Merry Christmas!

No Christmas party is complete without the tree

And reindeer

A lot of kicking back and catching up

Dianne was sewing binding on this one

Jan and Judy

Fran too!

To all the Diva's that we missed, and of course, talked about . . . .

CHEERS!

Day of the Dead

Our November meeting had a Day of the Dead theme. Not so much our quilting as our dishes for the pot luck. Yes we gather with the intention of quilting but the food is the game.
 Let's see. There was wine and mimosa's ( thanks Lynn) to toast the departed. Susie brought perogies with a tale of her father helping the church ladies make them.  I found then particularly delightful with the apple sauce Judy made, her favorite thing. Mary Anne made sloppy joe sliders, apparently her mom, who worked at Higbees, would leave out frozen ground beef and whoever got home from school  first,cooked dinner or cleaned. ( MA said she washed a lot of floors)  Syd made chili, which according to her dad, had to bring a tear to the eye to be good. She also made her grandmother's biscuits with a story of a broken arm. While grandma's back was turned,she reached over to get some dough ( her very young self was sitting on the counter, helping) Syd fell off, breaking her arm and her grandma felt guilty for years until Syd confessed she was doing what she had been instructed not to.  Gwen made her mother's chicken soup, So many good noodles.  Fran made a wonderful apple strudel, not a tear in the dough, Dianne made her mother in law's apple cake. Kathy made her mother's favorite birthday cake, so much rum in and on it. Lynn brought along with her traditional Diva breakfast bread and spread, cookies her grandfather loved. Jan brought a green salad that was supposed to accompany her mother in law's meatballs but time and circumstance prevented that. Another time, we hope. Laura did not get the food memo but brought what my own grandmother would have brought, bakery cupcakes,my personal favorite.  There was a pumpkin bread there as well and glorious decorations. All in all, splendid.
 On the the quilting/creative portion of the day. Dianne brought "Flat Sam" ( I think) a traveler to be photographed in a new place and mailed on, For a nephew I think. Dianne also brought her finished Diva Diamond Challenge and there are pictures, front and back. She was binding like crazy.
 Fran brought her bug jar quilt to show, for some lucky baby.
 Syd was hemming a piece woven by her mother in law that will finally be used, Kathy was working away at knitted lace and is amazed she can recall anything of the day, so much counting.  Mary Anne was rebinding a vintage Christmas quilts. Gwen was working on, with some colorful language, hedgehogs. Judy brought a wonderful hexie project, all ready to go but I think she had too many stories to tell to actually work on it. She certainly will get to it. Susie..you are always busy but I will be darned if I can recall on what, sorry. Same for Lynnee, Sorry. Post in the comments. Laura, our biker chick has been going like mad on her long arm and the weather has been wonderful late in the season for riding. Plus that grand daughter.  Lots of grandchildren talk, I wonder if they know how much they are loved. I know Laura is itching to get some personal quilting done.
 We were missing Lori,who has apparently moved, and Ruth who was having a vertigo day, Rats.
 So there you have it. Mix and match with the pictures Susie posted earlier.
 Until December.
 Oh, Syd had a lovely new puppy and he and his sisters put on quite the show. Miss you though, Sherman, you could give then some barking lessons. Miss our boy, Brady as well.

I Knew I Had a Picture of the Back!

 

November's Diva Day in Pictures

 

Here's the day in pictures.  Kathy will follow with the story behind them.

 

Sell and Buy

Long time no see, Divas!

This may not be a very interesting post but maybe it will get the Wildwood folks warmed up for the upcoming show.  My local guild had their annual fundraiser last night.  It is an auction format (the president is the auctioneer).  There were probably 75 members and a handful of guests in attendance and there were 60 items up for bid.  Members can submit multiple items and, also, fellow members completed several small UFOs from a former member who recently passed away.  They call it a small quilt auction but there were a few placemats, organizers and other sewn items.

In advance of the auction, I asked several members for input and no one gave me any specific info.  Of course, I was a little concerned whether my piece would be appropriate (size, theme, technique, effort, etc.)  Once I got there and put it on the table so potential buyers could inspect it, I felt like I was auditioning.  Luckily, my choices seemed to fill a gap in the rest of the inventory.  The highest bid was $100 for an original design featuring a Halloween cat with a beautiful big stitch spiderweb. I think the next highest was probably $60.  Mine went for $42.  I was happy with that since many items sold for $10-15.  There was no minimum bid but most people started at $5.

This is my piece.  It is an old McKenna Ryan pattern I bought at ESF.  It shows two different wallhanging designs so I traced and cut both at once. I've been entertained watching the hummingbirds here so it made sense to make one for me and one for the guild.   All of the components for the second one are fused and ready to go but I need to pick out borders.   I chose to keep it light on quilting so I wouldn't interfere with the applique or the print.

I also bought two pieces.  The first one was struggling in the bidding and it appealed to my wholecloth interest.

This one was made by the ringleader of the little group I have been sitting with.  They go for dinner and sangria prior to the meetings so they have developed quite a reputation.  It seems like the right table for me ....  The wallhanging is reversible so it can convey your mood.

I hope the Wildwood show is a huge success, as always.  Have a cookie for me!

A Couple Close-Ups of Everyone's Favorite

October

Weather was a picture perfect fall day for the October Diva Day.

Judy updated us on all the happenings in her life while working on the display cards for the upcoming Wildwood Quilt Show.

Gwen was cutting the fabric for these cute little hot pads and Fran was busy cutting out some plaids for her next project.

Syd finished these two tote bags.  But the highlight was her big find at her mother-in-law's property - these pristine, hand sewn (I think), hand quilted beauties.  The pictures do not do them justice.

 Until next time . . .

Browsing ...

I found this site based on a post on Bonnie Hunter's Facebook Open Studio. I especially love the patterns (several are free) and the tutorials.  If you have issues with paper piecing .... avert your eyes. 


There are bunnies and bunnies are always a good thing.  Enjoy.

From the Missing Diva

I am so happy to see some posts on the Basement Diva blog. I have missed just about everything since Lori's move and I really miss seeing everyone. I had hoped that I could kind of keep up through the blog. With one thing and another I am never sure if I can get to anything to actually participate. If I come to any of the meetings I will have to do some handwork because lugging my  machine and all my supplies is more that I want to deal with.
 I really like Diane's diamond quilt. Did anyone else finish one? Mine is on the wall, the background is finished but nothing else has been added since April.

We had a family wedding too last weekend, in Missouri. We had decided last spring that it would not work out for us to go for a number of reasons. As it turned out none of my daughters family was able to go because of great grandson Ben's ruptured appendix. His mom and dad and brother of course wouldn't be going and Marty (grandma) was not going to leave town when she was needed and my other grand daughter and her son were going to ride with Marty and Blaize.  Ben, BTW, is now doing well.

We finally have a few pictures and that is nice. It does let us know how much we missed. One of my quilts however did make it. Jenna asked last spring if she could borrow it for the table. I told her she could keep it. That is it on the right in the background. The wedding was at Camp Barnabas on the Lake at it looks like a beautiful setting.

One of JP's friends made a video and I hope we see it soon.

Sort of Sewing

As many of you know, my employer hosts a biennial employee art show.  I've been lucky enough to be accepted twice before and this year makes my third successful bid!

This year, there were over 500 pieces entered and 52 were selected via jury (2 are quilts).  The jury is different each time but this year it included Elizabeth A. Emery who is described as "a Cleveland-based artist working in a variety of mediums, primarily sculpture, drawing, and printmaking".  The jury also included Deidre McPherson, Curator of Public Programs for the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Cleveland.

I am thrilled to have this opportunity.  The art department staff at work contribute to making the process a wonderful experience. The show will be displayed in several company gallery spaces around the country and will travel for two years visiting the larger sites.

Employees can enter three works for consideration.  I entered these three (the batik was very difficult to photograph!).  The third one was selected.  Now I need to block it, prepare it for mailing and write an artist's description.  What a great distraction from the usual 9 to 5.

Amazing with out all of us.

I am back from Chicago and so happy to see that there were pictures and text.
 Weddings are stressful but we got through it all. Vests. Oh my, one poor young man put on 30 pounds since being measured. The young man with the closest fit switched with him but was having trouble breathing so he took off the vest right after the ceremony. He did mange to go home with the vest that actually fit him. What a sweet young man. I think my brother and nephew had dropped a couple of pounds but they looked great and that was all that mattered. They received the vests at the rehearsal dinner and one announced "these buttons are dope" I have been told that means pretty good.
 That is my reason I have not done my diamond challenge. ( my story, deal with it)
 I will see some of you soon.

Diva Day

We were down a few Diva's as they partied at weddings, babysat their cuties, or played at the beach.

Several quilts were bound as Gwen, Mary Ann, and Diane sewed away.

Diane's Diamonds

MA's Snowflake

And Gwen's was packed up before I could get a picture, but it will be hanging at the Wildwood Quilt Show in November so you can see it there.

Lynne, Fran, Jan, yours truly, and of course, Syd were in attendance.

 

 

MA brought her finished top from a class with Gudrun Erla from GE Designs.

There was the requisite talking about everyone who was not there, and rumors of this tote making its way to Arizona to fill those great IKEA cabinets.

Till next time . . . .

A few missing

Hi, all,  I will be missing this month's meeting at Syd's but be sure to know, that if anyone posts pictures I will be more than happy writing a story. Lori, you could always put up old pictures and we could do a dream sequence.
 I am off to a wedding. The sensible bride will have no one in strapless dresses, My quilt for them is done and has already been passed off to them. I am hoping no buttons or fists fly.
 Have fun without me.
Kathy

Diva and Friendship Shop Hop - Part 1

Before we moved from Ohio, the Divas and Friendship groups generously sponsored an Arizona shopping spree for me.  Judy made this specially-designed wallet to hold all of my loot (and a handy dandy map!).

After layering up my vintage batik HST quilt top at the retreat, I realized, of course, that I didn't have the thread I needed for quilting.  Since my deadline for this piece is next week, it seemed like the right time for the first installment of my shopping spree!  Most of the shops in my area have multiple weekdays with late hours plus they're open on Sundays but I thought I could squeeze in a trip to Quilter's Ranch in between work and the pool.  Quilter's Ranch seemed like a safe bet because they are a Bernina dealer (large shop), they offer a lot of machine embroidery classes and carry quite a bit of thread.

Here is my haul for the day. I felt somewhat shopped-out after the Amish quilt stores but I couldn't resist the Laurel Burch dog fabrics.  I will probably cut the panel horizontally and use them for two different wallhangings.  I also picked up the thread I was looking for and a potential batik for the binding.  Since the Divas had been so generous, I decided to splurge and also get the queen sized Supreme Slider.  I have heavily used the small one plus I'd like to support this quilt shop as my primary shopping destination.  They have so many things I love, they are probably closest to home and they are near guild meetings.

BTW, a neighbor down the street had two frogs this week (son of Bob?).  More to come, no doubt!