13 ladies attended today. It was a dreary, rainy day--a good one for sewing but not for going out. We were sad to hear that Pat OR is in the hospital. We all hope she feels better soon. And Deb was at home with her dog whose cancer finally caught up with her. I know that the dog is getting the best treatment with Deb. So we had a small group today. Tina brought in her almost finished maple leaf quilt. She needs to add some borders to make it big enough for her double bed. She got plenty of advice from everyone on what kind of border to add. I went through our fabric boxes looking for fabric that might work. I was also looking for plaid fabrics for a quilt I am making. A library patron brought in 2 full bags of fabric to give away. We took some but I still have 2 bags, just not quite as full. Winnie was back having rested up after the church rummage sale. We had a visitor today--a patron wondered if anyone had a pattern for the mittens hanging on the mitten tree. Surprisingly enough I knew who had made them and had the pattern although it's a difficult to read hand-written pattern. She talk to Cathy M. about them and Cathy and JoAnn encouraged her to come join our group. She's new in town so I hope she does decide to return. We are a great group for making friends.

18 ladies attended this week. I brought in the raffle quilt--I finished quilting it! I cut off the excess and now I need to find some fabric for the binding and get that ready. I would like to have it completely finished by the new year. I also brought in a small wall hanging I made out of 5" squares which I received from Mr. B's preview packet club (http://www.benartex.com/page/mr-bs-preview-pack-club-90.htm). This was my 2nd pack from them. I still haven't done anything with the first pack and now I've received the 3rd. It's fun to get fabric in the mail and the club isn't too expensive so it's fun. Ethel brought in the 4 bags she has made for her daughters and daughter-in-law for Christmas. She bought a really nice pattern at the Village Quilters quilt show last summer (from Log Cabin fabrics) and has definitely gotten her money's worth from it. Betsey brought in two almost identical quilts she is making for the sisters of the bride from a wedding she attended this summer. The father of the bride loved the quilt she had made for the bride and groom so commisioned her to make 2 more. They are truly lovely quilts! Then Linda brought in a quilt she had won a prize on in a show in Florida. The black & white and some color quilt was great but what Linda really likes is the fancy ribbon she won. It has a cloth flower on it and is quite spectacular for a prize. She also brought in her table topper from the Kris Dreissen workshop. She chose very different fabrics so hers looks different from any I've seen so far. Kathy O. discovered that her table topper fits perfectly on a table she has so hers has now found a good home. Deb is giving hers to her mother along with a table runner she was working on today. I was looking at the Quiltbug website the other day (http://www.quiltbug.com/) She (Kris Driessen) has a really great website! She has a place where you can go to calculate the amount of fabric needed for a specific quilt; she has quilt block patterns; just about anything you need to know is on her site. Give it a look--I think you'll agree it's a fantastic site!

15 ladies attended yesterday. I was scheduled to work on the Reference desk during Nimblefingers but my boss graciously volunteered to work the desk so that I could attend the meeting. Not knowing that she had done this, several of my ladies came out to the reading room, with their sewing, ready to keep me company at the Reference desk! We do have a funny group! Today was interesting--considering that most of the group are quilters, only 3 people were actually working on quilts. Everyone else was knitting or doing needlepoint. There has been a lot more needlepoint in the group lately I have noticed. I hope that some of these items end up in our show in February. Fran was working on a penny rug; June doing redwork; Deb was binding her Christmas table topper (with a little help from me). Kathy Y., Agnes and Hattie were knitting. Everyone else was doing some kind of cross-stitch, embroidery, or needlepoint. Today was a particularly silly day. Deb kept breaking into song--songs none of us had ever heard of (It's raining men!?!). Coming from Deb, we all assume she dreamed it up but it did provide us with lots of laughs. Thanks for the comedy Deb!

18 ladies attended last Tuesday. I brought in 2 pillowcases for show and tell. Kathy O. and Deb brought in their finished holiday table topper tops from the workshop on Sunday. It was a really fun program and the quilt is very nice. It would also make a perfect tree skirt. And speaking of tree skirts, Ethel was binding her tree skirt for her daughter that she started some time ago. Kathy O. worked with Elaine, a newcomer, on a hidden nine-patch quilt. Elaine has some nice fabric with a music theme and wanted to make a quilt. I know it will end up great because Kathy is a good and enthusiastic teacher. Deb pinned her table topper into a sandwich. Linda brought in her sewing machine to sew her table topper pieces. I cut out some fabric for snappy bags--3 of them. And otherwise around the table was knitting, applique, needlepoint--you name it, we do it! It's getting close to Thanksgiving which always prompts lots of talk about food. Cathy M. claims she hates cooking the turkey because you have to turn it over half way. We didn't know what she was talking about but she says her husband insisted that the bird had to be turned over--that's how his mother cooked a turkey. We all said just put it in breast up and cook it. No turning. Make it simple.

For those of you lucky enough to attend, yesterday Kris Dreissen from the Quiltbug (quilt shop in Esperence, NY) came and led a workshop on a Christmas table topper. 21 ladies attended and we all had a great time! Kris was a very patient and kind teacher running around our somewhat crowded tables to answer everyone's questions and I don't think anyone got ignored. She was generous with praise and help both. I hope she had as good a time as all of us did. I can't wait to see the show and tell when everyone finishes their pieces! Most of the ladies used Christmas fabrics. A couple of ladies have more summery fabrics. And Linda O'C, the quilt artist, is using a mixture of interesting fabrics. I can't wait to see hers finished! It probably won't look like anyone elses! That's the great thing about quilts though--they can look totally different depending on the fabrics used and the placement of lights and darks. Kris also passed out discount coupons good for the week so I hope some of you will make a trip to her shop. If you plan on making more of the table toppers it would be nice to have the flying geese ruler she let us use yesterday. I'll show you now the pictures from the workshop then I'll have to show pictures of the finished projects as they come in!