2011 - Southeastern Quilt & Textile Museum Opens

This is the quilt that Apple Country Quilt Guild is making to be donate to the Southeaster Quilt & Textile Museum, in Carollton, Georgia. It has been long arm quilted by a guild member and is now ready to be bound.


Click on the picture for a better view of the quilting.

Tuesday will be our first meeting in 2011 at the First Methodist Church in Ellijay.

If your still in the area from the holidays, stop in and visit with us anytime after 10 a.m.

Members Take Quilts And Gifts To Nursing Home

Diane, Janette, Arlene, Jane, Sharon and Betty

Yesterday, Apple Country Quilt Guild had it's annual Christmas Luncheon at Charlie's Italian Restaurant here in Ellijay. We had a wonderful turnout and a really enjoyable gathering.

After the luncheon, some of the members took lap quilts made by the guild and gifts donated by members to the nursing home in town.

Diane, our President, sent in the picture and this note:

"We all enjoyed our visit to the Nursing Home as much as the residents. We delivered over 15 quilts and numerous other gift items for their Christmas. We arrived to find them in the dining room enjoying a pizza party and were able to visit with them individually and as a group. They were all so sweet thanking us for the quilts and even inviting us to their homes to eat or see their sewing. One dear lady told me she would fix anything I wanted if I'd come for dinner. We all left with the spirit of Christmas filling our hearts and the desire to rush home and make more quilts. It was the perfect way to end our Christmas celebration. Hopefully, others can go along the next time we have quilts to deliver."

Guild Visits Home Of Artist Brenda Tustian

Maureen, Arlene, Brenda Tustian, Diane, Betty, Paula and Elene

On Saturday, December 18th, artist Brenda Tustian had a Christmas Open House at her home/studio in Ball Ground, Georgia.

On the way back to Ellijay, the ladies stopped by the new quilt shop in Jasper (downtown area) and had lunch at a wonderful little pub called Kelly's.

Tomorrow, December 21st, we will be having our Christmas Luncheon at Charlie's, at 11:30 a.m. We will not be having our regular business meeting at Hope Lutheren this month. Any business that needs to be taken care of will be handled at the luncheon.

Christmas Luncheon Rescheduled Due To Weather

 

The north Georgia mountains are at a stand still today and probably tomorrow due to an inch or so of snow, cold (26 degrees) and high winds (20 mph). For those of you in northern regions, it's surely not sounding so bad...probably better than your "normal" winter weather. However, here in the South...it's a show stopper, school closer, luncheon rescheduling kind of event!

Fortunately, the Guild had just put into place a new automated phone message relaying system for whenever members needed to be informed of something without much delay. In the past, when information need to be sent out in a hurry, a phone chain was used. Not everyone has a home computer and not everyone checks their email on a regular basis.

Now,Guild members phone numbers are input into a saved directory (we can have up to 15 directories for committees as such) on our new Guild President's phone. Whenever a message needs to be sent, she can record a message on her phone, select a directory and the system will call everyone in that directory. If members aren't available to answer the phone and don't have voicemail or an answering machine, the system will try and call three times at 30 minute (I believe) intervals.

So, in addition to an email update, members received a phone message today to let us known that the Christmas luncheon will now be on December 21st. A job well done by our new Guild President Maureen!

Christmas Tree At Cartecay Methodist Church

The guild was contacted to see if we would be interested in participating in the 2nd Annual Cartecay Community Christmas Festival and decorate a Christmas tree. Since we still had the ornaments from last years Library Christmas Tree, it was a unanimous decision to participate.

Sharon, Maureen, Arlene, and Diane were at the church on the morning of December 2nd.

Diane sent in this picture and note: "Here's the crew and tree from this morning at Cartecay United Methodist Church. We all commented that the ornaments were even more impressive than we remembered them from last year. The ladies from the church were just thrilled with our contribution."

The 2nd Annual Cartecay Community Christmas Festival will be today, December 4th, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Much Accomplished On Charity Quilts

Birthday girls Venta Lee and Brenda join Pat in hand quilting and conversation. Venta Lee brought a delicious Chocolate
Eau Claire Cake to share with everyone.


Homespun blocks were arranged to be sewn together.



The Betty's piecing the homespun blocks and chatting.

Janette, Sharon, Ginger, Susan, and Jane pinning quilt prior to tying it.


Another quilt put together for tying.


Maureen showing her hand quilting so far on lap quilt. A yummy coconut cake was Maureen's contribution to lunch.


Diane and Janette sharing a moment. Janette brought a huge crockpot full of very tasty turkey tortellini soup for our lunch.

Our Christmas Tree At The Library

Every year the library here in Ellijay invites organizations and businesses in the area to decorate a tree. This year the guild decorated our tree with ornaments based on the song "The Twelve Days Of Christmas".

On November 18th, (front row) Martha, Lainee, Patti, (back row) Sharon, Maureen, Diane, and Paula meet at the library to hang the ornaments and ribbon garland.

Paula, was the mastermind and organizer of the tree decorations. Guild members started making the ornaments this summer and it was a great learning experience for many of the members.

If you're in the area, be sure and check out the tree...some of the ladies really got into embellishing their ornaments!

Soup And Charity Quilts

Yes, it's time to work on charity quilts! Plan on staying a while longer this week so we can get some more quilts done. A couple of members have graciously offered to make soup for lunch...there may even be dessert!

See y'all there (First Methodist Church) at 10:00 a.m., on Tuesday, the 30th.

Linda Daughtry Trunk Show

We started off the meeting singing Happy Birthday to our birthday girls Pat and Maureen and sharing a delicious cake that Ginger made and coffee.

Those of you that couldn't make it to last Tuesdays meeting really missed a great presentation by Linda Daughtry! Linda is a prolific artist of a wide variety of mediums and styles as well as a very entertaining and enthusiastic.

Hopefully, we will be able to have Linda come back and show us her "Discharge" method using bleach and black fabric.


OK....here's what you missed...it was even better up close and in person!

Christmas Items Needed For LQS Window

Guild members that have Christmas items for Quilt Shop On The Square's window display needs to bring them in now...Pam has to have the window done by next Tuesday for judging. She needs larger quilts and table runner size items, but if you have other sizes quilts check with Pam to see if she may now have a need for them.

Guild Sign For LQS Window

Here's the beautiful sign that Veronica made to go in the window of our LQS.



And this is our LQS, Quilt Shop On The Square, in downtown Ellijay. When Pam, the shop owner, changes the window displays with the seasons, guild members bring quilts and quilting related items to fill the window.



Veronica, our very artistic guild member, is taking a Sun Bonnet Sue class at Quilt Shop on the Square.


At our next guild meeting on November 16th, we will have Linda Daughtry, an Art Teacher at Oakland Elementary School, show us how she combines art and quilting. Linda first came to the Guilds attention when she brought in her quilts for the Gilmer County Fair. In those quilts, Linda combined the art of photography and quilting.

We will be meeting at the First Methodist Church at 10:00 a.m.

Petition To Save Walmart Fabric Departments

Here's your change to let Walmart know how you feel about losing the full service fabric departments!

Click here to bring up the petition and let your voice be heard!

Fund Raiser Date Change

The fund raiser at Chick-fil-A, for Robin Kelly, will now be held November 19th.

Robin Kelly Fund Raiser Info

At the business meeting today, the fund raiser at Chick-fil-A for Robin Kelly was mentioned.

This Friday, the 12th, Chick-fil-A will be donating 10% of sale ALL DAY.

Brenda's Binding Tutorial

Last week on Tuesday, Brenda gathered up the newbies for a lesson on binding using her measuring method.



Maureen, Martha and Veronica tried their hand at Brenda's method while long time member Helen watched their progress.



Ginger had no trouble getting her binding to fit just right.




Tuesday, November 9th, will be our business meeting and will be held at Hope Lutheran Church.

October Shop Hop Favorite Recipe

Last month guild members, Nancy, Lainee, Loraine and Brenda, participated in the Mystery Harvest Quilt Shop Hop. It was a tri-state shop hop, with sixteen quilt shops in Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia. Every shop served refreshments, with one being featured on a recipe card and given to shop hoppers when they had their passports stamped.

Here's the favorite recipe of Nancy, Loraine, Lainee and Brenda! It's Taco Soup and was served by Pieces Of The Past Quilt Shop in Harrisville, West Virginia.

1 lb ground beef
1 can Mexican style tomatoes, undrained
2 cans stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pkg taco seasoning
4 oz can chopped chilies
1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing Mix (dry)
15 oz can pinto beans
15 oz can black beans
15 oz can kidney beans
15 oz can hominy
1 1/2 to 2 cups hot water or chicken broth
Fresh lime juice
Shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese
Nacho Chips

Brown ground beef and onions, then drain. Mix together all canned items and mix with beef.

Combine dry mixes with water or broth and add to beef mixture. Stir together and simmer for one hour.

Add lime juice to soup or serve lime wedges with each serving.

Top with cheese and chips.


Brenda and Lainee have already made this soup at home.

Dahlonega Quilt Shops Road Trip

On the 19th, fifteen quilters headed to Dahlonega to visit their quilt shops Magical Threads and The Common Thread.

After all our purchases were taken care of, Magical Threads owner Laurelanne came outside to take our group picture.

Front: Bobbie
Second Row: Loretta, Diane, Maureen, Betty
Third Row: Kat, Betty, Ruth
Forth Row: Paula, Arlene, Janet, Lainee, Jeanine, Sharon, Veronica






After leaving Magical Threads, the group headed to beautiful downtown Dahlonega to check out a few shops.




Then it was off to the Oar House for lunch.


Outside seating is available....


...along the banks of the Chestatee River.


After lunch, more purchases were made at The Common Thread.

GAHA Quilt Exhibit

GAHA's (Gilmer Arts & Heritage Association) current exhibit is the Autum Arts Show and a vintage quilt show is part of the exhibit. Autum Arts runs through November 5th. Visit http://www.gilmerarts.org for the exhibits hours and coming shows.

The pictures are courtesy of Susan, a local blogger, and are just a sampling of the great pictures found on her blog. Also check out Susan's book reviews.

Guild Road Trip and Raffle Quilt Winner

This morning four car loads of guild members are heading to Dahlonega, GA to visit the two quilt shops there, take in the fall colors, and of course have lunch.

Members not going to Dahlonega will meet at the First Methodist Church and have a sew-in.




Maureen, Diane and Patti selling raffle tickets at the Apple Festival on Sunday morning.


Jeanine and Diane taking the last shift selling tickets.


Two young Apple Festival visitors help in drawing the winning ticket.


Sue, our winner, is a Lions Club member and was working at the Apple Festival when she heard her name announce on the PA system as the winner of our raffle quilt.

Happy Birthday To Us!

Last week we celebrated our guilds 16th birthday!




Merry, Warren, Betty, and Diane enjoying refreshments before the business meeting.


After everyone had a chance to put a plate of goodies together, we got down to business.

September Show, Tell and Ask

Diane brought her thrift store find in for us to see. It did require repair to some of the applique, but what a find!


Diane also brought in a bag that a friend had made for her. Her friend found the cord straps, which coordinate beautifully, at a thrift store.


Patty loves 30's fabric.


Patty's 30's fabric butterfly quilt.


Brenda's black & white quilt. The square block were designed specifically for the West Virginia Shop Hop.


Brenda also bought this kit on the West Virginia Shop Hop, which was this past June.


Paula is hand quilting this charity quilt.


Martha made this Tennessee Waltz table runner after watching Warren's (guild man quilter) demonstration earlier this summer.


Patti is doing an applique BOM quilt.


Another block from Patti's BOM quilt.


Patti's Halloween quilt top.


More beautiful embroidery work by Patti.


Martha and Veronica are taking a Sun Bonnet Sue Calendar BOM class at Quilt Shop On The Square, our LQS.


Veronica also brought in her "quilt as you go" blocks.


Destyne, Maureen, Betty, and Jane study the "quilt as you go" blocks.


Martha, Patty, Maureen and June take in the detail of the Sun Bonnet Sue blocks.

This is Business Meeting week for the guild and it will be held at the Hope Lutheran Church. We will also be celebrating the guilds 16th birthday at the meeting.