Yesterday we had 15 attendees including a grandson and 1 jr. nimblefinger. I brought in 2 tops with backs ready to be sandwiched and tied. We pieced some batting and almost finished tying one of them. We'll finish it up next week and I'll take it home and try to find a binding for it. The other one we'll have to piece the batting next week and start on. The quilt Jackson and I started before, Jackson and Aly sewed on the binding so it will need some hand-sewing next week. I also brought in 2 new knitting books which Marie very happily checked out. Rosemary tried out our sewing machine to work on her apron. It is really looking nice. Cathy M. brought in one finished quilt and another ready to be tied. She and Agnes made quick work of it. We now have about 18 quilts ready for the camp Erin kids. And, best of all, Agnes brought in a yummy blueberry cake! We made quick work of that too!

13 ladies attended yesterday, 2 of which were juniors. The juniors and I worked on another Camp Erin quilt. We finished tying it, got the binding ready, and trimmed it so next week we can put on the binding and be done with it. Linda Crannell had brought in a box of Betty Smith's supplies to share. Her family is busy planning the Betty Smith party which will probably be on Betty's birthday, 9/4. Pat O'R and Fran came back from their quilting week at Wiawaka with pictures (Fran) and a finished wallhanging (Pat). They go every year and have a great time. Marguerite came in with her cute little grandson Nathan plus her finished colonial lady wallhanging and her granddaughter Alexandra's finished mile-a-minute pillow she made as a gift for her mother's birthday.

Today there were 15 ladies attending, 2 of which were Jr. Nimblefingers. Jackson finished sewing a quilt for the hospice kids, then we sandwiched it and started tying it. Pat O'R let us use her basting gun to baste the 3 layers together. She had brought it in to baste a pretty little quilt she had made. The basting gun is much quicker than using safety pins. I've never used one before so now I might just have to get one for myself. Betsey H. sent in a quilt from New Jersey. It was finished except for the tying. We made quick work of that and it now has a place on the wall. So far we have about 14 quilts finished. I think that's pretty good considering our regular attendance is only around 15. Winnie was working on a hidden 9-patch piece with some help from Agnes. Marguerite pulled out our raffle quilt and added some more quilting stitches. Gail S., the director who is just back from an ALA meeting in Chicago, reported that she met a woman from Pennsylvania who had heard of the Nimblefingers group. I guess we have quite a reputation! I'm eager to ask Gail more about this. There were a lot of conversations around the table. Jackson and I listened to a discussion of the Harry Potter books. Jackson says I need to finish reading the whole series: that the 7th book is the best. Then there was more discussion about Michael Jackson. I think the consensus is that when he's on the TV, everyone is changing the channel. We've heard enough about Michael Jackson already. Then there was talk about catching mice, bats and other critters. You never know what you'll hear around our Nimblefingers table!

Today we had 12 ladies attending. Kristin Lauster, one of the original Nimblefingers, made a return appearance today. She plans to come back again so welcome back Kristin! She is working on a paper-pieceing (although she is using plastic) grandmother's flower garden. It will be beautiful when finished but my, what a project! Everyone said I had to look at Marie's crochet project but somehow I missed it. I hope she'll bring it back so I can finally see it. Cathy M. brought in a camp quilt ready to be tied so Cathy, Fran, Jackson (a junior Nimblefinger) and myself tied it. It's in very pretty pinks and greens and will be a beautiful girls quilt. Then Jackson and I pulled out a cheater cloth so that we can put together another camp quilt. The top should be finished next week so I'll have to be on the lookout for a backing. Ethel brought in the issue of the Enterprise which has a feature story on her daughter who is walking across the country to earn money for the homeless. She is very ambitious but I wish her well. We also got a visit from Linda Crannell who filled us in on her life without her beloved Nana (Betty Smith). We all miss Betty but for Linda it's been a real change of life. She seems to be doing just fine though. The family is busy planning a Betty party which they are having in lieu of a funeral, at Betty's request. We'll look forward to that.

We had 13 ladies attending this week. It was a busy week. Cathy Y., Agnes and Marie were all knitting. Pat H. had Marie show her how to knit the Continental way. Cathy M. and I were sewing bindings on quilts. Pat O'R brought in some pieces to sew together for a quilt block but couldn't remember how they fit together. It was an interesting puzzle but even when we all put our heads together we couldn't figure it out. Linda O'C, Sue, Hope and Betty were all making rings out of garbage bags. They cut thin strips, braided them together and tied it around their fingers. A cute little project they can teach their grandkids. Pat H. was working on prayer quilts. Fran was appliquing leaves. The highlight of the day was Marie's show and share. She brought in a pineapple quilt she had finished recently. It was exquisite as you can see in the picture. She also brought in some tatting that she has done. She is such a talented lady!

Last week I was on vacation but did attend Nimblefingers with my sister who was visiting from Tucson. 15 ladies attended last week and 15 ladies attended this week. Last week my sister and I sandwiched another camp quilt I had made, plus 2 of my own personal quilts. This week I sewed a binding on the Helping Hands lap quilt for the V.A. hospital. This week was special because our friend Louise Claflin from Florida is back. She brought with her a family history quilt she had made. It was a quilt with 9 state blocks from the 9 states she has lived in with pictures taken while living in those states. Louise always has something wonderful to show us on her return and she didn't disappoint this year. Also showing today was Ethel with her very nearly completed bride cross-stitch. With around 400 beads it was truly beautiful. She and her daughter are taking it to be framed, then going to Mexico for the wedding so the framed work should be ready when they return. Cathy Y. did some more quilting on our raffle quilt; Fran was making applique leaves; Jean K. was working on an appliqued bird block; Marguerite's granddaughter Alexandra popped in to show me her finished mile-a-minute pillow top she is making for her mother. She did an excellent job!

Yesterday we had 12 ladies. Marguerite brought in the 3 finished quilts she has worked on for the Camp Erin kids and we hung them on the wall. The room already looks brighter! By next week we may be adding a couple more to the wall. For a small group, I think we're doing pretty well on this project. Pat and Agnes tied the quilt Agnes had made. I sewed Winnie's quilt so that it would flip properly, then Pat, Winnie, Agnes and Cathy tied it. I sewed on the binding to a quilt we had finished a couple of weeks ago. Marguerite took it home to finish the hand sewing. And Winnie took hers home to do the finishing touches. I will take pictures of our wall next week and post them. This weekend Cathy M., Fran, Marie and I are attending the Wings Falls Quilt show. It's always a good one so I'm looking forward to it! Here is a picture of the Village Quilters annual raffle quilt.