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

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

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

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

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

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

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