September 2011 Meeting

Meeting was held on September 15, 2011 with Margie, Linda, Peggy, Randi, Helen, Tricia, and Dawn attending.

The Bees enjoyed a delicious dinner of stuffed zucchini made by Peggy and Tricia, Tennessee biscuits made by Peggy, a salad made by Linda, and a carrot cake made by Margie. It was a sumptuous and relatively healthy feast.

Next Meeting

*** Tuesday, October 18 ***

• Dawn: Main dish
• Helen: Salad
• Peggy: Dessert

DragonLord Followup

The first order of business was a trip report by the Bees who traveled to Kentucky to deliver the DragonLord quilts. Linda distributed certificates from the commanding officer of the brigade to each person who made a quilt for the project. Linda also passed out other "memory items," including newspaper clippings as well as thank you notes from some of the children. It was very touching to read the thank you notes. One of the little girls called Tricia her "angel" and included a drawing of an angel -- so sweet. Peggy distributed goody bags of items the Bees collected on their trip, the most notable being a T-shirt from the National Quilt Museum for each Bee. It was so thoughtful for the traveling Bees to think about their stay-behind sisters while they were enjoying Molly's southern hospitality.

Click to enlarge the image.

Angel Quilt

Randi called the DragonLord project the Bees' "grand opus," but it turns out to be one of two grand opi for this year. Linda presented the finished Angel Quilt, and it is absolutely stunning -- covered with quilting in the Jill Schumacher fashion. (Linda and Peggy started marking the quilt in June while on the quilting retreat with Jill Schumacher, and then Linda took on the task of doing all the quilting.) Peggy did the center embroidery and is in the process of making a label. The quilt should be completed in time for the October meeting. The Bees decided to donate the quilt to the Cancer Resource Center as a wall-hanging, so the label will mention that the quilt was made in honor of Carol Gardner, whose idea it was to make such a quilt. We discussed the idea of having a sign or plaque made to accompany the quilt. I think that Tricia was supposed to propose some wording, but she has completely forgotten what it's supposed to say, so that can be ongoing business for the October meeting.

Queen Bee Business

No one, not a single Bee, was willing to give up our one and only Queen Randi. However, we all acknowledged how much Randi does to keep our group going and vowed to be more helpful and supportive. Next year, we will take turns organizing demos and other items of interest for the meetings. For example, Tricia volunteered to demonstrate Stitch Witchery bindings, Peggy the Twister Tool, and Dawn something to do with table runners. We also need to take leadership of various projects; for example, next year, someone other than Randi should head up whatever service project we decide to take on. Peggy volunteered to compile an agenda for each meeting and send to Randi. Margie will remain treasurer for the Bees. Every single Bee thanks and greatly appreciates the efforts of Randi and Margie, as well as the efforts and participation of each and every one of us.

This was not part of the meeting notes, but I (Tricia) have made an observation that each year we tend to do three major things: 1) a service project, which this year was DragonLords; 2) a club project, which last year was placements; I'm not sure what it is for 2011; and 3) a workshop (this year was purses by Peggy and Tricia). Those seems like a great ideas to continue, and maybe near the beginning of each year, people could volunteer to be project leaders. It seems as though that would offload a lot from Randi and would keep the fun going! What do we think?

Show and Tell

Linda brought the quilt for Dan Kaffer made from Carson River Work Day T-shirts from 1995 through 2011. Linda is the one who was in charge of ordering the T-shirts, and she told us that when she knew she was going to make a quilt, she started ordering shirts in colors that would look good in the quilt.

As usual, Peggy had a busy quilting month. The pinwheel quilt was made with the Twister tool; it's backed with Minkee, and Peggy hopes it will be the "magic quilt" for her baby grandson who is due in January. She found the ruby slippers wallhanging pattern on the shop hop at Quilting Tahoe and just had to make it for her sister. (The embroidery on it says, "Sometimes I miss my sister."

Dawn was busy, too. She made a Route 66 quilt for one of her car club friends, and when her father saw it, he thought it was for him. Very cleverly, she was able to find some more fabric and make another similar quilt for her father -- he'll never know the difference. The quilt with the squares is a special quilt for an Alzheimer's project. It's made of fabrics with bright colors and lots of different textures.

Tricia has been very busy with the start of a new semester, so she is keeping herself happy with little projects. The table runner was made from a charm pack.

Randi's "I spy" quilt is fun and cheerful! Randi also found an adorable baby doll Bee, which she purchased for Linda's daughter Molly. It will be sent to her as a replacement for Jerome and Geraldine, those wayward traveling Bees she's sure to be missing!