December Meetup

Well, where has the year gone - the final meetup of 2017.  A difficult year for some and I expect some of us are glad it's nearly over.  A little subdue this time but productive non the less. With thought of absent friends, we got to work!

Determined to finish.... several more rows for AB

A welcome burst of colour from CD. Now to decide how to quilt the Dahlia

The afternoon was spent under this fun blanket - another one near completion for CD

A finished boarder for the Christmas gift started last month - already for wrapping CB

A small Elmer Blanket - CB

And finally the backing for the cross stitch CB started back in 2014 -
hopefully the back will be finished a bit quicker!

A wonderful lunch from AB, with bread from C Hollywood - did manage to get pictures before we cleaned the plates this time! I won't tell you H who had the crust!

  

And Santa came early for one member - pretty hard to guess who it was for.....

  

Happy Christmas one and all. See you on the other side.

November 2017 - A Birthday

This month saw a Birthday celebration 21 again! and another gap year?

What are we working on this month? HT brought along a nice blue charm square quilt to which she has added a lovely soft velvety backing and planned to quilt with straight(ish) lines.

HT Blue quilt

The quilting was completed by the end of the day.

Two crochet blankets were in progress, one nearly finished, the other on it's way. The first is a snuggle blanket for a Christmas present. A border was chosen to use the eight bright colours used around the grey squares.

CB snuggle blanket

The second has been seen before and is progressing slowly.

AB blanket

A labour of love for this piece of  hand stitched tiny hexagons. It is growing very well, but still a way to go. This is a useful project to take when travelling. This was started to use up some 1930's style fabrics, but the stash does not seem to be shrinking that much.

HW;s lovely hexagon flower basket centre.

CD is working on another two Linus quilts. This is a very simple pattern using WOF strips in various widths, the widest is a feature fabric, with two coordinating fabrics in between. These will be backed with fleece and quilted with a binding to finish them off.

Linus quilts - Anyone for Tea

The teapot fabric with a black background was dismissed as unsuitable for a Linus quilt, but I thought with some nice bright accents, it could look pretty good.

Lunch was delicious, as usual, with Fish Chowder soup and homemade bread, with ginger, mango and yogurt dessert. Too busy eating to take pictures.

We had a birthday to celebrate, so at 3pm our time, we face-timed EL in Florida, got out the cake and candles and had a sing. then the birthday girl opened her presents and we had cake with a cup of tea.

Salted Caramel Cake

Birthday pressies

We had a bit more stitching before we headed off home. I love these days, you get so much out of this type of activity. I also like the fact that we take the time to document what we have been up to, giving us the opportunity to look back at the fun we are having. Important as we mature in years, as came up in conversation today.

PS. You know when lunch is good when the host finishes the soup, and then someone else tries to 'lick' the pan!!!! ;)

October 2017 - Another lovely productive day with good friends

Since last months meeting there had been a birthday to celebrate. EL in America was sent her presents in September, as there were lots of turtles involved these went down really well. We look forward to seeing what she makes with the turtle fabric, she can keep her WIP in the turtle bag. EL is currently staying with her Mum in Carolina, so we had a mini tour of the house and garden. We were very impressed with the pool and had the cheek to ask for a quilting retreat. It turns out Mum has a quilting friend who could teach us too!

This month we were down one Quirky, but she has sent a picture of her latest project. CB bought some mini hot water bottles with a view to crocheting covers for them. The body of the cover was worked out easily, but the joining together was a bit more problematical. (See last post for first attempt). A bit of work proved much more satisfactory, and the latest cover is very pretty.

CB Mini hot water bottle cover, edging cracked 

AB, HT and HW were all making crochet blankets, or are they Afghans? We had a bit of a discussion on what the difference might be, then we 'Googled it' to find out. According to Wikipedia an Afghan is a knitted or crocheted blanket or throw, it can be made from natural or man-made material. If you would like to read more, take a look at this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_(blanket)

AB familiar site at meetings, so it is growing

AB's first attempt at a blanket is taking a while to progress, but it is getting bigger.

HT Corner to corner blanket with edging 'done properly'

HT liked the corner to corner blanket pattern that some of us had used, and decided to have a go herself. Last meeting, as she was coming to the end, we were discussing the edging. She was going to do something, not bothering too much about the corners, but had second thoughts and 'did the corners properly' so it is nice and flat.  Rumour has it she may keep this for herself. To find tutorials and patterns just Google C2C or corner to corner crochet blanket.

HW bed size Rainbow ripple blanket

The ripple blanket by Lucy at Attic24  is another favourite crochet pattern. They are a bit addictive once you start, some of us have made several in various colour combinations. HW's Rainbow blanket is much coveted by the rest of us, but we won't get a look in, as it is destined for her son who has just started Uni.

CD Fabric bowl

Sewing projects were also being undertaken. CD was making a fabric bowl using an old pair of denim jeans as the stiffener. She is not sure about the edging on this one, but thought it worth trying instead of satin stitch for a change. Came out satisfactory, but pattern could do with a tweak when using old denim jeans as stiffener.

HT Curtains for grand children's bedroom

HT is making some lovely curtains for the grandchildren's bedroom. She Googled a video to make the box pleat heading, and was impressed with how easy it was to follow. They are wonderful, the left over fabric will end up as an appliqued wall hanging. We can't wait to see that one finished.

As usual, we talked and ate quite a lot. Too busy eating to take photos of the food which included - salted caramel and chocolate chip cookies with coffee for elevenses, minestrone soup and homemade bread with salted caramel torte and cream for lunch, salted caramel cake with afternoon tea. Lots of salted caramel all quite delicious.

Another lovely productive day with good friends!

September - A Full House

With general chit chat on where the year has disappeared too, a productive day, in good company and much laughter.  The day was welcomed by us all.  We caught up with our missing member with news that all was safe and well after the slight winds in Florida. ;)

CB was playing with some mini hot water bottles purchased the day before for £1.50, she had entered the shop for mini wooden pegs and came out with four mini hot water bottles for Christmas raffle prizes.  Own pattern, needs some work!

HW was working hard on sewing cases for the charity stand she helps with.  Looking wonderful. 

CD completed another set of T-Shirt quilts for Project Linus - they really are very effective and very addictive!.

HT starting curtains for the grand kids room, I know - we are all so talented, curtains no less. 

AB continuing with her crochet blanket - looking great - and nearly big enough to sit under while hooking - great for the winter months!

August: Summer Time

Summer has hit, and when I say Summer, I of course mean rain and winds! Saturday we were lucky enough to have a day off from the rain and able to sit in CD gardens - always wonderful to sit and sew, chat and laugh among the wonderful surroundings.

It was a productive day for all:

A quick show and tell from CD - a gift received a few years ago - finished and looking amazing, it did however make the rest of us question where we had put ours, and we really should get them finished!

CD working on a commission for Christmas gifts - always exciting when people  like your 'makes' enough to purchase them.

HW working on sewing boxes for her Mum's quilting show, to be sold for Charity. Such beautiful colours.

CB trying hard to complete a project started back in 2012 (I know, I know....) nearly there. First and last attempt at a large cross stitch.

HS putting the finishing touches to a baby quilt - looking wonderful - great colours.

AB continuing to hook herself a blanket.

At the end of the day, progress had been made by all....

Lunch was amazing as always - it's funny how we always dig in before remembering to take a picture.  Again gone before the camera left the pocket......

May

Three go wild in Croydon....sorry Shirley.  Car loaded off we headed to pastures new. Our meeting held at HT this month.

A good catch up first, with tea and biscuits and a look round H's wonderful garden. The sky is blue and the sun is warm.

Show and Tell first, finished projects by CD.

Monthly crochet project finished by HW

And, finally on with our UFO!

A wall hanging, which had a major design change - becoming a garden table cover. Wonderful colours.

A wedding gift from HW, final decisions on how to finished - stuff with wadding or lavender, were discussed

Foundation pieces being made for demonstration purposes by CD.  One much easier than other. Decision made perhaps not to do foundation piecing again!

Lunch in the garden, with some beautiful blooms.

And the biggest flan I have ever seen!! ;)

A great day, yes you are right only three projects, I forgot to photograph mine lol! Sandown next month for those who are free.