A Fun Day of Sewing!

I've been sitting on some quilting activity for several days. Just so darned busy!!! I declare, retirement is the busiest time of a person's life!! I am volunteering to do a poetry workshop in a friend's sophomore English classes 3 days this week at the local high school. I also have had to get my book club book finished, as we had our meeting tonight. The book, Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson, was a good read -- a mystery with lots of storylines intersecting for a satisfying conclusion.

Last Saturday, quilter friend Terry opened her beautiful home to a gaggle (what would we be called?) of quilters - 8 in all, including our hostess. Tables filled the family room, cutting and ironing stations were set up in the kitchen. Of course, there was a good bit of food out in the kitchen, as well.

Here is the photographic evidence of our wonderful day.

This is only a sampling of the tasty treats we had to select from. Terry served a delicious chili for lunch and the rest of us brought snacks and side dishes to add to the spread. Needless to say, we didn't go hungry!

Ok, on with the quilting and sewing...

Finally, all 30 of my French General stars were done, and I was ready to move on with the construction of the quilt top. I did some fussy cutting for the cornerstones.

And I had to make some decisions about the fabric to use for the sashing. I changed up the pattern a bit (from a 2-fabric sashing to a 1-fabric sashing), and was limiting myself to using only from my existing stash. So this is what I chose.

I have made some progress, and I love how it's looking. You all will see it soon enough.

The other gals had equally productive days. Many were making a snowman wall hanging.

 This snowman wall hanging is just plain adorable! I hope to borrow someone's pattern and make one for myself.

This is a finished wall hanging; trouble is, I don't remember which of the girls had a finished one - I'm thinking it was Cherie, but I could very likely be wrong. Regardless, isn't it an adorable snowman?

This is the snowman that Mary worked on. Love that purple background. Terry worked on one, also, but her progress was impeded by all the hostessing duties she had. I couldn't say for sure if anyone else was working on this project - I admit to being so wrapped up in my own project that I was somewhat oblivious to all that the others were doing. (Self-absorbed?? Guilty as charged.)

A new acquaintance, Gwen, was working on a little Christmas quilt. My pic of it is somewhat blurry, unfortunately.

All was not smooth sailing on this wonderful day... Monica was sewing right along on her project when suddenly her machine jammed up and refused to operate! Well, after digging into its innards, she was a bit embarassed to unearth all of this "gunk."

Fortunately, Monica's new manicure looked good during the deep cleaning process!!

Back to the projects...Sheryll was as busy as can be; she made 14 table runners! I think I am correct on that number. She found a "10-minute table runner" on the internet, made one for each woman in her family for a Christmas event she was having this weekend. She was certainly stitching up a storm on her end of the table!

So, I've covered just about everyone. Sharon (Frankfort quilting Sharon) was there for a time, but left early to take in some grandbaby time. I don't have any pics of her project, and since it's been several days, I've had enough time to forget what it was that she was working on!

It was a good day of sewing, and I am glad I got the chance to catch up with the Grove City group - Mary, Cherie, Monica and Gwen. You may remember my outing to the "barn" back in the spring. Same group of women. Wonderful people; hope I get opportunities soon to sew with them again! Thanks, Terry, for hosting us! Perfect, yes perfect, day!

Happy Quilting, Friends.