Merry Christmas times two!

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The Thursday Lunch group had their Christmas party Dec. 12 at Mary Maestri's in Springdale.  Susan and Estela brought their husbands which added to our fun.  The food was great and it was really happy luncheon. Gifts and cards were handed out so everyone got goodies to go with their leftovers!

(Marcia was there but was taking the photos.)

Afterwards, many of us went to LA Quilting in Lowell and spent a little Christmas money on fabric.

Then that same evening the club had our Christmas party at Jim's Razorback Pizza in Farmington. For most of us that meant two parties in one day!  Woohoo! Members attending were Debbie, Sharon, Meg, Sylvia, Sheila, Cyndi, Marcia, Mozelle, Estela, and Susan.  Joining us were Cyndi's daughter in law, Stephanie, and granddaughter Olivia.

Marcia passed out the instructions for the last BOM, Snail's Trail.

We then had a Dirty Santa gift exchange. Everyone brought a wrapped gift, then one at a time we either unwrapped a gift or "stole" one from someone else. We all had fun and ended up with some nice gifts.

 Debbie got a container and a jelly roll of fabric.

 Sharon got a reusable gift box with a candle.

 Meg got a lovely candle warmer and flameless candle.

 Sheila got a lovely sewing basket with some notions inside.

 Estela got a lovely wall-hanging kit.

 Mozelle's gift was an armchair caddy to hold sewing supplies or the TV remote. I love that Razorback fabric!

 Sylvia brought this wall plaque and stole it back!

 Cyndi got a Cake Pop kit.

 Stephanie scored a beautiful scarf.

 Even Olivia had a gift to take home.

 Susan got a quilt setting kit.

Marcia ended up with a lovely sewing machine apron and a lavender scented neck warmer.

Everyone was reminded to pay their yearly dues next month. Meg needs $10 from each of us, and we need to make sure she has our correct personal info so a new roster can be distributed.

Sharon informed us that she is leaving the group, as she is not able to participate very often.  We will miss you, Sharon!

The next meeting will be January 9th at Meg's house, hosted by Meg and Marcia.

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November Meeting

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We met on November 14 at Meg's house, Debbie and Sylvia were hostesses. In addition to them, Meg, Sheila, Cyndi (and her granddaughter,) and Marcia were in attendance.

Debbie brought some wonderful "Taco Cupcakes" made with wonton wrappers in muffin tins, with sour cream and green onions for garnish.  She also made a scrumptious Guacamole to go with chips, and some Red Velvet Brownies.  We all pigged out and loved every bite.

BUSINESS MEETING:

The Christmas Party was discussed.  It will be on December 7th at 11:00 am at Jim's Razorback Pizza in Farmington, near Tooley's.  Gifts for the Dirty Santa gifting game should be wrapped only in a gift bag with tissue paper and the donor's name on the gift.  There is a $15.00 limit, and it does not need to be sewing related, but it should be nice, something you would enjoy receiving yourself; you never know--you might actually get it back yourself.

All spots for hosting next year have been taken except for February, and since every one has signed up for two months already, it was decided to hold a Valentine's Party that month.  This will be discussed more in January.

Marcia passed out the Block of the Month, called Hither and Yon.  Next month the last pattern will be handed out, but Marcia has copies of the past month patterns if anyone is missing some.

Show and Tell

 Sheila showed a quilt made from thrift store napkins! Repurposing worked great in this case. (Cyndi's granddaughter is seen to the left.)

 Sheila also did this pretty horse themed quilt--love the aqua and brown colorway.

 Cyndi showed this Santa she bought at War Eagle Fair.

 Meg showed a Christmas themed table runner she made, one of two.

 Meg also made this lovely diamond quilt.

 Meg made two similar quilts that look quite different, the only differences being the fabrics she chose and the number of pieces in the blocks.

 She also showed off her niece's first novel, "The Golden City" by J. Kathleen Cheney.

PROGRAM:

     

For our program, Meg brought out lots of fabric that had been donated to the club but had not been used. In round-robin fashion we all took turns picking one piece at a time until it had all been passed out.  We were all happy with our new fabrics that we took home to add to our personal stashes! Since there were only 6 of us, we each took home an armful.

SPECIAL THANKS TO SYLVIA FOR GIVING US EACH A JAR OF HER HOME-GROWN HONEY! YUM!!

The next meeting will be our Christmas party, Dec. 7th, as discussed above.

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October meeting

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The October meeting was held at Meg's house on October 10.  Sheila and Cyndi hosted, and provided us with yummy refreshments, including dipped marshmallows, Pumpkin dip, apple slices, cookies, and homemade Chex mix. In attendance were Sylvia, Debbie, Susan, Mozelle, Sheila, Cyndi, Marcia, Meg, and Estela.

BUSINESS MEETING:

Estela, Sheila, Marcia, and our friend Iris recently went on a road trip to Batesville, to go shopping at Marshall's Dry Goods.  Marcia showed a photo of the fabric she bought, Sheila showed her fabrics, and Meg showed the batiks that she had Marcia pick out and buy for her.  The trip was very enjoyable. They ate lunch at a restaurant on the river with a beautiful view.  It could become a yearly event, as long as our bank accounts will allow it!

The Block of the Month pattern was passed out.  There will be 2 more blocks in the series.

We discussed the upcoming Christmas party, to be held at Jim's Razorback Pizza as previously reported.  The gift for the gift exchange should be wrapped. 

A sign-up sheet was circulated for hosting next year's meetings.  Most of the months have been accounted for, but there are still openings for a few dates.  The list will be at the next meeting.  If you have not signed up yet, please do so then.

SHOW AND TELL

 Meg's lovely baby quilt for a friend.

 Meg showed her garage sale find that she she revamped and completed. It has John Deere tractor fabrics in it.

 Meg also showed a quilt she is quilting for a customer, made of handkerchiefs.  Very pretty!

 Marcia showed some pet pads she will donate to the animal shelter.

 Marcia also made this table topper from HSTs she bought at this years auction.

 Cyndi showed her current project, crocheting an edging on fleece for donation blankets to go to Highland Oncology Group.

 Sheila showed a similar blanket she has completed.

 Cyndi showed another blanket and explained the process.   Instructions for doing these blankets were our program for the night.

 Susan showed this gorgeous quilt in progress--there will be 3 more panels like this one.

Estela showed her darling Teddy Bear Quilt.  How cute is that??

She also showed a lovely quilt done in strips of brown and other fall colors, but the photo did not turn out.  Sorry, Estela.

Sylvia gave a report of her booth at the Apple Festival.  She sold many rugs and seemed to have really enjoyed the experience.  Despite the rain the Festival sounds like a big success.

PROGRAM:

Cyndi explained the process of using a skip blade in a rotary cutter to put small perforations along the edges of a piece of fleece, then crocheting around with single crochet and chain stitches using a J or I hook.  Thanks go to Mozelle for the use of her skip blade and to her daughter Donna for donating a large number of fleece pieces for the project.  Meg and Sheila provided the yarns, and we each took home 2-3 pieces of  fleece to work on as well as coordinating skeins of yarn.  We hope to have these all done by the March meeting.  These will count as your donation quilt for next year.  If you would like to participate, talk to Meg.

YouTube videos showing methods of crocheting the edging:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5QgGCi1J3o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO3Jye7HIr8

The next meeting is scheduled for November 14.  Birthday girls are Sheila and Meg.

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September meeting

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We met on September 12 at Meg's house.  Estela hosted, providing the project for the evening and some marvelous refreshments. She brought tortilla wrap appetizers, homemade hummus with crackers, a delicious cheese and bacon bread, and cream puffs for dessert.  Yummy!

 

BUSINESS MEETING

There were several items of business to discuss, and those in attendance made some important decisions regarding those items.  In attendance were Estela, Meg, Marcia, Susan, Joyce, Sylvia, Debbie, Sharon, Sheila, and Cyndi.

1. It was decided to return to requiring dues for membership.  Dues will be $10 per year.  If someone has not paid dues it will be assumed that they no longer wish to be a member of the group. Please give your dues for next year to Meg by the January 9th meeting. We will be printing a new roster in February, so be sure to update your info when you give Meg your dues.

2. The group agreed that it will be adequate for each person to provide one donation quilt for the year, however if you wish to give more, you certainly may.  Some of us cannot do more than one a year and should not feel guilty because of that. This year we had an overabundance of donation quilts (thanks, everyone!) and the quilting fees depleted our treasury.  Donation quilts will be worked on at your home, not at the meetings.

3. This coming year we have decided not to bring fat quarters for birthdays.  Too often the birthday girl doesn't show up to get them for another couple of months, and Meg has had to keep track of what FQs belong to who. You are welcome to bring a birthday card to the meeting and hand it to the recipient privately.

4. The auction was extremely successful, netting $550 for the treasury; so we will continue having the auction each August.  Keep this in mind when you find any useful item you no longer want or need--stick it under the bed, etc. for next August.

5. This year the Christmas party will be scaled back.  We will meet at 11:00 at the Jim's Razorback Pizza in downtown Farmington (near Tooley's) for lunch.  We will not have any show-and-tell or skits, but we will have a "Dirty Santa" gift exchange.  The gift need not be handmade, or even be sewing related; but should be useful and something you would appreciate receiving yourself.  Cost limit is $15.  More info on this will be in the next newsletter.

6. Joyce announced that she is leaving the group. We are sorry to lose her, and we wish her well.

SHOW-and-TELL

Sharon showed her beautiful Nine Patch Quilt, and asked our opinion of backing color.  We liked the coral border color and thought it would make a great backing.

 

Cyndi showed a lovely Elongated Four Patch  in yellow, green, and brown.

Sharon also showed this pastel plaid quilt--her very first!

Sharon also showed this pretty quilt made of HSTs.

Cyndi showed a quilt top she made some time ago--soon to be completed.  We all loved the colors in this one.

Sheila showed her Braided Row Quilt.  Lots of work in this one!

Sheila also displayed these two quilts made from jelly rolls. These will make their lucky recipients very happy!

Estela showed this Split Nine Patch.  The orange and lime really makes it bright and cheery!

Joyce brought a casserole cover that Essie asked her to show.  We miss Essie, but were glad she still is interested in showing us her work.

Joyce also showed her own Irish Chain quilt, a very soft pink color. Nicely done!

Susan spread out this HST quilt set in a diamond pattern, to oohs and aahs from us all. Love the cheddar and blue borders!

Susan also brought a small coiled basket she made from clothesline.  It's an easy project with impressive results.

Susan wowed us all with her machine embroidered tapestries. made in small sections that join together to make the whole--and they are only half done!  These are gifts for her sisters, lucky ladies!

Sylvia only had a "tell"--that she and Joyce will both have booths at the Lincoln Apple Festival, Oct. 4, 5, and 6.  They will be next to each other, so be sure to stop by while you are there.

Marcia passed out the instructions for the next block of her "Mother's BOM." There will be a total of 12 blocks in this quilt.  If you have missed any of the instructions, she will try to have extra copies at each meeting through January.

PROGRAM

Estela demonstrated how to make a simple casserole carrier out of a kitchen towel and some cording.  She provided all the materials, and we all were able to quickly finish the project.  Look at the results!

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Our next meeting will be on October 10th.  See you then!

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