Last month Diane B gave Estela a little gift of a "wine diary," to be used to keep track of the vintages and characteristics of notable wines. At tonight's meeting, Estela read from her first entry (not the first wine she's had since her kidney transplant, but the first wine she documented!)--it was a Hahn Winery blend of grenache and petite syrah, of 2010 vintage. The occasion for drinking it was "during the first Obama-Romney presidential debate" because she couldn't stand to watch the debate sober!
TONIGHT'S PROJECT
Diane Baker and Estela were hostesses for tonight's meeting. After a short business meeting, we went into Mozelle's sewing room and started on the runners, which indeed proved to be quick and easy to make. Here are the pictures of the runners made tonight:
Estela made this runner in Christmas fabrics. The runner will be a gift for her sister-in-law.
This is a close up of the button and yo-yo detail that Diane B used on her lovely fall themed runner. I asked Diane to be sure to show the yo-yo's to Mozelle, who loves making them and using them in all her quilts (NOT)!
Marsha made her runner using gorgeous red and green fabrics. The red fabric had a small print in metallic gold--very appropriate for the holidays.
Looks like Christmas was the reigning them for the runners so far. Meg's runner has some beautiful red poinsettias running down the middle with green as the bordering fabric. Notice that the borders on this runner appear wider than the borders on the other runners. Meg used a single striped fabric to make this runner--the fabric had poinsettia stripes alternating with green stripes, but the poinsettia stripe was less than the 12 inches needed for the central panel. In cutting the central panel 12 inches wide (as called for by the pattern), the panel included not only the poinsettia stripe but also some green on either side. Then she cut the 18 inch panel from one of the green stripes, and when sewn together, it gave this effect! Notice also that she made this longer, to fit her dining room table. May we expect to see it at our Christmas luncheon?
Debbie used a cardinal print fabric for her center panel and a rich red fabric for the back. Christmas tables are going to be very festive this year! Debbie, I apologize for the poor quality of this picture; I don't know whether you were moving or I was moving as I took this picture. That's what makes it look fuzzy.
Sylvia made a really striking "op art" look runner. Again, I apologize for the poor picture. I was probably trying to get the runner in focus and you moved or I moved as the shutter clicked on the camera.
Diane P used a beautiful pumpkin-colored fabric for her center panel, with a black-on-black print for the back. The central fabric actually had a pumpkin design in black printed on the pumpkin colored background. Could be used either for Thanksgiving or Halloween. Nice when it can do double duty!
Joyce made her runner in a Thanksgiving theme. The bordering fabric is gold, and the center panel depicts all kinds of fruits and veggies.
Joyce's niece made her runner in solid blue with white print fabrics. The white print depicted objects like cars, trees, houses, etc., things you would find in a town or village. She said that instead of securing the ends with buttons or yo-yo's, she was going to embroider two cats on the triangular ends.
Cindy's runner is not themed to any particular holiday, which means it can be used for a long time without it being "out of season." Great idea!
SHOW AND TELL
After we showed off our runners, it was time for show and tell.
First up for Show and Tell was Meg, with this bright and colorful Snail's Trail (also know as Monkey Fist). Meg said that several years ago her mother's sewing machine was entrusted to her to give to one of her sisters. While it was in Meg's home, she decided to piece this quilt and used the Snail's Trail pattern because that's the pattern that she thinks of when she thinks of her mom. Those of us lucky enough to work in her sewing room know that she hand stenciled this block all over the floor of the sewing room, as a visual reminder of her mom's favorite.
Here is Susan showing off a handbag that she made using fat quarters. The purse is beautiful in and of itself, but take a look at the next picture, and you'll see that inside the big purse is a small "take along" purse that can be used to hold what every girl needs: credit cards, cell phone and keys--and maybe that all essential lipstick! 
Here's a picture of the "take along" mini purse that Susan pulled out of the big purse to show us.
Mozelle continues to make donation quilts. This is a lapsized quilt using the "elongated four patch" pattern. Meg just finished quilting this; Mozelle will bind it next and it will be added to the growing stack that we have awaiting a decision on who are to be the lucky recipients.
Using the same fabric and the same pattern, Mozelle made a larger quilt, also to be a donation quilt. With winter fast approaching, we know that eventually we will hear that some family has lost their home because of a fireplace or heater fire. We will hold on to this larger quilt to donate to a family that finds itself in that situation, although we all pray that it not happen. Notice how nicely the dark purple inner border sets off the middle of the quilt from the piano-key outer border. Nice job, Mozelle!
Sheila's mom passed away recently, and Sheila cared for her during her last illness. As a consequence, Sheila spent a lot of time in her mom's hospital room and hospice room. Earlier in the evening she expressed her thanks for all the prayers, cards, good wishes and love that were extended to her and her family during their bereavement. I trust she knows that we loved Eva too, and miss her greatly.
Sheila put her time to good use while attending to her mom! Here Sheila is showing us a runner that she crocheted for her boyfriend's home. She used two very different kinds of yarn to make this and the rug shown below. She used black "eyelash" yarn, which is very fuzzy, with a red worsted weight yarn (treating both as if they were one yarn) to crochet this piece. .
This is the bathroom rug that will go in front of and around the "porcelain throne" in her boyfriend's bathroom. She said that he is remodeling it using corrugated tin--sounds like a western theme to me, so this red and black rug will be striking in there.
More of Sheila's crochet handiwork. She is expecting her seventh grandchild soon; it's going to be a boy. Since she started the blanket before she knew the gender of the baby, she made it using pastel colors that include pink, green, blue, and yellow. I believe this is daughter Tasha's baby. Tasha spent some time with Sheila and Eva at hospice.
Thisis essentially a crocheted quilt that Sheila made. She used different yarns in different colors, and then joined them together and added a crocheted border. She said that later she realized that the different yarns worked up differently even using the same pattern and number of stitches, so the squares are not all exactly the same gauge. Still, I'm sure it'swarm and comfy and will surround someone in love!
And now for the "piece de resistance" as the French say. Remember that Sheila made the runner and a rug for her boyfriend? Well, no wonder! He is quite the boyfriend! This is what he brought home to her one day---a king-sized hand pieced, hand quilted Dresden plate quilt! Where did he get it, you ask? He found it! Found it! On the road! Do you know of any other man who would stop to pick up a quilt from the road? Sounds like he's a keeper! And so is this quilt. Sheila said that the only thing wrong with it is that there is a small paint stain on the back, but the front is blemish-free. How lucky can you get!
NEXT MONTH'S PROJECT
Susan and Meg are hostesses for next month's project. Susan said that anyone interested in participating needs to bring two squares of coordinating fabrics and one square of batting. The size of the squares is up to the individual. We will be making a fabric container, the size of which will depend on the size of the squares that you use. Susan showed us two containers, a small one that started out using 9 inch squares, and a larger one using 12-1/2 in squares. I didn't get a picture of the small container, but below is a picture of the larger container, which Meg demonstrated could also be used as a hat!
The meeting closed in general hilarity, as always. This bunch knows how to have a good time.
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