Post 1 of 2--challenge quilts and parties

In lieu of our usual 2nd Tuesday meeting, the Bama Belles Quilting Club had our annual Christmas potluck at our friend Judy's lovely home. Last year it was so cold that Judy's husband had lit a fire in the fireplace but not so this year---it was in the mid to high 70's so the windows were open and we enjoyed the living room space instead. We had 14 or 15 of us in one spot. A couple were out of town, another in the hospital so still missing a few but a relaxing time to just visit and enjoy each others company along with some good food. I left pleasantly full--those small bites of everything add up to a full plate. Oh, Carol asked about my pumpkin squares recipe and I will post it in a later post--maybe tomorrow. I actually used a different recipe than I first planned and will post them both, Carol.

Right after we ate and put the food up, we presented Theramae with her friendship quilt. That's her holding the quilt and asking what she had done to deserve this--more like "what hadn't she done?" She is a charter member of the group and a good friend to us all. (Ada, Jane and Rosa are to her right in the picture) after Jane did the official presentation. I just barely got the lovely pillow case that Aline had made to coordinate with the quilt in the shot--a dahlia similiar to one of the blocks in the quilt with blue accents that we used in the quilt for sashing and cornerstones. (Poor Theramae had fallen last week and hit her face on the way down so she looks bit banged up in the picture. )

The quilt full out and not hiding behind that danged plant in my living room. Linda S had told me that she had checked the previous shot on my blog and her block was one that was hiding. This time it won't look so much like stained glass and you can see the machine quilting I added to it.

Okay, on to the Merkitty challenge quilts with thanks again to Kitty in KY from the WTIL yahoo group for sharing the fabric with us. There will be a couple more at some point but these were the ones shared yesterday and I have them in two posts since I had so many pics to upload. First up, Aline---the appliqued cat shape is one that her husband had used to make a clock in the past. I think it lent itself well to the theme of the quilt--sort of like the "gingham dog and calico cat" of years past?



This is Lois' completed quilt---I showed you the top in a post from last month. She quilted in a wave pattern, free motion, I think. Perhaps you can see the blue fish fabric she used a little better this time and the blue and purple turtles on the green? When asked what the pattern was, Lois said that she didn't remember but she would think twice about using it again. Turns out that it told her cut those white sections as half square triangles when they SHOULD have been quarter square triangles to control the bias edge. (I'm going to look in BlockBase and see if I can find it though) Looks like she made a pretty quilt in spite of the challenges, right?



Excuse the pins on this one that Beverly made. I send links on to the group that I think that they might be interested in since we all are trying to come up with ideas of how to use our stash. Kairle's tutorial on string piecing was one such sites. (Strip Twist from quiltville.com, I think?) Beverly sashed hers between the blocks and used planned fabrics but same technique. (Her feet and hand peaking out and Lois' arm, LOL)

Stay tuned for post 2 of 2