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!

Ann Fahl in Hattiesburg

Pine Belt Quilters hosted the third leg of the Mississippi Quilt Association 2007 Educational Seminar with Ann Fahl teaching Decorative Machine Quilting Aug. 24-25 in Hattiesburg. Ann presented her award-winning techniques of measuring and basting before quilting to ensure a smooth and flat quilt. She introduced the participants to a variety of threads and gave instructions on choosing the correct needle for each type of thread. Of course, machine tensions had to be understood and addressed for good results. The first day's class dealt with sewing a sampler of stitches, learning how to adjust for threads and batting choices. The second day we worked on quilting a top we had brought. A great learning experience was brainstorming what quilting designs were needed for each quilt top. Ann guided the discussion by asking for opinions from the group and then helped each come up with good options for quilting. There were many "ah-ha" moments as quilters made breakthroughs in what had formerly been less than satisfying results. Beginning and seasoned machine quilters came away from the class with many more tips and techniques added to their experiences.

Ann Fahl Machine Quilting Workshop

Mississippi Quilt Association is sponsoring two-day educational seminars by Ann Fahl, renowned quiltmaker from Racine, WI, in three locations in Mississippi this week. Members of Hattiesburg's Pine Belt Quilters are looking forward to our class on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 24-25. We will learn techniques the first day and then machine quilt a piece we have prepared on the second day. Pictures will be posted.

Quilt University Online Show

One of our members, Sylvia Blissett, has entered her quilt "The Flower Song" in the Quilt University online show. You can go to their website at www.quiltuniversity.com and vote for “The Flower Song” after Sept. 1.

Judy Spiers' quilts win again

"Mississippi Backroad Treasures" won 2nd place in the large appliqué category and "Pineapple Surprise Again" won 1st place in the Miniature category in the Quilt Odyssey show in Hershey, PA July 26-29 in Hershey, PA. www.quiltodyssey.com Congratulations, Judy!

PBQ website is live!

The Pine Belt Quilters website is live. The page about the 2008 show is still under construction but has basic information. More will be added soon. View the website by clicking on http://www.pinebeltquilters.com/index.htm .
Martha Ginn

Children's Quilts Donated

At PBQ's July meeting, guild members brought 38 new children's quilts to the meeting to be given to children this fall. Each guild member has been challenged to make at least one quilt during 2007. Members selected quilts by Sharon Harris and Sally Henderson as their Viewers' Choice. Pictured: Michael Garrett (Homes of Hope for Children) with Sally Henderson.

Quilts were made by: Linda Ladner (7), Barbara Parker, Clara Oakes (3), Faye Barlow, Judy Spiers, Doris Dunn, Geraldine Simmons, Mary Ann Hyatt, Gretchen Hurt, Elaine Magee, Mary Nell Magee, Jean Martin, Mildred Jenkins, Nancy Knight, Vivian Plummer (2), Ellen Cox, Betty Allen, Sharon Harris, Jo-Ann Evans, Sally Henderson, Mary Henderson, Ella Lucas, Sarah Farris, Ann Carlile, Betty Tudor, Sherrie Tate, Jean Graham, Wanda Wallace, Liska Lodrigues.

Also at the July meeting, 32 quilts previously made by the Children's Quilt Group were placed with South Mississippi Children's Center, Domestic Abuse Family Shelter, Wesley Medical Center and Homes of Hope for Children.