Last Saturday was a fantastic day. Although Jean was unable to be with us, everyone else stopped in for at least part of the day. We even had a new (potential) member – if we didn’t scare her away! Best of all, Pat was feeling well enough to attend and we showed her the hug quilt we had all worked on for her. Mom just finished putting the border on yesterday, so we should have it quilted and ready to present next week. I’m giving this it’s own post so I can feature photos of each block.

Pat made a hug quilt of her own for her daughter. I told you about the Christian’s Puzzle quilt – Pat finished it just before her surgery and gave it to Mom and I to quilt. I worked several words into it, like “hope,” “forgiveness,” “love,” “family,” “friends,” “remembrance,” “mother,” and across the bottom “life, gift, love, forever.” Of course Christian’s name was at the top. Pat has been able to work on hand stitching the binding, and will be giving it to her daughter soon, if she hasn’t already. It’s a wonderful quilt, and I was so happy to have been able to contribute to it.

It was an emotional day all around. Crazy Pat nearly made Karrie (and herself) cry when showed TWO quilts that she made from Karrie’s patterns. Pat asked no less than three times if Karrie was coming this month – now we know why! Here’s the first project, from Karrie’s Moda Bake Shop project called Blueberry Chocolate Squares:

She also showed a fantastic variation of Karrie’s Charm Pack Quilt Along quilt:

That’s Karrie on the left, and a moment later…

Here’s Karrie’s version of the Charm Pack Quilt Along quilt (you can find the quilt along on Karrie’s blog, Freckled Whimsy):

Both Pat and Karrie had stacks of quilts for show and tell. Karrie has missed the last couple of Stitch & Bitches (hmmm, that doesn’t look right!) so she has an excuse. Pat is just a sewing machine (ha – I made a funny!). Here are more from both of them:

Karrie’s Crossing Paths, a project for Moda Bake Shop:

Karrie’s Crushed Diamonds, a project for Robert Kaufman’s Swatch & Stitch using a fun new fabric called Crush. It’s a textured solid that feels really nice:

Front and back of Karrie’s Autumn Strings quilt (tutorial at her site). The technique is different from a regular string quilt – she made this quilt in just a couple of days!

And here’s Pat showing her string-like quilt, based on a technique demonstrated by Jeanne two months ago:

Speaking of Jeanne, here she’s showing off a gorgeous batik & black double wedding ring mini quilt that she gave away on her blog. Gave it away! Seriously! Check out her post to see a better photo, and see if you can spot the piece of fabric that was only used once in the entire quilt. (I found it!)

We had a new guest this time, thanks to Lisa. She invited her co-worker Amy to join us, and even though Lisa wasn’t going to be here Amy braved the big, scary Stitch & Bitch (seriously, who wouldn’t be nervous about a group with that name?!). We’re so glad she came and hope she’ll be back with her machine next month. Because Lisa wasn’t going to be here, she didn’t bring “The Quilt” for show and tell, but did bring a curtain project she’s working on:

Of course, since she didn’t bring the Wow quilt, Lisa showed up anyway! Lisa was supposed to work, but it was slow so she got out early and spent a few hours with us. She’s almost finished with her Basket BOM quilt:

This photo doesn’t begin to do it justice. Nearly every block as a bit of a metallic batik fabric that gives it another whole dimension. I can’t wait to see this finished! Let’s see, Mom, Mickey, Jeanne and Lisa are done or nearly done – that leaves Karen, Jean, Pat, Pat, Becky and I. Guess we’d better get moving.

Lisa also brought a top that was found by a friend when they were flipping a house. This was stuffed into a bag and left in a closet:

We think it was made in the early 50’s, and it’s all hand pieced. It’s just insane! The friend asked Lisa if she could finish it. I’d love to see this completed and displayed.

Lisa has also been working on a braid quilt, after seeing the technique a couple of months ago. She worked diligently on sewing all of those little strips together, but found that they weren’t staying straight. Her long columns of braids started curving – drastically. Then she did something we can all learn from: she decided to chop it up and rearrange the pieces to make it work. Instead of yet another braid quilt, she made this:

Isn’t it wonderful? I love that she didn’t just toss it to the side because it wasn’t doing what it was supposed to. She worked with it to create something original. Lisa claims to be a “beginner” because she’s only been quilting about a year, but I believe her willingness to try new things and go out on a limb put her far beyond beginner status.

Okay, moving on…

Mom had two quilts for show and tell. The first is a sweet little baby wall hanging for a great-nephew:

They live in California and don’t use quilts, so she came up with this instead. Her other project (and I think I saved the best for last) is a Storm at Sea wallhanging for our living room:

I love how you can see movement in the quilt. When you look at it straight on, you see different patterns from when you stand to the side. It’s just fabulous!

You’ll notice that there is not a single photo of a finish from me. I’m tired of it! Next month I will have at least TWO quilts for show and tell. Obviously the Christmas Cactus is nearly finished. I have so many WIPs to choose from, who knows what the other project will be.