Sunday 14 December 2014

It's Christmas ...

... well it nearly is, and yesterday we had our Christmas party.
There were about 20 of us, and Liz decided we needed a Christmas tree, so she brought her own, which she decorated with very appropriate baubles.  If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll see what I mean.

In order to have room for everyone, this meeting was declared a sewing-machine-free zone and Hazel provided a super handsewing project for us all. We all made little key-fobs, and here you can see some of the finished ones.
This was a great project, which also allowed plenty of time for chat - always good at a party. They are very addictive, and I can see more of these in my future for sure. Thanks Hazel for doing this for us.


Of course, a party wouldn't be a party without food, and boy was there food. There was mock-mulled wine too, which Sue provided (and I have to say, in all modesty that it was lovely) with not a drop of alcohol in it, so all drivers were able to enjoy it too.  I was going to show a photo of some of the food, but it seems I was too busy eating to remember to take any photos of it, sorry.  Take my word for it though, it was all yummy.

After lunch we had our show and tell.

Anne had made a lovely cushion cover.  I loved the back just as much as the front, and a great pair of flanelette Christmas lounging trousers.  She also made a great table runner, but I'm not showing that cos my photo did not show her best side, and trust me, she would not be happy with me if she saw it!


 Muriel showed us her hexagon quilt and, as always with Muriel, the back was as wonderful as the front, and she also brought along her finished Christmas stocking which she started at the last meeting.


Drew brought along his quilt, and told us that he made all the bias bindings himself, and hand appliqued the whole thing.  He has marked it for quilting and plans to hand quilt a one inch diamond grid on it.

He also brought along a stunning quilt with something over 100 blocks in it, but I seem to have lost the photo of that one, sorry Drew.  Anyway, the photo below shows what he is doing with the left over bits from that quilt.

I also had a quilt to show, but, since I was showing and telling, I didn't take a photo of it!  So, moving swiftly on, a couple of months ago Helen suggested we did a name badge Secret Santa swap, which she organised for us and here are some of the badges. I love how different they all are. 

We had a little party game too.  I scrambled up the names of 20 quilt blocks, and people tried to unscramble them.  Some were easy, some were not! The winning team was Lis, Pauline and Drew.

The Secret Santa swap was so popular that it was suggested we had another group activity.  Someone who shall remain nameless (ie, me) suggested we made quilted postcards on the theme of Spring, so come on YMQG members, get your thinking caps on and start sewing.  The plan is to display them all anonymously in March, and I think we may even vote (also anonymously) for our favourites, and who knows, there might be a prize involved too.

Finally, as we were clearing up, Hazel announced that she had bags of scraps that she did not want to take home.  I couldn't resist this photo - they're going to kill me!

Friday 5 December 2014

Firstly, I must apologise for the lack of posts here for the past few weeks due to circumstances beyond my control, as they say on TV when something goes wrong!  Now here is a brief summary of both our October and November meetings.

During the October meeting Anne showed us all how to make Christmas stockings with a Seminole border at the top, like this one
and afterwards many members had a go at doing their own version.  Thanks Anne, I think everyone enjoyed making them, and found the technique was fun.  We also had our usual show and tell session at lunch time and here is the slide show of everything members have been up to.

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During our November meeting Janet showed us a great way to make a journal cover and I think I know what many people will now be finding in their Christmas stocking this year.  Now, here's another slide show of members' creations during this month.

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Next month is our Christmas party, so don't forget to bring your mystery badge along.