May/June 2020 Newsletter

In this Issue… • President's Letter • BQU Election Results • Virtual Quilt Show • BQU Yearly Inventory • Covid Quilt Project America Quilts • What We’ve Been Doing During the Quarantine

President's Letter Heidi Osterhout

What a ride we’ve had the last couple of months! I sure do miss seeing everyone every couple of weeks! I’m happy to keep in touch with everyone on Facebook and emails.

As a reminder, please respond to the messages for votes for our Board next year. Big QU allowed us to serve a third year, in the event that we didn’t have a full slate. We received volunteers for everything except President. So I volunteered to stay on for a third year, both because we don’t have a volunteer and because it sort of made sense for consistency during these strange times.

I applaud all of you who are continuing to make things for charities, including our premie blankets even though we can’t currently deliver them. I know many of us have been really busy making masks, scrub caps, and other fabric-based medical supplies. Quilters have been asked to perform near-monumental miracles by supplying dozens, even hundreds, of these things as individuals. I thank every one of you for your support of these needs. I still don’t think my non-sewing friends understand my need to quilt-they seem to think sewing masks and such are the same. For me, making masks isn’t the same thing at all. I don’t particularly enjoy making them. But I really enjoy donating them and I truly enjoy helping people. So there we are.

I still can’t make masks all the time and the requests I’ve gotten for masks have slowed down. I’ve started a quarantine quilt with my mask scraps. Making it makes me much happier to make the masks because I have the scraps for the quilt. Before, I kind of cringed a little at cutting some of my favorite fabrics to be used in masks that will most certainly be burned or trashed at the end of this quarantine period. Now I sort of smile because I have the scraps to put in the quilt. I have no clue how big this quilt will be but I’m cutting the scraps to the size I need to make it. And get giddy when a scrap works out to be just the right size of design to look good on it.

As a family, we made a quarantine quilt as well. I’m including photos of it although most of you saw it on the Facebook site. I finished it amongst the mask-making frenzy. We used paints and fabric painting supplies from Artistic Artifacts (and the instruction we learned from Judy Gula too) to paint dandelions on fabric squares. We used empty toilet paper rolls that we cut as a way to laugh at the toilet paper shortage. Each of my little family of 5 made at least a few blocks. Each person picked their fabrics from ones I pulled out, mostly batiks, and picked or mixed their paints as they liked too. I bet you can pick out the ones my 9 year old daughter made-she liked LOTS of paint and lots of a particular color. We had a lot of fun painting the blocks. Then I sewed them together and we auditioned borders. Everyone agreed upon the black with silver butterflies as the border. And finally, I quilted it all, with each block having different quilting. I used rulers and swirls and circles and doodles and all sorts of things. And, of course, meandering around the outside. Now, I’m just waiting on the label I ordered to arrive so we can remember why we made our Osterhout Quarantine Quilt and explain our use of toilet paper rolls for years to come.

The bee I am in is meeting weekly on zoom, which has kept us connected. If anyone is interested in doing an electronic BQU meeting, please let Rachel Watson know. She put out an offer to set up an electronic meeting on Facebook but I don’t think she received much in the way of responses.

I hope all of you are doing well and are motivated to sew. We may have to have a meeting JUST for show and tell when this is all done!!! I miss you all!

BQU Election Results Congratulations to the Burke QU 2020 – 2021 Officers!

• President Heidi Osterhout (3rd year approved by Big QU) • 1st Vice President Chandra Cookson • 2nd Vice President Erica Robertson • Secretary Michelle Krull • Treasurer Marilyn Owendoff • Nominations Dudley Shugart

It was unanimous!

QU Virtual Quilt Show From the Quilt Collector

This year’s show pictures are now on the QU website (if you granted permission for your quilt image to be on the USB drive/CD).

Since the registered quilts did not actually hang in this year’s show, you may put them in the 2021show. I don’t have any details if your quilts will automatically be registered or if they will need to be re-registered. I’m thinking the latter is most likely as you will have many new quilts and you will have to prioritize your entries.

BQU Yearly Inventory A yearly inventory is conducted in June of all BQU equipment. BQU members are reminded to turn in all of their checked out items to the Property Chairperson. In addition, committee chairs need to coordinate with Property before any equipment is transferred to the new board members in June (or at the designated time this year). Please contact Pat Price (Property) at thymewpvp@verizon.net or 703-504-8686 if you have any questions or concerns.

Covid Quilt Project America Quilts Be part of history and memorialize the profound impact the pandemic COVID-19 has had on our lives and document this historic global event for future generations. And, to help raise funds for those in need the COVID Quilt Project proudly supports the Gary Sinise Foundation.

How can you get involved in this history-making, fundraising effort? Create a quilt block(s). It is that simple!

Our goal is 1,000 blocks in 120 days! (due by August 31)

Get more details, including a downloadable flyer and block patterns, on the COVID Quilt Project website.

Look for our upcoming Facebook page “COVID Quilt Project.”

Please share this email with your fellow quilters, sew groups, quilt guilds, and quilt shops and businesses.

Let’s make this a success—CONNECT—SEW—TOGETHER…despite social distancing!

Take care, Marianne

On behalf of the COVID Quilt Project Team

Marianne M. Elliott Commander, NC, US Navy (retired) A volunteer and veteran—first and foremost marianne@mmelliott.com

What We’ve Been Doing During Quarantine Beverly Burroughs writes: Below are two quilts I’ve made during the stay at home order. The first is called “Stan’s Study in Scarlet”. My husband said he had to have this quilt! Most of the fabrics are from a basket I won at an auction several years ago. The second quilt is called “Sheltering in Place”. All the fabrics are from my stash.

Barb Sherwood wrote: I made a Christmas tree skirt for my daughter and her family. Imagine a Christmas gift finished before the week before Christmas! Next on my list are Christmas stockings for the 3 of them.

I also made a “maker station”. It sits over the arm of the chair where I do embroidery and other handwork. One side has pockets for notions. The other side has pockets, too, as well as a thread catcher. A basket sits on top with a pincushion and place for threads and other little things. The basket is held on with magnets so it stays in place If anyone else is interested in making one, the pattern is free from lillyella.com. It’s called the Mini Maker Station. There is a kit to purchase the metal strip and magnets that you’ll need to keep the basket in place. I love it.