President’s Note November 2020

It is times like these that I am so glad I have hobbies. I couldn’t imagine the long isolating winter that is coming our way and not having my crafts. They are so much a part of me. There’s that contented feeling I have when I’m puttering without a deadline. If I’m on the couch at the end of the day watching TV, there’s a sock on the knitting needles or a sewing needle in my hand – hand piecing or hand applique. It’s a habit, a part of me. Hmmm… might be a good winter to get back to hand quilting.

I also love to read. I’m reading the Little House on the Prairie series in order. It is quite different reading them with an adult perspective. They had to do so much for themselves that we take for granted as we run to the store (or click a few keys on the computer) for our every need and whim. I was reading how they made everything from straw hats for the summer starting with braiding strands of straw, sewed their clothes by hand, knitted those mittens, and stitched those leather gloves. Oftentimes they wove the fabric, spun the yarn. Stocked up food for the entire winter. They canned, made butter, sausage, cheese and so much more. They had so many skills that the average person no longer has. Reading Farmer Boy, the young Almanzo asked his dad why he didn’t have the machine come to the farm to do the threshing. The answer: Then what would we do all winter? Twiddle our thumbs? And in those days, they were quite isolated on farms miles away from their nearest neighbor. No phone, no radio, no TV, no internet. Life was good when they had enough food and a warm bed.

So as we enter the next phase of this pandemic, we’ll keep reminding ourselves to count our blessings that we do have enough food and a warm bed, enough fabric to keep us busy and give us purpose, and many ways to reach out to people.

Please keep taking pictures of your Show & Tell and sending them in – close-ups too. Of course, speaking is optional, so don’t let that stop you from sending in pictures. Please send pictures to: cebrungardt@comcast.net

See you November 11th for our next Zoom speaker meeting. 6:30 pm to 7pm for chatting, connecting and dealing with individual technical difficulties 7pm meeting start 7:30pm speaker

Hang in there, Christine Brungardt, President

THE QUARTER INCH PRESS W W W . N O R T H P A R I S H Q U I L T E R S . W O R D P R E S S .

November 2020

North Parish Quilters, Union Congregational Church, 148 Haverhill Street, North Reading, MA 01864

We meet on the second Wednesday via Zoom until further notice. The virtual meeting starts at 7pm.

© North Parish Quilters

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Membership/Special Membership Raffle

Would you like to win a giant roll of batik fabric from Fabric Place? Christine Brungardt has donated this fabric as a special prize to one member who has paid dues for 2020 – 2021. The winner will be chosen at our next meeting on November 11. Your dues must be received by that date to be eligible to win. Dues remain at $25 for members 80 and over and $35 for members under 80. The form is found on the website, under Membership of follow the link: NPQMembership 2020 – 2021 Mailing address is on the form. If you are unable to download the form and your contact info is unchanged, you can send a check payable to North Parish Quilters with the correct amount to:

Membership Coordinator, North Parish Quilters PO Box 511 North Reading, MA 01864

Joanne Barber, Membership Coordinator

Hole in the Wall Charity Update

The Hole in the Wall will be having Zoom Meetings thanks to Karen King's help. The first was held Wednesday October 28th at 12:30pm for a lunch hour Stitch and Share Charity Work. We’re currently working on Flip & Sew Blocks using a base of 7 1/2". Each block is made up of strips of the same color. Using different fabric widths and angles makes for interesting blocks too. Throw in some novelty fabrics and it's Camp ready. A very fun quilt for the kids and a great way to use up all those scraps. Would love input for new block ideas, too!. Blocks can be passed in at Quilter's Common.... Today, we have a total of 90 Quilts completed for Camp with more quilt tops in the makings. We could not have reached this number without your help. Thank you so much! Hole in the Wall Quilt sizes no less than 55" x 55" and no larger than 70" x 70". Quilts outside of these measurements should be passed along to Rosemary for Yawkey Way. Thank You, -- Linda Rose Coordinator, The Hole in the Wall Gang Charity Home: 781-665-2663

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Yawkey Way/Veterans’ Quilts Update

On October 1st, I delivered 21 Quilts and 19 Pillowcases were delivered to Yawkey Way Family Inn. Another drop off is planned for the week of November 9 after we meet at Quilters Common Parking Lot on November 4th to collect more finished quilts and pillowcases. Again I want to thank all of those who participate any of the charities that North Parish supports, and urge you to continue to do so. On October 26th, Lenny Poirier delivered 10 quilts to the Veterans Hospital in Bedford – a thank you letter is included in the last page of this newsletter. They were so excited to get these quilts. RoseMary Koch 781-646-1293 rmkoch@rcn.com

NPQ Charity items Drop-Off

Place/Time: Parking lot behind Quilters Common on Wed., Nov. 4th from 12 noon to 1pm

If you have quilts/tops to drop off to Linda Rose or Rosemary or you are ready to help by picking up

pillow kits, quilt top kits, kits adding borders, sew on a binding or practice your machine quilting. Please

call or email ahead to reserve which kit or kits you prefer. If batting is needed for a quilt, please let the

charity know ahead of time. Linda Rose and Rosemary Koch will be in the parking lot of Quilters

Commons in Wakefield on Wednesday, November 4th from 12 noon to 1pm. If you cannot make this

date and time, let one of us know and we can make other arrangements. We appreciate your efforts and

willingness to help with these charities. RoseMary Koch and Linda Rose

North Parish Charity Quilt Opportunities

. CHARITY ZOOM – A NEW CHARITY BLOCK

We had a Zoom on October 28th to go over strip or string piecing, also known as flip and sew. Here is a summary of the process. If you are familiar with this already, you know you can get very creative with the blocks by using triangles and other shapes. I challenge every member to make at least one for either charity. You can just mail it to us or meet us monthly at Quilters Common to turn them in. We plan to have another Zoom session on November 12th at 12 noon, the day after our membership meeting to repeat the process. The zoom session details will go out to all members the morning of the 12th, just in case we change the time, due to majority choice discussed at the membership meeting the night before.

Quick Instructions on the Flip and Sew Blocks. You need strips of varying widths and lengths. Any color – any print– mix them up – look in your scrap bag and make use of those scraps. Start with a 7 1/2” muslin square ( or a piece of very light fabric) . Put the first strip diagonally corner to corner right side up. Obviously, the strip needs to cover the muslin, as does all the strips you add. Put a second piece right side down on top of the first – right sides together. Stitch down the one side sewing them both together, flip over and if you can iron down, iron, or – HERE’S A TIP -- have a bottle of spray water and spray the stitching and finger press. Continue to add strips until you cover the corner of the muslin and then go to the other

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side of the first strip and repeat the steps. Do not trim. Edges will be ragged, but the muslin will be completely covered. We can really use blocks like this for our charity quilts.

You can use your scraps or take one of my kits which has the muslin and all the strips. I will have samples on November 4th to view. If you do not have muslin, I will provide muslin squares for you to take home and complete a square

Veterans’ Kits If you want to participate in making Veterans’ quilts , contact RoseMary. The following are available for you to work on: 1. Kits with a large cheater patriotic panel that needs one or two borders to enlarge the top – all fabrics are patriotic related. 2. Kits that consist of a small panel, surrounded by a border and then surrounded by 5 1/2”squares and then a final border 3. Tops sandwiched and ready for machine quilting 4. Quilts that have been machine quilted and now need the binding sewn on 5. Kits that include 4 muslin pieces and a variety of patriotic strips for the strip piecing (flip and sew) Veterans’ quilts finish at approximate 40” X 48” – lap and wheelchair size Yawkey Way Home If you want to participate in making quilts for Yawkey Way, contact RoseMary. The following are available for you to work on: 1. Pillowcase kits that have been cut up and ready to sew – 1/2 hour to make one. 2. Kits with cheater panels of various sizes that may need one, two, or three borders, depending on the panels. All borders are included 3. Kits that consist of a small panel, surrounded by a border and then surrounded by 5 1/2” squares and then a final border 4. We have kits that are fabric coordinated for a top, but the fabric needs to be cut into 5 1/2” squares so a kit can be assembled for a top – or you can continue assembling the top. 5. Kits that are 9 patch blocks that need to be assembled for a top. 6. Tops sandwiched and ready for machine quilting 7. Quilts that have been machine quilted and now need the binding sewn on 8. Kits that include 4 muslin pieces and a variety of strips for the strip iecing/flip and sew

Yawkey Way Family Inn Quilts can be any size from 40” square up to queen or king size or any combination in between. | We will also accept tops that you have made, odd blocks and or UFO’s – we are happy to kit them up for the children at the Yawkey Way Home. Hole in the Wall If you want to work on a kit for Hole in the Wall, contact Linda Rose. Her report is included earlier in this newsletter. Thanks to you who are participating in these charities – let’s keep it going in spite of the Covid lockdown. Stay safe and healthy – Call me if you need anything. RoseMary 781-646-1293 rmkoch@rcn.com

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$$$$$$ North Parish Quilters Treasurer’s Report $$$$$$

Cash Balance $8234.98

Reserved Funds

Hole in the Wall $161.05

Yawkey Way $00.00

Vets $00.00

Guild Net Free Cash $8073.93

Patricia Atkins, Treasurer

October Guild Meeting Recap October, 2020

President Christine greeted the members via ZOOM. Approximately 30 members were in attendance. Christine reported on the proceeds of our recent yard sale. The raffles netted $205 and the items sold made $434 for a total of $639. Any member who has paid dues will be eligible to win a giant roll of batik fabric from Fabric Place. Christine donated this special prize with the name to be drawn at the November meeting. She thanked all the members who worked at the sale or purchased items to make the sale a success. Our current newsletter editor, Susan Holsing, is unable to continue due to work and other commitments. Joanne Barber offered to take over as editor for the current 2020-2021 term. A big THANK YOU to Susan for keeping members informed for the past several years. Christine reminded members not to share the meeting ZOOM address with friends who are not a part of the guild. The speakers have included a NO Guests clause in their contracts. The members discussed possibility of having additional informal ZOOM meetings with interested members. Potential meetings could be centered on a block swap, holiday themes, and sit and sew. No definite dates were set. Membership – at present there are approximately 30 paid memberships for 2020 – 2021. Rosemary Koch reported on Yawkey Way and Veterans’ quilts. No Hole in the Wall report. Several items were shown via slides during Show and Tell with members describing the items they had made. There were several quilts made for Hole in the Wall. Carol Hayes reported on the November program. Our speaker via ZOOM will be Lyric Kinard. Our speaker for the evening was Donna Morales of Follow That Thread. Donna, who is an ambassador for Aurifil thread, discussed how to use various weights and types of thread, appropriate needles for each, and what type of thread to use in the bobbin. Our next guild meeting will be via ZOOM on November 11, 2020 at 7 p.m. Joanne Barber, Secretary

Sunshine Lady

Now more than ever, people may need a pick me up and well wishes. I am happy to send out cards and well wishes. If you know a member in need, please contact me by phone 978-578-5550, text (same number) or email: joannebrbr@aol.com .

Joanne Barber, Sunshine Member

2020-2021 PROGRAMS

I have been busy lining up some terrific speakers for our 2020-2021 Zoom Meetings. I have enjoyed researching presenters for our Zoom meetings via NEQM’s virtual “Meet the Teachers and the Global Quilt Connections. I hope you enjoy our 2020-2021 virtual program.

At our November meeting Lyric Kinard will present a program on the elements of art for every quilter. Lyric is an award winning artist and quilter. Lyric explains that quilts hold a particular fascination for her. Explaining that the tactile nature of cloth, its texture, richness and malleability are what have drawn her to this medium to express her art. Fabric has a history almost as old as humankind. It brings us comfort and protection. It defines our individual identities. As Quilters we share her love of fabric and the beauty of quilts, I think it will be a very inspirational presentation.

As always, I welcome suggestions! If you know of any speakers that you think the group would enjoy having present to our guild, please let me know. My email is carolwhayes@gmail.com

DATE PROGRAM Presenter

November 11, 2020 The Elements of Art for Every Quilter

Lyric Kinard (lyrickinard.com)

December 9, 2020 Challenge Yourself Mel Beach (www.melbeachquilts.com)

January 13, 2021 TBD

February 10, 2021 Give it a Scrap Slap Beth Helfter, Eva Paige Quilt Designs March 10, 2021 TBD TBD

April 14, 2021 Old New England Quilts and the Stories They Tell Pam Weeks

May 12, 2021 TBD TBD

June 9, 2021 TBD TBD Thanks, Carol Hayes, Program Chairperson

tel:978-578-5550mailto:joannebrbr@aol.commailto:carolwhayes@gmail.com

North Parish Members Zoom Opportunities Because we have a 12 month ZOOM subscription, members can break out and have unique reasons to meet, chat and share common quilting topics/skills. We can create these online meetings for you - but need people to think outside of the box and request the time. SUGGESTIONS: Table Runner of the Month - 1 group members shows a table linen they have made and share the pattern info; other members can download or purchase the pattern and make one of their own. Holiday Ideas - This would be fun and timely..a member can show some small item they have made in prep of the holiday season...might be a mug rug, pin cushion, game board. Again, sharing so as to motivate others.

9 Month Sampler - A group decides on a pattern and then, 1x per month, we each share our own block and talk about the directions for the next one. What are your ideas? Please share and contact Karen King kjimking@yahoo.com if you would like to use Zoom for a breakout group of any quilt topic.

Topic: North Parish November Mtg Karen King is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: North Parish Guild Nov Mtg Time: Nov 11, 2020 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89888150205?pwd=WHNkNVVWVW5wQ0pDaXoyaEpXZFdJZz09 Meeting ID: 898 8815 0205 Passcode: 547934 One tap mobile +13017158592,,89888150205#,,,,,,0#,,547934# US (Germantown) +13126266799,,89888150205#,,,,,,0#,,547934# US (Chicago) Dial by your location +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) Meeting ID: 898 8815 0205 Passcode: 547934 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcJQVAXXuU

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Important Miscellaneous Information

NEWSLETTER DEADLINE: Please send all updates and informational notes to our Newsletter Coordinator, by the 25th of the month to appear in the following month’s Newsletter: NPQNews@gmail.com. Newsletter is published on the first day of the month.

MEETING DATES/TIMES: NPQ meets the second Wednesday of the month from September through June. Meeting time is 7 p.m. with a chat beginning at 6:30. The meetings are currently being held via ZOOM. Due to the requests of presenters, meetings with speakers/presentations are only available to NPQ members.

THE GUILD WEBSITE: Please visit the guild’s website and sign up to receive an e-mail when anything, including this newsletter, is posted to the site. See the Webmaster if you would like help subscribing to the website. http://northparishquilters.wordpress.com/

UPCOMING ZOOM MEETING: November 11, 2020

Speaker: Lyric Kinard

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