meeting date

Meeting date today---fun time!   We had a special guest---one of the girl's cousin was here visiting from Indiana.   We also had a "not originally planned" potluck lunch that allowed us to keep sewing/cutting/playing without losing time.  Miscommunication may have set it up but it worked out just fine!


Teresa had her pink rag quilt done and just about ready to turn in but washing had made some pills on the back that she wanted to de-fuzz.  I am sorry that I did not get a picture taken of it to share.

I also failed to get a picture of the fall Log Cabin blocks that our guest had won in a block lottery from an online Facebook group.  They were gorgeous!  Sorry about that too but I was sorta busy today and dropped the ball.

This one is called Night and Day, I believe.  I think Lois said it came from Quilt in a Day and there was an easier way to piece this than you might originally think.  LOL, I'll take her word for it!  I did mention that something like this is supposed to be shrunk down to 6 inch for my Farmer's Wife Inspired Sampler but so far it had NOT made the cut.  Didn't Lois' version turn out pretty with that red just popping.  The black is our challenge fabric piece, actually.  This was the only one that was pinned, this meeting.

I have to tell you a story though---Bev told me that she had showed the Lick Skillet Guild that meets on the 2nd Monday evening in Oxford how the Belles approach pinning a quilt.  Hooray!  That shows that Bev has learned her lessons at the pinning table well if she was confident enough to share how to do it!  Learn and then teach.  Proud of her and it makes me smile.

Several of us had planned to work on the Lil Twister Christmas wreath today with me demo'ing and walking the girls through the process of cutting the sections for the pinwheels.  We are a casual group so no one is quite ready at the same time so as each one was ready we went through it on their piece.

Thanks to a link I had found on pinterest Lois was able to have her husband help her with cutting some plexiglass to make her own cutting tool.  She also had a couple extra to share so tested hers out prior to the meeting and had it sewn up to the borders.  Lois said she had used a fat quarter for the green and did not have any left to use for the rest of the piece so would border in the red.  She mentioned a bow she had seen from Eleanor Burns.  I don't know if you can see the picture but there is a fair amount of gold in the green print.  I asked her if she wanted some of the gold print that had with me today.  It looks like it will be perfect!   I'll have to find out the source of the bow in case the others want to do this as well.

Here is Beverly's version.   I had suggested pinning the sections to some batting, like a portable design wall as I would hate to get all this mixed up like a jigsaw puzzle.  Beverly has a problem with the polyester batting we use so I swapped her the warm and natural piece I had mine pinned to.  I wanted her to get the project moved forward since we were sharing rulers.

I had told the girls that I had been told that the 5 x 5 bases turned into and 18" square once the sections were cut and sewn into the pinwheel shapes.  Beverly misunderstood me and trimmed her blocks down by an inch on her first attempt.  My fault but I told her that I thought I could make it work by rigging up something else for her to use as a cutting tool.  A slightly smaller sectioning.  Really, I think it will be cute!  I did that project this evening (FYI:  a square slightly over 2 1/2 inch will be fine but 3 inches is too big) 

And here is Marilyn cutting hers.  She plans on making two of them but missed the directive to sew a 3 1/2 inch border around the square base.  Fortunately she had white fabric for one of them and her machine so we got her on track after a minor delay.   She was just about done when I took the picture.

Brenda was unable to come till after lunch but I handed her my ruler and got her to cutting.  She and I closed up the shop about 1430.  She showed me the pattern and the itty bitty twister that calls for 2 1/2 inch cut squares and I swear that ruler was probably 1 inch square-----yikes!  Apparently she had picked it up at a shop hop or quilt show and forgot about it.  Well, now she knows how to use it!

Brenda had a grandmother's flower garden section with those little pieces of plastic with the hole in them---that you pop out?  The name is escaping me at the moment.  I told her that I was considering just one rosette like she had for my  FWIS Sampler and asked how big it finished.  She gave it to me!  One block more block done---but I will need to stitch it down and get the little pop out sections out of there.  I started to take them out to give them back to her but she said you stitch each piece down and THEN remove it from the back, one at a time.   THX Brenda!  It is even a nice purple print that will be fine in the scheme of things.  You'll see it on the next design wall post, LOL. 

Rosa and Lois were working on an embroidery project.  Lois was helping Rosa get her machine set up, the stabilizer applied and such.  It was a t-shirt that was promised to Rosa's grandson.  Again, I was busy and didn't get a picture when they held it up.

Me?  Mostly helping out the others but I finally got the pile of Thangles for Hopscotch all trimmed down and the paper removed.  Not pressed but ready to!   I cut the last column on MY base here at home so it is ready to stitch up tomorrow. 

I'm beat so I think it is time to get into those jammies and go watch TV for a bit-------another day to play tomorrow.