New Officers for 2008-2009

President - Barbara Peters
Vice President - Shirley Wiltshire
Treasurer - Sharon Harris
Newsletter Editor - Debbie Davis
Membership Director - Sherrie Tate
2008 Quilt Show Chair - Jo-Ann Evans

Pictured (l. to r.) Debbie Davis, Sharon Harris, Sherrie Tate, Barbara Peters, Shirley Wiltshire, and Jo-Ann Evans.

It takes many people to keep a vital guild such as ours strong. We have dedicated members who work as leaders of the 11 Contact Groups, Children’s Quilts Group, Boutique Group, Workshops, Historian, Courtesy Chair, Door Prize Chair, Friendship Block Chair, Librarian, and Program Committee.

Our membership keeps growing—156 as of our January 2008 meeting, and we welcomed several new members at the meeting. The officers have a great year planned, with preparations for our October 10-11-12 Fiber Art and Quilt Show at Lake Terrace Convention Center in Hattiesburg.

We have completed and are selling tickets on our donation quilt--"Sunflower Blues"--an 88" x 101" beauty.

Quilt for Outgoing President - Jo Morton's Hattiesburg Collection

Pine Belt Quilters' outgoing president Gloria Green received a surprise gift at the December Christmas Luncheon meeting. Gloria's four years as treasurer and two years as president were commemorated by the guild with a quilt titled "Friends Who Meet in Hattiesburg." Our members live all over South Mississippi and a few out of state. Gloria is shown opening the box and displaying the label. Paula Jones talked until Gloria quit crying.

Jo Morton , quilt teacher and fabric designer for Andover Fabrics, has a line called "Hattiesburg," and these fabrics and color scheme were used for the quilt. Members made signature blocks, Paula Jones assembled the quilt, Diann Loper quilted it, JoAnn Keeney embroidered the label, and Mary Nell Magee bound it, all as a complete surprise to Gloria. She was speechless and very touched.

A long-standing tradition at our December meeting is bringing gifts for mothers and children at the Domestic Abuse Family Shelter. We brought 25 stockings and a table full of gifts to share with this agency. Becky Sims, director, and her daughter, Priscilla Sims were there to receive the gifts.

Mary Nell Magee and Linda Basden help hold one of the full-size quilts Linda Basden made for the shelter.

We also collected $580 in cash to donate to Christian Services. Quilters love to share!

Pine Belt Quilters in Houston

We are proud of our member Judy Spiers for her blue ribbon for "Mississippi Backroad Treasures" in the Innovative Applique category in Houston Oct. 30, 2007. Judy (in center with white gloves) is pictured with other Pine Belt Quilters Paula Jones, Shirley Wiltshire, Elaine Magee, Elvia Edwards, and Mary Nell Magee.

Ella Lucas explains "Quilt as Desired"

Quilt patterns with elaborate instructions often conclude with the words "Quilt as desired," leaving even experienced quilters to fend for themselves. We have all invested untold amounts of money on beautiful stencils and templates only to find that these rarely fit the space we want to quilt.

Ella Lucas, accomplished quilter and past president of Pine Belt Quilters and Mississippi Quilt Association, presented our November program in which she described her creative and innovative approach to deciding on quilting designs. She introduced the standard quilting designs such as quarter-inch, by the patch, in-the-ditch, echo, feather, cross-hatch, diamonds, clamshell, and fans. She showed us how she often uses original organic shapes or objects to create new and interesting designs which can be arranged to fit the space. Ella is primarily a hand quilter but gave pointers that can be adapted for machine quilters.

Happy 99th Birthday, Leola! Still making Children's Quilts

Top left: US Army CPT Terry Partin, Martha Ginn, 1SG John Stiles, Leola Kriegbaum. Right: Leola with her great-niece Katy Smith.

We are proud of our oldest member, Leola Kriegbaum. Leola turned 99 on Saturday, November 11, 2007. She lives with her nephew and his family in a large home in Hattiesburg's Historic District. Her bedroom is upstairs, and when encouraged to move to a downstairs room, Leola declines, saying, "the exercise is good for me." She is an avid gardener and stays busy outside in pleasant weather weeding and tending the flowerbeds.

She said she made her first quilt at age nine "and the doll didn't mind how it looked." She has been a quilter for many years and is meticulous in her choice of fabrics and construction of her quilts. Leola is one of our most active participants in making quilts for children, even though she can't always attend our workdays. Her goal is to make one quilt a month and she is an inspiration to other members. She is constantly trying to use up her scraps but does not hesitate to go shopping for "just the right fabric" for a border or to combine with some fabric she has. She brings in the tops and another member layers and quilts them. She was a member of the Jackson Quilters in Jackson before moving to Hattiesburg in about 1997. We are lucky to have her in Pine Belt Quilters. Happy Birthday, Leola!

PBQ Donates 46 Children's Quilts to Camp Shelby

PBQ makes quilts for children all year long. Camp Shelby, just 15 miles south of Hattiesburg, trains thousands of US Army men and women before they are deployed. Every time our TV station (WDAM-TV 7; http://www.wdam.com/) covers a unit being deployed, with soldiers saying goodbye to spouses and children, we are moved to want to give those children something to comfort them in the absence of their parent who is sacrificing for our country.

We contacted Chaplain Col. Tom Fuller, who arranged for Chaplains Cpt. Terry Partin (left, top photo) and 1st Sgt. John Stiles (right, top photo) to attend our Children's Quilts Group on 11/06/07 and receive our current supply of 46 quilts to be placed with children. Martha Ginn is shown presenting the quilts.

Judy Spiers wins in Houston

Our member Judy Spiers, of Foxworth, MS, won two awards at the 2007 International Quilt Festival in Houston.














Left: "Mississippi Backroad Treasures," 94 x 94, won First Place in the Innovative Applique-Large category.
Right: "Carnivale," 18 x 18, won Third Place in the Miniature category.

To see more of Judy's work, visit her website: http://www.judyspiers.com/. We are proud to have Judy as one of us!