Mid-Summer Musings

Hi. My name's Gina, and it's been nearly 5 months since my last blog post.

Yes, indeed... time can get away from me! Please don't say "But you should have lots of time on your hands now!" Nothing could be further from the truth, and if my eyes roll one more time upon hearing such a comment, I'm afraid they'll get stuck that way. Not a good look for me. :)

But we are right at the half-way point between our last blanket day and our next blanket day, so busy or not, it's time to start gearing up!

She's Here!

Yes, little Olivia has arrived! Olivia is the daughter to our Great Falls volunteer, Sophia, and her husband, Nate. Stats...
1013 am June 28th 2016
7 pounds 12 ounces
20 1/2 inches long

 
Congratulations to Sophia and Nate and little Olivia! What a wonderful blessing!!!

Project Linus National Conference

I went to what is expected to be our last PL national conference in June... gained lots of fresh ideas and tips! Instead of a large national conference, there will be smaller, regional conferences in the future. There have already been a few...Kansas City, Phoenix, Portland... the hope is that these will be inviting and more affordable to coordinators and volunteers in different corners of the country. Will one be coming to a state near you??? Time will tell.

Project Linus Mystery Quilt

Yes, another Mystery Quilt is in the works! This will be done similarly to Lukey the Lucky Penguin quilt, but this will be Gracie's Get Well Garden! Gracie, like Lukey, is another of our PL VP's grandchildren... just the sweetest little girl. Mary is currently at 11 grandkids... so there are a lot of quilt ideas for the future! Registration will start August 20 with the clue releases starting September 10. Registration is $15, and if you designate the Great Falls/Helena, MT chapter, all that will be donated to us!

Changes to our Blanket Day Routine

We've tried to do it in as many ways as I can imagine, and it still isn't working all that well for a number of reasons. And, it's taking a lot of YOUR time! So...... volunteers will no longer be tagging or labeling blankets at our blanket days or at home. What I will ask you to do is bring in your blankets with your name in the upper right corner of the front using either an address label, some painter's tape, or masking tape. I will do all the tagging and labeling afterwards. This will also allow us to start with the demo promptly at 10:30.

Another change....we're going to push Show and Tell to 1:00 or 1:30 depending on how many blankets we have. Doing Show and Tell in the middle seems to be too disruptive to the work in progress. Once Show and Tell is done, we can start cleaning up, packing up, and calling it a fruitful day

Loose Ends... or Not Knot!

Perhaps the greatest tip I learned at conference was the Russian Join for yarn! This technique simply rocked my world! (We were doing a lot of world rocking at this conference....) All those loose ends of yarn can be avoided, and I won't have to try to weave them in myself! Lion Brand Yarn has the instructions for the Russian Join on their website...just click here! But I'll also throw them in below... I don't want any of our knitters or crocheters to miss this! Again... rocked my world!!!!

1. Thread a blunt needle with one end of yarn leaving a few inches of tail

2. Work the needle back through the plies of your yarn for a few inches. Don't worry if this looks bunched up now.
3. Pull the yarn tail through, leaving a small loop at the end. This is where the second piece of yarn will be attached.
4. Thread your needle with the second piece of yarn, again leaving a tail.

5. Insert the needle into the small loop you created before pulling a few inches of yarn, including the tail, through the small loop.
6. Like you did before, work the needle through the plies of your second piece of yarn.
7. Give each strand a little tug to smooth out the bunching. You now have a secure join! Trim off any excess ends.

That's all there is to it! Depending on your yarn, you may notice that this joined area is slightly thicker than the rest of your yarn, but for most projects it should not be noticeable.

See more at: http://www.lionbrand.com/blog/how-to-russian-join-yarn-in-7-easy-steps/#sthash.cTinqmz8.dpuf

2016-2017 Blocks of the Month

Cindy, Marsha, and I have been chatting and started firming up our plans for next year's blocks. I know it can take some time to find the fabric you might want to use, so here's the list...


September - Bullseye Block
This is a fun and easy technique to get us going again! Raw edge and done in flannel... it will give us some great warm blankets to give out going into our colder months. I have a lot of flannel to get us started.

October - Stacks
This is a great quilt! Done with some prints and a background fabric, it looks like the piles of books I used to work with when I had a job at my university library. In fact, the book storage areas are called the 'stacks'! For this, you'll want to collect 2 1/2" strips, half in your background color, and half in fun prints.


November - Shape Shifter
Okay... I made up that name. It is basically an exercise in taking one block and shifting around your placement for light, medium, and dark fabrics to give a number of different looks. In the end, at first glance, you won't realize all the blocks are exactly the same. you'll have to really look to see that they are all the same block. 'Indian Puzzle' is the block that is used, and it has a lot of pieces to it. I've heard that some of you don't like the more intricate patterns... blocks with a lot of pieces... thinking they are too intense for a PL blanket. So, instead of everyone doing a whole top, we're going to share the work and have everyone make one block. I might try to buy some fabric and give small pieces of each to everyone so that the differences are seen as truly a result of shifting the placement of color rather than the difference being the result of different fabrics. Stayed tuned for updates!

December
Many of you stated you would like a catch-up day mid year. Since our December Bee is also our holiday potluck, there won't be a block of the month. Unless some really want one, then maybe I can come up with something easy. Let me know.

January - Cutting Corners
This is another one that will make use of some 2 1/2" fun print strips and some background fabric.






February - Dandy Star
I love star blocks! I was going to try to include the Montana Star for one month, but that really is a busy block! This is much simpler and still has that starry impact! This pattern will make use of 5" squares in fun prints and some background fabrics.

March - Animal Theme

We're going on a safari...

It's an elephant we seek!

He might boldly walk 'cross our quilt top

Or from the corners he might peek!

Yes, this month will be a little different in that we're going with a theme rather than a specific block. And, as the rhyme implied, the theme is ELEPHANTS! How you include elephants in your blanket is up to you... the pattern, the fabric...creator's choice! If you really can't find any way to include elephants, try for a safari theme. This is just supposed to be fun. The ladies in Helena and all their frog quilts steered us to this idea!

April - Fat Quarter Frenzy
Start searching for some fun and coordinating fat quarters! We're still trying to choose how we'll work these. (Okay... so not every plan is nailed down....)

May
May is our month to organize, catch up on some unfinished projects, and enjoy lunch together.

One Last Thing...

Our chapter name has officially been changed to Great Falls/Helena, MT. It's something I've been meaning to do for a very long time. We have always served both areas equally when it comes to blanket deliveries. I know this still leaves out a lot of areas we cover, like Havre and Butte, but I want to keep some consistency so it doesn't look like a new chapter or something like that.

I think that's enough for now. So, enjoy the rest of your summer, but start searching for some of those fabrics you might need!

Hugs and blessings!
gina