FQ CHALLENGE GUIDELINES

We are SO VERY GLAD you are joining us in Branson for the 2012 Circle of Friends retreat! 

If you have never been to a retreat before, the FQ challenge is strictly a volunteer project ... you can say yay or nay ... and it's LOTS of fun to see everyone's creativity in what to do with the same fabric everyone else receives.  It's usually chosen in relation to the location or atmosphere of the retreat.  This fabric was chosen special for our retreat !!!

I know you are all surprised, and some maybe even disappointed, in what you see ... that's there's none of my feathered friends enclosed ... Altho I fought long and hard, my love for my friends won out, and this is what you wound up with, and this is why.........

A few things about Missouri...

~         It's known as the "show me state". It's also known as the "fern state" and the "cave state"

~       The state bird is the bluebird

~         The state flower is ugly, and should be a dogwood or peony

~         Ice tea was invented at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis (THANK YOU !)

~         The state animal is the mule ... guess y'all knew that !

~         The state tree is the dogwood (good going!)

~         Aunt Jemima pancake flour was invented at St Joseph in 1889, and was the first ready-mix food to be introduced commercially.

~         Situated within a day's drive of 50% of the US population, Branson and the TriLakes area serves up to 65,000 visitors daily.  Branson has been a "rubber tire" destination with the vast majority of tourists arriving by vehicles, RVs and tour buses

~         On Sucker Day in Nixa, the little town swells to a throng of 15,000 hungry folks, all craving a taste of the much maligned but delicious bottom dweller fish loathed by almost everyone else ... the sucker fish!

~        Missouri is the birthplace of President Harry S. Truman, in Lamar, and a museum is dedicated to him in Independence.  Mark Twain was born in Florida Missouri, and Hannibal holds his boyhood home

~         The Laura Ingalls Wilder museum is located in Mansfield ... just east of Springfield

So ... here are the FQ challenge rules for the project in the Circle of Friends Retreat ~

1.   You MUST use 75% of the FQ in your project, and it has to be showing.

2.   You cannot add more of the challenge fabric to your project above the FQ you are given (i.e. you cannot use someone else's FQ along with yours)

3.   You can add all the extra fabric you want for your project, as long as 75% of your FQ is used :)  Now if your project is small, and the ONLY fabric being used is your FQ, that will be accepted.

4.   Your project can be any size or shape and use any method you like.  It does NOT have to necessarily pertain to quilting ... it can be sewn, crocheted, decoupaged, etc).

We will have voting by ballot at the retreat for fun and prizes.  You will only be able to vote once for a project.  Categories will be ~

most creative, best use of challenge fabric, best use of color, best workmanship, most "out of the box"

 OK ... that's it!  Have fun with your fabric, it lends to a lot of choices creatively so we hope you will enjoy the fun of the FQ Challenge at this year's retreat!  Any questions, send me a PM on the message board, or an email to COF2012Branson@gmail.com ...

See y'all in Branson this September!!!!!

SavedSinnr Lindsay

Come ready to make new friends, rekindle old friendships, play games, laugh, sew, eat, shop, and have a GREAT time!  We are SEW looking forward to welcoming you to Branson!!!  And Branson is ready for YOU!

Quilters and their sicknesses

Just read this on another message board and thought I'd copy/paste it: 


A recent study indicated that fabric gives off certain Pheromones that actually hypnotize women and cause them to purchase unreasonable amounts. When stored in large quantities in enclosed spaces, the Pheromones (in the fabric) cases memory loss and induces the nesting syndrome (similar to the one squirrels have before the onset of winter i.e. storing food). Therefore perpetuating their species and not having a population loss due to their kind being cut into pieces and mixed with others. 

Sound tests have also reveled that these fabrics emit a very high pitched sound, heard only by a select few, a breed of women known as "quilters." When played backwards on an LP, the sounds are heard as chants, "buy me, cut me and sew me." 

In order to overcome the so called "feeding frenzy effect" that these fabrics cause, one must wear a face mask when entering a storage facility and use ear plugs to avoid being pulled into their grip. One must laugh, however, at the sight of customers in a quilt fabric store, with WWII army gas masks and headphones! Studies have also indicated that aliens have inhabited the earth, helping to spread the effects that these fabrics have on the human population. They are called Quilt Fabric Store Clerks. 



It's also been experienced that these same Pheromones cause a pathological need to hide these fabric purchases when taken home (or at least blend them into the existing stash), and when asked by significant other if the fabric is new, the reply is "I've had it for awhile." 

To "FIX" this sickness.... check out our friends at DJ's DISCOUNT FABRICS ...   you can find them on the internet at www.djsdiscountfabrics.com .  Diane is a sponsor for our retreat, and a new fabric store on the web ... so go check her out!  And tell her that you saw her on CIRCLE OF FRIENDS RETREAT BLOG!

Have a great week and happy sewing!

FQ BINGO !!! WHO WANTS TO PLAY !!!

YES!  We WILL be playing FQ Bingo at the Circle of Friends Retreat in Branson ... what would a retreat be without it?  It's gonna be F-U-N ... FUN!

~ Each card will be 4 FQs .  You are limited to ONE card per game.

~ We will have an UGLY category ... you can throw in AS MANY FQs AS YOU LIKE, BUT STILL ONLY PLAY ONE CARD ... it's a good way to give some of those "uglies" a good home to go to !  And just because the category might be "uglies", beauty IS in the eye of the beholder!  I've done "ugly" swaps, and from what I received, I was blown away at the BEAUTY that people were passing on as rejects!  Sometimes the "ugly" stack is just fabrics that you've bought too much of ... you're tired of looking at it ... you want to trade for some perfect GREEN ! 

So the FABRICS we will be playing with and for are ~~

~ ASIAN fabrics ... those gorgeous Orientals! (4 FQs per player)

~ REPRODUCTION fabrics ~ can be Civil War, 30's or other repro (4 FQs per player)

~ FALL ~ Gotta have those FABULOUS fall fabrics! {NO HALLOWEEN} (4 FQs per player)

~ BATIKS !!!  What would a party be without Batiks!!! (4 FQs per player)

~ BLACK & WHITES ~ fabric with black background & white print, or white background & black print (4 FQs per player)

~ NEUTRAL fabrics ~ beiges, tans, off whites, tone on tone lights (4 FQs per player)

~ UGLIES ... Everyone has some they are tired of or wonder WHY they ever bought those!  No limit as to how many go into the pot, but 4 minimum.

and possibly (time permitting)

~ ANYTHING GOES ~ this will be anything you want to throw in, or maybe you won some you don't really want.  Please make sure this is 100% GOOD QUALITY COTTON FABRIC.

This will be the last Bingo game.

Now for those that are flying, if you win big and don't want to carry them in your suitcase, or you do some shopping you just couldn't pass up ~~

WE WILL HAVE PRIORITY MAIL BOXES AND ENVELOPES AT RETREAT FOR ANY ITEMS YOU MAY WISH TO SEND.  THEY WILL BE FLAT RATE, SO YOU CAN WRITE ME A CHECK TO MAIL THEM (WE WILL ALREADY KNOW THE POSTAGE AMOUNT), AND I WILL GET THEM MAILED ON MONDAY AFTER RETREAT.  We will also have DELIVERY CONFIRMATION forms available as well.  Just please MARK ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE PACKAGE "FQ BINGO" ... 

Last year, I mailed my dirty laundry home via USPS and packed up all my fabric purchases and souvenirs in my carryon for the plane :)  I didn't care if my laundry got lost :)

So there's your categories for FAT QUARTER BINGO ... It's a retreat tradition... one we mean to carry on ~ big time! 

And what would the tradition of FQ Bingo be without our awesome bingo caller...  THANK YOU CHANLADY Lois for stepping up as our Bingo caller once again.  When I sought the advice of previous hostesses when I was considering having the retreat come to Branson, the previous hostesses HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Chanlady be kept as Bingo caller ... and after meeting her in NC and seeing her in action, I was MORE than appreciative of her "talents" ...  So THANK YOU LOIS !!!  I know you'll do a great job as Bingo hostess once again.

And remember... the games don't just have one winner!  THEY HAVE MULTIPLE WINNERS!!!

So let's say there's 35 people playing (that's 1/2 the registrations) ... at 4 FQs per game, that's 140 FQs ... if there's 7 winners, that's 20 FQ for your entry of 4 !  Also, there's sometimes MORE than 35 playing at a time, and sometimes more winners ... I know that last year I put my FQs in and won a bingo, and came out with about 2 dozen BEAUTIFUL ASIAN FABRICS!!!  That was a GREAT win ... but more than that, it was GREAT FUN with my friends!!

No one has to play ... but I'm pretty sure you will be wishin you had brought those FQs once you see the fun every has while playing ...

 

And remember ... the Bingo games is where Lena and Olie hang out with Chanlady !  

Hey........ that doesn't look like Lena!