Last night was our regular guild meeting and I had such a good time! I first had dinner with some of the gals from our Stitcher's Group - we ate at McAlister's Deli. We hadn't been there for a long time. It was yummy!
The weather was not the best -- when we left the restaurant it was already raining/misting, and we knew the temps were supposed to drop quickly and that sleet and then snow were on the way. It's really a shame, because I think it caused a lot of ladies to stay home last night, and they missed a *wonderful* program!
Before the program started, I met up with one of the members, Anne T. Anne had brought in her crazy quilt for Show & Tell several months ago (the July meeting), and I'd wanted to get a better look at it. We worked together as hostesses at the Lost Heroes Quilt exhibit last month, and had talked a little more about her crazy quilting and the process. She'd agreed to bring in her finished crazy quilt last night. She did better than that!
First she showed me this book on embellishments. Doesn't this look like fun?!? Doesn't it look like something *I* need???? I think so. I mean really.
Amazon.com has it listed and you can even look inside! Click on the photo to check it out yourself. There may be one on the way to my house as you read this.
She also brought the crazy quilt project she's currently working on:
Isn't this fun?!? I love the profusion of COLORS!! She's paper piecing this one, and has about 38 different patterns she's following. She said she likes it because it's hand work that she can pull out in small spaces and work on whenever she wants to. I wish I'd caught some of the fun stitching she's got on these blocks. It's wonderful.
And then she pulled out this beauty . . .
Isn't it gorgeous? I just love this wall hanging! My favorite embellishment? Her Girl Scout patches! What FUN!!! I know without a doubt that I simple must do one of these quilts. Someday!
Then, after an abbreviated business meeting (due to the impending weather), our program started. What a terrific national speaker we had!
If you're not familiar with Melinda Bula, you can check out her website HERE and/or her blog HERE.
I found right off the bat that Melinda and I were sanitarium sisters. Yes, that's right, both of us were born in sanitariums! She on the west coast, and me in the Washington Sanitarium, Takoma Park, Maryland. Who knew?
She had with her two *gorgeous* quilts -- the one on the left is a sunset in Monterrey and the one on the right is titled Romance. I love both of them, but especially the flowers. I wanted to run up there and inhale their fragrance -- that's how real and beautiful they were!
My photos from last night do no justice to the objects I was trying to capture. Probably because I was sitting in the very back row.
It also didn't help that most of my captures are off the projector screen!
Both of these wearable arts caught my attention. Beautiful work!
But I especially loved this green. Sweet!
I did get one of her books. I cannot resist Christmas!
And yay! It's an autographed copy. Whoohoo!
My two favorite sound bites from the night?
She told how she had grown up sitting at the feet of her mom, watching her sew, and that she and her sister would take scraps of fabric and sew outfits for their dolls . . . "We thought were sewing, but mostly we were wrapping!"
and . . .
"You're only a quilter if you have a minimum of ten unfinished quilts!"
I think I qualify.
She was as engaging a storyteller as she is a quilter. If ever you have the chance to see her or her work, just DO IT!
I did drive home (very carefully) in the snow and this is we woke up to this morning . . .
Not so much to shut anything down, but enough to leave a beautiful light blanket over everything. And it did delay school openings this morning which was GREAT because it meant I didn't have to deal with the stinking school zone traffic!
Happy FRIDAY!!!
:)
The weather was not the best -- when we left the restaurant it was already raining/misting, and we knew the temps were supposed to drop quickly and that sleet and then snow were on the way. It's really a shame, because I think it caused a lot of ladies to stay home last night, and they missed a *wonderful* program!
Before the program started, I met up with one of the members, Anne T. Anne had brought in her crazy quilt for Show & Tell several months ago (the July meeting), and I'd wanted to get a better look at it. We worked together as hostesses at the Lost Heroes Quilt exhibit last month, and had talked a little more about her crazy quilting and the process. She'd agreed to bring in her finished crazy quilt last night. She did better than that!
First she showed me this book on embellishments. Doesn't this look like fun?!? Doesn't it look like something *I* need???? I think so. I mean really.
She also brought the crazy quilt project she's currently working on:
And then she pulled out this beauty . . .
Then, after an abbreviated business meeting (due to the impending weather), our program started. What a terrific national speaker we had!
I found right off the bat that Melinda and I were sanitarium sisters. Yes, that's right, both of us were born in sanitariums! She on the west coast, and me in the Washington Sanitarium, Takoma Park, Maryland. Who knew?
She had with her two *gorgeous* quilts -- the one on the left is a sunset in Monterrey and the one on the right is titled Romance. I love both of them, but especially the flowers. I wanted to run up there and inhale their fragrance -- that's how real and beautiful they were!
It also didn't help that most of my captures are off the projector screen!
I did get one of her books. I cannot resist Christmas!
My two favorite sound bites from the night?
She told how she had grown up sitting at the feet of her mom, watching her sew, and that she and her sister would take scraps of fabric and sew outfits for their dolls . . . "We thought were sewing, but mostly we were wrapping!"
and . . .
"You're only a quilter if you have a minimum of ten unfinished quilts!"
I think I qualify.
She was as engaging a storyteller as she is a quilter. If ever you have the chance to see her or her work, just DO IT!
I did drive home (very carefully) in the snow and this is we woke up to this morning . . .
Not so much to shut anything down, but enough to leave a beautiful light blanket over everything. And it did delay school openings this morning which was GREAT because it meant I didn't have to deal with the stinking school zone traffic!
Happy FRIDAY!!!
:)
