Today 15 ladies attended. It was a day of finishing projects: Rosemary finished the needlepoint she has been working on for awhile and Elaine finished putting the binding on her quilt. What a great way to end the year! Now they're ready to start a new project in the new year. I should go home and finish some of my projects of which I have many. We'll see. Sandy was wearing one of her knitted scarves--very ruffly and beautiful. She also brought in the moebius scarf she made with eyelash yarn. Marie had found a pattern for a long moebius scarf she wanted to make so Sandy helped her get started. Ethel was still working on her table runners. She didn't quite get them done in time for Christmas. Joan had made one of the 10-minute table runners. It was a very nice Christmas one. Winnie was cutting out patterns for the easy scarf Agnes had made. Fran was making catnip mice and also brought in her latest black and white and red creation. Cathy M. was doing redwork. Marguerite was quilting but also brought in the finished quilt top she had put together from pink scraps that we had in our stash. I think I have a piece of fabric at home we could use for the backing. Our group was a little smaller today but that's to be expected since we're still in holiday mode.

Today was our Christmas lunch and this year we had it catered instead of going out to a restaurant. The food was provided by Chef's Take-Out on Carmen Rd. Daryl graciously picked it up for me since she lives nearby. It was Italian food, chicken parm, vegee lasagna, salad and garlic bread, and was very good. Some of the ladies brought desserts. Cathy M. brought her famous chocolate cake with coconut frosting which was beautiful as well as delicious. Daryl brought a cranberry/apple pie which had a crust that was as good as mom used to make. We all got very full and many went home with food for their supper or hubby. There were 30 of us in all. This included some of the library staff that I invited to participate. My assistant Mary Jane did the room decorating. I have no talent for that so appreciate having someone else to do that job. After lunch Sue R. showed us how to make a 10-minute table runner. I'm wondering if I can find some fabric at home to whip up a couple. Some of the ladies participated in a storytelling grant hosted by the library and they had their books with the stories in them. I glanced at one and it looked really nice. I can't wait to read the stories. The library will be getting 3 copies eventually which can circulate. We will be meeting again next week and the week after. Holidays don't stop us from getting together. Happy holidays to everyone!

20 ladies attended last Tuesday. Our group seems to be growing and as it grows it becomes more noisy! Lots of talk and laughing! The moebius scarf has really taken off in the group. There are at least 4 maybe 5 ladies making them and they are having such a good time with it! They are starting to get experimental with the pattern just to see what they can do. I'm impressed. I tried to get them to pose for me with their scarves on but they just were too excited talking and teaching each other new tricks. I hope some of these scarves end up in our show in February. Marguerite took home some already cut squares that were in our stash last week and put them together. She has the start for a very nice quilt. Marie is still wearing some of the home-made clothes she has found since she moved and Winnie wore one of her festive painted shirts so I had to take a picture of them. Jo-Ann finished the scarf she has been knitting for some time. The pattern was very tricky--you knit the whole thing then go back and drop stitches throughout. She was uncertain about the dropping stitches part so Cathy M. gave her moral support while she dropped stitches but she finally finished and it is indeed a unique and attractive scarf. In the meantime, at home, Cathy M. has been making chef's aprons for her sons who are both apparently good cooks (they must have learned from her because she is certainly an excellent cook). We made her try on the apron for the picture. I missed getting a picture of Pat OR's christmas tree which she has been embellishing for a couple of weeks. Maybe she'll bring it back next week. Next week is our catered lunch. June B. can't make it but she sends her wishes for a Merry Christmas to all. And Agnes is visiting her children so we will miss her. But I think we will have a pretty full house so it should be fun.

23 ladies attended yesterday--it was a big (and noisy) group! Lots of things going on: Ethel brought in her Christmas table runners she is making for each of her children; Joyce L. and Cathy M had fancy Christmas ornaments to show; Kathy O. had finished two moebius scarves and a hat; Sue R. had already made 40 (!) of the scarves Agnes showed us last week; and I brought in more Houston quilt show purchases. Kathy, Marie and Sandy are all making the moebius scarves. Betty Smith would be proud but they all wish Betty were here to explain the mathematics to them. Fran is knitting mini-sweater Christmas tree ornaments. Rosemary is nearing completion on her needlepoint as is Diane C. on her cross-stitch. Joan is doing redwork embroidery this week. Pat OR is hand piecing. Marguerite is quilting her mile-a-minute quilt. Sandy has a bag we all admire. It was made by her niece who has since lost the pattern. We took some measurements and Sue is going to see if she can create one just from the measurements. Dallas came in with a big box of yarn to give away. And we had a guest visitor who had heard about the group from Sandy. She says she plans to come back and bring something to work on. Elaine is still binding her quilt--I hope she's finished by February so we can put it in the show. It is truly a gem! Tina was working on a vest. She needed some fitting advice on the gaping armholes. Kathy O. sews a lot so hopefully she had some tips. I am under orders to make the final arrangements for our holiday lunch so will work on that this week and let you know next Tuesday.

18 ladies attended today. I got out the fruit fabric and cut it up with my special ruler. Marguerite laid out the resulting squares and it looked awful! The ruler should have come with instructions on what kind of fabrics to use or how to lay out the original squares or something because what we did didn't look good at all! I am so disappointed. So I put that project away for awhile. I'll think about it later when I'm not so irritated. The other day my assistant and I cleaned out our closet (on orders from the boss--fabric has a tendency to spread!). In the closet was a quilt, sandwiched and partially hand quilted, which someone had given to us. I pulled it out to give away and Sandy thought her daughter would love it. It was a nice quilt but not too many people are interested in hand quilting anymore which is sad but true. We are all in such a hurry we've got to get things done! Last week Kathy O. had asked me for a pattern for the moebius scarf that Betty Smith used to make. I found a pattern on the internet (several in fact) so she had Sandy help her get started on one. Agnes had received a pattern from her sister (in-law?) for a simple cloth scarf. She was wearing one today and had another to show. It was very attractive and did indeed look simple. Maybe we'll have a scarf making day soon. On the week of Thanksgiving there is always a lot of talk about food and this year was no exception. They like to share and compare what their traditional Thanksgiving foods are and how they prepare them. I was over getting upset about my fruit quilt so didn't participate in that conversation but heard it in the distance. Christmas is coming soon so I have asked people to think of what they want to do for the holidays--go to a restaurant or have a pot luck. Next week we'll see if they have any good ideas.

22 ladies attended today. The group was so big that we filled the entire community room. Marie brought in some of her crocheted and 1 tatted doilies to show. They will be in our show in February I hope. She was also wearing another of her special vests: a shadow applique vest. I pulled out a table to sew the fruit/vegee blocks together. Marguerite helped me. We sewed all 36 blocks together. Next week we will cut them up and see what happens. Winnie had some horse fabric to make a quilt for her granddaughter. Agnes gave her some assistance in cutting. Linda O. set up another table and was sewing petals for flowers which will be decorations for the Village Quilters quilt show in July. She was joined by Sue R., Deb and others. Elaine was in another corner getting assistance binding her music quilt. Rosemary sits in a comfy chair that is easier on her aching back. Since we all roam around a bit there is usually someone sitting with Rosemary at any given time. Agnes finished the binding on a small kid quilt for the Methodist bazaar. And Pat OR was embellishing her Christmas tree wall hanging. I'm starting to plan for our show in February so began asking people to do demonstrations. I think we will be able to put on a nice little show this year.

I am way behind on my Nimblefingers blogging. So sorry. Last week 17 ladies attended and this week we had 22. This week we also had 3 new people. I hope they all return. Last week I took a picture of Cathy Y.'s sweater. She has been working on it for awhile and is nearing the finish line. It is very neat because it is knitted all in one piece. Then you sew up the side seams. This seems like a much easier way to do a sweater to me but then I don't knit so I don't really know. This week Marie and Sandy came in wearing a pieced vest and crocheted sweater they had made. I had to take a front and back view of these they were so beautiful. All of our snow birds are starting to fly south. Jean K. has left and now Betty K. is leaving. Soon Linda will be gone. Our little group might shrink but then again, you never can tell. Marie has been continuing to bring in bits and pieces of her collection to give away. Some of the rest of us are trying to clean out our sewing rooms too. Ethel is working on an interesting piece in her embroidery guild which she brought in to show us. It is an abstract piece she made for one of their challenges. I was cutting 10" squares from the fruit/vegetable fabric that was donated to the group. I'm going to try out a special ruler I bought on the shop hop to cut and arrange these blocks. It will eventually be another raffle quilt. Last week I gave the prayer quilt to Elaine Larsen (an ex-member) whose house was flooded during the hurricane. She was very grateful and quite tearful. She said she would try to stop in some Tuesday so I hope she is able to. Her poor first floor is reduced to the bare bones now. They had to take off all of the wallboard to clean up the mold etc. What a job! But she said friends have been really special to the family during this time, including our little group. I'm glad we could do a little something to lift the family's spirits.

14 ladies attended on Tuesday. The big surprise was that Kathy O. is back! She brought her summer projects with her--she's taken up wrapping, that is wrapping fabric around clothesline to make a basket or purse. I've seen it before and think it's really neat but haven't tried it myself. She says she's totally addicted now. She would sit down with an audiobook on her ipad and wrap all afternoon. Sue R. from the Village Quilters came in to show Fran her circles quilt. We all enjoyed seeing it. It's such a simple idea but I haven't seen it before in a show or anyplace. Another lady came in and gave us some great fruit and vegee fabric. Kathy O. thought we ought to make a group quilt out of them and today I got an idea for this quilt so I think next Tuesday I'll put Kathy to work on it. Fran also showed us her 70 yard strip quilt. They work up very fast and easy. The Delmar quilt group is encouraging us to make a bunch for charity.

22 ladies attended last Tuesday and 14 the week before that. I was not one of the 14 unfortunately. But I was here this week. Marie brought in some more patterns etc. She says next week she'll start bringing in fabric. June brought in the ballerina quilt top she made. She says she has to make two of them for her two granddaughters. It's very cute and very pink! Joan T. who is moving brought in her fabric to see if we wanted. I got the binding ready for the prayer quilt we are making. I took it home to sew on because I ran out of time. Fran tried sewing together a jelly roll quilt but the tension on the machine was not working properly so she ended up taking that project home to work on too. Daryl had put together some fabric scraps that were brought in last week. She sewed them together to make a small prayer quilt. It's getting to be fall and some of our snow birds are already planning their trips south. It seems like they just got here and now they are ready to go back. Tonight the Village Quilters are bring Sue Pritt for a trunk show and talk. It is here at the librarary at 7:00. All are invited. I think it will be really good and hope many of you can make it.

Today there we 15 ladies attending. We had 1 new person (Juliann) and 1 returning (Tina back from the North). Julianne helped me lay out and sandwich one of our donation quilts and Cathy Y. and Fran helped tie it. I'm going to take it home and do some sewing on it then we'll give it away. I wanted to give it to Elaine L. who used to come to Nimblefingers. Her house was hit hard by hurricane Irene--their basement and first floor were flooded. When I talked to her last week they were having a company come in and professionally clean their house. In the meantime, they were living on the second floor. I wanted to give the quilt to her so they will have something nice, homemade and warm to curl up in and something to remind them that our thoughts are with them. Marguerite has been absent for a couple of weeks now. Her daughter is suffering from a mystery illness so Marguerite has been running back and forth from the hospital and also taking care of the grandkids. I hope the daughter recovers soon. Marie brought in quite a load of yarn, books, magazines and some fabric today. She's all moved out of her house now. She'll be sorting through her stuff at her new place for awhile yet though. Linda O also brought in magazines and says she plans to keep bringing some. I wouldn't mind the donations except that I end up taking so many of them home myself and I have no room for them either. It's much more fun to collect than it is to get rid of stuff.

I've gotten behind on my news. Last we 17 ladies attended and this week 16. Fran had invited a couple of ladies from the Delmar QUILT group to come in so she could show them the Yellow Brick Road pattern. Jean P. also came in to ask for help on the border of a quilt she was making. Jo-Ann had a bracelet that her sister-in-law had made for her which was beaded, crocheted wire. We passed that around for a look-see. Very interesting. Last week I brought in a show and share: Lew brought in my large scrap quilt which I had had him quilt for me. He did special quilting on it but unfortunately because of the pattern on the fabrics it's hard to see the quilting. Next time I will put on a muslin backing. Plus Pat OR had her piece from Wiawaka. This year they did silk ribbon flowers. It will be very impressive when she finishes. At some point Elaine brought in her musical quilt, quilted by Linda Denner, so I took a picture of that. It is a very large quilt too. It will be fun when Kathy O. returns and gets to see this quilt. She helped Elaine put it together so she will be thrilled to see the finished project.

Yesterday we had a big group--19! Daryl was back from leg surgery. She kept busy while recovering though--she brought in some cranberry...bread for us to enjoy. The library handyman brought in some giveaway fabric from his wife and Marie brought in another load of books. Next she says it will be fabric. She is slowly moving into her new apartment. She's spent 2 nights there so far and has met all of her new neighbors. She's very happy but she keeps finding things at her house that she didn't know she had! After seeing the beautiful yo-yo necklace Diane gave me, Betty K. wanted to make one and today she came in wearing her finished necklace. Bravo Betty! We all compared notes today on how hurricane Irene had affected us. There were still a couple of us without power but I'm glad to report that today my power is back up. Hope it is for everyone else too.

Today 18 ladies attended Nimblefingers. I hobbled in with my bad back to join them. Jean K. had taught them last week to make fabric postcards so Agnes brought in a finished postcard and Pat O. brought in her beginning postcard to get some more help. Sue R. wasn't here last week either so Jean gave Sue and I instruction. I'll have to work on mine at home and see if I can finish it for next week. Last week Marguerite also brought in a finished quilt top then brought it in again so that I could see it. It was a scrap quilt of the star pattern whose name I can't remember. It was very nice. She'll have it on her quilt frame this January and probably give it to a grandchild. She said it did make a small dent in her scraps. Marie brought in lots of books to give away today. She's got an apartment now so she is seriously cleaning out. She says she'll bring more books next week then start in on the fabric. We will all have overflowing sewing rooms I think when Marie finishes cleaning hers!

Yesterday we had 16 ladies attend. It was a big day for show-and-tell and a big day for goodies! Yum! For the show-and-tell first...Ethel, who came in with her grandson Hunter who was happy to model with her items, brought in Hunter's finished quilt and a tree skirt she made for her daughter Melissa (Hunter's mom). Cathy was knitting shrugs in every size and color. Several people tried them on and they really are cute. Needless to say, the pattern was passed around to many knitters in the group. I brought in my finished (except for the final embellishments) quilt I made in the workshop with Karen Eckmeier. Insted of piecing in the traditional way, Karen E. layers her quilts with topstitching. All pieces are curved and topstitched. It was a fun workshop and I'm pleased with the quilt. Then Betty showed her very bright, dark baby quilt (bright and dark at her daughter's request). Betty much prefers pastels for babies so she plans to make a pink quilt for her granddaughter to keep at her house. I probably should have taken a picture of the goodie table too because it was particularly beautiful too! Betty made pizelles, Betsey made brownies, Daryl made banana bread, and Agnes made blueberry cake. It was a good day to have skipped lunch! Then for the rest of the meeting. Daryl is having major surgery on her leg again--next week. She wanted to get a quilt sandwiched so that she could work on it while she recovers so several of us helped her get that job done. Betsey brought in pictures of her home in Lake Havasu, AZ. I didn't get a chance to look at them but she had emailed me some pictures of her house and I was very impressed. Betsey also had a painting a friend had done of her former camp in the adirondacks. She wanted to make a quilt from the painting and was asking for help picking out appropriate fabrics. Sandie was quilting a very cute Mother Goose panel quilt for a grandchild. Marie came in overjoyed--she got her apartment here in Voorheesville! She will be moving in September. Her grandchildren tell her "Grandma, you sit and rest. We'll do the work for you." Nice family! Nevertheless, she is still busily packing boxes. Jo-Ann was happy to report that her knee, which had recently been replaced, was fully recovered. She said the water therapy was great! Jean is going to teach us to make fabric postcards in 2 weeks. Next week she will give us a supply list. She's a former teacher so I like to keep her in practice. Last year she had several of us making flower pincushions so this year it's fabric postcards. It should be fun!

14 ladies attended yesterday. It was a small but nice group. We had one new person--Meris, from Guilderland, who is checking out craft groups to see what is out there. I hope she'll come back. I forgot to ask her where she had heard of us. Marguerite brought in a show and share: a mile-a-minute quilt with little girls in the center of each block. It was very cute. She found that she had a bunch of fabric with little girls so decided to make a baby quilt. Meris was putting the binding on her quilt: a batik quarter circle quilt. It was beautiful. Many people are intimidated by circles but as long as they are relatively large they really are not that difficult. Towards the end of our time Cathy C. came in and showed us her quilt for a little boy that had trains on it. She told us about a place in Ballston Spa called "Almost One of a Kind" which is a quilt shop with a long arm machine that you can rent. She has been there twice--the first time for a 3 hr. lesson and the second time to quilt on her own. I think she said the lesson cost $35 (?) then after that you can rent the machine for $10 per hour. She said it took 3 hrs. to quilt her train quilt. It was a small twin size and as she said, it would have taken her at least 6 hrs. to quilt it on her regular sewing machine. She says that you spend the most time pinning the quilt top and bottom into the long arm machine. After that the sewing is pretty quick. It definitely sounds like something worth trying. Apparently this quilt shop also donates quilts to a house in Ballston Spa that has been set up to house women soldiers who have returned from duty and don't yet have any place to go. They try to give each woman a quilt. Sounds like a nice charity.

Today there were 22 of us--a big group! Deb brought in her son's blanket to tie. Deb, me, Pat H. and Agnes all worked on it. We didn't quite finish it but made a good start. Fran was late because she stopped to pick up a quilt from a long arm quilter. She tried a new one with good results. This lady lives in Colonie on 155. She has pretty good prices and the quilt she did for Fran looked really nice. I didn't have the camera out today so I hope Fran brings the quilt in again after she binds it. I brought in the top I made from some fish fabric that I got from Benartex. Cathy M., Fran, Pat O and Marie all have the same fabric so I wanted to show them what I had done. Diane showed us her pink quilt top though she didn't get around to sandwiching it today. Instead she sandwiched a cheater white on white quilt then had Marguerite give her some quilting lessons. Cathy Y. brought in an embroidery frame to give away which just about took Sandy's breath away. It was a very nice donation. Jo-Ann, June and Rosemary, our walking wounded, were all here today. Jo-Ann just had knee surgery, June and Rosemary both have the same back problem. I'm glad to see they're all on the road to recovery and they were all glad to be back with the group. Linda O'C finished binding her t-shirt quilt. It reallly looked great. I should have brought in the camera. Next week we will be meeting at the Sage Bistro in the Star Plaza at 12:30 (Youth services needs the community room again).

As you may have read in the Times Union, our friend Edith Kilmer has passed away. She was our one and only blind member who was a constant inspiration to us for her cheerfulness and perserverance. I still have her fan (made of plastic forks) hanging above my desk here at work as a constant reminder of not letting obstacles stop you from doing what you love. We enjoyed having the sisters, Edie, Alberta and Nancy, in our group and I know we will always remember Edie fondly.

One of my colleagues reminded me when she read my blog regarding the passing of our friend Katherine Denegar that we still have her WWII story on our website. If you would like to read it again it can be found here: http://www.voorheesvillelibrary.org/armynurse.asp

17 ladies attended yesterday. Back from the 4th of July weekend everyone seemed a bit subdued. Deb and Betsey had tales of their weekend at Deb's place on the lake and Marie had a new recipe she had had over the weekend (fruit mixed with sugar-free vanilla instant pudding mix and cool whip). She also reported that she is next on the list for an apartment at a place in Altamont. No one else had much to report. I pulled out a sewing machine and started sewing together a prayer quilt. We have 2 ready to make and I wanted to get started. I still have a little more to go to finish the first one. Betsey, Marguerite and Cathy Y. all had pre-printed fabric (cheater cloth) quilts they were hand quilting. Diane brought in a quilt top and backing to sandwich but realized that she had forgotten the batting. Next week maybe we'll get it together. Pat H. brought in a prayer quilt to tie for church. Elaine is eagerly awaiting the arrival of her quilt--she gave it to Linda Denner at the Flying Geese quilt shop to quilt. I can't wait to see it either! Linda always does a great job and she was going to quilt in musical symbols. Betty brought in some home-made cookies and Deb a blueberry pie.

17 ladies attended today. I was very surprised when I saw Linda Crannell walk in the door with her uncle Pete. Linda moved to Florida last year so it was very exciting to see her again. She had come up attend the Old Songs festival and to visit with family and friends. I'm so glad she remembered us in Nimblefingers! She had never actually been a member because she worked but we all dearly loved her grandmother Betty Smith who was an inspiration to us all. Diane was also back for the summer. She's a school nurse so can only come during the summer months. She was our driver for the quilt shop hop this year so I had a chance to get to know her a little better. She brought in the quilt that she had been working on last summer and had gotten some advice from us about. It was a beautifull sunflower quilt. Fran brought in her finished african quilt made from the fabric I picked up for her at the Adirondack quilt show. It will be going to some child in South Africa eventually. I have not yet made mine though I have been thinking about it. These will go to Patti's quilt shop in Saratoga Springs where they will deliver them to the group that travels to South Africa. Ethel brought in her finished and framed button sampler cross-stitch. It is made with buttons from her mother's button jar and it is absolutely precious! It is a beautiful keepsake. If I were one of her daughters I would be begging for it! I also brought in my finished "modern" quilt. It was quick, easy and a lot of fun to make. Rosemary was also back this week. She has been out for some time with a very bad back. Even now she wears a brace and tires easily. I'm glad she was able to make it in though. We have missed her. Everyone seemed happy and chatty and looking forward to the 4th of July weekend.

18 ladies attended today. Ethel brought in her finished quilt top for her grandson (picture to follow). It is very nice with lots of good kid fabric. Marie brought in part of her Oops a daisy quilt. She has made all of the applique blocks and is starting to add the in between blocks. It will be very nice when it is finished. Since Agnes is making the same quilt they had a talk about the difficulties and things to watch out for in making this quilt. Marie also brought in some books, magazines and roving to give away. She's still clearing out her house. I pulled out the 12" blocks we made so that we could pick a fabric for the lattice strips. Next week I can get started on them. Elaine was gathering more information about machine quilters who might work on her quilt. Pat H. also brought in some fabric scrapas to give away. Daryl informed me that she won a basket during the quilt shop hop! I'm jealous! Those baskets looked wonderful! Maybe next year.

Today the Voorheesville kindergartners came to the library to get their new library cards so we had to vacate our room and go out to lunch! This happens once in a while and we really don't mind too much. Today we went to the Cider House restaurant in the Altamont Orchards. There were 16 of us there plus Tina's husband who is a very good sport. The restaurant is lovely--you sit looking out at the golf course. I think we all had a good lunch and I know that at least I left full. Next week we'll be back at our regular place and time. See you then!

Today 17 ladies attended. Last week I attended two quilt workshops with Karen Eckmeier at the Delmar quilt guild so I brought in my pieces to show and share. She does layered quilts--all are put together with topstitching. It was fun and I like learning new techniques. I hope I can actually make something with my samples. Ethel brought in the start to her I-spy quilt she is making for her soon-to-be new grandson. It has lots of good boy fabric and is in a very clever pattern. Marguerite got out the sewing machine and worked on the raffle quilt. After next week she will have sewn the entire top together (minus borders)! I think she deserves a prize for all of her hard work. Jo-Ann was back. She has been out sick for several weeks. Daryl made a couple of blocks for prayer quilts and Cathy M. brought in an orphan block to use in a prayer quilt. We need to start getting some together now. Sandy is still working on her beautiful needlepoint. Winnie has a pre-printed children's fabric book to put together. Fran bought some cute Maisy (from the books by Lucy Cousins) fabric for a baby quilt. Pat OR is still quilting her tablerunner. Marie brought in her patches for her Oops-a-daisy quilt. Last weekend I went to the luncheon for Katherine Denegar, our former Nimblefinger member who passed away recently. Katherine had planned this party before she died, complete with guest list. I went by myself but family and friends soon adopted me. It was a nice service/lunch. It's unfortunate that Katherine could only be there in spirit because I know she would have loved being surrounded by all of her favorite people. She was quite a woman and I am glad I had the opportunity to get to know her.

I just received some sad news. Our old friend Katherine Denegar, the "cat lady", passed away yesterday. There will be a get together for her this Saturday at Red's Restaurant in Coxsackie at 12:30 if anyone is interested. I know we will all remember Katherine fondly. In spite of everything, she always had a funny thing to say whenever she left the group. She had a great sense of humor. I know she loved the group and I'm glad that she found us and joined us. I enjoyed getting to know her as well.
More sad news is that Margot Hayes who moved to Florida also passed away. I'm not sure when but she had cancer which took her way too young. I used to enjoy going to quilt show with her. She always felt like a substitute big sister to me so I was very sorry to hear of her passing.

Today we had 13 ladies attend, one of which was Cathy M. back from her sick bed and one was Jean K. back from Florida! We were very happy to see both! Ethel brought in some yarn to give away most of which was snapped up by Daryl who does lots of work for the Hilltowns. A local needlework shop is going out of business so Ethel has been going through her projects and making a shopping list to catch the going out of business sale. I hate to see shops go out of business but I do love the sales. She was working on a very cute cross-stitch sample entitled Buttons with buttons sewn on. It is very nice. Sandy is still working on her needlepoint piece. Marie was appliquing flowers on her Oops a daisy quilt. Marguerite came in late from one of her hospital luncheons. Pat O. was hand quilting a table runner she had purchased at Flying Geese. Cathy M. was embroidering a redwork piece. Fran was making placemats. Cathy Y. was hand quilting her baby quilt. Daryl brought in a book she has that had an African quilt in it. She knows I like African stuff so I copied it. It's all applique and that's not my specialty but we'll see. I brought in a quilt top I made last weekend and made a quilt sandwich. I'll be doing some machine quilting for the next few weeks. Then I got out the blocks we have for prayer quilts. Fran and I both brought in some orphan blocks so we now have enough for 2 small quilts. I took one home to see if I can find some fabric for the lattice, border and backing. Daryl is working on a block she wants to put into the other quilt so I'll hold off on it until she's finished.

16 ladies attended today. Daryl was back. We all assumed she was off visiting family but it turns out she was in the hospital and quite sick! Fortunately she pulled through and is back now, sewing up a storm! Winnie brought in a fabric postcard she had received from Jean K. who is still in Florida. It was a beautiful postcard so I hope that Jean will have us all making them when she returns. I pulled out all of the blocks we have made in the past from our closet to see what we have. We have the start of 3 prayer quilts. So people are going to go home and either stitch up some more 12 1/2 in. blocks or bring in their "orphan" blocks to see if we can use them. I'm determined to get these little quilts made up and out of the closet. Marguerite pulled out the sewing machine and sewed together 3 more rows of our future raffle quilt. I sewed together 2 rows and Marguerite took all rows home to sew together and iron. This is going to be a very attractive quilt I think. Ethel showed us her purchases from a quilt shop in Florida. She's expecting a new grandson so bought some "I spy" type fun fabrics. June is off to Florida next week to visit her family. It's amazing how many connections to Florida there are in our little group.

We had 12 ladies this week. Marguerite pulled out the sewing machine and went to work on our next raffle quilt. Cathy Y. had bought a cute panel for a baby quilt. Fran thought it needed a border so she helped Cathy make a border, gave it to Marguerite to sew, then helped Cathy make the quilt sandwich. Some baby will be getting a very cute little quilt someday. Kathy O. reported that Tina is doing well after her knee surgery. They were able to use her kneecap and that she is walking around the house with the walker. We're glad to hear that she's doing well. Poor Rosemary is home though with a bad back. I hope it will get to feeling better soon so we can see her again. Cathy M. sent us a thank you card for the prayer quilt Pat H. made and we tied. My guess is that we probably won't see Cathy for awhile because when she feels better she'll be out doing gardening instead of sewing. Maybe next fall. I brought in my purchases from the quilt show the previous weekend. I saw many of my ladies there which makes it extra fun to run into some familiar faces. Kathy O. is waiting for me to give her the fabric that I bought that looks much more like her than it does me. She didn't spend any money that day so we agreed that I spent her money for her.

18 ladies attended today. Marie is working on cleaning out her sewing supplies so she brought in batting and embroidery thread to give away. Linda O'C came in just returned from wintering in Florida. She's still in a bit of a muddle trying to get her Voorheesville life on track. Sandy, who is a knitter and quilter, is knitting scarves with beads incorporated into them. She was working on one that had beads at the ends but she has another that has beads throughout the entire scarf. I've only seen knitting with beads in books so I was very pleased to see the actual thing. Kathy O. brought in her finished quilt to show. It is lovely. Agnes was doing some hand piecing taking her cue from Marguerite who always hand pieces. Deb had a couple of cushion covers she wants to stuff so that she can use them in a new rocking chair she has. We learned that Tina is having a knee replacement next week then will be off to summer in the north country. Ethel is off to Georgia and Florida for a little vacation. I am on vacation too next week but I'm not going anywhere. I hope I can get some sewing and organizing done. Kathy O. brought in her ipad today on which she had downloaded a quilt book. A bunch of us took a look at that. This weekend is the Delmar group's quilt show at the Ravena/Coeymans/Selkirk high school. I will be working there and hope to see many of my ladies.

16 ladies attended Nimblefingers this Tuesday. Marguerite and I laid out all of the blocks for our next raffle quilt and arranged them. We were 2 blocks short so I quickly made them. Then we started sewing them together. It will take awhile but I think this will be a really nice quilt. Tina brought in her maple leaf quilt--quilted by Lew Schedlbauer (the Quiltsmith). It looked beautiful! I think Tina is very happy to have it finished and ready for her bed. Elaine laid out her quilt top so that Kathy O. could help her cut out borders. Because I was busy sewing blocks together I didn't pick up any good gossip. Cathy Y. brought in some books to give away one of which I took home to add to my already huge pile of books to read.

17 ladies attended today. We had lots of show and tell. Winnie brought in her finished wedding quilt (for her granddaughter), Marguerite brought in her hand quilted quilt (top made by her mother in the 1980's), and Fran brought in her black and white quilt from last year's Flying Geese block of the month project. Lew S., the quiltsmith, brought in some batting for us. It always goes fast. There was lots of cross-stitching going on today too: Ethel, Marie, Hattie, Marguerite. Jo-Ann was knitting, Pat OR was doing some mending, Fran and Agnes were appliquing. I was doing nothing in particular except eating. Elaine brought in her music quilt top. Kathy O. helped her figure out her borders. For a first ever quilt it is very impressive! June is making a very nice quilt/embroidery hanging. Jo-Ann brought in some yummy muffins from Emma Cleary's. They put my store bought cookies to shame.

16 ladies attended today. Marie, who is trying to get rid of some stuff so that she can move, brought in a suitcase full of patterns. Unfortunately, no one took any so Pat H. took them to see if another of her groups could use them. It was a quiet day. Lots of knitting and cross-stitching going on. It's interesting to see the variety of projects each person has. I was informed that Rosemary had hurt her back--I was wondering why I hadn't seen her lately. I hope she gets to feeling better soon. Jo-Ann was starting a new quilt with pastel rabbits on it. Fran was making a circle pattern to make a baby quilt for a baby with lots of health problems. She was also working on one of her beautiful wool pieces. Marguerite brought in her finished cross-stitch piece and was asking for opinions on how to get out the crease from having folded it while she was working on it. Marie thought it would come out if she stretched it to frame it. Marguerite had tried steaming it but that didn't help. Pat brought in some scrap fabric to cut into squares. And Deb was back--full of vinegar as always.

14 ladies attended today. Someone brought in many bags of fabric to give away so I put those out for grabs. I wanted to find the blocks we made for another raffle quilt several years ago and ended up cleaning out the closet a bit in order to find them so we had a lot of giveaways today. Marguerite and I laid out the blocks to see if we had enough for a quilt. We needed about 10 additional blocks so I asked some of our newer members if they could make some. So in a couple of weeks we should be ready to lay it out and begin sewing it together! It will be our next raffle quilt. I just hope it doesn't take as long to quilt as the last one did! Marguerite finished the cross-stitch she was working on. I was getting worried because I haven't seen her hand piecing for quite awhile but she assures me that she has a couple of quilts in process at home. Tina informed me that Lew had finished quilting her quilt. She will bring it in to show when she gets the binding on. She's very happy with it though. Lew does do a tremendous job. I have a top I need to finish up at home and take to him to quilt. Now that I know he's back from vacation I'll have to hurry up and finish it. I'm not sure what everyone was working on today. I sat and went through magazines and didn't make the rounds. Marie was searching for a word in a book she had read: it was solu___ . She didn't know the word and wanted to look it up in a big dictionary but she never did find the word. She says this kind of thing drives her crazy and she'll keep looking until she finds it. I told her she may need to reread the book.

Today we had 18 ladies attend and we had a lovely pot luck lunch. We had lots of good food and I think we all went home stuffed. I know I did. Winnie brought in a friend of hers, Joan. I hope she'll join us again. Most people didn't come prepared to work, only to eat. I actually came prepared to work though--I got out my block of the month Fiesta quilt and cut out some blocks. Sandie was crocheting a blanket for the Hilltowns. Marie brought in her empty jars to give away. She had sent all the buttons that were in the jars to her daughter and brought us the empties. They were grabbed up fast. We had some books and magazines to give away. Most of those went. Next week we'll be back to normal. The show's over and we've had our celebration-- now it's time to get to work again! I'll pull out the next raffle quilt which we started a year or so ago and see where we left off. I'm sure we'll need some more blocks.

Today we had 20 ladies attend the meeting. Rosemary's friend Martha joined us today for the first time and Mary Ann made a return appearance so that she could see the quilt show before we take it down. We will be taking it down next Tuesday. Today was the day for freebie magazines--collections from 3 different people! Everyone is trying to weed out their collections! I wish I could resist but I always end up taking some home to add to my already overloaded shelves. Too many projects, so little time! Fran brought in a redwork piece made in 1909 by Dorothy Sullivan. She had made it but didn't want to store it anymore so Fran bought it from her, put on a backing and is getting it ready for the Delmar quilt show (in April) to be in with the antique quilts. It is an amazing piece with around 70 different redwork blocks. Fran says it lives on the bed in her small bedroom. Cathy M. is working on a quilt that her Altamont group is making. This quilt is made up of many blocks, not all the same size. Everyone is using their own fabrics so that they all look very different. It will be a nice collection for their quilt show. Sandy was knitting some very pretty socks. Marie has picked out a sock pattern to start knitting too. Jo-Ann was almost finished with the sweater she is knitting. Some of us just spent the afternoon looking at all of the donated magazines. I'm going to put in some more of the pictures from our quilt show in this blog--there are still a lot that need to be shown.