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.

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!

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!

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.

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!

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.

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!