Dixie Quilt Guild Meeting - January, 2009

Yesterday's quilt guild meeting was especially good - lots of valuable information given and beautiful quilts for Show 'n Tell. The first part of the program was presented by Bob and Heather Purcell, the owners of Superior Threads which is located in our town. www.superiorthreads.com We are really fortunate to have them as members of our guild as we get good first hand information and sneak previews of great things coming! Superior Threads has decided to make a DVD containing an abundance of information as well as dispelling thread myths! Our guild was their audience for the taping. I have heard this presentation several times and each time hear something new. One thing that was new to me is that metallic needles and topstitch needles are exactly the same. What a revelation as now I won't have to be so fussy about which needle to use and when! Another thing I absorbed was the cost of a spool vs. a cone. A cone costs about 50% more than a spool but tons more thread. I always buy cones but never realized the savings. A cone seems to last forever! I also learned that nearly all sewing problems can be solved with either changing to a topstitch needle, adjusting the tension and picking the right threads. As Bob said - "The world sews, America quilts". Sewing machines are manufactured with the "world" in mind, therefore no doubt tensions will have to be adjusted for "quilting" with non-standard sized threads. Thanks to Bob and Heather for this great presentation and thanks especially for bringing us this wonderful Egyptian grown Extra Long Staple thread all the way from Japan. Love it!

I am a big believer in quality thread and Superior's entire line of threads takes all the guesswork out for me. I read a lot of internet posts and many people are always discussing the pros and cons of different threads. I just want to shout "choose Superior and just get on". Also many people are concerned with price and I too went through that phase, but after realizing how much work goes into my projects as well as the high price of fabric, why would I choose an inferior product. Yes, perhaps Superior is the "Rolls Royce" as Bob put it, but I want my quilts to be as good as they can be. So many of the top name quilters in the industry have lent their names to the different lines of Superior Threads. I remember being with Ricky Tims in Las Vegas about 4 years ago or so when he first laid eyes on the line of thread with his name on it "Razzle Dazzle". Heather came running in with it and said it was literally right off the boat from Japan! This thread is a favorite of mine when I want a flash of something on a wallhanging. The pictures below are of Linda, Donna and Ricky feasting at Mimi's. Next is my supply of Razzle Dazzle and to the right is Mother Superior, a/k/a Heather Purcell, co-owner of Superior Threads. Good food, good friends!

The next thing on the agenda at the meeting was Show 'n Tell. We didn't have many participants as we usually do, probably because of the holiday taking time away from our quilting or the members are keeping their creations under wrap until the quilt show in April. One quilt I especially liked was from Judy. In November we had our annual National Teacher Workshop and the teacher this year was Linda Ballard. Judy attended the Fractured Crystals class and apparently liked it so much she enlarged it to a bed size. It is beautiful.

The next quilt on the left is one I liked because of the whimsy trees. This was shown by a visitor from Las Vegas. Cute quilt!! The wallhanging on the right was done by one of our resident art quilters. She said she bought the kit at a quilt show but didn't realize until she got home and opened it up that it was the wrong dog! It is darn cute though! My granddaughter would absolutely love this as she is a pug lover and wanna be owner of one! I bought her a plush pug for Christmas. Close as she'll ever get to a real one.

One more picture below of a Show 'N Tell entry that I thought was very unique - a small wallhanging made to display quilt pins. Isn't this clever? Shown by Bev who received it as a gift from Margaret! (Margaret is the most prolific quilter in this Guild!)