Watermelon Patch Quilt Raffle

Diann Loper of Purvis was the lucky winner of the Watermelon Patch quilt at the drawing today at the Pine Belt Quilters meeting. The quilt had been displayed at the June 13 Blueberry Festival in Poplarville where tickets were sold. It was a cooperative effort by Vivian Plummer (the top); Mary Nell Magee (borders and binding); Sally Henderson (machine appliqued watermelon halves in the corners); and Susie Jackson (elaborate machine quilting).
We lost one of our prolific quilters last month--Barbara F. Parker--and her family donated her extensive fabric collection to our Children's Quilts Projects. There was far more than our storage could accommodate, so we offered some for sale to our members. The sale brought in just under $300, which will be used to purchase batting. Proceeds from the Watermelon Patch quilt raffle will also go to Children's Quilts.

Logan Brenner, Women and Children's Operations Manager at Forrest General Hospital, attended our meeting to accept 66 small pillows that our members made for the children. She is pictured with Ruth Byrd, who headed up the project. Logan said the pillows brighten the clinical environment and cheer up the patients as well as the pediatric staff, who appreciate the fact that there are so many wonderful people in our community who care about these children.
Our June program was a presentation by Shirley Wiltshire of advice on ways to organize sewing spaces and supplies. She showed slides of many storage arrangements and encouraged quilters to first remove everything from the sewing area and obtain the proper tables and shelving in order to create the most efficient use of the available space.

Quilt for Homes of Hope for Children

Sarah Dixon, Communications Director of Homes of Hope for Children, is shown receiving the 55" x 70" string quilt donated by Pine Belt Quilters for use in HOHFC's 3rd annual fund raising auction on August 29 at the Hattiesburg Cultural Center. The event will be called Taste of Home and will feature local restaurants with their favorite dishes.

March 8 was groundbreaking day for the first building--the House Parents Relief Duplex. This building will initially be used as counseling/office space during construction of the other buildings on campus. The property is located at the corner of White Chapel Road and Harold Tucker Road in Purvis.

Creating with the Wedge Ruler--Leslie Kiger

Leslie Kiger, one of PBQ's many talented members, demonstrated the use of Marilyn Doheny's 9-degree wedge rulers. In the background is Leslie's quilt "Butterfly Bliss," her original design. Leslie sewed strip sets of color into units and then cut wedges from these sets to form her flowers and butterflies. The objects were hand appliqued to the pieced background.

On Wednesday, May 27, Gulf States Quilting Association Circuit Teacher Marilyn Rose, from Jackson, will hold a workshop for Pine Belt Quilters with hands-on teaching of how to use striped fabric and the wedge rulers to create original designs.

141 Quilts for the 155th Brigade Combat Team

At our May 20 meeting we donated 141 quilts to the soldiers of the 155th Brigade deploying in June. These quilts range from crib size to twin bed size and are to comfort children whose parents are away serving our country. The guardsmen who received the quilts told the quilters how much these gifts mean to the families and soldiers. Command Master Sgt. Glen Davis said, "although the troops enjoy cookies and cakes sent to us, we have plenty of food; what really means the most is news from home--newspaper articles, stories of local sports events, any personal contact from friends and family." Three tote bags for young girls were included with the quilts. During the meeting one quilt was sold for $150 at a live auction. This money will be used to purchase batting and children's themed fabrics to make more quilts. Pictured are Sgt. Major Glen Davis, 1st Sgt. Teddy Hadaway, and Brigade public affairs spokesman Rob Edwards.
Both the Hattiesburg American newspaper and WDAM TV sent reporters and photographers to cover the event.

FGH Pediatrics Unit: PBQ also furnished 8 flannel blankets to the Forrest General Hospital Pediatrics Unit. FGH asked if we would make small pillows for the children. Ruth Byrd precut and distributed squares of fabric and batting to the members for the pillows. These will be returned (and photographed) at the next meeting.
Walker Totes: Since we began making walker totes for Forrest General Hospital in 2007 under the leadership and encouragement of our member Louise Cubley, we have made and furnished almost 600. One of our members, Sharon Nobles, brought in 30 more totes, made by a Girl Scout troop in Pensacola, FL.

Quilt for Domestic Abuse Family Shelter

We have donated a 75" x 103" Rail Fence Quilt in bright primary colors to the Domestic Abuse Family Shelter to be used in their efforts to build a new and larger facility. The Hattiesburg American (http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/) reported in an April 6, 2009, story on the goal of $500,000 for this purpose. This agency serves as a haven for abused women and their children. It is our hope that the proceeds DAFS gains from this quilt can assist in their goals to more adequately serve those in crisis. Becky Sims, Director of DAFS, stresses the need for a place for women to go when they are in an abusive relationship. She said most homicides stem from domestic violence.

(Showing backing of quilt with Charlie Brown and friends fabric)

How to Build a Log Cabin

Members were treated today to a presentation by one of our own, Donna Burges. Donna researched the log cabin block and shared what she discovered. Did you know the log cabin design has been found on cloths used to wrap mummies in Egypt? Here are some other interesting tidbits Donna shared:

• The design was first brought to the US by Swedish immigrants. Pioneer women modified the design to suit their supplies, situation and needs. The log cabin was easily hand pieced while riding in a covered wagon. The design allowed women to make use of any available scrap material. Because of this many of the early quilts had several different types and weights of fabric - for this reason the quilts were tied rather than quilted.
• Though the first documented log cabin quilt was made in 1869, during the Civil War women were asked to make quilts to raffle and raise money to support the troops, the log cabin design was commonly used for these quilts.

The traditional log cabin block has a red center square, signifying the hearth of the home. Some have a yellow center signifying the light of the home. The logs (the walls of the home) are done in lights and darks, the light logs signify sunshine, the dark logs signify shadows. There are many variations of the log cabin block - the pineapple, courthouse steps, and a chevron (made with an off center block). Members shared some of their log cabin treasures to demonstrate the various settings that are possible with this block - Barn Raising, Fields and Furrows, Sunshine and Shadows, and many more.

Thanks, Donna for a great presentation. Now get to work, ladies, on building your own log cabin quilt to enter into the next show!

Copyright Matters

Pine Belt Quilters invited Rhonda Blasingame from Jackson to speak at our March 18 meeting on Copyright. Rhonda is passionate about this topic, as illustrated by her "soapbox." Everything she makes is original and she explained the difference between copying a pattern and creating an original design. She said that although quilters have always generously shared with each other, we need to be knowledgeable about protecting the rights of others.
As this relates to quilters, she explained that photographs, quilts seen at a show, quilts pictured in a magazine are the property of the maker and cannot be used without permission. When one creates a tangible object, she holds the copyright (example: publishes a book or article, composes a musical score, writes a song, paints a picture, designs a pattern, makes a quilt, that person holds the copyright, whether or not it is officially registered with the US Copyright office).
Rhonda provided several links for more detailed information. She also fielded questions to help the group understand what constituted copyright violation.
The following is quoted directly from "Copyright Basics" http://www.copyright.gov.

"Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States
(title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of 'original works of authorship,' including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976."
To paraphrase, the owner has these rights:
• To reproduce the work;
• To prepare derivative works based upon the work;
• To sell or lease the work;
• To perform the work publicly;
• To display the work publicly.