun Day in Scottsdale featuring two guest speakers, raffle baskets, silent auction, fun games, and socializing with our quilting friends. For more information, we invite you to a meeting, or you can send an email with your name, phone number, and email address to [email protected]. You can also go to the AQG website at www.arizonaquiltersguild.org.