October 2011 Meeting

The Bees met on October 18 at Helen's house. We dined sumptuously on Dawn's chili and Helen's delicious salad -- and for dessert, Peggy made her should-be-world-famous pumpkin pie, which we enjoyed with mounds of whipped cream later during the meeting.

Attending the meeting were Randi, Dawn, Peggy, Helen, Margie, and Tricia. We really missed Linda, who was in Kentucky with Molly, awaiting the birth of the grandbaby -- but we were not disappointed -- Molly's water broke during our meeting and Linda texted us that they were on their way to the hospital. Randi had predicted the birth to take place on October 20, two days away and also Randi's birthday, so it seemed as though the little tyke would come earlier than that. However, little Willa Rose held off and made her appearance on October 20, just as Randi predicted. We all look forward to hearing more from Linda at our next meeting.

***Next meeting: Tuesday, November 15 ***

Randi-main dish; Tricia-salad; Dawn-dessert; Margie-bread

Angel Quilt

The angel quilt is finished, and we discussed when/how to deliver it to the Cancer Resource Center with the hopes that Carol Gardner would be able to come. A firm day and time for the delivery has not yet been confirmed, so hopefully we'll be able to make that decision at the next meeting. Peggy is going to make a framed label to hang next to the quilt. We all agreed that the cancer colors do not need to be documented or displayed. (Click on the images for larger close-ups.)

Christmas Party

The Christmas party will be held on Tuesday, December 13. We will plan the details at the November meeting.

Treasurer's Report

Although not discussed at our meeting, Margie asked me to let everyone know that she is now accepting dues for 2012, so everyone who wants to pay in advance may do so at the November meeting (or later).

Yerington Quilt Show

Dawn put the Bees' "Mom's on the Run" quilt into this show. It is being held at the Jeanne Dini Center, 120 N. California Street, Yerington through December 17. Hours of operation are not known.

We have also been invited by Chris Hutton, president of the Nevada Quilt Guild (of which the Bees is a charter member), to the guild's General Meeting on Saturday, November 12, 2011, at the Jeanne Dini Center in Yerington. (Randi is planning to attend, and it would be fun if some of the other Bees could come, too.) After the meeting, the Yerington Theater Assoc. will be holding a special tea for the quilters and will then give a tour of their beautifully renovated building. They have done a wonderful job of displaying about fifty quilts from quilters in Northern Nevada.

Alzheimer's Study Project

Dawn brought information about making a quilt for this project. (She showed us the quilt she made at the September meeting.) Here are the specifications:

• 36 six-inch squares in a variety of colors and textures
• All fabrics should be durable and washable in hot water
• Assemble the quilt into 6 x 6 rows and columns (resulting in a square quilt)
• Stitch in the ditch to quilt (so as not to obliterate the textures with quilting)
• Bind or tie (although tying is probably not very durable)

Mail the quilt to Jeffree Itrich, Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, University of California San Diego, 8950 Villa La Jolla Drive, Suite C-227, La Jolla, CA 92037. Ms. Itrich's email address is jitrich@ucsd.edu.

Show & Tell

Peggy took a quilting class from Paula Thompson at Fabrics Unlimited. Paula's free motion technique is free form without marking, something Peggy has never thought she could conquer. Well, the results were amazing, and Peggy is now a budding "art" quilter. She will be taking the advanced class from Paula in December. (Click on the image for a larger close-up of the quilting).

Helen made an adorable table topper from a panel. It really looks pieced, doesn't it?

Randi made a birthday party "big girl" quilt for her little Helen from a "Stars by Magic" quilt top. Although the quilt is gorgeous in its own right, the big deal about this quilt for Helen is the zebra Minkee backing, which Helen just adores. For some reason, we don't have a photo of it.

Randi has a great-nephew who was also having a birthday and who pointed out to her that she had never made a quilt for him. So, with only a few days before his party, Randi pulled together an amazing "Disappearing Nine Patch" in animal prints and backed it, too, with zebra Minkee. The little great-nephew was truly surprised and sagely told Randi that he had been wanting a quilt like that for years.

Agenda Items for Upcoming Meetings

January: Discuss old and new goals. Brainstorm ideas for a charity project and a "club" project for the Bees.

February is "Heart" your scraps months. Bring ideas and patterns for using up all our scraps. Does anyone know someone who collects scraps. Some of the Bees might be happy to donate them. Dawn will demonstrate the "double diamonds" tool.

March is "Tools" month. Bring your favorite tool and describe how to use it. We might want to schedule future demos for the tools shared at this meeting.

The Adventures of Geraldine

Because of her work schedule, Dawn had to leave Jerome and Geraldine unattended for many long hours, and look what happened! Little Gigi has now joined our bee mascots' family. The family was sent home with Tricia, who, hopefully, will keep a closer eye on them.