October Recap

What a great day to stay inside and sew!

Laura, Diane, and Mary Ann worked on binding.  Gwen and Jan pin basted and were happy to have extra help from Susie and Ruth.  Judy was working on her color challenge for Wildwood. I pin basted my Wildwood challenge.  There was lots of chatting and consultation, of course.

 

Kathy was knitting a beautiful scarf which she then gifted to me!  I gave her the yarn but she put in all of the hard labor.  What a nice surprise for me! 

Lunch was great, as usual.  Judy outdid herself with not one, but two, Halloween creations as well as a few other treats! 

 

We managed to talk business (challenge business) after lunch.  We decided to start with a potholder sized mug rug, snack mat, tiny quilt sort of thing for our next project.  We will discuss at our November meeting when it will be due.  It may be the December, January, or February meeting but we didn’t commit yet since many of us are distracted by our Wildwood deadlines that are approaching FAST!  We will do a randomized swap of the finished pieces.  Include your name and the date on the back of your piece.  The assumption is that none of us would actually USE any of these to handle food but no one will be policing that.  Here’s are some examples to inspire you here, here, and here.  This over-analyzer says … don’t overthink it. 

We also discussed the other challenge ideas that many of us liked.  We ended up with three favorites, including one that we didn’t list in the September Recap post.  In no particular order, our favorites are:  a braid book project (#1 from the original list), something for yourself (#4), or a round robin wallhanging.

We also discussed doing a Halloween fabric swap.  Think about the size that has the most appeal to you:  2.5 inch strips, layer cake size, charm square size, bricks, or other.  We can decide at the next meeting what dimensions and quantities we will use.  Participation is optional but, since most of us love Halloween quilts, I thought it might be fun.

Thanks to everyone for your input on my  quilt.  Your ideas helped a lot.  I will need to put the pedal to the metal to get it done but having all of the decisions made is progress!

Dear Divas

I've been busy trying to finish my Wildwood pieces.  I set some stretch goals for myself so things are hectic!  I made a backing for the huge circles quilt.  I used up a panel and lots of odds and ends plus clearance stuff.  You'll have to turn your head to see the right orientation.  This was the only way to fit most of it in the pic.  I hadn't realized until now that the trees in the panel look like topiaries.

 

Here's a shot of a quarter of the quilt, to refresh your memory.

I've been stumped as to how to quilt it.  My latest idea is below--sort of a ribbon candy effect in the square backgrounds and a spiral in the circle.  The circles are about 8" finished so I don't have the option to leave them unquilted.  My questions to you are ... do you have any other ideas for the quilting and, also, what kind/color of thread would you use?  I'd rather not use clear thread because this will eventually be a bed quilt that will be used by Brady.  I'd love to hear your feedback!