13 ladies and 1 very nice little boy attended Nimblefingers today. Elaine L. came back for a visit and brought her son Caidin and her spinning wheel with her. Caiden visited us regularly when he was in his mama's belly as well as after he was born so we do like to keep up with him. Edie, Alberta and Nancy were also back again today. Unfortunately Edie goes back to Tuesday dialysis but it was nice to have her back for 2 weeks anyway. I hope Alberta and Nancy will keep coming. Marguerite brought her granddaughter Alexandra with her today to do a little knitting while Marguerite and I added some quilting stitches to the quilt. I had put out a selection of quilting books that had belonged to Betty Seminary so several of the ladies went home with new patterns to try. We are sorry to hear that Cathy M. is out for 8 weeks of physical therapy. Next week I will be out. I'm going to Texas to visit my 93 year old mother for a week. While I'm there my sister and I will hit our favorite quilt store "Creations of Kerrville" and spend most of our days sewing. It's always very relaxing and this trip it should also have the advantage of being warm. Hallelujah!

13 ladies attended today. It was a special day--Alberta, Edie and Nancy returned to us. They changed the day of Edie's dialysis for the holidays so she got her sisters to bring her in. We've missed her so it's nice to know she missed us too. She brought a Christmas card and a Santa wreath for us. It's so nice to see her again. And Alberta and Nancy haven't attended for several months. I hope they'll keep coming too--somehow the group doesn't seem complete without them. Fran brought in some wonderful pizelles. We gobbled them right up. I brought in some chocolates and they didn't stand a chance against us either. Marguerite brought her granddaughter Amy who kept very busy making an ornament and a potholder. I was secretly jealous of the potholder-making; I haven't done that since I was a kid. Kathy O. brought in her granddaughter's finished quilt. It has a bright pink polka-dot border! The perfect quilt for a pink loving little girl. Today's discussions were on how important it is not to reorganize your sewing room; the proper way to blow your nose; various local concerts seen or not seen by different members; some funny family stories and of course I filled Alberta, Edie and Nancy in on the keen determination to reuse tea bags by my thrifty group of ladies. A fun time as always. Happy Holidays to all!

Today we went out to lunch for our holiday party. 13 of us attended. We went to the Gold Coin for Chinese food. Almost all of us took supper home in a bag. There was lots of talk around the table as usual. I listened to a recitation of all kinds of cabbage recipes on one side of me and an update on the health of Betty Seminary, one of our sometimes ex-member, on the other. It's hard to keep track and hard to keep up with the conversations when you get a bunch of ladies together. I did learn though, in calling absent friends that our old friend Edie, the blind lady, has changed the day she goes for dialysis so she hopes to return to the group again. I'm flattered that she has remembered us fondly all this time. It will be great to see her again and we've missed Alberta and Nancy who we haven't seen for about 6 months. Remember, we will not meet on the 16th but we will meet again on the 23rd. See you then!

14 ladies attended today. It was another big day for show and tell. Fran brought in the silk comforter she bought in China. The silk part is the batting inside. It is so soft and all made from 2 little silk pods. It was beautifully machine embroidered on some kind of acetate. Fran says its too hot to use though so she's a bit disappointed. Kathy O. brought in another of the quilt tops her daughter gave her to finish. This was a pineapple pattern in navy, gray and yellow. We all loved it! Tina finished hand piecing the lone star she has been working on. She still needs to put in the background but the star is finished! And Cathy M. brought in a finished invisible 9-patch Christmas table runner. (Sorry it's sideways--but you can see the quilt pattern anyway). Hattie made it back today so we watched the Betty Smith film again because she hadn't seen it. It's really a great film, not just because it's about Betty but it is so well made! As a short documentary it was better than many that I've seen. I'm so glad the Village Quilters had it made. Pat H. came in with animal crackers, homemade chocolate/peanut butter candy and a large pile of fabric squares which she laid out to make an invisible 9-patch quilt. Linda O'C was working on button bracelets. Cathy Y. and Hattie were knitting. Deb and Marguerite were painstakingly hand piecing blocks. Fran brought in her Christmas challenge block (a Santa Claus block) for another group that she belongs to. Everyone was busy and everyone was happy. Next week (Dec. 9) we will be having our Christmas luncheon at the Gold Coin restaurant (across the street from the Slingerlands Price Chopper plaza) at 12:30 p.m. The week after that (Dec. 16) we will not be meeting at all. Then we're back at the library on the 23rd.

12 ladies attended today. Betty Smith didn't choose to attend because of the rainy cold weather so instead I went over and ate my lunch at her house. I don't want Betty to get bored! I brought in 2 pies (2 for $7 at Hannafords!), Pat brought in some leftover pumpkin/cream cheese bread from the bazaar, and Deb brought in Indian Ladder donuts. What a feast! Fran was back regaling us with stories of her trip to China. It sounded like a great trip in that it was economical, they saw and learned alot, but it was also a high energy trip. They were on the go 12 hours per day! Kathy O. was knitting some socks today and the particular variegated yarn she was using made an interesting and different pattern than I had seen before. Cathy C. brought in a quilt to sandwich. It was all fruit and vegetable fabric. She said she collected fabric for 2 years. It was very bright, colorful and fun to search for all the different kinds of food. An eye-spy quilt for adults. Cathy M. brought in her Christmas quilt which she had just gotten back from the machine quilter, Linda Denner from Flying Geese fabrics. She made the blocks in a class at Flying Geese and as are all of Cathy's quilts, this one was spectacular. Cathy has a real talent with choosing fabrics that go together and a good eye for color. She's lucky that way.

15 ladies attended today. Marguerite was the star of the show today. She brought in her 2 finished 4-patch posie circus quilts and a large scrap quilt top all ready to be quilted. She has been very busy lately. Her husband hates to see the quilt frame go up so I always make sure to give him a hard time about it. Linda O'C came in and she and I had a long talk about Village Quilter stuff plus she was very eager to show Kathy O. the hidden nine-patch she had made. Kathy O. has now moved on to something else: a big girl quilt for her granddaughter. She's made the middle but now needs to make some large borders around it. Winnie is frantically trying to finish all of her projects for the church bazaar this weekend. Pat was tying another prayer quilt. Betty and Cathy Y. were holding up the quilting end of the group. Hattie was back after a long illness but is not able to get back to her knitting yet. We were certainly glad to see her again. The group ended today on an interesting note. Betty, our 99 year old Betty, was giving lessons on how to tie your shoe. Apparently she's got some trick the others didn't know about. I'll have to go investigate that next week.

15 ladies attended today including Betty Smith whom we are always happy to see, and Betsey Hoffman back from New Jersey for a brief visit. Our group includes not only people who go south for the winter, but also includes people who go north for the summer. Since there are some who hadn't seen it this summer, I decided to show the Betty Smith film. It is truly a wonderful film and received lots of applause. Otherwise, the group was about the same as always. A couple of knitters (Betty and Cathy Y.), some quilters, some bazaar project makers. I pulled out the raffle quilt to work on which kept me pinned down to the table so I didn't walk around to visit with everyone like I normally do. But there were lively discussions all around the table. Linda and Ethel brought in some donations to choose from. And Cathy O. showed us how to make a hidden nine-patch quilt block. This week Fran was off in China, Daryl in North Carolina and next week Marie will be in California. The holidays are approaching so there was also some discussion of Thanksgiving foods. Betty is making glazed onions which set our mouths to watering as she gave us her recipe and everyone agreed that I should not be lazy this year and should actually cook my own turkey. I'll think about it.

13 ladies attended today. We had a dessert feast today! I put away the food I had bought and instead we feasted on Pat H.'s pumpkin pie, Daryl's pumpkin cheesecake tarts, and Jean K.'s diabetic chocolate pie, and non-diabetic cherry cheesecake! I think I ate too much. Kathy O. brought in a quilt top that her daughter had made and wanted her to quilt. She has a daughter who makes beautiful quilt tops, then folds them up and puts them away. She apparently doesn't like quilting so she leaves them for her mom. Kathy made a quilt sandwich and pinned it together. She says she has 2 larger quilt tops at home that she is also supposed to finish for her daughter. Better her than me I say. I prefer the piecing too but that's where my friend the Quiltsmith comes in. It's so easy to just pack up the top and the backing and send it to him to quilt. It comes back looking much better than I could have done, and though it costs a pretty penny, I get to avoid the really hard work. Pat H. was back today from her trip to the Holy Lands. She had a great time and will bring her pictures when they are developed. Fran is leaving tomorrow for China. She's going to a silk factory and some other factories so she will be doing some shopping. My guess is she'll bring in her fabric purchases to show us. Daryl is leaving for North Carolina to attend her grandson's birthday, followed by Thanksgiving. We do have a well-traveled group!

Only 9 ladies today. The weather was rainy, cold and miserable and I can't say that I blame anyone for staying home. It's a good day to stay home and sew, read, watch TV or anything just so long as you don't have to get your feet wet. Fran brought in a beautiful, graphic flannel quilt top. It is quite eye-catching. I brought in the 2 lap quilts I've finished: one a scrap quilt, the other my bug jar quilt. Daryl joined us with tales of delivering numerous lap quilts and tons of clothes to the hilltowns for another group she belongs to. Fran also
brought in a pieced turkey wall hanging which Daryl is working on at home and Pat O'R was working on here. I pulled out the raffle quilt and filled in some more squares with hand quilting. Cathy Y. was our knitter today. A small but comfortable group. Let's hope it stops raining soon.

I forgot an important highlight of yesterday's meeting! Cathy M., knowing of my fondness for silly socks, made a grand entrance, with pant legs rolled up, displaying her brand new special Halloween eyeball socks! Way to go Cathy! Do I have a great bunch of ladies or what!?!

12 ladies attended today. Yesterday I received a letter from our friend Katherine Denegar. She has moved to Connecticut now and is being cared for by Russ's son. It sounds like she is in good hands. I was really glad to hear from her and have her address and phone if anyone wants them. Kathy O. was back from her summer home. She brought in 2 quilts she had made and hand-quilted. Plus, while she was up north she had access to a loom so she also brought in a beautiful rug she had woven. Our Kathy is very talented. Fran brought in a gorgeous bright quilt top in a 9-patch pattern. The Village Quilters want to have a challenge with this pattern for their next (2010) quilt show. I think Fran has already won that challenge--I can't imagine a more perfect fabric selection than she has. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the camera so didn't get any pictures. Maybe they'll both hang these items in our February quilt show and I can take pictures then. Marie brought in a huge bag full of patterns to give away. I brought in a handful. She took 1 of my patterns and I must have taken 20 of hers. So much for my trying to get rid of stuff! I made cupcakes last night to bring in. A rarity for me; I don't do much baking anymore. Deb is trying to find a home for a 27" TV. If you know of anyone who needs one let her know.

11 ladies attended lunch today at the Butcher's Block restaurant. Betsy was still in town so she was able to join us and Kathy O. was back from her summer home so she came too. Butcher's Block is known for their salad bar and wonderful bread so we all had the salad bar and some ordered a sandwich to take home for supper. We learned that our very own Pat H. is off on a trip to the Holy Lands. I hope she has a great trip. Betsy is heading back to New Jersey today. Jean K. will be heading back to Florida probably next week. Fran will be going to China in November. But the rest of us will be right here, holding down the fort. See you next Tuesday!

11 ladies attended yesterday one of whom was our special guest Betsey Hoffman. She had to return to the area to do paperwork so stopped by to visit us. Just in time too--we were able to present her with the quilt we made for her. Being a new widow she needs all the support she can get so I hope we were able to offer some comfort to her. Other things going on...Linda O'C cut up a sweatshirt to make another of her beautiful remade sweatshirts. The ladies at the end of the table were working on their church bazaar items. Marguerite was hand quilting a small 4-patch posey. I pulled out the raffle quilt to hand quilt. Cathy C. came with books and patterns to give away. Next week were are going out to lunch at the Butcher Block at 12:30. If you haven't been to Nimblefingers in awhile but read the blog please join us for lunch. We are all hoping that Alberta and Nancy will join us again. We haven't seen them for awhile. Yesterday people were asking about Alberta and about Katherine (the cat lady). Well, last night after leaving the drug store I drove by Katherine's house. It was dark and there was a for sale sign in front so I guess her step-son-in-law finally moved them to Connecticut. I hope she will send us a letter giving us her address soon. I'm sure she'd love to hear from us.

15 ladies attended today. Fran told us a tale of woe suffered by her husband in a freak accident with his truck. As unhappy as he is being stuck at home recovering, it could have been a lot worse. Thank heavens for small miracles. Judith Wing, a retired catalog librarian from SUNY, attended for the first time today. She had attended one of our quilt shows and wanted to check us out. I hope she liked what she saw and will come back again. Tony Kormos who attended for the first time 2 weeks ago returned today with a very big cross-stitch project--a tablecloth. She's got a lot of work ahead of her! Ethel and I had a very lively and animated talk about our favorite TV show Project Runway. It's kind of hard to sell the show to people who don't have cable but boy, you get two fans together and they just can't shut up! Marguerite brought her granddaughter Alexandra today since school is out for the Jewish holidays. Winnie was making a Christmas wreath, Fran some holiday placemats, Cathy C. a tree skirt--lots of people getting ready for the holidays. Best of all though, last night I got a call from Betsey Hoffman who is returning to Voorheesville to take care of business and will be stopping by Nimblefingers. It will be nice to see her again and to see her for a pleasant occasion. She's going through a lot right now and I know we all want to be there for her. Also, last night Betty Smith informed me that she wants to return to Nimblefingers if someone will drive her. Any volunteers out there? Don't worry Betty, we'll arrange something. We want to see you again too.

14 ladies attended today. Tina was back from camp and joined us today. We're still waiting for Kathy O. to return. Pat H. brought in a cherry cobbler and Daryl a chocolate cake with pumpkin cream cheese frosting. Yum! Yum! I worked on our quilt for a friend--machine quilting. I was using our brother machine, with walking foot and with the pre-wound bobbins that Marie had given us and guess what? Everything worked! Hooray! I hadn't tried any of those things before so it's nice to know things work the way you want. Daryl brought in two lap quilts to tie for her service project. Winnie was working on a quilt for her sister in Alaska. I heard some talk around the table about traveling: the places people had been, the things they had tried. It sounded interesting but I did hear: "I'd like to try that but my husband would never do that!" Husbands...what do you do with them! Fran is going to be leaving for China soon. I'm not sure if anyone else has any trips planned. I know I don't. The highlight of the afternoon was when Jean Kallop came in. We had made a quilt for her and her husband and have been waiting to give it to her. So we were very happy to present her with our quilt. She was happy to receive it--this is one she can keep and use. Most of her quilts she has to give away. I'll put in the picture soon.

12 ladies attended today and we've attracted a new lady! Antonia (Tony) Kormos recently moved to town and heard about us so came to see what we were all about. She brought in a sample of her weaving to show us. It was a sampler made with beautiful colors! We were all very impressed. Today Marie brought in some yarn and magazines to give away plus a bag full of pre-wound bobbins. I'll try those in our sewing machine and see how they work. Marguerite and I hand-basted a quilt. I'll try machine quilting on our machines next week. We've never actually tried them with the walking foot. Daryl and Fran are enjoying using up their small scraps making premie quilts. Pat O., Cathy M. and Marie are all appliquing blocks. Cathy Y. is knitting a vest for herself. Daryl treated us today with a delicious apple cake and Marie surprised us with some apple cider donuts. Yum, yum!

12 ladies attended today. The quilt we have been making for one of our members is finished. Someone will call the person to see if she can make it to our next meeting so that we can give it to her. I pieced a top for another quilt to go to a member who is having a hard time. I'm not giving the names of these people in case they read the blog but all will be revealed in time. I had many cards for people to sign for sympathy and illness. Our group seems to be going through a bad time right now. But those of us here are still going strong. Marie worked on her red and white hawaiian quilt today. Fran and Daryl and maybe some others are making premie quilts, placemats and lap quilts to give away. Marguerite is working on another 9-patch posey. Cathy Y. and Connie were our knitters today while Pat H. was crocheting an afghan. For a minute there was a discussion of politics which is clearly a sensitive issue so it didn't last long. Pat H. is also looking for scraps to send to her schoolteacher daughter to use for crafts. Our group is always so busy with so many different projects. It is a hard-working group.

I have some sad news for my Nimblefingers ladies. Last weekend Dorothy Colvin (Dot) passed away. Dot started the group way back when, originally as a needlework group then expanding it to an "all types of needles" group. Dot was full of energy and always tried to give the group whatever they wanted. I know she was very proud of being able to offer a friendly and supportive group for mostly senior ladies (or ladies of all ages) where they could share and show off their needlework skills. Dot was very independent and completely non-traditional in her thinking--she always thought out of the box. I admired her greatly. I hoped that I could develop the independent spirit and the willingness and fearlessness to follow my dreams that she displayed in her lifetime. Dot and I were hired at the library at the same time, sharing a 1/2 time position. Dot always believed that there was a reason for everything so there must have been a reason we had been brought together in this way. Whatever that reason might be, I'm glad that I had the opportunity to get to know Dorothy Colvin.
And more sad news, Alberta, who we haven't seen much of lately, lost her husband this week. Roy joined us ladies several times at our luncheons and he struck me as a kind and gentle man with a sense of humor--just like Alberta. I know you will all join me in expressing my condolences to Alberta, Crystal, Nancy, Edie and all of the Pahl family.

17 ladies today. We're almost back to our full quorum. People are starting to return from their summer travels. Marie surprised us today by bringing in her daughter who is visiting from California. We were happy to meet her. Agnes had worked on the prayer quilt top at home and finished it so today a bunch of ladies laid it out and began tying it. It turned out particularly nice I think. Marguerite and I took out the big raffle quilt and hand quilted. The center is coming along but it will be awhile before it is finished. Sue M. also stopped by; her last time before school starts. She had come in a few weeks ago to learn how to make a binding so today she wanted to show us the almost finished project. She has made a very nice quilt for a friend's wedding present. She had it quilted by our friend Lew. It was beautiful. Connie also brought in some show and share: she finished knitting her small afghan which has been designated as a baby blanket because of its size. It was in beautiful blues and browns. Today Connie and Edith were our knitters. Everyone else was using a smaller needle.

13 ladies attended today. Ethel C. was the star of the day though--she brought in the most delicious homemade chocolate cake! Thank you Ethel! Pat was back from the quilting camp she goes to every summer where she learns new applique techniques. Fran was back from the Altamont fair. Louise brought in a Reminisce magazine with a picture in it of her and some other employees of a department store dressed in their fancy 1950's clothes. We could only recognize Louise by her smile. She didn't have white hair in the 50's! Deb came in happy as a clam because she got a bargain while she was out garage sailing last weekend. She bought a Brother sewing machine in great condition for $10! You can't beat that price! Pat had a lap quilt to sandwich and Agnes was looking for more bazaar projects. While everyone was busy with their projects I finished the top for a lap quilt we hope to give to one of our ailing members.

We only had 9 ladies today. Junior Nimblefingers is over and I thought we'd have a crowd but we didn't. Today I got out 1 sewing machine and one of our projects we had started before the Jr. invasion. It's a lap quilt and today we got all the lattice work in, including around the quilt. We used all but about 3 inches of the lattice fabric--we just made it! It looks very nice. Next week we'll cut out the border and add those. After that we have to find a backing and we're ready to tie! I do like finishing projects. Today Cathy M. made a delicious blueberry cake with her very own blueberries! It was yummy! It was a small group today but we had a good time.

It's Thursday already and I haven't written the blog for Tuesday! We had 23 ladies of all ages: 15 ladies and 8 young ladies. Today was the last day of Junior Nimblefingers so the young'uns were hurrying to finish their projects. There were some pillowcases and some bags that were finshed--I'm not sure how many but there were a bunch. Pat brought in a cake which was consumed in no time. I have no idea what conversations were going on around the

table. I vaguely remember that Fran brought in a project she started after going on the tour of Quilting By The Lake. I hope she'll bring that back again so I can get a better look at it. Next week we still may have a girl or two come in but it should be much quieter.

What a day! It's been one of those days when I shouldn't have gotten out of bed. While setting up the room for Nimblefingers I apparently pulled a muscle. Whatever I did, I couldn't walk. So I spent the session sitting down in one spot. Thank you to everyone for working around me. Deb, the EMT, gave me instructions for follow-up care and offered her hottub so hopefully I'll feel better soon. Today we had 20 attendees, 20 ladies and 20 kids. My 5 kids all started working on a simple bag. Hopefully they will all finish them next week. Joyce's kids were working on pillowcases. I'm not sure where they left off. I thought I had broken one of the sewing machines when I dropped the pedal and it popped open so I had my husband bring in the sewing machine given to us by Katherine Denegar. Joyce was able to fix the pedal though so we ended up with 4 machines. The girls were still waiting in line though.

Another busy day at Nimblefingers! We had 10 ladies, 13 kids and 3 teachers. Most of the girls were doing hand sewing. Last week Joyce had them start on a needle case which they finished this week. From there they were to make a simple four-patch, by hand, which they will continue with next week. Sadye finished her 4-patch and made it into a hotpad. Her sister Abbey finished her quilt with some guidance from Winnie. And Laura D. is putting the binding on her quilt with assistance from Agnes. Samantha finished her 2nd pillowcase which was her goal. So we had a lot of sewing going on. Many thanks to Agnes, Winnie and Deb for their patience and help. Now for the ladies... Marie brought in some gadgets that are used for knitting handles, etc. She has a whole collection of them! I hope she'll bring them in again so we can see them in action. Linda O'C brought in a quilt, partially quilted and probably from the 20's or 30's which was given to Jean Perras. Jean didn't want to finish hand quilting it so she donated it to us. If we could get it finished it would be a very nice raffle quilt! Winnie has been making small quilts for her bazaar. She brought in 2 to show but apparently has about 6 more at home! And she used to say she'd never be able to make a quilt! Pat brought in some fabric to donate and some cheesecake to eat. Thank you Pat!

I was away in Texas last week visiting my mom so I've only heard secondhand how last week went. It sounds like it was a madhouse. 14 girls attended and 12 adults so the adults were outnumbered! I heard there was no food (ach!), that the coffeepot wasn't working (double ach!!), that the sewing machines were misbehaving and that there weren't enough tables for my ladies! Well, it's nice to know I was missed. Of course ... all of those problems would have been solved had I been there (ha-ha). But I was away, sewing up a storm at my mom's house. I made 2 visits to my favorite quilt shop (my sister made 3) and I spent a small fortune. I had taken down 7 projects to work on and I finished, or almost finished 5 of them. I will bring in my projects to show tomorrow. I was happy to see some of you at the quilt show last weekend. I thought it was a very nice show. And double thanks to those of you who entered your quilts. See you tomorrow!

Today was the first day of Junior Nimblefingers. We had 13 ladies and 12 younger ladies. 6 of our younger ladies were 1st timers so they spent the afternoon with Joyce learning the tools of the trade and trying some hand sewing. The other 6 younger ladies had all attended last summers Junior Nimblefingers and some had also attended our winter session. We had them practice on the sewing machine just to get a feel for it again. Then 3 of them began making pillowcases. One had a quilt top to sandwich and tie. One had a quilt top to finish. And one was ready to learn something new. Thank you so much to Marguerite and Pat for helping with the sewing machines, to Agnes who helped with the sandwiching/tying, to Winnie who helped with the quilt top, to Cathy M. for helping teach a new block pattern which will become a placemat and to Deb and Anne for being floaters wherever needed. Although it was a bit of a madhouse I think the kids all had a good time. As for the adults, we may need to take a nap and recover before our decisions come in. Unfortunately next week I will be missing--I'm going to visit my mother in Texas for a week. I'm sorry to miss the fun and excitement but I will return the following week.

Here are Anne Coletta's notes from her first day of Nimblefingers:
My First Experience with Nimblefingers
My name is Anne and I am a graduate student in library school spending time at Voorheesville Public Library this summer. I asked if I could attend Nimblefingers because I was curious about how a needlework group spent time at the library.
I expected to see a lot of needlework - quilting, embroidery, knitting, etc. - and I was not disappointed. Now, keep in mind that I haven't encountered a sewing machine since Home Ec in 7th grade, oh, about 25 years ago. I can mend my clothes and replace buttons. I know one crochet stitch (are crochet stitches called 'stitches'?).
Well, yes, I did see a lot of needlework skills displayed by the Nimblefingered ladies (men are welcome too - where were you guys?).
What really impressed me, though, was the sheer amount of talent and experience in the room. I tried to eavesdrop on as many conversations as possible. I learned about needlework, but I also learned about life. These ladies have amazing stories about where they come from, what they've done and what they are doing both in their families and in their communities.
I felt right at home at Nimblefingers. A strange thing happens to me as I get older and it happened here: one lady seemed to me the spitting image of a next door neighbor I had growing up, Mary. Mary's mother was straight from Ireland with a lovely lilt and a gentle glow about her. When I was a small child, she knitted me a beautiful yellow cardigan. When she presented it to me I was astounded and speechless - such love and generosity. Mary asked me, "What do you say?" clearly expecting me to say "Thank you," but I was so overwhelmed I ran up to her mother and gave her a big kiss.
That's what these ladies remind me of: life, experience, love of family, love of community. We are all richer to have these ladies with us. Thank you, Nimblefingers.

Thank you Anne for the lovely thoughts.

18 ladies attended Nimblefingers today. Anne Coletta, our new library intern, was one of our attendees, observing what we do in our little group. We had a lot of activity today. Sue Mosher returned to us after a several year absence. She’s still been quilting and needed help making a bias binding. Fortunately Linda O’Connor was here to instruct her. Connie was using an interesting little gizmo. It was an old wooden spool with nails sticking out of the top which you wind yarn around to create a tube that can be used as a tie or the handle of a bag. It was really quite ingenious—a knitting machine from before the days of electricity. Daryl laid out and sandwiched a baby quilt to give away. We discovered we had enough blocks to make another prayer quilt. Fran brought in a laid out her almost complete wool appliqué lap quilt. Linda O’Connor has been having some fun with her new felting machine. She’s been felting different fabrics, ribbons, and yarns to different kinds of fabrics just to see what kinds of effects she comes up with. It will be exciting to see what she makes when she starts adding felting to her already beautiful quilts. I have asked Anne to give me her comments on the group and will post them when they are available. I think she was very impressed though! Remember, next week Junior Nimblefingers starts! Take an energy pill or eat your wheaties so you're ready!

I attended the Vermont Quilt Show last weekend. I went on the Brown bus tour. Daryl was on the same trip although I didn’t see her all day! The place was packed! You were literally elbowing your way into and out of the vendors’ booths. I was happy to see some familiar faces—“the boys” from Woodstock were there. I learned that everyone refers to them as “the boys”: it’s not a Betty Smith invention. There were lots of vendors; a good assortment of wild and ethnic fabric, traditional fabric, embroidery, buttons, quilting machines, threads, magazines...a little something for everyone. My lady from Handloom Batiks was there so I bought myself another of the batik shirts I like so much (I have 4 now!). I also bought one for my mother-in-law who liked mine so much she wanted one just like it! I went to the show looking for some plain black and some southwestern fabric and I found both. Of course, I couldn’t limit my purchases to just that! As always, I spent way more than I should have. Oh well... The quilts in the show were a mixed bunch. Carolyn Olsen was a featured quilter. Her art quilts are indeed stunning! “Anna Byrd: a life in quilts” was another separate show. She is someone who has been a participant in the Vermont Quilt Show since its inception. Ms Byrd tried every new trend that came along so her display was a nice little collection of quilt styles. The antique quilts were amazing and provided the only examples of hand quilting to be seen in the whole show. I was particularly drawn to a quilt made from thousands, maybe millions of little ½“ squares. There was a special display of fairy tale quilts which were very nice. These collections were all in the North building along with bunches of vendors. The South building had the main quilt show plus special exhibits by the teachers and a special collection by kids. I found the teachers collection to be unimpressive and uninspiring for the most part. The kids’ collection was cute and some of the quilts were great but frankly I think that kids’ quilts belong in local shows, not national shows. Maybe instead of presenting kids’ quilts as a bunch of quilts hanging in a row it should be presented as a whole information package of how to teach kids’ to quilt. That would be more useful to me anyway. As for the body of the quilt show: most of the quilts were quilted very heavily with lots of stippling. In my opinion many of them looked over-quilted and the heavy quilting didn’t add to the design. In a few cases it was used properly and truly added to the beauty of the quilt. But too much is definitely not better. There was also a lot of thread painting. Again, thread painting can be used to great effect but just having it on your quilt doesn’t necessarily make your quilt better. There were quite a few quilts made with tiny pieces—log cabins with very thin logs, etc., or a quilt built from very small pieced blocks. There were some quilts with swarovski crystals, sometimes used effectively and other times just stuck on with no apparent rhyme or reason. A few quilts with buttons but other than buttons, crystals, threadplay and a few with embroidery, there was very little embellishment. I attended only one of the vendors’ workshops. It was on designing with ethnic fabric. It was very short but she did give some helpful nuggets of information. They had 1 quilt each from some of the teachers for the 2009 show including pieces by Jane Sassamon and Paula Nadelstern both of whom do stunning work. A good time was had by all as always. I came home and went straight to bed for a long night’s sleep.

17 ladies attended this week. Wednesday was Agnes' birthday so Winnie brought in a cake and we all sang happy birthday. I brought in some card-making supplies from Katherine D. for Nancy and Alberta. They were quite excited by this new box of stuff to use in their classes and for their own cards. I pulled out our future raffle quilt and actually made the first bunch of quilting stitches. I didn't get much done in an hour but at least it's started. Marguerite is almost finished with her 4-patch posie. Marguerite just has the best hand quilting stitches! I also reorganized some of our ongoing projects--they have a habit of getting lost in the closet. We put together the blocks for a prayer quilt but didn't think some of the blocks fit in so 3 ladies volunteered to make another block. We should be able to put that one together soon. Then we still have a start on a mile-a-minute quilt top which we need to finish. Plus we have almost enough blocks for another prayer quilt. And finally, we need to lay out and count how many blocks have been made so far on our raffle quilt for 2009 or 10(?). It's so much quicker and so much more fun to piece them than it is to hand quilt them.

Today we had a very nice potluck lunch for Betsy Hoffman. She and her husband Bob are moving to New Jersey to be closer to her daughter. They've sold their house already and are in the final stages of preparation for moving. She has been bringing in things to give away for the past few weeks to clear out her house. She'll hopefully continue to come to Nimblefingers occasionally until they finally move. But just to make sure we had a chance to give her a proper goodbye we had the potluck today. It was also Sue Reilly's birthday so we sang happy birthday to her. The food was delicious (Fran's bringing in her recipe for ramen noodles and cabbage), the company great and we all had a good time (pictures still to come). Only a few dared to bring out their craft projects. Connie, Cathy and Edith all pulled out their knitting. Marguerite brought out her 4-patch posey to quilt. Louise brought in some pictures of her work and a particularly interesting sculpture she found in New Mexico. Deb brought in a Schlep bag she had made. We were all impressed so I copied the pattern. Maybe we can get Deb to teach us to make it at a later date. I brought in some craft supplies from Katherine Denegar. She's clearing out her house in preparation for a future move. I still have lots more in my car so I will be bringing it out slowly. So a nice time was had by all and the library staff have lots of good leftovers to enjoy!

14 ladies attended today. Pam, Marguerite, Marjorie and I all basted our next raffle quilt. We still have some edges that haven't been basted but I think we can go ahead and start quilting anytime. Our chief hand-quilter Marguerite is already got the wheels spinning in her head to figure out the quilting design. Thanks to all for helping baste. That's one of the least pleasant parts of quiltmaking. Louise Claflin is back from Florida again. Welcome Louise! I hope that next week she'll bring in some pictures of her award winning quilts. She does such beautiful and meticulous work. Her work is always an inspiration to us all. Marguerite brought in pictures from her European cruise plus a few pictures of her cute grandson Nathan carrying the suitcase. Her favorite part of the trip was Tunis because it was so different. All of her pictures were beautiful but those from Tunis with all of the mosaic walls and fancy painted doors were particularly remarkable. Remember, next week we will be meeting at 12:30 and having a potluck lunch for Betsy Hoffman who is moving to New Jersey soon. Bring whatever you want...we'll take our chances!

I missed Nimblefingers last week so I can't report what happened. But today I had a surprise: Louise Claflin came in to check out some books! She's back from Florida and may be here for the rest of the summer. It will be nice to have her join us again. Also, I was thinking that we ought to have a potluck lunch going-away-party for Betsey. She says June 17th would be a good day. All of you look at your calendars and we'll talk about it tomorrow.

15 ladies attended today. I brought in a new knitting book to share with the group. Someone had left an interesting piece of fabric on my chair so we have decided to do something special with it. More later. Marguerite regaled us with tales of her Mediterranean cruise and Deb with her shark infested trip to the ocean. The bazaar ladies were busy creating more bazaar items. I finished 2 out of 5 bug jar wall hangings to be given to Youth Services for the Summer Reading Club "Catch the reading bug!" The Village Quilters are still looking for people to enter their quilts into the quilt show this summer. I have the entrance forms if you want to stop by and pick one up.

16 ladies attended today. Betsey H. told us she is moving to New Jersey to be near her daughter. She's busily trying to clean out her house so brought in some beautiful needlepoint projects of her mothers to give away. She'll be leaving at the end of July. We'll really miss her but her daughter will be happy to have her around. Winnie brought in brownies today and Pat brought in cheese and crackers. Thank you both. We do eat well in our group. Jean Kallop made it in today. Her husband is quite ill so Jean's never sure when she can stop by. Fran brought in some samples and a pattern from a workshop she took. It was very interesting and the lady supposedly sells beautiful African fabrics so you know I'll be looking at that website! Fran also brought in her finished wool table runner. It was very nice, with poinsettias and berries. The ladies at my end of the table were knitting and some a little further down were working on Church rummage sale projects. Those ladies keep very busy making nice things for that annual rummage sale.

This afternoon Agnes, Winnie and I went to see the movie Young @ Heart which is about a bunch of 80 something's who are in a singing group that sings rock music. It was a great film, lots of fun. I recommend it heartily.

16 ladies attended today. Pat H. brought in a delicious pineapple-cheese cake. She just got a new oven and when asked for the recipe responded: "First you get a new oven..." Thanks for bringing it in Pat! I want to see the movie Young @ Heart so was asking everyone if they could come with me. I got a few takers but if any of you change your mind it's at 12:40 p.m. at the Spectrum Theater on Thursday afternoon. It's supposed to be a great movie so I think it will be a lot of fun. Back to Nimblefingers... Ann Clark from Delmar brought in some fabric to give away. Marie went home very happy with a big piece of wool tweed for her rug making. Daryl also filled a bag full to share with another group. Debbie was back working on the baby sweater she is knitting. Alberta and Nancy were also back. The group just doesn't feel complete when Alberta's not there. Marjorie brought in her finished Irish chain block that Kathy O. was helping her with. She did a great job! I put the binding on 2 of our little bug jar wall hangings. I want to get those finished in time for Summer Reading Club. Pat O. is working on a really cute applique baby quilt. Fran is making a penny rug. There was a lot of crocheting going on and one of the pieces of donated fabric was blue netting so I think we'll be seeing some blue scrubbies pretty soon.

16 ladies attended today. Marjorie, our new member, brought in some fabric and tools for some personal quilt-making instruction from Kathy O. Jean Kallop came in to visit for just a minute. She's back from Florida but her husband is ill and in the hospital right now. Daryl brought in some yummy banana bread plus a couple of bags of burlap and other fabrics. Deb brought in some big pieces of cowboy fabric to give away. Daryl, Agnes and especially me gobbled it up. I bought some cowboy fat quarters in Texas which I haven't yet turned into a quilt so maybe this extra fabric will help get me motivated. Cathy Y. was our representative knitter today although she was actually crocheting instead of knitting. Fran was back from her trip to NYC and Marguerite is getting ready to leave for her Mediterranean cruise. Daryl went to the big quilt show in Somers, NY. It sounded like a really good one. 200 vendors!

Phyllis Rosenblum (you may know her from the circulation desk) told me about a great talk she went to in Northhampton, Mass. over the weekend. She and some of her knitting friends went to see and hear Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, better known as the Yarn Harlot (see her blog: http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/) Phyllis said she was very funny, a great speaker and they all had a good time. Stephanie has several books out, 6 of which are available in the UHLS system. I looked at her blog and even though I'm not a knitter it's a fun blog to read. Lots of pictures too! So for the knitters out there, take a look at it and check out some of her books.

I just talked to Michele Reilly, the president of the Friends of the Library. She said we earned over $430 for the raffle quilt. It was won by Ellie Wagner, a teenager! She was thrilled!

15 ladies attended today. Connie had finished knitting her vest and needed Cathy Y.'s advice on finishing it off with a crochetted edge. Marie brought in her grandmother's flower garden quilt top for me to see. She had done hand, English piecing to construct the whole thing. Now she wants to applique vines and leaves on it. It is truly a masterpiece. Kathy O. brought in her almost finished 4 piece posy quilt while Agnes and Marguerite were still working on theirs. Daryl brought in a finished baby quilt and an apron. Linda O'C brought in some cute felt needle holders to show us. They were selling them like hotcakes at a quilt show in Florida so she made some to show us up here. We also had a new person visit us today. Welcome Marjorie! I hope you'll come again. Ingrid reported that the curtains she's making to accompany her beautiful quilt which she brought last week are coming along nicely. She says they're testing her math skills but look great!

15 ladies attended today. Last week Tina taught Kathy O. how to cro-hook and today Kathy came in with 2 finished dishrags. Marie brought in several more cro-hooking patterns. Alberta brought in her latest craft discovery. She read about creating embossed paper in a Carol Duval book. You simply use your rubber stamps, toilet paper, water and a brush. Surprisingly it makes a very elegant looking embossed paper. We were all rather intrigued by this. Fran brought in 3 aprons she had made. I brought in my purchases from Texas. Pat and Agnes have already started working on bazaar projects--pillows and teddy bears. Cathy Y. and Connie were knitting scarves and Deb was hand piecing her antique grandmother's flower garden pieces. Towards the end of the meeting Diane Luci came in. She is presenting a travel program tonight about her trip to the Galapagos Islands. She had made a quilt with pictures from the Galapagos which she brought in to show at her talk. We hung it for her while oohing and aahing over the pictures and her stories. It should be an interesting talk.

18 attended this week. Ingrid brought in a beautiful quilt she had finished. Edith was knitting a sweater in some kind of Swedish knit design with thin thread. I'm no expert, but it seemed very unique to me. Cathy M., Pat and Fran were bemoaning having joined the block of the month quilt this year--it is too, too hard! Marguerite brought her granddaughter Alexandra to join us but she's too active yet to settle down to handwork so she left early with her grandfather Harry when he got off of work. I missed Nimblefingers last week and am late posting my blog this week but will hopefully be more on the ball next week. Oh, an extra note, I was working last night and Pearl Kelly came in. Some of you may remember her--she was one of the original Nimblefingers members. She was using a walker and doesn't get out too often anymore, but happily she was still sharp as a tack! She said to say hello to everyone so a big Hello from Pearl!

I'm 2 days late with this weeks news but better late than never! We had 19 people come this Tuesday including a surprise visit from our old (but actually quite young) friend Sook Rho! She had to stop coming to Nimblefingers to go to work in her husband's restaurant and we all miss her. This week Hattie had pulled out a sweater to finish knitting, Connie was trying to figure out if she had gone wrong on a supposedly simple knitted vest pattern, Kathy O. brought me a sample of her machine quilting and Deb brought news of Cathy M. who's home sick. Marie tried out the ladies' crocheted scrubbie pattern and brought in her final project to show. She's also been crocheting some hot pads. Kathy O. has decided that it's time for her to make a 4-patch posie quilt so Alberta was giving her instructions and moral support while Winnie played with the kaleidescope blocks. Pat H. is looking forward to making small quilts for the Linus project and took some of our stash for that purpose. In other words, we had another busy day!

14 ladies attended today. Connie and Hattie were here representing the knitters in the group, Alberta and Nancy the thread artists, and Kathy O. was crocheting scrubbies (thank you Kathy for the gift of 2 scrubbies--my old one fell apart). They rest of us were into our quilting. Darryl is making a gardening wall hanging for a friend, Pat's making her donation quilts, Agnes and Winnie were finishing up their 6 hr. quilts, Marguerite was quilting her 4 patch posie, I was sandwiching 2 baby quilts plus our bug jar blocks, and Marie brought in a treat--several quilt tops she has finished that are awaiting quilting. They were lovely. Marie is a very talented lady! I am sad to report that Cathy M. is out with pneumonia. She was in the hospital for a while but is home now. Hopefully spring will hurry up and come with some warm weather and she'll start feeling better and be eager to come see us again, if she's not too busy gardening. Remember, this Saturday morning is the meeting of the Junior Nimblefingers and we can always use some extra help!

Nimblefingers was cancelled last Tuesday on account of a broken boiler. Well, it's Friday afternoon now and the library is still cold but we toil on with sweaters and coats. Things should be back to normal on Tuesday so that we can meet again. I was on vacation this week visiting my mother in Texas. Of course, one of the highlights of my trip is a stop at Creations of Kerrville (http://www.creations-online.com/) to buy fabric. I found two really cute childrens panels--I've already turned one into a small quilt. I also bought all of the ingredients for a bag made from Kaffe Fassett (http://www.kaffefassett.com/) prints. While in Texas I also enjoyed watching my younger sister make a psychedelic snake quilt and was given a show and tell of my older sister's knitting projects. She is a new great grandmother now and so has a new baby to knit for. The weather was great--in the 70's so I did some walking and enjoying the sunshine but now am back in New York ready to get back to work, finish some projects already begun and start some new ones. See you next Tuesday!

20 ladies attended today. We had a lot of show and tell. Our new knitter, Deb, had made a cute little doll's sweater; Connie brought in pieces of a fishing quilt to get some opinions on how to jazz it up; Tina brought in a wedding quilt she made a long time ago for her son; Marguerite brought in her finished star quilt which she offered to finish for someone at her former church then donate it to the church. Well now she's finished it and likes it much better than she thought she would. She wishes she hadn't been so quick to offer it as a donation. But she did so off it will go. Marie brought in a shirret rug she was working on. She informed me that her middle initial is R and she often feels that it should stand for Rugs. That seems fitting to me since she makes every kind of rug there is! Elaine, our biology professor knitting friend joined us--it's her spring break. Pat was tying a bunch of baby quilts she had put together. Betsy brought in a really cute purse she had made. She's gotten to be an expert purse-maker. She also brought in our finished future raffle quilt top freshly ironed but unfortunately I didn't have a piece of batting big enough for it. And our old friends Alberta and sister Nancy, and Ingrid joined us again. We haven't seen them for awhile so it was nice to have them back. Next week I will be in Texas with my mother and sisters so you all will have to continue on without me. See you in 2 weeks!

14 ladies today. Today I showed the ladies how to make bug jar blocks. Only Fran, Kathy M., and Kathy O. tried it out. They all donated their blocks to the library to display during Summer Reading Club where the theme is "Get the reading bug." Thank you to each of you from the library. Saturday the Junior Nimblefingers are going to meet and they will be making bug jars which is why I wanted to teach the ladies. Also today, several people brought in forest dreams blocks. We still need a lot more so keep 'em coming! Betsey took home another of our quilt tops to iron. Next week we'll sandwich it together so we can start quilting. Winnie asked for help binding her 6-hr. quilt. Tina asked if sometime in the future I could demonstrate snippets quilts. I will start making plans for that. Also, I talked to the owner of the Trumpet Hill yarn shop about having someone come to Nimblefingers some Tuesday to show off some of the new, fancy yarns, books, projects, etc. Hopefully that will work out. I'll keep you posted.

19 ladies today. We took down the quilt show. It is always so much easier to take down than it is to put up. Kathy O. brought in a quilt to sandwich. Our 2 new members each brought in a quilt to show us. Debbie brought in an antique appliqued quilt made by her husbands' grandmother. She wanted advice on how to wash it. Fran was going to supply her with the proper soap. Connie brought in a maroon log cabin she had made. They were both lovely. Mary Beth Burrill and her daughter Margaret came in looking for advice on how to make a quilt out of various zebra fabrics. MaryAnn M. and I got them started. Cathy Y. taught us how to cast on yarn for knitting so that the end won't roll. And a few people came in with blocks made for the Forest Dream quilt we plan to make. We will work on it some more next week. Also next week we will learn how to make a bug jar block. The Junior Nimblefingers will be meeting on Sat. March 8th and they will make a bug jar block so hopefully some of the ladies will help out with the kids.

Today we went to the Home Front Cafe for lunch. 14 ladies. We had a very nice time. Cindy Pollard, the owner, gave us a special treat telling us the story of the flag hanging in the restaurant. The Home Front is definitely a very special place. Betsy brought in a quilt she had just had quilted--by Kris Zimmer. It was a heart quilt in beautiful soft pinks. She's giving it to her daughter who I'm sure will be thrilled! I don't really know what all of the conversations going on around the table were, the only one I know about is the one I had with Hattie. We discovered that her son just purchased the house next door to the house I used to live in! It's a small world!

Yesterday we had 16 ladies attend--2 new ladies who had attended our Open House and decided to come try us out. WelcomeDebbie and Connie! They are both knitters so we had a nice little group at the end of the table with their needles flying! Agnes had brought in some fabric some time ago and Catherine D. had given us more patterns, magazines, etc., which I got out to see if people would take. I did get rid of some (of course, I took a bunch). Yesterday was also a big show-and-tell day. Agnes, Cathy M., Winnie and Kathy O. had all made the 6 hour quilt that Kathy O. demonstrated last week. It's always fun to see different variations of the same quilt. Agnes also brought in a small quilt she had made from one of her husbands old shirts--it had antique cars on it. Quilters are good recyclers. And Fran had put together a large yellow brick road quilt for which her daughter had made the squares. Remember that next week we will be going to lunch at the Home Front at 12:00! I'll call ahead so they expect us.

Today was a big day! We held our Open House and about 50 people attended including some old members we haven't seen in awhile and some new faces that I hope will come again. Kathy O. demonstrated Kaye Wood's 6 hour quilt. She came close to finishing the one she started after only 2 hours. We had lots of goodies to eat and friendly talking. It was wonderful to see our friends Katherine "the cat lady" Denegar and Anne Bave again! Many thank you's to their chauffeurs! Lew Schedlbauer, the Quiltsmith, brought in my latest quilt--a large all triangles quilt. I pieced the top and Lew quilted it for me. It's beautiful even if I do say so myself! I was glad that it was able to make it to our show. Thank you and congratulations to all of my talented ladies: you do beautiful work and you are a great bunch of ladies to have as friends! We all had a good time this afternoon as we do every Tuesday but it's nice to share this bit of joy with others on this special occasion. Thank you to all who attended. I'll add some pictures as they become available.

17 ladies attended today and we hung our quilt show! Tomorrow Barbara V. and I will fill the display case but today we did the hard part. A big thank you again to our own "fearless" Deb--there is no ladder too high for her to climb! I am always amazed at the variety of quilts our little group makes and at the quality! We have some very talented ladies! And Winnie even finished her very first quilt in time to hang it in the show! Congratulations Winnie! The show will be hanging until Feb. 26th so tell all your friends! Next week is our open house where Kathy O. will teach us to make a 6-hr. quilt. So bring your supplies and we'll all see if we can do it. Our raffle quilt is hanging out at the circulation desk so hopefully we will sell a lot of tickets for that. Last week I was out of town but the group continued without me. 16 ladies were here.

10 ladies attended today. Kathy O. arrived first eager to try out her square-in-a-square ruler. Agnes and Winnie came armed with fabric determined to leave with a specific simple quilt pattern planned and maybe begun by the end of the afternoon. Winnie is determined to make a baby quilt for a friend so they left with squares cut and were hitting a fabric store on the way home. Pat O. was working on last year's Flying Geese block-a-month quilt. Cathy M. had brought hers in finished last week which was just the nudge Pat needed to finish hers. We were surprised to have a visit from Elaine L. who hasn't come for awhile. School starts again next week so she decided to drop in and say hello. She came with giveaway fabric from which I took and armload from but asked her to donate somewhere else as we just cleaned out our closet and don't want to fill it up again so soon. She and Cathy Y. were our knitters today. Betsey also joined us with 2 almost finished prayer quilts for her church. She keeps very busy making prayer quilts and comes out with some pretty nice ones. Next week I will be away but please meet without me. I'll be back the week after that.

It seems like forever since I have written in our blog! Both of the holidays hit on a Tuesday so we haven't met for awhile. At our last meeting in December, we went to lunch at Maggie's cafe. The food was good but the restaurant was too cold! But we're back at the library today though only 8 people attended. Everyone must be out of town. Nevertheless, it was great to see each other again. Cathy M. brought in a quilt top she has almost finished. It is from the block of the month group from last year. Part applique, part pieceing. It was beautiful. She, Fran and Pat are disappointed in this years block of the month pattern which is unfortunate since it's only January! Kathy O. brought in her new laptop which has occupied much of her time since Christmas. Deb brought in a small cross-stitch piece which I proceeded to finish for her. And I came in with my new haircut. So we're back, ready for a new year!