2015-2016 April_May_June_July.pub

Quilter’s Crossing Newsletter
P. O. Box 1843
Palm Harbor, Florida
34682
Established February 1985
NQA Chapter #363, Florida #29
President: Gene`e Smith
2015 — 2016 ~ April/May/June/July
Vice President: Barb Sweet
Secretary: Katy Gerritt
Treasurer: Cyndi Hunt
*************************
Business Meeting and Show & Tell:
1st Wednesday of the month from 9:30am to 12 noon
Workshops: 2nd Wednesday from 9am to 12 noon
(Members Only - preregistration required & fee)
Educational Programs: 3rd Wednesday from 9:30am to 12 noon
Education: Barb Sweet
Historian: Brigitte Hoffa
Hospitality Co-Chairs: Linda
DeMola & Betsy Schobert
Librarian: Chris Petrazzuoli
Lunch Lady: Dorothy Day
Membership: Cathy Johnson
National Quilting Day:
Kim Kelley
Newsletter: Barbara Kellard
Philanthropic: Jin Cavanaugh
& Carol Scott
Publicity: Marsha Tropiano
Special Events:
Wally Villalobos
Thought for the Day:
Pat Hazellief
President’s Message . . . Gene`e Smith
Reflecting back through the first
three months of my presidency, I'm very
pleased and proud of our accomplishments
as a guild. The grueling drudgery of revising and aligning all our guild and quilt
show bylaws is just one example of the
dedication and hard work members are
willing to endure to make our guild strong. I was especially impressed with the respectful manner in which members treated
each other during this process.
Like all of you, I look forward to the wonderful activities
that committee chairs have planned for us throughout the year:
projects, workshops, presentations, luncheons, philanthropic endeavors, challenges, and so much more. We are going to be busy
- but what a wonderfully exciting journey.
Enjoy the ride!
Web Master: Claire Clinton;
Asst: Ann Blazer
Workshop Co-Chairs:
Mary Smith & Joan Tegan
Gene`e
**************************
2017 Quilt Show Chairman
Rhonda Baker, Cathy Johnson & Tammy Peters
CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR INFORMATION ABOUT OUR CLUB
www.quilterscrossing.net
Meet Your New Board ~ 2015-2016
Vice President/Education Barb Sweet . . .
I was born in New Jersey and
moved to Florida when I was 14
years old. I graduated from Dixie
Hollins High School and earned a
BA from Eckerd College.
President Gene`e Smith . . .
I was born and raised in Rock Springs, Wyoming.
On my 14th birthday, our family moved to Salt Lake
City and while there, I graduated from high school
and college (University of Utah) with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education. Upon graduation, I moved to San
Francisco and taught junior high school. While there,
I met Calvin, a pilot for Pan American World Airways
and we married in 1968. A year later, we were
transferred to Miami. I again taught middle school
science as well as earned my Masters in Educational
Psychology at the University of Miami. Here, daughters Ginger and Christy were born and when I began
dabbling with quilting — mostly pillows and a king size
quilt that I hand quilted.
In 1991, I moved to Houston,
Texas. when I transferred with 12
others to open the Honeywell Engineering Center in
the NASA community for the purpose of winning
additional Space related work. I worked on the
Space Shuttle and International Space Station
Programs for most of my 21 year career with Honeywell. I left Honeywell and went to The Boeing
Company in 2001 and continued to work on Space
related Programs as the Director of Procurement
and Subcontracts working closely with our customer, NASA. In 2011, after 10 years at Boeing,
I retired and moved back to Florida where my
family is located.
In 1984, we were transferred to Berlin, Germany
where I became an elementary school guidance counselor for the Dept of Defense Dependent Schools until the Berlin Wall came down and Pan Am no longer
existed. Calvin then joined Delta and began flying
European routes out of New York, commuting to
where I was teaching middle school science in Crailsheim, Germany and later Ansbach, Germany. After
our youngest daughter graduated from high school and
went back to Florida for college, I left Germany,
moved to Keflavik Naval Air Station in Keflavik, Iceland and was a guidance counselor for one year — my
last hurrah before moving back to the states.
I have been a sewer since a young teen and
bought my first Kenmore sewing machine after high
school graduation. Over the years, I’ve sewn a
wedding gown, drapes, clothing for all the family,
recovered furniture, and made and designed cloth
dolls/patterns. I sold cloth dolls for years through
shows and in a children’s boutique in the Houston,
TX Galleria.
In the summer of 1994, I moved to Crystal Beach.
I began working again as an elementary school guidance counselor and retired in 2010 after a total of
35 years in education.
I began quilting a couple of years ago and have
made large quilts, numerous wall hangings and table
runners. The whole process of making a quilt is my
favorite. I look forward to getting back to making
dolls and begin the process and have become a
member of Small Wonders.
This is when I decided to look into quilting again.
I love making non-traditional quilts. My favorite part
is designing — mostly with graph paper, but do like
using EQ7. I enjoy paper piecing and layer quilting.
Some day, I hope to finish the Mandala quilt that
currently frustrates me. My other passions include
crochet, knitting, needle tatting, weaving, counted
cross stitch, stained glad (real glass), card making,
framing and making flower arrangements, as the mood
strikes. My soon to be new love, I hope, will be longarm quilting.
I have two ragdoll cats, Gabriel and Misty Bella.
My goal is to train Gabriel to become an Animal
Assisted Therapy pet and take him into assisted
living and nursing homes. The training has begun.
I belonged to the Houston American Sewing
Guild and found QC through Gail Crotty.
I’ve
learned so much in such a short period of time and
enjoy all the new friendships.
So far, I have lived in Florida for 34 years and Cal
and I have been married for 46 years. We have a
wonderful grandson, Cole, with whom we love spending
our time.
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Secretary Katy Gerritt . . .
Treasurer Cyndi Hunt . . .
I was born in New London, Connecticut and grew
up in Waterford, a small
town in eastern CT. We
moved to Florida in 1988
for
the
warm
weather.
My husband
also started working for
Disney at that time and still does.
I started quilting in 2008 in Lakeland. A
friend suggested a class at the Rec center and
that was it! I like piecing traditional blocks,
paper piecing, appliqué, mystery quilts, and am
just getting into modern quilts. I'm always
open
to
learning
new
techniques.
I like to read, mostly fiction and also enjoy
the theatre and movies. I'm mostly retired;
was an RN for many years in labor and delivery, then in home care and case management.
I've been married to my husband, Ford, for
almost 40 years and we have 2 children and
one granddaughter who is 14. We like to
travel and have a couple of long trips in the
planning stages.
I was born and raised in
Paducah, Kentucky, but have
lived in 5 other states.
When we moved to sunny
Florida in 2011, my husband,
Lester, was working overseas
and with my health issues I
wanted to be close to my sister. We are loving Clearwater.
I made my first quilt as a senior in high
school, and began quilting again a couple of
years ago. My mother was a quilter and wish
I had paid more attention to what she was
doing. I still have several of her quilts. I like
piecing tops more than anything, but want to
learn it all as it is exciting! I sew, knit, crochet and cross stitch. I'm disabled so I fill
my time learning and making items.
My career path resembles a patchwork
quilt: registered nurse, accounting, administration and tax collector. I have lived a full
life. My husband was in the military so we
moved often which allowed me the opportunity
to try new careers.
I have two daughters living in Paducah, a
son in Missouri, 3 stepsons and 7 grandchildren.
Historian Brigitte Hoffa Update . . .
"I have enjoyed taking photo's all my life
and the digital era has allowed for easy corrections and taking many more photo's! Historian presentations have changed from doing
photo/scrapbook albums to the digital photo
frame for using a USB! My "Historian Corner"
shows continual digital photo's during the
course of our year and those since this form
started over two years ago. A sample paper
form album also shows how we did these presentations in the past. The Quilter’s Crossing
logo block, Hands All Around, on my notebook
I made years ago complete with buttons*, of
course!!! Enjoy!!"
*Buttons are Brigitte’s signature touch!
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Small Wonders ~ Krissy Brawner . . .
Sara Gibson (Associate Member) . . .
Small Wonders is a small
group of Quilter's Crossing.
We meet the 4th Wednesday
of each month at 9:30am. Our
goal is to learn about and experiment with new types of art
quilting techniques, surface
design and fiber arts. Most
meetings, we try a new idea and create a little project. Anyone is welcome to attend at
any time. Supply lists are sent to the Small
Wonders email group or can be requested from
[email protected].
Remaining meetings for 2015:
August 26
September 30
October 28
Small Wonders also has a monthly challenge
for which members create a small, 12" x 12"
journal quilt interpreting a theme. These small
quilts are brought for show and tell at each
guild business meeting. Current upcoming
themes for 2015 are:
August
Tickled Pink
September Abstract
October
Flowers
November
Leap of Faith
December
Raining Cats & Dogs
Greetings from Maine! I am in
the library here as I do not
have access to the internet at
the farm. I was born in Miami,
Florida and grew up in Tampa;
so I am a native. Except for
four years in Atlanta, I have
always lived in Florida and do not wish to live
anywhere else!
I began to quilt when I retired as I figured
I would need something to keep me busy and
out of trouble (and then I discovered trouble
was a quilt shop!). My favorite part of quilting is selecting the pattern and the fabrics,
and I like traditional patterns, but colorful
fabrics. I also like to travel, read, and play
with my cats. I shall be coming home in October.
Flatter vs Best Press
Flatter: A new product to add sizing and
flatten seams for your pieced blocks. I am
not a fan of best press because I don't
want to put cornstarch on my fabric, and I
don't want stiff fabric.
We do hand
stitching and anything stiff needles too
hard. "Flatter" has no starch, sulfates or
silicones, only sizing and a surfactant, so
the fabric doesn't get stiff, just has a nice
silky feel and the seams really press out
flatter. I used this on my Bargello table
runner. There are some problems with the
packaging and I have already emailed the
company. The sprayer top leaks so my hand
gets wet, and the bottle shape is hard to
hold for quilters with arthritis. Let's see if
they heard the reports and make a change.
Jo Groves Cont’d from Page 5 . . .
and now part of my life. The world is not
that big now is it?
Editor’s Note: Small world? Yes, it is as
my parents were walking along the beach
in southern Ontario and met friends just
returning from England and heading home
to Saskatchewan, 2500 miles away!
From Alma Sue’s Quilt Shop in Sarasota, FL
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Jo Groves . . .
nities in my territory. Jack's first wife
passed away from Alzheimer's.
It was an interesting connection. The
company was bought out as we were planning our wedding. Everything was changing
fast. We sold his home, my condominium,
and bought "our" home. He painted both
inside and out while I was away each
week. At the "merger", he said, let's
play. I retired a week after our wedding. Jack had a stroke three months
later December 1st and is still in therapy. God had other plans for me, and I
was able to focus for Jack, and begin to
enjoy "retirement".
Secret hopes/dreams
Well, they
wouldn't
be
secret
if
I
told
you. LOL Well, honestly, I had lost 50
pounds before meeting Jack. He is a New
England man and loves his butter, sugar,
and desserts. I have put the weight back
on with all the stress. I am back on track
and just need to be patient and stay the
course, walking and eating lots of fruit
now. I really do feel better thinner. I
know why I gained it, so as he heals, I
just need to take it back off.
I have three wonderful grown children
of my own, and two step sons. We have
three grandchildren with Jack's sons.
This guild has been such a great thing
for me, especially as I transition from the
career executive in and out of airports,
now able to sew and play.
I want to
thank Portia Miller for letting me know
about the group. Our husbands are dear
friends. We did not know each other
well, and she did not even know how well I
sewed, but she was persistent, and I am
forever grateful.
I also want to thank
Elaine Harpham as my big sister.
Her
husband is also a dear friend of Jack's
I am from Pittsburgh, PA and grew up
there, as well as raised
three children there
until moving to Houston,
Texas.
I have lived in Dunedin, for five years now,
being promoted and transferred from
Houston to the east coast. I fell in love
with this town and thrilled God brought me
here. My parents live in St. Pete Beach
and are 90 and 89. I am now close to
them and they are thrilled to have us
close by.
I have sewn all my life since that infamous home economics class when I was
thirteen.
Sewing has always been an
outlet for my creativity and to reduce
stress in my life. In addition, I knit,
cross stitch and just enjoy it all. Quilting
itself is very new to me. Not being a
traditionalist, I am interested in contemporary projects, especially thread sketching and thread painting. The Small Wonders class has been such a joy. There is
so much talent and it is fabulous to learn
from each other and motivate each other.
Golf became a new hobby a few years
ago and although I am a beginner, I enjoy
it much more than I ever dreamed. Playing board games and cards, doing jig saw
puzzles, walking, swimming, and boating
are all now parts of life in Florida!
Jack and I met 18 months ago and we
got married this past August.
I was
travelling the east coast for my position
providing training to the management and
staff for dementia and Alzheimer's care
for residents in 150 assisted living commu5
Mary Smith . . .
In case you missed it . . .
Hello.
I’m Mary Smith
and I was born in a small
town in West Virginia
named St. Albans where I
lived until moving to the
Tampa area 31 years ago.
My husband had an opportunity to go into business
for himself here, and I followed taking a job
with Unisys Corporation as a computer consultant. My job included travel over most of the
eastern half of the United States, as well as
Canada, Scotland and Barbados.
Irene Konowal had a busy weekend starting
with a Ray’s game Friday night, winning the pie
contest at church with her Heart
of Palms pie and
her puppy had to
read about it on
the iPad! Congratulations!
Lauren Murphy presents her violin students
at their grand finale concert.
I come from a family of quilters, some of
whom tried to teach me to hand quilt with
very little success. I finally gave up on that
and became an avid cross stitcher. After retiring in 2013, I took part in the 2014 National Quilt Day event sponsored by Quilter’s
Crossing and decided that I wanted to give
machine piecing and quilting a try. Once I
started, Linda DeMola suggested that I join
the guild since there would be so many opportunities to learn and improve my quilting skills.
This guild is a very special group of women
ready to help when asked that I feel blessed
to be a part of. I really enjoy paper piecing
and am getting more comfortable with free
motion quilting.
Or you may find her painting
at Niagara by the Lake . . .
Or having fun with friends
in other places!
Creating quilted items other that bed quilts
also appeals to me. My youngest grandson
just turned 4 and was very excited about the
horse throw I made for him. His twin sisters
and older brother will get their throws in the
next few months as their birthdays occur. My
husband is really supportive of my quilting and
recently very patiently waited while we
stopped at 14 quilt shops during a 12-day vacation. We are also football and NASCAR
fans, and I like to do several other crafts. I
live in Tarpon Springs and am an active member of Emmanuel Community Church.
Some of Bert Garino’s birds . . .
Stay dry!
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