Nimblefingers News

2012-01-24T15:21:00.003-05:00

21 ladies attended today and what a surprise for me--they presented me with an absolutely gorgeous quilt!! Made from wild colors and patterns just like I like!! Daryl even called the Altamont Enterprise to come take pictures! Apparently they've been plotting behind my back, meeting in the bathroom to hand out fabric. What a sneaky bunch of women! And I never caught on! Some detective I'd make! Needless to say, I am overwhelmed. Tuesday afternoon is my fun time at work, getting to play with fabrics, etc. and getting to talk to and get to know so many wonderful women. It's been a real joy for me. Plus, I've learned a lot about needlework and life from all of them. This group holds a special place in my heart, and I expect in many of their hearts as well. We have definitely become a close knit group which is surprising since our numbers seem to grow over time. New people are welcomed and just seem to fit right in almost immediately. What a group! You couldn't ask for a better one and I am pleased and proud that it is my group. Thank you so much all of you for the beautiful quilt and most of all for your friendship!

2012-01-19T17:20:00.002-05:00

21 ladies attended on Tuesday. I brought in the table runner top I made in a simple pineapple workshop with Bob Silverman of the Joyful Quilter. It was a fun workshop and an easy block. I'll plan on demonstrating it to the group after our show--in March. Jo-Ann came in with a pretty pink moebius scarf she had made. I also brought in an old quilt book that had a picture of a moebius quilt in it. I challenged Sandy and Kathy O. to make a moebius quilt. We'll see if either of them do it. Sandy took the book home but didn't sound too hopeful about finding time for yet another project. Elaine L. who used to be a regular member but had to stop coming when she went back to work after having a baby came in today. She was between semesters (at Skidmore where she teaches) so thought she'd spend some time knitting. It was nice to see her again. Today a bunch of us went to Daryl's for lunch. For those of you who couldn't attend you missed a very nice lunch. Daryl's husband made some really good lasagna, Daryl a salad and 2 yummy desserts! A fine time was had by all. Thank you Daryl for your kindness and your hospitality.

2012-01-10T16:51:00.002-05:00

17 ladies attended today. There was a lot of knitting and needlework going on today. Cathy Y and Cathy M were both starting new knit scarves. Rosemary had a new needlepoint to work on. Marie got some more pattern reading help from Sandy on her new knitting project. From the more fabric oriented of us, Fran was cutting out fabric for placemats. Deb was attempting to cover her headband with scraps of fleece. Marguerite was still quilting her mile-a-minute little girl quilt. Kathy O. had 1 strip from a Christmas quilt she is working on. The only show and tell was a Santa stuck in the chimney from Jean K.; Marguerite's finished lone star quilt beautifully hand quilted; and my thread trimming ball (made from little bits of thread and fabric). I announced our upcoming library programs: Kris Driessen on 1/29/12 from 2-4 talking about Civil War era textiles; our quilt & craft show plus open house in February; and 2/26/12 Kris Driessen's workshop on making a civil war quilt block (sign-up is necessary for this program). Also, Daryl has kindly invited us all to lunch on 1/19/12 at 12:00.

2011-12-27T16:45:00.002-05:00

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.

2011-12-20T15:45:00.003-05:00

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!

2011-12-16T10:50:00.008-05:00

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.

2011-11-30T11:54:00.002-05:00

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.

2011-11-23T11:43:00.002-05:00

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.

2011-11-15T15:45:00.004-05:00

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.

2011-10-26T12:52:00.003-04:00

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.

2011-10-13T15:34:00.002-04:00

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.

2011-10-06T15:53:00.004-04:00

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.

2011-09-20T15:45:00.002-04:00

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.

2011-09-14T09:49:00.008-04:00

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.

2011-08-31T11:41:00.002-04:00

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.

2011-08-23T15:12:00.003-04:00

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!

2011-08-03T10:19:00.008-04:00

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!

2011-07-27T09:53:00.002-04:00

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.

2011-07-12T17:20:00.002-04:00

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).

2011-07-08T10:39:00.003-04:00

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

2011-07-06T13:48:00.003-04:00

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.

2011-06-28T15:38:00.005-04:00

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.

2011-06-14T15:45:00.003-04:00

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.

2011-06-07T17:02:00.002-04:00

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!

2011-05-17T15:19:00.002-04:00

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.

2011-05-10T20:20:00.002-04:00

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.

2011-05-10T15:26:00.002-04:00

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.

2011-05-03T16:43:00.002-04:00

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.

2011-04-28T13:38:00.002-04:00

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.

2011-04-12T16:19:00.003-04:00

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.

2011-04-07T16:11:00.008-04:00

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.

2011-03-29T15:45:00.005-04:00

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.

2011-03-22T16:35:00.002-04:00

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.

2011-03-15T16:01:00.002-04:00

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.

2011-03-08T16:48:00.002-05:00

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.

2011-02-22T15:27:00.009-05:00

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.

2011-02-15T15:32:00.005-05:00

We had 21 ladies attend today. It was a very busy day. Lots of show and tell, lots of work needing to be done and lots of fabric and magazines to give away. We haven't even taken this show down but already I can tell next years show will be spectacular! We gained one new member this week. She came to the reception last week and decided to give us a try. I hope she'll choose to keep coming. Our show and tell was from new member Sandy (Laurel Burch fabrics), Joyce (the children's librarian--stencilled), Fran (leaves) and Cathy M. (black and white Flying Geese block of the month last year). Tina brought in her maple leaf quilt to sandwich but then decided she would rather have it machine quilted. So Elaine brought out her musical blocks to lay out. Her plan is to sew the rows together this week. It will be really special when it's finished. I told her that all of her musician friends will start giving her orders! Toward the end of the meeting Sue Ann came in with upholstery samples to give us hoping we will make various items. She plans to return to see our work in a couple of weeks. Pat H. also brought in fabrics to give away. Many of us are going home with much more than we came with. Marie came in with some good news--she's found an apartment! They don't have an opening right now but she filled out the papers so that they'll call her when they do. It's near Pat O.'s place so that when they have trips for the residents, Pat and Marie can go together! I think it's a real load off Marie's mind to have found a place that she really likes. I still haven't finished putting pictures from the quilt show on the blog but I won't add any today since we had show and share.

2011-02-09T12:24:00.010-05:00

More pictures from the show:

2011-01-27T14:30:00.000-05:00

Many thanks to all the Quilters who completed dresses for the Circle K Kiwanis Club and donated many of their own. We've finished over 60 dresses! Hopefully, someone from Circle K will be at our February meeting to pick them up. Otherwise, JulieAnn will get them to Mike Malark, this year's Kiwanis Governor, to bring to their February meeting. Kiwanis will pay for shipping costs.

Who knows, someday you may be watching a documentary on Africa and say, "Hey, I know that dress." Thanks again. You'll get your reward in heaven.
Sue Reilly

2011-01-26T15:59:00.004-05:00

We had 20 ladies yesterday! A big group with lots of talking. I passed around a piece of paper and asked everyone to tell me what they are putting in the quilt show. I can tell already that it's going to be another great show! Deb came yesterday with her surviving dog, Alya. Both of them are recovering from the loss of Debs' other dog. New member Elaine cut up the last of the musical fabrics for her quilt with a little help from Kathy O. I brought in a nametag for the raffle quilt and sewed that on. It took me the whole 2 hours because I kept getting interrupted! Deb wanted help picking out DVDs, Winnie needed a new author, Fran and Deb needed help with the copier, and we were out of mini-moos! What a day! Pat H. brought in some give-aways and I pulled out some fabric I had tucked away. What was left I gave to the Odyssey of the Mind kids who meet after our group. They were delighted! I might start giving them some scraps more often. Sue R. came in to pack away the little dresses for Africa. We won't be delivering them until Feb. 3rd, the night of the Village Quilters meeting so you still have time to make some. Sue said our 2 groups had made 60 dresses! She was thrilled! It was a fun project so I was glad that Sue suggested it to us.

2011-01-11T15:30:00.002-05:00

Today 13 ladies attended. I pulled out the sewing machine so that I could sew the binding onto the raffle quilt. Fran is taking it home to sew down. Next week I'll put on a nametag: Made by Nimblefingers and it will be ready to go! Hallelujah! We've been working on it way too long. So maybe next week I can pull out some old projects we started and see where we left off. Winnie brought in a bunch of her quilts-in-progress to cut so that she can sew them. Elaine found some of the fabric she needed for her music quilt on ebay and ordered it. It's her first time ordering through ebay so she's hoping it works out well. Tina brought in her cro-hook to show Elaine. The cro-hook makes a nice, thick, two-sided blanket. Agnes was back from her trip to Kentucky and Texas to visit her children. She's back in time to have lunch with us a Daryl's on Thursday. Marie brought in pictures from her grandson's wedding in California. He married a Cambodian woman and they had an American wedding and a Cambodian wedding. The Cambodian wedding involves the wearing of very fancy clothes which you change a couple of times during the ceremony. Marie thinks very highly of both the bride and groom so we all joined her in wishing them much happiness.

2011-01-05T10:38:00.005-05:00

14 ladies attended yesterday. All of our snowbirds have flown south so our group is a little smaller now. We may be smaller but we are not lacking in enthusiasm. Winnie came early: she has made a new year's resolution and is determined to finish her goal of making quilts for all of her grandchildren. She has to hurry because there are 3 more grandchildren expected soon! Kathy O. helped her cut her pieces so that she could go home and sew. Pat OR arrived desperate for a good book to read. I took her out to Joyce at the Reference desk and Pat returned happy and ready to go home and curl up with her new books. Tina, Kathy O. and newcomer Nina were happily knitting away. Tina had finished her maple leaf top and her flower pincushion and brought those in to show us. Cathy M. brought in 2 little dresses for Africa and Marguerite finished 3 previously started dresses. We are getting quite a collection of dresses now. We will keep adding to our collection until the end of January. Fran was working on a pattern she received 9 years ago. She decided it was time to finish it. Cathy M. was appliquing a flower block. June has started a new Fons and Porter wall hanging which she will hang in her sewing room. It is appliques of various sewing items including a dress form, iron, buttons, etc. It should be very cute. June enjoys handwork and so does a lot of applique quilts. Cathy M. says this flower quilt will be her last applique quilt for awhile. Marguerite and Rosemary were stitching away on their needlework projects. Daryl brought in a crustless pumpkin pie to celebrate (belatedly--her birthday was on 12/30) Winnie's birthday. Daryl, who is a glutton for punishment, also invited us all over for lunch on 1/13 at 12:30. If you need a ride come to the library at noon and we'll carpool.

2010-12-28T15:28:00.002-05:00

9 ladies attended today. It was a small but happy group. I wasn't surprised that we were a small group with all of the snow out today. It's not nice weather for anyone with walking issues. Fran was the first to arrive. She had all of her Christmas fabric with her which she cut up to make pot-holders. Rosemary was next. She, Ethel, and Marguerite were all working on needlework projects. Tina is making one of Jean K.'s pincushions. Marie and Elaine were knitting. Cathy M. was appliquing flowers. And I was sewing buttons on a small wall hanging I am making. Cathy M. got a special Christmas present from her granddaughter--she had made a book of their photographs from their trip to China! Cathy shared that with us. What a clever thing to do with your travel photos! Marguerite brought in a finished dress for an African child. I gave her another partially finished dress that only needed the binding. Plus she took one Rosemary had started. Apparently Cathy M. and Fran both have some finished dresses at home. I plan to make some on Martin Luther King day when the Village quilters are having a sew-in at the library.

2010-12-14T16:24:00.003-05:00

14 ladies attended today. Marguerite brought in some bracelets: 1 she purchased at a free-trade fair and was made from pull tabs from cans and 1 she made with ribbons and washers. She had seen a bracelet like this for sale at the Red Lion Inn and wanted to figure out how to make one. When she saw the pull tab bracelet at the sale she decided to buy it so she could figure it out for herself. They were both pretty neat looking. I don't know if I'm ready to start collecting pull tabs but the washer bracelet looked do-able and fun. Fran brought in a couple of projects she learned how to make at the last Delmar QUILT group meeting. One was a Japanese bag made from a 1/2 yard of fabric. The other was a table runner made from a tube of fabric. It looked easy and Fran said was very quick to make. I might have to go home and try that one while it's still fresh on my mind. Daryl was back from her travels to visit family. I was glad to see her because I had a lot of donated fabric to let her go through. She doesn't know it but I only showed her half of it today. I'll bring out the other half later. Agnes was making a clever cowboy tree skirt to give to her family in Texas. Ethel was making a grab bag present for her curling club. Winnie got some help from Agnes cutting out quilt blocks. She wants to make a quilt for each of her grandchildren. Elaine had a talk with Marie and decided she had at least two more projects she wanted to do this winter. She's afraid winter won't last long enough to get them done. Marguerite was binding her mile-a-minute lap quilt. I pulled out a sewing machine and started sewing together the upholstery squares that I had cut out to make schlep bags. I think I have enough strips for 2 bags. Agnes brought in some delicious brownies. Next week we will be having lunch at the Chuck Wagon Diner on Route 20. If you need a ride and want to carpool meet us here at the library at 12:00. Otherwise we'll see you at the restaurant!

2010-12-07T16:19:00.002-05:00

17 ladies attended today. Marie is back from her trip to California and we were all happy to see her again. She was very happy to be home again too. Newcomer Nina came back again too. She's new in town and our group is just the place for newcomers to make friends. She brought her knitting and made herself at home. I had the childrens librarian, Joyce, come in and talk to her since she is a childrens librarian also and is looking for a job. Hopefully Joyce gave her some pointers on finding a job in the capital district. Rosemary was working on a needlepoint piece; Ethel a delicate white cross-stitch piece; Winnie was getting advice on making a quilt from some bird fabric she had purchased; Cathy M. was appliquing flowers; Elaine had determined how she wanted to arrange the blocks in her quilt and wanted to let Kathy O. know that she was still working on it; I brought in a wall hanging that I am sewing buttons onto; June is doing a redwork piece; Hattie is knitting a sweater; Marguerite laid out and tied her mile-a-minute lap quilt; and Linda cut up some more fabric for schlep bags. Kathy O. brought in a second version of the mystery quilt from fabrics that match her bedroom she made to cover a table. We were all very busy today.

2010-11-30T17:07:00.003-05:00

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.

2010-11-24T11:00:00.005-05:00

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!

2010-11-17T09:57:00.002-05:00

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!

2010-11-11T11:36:00.006-05:00

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.

2010-11-08T16:43:00.006-05:00

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!

2010-10-26T16:05:00.002-04:00

We had 20 ladies today. Several of us came prepared to sew samples of the blocks Kathy O. showed us last weekend. I set up a sewing machine and we all went home with our samples. They are quick and easy. One is a variation of a 4-patch the other is a dimensional pinwheel. We'll see if anyone makes something beyond the sample block. I brought in some interfacing and proceded to the next step of my tape measure bag. I still need to finish my pin cushion. So many projects, so little time! We were a lively and jovial group today. Jo-Ann brought in lots of magazines to give away along with some gift bags. Daryl quickly grabbed those for her gift projects for the hilltowns. Other people brought in fabric to give away. I still have a little bag of that left. One of Kathy O's friends came in. She is a new quilter and is particularly interested in art quilts. She had made a very colorful variation of a crazy log cabin block. The backing was small polka-dots so instead of hand or machine quilting she turned the quilt over, and using the backing to follow, she stitched sashiko stitches in pearl cotton. It worked like a charm and the quilt looked great. Winnie thought that kind of stitching might be possible for her with her arthritis. It should be much easier to make large stitches with the thicker thread than the very small stitches you do in hand quilting. Following a line of polka-dots makes it particularly easy. Rosemary was embroidering today. Ethel had ordered some silk thread to finish a cross-stitch wall hanging she is making and it finally arrived so she worked on that. Others just came to chat. Marie is leaving to visit her daughter for awhile so came to say her goodbyes. We had another nice day in Nimblefingers.

2010-10-19T15:45:00.003-04:00

17 ladies attended today. Kathy O was back from her summer up north. She knows that when she returns in the fall we expect to be taught a new quilting pattern. She didn't fail us this year--she has 2 quilting patterns to teach us! One is a dimensional block and I really love those. Someday I want to have a little collection of dimensional quilts. She told us what we need to make these 2 blocks so we'll see how many people come prepared to cut and sew next week. Jean K will be leaving us for the winter. The time has come for her to return to Florida. And Fran is gone for a month to China. I'm glad Kathy O and Tina return during the winter because it kind of evens things out. A patron left some partially finished knitted mittens hoping someone could finish them for her. They are to go on the library's mitten tree. Cathy M. took the yarn home so she could finish them. Cathy Y is getting close to finishing her red sweater that she's been working on. I'm eager to see how she puts it all together. Knitting is a mystery to me. I've tried to learn but just can't seem to get it right. I went around getting my ladies to sign up for the quilting program I have planned for November. Thanks to them it's half full now. I suspect that the Village Quilters will fill up the other half. Winnie made us a delicious lemon cake today and Jo-Ann and Rosemary brought in cookies and donut holes. We are well fed ladies.

2010-10-12T16:17:00.002-04:00

Today 16 ladies attended. We had one little show and tell: June was working on a small witch wall hanging for her granddaughter. It was very cute. Her granddaughter is 5 and is dressing as a witch for Halloween and is quite excited about it so I'm sure she'll love her wall hanging. Today is Fran's last meeting for awhile--she's heading to China for her second visit! I know she'll come back with stories to tell and maybe some souvenirs to show. Marguerite regaled us with stories of her surprise 50th wedding anniversary party last weekend. I knew about it because her daughter had called me and asked me not to schedule Harry for that weekend. We kept it a secret here at the library too so Harry and Marguerite were completely surprised! Rosemary has a neighbor who is looking to get rid of some worn old quilts. If anyone has a use for them let me know. Today our knitters were Hattie, Cathy Y. and Deb. Jo-Ann was making Halloween ear-rings. I had Marguerite show me how to make the tape measure bag. Fran and Pat OR were embroidering, Cathy M. was applique-ing. Marguerite pulled out the quilt and did a little more quilting. Agnes was crocheting more scrubbies. I was hoping that Kathy O. would make it back today. She's back from her camp--I've seen her husband here at the library--and word is, she has a new quilting pattern for us. I can't wait! She always learns some new, simple quilt pattern to make and she's so good at teaching it to us! Maybe next week.

2010-10-05T15:41:00.002-04:00

18 ladies attended today but I was not one of them. My husband sprained or strained his back so I was off driving him to the doctor. He got a shot and a couple of meds so I hope he will be back on his feet soon. I hear that what I missed today was a parade of pincushions. Everyone finished their pincushion except Marie and I. Mine is still in the same place it was at the end of Nimblefingers last week. I'll have to get busy and finish it though so I can show it to Jean in 2 weeks when she returns. Maybe next week we can get Marguerite to show us how to make the tape measure bags. That's all I can write about since I don't know what went on at the meeting.

2010-09-30T14:47:00.002-04:00

18 ladies attended on Tuesday. Betty K. and Linda O'C came with buttons to make button earrings. Several of us continued working on our flower pin cushion taught to us by Jean K. I still have a ways to go on mine but some of the others have started stuffing the pincushion. Marguerite gave Agnes a quick lesson on the measuring tape bag. I think next week she and Jo-Ann are going to bring in their patterns. Jo-Ann showed us a little quickie item she learned at the Cobleskill quilt show. She had made a pumpkin by wrapping fabric around a roll of toilet paper and adding a stem. It was cute and very quick. She reported that the Cobleskill quilt show was well worth visiting. I brought in a new knitting book with some quick projects but none of my knitters were interested enough to take it home. Daryl reported that she has now joined the 21st century. Her grandson helped her buy a computer and get set up on email. I'll be sure and tell her about the blog so she can keep in touch when she is traveling.

2010-09-21T16:34:00.003-04:00

18 ladies attended today. Jean K. began teaching us to make the flower petal pincushion. Several of us were giving it a try. I finished the first of 3 layers of petals so now I need to cut out more fabric for the rest of the project. When we've finished this project I plan to have Marguerite teach us to make the tape measure bag. Small projects are fun mostly because you can actually finish them! Hattie and Cathy Y. were again our knitters. Deb was even giving knitting a try today but she didn't have enough yarn to make the scarf she wanted to make. Betsy and Daryl were both quilting cheater cloth quilts. Fran brought in some of her place mats. She want to make 100 of them for one of her quilt group projects. She also sewed the binding on a cute baby quilt with appliqued ducks. It's too bad she doesn't have any babies in her family because she has sure made some beautiful baby quilts! We were all very busy today so I didn't manage to get in on any conversations and I assume that next week we will still be busy finishing our pincushions.

2010-09-14T16:01:00.002-04:00

17 ladies attended today. Next week Jean will teach us to make the flower petal pin cushion so she gave us patterns today. Have your fabric cut and ready and she'll have us start sewing. Also within the next couple of weeks I hope Marguerite and Jo-Ann can teach us to make the tape measurer bags. I cut out the fabric today and hope to come with supplies ready so that someone will teach me. Tina was back today from her camp in the Adirondacks. She brought in a load of fabric that a neighbor had given her. Deb had some bad news about one of her dogs--it has cancer. She's very sad and so am I. It is really hard to lose a pet. Cathy M. brought in raspberry muffins made from the raspberries in her yard. They were yummy! And Marie brought in her recipes for dandelion wine and rhubarb wine. I don't think anyone wanted the recipes though. Pat OR brought in her butterfly that she made at Wiawaka. She thinks it's a very ugly butterfly and doesn't like it at all but she went ahead and finished it anyway. They have made more attractive pieces in previous years. But Pat always has a good time there so it really doesn't make much difference what they make. Winnie has been painting bird houses to sell at the farmer's market. I'm sure she has a good time doing that--she does love to paint.

2010-09-08T12:49:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we had 17 ladies. Pat H. brought in 2 quilts she had made and was donating to alzheimer's patients. They were activity quilts, made from different textured fabrics, with zippers, velcro and rings to play with. These quilts keep the patient's hands busy so are very good to have around. It's a great idea and a great service. Pat is a good citizen by any standards. Jo-Ann brought in her Friday freebie project from the Quilt Bug: a bag made with some stuff that makes your fabric shrivel up. I don't remember the name of the stuff but it made a really cool bag! Mary Ann M. visited us. She's making another memory quilt. She hopes to sell it at Tesellations--a new arts/crafts store in Altamont. I've heard of the store but never visited. It sounds like a great place though! Agnes was crocheting scrubbies and selling them as fast as she made them! Pat OR was making a table runner appliqued with dragonflies. It was very pretty. Ethel was binding a Christmas tree skirt for her daughter. Cathy Y. and Marie were our knitters: Cathy a sweater and Marie an afghan. I showed off the new Voorheesville library cookbook. It will go on sale this Saturday and I know it will be a hot seller!

2010-09-01T12:57:00.003-04:00

Yesterday 18 ladies attended. The highlight of the afternoon was the quilt Betsey had made as a wedding gift: a heart pattern in soft blues. It was truly beautiful! I hope she will bring it back because I didn't have a camera available to take a picture. Our Junior Nimblefinger Clare joined us again. She makes clothes for her pet chickens. I'm sure they are the best dressed chickens around! Lew stopped by and gave us some scrap batting. I'm sure it will disappear quickly. I was able to give some fabric from our stash away: Pat H. was looking for textured fabric; Clare took a couple of preprinted patterns to make a vest and a chicken; Marguerite was looking for some off-white for a quilt she is working on. Please remember that we have this stash and that it's available for anyone. Rosemary told me she has a neighbor who wants to learn to quilt. I asked the ladies and they would be willing to work on a block of the month, learning to piece sampler quilt. I'll start working out a plan for that so we could start in the fall. Remember though, you don't have to be a quilter to belong to Nimblefingers! We don't want anyone to feel unwelcome.

2010-08-24T15:54:00.003-04:00

19 ladies attended today. I brought in a show and tell: all the loot I bought last week at the quilt show. Frankly, it's kind of embarrassing having to admit my addiction (buying fabric). But I did get some neat stuff. People were quite intrigued by my shaving cream marbled fabric. I think I need to try it at home then bring it in to try here. Let people play a little. That would be fun. The best show and tell though was Pat OR's Goodnight moon quilt (picture to follow). She's sewing on the binding now and it really turned out well! It's a great little quilt! We were all very impressed. Fran laid out her maple leaf blocks and got some help arranging them. That will be another spectacular quilt. Marguerite made some chenille hotpads (Jean K. had made some) and a measuring tape bag. She saw a bracelet made of washers and ribbon at the Red Lion Inn and she's still trying to figure out how to duplicate it. Hattie and Cathy Y. were both knitting sweaters. Cathy calls hers a t-shirt sweater. You knit it all in one piece and sew up the sides when finished. She gives them to charity. Daryl though is our real charity queen! She, along with another of her groups, has adopted all of the kids in the hilltowns. They make and fill tote bags and book bags book bags for the kids; gather donated clothes for the families to take; door draft stoppers for homes; and they even found money to buy the kids new sneakers! It's a really big production and sounds like an incredible amount of work but what a great thing to do! Pat H. brought in an ice cream cake which disappeared in no time. We had a good group today and another good time!

2010-08-19T13:47:00.002-04:00

16 ladies attended Nimblefingers this week. I wasn't among them. I was off taking care of some family business. So I don't know what happened at the meeting. I see that Ethel is back from her Ireland/England vacation so I assume she talked about that. Other than that, I don't know what they would have done. Instead I'll talk about the quilt show bus trip that Deb and I took last Friday. We went to Lowell, Mass. to a quilt show and to the New England quilt museum. The museum is very nice. It is in a converted factory building. They don't have many quilts on display but they have a great library and the gift shop has plenty to look at. The show on display when we were there was Broderie Perse. We both assumed it would be all antique quilts so were surprised that all but a few were made recently. I really didn't know anyone did Broderie Perse anymore. They were all nice quilts but that style is not my thing. The gift shop with Japanese and African fabric for sale was more interesting to me. I bought a magazine with an interview with Rosalie Dace who I saw last year at "Quilting by the lake." I really admired her class so I'm eager to read this interview. The quilt show was not as large as the Vermont show by a long shot. The main items of interest to me were the number of hand quilted pieces and the whole cloth machine quilted pieces. The hand quilted pieces were incredible! Very elaborate with trapunto, stippling, lots of quilting! Two whole cloth white quilts were the stars of the show to Deb and I. The whole cloth machine quilted pieces were quilted in colored thread. I don't think I've seen quilts like this before but I found that I really didn't like them. I was surprised by how unattractive I thought they were. The machine quilting was exquisite but I just didn't want to look at them. I was surprised at myself. The quilts in the show were much more traditional than what I like to make but it was still a very nice show. We had a good day and I didn't even spend as much money as I usually do at shows!

2010-08-10T17:25:00.003-04:00

17 ladies attended today. Rosemary brought in her finished table runner with matching pillow she had made for her daughter. It was beautiful--in black, red and white. Good job Rosemary! Jean K. was working on chenille potholders. It looked like a fun project. Sue R. came in with a pile of finished bags made using a metal tape measurer. She has some very lucky grandchildren (that's who she's making them for). She said she'd bring in the pattern and teach us to make one. Jean also is willing to teach us to make her flower pincushion but not until mid-September. Winnie stopped me to tell me how much she enjoys this group. I agree with her--it's a great, friendly group and we all have such a good time together. Not only do we get to spend time with friends, but we learn new things, give each other encouragment and support and keep each other on our toes. It is truly a great group. Marguerite was surprised and pleased that her quilt won the 3rd place Viewers choice award at the Village Quilters quilt show this summer. We all gave her a big hand. Deb and I are looking forward to going to a quilt show and the New England quilting museum this Friday. We'll have something to report on when we return.

2010-08-03T17:50:00.003-04:00

Today 16 ladies attended. I brought in a special show and share: my parents 50th wedding anniversary quilt made in 1988 by my sisters and I. I'll probably show it again later because Fran wasn't at the meeting today and I would like her to see it. We did take pictures though so I will post it when it becomes available. Marie brought in her finished schlep bag. She made it with 8 inch squares so that it would be really big. It was very nice. June and Louise were both making their small hexagons. Winnie wanted advice on how to lay out her heart quilt. Diane brought in a pretty sunflower quilt to sandwich. Daryl and Rosemary were doing needlework and Hattie was knitting. Cathy M. was appliquing one of the last of her posey blocks. Marie was appliquing flowers also. Jo-Anne was working on her tulip bag. Winnie has heard about a new restaurant that she wants to try out and see if it would be a good place for us to go. Deb and I are trying to coordinate going on the Lowell bus trip. If anyone else wants to go let us know. The more the merrier!

2010-07-27T16:19:00.003-04:00

19 ladies attended today--we had a big group! Three knitters today, including Lexi, Marguerite's granddaughter. Marie and Sue were also knitting. Daryl and Rosemary were doing needlework projects today. Winnie was mending a blouse and Ethel brought in a bag pattern she is working on. Jo-Ann also brought in a bag to show us with instructions provided. Then we had a bunch of piecers and applique-ers and those sewing on quilt bindings. Then there were some of us, me included in this group, who were there for the company. I did bring in a quilt to show. Next week I'll bring in the pattern as requested. Deb was getting some advice on her Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. Linda OC came in with lots of info about quilt shows in the area. She must have spent the weekend on the road visiting various shows. Betsey stopped by to let us know that she was still around. She's volunteering out at the airport again and had helped open an art show out there. I read about it in the newspaper--all the art is made of books. It sounded interesting to me but Betsey admitted that it wasn't her cup of tea. Winnie apparently splurged the other day and bought fabric to make quilts for all of her granddaughters (10 of them!). She's very ambitious. Ethel showed us her bag pattern then bid us all adieu--she's on her way to England/Ireland. Lucky her! Pat H. also came by. We haven't seen her for awhile so it was nice to see her again. I took some pictures which I will post when they become available.

2010-07-21T16:20:00.002-04:00

We had 13 ladies on Tuesday. Our special show and tell was Ethel's finished cross-stitch piece. As you can see, she does beautiful work! Today there was a lot of talk about food. I notice this of course, because I'm on another diet. I didn't eat any of the cookies but I did listen to the talk! Deb wanted me to announce the bus trip to Lowell Mass. in August. She is thinking of going and would like a companion. Fran's been on that trip before and says it's really good! They go to the New England quilt museum and to a separate show with vendors. I'll be checking my calendar! Today several ladies were doing cross-stitch and/or embroidery. Winnie was appliquing hearts for the wedding quilt she's making. Agnes helped Rosemary some more with a hidden nine-patch quilt. Fran was appliquing leaves. Pat asked if anyone had a 60 degree ruler but all we could tell her was that most long rulers have a 60 degree line on them. Her project would be much easier with a 60 degree template though. Marguerite and I did some more quilting on the future raffle quilt. Jo-Ann came in with a wheeled carrying case for a sewing machine which she was giving away. I took it home with me (I have no more space to store anything here at the library) so if anyone wants it they have to tell me. She was also working on a tulip bag. I'll be eager to see what it looks like finished. She certainly picked lovely fabric for it! Louise was quilting a beautiful red and tan scrap appliqued flower quilt. I tried to take a picture but the camera had a dead battery so I hope she brings it back another time. That's all for now...see you next week!

2010-07-13T15:40:00.002-04:00

Today 16 ladies attended. Last weekend was the Village Quilters quilt show so we had lots of talk about what a great show it was. Linda C., who is moving to Florida, gave me a box full of books and magazines to give to the ladies plus a lot of quilting stencils. I will keep the stencils here at the library in case anyone wants to use them. Linda OC got out another table to cut up fabric for more schlep bags. Rosemary also had some help from Agnes cutting out another Disappearing 9-patch quilt with pretty fabric she bought at the quilt show. Daryl limped in (she's walking much better now and walks without a walker). She brought in the quilt we made for her wanting signatures from the block maker's who hadn't signed the quilt. Cathy Y. and Marie had a big talk about the different ways of knitting. Not being a knitter myself I really didn't understand what they were talking about. Deb was back from Cape Cod. I think she's ready to go back again at any time. She had a great time kayaking on rivers and in the ocean. Ethel has started a new delicate looking cross-stitch piece and Daryl was cross-stitching a baby bib. June joined us again. She is working on a hand pieced hexagon quilt. And Louise is still making teeny-tiny hand-pieced hexagon flowers for a quilt. Marguerite has discovered the joy of machine piecing and has started a brown and tan star fling quilt. She hasn't stopped hand-piecing altogether though--she still has one she had already started to work on today. She also had added a border to her mile-a-minute quilt and brought in the finished top to show us. She's definitely become the queen of mile-a-minutes! Anyway...it was another nice day in Nimblefingers land.

2010-06-29T17:09:00.002-04:00

15 ladies attended today, one of which was one of our jr. Nimblefingers. She was making a coat for one of her pet chickens. She's a very creative young lady. Jo-Ann brought in a friend who showed us all her yo-yo maker. It was really cool--I think I've got to have one! Linda showed us the very few pieces of fabric she bought at the Vermont quilt show. She's very disciplined. I would have come home with several bags full I'm sure. I brought in some fabric to give away today. I'm trying to clean up my house and stash. Marie brought in a bagful of men's ties all cut apart and ready to use. They had no takers so I'll hang on to them awhile. Louise was back from Florida and joined us for awhile. She brought in a picture of the quilt she was working on last summer. She won a blue ribbon in a judged show for best of that type and a pink ribbon for best quilting in the whole show! It was a hand pieced, hand quilted hexagon quilt and was truly amazing! This summer she is working on another quilt with 3/4" hexagons! I told her she was crazy! Her quilts are true perfection! Mary Anne is trying to finish her It takes a village quilt for the Village Quilters quilt show on July 10th and 11th. It's going to be spectacular! Agnes was back catching up with everyone. We had a nice little group today. I hope that Clare and Diane, our two new people, come back next week.

2010-06-28T14:06:00.002-04:00

I had a comment to one of the blog postings. She wanted to know where to get a copy of the Goodnight Moon quilt. All I can say is, check a copy of the book out from your public library and copy one of the pages. Pat OR who is making it just used the book for her inspiration. She created the pattern pieces herself. If you live in the Albany area I invite you to come join us one Tuesday afternoon and maybe we can help you get started.

2010-06-22T15:21:00.002-04:00

20 ladies attended today--a big crowd! Jean K. had a big quilt she needed to lay out to work on and Pam wanted to pin her quilt. Deb brought in a cornucopia of antimacassers made by her aunt. She didn't know what they were so Marie explained how you put 2 on the arms of a chair and one on the back for the head. She also had lots of crochet thread all of which came from her aunt who must have been a very busy and talented woman. I brought in my Mr. B's preview pack club envelope to show off and hopefully to get some of my ladies to sign up for. It's a monthly package deal from Benartex fabric. For $19.95 they send you a newsletter and a pack of 5" squares of a new fabric line. The pack I got is particularly nice and this is my first one so I'm hoping they'll all be as nice. I think it's a great deal and shouldn't be so overwhelming as joining a fat quarter of the month club. And, if I can get 4 of my ladies to sign up Mr B will send me a pack of fat eighths. I do like to get surprises in the mail. Daryl came in today, slowly but without a walker. Her right ankle is fused but she is allowed to drive again. She's taking things very slowly but is doing fine. Betty K. and Marie both wanted some reassurance that they were making their schlep bags correctly--they were. Jo-Ann brought in some brownies but since I started a new diet today I can't comment on their tastiness. They were all gone when the meeting ended though.

2010-06-16T11:00:00.002-04:00

14 ladies attended yesterday. Unfortunately I couldn't be there--I was at an Employee Recognition workshop. It was actually pretty fun and I came away with some ideas I might even be able to use in Nimblefingers. I see that we had a new person join us. I'm sorry I wasn't there to welcome her. I hope she will come next week. And Agnes was back. That must mean that her husband is doing well on the road to recovery. It's good to hear that. And Marguerite was back from Bermuda. I wanted to ask her if there were any good quilting shops there. I already heard about the rest of the trip from Harry but he wasn't sure about the shopping. There must have been some good eating too because the store-bought cake I provided went unopened. My ladies are a bunch of good cooks! I'll be back next week and we can continue with the schlep bags or whatever else needs to be done.

2010-06-08T15:38:00.002-04:00

14 ladies attended today. Tina wanted to make a schlep bag and this is her last Tuesday before she goes north for the summer so I helped her make a bag. She got half of it finished so hopefully she can finish the rest at home. Fran had started a bag a long time ago but was stuck so I helped her put her inside and outside together. She'll add the handles at home and sew the whole thing together. Marie and Linda also cut out pieces so I think we'll be making schlep bags for awhile. Today Winnie tried out a new recipe on us--a rhubarb cake. It was delicious! Then Pat brought in a frozen cake with ice cream center. It was great too! We didn't need to even touch the store bought stuff I had brought in. Today was another good story day too. Marie regaled us with the story of how she met her husband. Plus there was talk of what children's books we had all loved. Pat OR was working on her goodnight moon quilt which was how we got started on children's books. Anyway...it was another good time in Nimblefingers.

2010-06-02T13:47:00.003-04:00

15 ladies attended today. It was the day after Memorial Day so Lindo OC thought it was Monday and didn't remember it was Nimblefingers day until late. Cathy M. is out with pneumonia--she waited in the car for Deb who stopped in to tell me about Cathy (whom she was driving to the dr.'s) and to show off her suntan from Myrtle Beach. JoAnne called to tell me she wasn't going to make it in because she had a car wreck over the weekend and is now without wheels. Ethel only stayed for a little while because she had to get to work on her census job. So... Marguerite and I got out the raffle quilt to work on. We are determined to get it finished and out of here! We're tired of looking at it and want to start on the next one. Deb brought in some yarn from her aunt so several people took some of that. Tina had combined her smaller blocks into bigger blocks but needed some help figuring out how to make it fit a double bed. She and MaryAnn conferred for awhile and I heard the word yo-yo pop up. MaryAnn showed us her finished her liturgical quilt for the priest at the Catholic Church. There was lots of oohs and aahs over that. I brought in 2 bags I finished over my "staycation." Next week I will be teaching how to make a schlep bag so if you want to participate bring in 16-5 or more in. squares of 8 different fabrics. Tina will be going north after next week and she wanted to learn so I can always teach the class again later if you aren't prepared next week. Fran was working on a small wool piece that will be framed. Hattie is still at work on her sweater. Marie hurt her shoulder last week working on her braided rug. She worked too hard and too long and her shoulder didn't start hurting until that night when it woke her from her sleep. So today she was taking it easy, finishing off a UFO someone here brought in of a small rug hooked table mat. Winnie gave us the information about Agnes' husband who is doing well after his heart bypass. We were are relieved to hear that. We hope he continues to improve and we will keep him in our prayers. We again had some silly conversations: "what I don't understand about those Cialis commercials is why is that couple sitting in 2 outdoor bathtubs?" Rosemary asked this question and we all thought it was funny because we had all asked ourselves the same question! The library is having a mini-booksale and when I told the ladies about it they all got up and walked out--had to go see the books. We had to fill the table up again after their mass purchasess. Thank you ladies--every little bit helps.

2010-05-26T14:09:00.002-04:00

11 ladies attended on May 25th. I was on vacation so I don't know what happened at the meeting but I do know what I was doing at home: Sewing! I made a Schlep bag (finally). I've been wanting to make one for about 2 yrs. now and I finally did it! And, I used up some old upholstery samples (for the bag) so I got rid of some junk fabric! Yeah! Needless to say, I have a lot more junk fabric in my stash to use up. I'll bring in my show and share from my week's stay-cation next Tuesday. See you then!

2010-05-18T18:28:00.003-04:00

18 ladies attended today. I will add pictures to this post as they become available so check back. We had a nice show and share: new member Pam brought in the Hidden 9-patch II top that Kathy O. helped her with. It is made from purple and pink batiks and is absolutely beautiful! And, Tina has finished all of the blocks for her maple leaf quilt. She spent the afternoon, with others, finding the best lay-out for her blocks. It will be a nice, bright and happy quilt when it's finished. Fran brought in her kimono wall hanging hoping to find the name of the pattern. She got one clue that someone else here in Voorheesville has the pattern so maybe Fran will be able to find the name of it. And JoAnne had participated in the shop hop last weekend so brought in her purchases to show us. She bought enough to keep her busy for awhile. Marie brought in a delicious rhubarb-raisin cake! Yummy! Pat OR has reached the point of adding the bunny to her Goonight Moon quilt. He's a cutie! I can't wait to see the finished product! This coming Thursday we've made a date to meet at the Crossgates theatres and see the movie Babies at 1:50 p.m. I hope a lot of you will come because I think it will be a great film! Next week I will be on vacation and will not be at the meeting so have a good time without me! I hope to bring in some show and share myself when I return.

2010-05-11T16:38:00.002-04:00

14 ladies attended today. Jo-Ann brought in her card-making supplies today. It reminded us of Alberta who used to make beautiful cards. She and her sisters haven't been to Nimblefingers for a long time and we all miss them. Cathy Y. was knitting her blue sweater. Rosemary had dug up an old rug-hooking project she had started a long time ago. Unfortunately, she had forgotten how to do latch-hooking. Fran gave her some pointers so hopefully she was able to get going on it again. Marie and Agnes are both working on the Oops-a-daisy applique quilt. Marie's on her 2nd block, Agnes on her 12th. It's a very time consuming project. Fran had made another baby quilt. She's been practicing her machine quilting on the placemats she's made so she tried machine quilting this baby quilt. She found it to be a whole different kettle of fish--a baby quilt is much bigger than a placemat and therefore much more difficult. Jean brought in some blocks she had been working on a while back. She found them while doing her spring cleaning. It is an applique flower block of which she has finished a fair number of blocks. She also brought in some funny panels she had bought somewhere of a Loralei design of fruits/vegees as clothing on women. They were very cute. Betsey found a beautiful panel in a quilt store in Oneonta which she is hand quilting. I sewed a nametag on Daryl's quilt so it is ready to be presented to her whenever we see her. Then I pulled out the raffle quilt to do some more hand quilting. Marguerite stopped in late having attended another luncheon at the Albany Med Auxiliary.

2010-05-05T19:45:00.002-04:00

20 ladies attended today. It was a big day for reunions: Betsy Hoffman was back from Arizona, Jean Kallop back from Florida and Daryl and her wheelchair returned! It's nice to have everyone back, but next week we lose Kathy O. who is going north for the summer. We always miss her but hopefully she'll bring back another easy quilt block to make. I started sewing the binding on Daryl's quilt down. Fran took it home to finish it. Deb was exhausted--a state I've never seen her in before. An aunt of hers died recently so she emptied the house and brought it all home to sell in the Altamont village yard sale. Next week she's going on vacation so hopefully she'll get her energy back up. Hattie's still working on her sweater; Agnes and Marie their Oops a daisy quilt; Pat OR her goodnight moon quilt; Tina her maple leaf blocks; Cathy Y. an afghan; Fran her placemats. It was a big group today--lots of conversation, lots of fun.

2010-04-28T12:13:00.003-04:00

18 ladies attended today. I had to leave early for a dr. appt. so I didn't get to hear all the talk. Because I had to leave early I didn't get to finish Daryl's quilt. I'll do that next week. Instead I helped Marguerite hand quilt the border of our seemingly neverending raffle quilt. We had a good crowd. Agnes and Marie are both making an "oops-a-daisy" applique quilt. Fran made a second baby quilt--same pattern as before. It's a great pattern, fun to make and good for girls or boys. Her backing fabric was particularly beautiful: soft pinks with butterflies. Hattie is making a sweater for herself--brown and white. Tina is making a maple leaf quilt. Pat brought in some freebies: fabric, magazines and batting. Pat OR was working on her goodnight moon quilt. Rosemary brought in a sandwiched lap quilt. She had a question about how to do a mitered binding. My old friend Janet stopped by to say hello. She used to work at the library and comes in periodically to check on us/catch up with us.

2010-04-20T16:27:00.004-04:00

15 ladies attended today. I pulled out the quilt we are making for Daryl and stitched in the ditch plus sewed on the binding. We're getting closer! Jo-Ann brought her little featherweight and thought she would work on a paper piecing project she started some time ago. She ran into problems so ended up sitting and chatting with everyone. Winnie is working on a wedding quilt for her granddaughter's wedding in June! She hopes to finish it by Christmas. Marie began appliquing a block for a quilt for her granddaughter also supposed to be finished soon. Those ladies will be working their poor fingers to the bone to finish these quilts on time. Hattie was knitting a pretty sweater in browns and white. Ethel had started another cross-stitch piece. Pat OR is making a Goodnight Moon quilt for a friend of her granddaughter who is expecting. It will be really cute quilt. Fran is working hard on placemats for the Delmar Q.U.I.L.T. group. They have a contest and she wants to win for making the most placemats. Good luck to her! Marguerite pulled out our raffle quilt. We're down to the border now but we are hand quilting it so it will still take a lot of time to finish. We had some good laughs today. Winnie regaled us with stories of her husband Bill streaking at a Kiwanis meeting (did I hear this wrong?). Then Marie had us rolling on the floor talking about being a newlywed working in a hospital as a nurse and having her first assignment be to bathe some men. One 75 year old man insisted on the full treatment and Marie complied, blushing all the way! We really have a funny group here! Cathy C. came by at the end to show us a sweatshirt jacket she had made and won 2nd prize for in a juried show in Florida. It was beautiful and fit so nicely. I might have her come and give us a lesson.

2010-04-13T16:20:00.002-04:00

19 ladies attended today. Pat H. brought in some floss to tie Daryl's quilt with so we made fast work of that. Next week I'll do a little stitching-in-the-ditch to help secure it, then put on the binding. We had a big surprise today: 2 of our Florida snowbirds returned--Linda O'C and Cathy C. It was very nice to see them again. They are both eager to start some serious art quilting. Marguerite is limping a bit. She hurt her foot in a freak accident and the doctor isn't sure whether she has a broken bone in her foot or not. Kathy O. had a surprise visitor this weekend: Betsy H. Betsey has sold her condo in N.J. and is going to get an apartment at Pheasant Run here. She had to go to N.J. first to do the paperwork but she is looking forward to seeing all of her Voorheesville friends when she returns. Deb asked for some advice in putting a border on her Grandmother's Flower garden quilt. It's hard to believe that she's made it this far with the quilt because it has definitely been making her crazy! Hexagons are not easy to work with! Cathy Y. and Deb helped newcomer Jo-Ann get the knots out of her yarn. She is knitting what will be a beautiful shawl but the yarn was causing some difficulty. It's great to have a group where people are willing to help you un-knot your yarn.

2010-03-31T15:42:00.004-04:00

17 ladies attended yesterday. Today we had a surprise guest--Daryl came in. Deb went out and picked her up and brought her in her wheelchair. She's been out for leg surgery for a month or so and it was nice to have her back. I showed her the quilt we were making for her since I was going to be working on it during the meeting. She was pleasantly surprised. We had another nice show and tell--Marguerite brought in her finished quilt. She made the top maybe 15 years ago but quilted it this winter. It is a beautiful scrap quilt and the hand quilting is outstanding! Fran also brought in and demonstrated a simple hot pad. Kathy O. and I continued working on Daryl's prayer quilt.

2010-03-24T10:20:00.004-04:00

18 ladies attended today. Director Gail Sacco brought in one of her knitting friends (and the scarf this friend had made for her) to join us so we had a new person, plus the two new ladies from last week attended again today. One of them, Pam, brought in all the fabric for a queen-size quilt in the Hidden 9-patch II pattern. She worked with Kathy Olsen and they cut and sewed to get started on this quilt. Pam had some beautiful batiks to work with so I'm sure it will be an amazing quilt. We were treated to a great show-and-tell today. Cathy M. brought in a quilt made with all oriental fabric. It is for her son who was married in Japan and likes all things Japanese. It was a truly beautiful quilt. Then Marie brought in a utility quilt (her words). It was a true scrap quilt made of polyesters. It was tied with the ties encased in yo-yos, 56 of them to be exact. She's made 2 of these quilts. Marie is a busy beaver--she brought in that beautiful, complex crocheted tablecloth just a couple of weeks ago and now 2 quilts! She's pretty amazing. I set up a sewing machine and sewed together the sampler top for Daryl. I hope that next week we can lay it out and tie it. I hope we can finish it before Daryl comes back. Mary Ann M. brought in her finished music quilt to show us. Then she showed us her Sudoku quilt she is making plus another of her picture quilts entitled "It takes a village". Both are going to be really neat. I look forward to seeing the finished work. Mary Ann also brought in some delicious apple cake. Yummy!

2010-03-16T15:43:00.003-04:00

18 ladies attended today including 2 new ladies, Jo-Ann and Pam. They attended our open house and wanted to come back to learn the hidden 9-patch II quilt. But today we had a potluck lunch so they didn't get to--they got to eat instead! We had a very nice lunch followed by a show of quilts from the 2010 Tucson quilt show which I attended last January. You could purchase a disc at the quilt show with all of the quilts on it for $10. They mailed it in March. So now I can relive the share and best of all I can share it with my friends! I think that's a really great idea and wonder why more quilt shows don't do it. Marie was wearing some beautiful hand knitted socks she had made. It was a lily of the valley stitch and they were just gorgeous! She says she's going to bring in a quilt next week that will knock all of our socks off! Coming from Marie, I believe it. She has made so many amazing things!

2010-03-10T10:00:00.002-05:00

17 ladies and 1 little girl attended today. Our newest member, June, brought her granddaughter and her lightweight sewing machine to do a little work. Deb joined her with one of our Brothers and worked on her quilt for the Altamont quilt group. They are making what looks to me like a rather complicated sampler quilt. Lots and lots of triangles in it and lots and lots of pieces. Cathy M. is also going to be working on this quilt. I took our raffle quilt home and finished quilting the interior. Now we just need to do the border so I asked Kathy O. if she could take it home and try finishing it on the sewing machine. We've had it around for a long time and it's time to finish it and get on to the next one. Marguerite and I got out the lattice fabric which Fran donated for the prayer quilt so we're almost ready to begin sewing it together. I still am waiting for 1 block to come in. Fran brought in a beautiful small quilt she made that frames the mini-kimonos she had in our display case. Ethel is working away on her cross-stitch Old West Virginia home piece which she wants to finish for the embroidery guild show in April (?). Pat H. was finishing one of her church lap quilts. It was red and yellow--very bright and fun! Marie had finished her crocheted tablecloth and brought that in to show. It was from a French pattern. She had never seen anything like it before so wanted to make it. It has different parts, with different kinds of crochet stitches. Hard to describe but it will be in our show next year and will probably be our showstopper! Agnes was working on a flower applique block that fits into a pieced border. When it is finished it will be a spectacular quilt! I can tell already that next years show will be a great one!

2010-03-08T13:09:00.002-05:00

16 ladies attended last Tuesday including a new person. Deb brought in her friend June who brought in her finished Dear Jane quilt top. It was absolutely stunning! She had pieced the whole quilt and it took her a long time but she found that was the easiest way for her to complete the rather complex blocks. She brought it in to show because then it would be put on her quilting frame for another long time. I'm so glad she brought it in though because it is such a beautiful and difficult pattern which makes into a truly fabulous quilt. Other than that, several people brought in their squares for the prayer quilt. I collected more photo release forms. Not much else.

2010-02-24T15:03:00.002-05:00

10 ladies showed up today. It was snowing outside so I was surprised that anyone came. I'm glad they did though because we had to take down the quilt show. I drafted Roger, Ethel's husband to come in and climb the ladder for me because Deb was late and I was afraid she wasn't going to make it. So Deb got to take it easy during the meeting. I put the tables in a small circle which was nice because we could all see each other and converse across the table. I passed out a small piece of fabric for people to take home and make a block. Daryl is having surgery so I thought we ought to make her a quilt. I also passed out photo release forms. Apparently I should have done this a long time ago since I put pictures of my ladies on the blog. Now I will have permission though so it will be legal.

2010-02-16T15:51:00.002-05:00

Today 8 ladies braved the weather to come to our group. With our small group I pulled out my suitcase which I still haven't unpacked from my trip to Tucson. I gave them a show-and-share of everything I bought. I was quite surprised because they all, except Deb, thought my Elvis fabric was pretty neat. Deb just never liked poor Elvis. It was fun to show off all my prizes but also a little embarrassing knowing that I really didn't need any of this stuff but bought it anyway. She who dies with the most fabric wins--isn't that the saying. I guess I'm in the competition. Deb told us the story of taking care of an elderly couple. The mom of this couple was the one who gave her the dreaded hexagon quilt pieces. This led to a discussion of alzheimer's and the difficulty of taking care of elderly relatives. Winnie came in late and reported that her doctor gave her some good news. We were glad to hear that. Anyway, a fun time was had by all.

2010-02-10T16:47:00.007-05:00

Yesterday we held our 2010 Nimblefingers Open House. About 50 people attended. It was another nice showing. Thank you to those of you in the Friday group and the Altamont group. We had a good turnout from those members. I need to get the news to the Delmar Q.U.I.L.T. group sooner but we did have some visitors from that large group. As usual we had great desserts to offer, good punch, good conversation and Kathy O. taught her Hidden 9-patch II pattern to quite a few people. I was told that last year after Kathy taught the Hidden 9-patch I block, that the Delmar Q.U.I.L.T. group made dozens of them for service projects. Jane Stearns, who saw it made at our show, went back and taught them. Maybe she'll do the same with this year's pattern. Cathy Y. found out that the baby for whom she was making a baby quilt was born early, in the middle of a blizzard, so she was eager to get it finished. Agnes helped her get it trimmed, then I sewed on the binding for her. It's a nice flannel quilt so it should keep this blizzard baby warm! Next week I plan to bring in the stuff I bought on my trip to Tucson including fabric, patterns and tools.

2010-02-03T11:17:00.009-05:00

17 ladies attended yesterday. I wasn't here last week. I was off visiting my sister in 60 degree Tucson where we attended the annual Tucson quilt show. I had a great trip and the quilt show was fantastic! I can't wait to tell you all about it in a couple of weeks when our activities die down a little. Today we hung the quilt show. It is always an exciting day: do we have enough quilts or too many? Is Deb still spry enough to do her monkey act on the top of the high ladder? But, as always, it looks great! We all deserve a pat on the back for our good work! Next week is our open house so I hope we get a bunch of guests. Don't forget to bring some goodies! We have a bunch of pictures of our setting up so enjoy!

2010-01-19T16:01:00.003-05:00

17 ladies attended today. Kristin was back. She was making some Celtic cross panels for wall hangings. She made them by appliquing decorative trim in the cross pattern. They were quite stunning! I brought in my psychedelic 60's quilt to sew on the binding. Marguerite worked on the raffle quilt. Pat H. took some pictures of her VA hospital quilts. She and Agnes also finished tying them. Kathy O. gave Cathy M. the pattern for the knitted socks she makes though Kathy O. was crocheting scrubbies today. Marie brought in some tatting patterns to give Rosemary a lesson on tatting. Fran was appliquing leaves. Pat OR was embroidering her wool piece. Cathy Y. was quilting her baby quilt. And Deb is still working on her grandmother's flower garden. She says she's ready to burn it now she's getting so tired of it. She really picked a difficult project. We ended the afternoon with a very interesting conversation at my end of the table. Hmm...it had to do with gravity and the female body leading to a food discussion--limp cucumbers, muffins, cherries, watermelon. Can't you just imagine this crazy bunch of old women having this conversation! You never know where the conversation might lead in Nimblefingers! I will be gone next week and the following week we will be hanging/displaying our work so don't forget to bring it on Tuesday, Feb. 2.

2010-01-12T15:53:00.004-05:00

17 ladies attended today. You can always tell when we have a good group because the noise level goes up considerably. Agnes and Daryl were back from visiting their kids. We haven't seen Daryl for awhile so it's nice to have her back. Hattie was knitting some mittens. Cathy O. was back to crocheting scrubbies. Pat H. brought in 3 quilts to sandwich. She makes quilts for soldiers stationed around the world so these were patriotic quilts. Cathy Y. came in with her boot on--she cracked a bone in her foot last week. Marie has been taking some meds so the frog in her throat was gone. Fran brought in another beautiful blue-work teddy bear quilt. I assume it will be in our show along with the kewpie doll quilt. Pat OR was working on her wool table rug. Winnie was getting some help cutting out a quilt. Tina was quilting her little wall hanging. Deb pretended to work on her endless hexagon quilt. We'll all be glad when she finishes this one. And I helped Pat H. for awhile then made some announcements: this year for our show we get the community room, the hall and the display case. Plus I handed out some posters for people to hang. I think we should have a nice show this year. Of course, we outdo ourselves every year so this one shouldn't be any different!

2010-01-07T10:18:00.002-05:00

This week 13 ladies attended. Everyone brought in their leftover holiday sweets so we had lots of cookies and candy! Fran was sewing the binding her kewpie doll quilt. She got the kewpie doll embroidery patterns from Marguerite. They had been Marguerite's mothers so had been around for a long time. She gave them to Fran, who loves doing redwork, and next thing you know the quilt is made! It will be in our show and will be a big hit I'm sure! Marie, who came with a frog in her throat, brought in her Japanese tatting book and hooks to show us. Her book is in Japanese which she can't read but as she says "I can read pictures." Japanese tatting uses a two-headed crochet hook with flat ends instead of a shuttle but I thought the lace looked the same as that made by a shuttle. Rosemary wanted to get a new library card since she is now an official resident of Voorheesville. She likes her new apartment and neighbors very much. Tina was working on her double thickness scrap afghan. I'm sure it keeps her warm as she works. Ethel was working on her "Old West Virginia home" needlepoint again. I hope she'll finish it in time for our show in February. Pat OR and MaryAnn were both doing wool work. Deb was mostly just causing trouble and making us laugh like she always does. She did pull out her hexagon top for a little while. Marguerite did some more quilting on the raffle quilt. Our dear Cathy Y. wasn't here--she slipped on the ice and broke her foot. This has been a very bad winter for slipping. The highlight of the day for me was when Lew Schedlbauer ("the quiltsmith") came in with my finished op-art quilt. He does such a great job it really looked stupendous! I spent the next 2 days showing it off to everyone in the library. It will be in our show just in case I missed anyone. Happy New Year to all and watch out for the ice!

2009-12-22T15:40:00.003-05:00

10 ladies attended today. Marguerite brought in a finished quilt top. She needed to look through the quilting templates we have here to see if she could use them. She found some that should work so maybe in a few months she have another finished quilt! She made this top a long time ago so she's very eager to finish it. Ethel brought in another quilt top to sandwich. It will be a Christmas tree skirt for her daughter. She also brought in a traveling jewelry bag she had made. A nice gift for her daughter-in-law who always travels with jewelry. Deb told us the story of her friend who won the patriotic quilt raffled by the Village Quilters. This is a very nice lady whose husband is a veteran. Deb helped her out when she was run over by a tracter. She loves her new quilt and wanted to send a thank you note to the two ladies who were most responsible for making it. I will give it to them the next time I see them. Pat H. brought in some yummy buckeyes. They were melt-in-your-mouth good! And Marie regaled us with more tales of all of the crafts she has learned in her life. It was a small group today. Next week we will be eating at Evans restaurant on Western Ave. at 12:30 pm.

2009-12-15T15:14:00.002-05:00

20 ladies attended today. We had our holiday lunch--a potluck. That means lots of delicious food! I think Marie's brown bread and Cathy M.'s coconut cake were the big hits but it's hard to say--there was so much to choose from. Linda O'C was back from Florida. She spends Christmas with the grandkids then returns south for the rest of the winter. Agnes and Pat O will be away next week visiting family. Cathy Y's daughter will be visiting her for Christmas. Everyone's getting ready for the holidays. I am still trying to get over my flu so we've barely been thinking about Christmas. It's tough when you don't feel well and especially tough during the holidays. Today I brought in my finished batik quilt. I still need to take a picture of it before I send it away. Kathy O. made another hidden 9-patch 2 quilt with train fabric. It was really nice. That's such a great pattern! It always works out nicely. And Agnes brought in a baby quilt to show. It was a 9-patch with an iron-on applique fish and bubbles. It was totally cute! Most people didn't bring in anything to work on since we were going to concentrate on eating, but Fran put us all to shame by pulling out some pincushions she's made and stuffing them. We had a great day today! We will still meet at the library next Tuesday but the week after that we're going to lunch. That will be Dec. 29, we'll meet at 12:30 at Evans on Western Ave. across the street from the Guilderland town hall. For those who want to car pool we can meet at the library between 12 and 12:15.

2009-11-24T15:53:00.002-05:00

11 ladies attended today. It's two days before Thanksgiving and I assume everyone's busy. I brought in my finger-knitted scarf to show off. Everyone was suitably impressed. Fran brought in a quilt to sandwich and Jeanne brought in an already sandwiched quilt to ask for quilting or tying suggestions. Winnie reported that the bazaar at the Methodist church was a success but she thought people are more careful about what they buy now. Kathy O. was knitting a pair of socks. Tina is hand quilting a pillow top. Marguerite is hand piecing another quilt. Pat O'R and Fran are appliquing. Deb made a quick stop to say hello, catch up with everyone and to return her DVDs and check out some new ones. There was a lot of talk today about what everyone is doing for Thanksgiving. Some are cooking, some are not. The one thing we are all doing is eating!

2009-11-18T12:45:00.003-05:00

13 ladies attended today. Unfortunately I had another meeting to attend so I was there to say hello then came back to say goodbye so I don't know what happened during the meeting. I do know Deb brought in some pumpkin pie: my favorite! There was even a little left for me to sample. Marie brought in some old books of patterns she had collected at some point. She and I had been talking about Ruby McKim the week before so she wanted to show me these books which came out at about the same time as Ruby McKim. This woman, also a Ruby, came from Arkansas (R.McK was from Kansas City). I quickly looked through the books. I have a quilt at home made by a woman in Louisiana probably in the 40's or 50's. It was suggested to me by a quilt expert that the pattern was probably one published in the newspaper at the time. I didn't see this pattern in Marie's books though. Nice try though. Tina was back after being off sick for a few weeks. And Kathy O. informed me that the method of finger knitting that Ethel had taught me was actually better than the finger knitting that her granddaughter had taught her. Pat brought in some give-aways. I took some even though I'm trying to get rid of stuff too. Oh well.

2009-11-10T16:10:00.002-05:00

17 ladies attended today. We were a lively bunch today. Lew Schedlbauer, the "Quiltsmith", brought in some scrap batting. It was gone in about 5 minutes. But we had some nice show and tell we could share with him. Fran was binding a quilt she made some time ago and didn't like so just let the top be for awhile until she finally decided to have it quilted. Everyone agreed that it was a very nice quilt and deserved to be liked by its maker. Then Jeanne K. had a black and green zigzag quilt she was binding. It was all made of half-square triangles--very easy to make but it looks complicated. It was beautiful. Then Cathy M. was sewing the binding on one of her Flying Geese Saturday morning samplers. We are going to have a really great show this year! Everyone's doing such nice work! Marie awed us all with her crocheted tablecloth she is working on. Marie says she likes to do hard projects that no one else wants to do. That's exactly what she does and they are all just amazing! Pat O'R was binding her appliqued flower quilt, Agnes was binding her hidden 9-patch 2 quilt--lots of binding going on. Ethel has started a new cross-stitch pattern. She says she has several going already so I guess she just likes to switch projects periodically. Today was another good eatin' day: Marie brought in an apple cake and Agnes brought in an orange juice cake. Both were scrumptious! These ladies sure can cook!

2009-11-03T17:34:00.003-05:00

14 ladies attended today. We left Betty Smith's quilts on the wall from her party. With Nimblefingers and the Village Quilters meeting at the library we wanted everyone who didn't make it to the party to have a chance to see her quilts. She was a real artist--they are all so beautiful! Today I brought in some giveaways. Last weekend was the Quilter's Paradise at the RCS High School. Julie Ann Fortran and I rented a table and tried to sell some stuff. I admit that the stuff I took to sell was really old but nevertheless, I only netted $10. Don't think I'll do it next year. So I brought in the patterns that I didn't sell so everyone could take what they wanted. The rest will end up in the trash. Pat O'R also brought in some giveaways. Plus I had some things that Linda Cr. had given me to sell at the Q.P. I didn't know she had left them for me so I didn't take them. But today all of her antique quilt tops and pieces found nice homes with my ladies. We had some good eats today: I brought in my usual Hannaford goodies but Deb baked a pumpkin cake plus cider donuts (or do nots as she calls them) and apple cider. Ethel brought in some pumpkin bread she baked for a church sale. Plenty of goodies! Poor Daryl limped in with a bad back. She made a wrong move the other day and has been suffering ever since. We had a long discussion about what everyone watches on TV these days. The British comedies seem to be favorites of many of the ladies. Kathy O is continuing to assist Rosemary in making a Hidden 4-patch 2 quilt. Rosemary picked out some rich looking fabric so it should be very attractive when finished. I pulled out the raffle quilt to stitch on. We've made it to the edges with the hand quilting but we still have a ways to go.

2009-10-27T15:32:00.004-04:00

13 ladies attended today. Once again everyone was working on a project except me. But every week I get more curious about how to make the pincushions that Jean K. makes. She says she'll teach us next spring when she comes back from Florida. Daryl was back from her vacation on the Cape. She had bought some cute little quilting things at Heartbeat Quilts in Hyannis. One was a small finger pincushion for the tiny applique pins. The other was a pincushion, again for applique pins, that fits into a spool of thread. It has petals glued to a golf tee--very ingenious. Marie brought in one block plus the pattern for a beautiful bedspread where the block, which has one large and one small hexagon sewed together with the large one wrinkled to fit the small one. It would be a great bed covering, but what a lot of work! I am always amazed at Marie and the time she is willing to take to do the extra hand-sewing and embellishing necessary to turn a quilt into a masterpiece. I wish I could slow down enough that I was willing to spend the time necessary to do that. Down at my end of the table Linda O'C and Marie got to talking about old Voorheesville and its surrounding areas. It was a fascinating discussion of local history. I'm sorry that we didn't have a tape running to catch this conversation: old stories about times past. Today was also special because the room was decorated with the quilt collection of Betty Smith. Her family left them up after the party last Sunday. It is an amazing body of work. Betty's unique style really comes through in the quilts. She was very playful, she was definitely not afraid of color and she loved trying new things so her quilts are truly one of a kind. Betty meant a lot to those of us who had the privilege of knowing her and her quilt legacy is one to be cherished.

2009-10-20T16:27:00.003-04:00

13 ladies attended today and 3 of them brought food! Good food! Ethel's famous chocolate cake, Winnie's mince meat cake and Deb brought some cider donuts from Indian Ladders. Needless to say, I shouldn't eat another thing today. Our friend Katherine Denegar who now lives in Connecticut sent some craft books to me which I delivered to our crafty ladies from the Methodist church who busily make things for the annual rummage sale. I hope they get some good ideas from them. Marguerite was back from vacation and Cathy M. was back from wherever she's been hiding lately. No show and tells today but everyone (except me) was busy working on something. The conversation ran from books, to recipes, to swine flu, grandchildren, old friends, etc. I think all that cake is making me sleepy--I'm ready for a nap.

2009-10-13T16:11:00.002-04:00

13 ladies attended today. We had 3 show and tells. Agnes and I each made the hidden 9-patch II pattern that Kathy O. taught us last week. Agnes made a Christmas table quilt and I made a patriotic baby quilt for a service project with the Village Quilters. Then Marie came in with a beautiful quilt top she had just finished. It was called Morning Glory although Marie didn't think they looked like morning glories. Quilt pattern flowers never look like the real thing though. It will make a gorgeous bed quilt. Fran is making placemats for the QUILT group in Delmar so Ethel gave her some she had started a long time ago but never finished. Fran said with those she will have made 24. Rosemary started a hidden 9-patch II with some terrific gold touched fabric she found at JoAn's. I can't wait to see it finished. Ethel is working on her Old West Virginia home cross-stitch, Pat was cutting squares from gingham, Jean was making Christmas decorations, Cathy Y. basted her baby quilt and Tina was quilting a pillow cover. Jean brought in some delicious cookies. A pleasant way to spend a grey afternoon.