ASG Cedar Rapids

June 2026 – Make and Take

Laura A — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 01:36:44 +0000

This meeting was a fun gathering. We sat in a U with the tables facing each other so conversations flowed between members. Elan S and her many helpers prepared a great make and take project for us all – flower wrist clip holders. Before the meeting, the wrist bands with Velcro and the felt flower petal strips were made. We each picked our favorite band and then the felt color we liked the best. Hand sewing it together was fun, as was the time just visiting with each other and becoming better acquainted. Sew and share had an added feature as members sashayed their way down the center of the tables so everyone could get an up close look at the creations.

Sew and share:

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May 2026 – “Hurray for Buttons Day!”

Laura A — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:05:18 +0000

I love to go through containers of old buttons: jars, boxes, old cookie tins. It is fun to see the many designs and colors. I love mother of pearl buttons. Years ago, I designed a dress around a collection of mismatched ones, making a shirt dress with button holes all the way to the hem. The smallest ones at the top and getting progressively larger as they went down. We had the pleasure of listening to Jan H from the Iowa Button Society share how she started button collecting and the many types of buttons out there. Did you know, they have used coconuts to make buttons? And that there is a button museum in Muscatine Iowa, which was once the button capital of the US? So much to learn and the way she displayed her many sets has gotten my creative juices flowing. Of course, the meeting ended with our favorite – sew and share.

Sew and Share, as always, never disappoints. Here are some of the creations:

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April 2026 Sewing Retreat

Laura A — Tue, 12 May 2026 00:28:15 +0000

19 sewists lugged their gear to the church for a 3 day fun time of creating and socializing with each other. Much laughter and connections were made as we sat with our machines and visited with other while also getting some projects started, worked on, and maybe even finished. Our gear stays overnight while we get to go home and sleep in our own beds. Hope you can join us in July!

Here are some Dress A Girl dresses which were completed!

And here we are, showing off our creations and having a good time!

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April 2026 – Alterations Help

Laura A — Tue, 12 May 2026 00:09:08 +0000

I don’t know about you, but I have projects that just do not fit correctly. This meeting was spent fine tuning projects which needed fitting help. Loesje S and Deb W worked together to fit these items, all the while educating the rest of us with how-to tips and tricks. They used safety pins and chalk to mark these adjustments on 4 garments:
Cathy B – trousers – waist, hips, crotch seam to help the back feel more comfortable
Tammy B – woven shirt – shoulders
Elan R – knit tunic – needs shoulder pads, shorter hem
Tamra L – shirtdress converted to duster – add princess seams front & back to prevent frumpiness

Sew and Share rounded out the meeting:

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March 2026 – Entering State and County Fairs

Laura A — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:06:46 +0000

Have you ever been to the fair and looked at the many sewing entries and wondered to yourself about entering one of your creations? Many of us have been there. SO – We learned how to enter the Linn County fair and the Iowa State Fair. Below are the steps on how to enter your most sewsational project. Then, the lucky ladies who were able to complete their December fabric swap projects shared these before Sew and Share began.

Linn County Fair – Tammy B
June 24-29, 2026
* open to any Iowa resident, not just Linn County residents
* limited to 3 items in Open Admission (different rules for 4H entries)
* sewing: adult clothing, baby/children’s clothing, dolls, accessories, purse/bag, home
* quilting: bed sizes, baby/lap, Quilt of Valor, other (wall hanging, table, etc.)
* needlework: knit, crochet, tat, needlepoint, etc.
* deliver Monday, judges will decide Wednesday, pick up Friday
* website will be updated by April 1
* make sure you are looking for Linn County, Iowa

Iowa State Fair – Emily D
August 13-23, 2026
* Iowa Family Living entry fee is $10 per group (garments, quilts, needlework would be $10 each), then 50 cents per tag for you to attach to each item
* tags will be mailed for you to fill out at home
* drop off Saturday 2 weeks before the fair
* pick up Monday afternoon after the fair
* special categories for US 250th birthday
* do not wear garments before fair
* press well, you will lose lots of points if you neglect pressing
* even if you are the only entry in a category, you are not guaranteed a 1st place ribbon
* state website will be updated in April – check it out to see all rules and categories

December Fabric Swap Projects

Sew and Share Samplings

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Feb 2026 – Dress A Girl Around the World

Laura A — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 00:33:27 +0000

One of ASG’s national objectives is to use our sewing skills to create items that help others – community service. At this Zoom meeting, scheduled to keep us home in case of bad weather, we were educated by Julie S, who is the North East Iowa ambassador for the Dress A Girl Around the World nonprofit. When girls are wearing a nice dress, they are less likely to be harassed or human trafficked. After teaching us about the hazards of being a girl in a poorer area of the world, she taught us how to sew dresses from 1 yard of fabric and some accent fabric for the pockets and ties. See the photos below for ideas. There may be a sewing day in our chapter’s future to make many of the dresses. Sew and Share ended our meeting.

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Jan 2026 – Sewing Room Tours

Laura A — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 23:58:30 +0000

Every January, we gather online in a Zoom call to share our love of sewing from the warmth of our homes. We started this year with a tour led by Tamra L of our ASG national website. She highlighted how to find online classes, videos for learning new techniques and topics, and where to find member only benefits. Next, some of our very organized members shared their sewing rooms, to inspire those of us who are not so organized to make our spaces more usable if all things can be found quickly. Some of these spaces were amazing! We ended with Sew and Share.

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December 2025 – Holiday Brunch and Fabric Gift Swap

Laura A — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 20:25:42 +0000

We woke up to light snow and cold temps. Text messages flew between board members…should we hold the meeting or cancel? Decisions were made…it was a go. 18 of us braved the weather and joined together for a Christmas brunch. The meal was lovely. Egg casserole, sausage, pastries, fruit, warm coffee and juices made for a wonderful meal. Each table was set with holiday tablecloths, cloth napkins and fun Christmas centerpieces. There was a constant hum of conversations as we had time to visit with each other at our tables. When the meal was finished, a fun gift swap commenced. Each member brought a wrapped piece of fabric at least 1.5 yards long they no longer wanted in their stash. Numbers were handed out and each chose a gift. Opening them, oohs and aahs were expressed as lovely pieces of fabric were shown. At our March 2026 meeting, projects created from this fabric will be shared. Many started to dream of possible creations and opinions from others helped fuel the creative thoughts.

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November 2025 – Holiday gift ideas and annual meeting

Laura A — Sun, 04 Jan 2026 22:28:11 +0000

There is still time to create handmade presents for Christmas. This is what we tell ourselves. To help us find the perfect project for our loved ones, the sewing gals shared their quick makes. Some had copies of the patterns to hand out; some shared the website so we could find it at home. Others shared their ideas, which got creative juices flowing. Throughout it all, oohs and aahs could be heard as members loved seeing these projects. Before the fun began, the guild had a quick annual meeting and new board members for next year were voted in.

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July 2025 – Sewing handbags with Deb Cannon

Laura A — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 19:49:06 +0000

Our own Deb Cannon was the guest speaker. She loves to make handbags and shared her expertise with us. Where to find the best hardware, fabric choices, patterns. We loved seeing many of her creations up close as she passed them around. During show and share, many other members showed their handmade bags. It was a fun meeting, seeing all of these creations.

Show and Tell

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