18 ladies attended today. Deb brought in her quilt and she and I finished sewing down the binding. Jo-Ann continued working on her scarf but late in the afternoon she started un-knitting it! Fran was knitting a hat. Pat L. had started embroidering a wool candle mat with a bird on a branch. It was very cute. Sandie passed around pictures of her new baby granddaughter--Elke Apple. She is a very cute little baby. Hattie brought her friend Heidi with her today. Heidi and Marguerite worked together at Macy's. Ethel is making a cross-stitch Christmas stocking for her new grandbaby. Please let me know next week if you plan to attend our Christmas lunch at the Grapevine. Deb, Jo-Ann and I are driving and I hope we each have full cars.

13 ladies attended Nimblefingers yesterday.  I brought in several show and tell items: a twin size scrap quilt I made a couple of years ago and finally got around to binding; a quilt begun in an Accuquilt workshop; and a modern quilt made with a charm pack. I also brought in my Fiesta Day of the Dead quilt which I was going to work on---sewing on the binding. But Deb brought in her big Lone Star quilt and wanted help tying it so I did that instead. Cathy Y came in late and brought her daughter Natasha. It's always nice to see her again. Winnie had expressed an interest in going to the Grapevine in Cobleskill for our Christmas lunch. So I called them up and made a reservation. Unfortunately, it sounds like no one else is that interested in going that far for lunch. I'll take a vote when we have more attendance. I had also spoken to Elaine about having her husband prepare another travel talk show so we thought we could have a pot luck lunch in January where Bob could show us his Nova Scotia pictures. He's a good narrator so it's fun to hear and see his pictures. Fran was working on a large appliqued quilt top. Pat OR was making placemats. Jo-Anne is knitting a scarf. Pat L. was making another scarf. Linda was also knitting but I'm not sure what she was making. After the meeting Deb and Pat L. accompanied me to Marie's house to check on her. She was very tired. Her power went off in the middle of the night and she had a heck of a time making her way to the bathroom in the dark. It also shut off her oxygen so she had trouble breathing. As a result she didn't get much sleep. She was happy to see us but looked like she couldn't wait for bedtime. She did get the small oxygen tanks so she claims she will be joining us soon.

19 ladies attended today. Sue Rei. brought in her finished table runner challenge. She did it in Christmas fabrics, fussy cutting the framed blocks. It was very pretty and reminded many of us that we need to get busy and make our challenge runner. I brought in a tote bag I made in a workshop last week. There was no pattern given out at this workshop--you were just on your own to make it up as you went along. Fortunately, I've made a few tote bags and knew the basic design and I brought along my African fabrics to use so my bag turned out pretty nice even if I do say so myself. Fran gave us an account of her Cuba trip. It sounded really interesting. Too bad it's so hard to get to Cuba. There were a lot of knitters today. Winter is coming, as is Christmas, so stockings, scarves and other warm items will be needed soon. Christmas luncheon has not been decided yet. I hope we have that set next week.

17 ladies attended today. I brought in my purchases from the International Quilt Festival as well as some fat quarter gifts. I had a great time, spent way too much money and got very sore feet but I'd go back again in a second! Kathy O. got one of her One-block Wonder quilts back from her daughter, the long-arm quilter. It was black and white and red and just beautiful! She also brought in her picture of her daughter with Linda Crannell and her sister Chris. Some of us know the Crannell girls as granddaughters of Betty Smith. It's really nice for Kathy's daughter and for Linda and Chris to have a friend from their old hometown where they are currently living. Edie Martin brought in about 10 quilts for Marguerite to take to Albany med for the terminally ill patients. Edie is a very productive quilter. We were all very impressed. Cathy M. is in the hospital today getting a pacemaker. Our thoughts are with her. Deb was back after a bad bout of fibromyalgia. And Pat L. is walking better every week. She didn't even have her cane with her this week. We still have had no sight of Fran. I'm still waiting to hear about Cuba. Maybe next week.

15 ladies attended today. Jo-Anne brought in a quilt she won in a raffle at a spinal cord benefit. It was a single Irish chain scrap quilt made by someone in the Delmar Q.U.I.L.T. group. It was very pretty. Elaine brought in her finished souvenir Grand Canyon table runner. It turned out perfectly! It's a wonderful remembrance of an amazing trip. Pat OR was back. She's been away a couple of weeks. She says Fran is indeed back and had a wonderful time in Cuba. She should be back to Nimblefingers next week. Diane C. brought in a friend today who needed some help with her crocheting so Pat L. and Marguerite gave her some advice. Pat L. reported that Deb is feeling very low with her fibromyalgia. Give her a call if you are able. I visited Marie last Friday. I helped her finish the quilt she has been working on. It is a two-sided quilt (both sides are beautiful) and the back quilt was not as big as the front quilt so I added on a large border. It's ready to go to the longarm quilter now. Tomorrow I am off to Houston to the International Quilt Festival. I'll meet my little sister there and we will take classes, look at the quilt show, spend lots of money at the vendors and have a few margaritas to celebrate! I know we will have a great time! When I come home I'll get together with Marie again and see if we can't get her quilt off to be quilted. I know she wants to have it in our February show.

20 ladies attended today--a big day! Linda H. is finished with the farmer's market so she was back after a long absence. Pat L. came in just 3 weeks after her 2nd knee surgery. She looked good and seemed much more optimistic about getting back to normal. Deb was also there. She took care of Pat after the surgery. Diane M. took the day off work to come in. She is moving to South Carolina in December so needs to use up her sick and vacation time at work. Jo-Anne, Diane and I have done the shop hops together for the last few years and I just don't think it will be the same without Diane at the wheel chauffeuring us around. Diane is also a calming presence when Jo-Anne and I find ourselves in a shopping frenzy. We're still eagerly awaiting Fran's return from Cuba. I'm afraid she missed her flight and is still there. I hope they have some fabric shops there or Fran will never survive! I was still telling my David Taylor workshop tales to those who didn't hear them last week. Jean brought in a cute tissue box holder that looked like a teapot. (I'll try to get the pictures in). She also had this little coin purse she bought some time ago made of one long zipper. It was soooo cool! I hope she does figure out how to make it so that she can teach all of us. Diane spent her summer in South Carolina inside the air conditioning sewing so brought in a quilt she made for her husband, a baby quilt and 2 small wall hangings. She says that's only some of the things she made. Diane also brought in some snowman ornaments made of the wrapped clothesline--just like the baskets we made in a workshop. It makes a cute little ornament. There was lots of talk today with so many people there. After Nimblefingers I went over to visit Marie to see how she was doing. Rosemary was there when I arrived so I got to check up on her too. Rosemary was feeling a little sore after an encounter with an SUV but will probably be back next week. Marie seemed to be in fine spirits. She's still waiting to get her portable oxygen so that she can get out of the house. I'm going to go over again to help her work on her quilt later this week.

Yesterday 14 ladies attended. Sandie was back from her long vacation. She and her husband drove across the northern U.S. stopping in Michigan to visit the Gerald Ford Presidential library and the upper peninsula which she thought was beautiful. Then on over to North Dakota and the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Then on to Montana and Glacier park. Down to Wyoming and Yellowstone park which closed while they were there. They would told they needed to leave within two days and that there could be no driving around the park looking at things--NO recreating! The park was closed due to the government shutdown. They enjoyed their trip but were happy to return home. I spent two days last week with award-winning quilter David Taylor. I attended his workshop on Thursday and Friday he spoke to the Delmar Q.U.I.L.T. group. He was absolutely hilarious! I don't remember when I've laughed so much! He was also a good teacher. He does amazing pictorial quilts, often of animals. They are truly remarkable. His technique is very involved and is all applique. I haven't done applique in years but I wanted to take his workshop so I'm trying it again. So I told the ladies at my end of the table some of his tips and some of his jokes. I highly recommend seeing him if you ever get a chance. Who doesn't like to laugh?! Fran wasn't at the meeting. I was hoping to see her and hear all about Cuba. Next week I hope. Marguerite was back from Hilton Head. They had beautiful weather and all had a good time. Now Harry is retired from his job at the library so Marguerite is keeping him busy with work around the house and yard. I know we'll all miss seeing him at the library but we'll be able to keep up with him through Marguerite.

11 ladies attended today. We had one newcomer who needed help knitting a Christmas stocking. I recognized her from being a frequent library patron. She got some help but she might keep coming as the Christmas stocking is not getting any easier. Kathy O. was back today from her summer up North. This is the first time she's come back to us without a new pattern to teach us! She did bring in a wrapped basket/vase she had made. I brought in my 2 wrapped baskets but hers was more impressive
because she made it in two parts and hand sewed them together to make a vase that is narrow at the top and wide in the middle. Jean brought in some items she had bought somewhere. They were fish made out of empty soda bottles, covered in fabric pieces and modge podged. They were really cool looking! They would make great bathroom ornaments! Cathy C. who is leaving for the South soon brought in a finished quilt she made for an elderly lady which was beautiful--rose flower fabric on a pale yellow background. It looked very soft and Romantic (as in the Romantic movement). Cathy does a great job with her quilts. Jo-Anne brought in the yarn she bought at the wool festival this weekend. One of her pieces of yarn had a big knot in it so Kathy O., Cathy Y. and Cathy C. all worked on unraveling it. Thank goodness for all the Cathy's! Our friend Fran is down in Cuba now. I wonder if she's sitting on a beach drinking rum punch, or out salsa-ing with her husband! I'm sure she's having a good time whatever she's doing. I don't know where everyone is today. The weather is nice so it's possible they're all using the time to rake leaves. Hopefully they will be back next week.

14 ladies attended today. Cathy C. had requested to see my Accuquilt Go which I am scheduled to demonstrate to the Village Quilters in January. She'll be in Florida then but wanted to see it so I brought mine in, with all my dies, and gave the group a demonstration. I think everyone was impressed. Tina asked for help carrying my Go out to her car so I think she, at least, was impressed. Best of all though, on Monday when I was thinking about bringing it in I wanted to find a quilt pattern that would use the cutting dies. I found one and decided that it would work well for a scrap quilt made from the fat quarters you all gave me as a retirement present so now I've officially begun that quilt! It makes an 18" block so it should go pretty fast. I probably have enough fabric to make a couple of them. Other news, Fran is getting very excited about her upcoming trip to Cuba. She leaves on Sunday. In a couple of weeks we should have some good stories to hear. Marguerite brought in a quilt top she made using squares that someone donated to the group. She used a very bright, cheerful blue for the lattice and borders so it was a very happy little quilt. Barbara M. and Cathy C. have their quilts in the hall this month. They are totally awesome!

Yesterday 15 ladies attended. Ellen and Sue had taken a class to make a Halloween quilt which they brought in to add embellishments. They were very cute. It was a class on machine applique taken at the Log Cabin fabric shop. Jo-Anne, Diane M. and I are all taking a class on clothesline basket making this weekend. I'm looking forward to that. I brought in a bunch of quilts to sandwich, I finished 3 out of 4 (with some help from Elaine) before I ran out of batting. They should keep me busy for awhile anyway.  Fran is looking forward to her trip to Cuba which is coming up soon. It was already cancelled once so she's keeping her fingers crossed. She has a meeting about it this week so she's hoping it's to make final arrangements, not announcing that it's off again! Sue R., Betty, Cathy, Fran and I all participated in the Apple festival at the Altamont fairgrounds last weekend so we had some discussion about that. Rosemary reported that Marie was not doing so well, Winnie and Jean visited her last week after the farmer's market and that cheered her up immensely but she's not getting enough visitors. She's lonely and frustrated at not being able to get out of the house. Jo-Anne and I stopped by after Nimble fingers for a visit and I am going over Thursday to help her with a quilt. She was going to the doctor today to find out if she could get a portable oxygen tank so we are hoping she gets it. That would allow her to travel again and she really misses Nimblefingers. I'll find out tomorrow when I go. In the meantime, if you have some time to spare, stop by for a visit. She would greatly appreciate it.

Yesterday 14 ladies attended. Jo-Anne C. and I had gone on a bus trip sponsored by Log Cabin fabrics the previous day. We went to a quilt store in Ithaca which was really nice, then to a quilt store in Syracuse which wasn't as good. It was a full day trip and we came home tired and a little lighter in the pocketbook but it was fun. I brought my purchases in to show everyone. I didn't spend as much as I was afraid I would (considering that I didn't need a single thing!) but Jo-Anne did her part to keep the quilt stores in the black. Marguerite is back with us now that school has started. She was baby-sitting all summer with her grand kids. She still has to leave early but at least she can spend some time with us. Marie is still at home recovering. After the meeting Cathy M. and I went over to visit with her for a bit. Apparently she fell down on Monday and had to have her son come rescue her but she seemed pretty good on Tuesday. She and Rosemary were just sitting down outside to watch the world pass by when we arrived. Pat L. is going to be having knee surgery again. The last surgery was botched by her previous doctor and she's been in pain ever since. Now she has a new doctor who's supposed to be the top guy so hopefully she'll feel much better soon. Right now she's still waiting for the date to be set. Cathy M. will be getting a pacemaker next week. I hope that goes well for her. Everyone is asking when Tina and Kathy O., our summer campers, will be returning. I bet we see Tina first because her camp is farther north but we'll see! Now for what people are working on: Elaine has to make a block for the musical group to which she belongs (they are making a group quilt) so she asked me for some advice; Joanne R., our newest member, is determined to teach herself to crochet granny squares; Ethel finished her teddy bear needlepoint for one of her new granddaughters (I'm having a hard time keeping track of her grandchildren any more); Pat OR is working on her wool mitten Christmas ornaments; Fran is appliqueing; and I'm not sure about everyone else. I am getting ready for the Apple Festival in Altamont this weekend. Some of us will be selling items there. I hope we have nice weather and lots of people looking for Christmas presents!

11 ladies attended today--a small group. Must be summer vacation time! Rosemary greeted us with unfortunate news: Marie was in the hospital. She developed a high fever Saturday night so they took her to the ER. At first they thought she had double pneumonia but the diagnosis was later changed to a urinary tract infection. She should be home tomorrow. Her daughter from California is visiting and I know Marie wanted to bring her to Nimblefingers but it looks like she might not make it this year. Marie was probably lucky that her daughter was staying with her and could be here to take care of her. Other Nimblefinger news, Jo-Ann was back from visiting her son and family in Seattle. She had managed a trip to a quilt show so brought in her new goodies to show us. Fran was also back--from her stint at the Altamont fair. She reported on her bus trip to Lowell, Mass. to the quilt show and quilt museum. It was an adventurous trip with traffic jams on the Mass turnpike and one person getting locked on the bus at a stop. I don't know about the quilt show, but I think the New England Quilt Museum is a great place. It's small but really nice. She said the exhibit there was on "cheddar" quilts. I saw a talk on "cheddar" quilts at the Houston quilt festival one year so I know exactly what she was talking about--a lot of "cheddar" quilts came from a particular area of North Carolina where they made the dye that produced the color cheddar. I was told that the bus to the show was full but apparently it was actually only half full (people may have decided to skip it because it was a very rainy day). I'm sorry I missed it. Other news, Agnes showed Winnie how to take pictures with her cell phone camera so she proceeded to take pictures of all of us. She particularly wanted to get pictures of Joan who will be moving eventually to Delaware. Joan assured me that she will probably be here through the winter so Winnie doesn't need to start missing her yet. Joan brought in some needle work projects to give away as she is trying to downsize. Cathy M also brought in a big stack of quilt magazines to give away. We all want to get rid of our excess. Cathy Y wasn't here today because her daughter is coming for a visit. Maybe we'll see her daughter next week. She's a knitter so Cathy often brings her to the group. That's all the news for today. Hi to Kathy O and Tina, our campers! We miss you!

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Yesterday we had 14 ladies in attendance. It was another gray, rainy day. We assumed the group was small because everyone was already celebrating the 4th of July. Nevertheless, we had a nice time. Jo-Ann told us about the jazz festival at Spac. She saw Tony Bennett, 84 years old and still going strong. That must have been really nice. I personally love Tony Bennett. I have many of the CD's he's made with pop singers and I listen to them all the time. She also saw Buddy Guy and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Sounds like fun! Elaine L. came back to join us and brought her son Caiden. She also brought her portable spinning wheel and sat spinning cashmere. We were all oohing and aahing over the soft cashmere. Fran demonstrated a different way to do applique: marking the pattern on the back and basting on the pieces. Having the pieces basted on makes them easier to turn under for some reason and therefore makes applique easier. Elaine S. brought in a self-published book her husband Robert made of their Grand Canyon rafting trip and passed that around. I brought in my finished wool candle mat. I watched a lot of TV on Sunday so got it finished. Sue Rk. was sewing the binding on a wall hanging she made for her new baby grandson. It was a Sue Pritt pattern of a mama duck with baby ducks following, the last baby duck wearing boots. It was very cute. I took pictures and will add them when I figure out how to do it. This is my first blog posting from home (since I'm retired now!). I will try to make this a habit so that I don't miss weeks because I know my vacationing ladies like to keep us with us. Speaking of which, thanks for the card Kathy! It was very apropos! I wouldn't mind visiting that island paradise!

It's been ages since I blogged so I thought I'd try today. Last Tuesday we had 15 ladies. Fran, who has "Finish a UFO" challenges for 2 different quilt groups, has been busily finishing some of her early quilts. This week she brought in her 2nd of these former UFO's. It was a dark red and green sampler quilt. We all oooo'd and ahhhh'd over it. She has Linda Denner do the quilting. Linda always does a spectacular job. She doesn't do the all-over designs, she individualizes the quilting patterns to the quilt. Fran used a large purple and green cheater cloth for the back of the quilt. It is a very attractive back so I suppose Fran could use either side of the quilt. Deb and Pat L. were back. We haven't seen them in awhile. Deb's been off body surfing in South Carolina while Pat has been at home nursing her still aching knee. Daryl has hurt her shoulder and needed some help cutting borders and backing for a pretty quilt she is making for her granddaughter. Betty K. brought in some very cute button flowers she had made. They are pieces of wire with buttons attached at one end with little curl-i-cues sticking out on the side. She had been to a birthday party where they had a vase filled with these button flowers and people stuck a $1 bill in the curl-i-cues as a present for the birthday girl. She says they are easy to make but you need to use the right weight of wire. Betty goes to South Carolina for the winter and always comes back with some easy project ideas for us. She said that this last winter she took Fran's little triangle thread holder idea down to South Carolina and they all loved it! Now they will probably expect her to bring down ideas every time she comes! Rosemary was beginning a new flower vase needlepoint piece. Elaine is sewing the binding on her Grand Canyon table runner. Sue made, and finished, the challenge table runner I gave the group for our February 2014 show. She made it from soft batiks. It was really pretty! I predict we may have a first place winner already (actually she is the winner so far since she's the only one who's made one!)! Fran pulled out some of the yarn necklaces she had made and told me to pick one which she gave to me. Thank you Fran--it's beautiful! Jo-Ann was also making some yarn necklaces. They probably ought to show Betty this project so she can take it to South Carolina with her. Tina and Kathy have both gone north for the summer. I hope they don't get rained out. So far it's been a very wet summer here.

19 ladies attended today. Nancy F., whose sister Dorothy began Nimblefingers many years ago, joined us today. Her daughter had made a quilt top and was sick of looking at it so was going to throw it away. Nancy rescued it, took it to Lew the Quiltsmith for quilting and now has a beautiful quilt! She's going to give it back to her daughter with the understanding that it should eventually go to the granddaughter.

21 ladies attended today. Two of our snowbirds have returned home: Jean K. and Betsey. It was nice to see them again. I think Jean will stick around for awhile but Betsey is off and running--NJ, AZ, Cape Cod, then who knows where. She doesn't sit still for a minute. We were also pleased to see Cathy Y's daughter Natasha again. Cathy kindly brings her to Nimblefingers when she visits. I have the feeling our two snowbirds who go north for the summer, Tina and Kathy O. are getting ready to set off for their summer adventure. Neither one of them were here yesterday so I bet they are preparing their summer nests. But we had a crowd as it was. Marie's back is feeling better so she was back again and she brought in her almost completed quilt to show us and to get some advice on what to do about borders and backing. So, here's the rundown: Elaine is working on her Grand Canyon table runners; Marguerite is cross-stitching an unfinished project she picked up here; Sandie was crocheting a very interesting looking baby toy; Jean K. was cutting fabric strips and squares; Linda H. was knitting a baby afghan; Natasha was crocheting baby hats; Fran was appliqueing; Sue R. was crocheting a dishcloth but also showed us the bowl cozy you use for microwaving; I brought in some of my fabric stash to give away (I can't believe I did that!); and Jo-Ann was cutting fabric for a workshop which she and I are taking this Friday. I'll be spending my night tonight and tomorrow doing my homework for the class. Last weekend Jo-Ann, myself, Joyce L. and Cathy M. all took a bus trip to the Somers, NY quilt show. It is one of the art-ier quilt shows around and I love it. I always leave with some ideas to try. Everyone in the group is asking questions about my retirement and how it will affect Nimblefingers. I haven't worked it out with my boss yet but I promise I'm not going to quit coming. I expect to have so many projects that I'm working on that I'll have lots of new quilts, and new ideas to show and tell.

14 ladies attended this week. Marguerite brought in her finished mile-a-minute quilt. She had done beautiful hand quilting but the quilt top is so dark that you can't see it. She was disappointed with that but sees it as a lesson learned. She also made a quilt top from the fruit/vegee fabric mistake blocks we made last summer. She'll finish it up and take it to the hospital. She also challenged me to make something from these mistake blocks. I have them at home and actually had a really good idea just this morning of what I ought to do with them. Elaine brought in a yarn necklace someone had given her. She showed Sandie so that Sandie could figure out how it was made, make a pattern for it, and teach us all to make one. Next week we might all be crocheting necklaces. Jo-Ann finished knitting her red swirly scarf and started another from red, white and blue yarn. Tina was cro-hooking a bright yellow afghan. Ellen was hand quilting her English paper pieced quilt. I pulled out the donation quilt to continue tying. Jo-Ann brought in her chop to show us. It is a carved stamp of her name in Japanese script. Artists use them to sign their work. She got it from the National Geographic catalog and it was really cool. It would make a very nice gift. Not many people attended today but it was very nice weather outside. We assumed people were at home raking. It is getting to be gardening season.

Finally, I've got Marie's birthday pictures! Here they are... Like I said before, we all had a good time and I think Marie will remember this birthday and the many parties she had for a long time.
This Tuesday we had 17 ladies attend. Marie brought in some of her braided rugs to show us. She makes them out of polyester fabric so they are indestructible. She showed us how she makes them, one with a funny looking thick, bent needle, another with an old toothbrush handle. She says that toothbrush handle is the most dear tool she owns because she and her husband made it. Marie is so talented. We can all take a lesson from her. Our other great teacher, Sandie, taught us how to make a knot in knitting or crochet yarn that will absolutely not come undone and that doesn't have tails that have to be woven into the piece. She called it a miracle knot and it truly was. I think that knot was new even to Marie! Sue R. was back from her winter in South Carolina. Betty should be back soon. Our winter snow birds are starting to fly home. I brought in a quilt which had been donated and Sue and I began tying it. I told the ladies that earlier that morning I had gone to get my hair cut and the beauty salon was selling the swirly scarves they've all been making for $30. I don't know if the salon was taking a cut (one of their customers made them) but $30 is alot when you can get 3 scarves out of 1 skein of yarn!

On Tuesday we had 20 ladies in attendance. Fran asked to use a sewing machine so I got out the one which I had just had in for servicing. It worked like a dream Fran said. She was making another jelly roll quilt out of pink fabrics. It should be very pretty. Deb and Linda spent the time looking at boats for sale on ebay. Deb wants to buy a new boat. She's working on building a fleet just for her. Pat OR is nearly finished with her penny rug which doesn't have any pennies on it but is beautiful flowers and leaves. Elaine was planning her Grand Canyon table runner. She has purchased fabrics with a desert look so that she can make a memory table runner of her vacation rafting down the Colorado river through the Grand Canyon. Marie said she was about birthday-d out. She had at least 3 separate birthday parties so was ready to get back to normal. She has a quilt top nearing completion so when she gets the back ready we'll head over to the Quiltsmith to spend some of her birthday present from Nimblefingers. (I know, I know... I still haven't downloaded the birthday pictures. I'll try to do that this weekend). Easter is coming up this weekend so Easter bunny Jo-Ann brought in a basket full of Easter candy baggies--one for each of us. Next year I'm going to buy her some bunny ears.  She's very sweet to think of us. Jo-Ann was also taking lessons from Kathy O. on how to crochet the swirly scarf. She's already knitting one but wanted to know how to crochet one too. Cathy M. was knitting socks, Marguerite and Joan were cross-stitching and Agnes was crocheting more scrubbies. Everyone was keeping busy except me who had only brought books to look at. Someone brought in some giveaway fabric which seemed to disappear quickly. Anyway, as usual, a good time was had by all.

20 ladies attended today. It was a special day--we celebrated Marie's 90th birthday! We had cake, singing, cards and a present but best of all Marie told us some of her stories. We all had a wonderful time. She loves the group and we all love her so it was a very nice time. Rosemary (whose job it was to make sure Marie came today) brought Nancy who is a friend of hers and Marie's. She's also the sister of Dorothy Colvin, the original leader of Nimblefingers so I was happy to see her there. Tina brought a friend, Gladys and our friend Elaine L. also came today. Tina was learning to crochet the scarf everyone has been making. Jo-Ann was on the other side of the table knitting the same scarf. I may have to give it a try one of these days, otherwise I'll be the only one in the group who doesn't have one! Kathy O. and I both brought quilts for Marguerite to take to the hospital for the terminal patients. I took some pictures today but on my own personal camera. I'll have to go home and download them before I can add them to this post. So keep watching!

We had 17 ladies attending last Tuesday. I was busy sandwiching a couple of quilts early in the meeting but as I settled down I noticed some embroidery going on this week. Sue R. was embroidering a penny rug. Linda H. was embroidering a snowflake. And Ethel was working on a sampler. That's only 3 but that's more than ususal. Elaine was getting advice from Sandie on making her next quilt with her Arizona fabrics. Tina had started a new knitted afghan. Agnes was crocheting a scarf. I've got to find out how she does it because I know how to crochet. Marie was wearing a blouse upon which she had sewn some lace which she had made. I don't remember the name of that kind of lace but it was beautiful. Cathy M. finished one of a pair of knitted socks. And I've forgotten what everyone else was working on but as usual we had a great time!

We have so many pictures of the show and I want all of our members who are away to be able to see them so I'll add some more here. I showed the ladies just a couple of weeks ago how to make a simple pineapple. Both Agnes and Winnie have completed pineapples in the show. And this year Tina and Fran went chicken crazy. I hoped to make a chicken too but never got around to it. They are sooo cute though! It is so hard to get these pictures lined up in the blog. I'm trying but so far it's not cooperating. I won't give up though!

 Today was our Open House for our quilt show. We had at least 62 people attend. I'm sure we had more who didn't sign in. I think it was very successful. Several people said they thought this was the best show yet. That may be but I suspect that every year is the best show yet. Kathy O. demonstrated the Hidden 4-patch and the Disappearing 9-patch blocks. Jo-Anne brought in her card-making supplies and we all made valentines for our sweeties. Sandie was on hand to demonstrate the circular scarves we've all been making or just to talk knitting. We had a bed-turning show as well. Several members brought in old family quilts. We also showed the 4 friendship quilts made by some of us many years ago in Nimblefingers. Plus we had quilts that we just didn't have room for in the show. We had lots of delicious goodies to eat and punch to drink. Cathy Y. brought her daughter from Pennsylvania who was visiting. She was thrilled to be here on party day. Quite a few husbands visited, enjoyed the goodies and were glad of a place to sit down while their wives roamed. All in all it might very well be our best Open House yet.

 

23 ladies attended today plus Homer who played a very important role: he hung our quilts for us! That's right, the quilt show is up and ready for viewing! Everything looks beautiful. I haven't taken pictures yet but will start posting them as soon as I do. Our group has grown so we had a lot of quilts to show, especially large quilts. Unfortunately, we didn't have room for everyone's large quilts. So we will have a lot to show at our bed-turning during the Open House next Tuesday. Besides our overflow we will have some antique quilts and friendship quilts made by the group many years ago. I hope we get a good turn out

 because it is a nice show this year. We have a row of challenge table runners--all from the same pattern but using different fabrics. We'll let people vote on those and see whose is the favorite. We don't ask for votes on best of show. I always find it way too hard to choose. Today Tina's son was in photographing the show and a little later Kathy O. was in with her camera. While she was here she sold one of her scarfs right off the display rack! If everyone does that we won't have any left to show!

18 ladies attended today. I think we're all getting excited about our upcoming quilt and craft show which we will be setting up on Feb. 5th. Several people were working on their table runners. It will be fun to see them all together. Elaine brought in some of her grandmother's works: some crazy patch pillows with beautiful embroidery, and a red and white quilt that was just exquisite! She'll bring the quilt back for our bed-turning on Feb. 12th at the open house. The fabric on the pillows is starting to disintegrate unfortunately, so Sandie told her of a place to take it to see if they can help to restore them. Mary Ann got out a sewing machine and finished her strip pieced top. It's such an interesting process on that quilt. You don't know how it will look when you're finished nor do you know how big it will be but it's fun to make it anyway and just be surprised. Marguerite discovered that she had made a strip top some time ago so finished it up to give to Albany Med.

We had 16 ladies attend yesterday. Ethel brought in her finished and framed crossk-stitch samplers she made commemorating her daughters marriage and her granddaughters birth. Both were beautiful. Good job Ethel! I had told her that I had thought of joining the Embroidery guild but felt somewhat intimidated after seeing their gorgeous work in the display case so Ethel brought in her second crewel piece to show me that not everything people did were difficult. Sandie and Fran were back this week. Both were out with the flu. This is a bad year for the flu if you didn't get a flu shot. Fortunately, everyone else seems pretty healthy. Tina brought in another chicken quilt top. She has made copies of pictures in books of Gwen Marstons' chickens and made her own versions. They are so cute! Mary Ann was also back this week. We haven't seen her for awhile but her work situation changed so now she can come to Nimblefingers again. I volunteered to teach the Village Quilter a simple pineapple block that I learned in a workshop using a book by Karin Hellaby. I haven't been able to find time at home to make sure that I remember how to do it so I set up the sewing machine and tried it out on some fabric we had in our stash. Once I was sure I could do it, I demonstrated it to the group. They were quite pleased because it is very simple. We'll see if anyone shows up next week with finished simple pineapple blocks. We also learned yesterday that Agnes is back from her trip but has come down with shingles! So far they don't hurt so I hope it stays that way. That's certainly no way to start the new year!

I finally downloaded some pictures from the camera. I can't remember when Betsey brought in the confirmation quilt she had made for her grandson but I wanted to post the pictures so here they are.

13 ladies attended today. It's been a long time since we met since Christmas and New Year's were on a Tuesday. I hope everyone hasn't forgotten us! Our small group still had a good time though. Marie is still cleaning out--she brought us 2 bags of fabric, sewing stuff, and other craft supplies and books. I brought in 2 table runners to sandwich and Elaine brought in 1 also to sandwich. Marguerite was asking for advice regarding a sweater she would like to turn into a wall hanging for her daughter. Cathy M. and Kathy O. were comparing notes on the circular scarf. Jo-Ann was also in on that conversation. Daryl is planning a lunch for us on Jan. 23rd, a Wednesday. Let me or Daryl know if you can come.

On December 11th Nimblefingers had their annual Christmas lunch. I ordered food from a local place, Dominick’s. It cost $7.75 per person and I tried to take into consideration my ladies various tastes and food limitations, i.e. gluten free and no tomato sauce. Everyone seemed happy with the selection and we didn’t have a lot of leftovers  so I think it was successful. The lunch was followed by a showing of Bob and Elaine Suss’s vacation pictures of rafting down the Colorado river. Husbands were invited so we had 30 people in attendance—only a few staff participated. It was all very nice. I think Deb has already booked her trip to Arizona!