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!