BRADENTON - PINS & NEEDLES

Marie Gartley (941)756-5387 bgartley@compuserve.com 

First Wednesday - 6:30 - 8:45 pm

Bradenton Central Library, 11301 Barcarrota Blvd. W.

September/October 2010

July/August 2010

April: What an interesting program! Our substitute speaker, Anne McCunney, brought many of her Art Quilts. We were all fascinated with her use of a variety of Media. Everyone went home inspired.

May: Since we were a small group, the smaller meeting room worked well. There were 15 Soldiers’ Ditty Bags completed and have been mailed to Operation Care Package. The rest will be finished for the July 3^rd “God Bless America “ Day.

Marie Gartley

May/June 2010

Our January 6^th meeting was busy. We had many tables covered with quilted material. We were measuring, pinning pockets and webbing to make our EXPO Bags. We had too short a time to finish but expected to see many bags on the Bus Trip to the Sewing and Quilting Expo.  Our February 3^rd meeting was busy. Using instructions Dolly had from her class at the July National Conference, we all made samples of ribbon folded and sewn to make bows, flowers, or pleats for trims.

On March 3^rd, we were so busy sharing Show & Tell, we nearly ran out of time for Pam Rosenberg to teach how to make Snap Purses; but members went home with them partially finished.

Marie Gartley

March/April 2010

Our December meting was fun!

Our January meeting was busy. Tables were covered with quilted material, while we measured for placement of handles and pockets. We had too short a time to finish but expect to see many bags on the Bus Trip to the Sewing and Quilting Expo.

Marie Gartley

January/February 2010

November/December 2009

In August, it was fun to learn the Needle turn appliqué from Elaine Chapman at our meeting. Saturday, some of us attended the Creative Sassy Sewers’ meeting, where she showed another way. Thanks, Elaine…..

In September, our Community Sew Day was very successful!  We’re glad to have Diane Deuel back. We had a very good afternoon: talking, sewing, serging and having shears sharpened. Eleven met at the Riverside Café’ for dinner before returning to the library to pack up our finished items and have our meeting with show and tell. Some items for the bazaar were also collected.

The next week we delivered 100 small pillows to the Breast Care Unit at Manatee Hospital and 6 adult bibs and lap robes to Hospice. We also took 6 anti-ouch pouches (had given one away at Sew Day) and 20 hats to the Manatee County Cancer Society.

Good Job Girls!!

Marie Gartley

September/October 2009

June: Since leader Marie was at her College Reunion at Alfred University, Mary Jane Fuller filled in. The Guest Speaker was Jennifer Michaels from Hancock Fabrics. Show and Tell also included former Joyce Fulford with her complete chenille jacket.  In July, those attending brought pillow cases for Dolly to take to national for the Ronald McDonald Houses. After Show and Tell, we exchanged sewing tidbits.

NOTE

If anyone still has pillowcases for Ronald McDonald House please contact Marie Gartley, 941-756-5387. She will be going to the one in Tampa after Labor Day.

September 2^nd Notes: Community Service Sew Day!  From 1 to 4pm, we will have items cut and ready to sew. Bring sewing machines, sergers, extension cords and sewing essentials.

SPECIAL GUESTS: Barb and Joe Callahan. He is a certified knife and shears sharpener, so bring yours and be ready for your holiday gift sewing.

At 5pm, we will have dinner at Riverside Café in Palmetto and at 6:30pm, we will have our regular meeting and finish with Show and Tell.

Marie Gartley

July/August 2009

At the April meeting, members came with their quilted 18” square. After instructions on folding and stitching, most went home with a Japanese envelope purse ready for straps and/or buttons. We had an interesting variety of fabrics.  On May 6^th, Diane Deuel shared her antique doll quilts with us. These are rare items. Dating the quilts is done by block pattern and material pattern.

Marie Gartley brought two antique doll beds: one found in her family homestead and the other from the attic of her motherin-law in western New York state.

September 2^nd Notes: Community Service Sew Day!  From 1 to 4pm, we will have items cut & ready to sew. Bring machines, sergers, extension cords and sewing essentials.  SPECIAL GUESTS: Barb and Joe Callahan. He is a certified knife and shears sharpener, so bring yours and be ready for your holiday gift sewing.

At 5pm we will have dinner at Riverside Cafe in Palmetto and at 6:30pm we will have our regular meeting.

May/June 2009

February, 2009 Thank you Donna Deuel, for your enjoyable program on paper piecing!

March, 2009 Treva Betts, thank you for teaching us how to make the fancy coasters!

Both programs were enjoyed by all who attended.

Marie Gartley

March/April 2009

December, 2008

For our December Party, about a dozen members met for lunch at the Golden Corral on the 3^rd. The table was decorated with Christmas mugs filled with holiday fat quarters for each member. We collected many gifts for children and their mothers. The gifts were delivered to HOPE FAMILY SERVICES that afternoon.

January, 2009:

Our meeting room was smaller than usual this month.  Therefore, it was difficult for all to get the fabric folded and pressed, but several did go home with a completed Origami Rose - - possibly to use as a decoration on another project.

Marie Gartley 

January/February 2009

October, 2008:

After sharing our items for Show & Tell, we had demonstrations at three stations of three different sewing machines. Seeing how different feet are used, many said: “I have that foot, but didn’t know how to use it.” Some brought feet to find out how to use them. It was a good show!

November 2008

Our new transfer member from Ft. Myers, Pam Rosenberg, showed us how to do the Simple Smocking Stitches. She brought pleated squares, so each member could try their hand at smocking. Wonder how we will use the squares when we finish them?

Marie Gartley 

November/December 2008

August, 2008:

This evening we all arrived with our sewing machines and several pieces of material. Our mission was to learn how to do chenille. Our own Kathleen Heinicke was our instructor.  Everyone had a good time.

September 2008

The meeting started at 1:00pm. We arrived to participate in our community sew. With several sewing machines and sergers humming busily, the girls made several different items for different organizations. The final total was 17 bibs, 17 hats and 49 cancer pillows. After a productive afternoon, we all went to dinner at the Riverfront Café. After dinner, we returned to our machines and finished what we had started.  All in all, it was a very good day!

Mary Jane Fuller

September/October 2008

Anne Greene, an instructor at Quilter’s Haven, was our guest on June 6^th. She had a trunk show of many items that she teaches how to make as well as some lovely quilts and jackets.  As usual, the show and tell items were an inspiration for us.  At our July meeting, we shared our favorite tools from our sewing rooms. It was amazing how many seam rippers were there! Some tools were different, which gave us a chance to share tips also. As usual, there was an interesting variety of show and tell items.

Hopefully, Mary Jane will be back as our reporter for the next issue.

Marie G.

Materials needed for Sept. 3^rd meeting: sewing machines and tools, including extension cords. We will have material for Hospice shirts, or adult bibs, cancer hats and pillows.

July/August 2008

May/June 2008

February, 2008

We had a large turnout tonight.   As usual, show & tell was very interesting.  Our guest for the evening was Ruth Williamson from the Landings.  She gave a very informative presentation all about thread.  Can you believe that there are so many kinds of threads?

March,,2008

This evening, after our meeting and show & tell, our guest, Sherry Ebey, amazed us with her amazing shrinking thread.  She showed us various methods of using the thread to get different results.  All of us were able to experiment, too.  How incredible!

Mary Jane Fuller

March/April 2008

Our meeting this month was our Christmas luncheon at the Golden Corral. Everyone who came brought gifts for the children and mothers at Hope Family Services. They were delivered that same afternoon. All the members were entertained by Kayla Clark and Michael Ridgeway, from MCC, singing holiday songs. Kayla is the granddaughter of Karen Munsey. Each member received a ceramic star ornament made by Jackie Silvasy with the help of Dessa Barr and Kathleen Heinicke.
January,2008 We had a very good turn-out for the first meeting of the new year. After show-and-tell, Diane Deuel showed us all how to make pillow cases. She had several samples and directions. Marie Gartley showed us a different way to make them.
Mary Jane Fuller

January/February 2008

October—This evening we were entertained by Ron Roberts of the Tamiami Trail Button Club.  He had several collections of buttons and explained how his organization worked.  It was very interesting to learn about people who collected buttons and not material.  How unusual!  All had a good time. 

Mary Jane Fuller

November—It’s nice to see our members returning. Welcome home ladies. Our Show & Tell had quite an assortment, some holiday gifts, and a new member’s first quilt. Frances Newman did a terrific job, it was truly beautiful. Marie showed the collection of her TALL trees from the October workshop. It was “Bring Your Vest” night. WOW! What talent. I want a class on vests. One vest had sayings embroidered on it. The saying we all liked was “To ask a seamstress to do mending is like asking Piacaso to paint your garage. Happy New Year to all….

Della Covert

November/December 2007

August 2007

This month we all huddled around the table and discussed what we wanted to do for the next year.  We had many ideas and many volunteers to present programs for our neighborhood group.  This meeting was such a success that we have already scheduled one for next year.  Teamwork at its best.

September 2007

Our meeting started in the afternoon since this was our “Community Service” Day.  Our ladies showed up with enthusiasm and their machines.  Dinner break was taken at the Riverside Cafe - very tasty.  Then back to the library to complete our day with our meeting.  All in all it was very productive.  The Manatee County Cancer Society received 33 hats and 35 pillows.  Tidewell Hospice received 9 bibs and some lap robes (I can’t remember how many).  All were appreciated and needed. 

Mary Jane Fuller

September/October 2007

October—This evening we were entertained by Ron Roberts of the Tamiami Trail Button Club.  He had several collections of buttons and explained how his organization worked.  It was very interesting to learn about people who collected buttons and not material.  How unusual!  All had a good time. 

Mary Jane Fuller

November—It’s nice to see our members returning. Welcome home ladies. Our Show & Tell had quite an assortment, some holiday gifts, and a new member’s first quilt. Frances Newman did a terrific job, it was truly beautiful. Marie showed the collection of her TALL trees from the October workshop. It was “Bring Your Vest” night. WOW! What talent. I want a class on vests. One vest had sayings embroidered on it. The saying we all liked was “To ask a seamstress to do mending is like asking Piacaso to paint your garage. Happy New Year to all….

Della Covert

For our June meeting, we saw Dolores Higgins present a trunk show. We also collected 14 quilts for the returning vets at Bay Pines VA Hospital in St. Petersburg.

Our July meeting was cancelled due to July 4th. 

Marie Gartley

July/August 2007

April 2007 -This evening we were introduced to silks.  Evelyn LeVasseur  and Tina of Dye Crazy Silk were our guests .   They introduced us to all different types of silks along with information about sewing, caring for and hemming silk.  Now using silks will not be so terrifying to some of us.  We all had a good time and learned alot.

May 2007 -This evening everyone showed up with sewing machines and fabric to sew or the already finished piece to complete.  Yes, we are making small lap top size quilts for the disabled veterans.  Pins and Needles furnished the backing and batting .  We should have several quilts to turn in at our June meeting.

Mary Jane Fuller

May/June 2007

February 2007

This evening our guest speaker was Glenda from Hancock Fabrics.  She brought many new items as well as old items to show.   Glenda also shared with us where Hancock Fabrics was  heading in the future.  It was a very interesting program.  She left us with one very important thought - “Finishing the project is more important than  being perfect.”   A good time was had by all.

March 2007

This evening turned out to be  very productive.  Our guest speaker  did not show but that did not put a damper on  the ladies’ spirits.  We had an open discussion which went very well with ideas flowing.   The creative juices were flowing and everyone was participating.  There were things to show and stuff to tell.  An enjoyable evening.

Mary Jane Fuller

March/April 2007

Note: The challenge Marie and Mary Jane entered was the Hoffman Challenge. 

December 2006—Our meeting was our Christmas luncheon. We had a very nice turnout. Everyone brought in unwrapped gifts to donate to the Hope Family Shelter for the mothers and the children. Addie and Mary Jane presented Friendship kits to all as the program. Also, Marie Gartley, who has led the group for many years was presented with a thank you gift from the group. All had a splendid time. Along with the regular members present we had visitors which included Mary Hernandez, our former community service chairperson, and Elda Boyer, a former member. 

January 2007—Its appears that we all survived the Holidays. We had a full room including visitors and new members. Once the business was over, the program for the evening was very interesting. Nedra Szachta presented a trunk program showing her many creations along with fabric and pieces from other parts of the world. You could see everyone’s minds turning with new ideas. 

Members voted to cancel the meeting in July since it would be scheduled on the 4th.

Mary Jane Fuller

January/February 2007

Oct – We had many great Show-n-Tell articles. Marie and Mary Jane showed us what they made for the Hoffman challenge. Marie made a lovely jacket; a lot of work sweat went into it. Mary Jane made a beautiful wall hanging. Great work ladies. We had many other great show-n-tell items, too. 

Our program was very interesting, “Bring in Your Questions or Tips”. What fun we had. I learned new ways to do things. Jean Johnson showed us how to do needle punch. That looked like fun. We had a great night. 

Nov – Hey, great to see you all back from the “cold” country. We had a large group of ladies. We had more donations for Solve, really great ones. Thank you everyone.  Marie Gartley showed us how to make a cute Christmas ball for our trees. Della Covert

November/December 2006

August Meeting - We had an interesting and fun filled evening. Paul Videla From the Bradenton Herald came to our meeting and took pictures of the ladies showing their lovely garments they had made. He also took a large picture of the group.

Kathleen Heineke taught us how to make placemat purses. Kathleen brought in many of her purses that she made from place mats. They went from evening purses - to dress purses - to just plain fun purses.

September Meeting - Marie talked about SOLVE. (2 homes for young unwed mothers.) Our group decided to collect some material and articles they really need and we'll take them in next month for their Sewing Cabinet.

We met a 1:30 to sew for community service. We made 33 cancer hats, 89 cancer pillows, 3 lap robes and 6 baby blankets. We had a lot of fun and I think we did a great  job. There were only 13 of us. Then we went out for dinner a the Riverside Cafe. - Yummy! 5 other members came from work to meet us there.

Then we went back to the library for our regular meeting. We had a good group for Show and Tell.

Della Covert

September/October 2006

June—WE had a variety of Show and Tell items. Our program was making a really lovely scarf taught by Jeanette Callahan. The scarves were made of ribbon or new type yarns, stitched on a long piece of water soluble material. You have to see it, it’s so different and very lovely.

July—We had 16 members and 2 guests. Our Show and Tell had many nice items including three of the unique scarves from last month’s project. It really made you want to go home and finish your’s. 

Our program was Mellany Lieuwen of Picket Fence. You should have been there to see the gorgeous wall hangings, jackets and vests that Mellany brought. We learned about “soft fuse” that does a fantastic job making appliqués. Want to know more—have Mellany at your neighborhood group meeting. Everyone will enjoy it.

Della Covert

July/August 2006

April 5th -We bid a safe goodbye to our northern members till they return again. I do hope the rest of you will join in all the great activities that are coming up.

Wish you could have seen all the fantastic show and tell items we had. The greatest group of talented women belong to our guild. There was a beautiful black suit with a lovely blouse, a darling wall hanging, a very attractive scarf, the cutest cat for our neck, a table runner that would grace any table or buffet. We also had a quilt that would take a blue ribbon. Also, a jacket and matching purse that were fantastic. Wow! 

We ended our night with a lesson on Canadian smoking. It was a lot of fun. 

May 3^{rd -}We had 18 members and 2 guests. Our ladies showed many lovely items including a placemat purse which Kathleen will show us how to do at one of our meetings. 

Marie taught us how to make button bracelets. We had so much fun making the. There were a great number of interesting buttons.

Della Covert

May/June 2006

February

Lois, from Patches Galore, was our guest speaker.  She brought many old and lovely quilts with her.  Also, some new quilts & wall hangings.  I wish you could have seen them--glorious quilts and jackets.

Lois also had her quilt from the 2005 fall Turtle Run shop hop all done and WOW!  The rest of us who went on that trip hope to get ours done and have it look that good!

March

Our members this month really did some great sewing.  There were lovely wall hangings, vests, and blouses.  Also, there was a sweat shirt that was made into a jacket using challenge material on it.  Hey, you all did a great job.

Our guest was Margo Barber.  Did you ever wish you could dress up your blouse or skirt with some real leaves and flowers?  Well, guess what--- you can.  Margo paints on fabrics using nature--flowers, leaves and carrots- yes, carrots, even bugs, (if you want to pick them up).  You would be surprised to see how everything is so beautiful. You have to get her to come to your meeting or maybe teach a class.

Della Covert

March/April 2006

In December, we had our Christmas Party at the Golden Corral. The food was very good and we had many tables filled. Collection of over 100 gifts was for children at Hope Family Services.

Maureen Detrick was in charge of the program. We all received a fortune box. Boy was she ever on the mark as the fortunes foretold, and matched each person very closely. We had so much fun. 

THANKS Maureen!

Wow January-Here it is another year. We had great attendance and a few visitors. Barb Callahan gave us a very interesting program. Barb showed us how to use the wing needle in our sewing. It really makes a very neat and pretty decoration around the neck, or as an overall design.

She showed us many clothes with the wing needle decoration. I had my machine and tried - I finally got it. WOW ! ( Barb gave me some pieces to take home and work on.)

It really was a very informative meeting.   

THANK YOU Barb Callahan

Della Covert

January/February 2006

October meeting—Marie opened our meeting with a nice poem and gave us a list of everything coming up.  Also, she read a letter from Salvation Army, thanking Pins and Needles for all the blankets we gave them.   Comfort caps, pillows and many more things were sent to Manatee Hospital and the Cancer Society. We passed around two cards, one for Doris Fogg and one for Patti Newton. Many lovely articles were shown for Show and Tell.  Great work, girls. Judy Bennett knows a family with four children and a Grandmother who lost everything in Katrina.  She asked for help in making squares for quilts. Sherry Ebey had a great program on the different feet for your sewing machine.  I really learned a lot.  It really amazed me all the things you can do if you just use these little feet you have.  Thanks, Sherry.

November meeting—It is great to see all our snow bird members back.  We had a full house--Great!  (23 members and 5 visitors.) We gave $50.00 to the library to get books. Members brought in and showed the quilt squares for Judy.  Nice job!  They are really nice. There were many articles made for the Bazaar.  Wow!  Some, I would like to have. Show and Tell was fun with sweat shirts made into jackets.  Beautiful.  The quilts were fantastic. Glenda Parker from Hancock's really had a terrific program, showing us all the new rulers and kits, also, many different fleece scarves, blankets and vests to make.  Glenda also gave Pins and Needles many nice door prizes. We also had a sale of buttons donated by the Button Man and buttons from a friend.

Della Covert

November / December 2005

The August Pins and Needles meeting was started with Marie's usual reading from "Friends". Marie told about her experiences at the National Conference in Nashville.  She talked about the hotel and classes she took and showed some of her projects.  Joyce Fulford showed some of her class projects and talked about her time at Nashville.

Show & Tell had many exciting items.  Marie talked about and showed the different places  that the decorative stitches we have on our machines can be used.

September—We had a very interesting meeting this month.  The Show and Tell had some lovely items shown.  Our program was very interesting and lots of fun.  Mike and Millie Callahan showed us how to print pictures on material.  They had many beautiful articles with pictures they had printed on them.   Two very lovely lamp shades and many articles of clothing that Barb Callahan had sewn with pictures printed on them were shown.

Don't forget:  Get your tickets for the Annual meeting on Nov. 5th. and the Bernina Fashion Show at Michael's on East Jan 11th.

Della K. Covert

September / October 2005

June meeting—Marie Gartley went over all the interesting and fun things that are coming up. Many lovely articles were shown by our members. There were many quilts for St. Jude made and Marie took them to Hancock Fabrics. Marie showed us how to make decorative Chinese frogs and helped us make some. Mary Jane Fuller showed us how to make fancy button knots to match. We all had fun trying to make them.

July meeting--Marie reminded us about Tennessee and also about the bead class we are having tomorrow. Judy Bennett put on a very interesting class on colors. Judy brought about a bushel of pieces of material and we picked one main color and others that would relate to it. Then we discussed what we choose and wow did we have fun and we learned something too. This was a very busy month and also there was Tennessee to look forward to.

Della K. Covert

July / August 2005

April -Maureen did a good job running the meeting for Marie. It was discussed having a Christmas party in the afternoon. Sherry will check out places.

Also, the ladies would like to have some demo’s on Feet for Your Machine, Color Wheels, and Hands-on session making one. Also, a fabric exchange in October.

Many sweatshirts made into jackets were shown. Very nice job girls.

May-Hey, Marie is back and she had a great time.

Judy read a thank you note from the Manatee Players and gave everyone back their squares.

Sherry Libby will give a lesson on Swim suits – so start and looking for your material. There will be a lesson at the Library – Embellishment with Beads.

We had a very interesting guest speaker – Richard from Richard’s Button Boutique at the Red Barn-Booth 58. You really do want to see these. He has many buttons with him. Kitty Kat buttons fro India. Buttons from all over. Some beautiful. Some unique. He gave a whole bag of great buttons to Pins n Needles. We’ll decide later if we will auction them off or place in bags and bid on.

Many St. Jude quilts were shown. All were very nicely done and will make some children very happy.

Della K. Covert

May / June 2005

For our March meeting (Wow, it’s March already—can you believe that!) “Stoles, ponchos, and capes”, many beautiful scarves and ponchos were shown by the members. Maureen had many lovely scarves to show us.

Marie demonstrated how to do mitered corners and then passed out ASG pencils to all the people who helped at the Manatee Fair.

In March some of us went to on the bus trip with Dora to Maitland. We visited the Sewing Studio, had a great lunch at Perkins, and then on to the Bead Bucket.

At our April meeting, we showed sweat shirts that we had made into jackets.

Della Covert

March / April 2005

Pins and Needles started the New Year with 22 members and 6 visitors present.  Beautiful outfits and jackets made from the ASG patterns were shown.  Maureen Detrick and 4 of her friends showed many lovely jackets that they have made.  Hey-good work, everyone.

You all should have joined us at the Manatee County Fair.  We really had so much fun! I loved it so much I went 4 days!  We met lots of interesting people.  I even got a photo of my hands in the local paper!

We all had a lot of fun on Feb. l6 sewing quilts for St. Judes..

Oh, Man, if you were not at the class and chapter meeting with Emma Seabrooke, you really missed a great time.  We learned a lot about sewing garments and Emma had many beautiful things. Oh, yes, and I DID buy some material, beautiful material, of course!  You really need to get some stay tape and 1/4" clear elastic.  Emma taught us how to use it with slinky material.  This is a great and very useful suggestion.

We also learned some new things to do with the beading we are going to buy on Dora's trip.  --Great time!--Sorry you missed it!   

Della Covert

February 16, 2005 - “Sew A Quilt Day”

Anna Maria Power Squadron,  Education Building, 1200 71st Street NW Bradenton, Florida 34209 (792-0394) 9:30 am until 3:30 pm.

The PINS and NEEDLES neighborhood group, will have their annual “Sew A Quilt” day, from 9:30 am until 3:30 pm. Each of the past 2 years, we have made 10 quilts for St. Jude Hospital in June and July. Since many members have returned north by summer, we will be making the Quilts to be taken to National Conference in Nashville (July 28-Aug 1) in Feb. The Anna Maria Island Power Squadron has graciously donated the use of their building for our activity. All Sarasota/Gulf coast Chapter members are invited to join us. Bring your machine or serger tools, and material if you have it. We have some donated material and lots of donated batting. Bring a bag lunch; we will have coffee and cold drinks.

January / February 2005

For the November program, Anne Wellman gave a demo on her fabric bowls. Wow, they were beautiful! Mary Jane Fuller had the red button and won one of Anne’s bowls. Thank you, Ann. I think you should have a class. We voted to give $50 to the Library to buy books. The Holiday Party was a big success with 28 members pre- sent. Show and tell started off with our new member showing us the bowls she made, with towels to match, and 2 children's quilts . Doris Fogg showed some really great sweat shirts. Thank you ladies for this interesting program. Remember January 29th. Emma Seabrooke is coming. You don’t want to miss this. Tickets will be available at the January meeting. Be sure to wear or bring any item that you have made from the ASG patterns on January 5th. Della Covert 

The Big Shop Hop Thirteen ladies from Pins and Needles rented van and spent 2 days doing the "Shop Hop" that was put on by various retailers in the area. There were 10 stores that participated. Most of the them were quilting stores, but that never stopped us. After all, cotton fabric works just fine in most sewing machines. I can’t wait to see what ever yone is going to make with the fabrics purchased those days. I know that they had a good time. Why don’t you plan on going next year? Thanks to Julie Stubs for organizing this trip for us, and to Sherry Ebey for driving!

November / December 2004

At our September meeting we were shown the beautiful things to be made with crystals from the Creative Crystals Company. Some trips were discussed and Show & Tell was very interesting. 

Margaret Bellingar, reporter 

The October Pins & Needles meeting was great, with good attendance and one guest. 

Our displays in the Bradenton Central Library made a big hit. Even heard that the men enjoyed looking the cases over. Elaine handed out cute little bookmarks as a THANK YOU TO THE DISPLAYEES. 

Marie showed a beautiful quilt made by Ruth Palmer. We will sell tickets and have a drawing for it on January 29, 2005 with the proceeds going to our Education Fund. Many of our members showed their elegant items at Show & Tell. 

Catherine Eberly, of the Plantation Pleaters Smocking Guild, was our speaker. It was so interesting and she had many of her beautiful items to show us. And the books were full of exquisite items. The technique is called Boutis (boo-tee), similar to corded quilting, makes you want to learn how to do it. Catherine also gave us lots of information about cotton cloth, imported from India to France where this technique was mostly done. Did you know the first white wedding dress was worn by Josephine Bonaparte? Thank you, Catherine, we all enjoyed it. She also brought the doll and smocked clothing they are having a drawing for later on. 

At the November meeting Anne Wellman will show us how to make fabric bowls. Be sure to come and enjoy a night with sewing friends. 

Don’t forget the Pins & Needles ‘Shop Hop” trip on November 11 & 12. Call Julie Stubs for info, there may still be room. Those going must remember to bring the correct amount (including those 9 pennies) on Nov 3rd. Come on, let’s have fun!! And..Traveling Stitchers announced there is room for 2 more on the Nov 20th trip. Call Della—758-8705. It’s always fun. 

Della K. Covert, reporter.

September / October 2004

Pins and Needles went very well with Joyce Fulford conducting the meeting for Marie Gartley while she was at the ASG National Conference. Our Show and Tell was great, we had a lot of unique items from our talented members. Diane Deuel was our speaker for this evening. She told a story of a taylor. She is so entertaining. 

See you next month. Margaret Bellingar Reporter

July / August, 2004

On June 2nd 13 members of Pins & Needles met at the Library at one o’clock with their machines and sergers. Last year we had so much fun making quilts for St. Jude Hospital and felt it such a worth while endeavor, we wished to do it again. 

With money left over from a long ago grant we purchased ’2003’ St. Jude material, and from our ‘kitty’ purchased fleece and flannel and thread to make blankets and receiving blankets.Members donated some ‘2004’ material, Jean Johnson donated batting and we received material and batting from Doris, sister of deceased member, Ruth Palmer. 

Material was washed and cut by some members beforehand so we could start sewing as soon as the machines were set up. We used the pattern from Kaye Wood’s “6 Hour Quilt” for the quilts and were busy all afternoon. Library personnel were invited to stop in and see our project. 

By quitting time we had completed, except for binding, 6 quilts for the St. Jude Hospital and more to be finished, 2 large quilts machine quilted, 10 fleece blankets and 16 receiving blankets for the North River Care. 

Tired but satisfied we set the date to deliver the completed quilts to the Bradenton Hancock store and to deliver the baby items to North River Care. After a dinner break, we had our regular meeting at 6:3Opm.

Marie Gartley

July and August 2004

Our May meeting was opened by Marie with a little poem. 

Marie had a car full of sewing items that had been donated from one of the 1st leaders of the Silver Thimble group. 

Elaine Chapman asked for donations for our Bazaar in November.

Dolly Dockins was our speaker and showed many, many items with ultrasuede decorations on them. These items were beautiful, Dolly! We all enjoyed that. 

Margaret Bellinger, reporter 

P.S. Read the report on our June meeting in a separate article.

 March, 2004

The Pins & Needles meeting was opened by Marie Gartley reading the poem, “Smiles.” I thought it was very nice and more of us should be “smiling”. Our meeting was well attended, we had several guests and one new member. Show and Tell was very   interesting and then our speaker for the evening, Joyce Fulford, told us about and showed several quilts from the Blue Ridge Mountains. Of course, she showed one that she made, too. Very pretty quilt, Joyce!

Margaret Bellingar, reporter

 January and February 2004

Pins and Needles started the New Year out with a nice attendance. We had a lady from Manatee County Fair ask for volunteers to demo at their fair. Our Show & Tell was wonderful with quilts, wearables, and craft ideas. Even Julie had a red flower on. Keep sewing gals, those are great pieces you have made! Our meeting for February was interesting, Marie Gartley our leader opened with a nice poem. Our speaker, Nichols Hartman from the Manatee Players showed us costumes he made & how he had to have costumes for different eras. For Show & Tell included Sherry Ebey showing us her Blue Ribbon wall hanging from the Fair. 

Margaret Bellingar, reporter

November and December 2003

November meeting was well attended. Our show and tell was very unique. Our speaker for the evening was Lydia from Beacon Fabrics. She talked about some new thing which we all liked, thanks Lydia. We planned our future meetings and future goings on. 

Pins & Needles celebrated the holiday season by meeting at Papio’s IV in Ellenton for dinner on Dec. 3rd. Each person received a Rx favor for any sewing room mishap. These were the result of a combined effort of Jean Johnson, Chris Brunner and myself. We had a drawing for the Button Jar containing all the buttons contributed thru the year. It was won by a prospective member.

Other door prizes were donated by members, thank you ladies for making it a fun evening 

Our meetings in 2004 will be at the Central Library, 1301 Barcarrota Blvd. At 6:30pm on the 1st Wednesday of the month.

Margaret Bellingar, reporter