The Zoom meeting began at about 6:30pm and was attended by 24 members and one guest speaker, Augusta Cole. The business meeting was short and we got right down to introducing Augusta Cole who is located in Richmond, VA.

Her lecture was Tips, Tricks and Tidbits and it certainly lived up to that title. Here are just some of her tips:

Set a goal; have deadlines
Find a role model and BE a role model
Re-charge by meeting with others for conversation and exchanging ideas
To reassure successful forward movement toward a goal, stay on path
Plan your work and work your plan
Slow down and enjoy the process
Use the best material and tools
Perfect practice makes perfect quality
Make ONE block first to make sure the pattern is correct and you like the result
Cut the largest pieces of your fabric first to make sure you will not run short
Sew assembly line style when possible
Load several bobbins at one time
It is always better to give than to receive

Ms Cole makes a lot of scrappy quilt items and her general plan is this: As you prepare to make your project, iron each piece of the fabrics separately to make sure they are nice and flat. Then put them right sides together and iron them again. She will then cut her fabric set into these strips: 4.5″, 2.5″, 2″ and 1.5″. With these sizes, she can make mix and match half square triangles and blank squares that will fit together nicely.

For her hourglass units, she cuts a 7.25″ square, draws a diagonal line from corner to corner, sews on both sides 1/4″ away from the line. Then, she turns the square and makes her first cut on a diagonal line on the opposite corners and then she turns the block and cuts again on the drawn line between the two lines of stitching. By arranging the 4 resulting pieces, she creates two hourglass blocks.

Here is a slideshow of some pictures taken during her lecture. The scrappy pieces were pretty much all cut using her “standard” cutting stated above.

One thing I picked up personally, was the need to practice trimming blocks to make sure it all goes together perfectly. It is something I am guilty of neglecting.

And bringing up the rear is Rosie . . . too sweet !!

Be sure to visit Augusta Cole’s website, https://augustacolequilting.com/ where you can click on Patterns and then Tools and Supplies where you can order her favorite threads, Presencia, a 60wt cotton (sold/shipped in units of 6), as well as the thread cutters and rulers.

We all enjoyed Augusta Cole’s lecture, which was followed by a Q&A session.

And here is a shot of those attending the April Zoom meeting to watch Augusta Cole. Pretty good turnout for BRQG.

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And there was Show & Tell from the members now in a slideshow:

And that is all until our next meeting on May 11th. Keep quilting and stay well !!