Christmas Exchange

   Living in Southern California we have to rely on the calendar to advise us that Christmas is on the way.  We just don't have the seasons like the rest of the country.  So when it was 80 degrees here this week I struggled to begin decking my halls.  Our annual Christmas exchange occurred the other night and as always this was a festive, lively event.  We settled on appetizers and desserts for our main meal.

 The rules are:  $10.00 or less and homemade.

 I drew last and stole this from Elisabeth, who had taken it from Susan.  

 I love the time and effort everyone puts into their gift.

Back row left to right:  Terry, Donna, Susan, Elisabeth and Laurene   Front row left to right:  Beverly, Me and Sheri (our hostess).  

Merry Christmas Sup n Sew ladies! 

Mini Retreat

The advantages to a retreat are being able to focus your entire attention on getting projects finished.  Of course the prep work for a retreat can be quite daunting.  I mean really you are literally packing up your entire sewing room.  The jilted quilter's sewing group got together on Monday for a 12 hour mini retreat.  Here are some of the projects we were able to complete...Carolyn and Janiel were working on a candle mat project out of the latest issue of Primitive Quilts magazine.

 They did enlarge it a bit to use up every bit of their wool backgrounds.  Love the white specks in Janiel's piece.

 Here is another project from last years winter edition.  Sharon had finished hers and the rest of us were fast on her tail.

 Susan, our hostess, had suggested we make some of these adorable ball jar lid pumpkins.

 Meanwhile she worked feverishly trying to complete this Christmas quilt for her baby granddaughter.

 I don't get to work on such fun projects as those.  I'm always making samples for quilt shops and today was no different.

 Sharon was finishing up the center on this June Lake retreat quilt that we all started back in 2008!!  Now that's a UFO.

What a great way to spend the day.  Having just finished up all my shows for the year it was a relaxing and fun filled day that reminded me again of why I do what I do.

When Girls Gather

   When we gather for a sewing session you never really know what or who is going to show up.  Our monthly meeting at Pieced with Love has grown into quite a group.  Kerry drove up from her long arm studio to put a binding on this cute little quilt and to catch up with all the girls she used to work with.

 Stacy takes a midnight madness class over at Temecula Quilt Company.  She had homework to get done for that class so that's what she was working on.

 In 2008 Sharon and I went to the June Lake retreat hosted by Cheri Payne and her sister Berri.  This wall hanging was a part of that retreat.  It was done as a block exchange.  It may take a while but Sharon will always finish her UFO's.

 Diana is leaving for vacation soon, a long drive across country to attend a family wedding.  She needed to get this binding done before she left.  We may have been talking too much for that to happen but that is the point of these gatherings, right?

 While Jackie was out of the room I snapped a picture of her hand applique'.  Honestly it was the little wool pincushion bob that I found most intriguing.

 Janiel was sewing the tiniest of bow tie blocks.

 This quilt by Kim Diehl was hanging right above my head. 

As it turns out Susan, who could only join us for lunch, is sewing the exact same quilt.  It's good to be home and back amongst my quilting sewing circle.

The Sew Whats

  Yesterday I took a break from it all.  Met with some of my favorite ladies, each so diverse in their personalities and backgrounds.  The one thing that binds us together...our love of sewing.

I put more primitive stitching onto my wool applique'.

 Shirley began a new rug hooking project.

 Donna had three stacks of tiny little log cabin blocks she was sewing.

 Diana was free motion quilting some steering wheel covers for her grandchildren.

 Kathie stepped outside her box and began this Buggy Barn star quilt.

 Janiel was piecing the backs for the Dr. Seuss quilts for her grandsons.

 Jackie brought her Sea Shore applique' blocks but spent more time talking than sewing.

 We meet, we laugh, we forget for a moment of time the stresses of our everyday lives.  This is why we have sewing groups, which soon become friendship groups.  I for one would be lost without my girls.  Have a peace filled week, Laural

Easter Sew Along

   Once the quilt shop closed late last year we (the employees) found ourselves missing one another.  Luckily there was a new shop in town and Sandy the owner of Pieced with Love in Murrieta CA found room for us in her classroom.  We meet once a month and work on a variety of projects.

 Janiel was putting the finishing touches (buttons) on her Buggy Barn Rabbit quilt.

 Susan had the iron heated up to complete the applique' on a modern quilt she is working on.

 Shirley joined us for the first time with this gorgeous rug hooking project and Carolyn, who completes everything she starts was binding a baby quilt for the new grandbaby.

 Bobbie began stitching her second in the series, embroidery project.

 Diana, notorious stripper, was determined to complete her two lap sized prayer quilts.

I know that many of you feel the way I do about "our" sewing groups, they become our sisters, friends and best support system.  My heart was heavy this day and the girls did their best to lift my spirits.  Later that night we had to put our little dog Pepper to sleep.

Here she is the first day Ron brought her home, with big boy.  Such a good girl Pepper Schultz 1998-2013.

Girls Gather

This week has been a flurry of sewing groups.  Why is it that they always seem to converge in one week?  The sup n sew girls once again out did themselves with plenty of good food, really do we even sew any more?  Mary made her famous lasagna.

 Sheri brought not one but two delightful desserts.  The first being lemon bites

 and tiramisu cupcakes from the Heartspun Quilts post by Pam Buda. Yum!

 Five of our ladies have taken the quilted basket class from Theresa Martinez at the Temecula Quilt Company.  Here are three of the completed baskets.  Great job ladies.

I was working on a new FREE pattern for my blog followers.  It is just about done so here is a sneak peak at what you will be getting next week.

The Easter block from my "Celebrate the Holidays" BOM has been shipped and should be in your inbox.  If you have signed up and didn't get it please contact me.  OK, I've got a ton of work to do this weekend, including a new design exclusively for the Primitives magazine and a guild trunk show on Monday, what the heck am I doing on the computer?

When Girls Gather

Well it has been a while since I shared one of my sewing group projects and today seems like the perfect day for that.  Sup n Sew met this week at Elisabeth's home.  Since Elisabeth is of the French persuasion we decided to "theme" the evening and sup on only French foods.  So Mary brought Eiffel tower cupcakes.

We all did hand work and these are a few of the things we were sewing...

Mary's Velentine Cupid

Beverly worked on a Cheri Payne pattern.

Donna's Grandmother's Flower

As usual the evening was filled with fun and laughter and frankly there just can't be too much of that.

When Girls Gather

   When did it go from quilting and sewing to sup-ing and chatting?  And more often than not the conversations seem to center around my fixation with cupcakes.  This weeks sup n sew group started out with a bang when Terry unveiled her dessert.

 Ohhh Bundtini's!  As a reminder this is the group that has a secret cupcake admirer who leaves me a "sweet" gift at the end of each evening.  This month's little treat is a ceramic container, big enough for candy.

 Just to show you how big the collection is getting...

Perhaps it's time for an intervention?  Since we are talking cupcakes, I have a tree skirt pattern and I'm reworking the cover photo.  Thankfully my volunteer sample maker (Susan) brought me the sample this weekend so that I could get it on the Honey Q and work on the photo.  Well in that bag was this little treat.

My tree skirt pattern done in cupcake fabrics!!  She left off the outer border and I added the giant hot pink rick rack.  This is going to look great wrapped around my pink tinsel tree.