Quilting: A Community Affair

Seems as if 4 out of 5 blog posts I write includes details of my getting together with friends for sewing, or quilt shows and the like. This hobby truly is one that is easy to share with others. Even our ancestors knew this, as they had those quilting bees we've all heard about. I sew on Mondays with Sharon P.; every other Friday with the Frankfort girls; annually at the June quilt camp; also annually at Sherrie's all-night quilting on Veterans' Day/Night. Interspersed throughout those regularly scheduled events, there are impromptu gatherings - wonderful opportunities to share a beloved hobby with other women who also love quilting. I am so blessed to have so many sweet and amazing friends in my little quilt world.

Today, we Frankfort girls met at JoAnn's. As usual, there was the show-and-tell portion of our morning. Take a look at our wonderful treats!

Sharon made this little tote bag to donate to her church's rummage sale. The panel appliqued to the front is cross-stitched, and it is gorgeous! Here's a close-up.

Beautiful workmanship! Someone will get a sure treasure if they buy this at the church sale!

Sharon also showed us a walker pouch she made from a place mat and half a kitchen tea towel. It Velcros around the front bar of a walker, thus enabling the user to carry things.

The ribbon ties secure the sides to the legs to prevent excessive swinging to and fro. The towel at the top folds over the bar of the walker and velcros shut. Inside there are pocket. Nice. For anyone who's ever had to use a walker, this would surely offer a measure of independence, being able to carry things even with hands on the walker.

Here are two halves of one quilt. Terry worked on on half; Sheryll worked on the other. It is now ready to be sewn together. This is the guild quilt that will be raffled at September's quilt show. Many members of the girls' guild (I'm the only one not a member) made blocks. This week Terry and Sheryll got together and made the blocks into the quilt top. (Two more instances of the social nature of quilting!)

One of JoAnn's purchases last week at the Lebanon quilt show was this book and a jelly roll; in typical get-busy-and-get-it-finished JoAnn fashion, she is off and running with a start on this!

Here's her cherkerboard section. Very pretty. I don't think I've ever seen a reproduction fabric I haven't liked, and this set is no exception. It is going to be fabulous!

JoAnn had a couple of patriotic goodies to show us. She is all ready for the Fourth of July - in March, for heaven's sake!!!

This wall hanging is going to be sent to JoAnn's long-time penpal in England. Wouldn't you love to have this coming your way in the mail?

And, in more typical JoAnn fashion, because there were leftover triangles from the first project, she whipped this up from them. What a great wall hanging! I want it!

Terry used 12 barn quilt panels to make this pretty quilt. She had begun quilting it, and look. She spent the morning picking out stitches. Sweet Sharon offered to assist; the job was nearly finished when we closed up at noon.

Her machine's tension was all out of whack, so she "frogged" her quilt - "rippit, rippit!" A little quilting humor to go along with the unpleasant task of taking out stitches. *grin*

JoAnn wasn't finished! She had a pretty pillow case made from leftover fabric used on the back of her pink and green quilt I showed several weeks ago. Isn't this feminine and frilly? Beautiful! Here's another pic of that quilt; I wasn't satisfied with the picture's color, so we are trying again...

This looks better; it's quilted now, and the pillow case fabric is what she has on the back.

And, a close-up:

Sheryll continued to work on her appliqued basket quilt from last time, and I was putting the final stitches into the binding of the OSU t-shirt quilt from several weeks ago! (Procrastination!!) No new pics from us.

So we had a great morning stitching and chatting over coffee and cake, covering many topics from politics, to family, to retirement, to travel. Wonderful morning. Even more wonderful friends.

Happy Quilting!