September 2013 Meeting

The Bees met on Tuesday, September 24 with everyone except Rita attending. For dinner, we had delicious meatballs from Linda served over sweet, healthy spaghetti squash. Dawn made a tomato cucumber salad and garlic bread. Margie brought beautiful spice cupcakes swirled with thick cream cheese frosting, which were served with butter pecan ice cream.

Next meeting: Tuesday, October 22 at Helen's house

Food: Dawn - main dish;    Helen - salad;    Peggy - dessert

We had no business to discuss at the meeting, but we talked a bit about the Shop Hop. Randi did the whole thing and thought the new shop in Portola was a great addition. Several of the other Bees visited selected shops near their homes. We spent some time discussing our experiences, with nothing exceptional noted. It doesn't appear that any of the Bees won a prize this year. 

Show & Tell

Dawn had to leave before dark because she only had her sunglasses to drive with, so during dinner she showed us her "bathroom" wall hanging, which matches the color of the new granite counter in her bathroom.

Tricia showed her memory box quilt. She had good luck quilting Jill Schumacher-style with a 12-inch stencil that complemented the blocks nicely. She is also tickled with the $1.00/yard backing fabric she got at Mill End. Such a deal!

Randy made even more placemats for her son and daughter-in-law's Fiestaware. 

Margie finished the "humbug bag" that Randi got in the gift exchange at last year's Christmas party. The gift included the fabric, pattern, and Margie making it. 

Margie also finished a table topper. This is the second month in a row that Margie has shared a show-and-tell project!

Peggy had a productive month. First she showed a wall hanging made from a kit she bought in Hawaii several years ago. The instructions for the kit were in a magazine but in a different colorway, and they didn't seem to work with her kit. She called the shop in Hawaii, and the quilt designer was able to send Peggy more detailed instructions.

Peggy is getting ready for Christmas with a beautiful embroidered silk table runner. The finish and sheen of the fabric is far more beautiful than the photo. She also made a Welcome wall hanging to try out the technique of snipping the dense satin stitching to make it fluffy. 

Linda showed a wall hanging from a project she made in a Jill Schumacher workshop. 

In her Ditchstitchers group, she also made a quilt for children's hospice.

Linda made a square for her sister using fabric from their mother's clothing. It features a crow, which is a special creature to her sister. 

August 2013 Meeting

Hello, Bees! I have my notes from August, and I'm finally remembering to update our blog, although the information might be sketchy. Here goes!   --Tricia

Attending the meeting were Margie, Linda, Randi, Peggy, Helen, Dawn, Rita, and Tricia. Tricia made a tasty enchilada casserole from a recipe in the Food Network magazine. Peggy made a spinach and strawberry salad. For dessert, Rita brought biscotti made by her mother and Randi brought banana bread. 

Next meeting will be on September 24 with Dawn volunteering to bring the entire dinner. 

The only business we discussed was the Shop Hop, which nobody is planning to do this year, although some of the Bees plan to visit the shops nearby where they live. In fact, Dawn said that she is specifically setting aside the time it would take to do the Shop Hop to sew instead!

Show & Tell

Linda made place mats out of "block of the month" blocks she made at Windy Moon about 5 years ago. Randi liked that idea so much that she made some, too. The colorway of her blocks is a perfect match for her son and daughter-in-law's Fiestaware dishes, and Randi likes them so much she's having a hard time giving them away!

Peggy showed a cute Christmas tree wallhanging she made in a class using a special "square in a square" ruler. 

Helen showed us the "Family Album" quilt she made for her daughter featuring "The Ghastlys"! How cute and clever, and Helen says every one of her family members is represented somewhere on the quilt, including her cat!

Margie finished the "Labyrinth" quilt she started in a class at Windy Moon. She used this project to play with color, and it's also her first free-motion quilting. 

Rita took a class from Nancy Ryan at Fabric Chicks and made a stunning "impressionist-style" art quilt.