Barbara Renthal
Here we are, a month into 2023! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season with safe travels, few delays, and lots of good cheer. 2022 presented many challenges, and I for one am happy to see it in the rearview mirror. The new year brings with it a list of resolutions that we tend to make, only to see them drop away as the year progresses. There are the usual ones such as losing weight, exercising more, reading that stack of books that are piled up by the chair (or are clogging up the Kindle), and being kinder, for sure. Mine include those also, but in addition, I resolve to dig into my pile of UFO’s and get some of them done!
What is a UFO? An Unfinished Object, something that most quilters and sewers of all ilk know well. The quilt top that needs to be sandwiched, the binding that needs to be put on, the orphan blocks that are carefully stashed, and those piles of scraps that have been saved for projects yet to be determined! If some of those terms are unfamiliar, they all relate to steps in the quilt-making process. Not all Material Girls are quilt makers, but I’m sure whatever one does with fabric, there is a tendency to want to move on to something new before finishing what is at hand. So, I resolve to finish my 2022 starts, and maybe even that quilt that I started in 1993 that just needs to be quilted, before I cut out anything new. That doesn’t mean I can’t continue to shop for fabric or visit my favorite quilt shops for inspiration, I just must show the resolve a new year brings to “finish it up!”
In that vein, the Material Girls have an ambitious calendar of activities lined up to promote all kinds of projects. They include Monday evening open sewing with Jac, which is a great opportunity to “finish it up,” beginning quilting classes, Block of the Month projects to learn new techniques, and of course our very active Embroidery Group, which welcomes the curious and experienced alike. And we get together for special projects such as making the comfort, charity, and raffle quilts we are known for.
Please stop by the Creative Arts Center for a visit to check out what the Material Girls are up to. Our goal is to provide fun and friendship for our wonderful community of sewers. The studio is open Monday afternoons, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.