Halloween meeting

We had a very spirited group for October.  Now that the Wildwood deadlines are behind us, let's see if I can remember what we did.

 

Judy was doing some very nice free motion quilting. 

 

Lynn did a thorough and informative demo of her die cutter. 

 

Mary Ann was binding.

 

 

Jan was cutting up several Marcia Derse FQs to make Fat Quarter Totes.  Here she is resisting the overthinking of the fabric combos.

Susie was working on this pattern.

 

Gwen was working on the embellishments for her store front quilts.  The photos don't do it justice but you can zoom to see all of the thoughtful and exquisite touches.

Lynn brought her in-progress braid challenge inspired by the Day of the Dead.

 

.... complete with sugar skulls on the back.

 

Lynn also brought her finished black and white challenge top.  It is a great piece.

 

Susie brought this cute Halloween braid, all layered up.  We can't get enough Halloween!

 

She even fussy cut the stripe on the back.  Cool!

 

Judy brought each of us a Chris-o-ween decoration.  Cute!

 

Judy also found time to make these Halloween inspired snacks, complete with licorice teeth.  These were the closest to dessert this month.  Next month, I plan to try this caramel apple rice pudding recipe ... before fall is gone for good.

MaryAnn made stuffed peppers.

 

There were spiders lurking in Jan's salad.

 

Gwen made pumpkin inspired deviled eggs.

 

Susie's eggs kept staring ...

 

There was lots of productive energy this month.  Hope to see you all in November.

September Gang

We had a small but mighty group for our September meeting.

 

Kathy had show and tell--her braid challenge.  Very impressive!

 

Dianne was finishing the binding on her braid challenge and MaryAnn was also binding.  Fran was demonstrating the art of relaxation.

 

Gwen, too, was finishing a binding.  Such a productive group.

 

Lynn was putting the finishing touches on her black and white challenge piece.  Kathy found the energy to start pinning her  braid.  Nothing like a deadline!

 

Dianne finished the hand stitching!  This beautiful piece is ready for the Wildwood show.

 

Lunch was great, as usual, despite the fact that we had no desserts.  Has that ever happened???  The adults enjoyed Fran's Oreo jello shots, though.

November Recap

Today was our November meeting.  Luckily, we had nice weather but we all compared stories about this week's storm.

 

Dianne was sewing blocks for this pattern, using a pretty selection of fabrics.  She says she exercised self control in the cutting phase.

 

 

 

Mary Ann was making a lovely set of batik blocks using the Lemoyne star ruler that we learned at the Wildwood workshop.  They aren't wonky but the different camera angles may make it seem so.  Blogger is also uncooperative with my requests to change the photo positions in this post.

 

Fran was trying out a new pattern that converts a button down shirt into a maternity top.

 

Gwen was cutting a pretty selection of fabrics for a table runner.

 

Lynn was troubleshooting the herringbone blocks she is working on based on Friendship strips.

 

 

 

Judy used some of her Lemoyne blocks for a baby quilt and then she found out that twins were on the way.  Here she is working on the binding.

 

 Kathy knitted some lovely yarn into a scarf for Fran. Great modeling job, Fran!

 

Here's a shot of Syd's knitting (top) and Lynn's pile of L blocks from Friendship.  Susie was tracing snowflakes and Kathy kept us in line.

 

 

Judy continues to out do herself with the holiday food styling.  This gang was very impressive! 

 

Lunch was wonderful, as usual.  I asked Brady to pick his favorite thing he ate today.  He said the turkey.  It took me a second to figure out which dish included turkey. Duh!  I should have known he'd pick the candy.

We decided on the rules for our next challenge:

1. Choose any pattern from one of Jane Hardy Miller's braid books
2. Must have a minimum of two runs (no table runners)
3. Inject your personality into it--make it read as "you" somehow
4. Use a coveted fabric (on the front, of course)
5. Show progress by April and finish in time for the November Wildwood show
6. Add at least one embellishment that would make music when the quilt is in the dryer (zippers, coat buttons, home dec snaps)
7. Include dimensional pockets where you can store spare change
8. Ignore rules 6 and 7 (right, Ruth?)

 We missed Jan, Laura, and Ruth and made sure to talk about them throughout the day.  See you in December!  Happy Thanksgiving to all!