Secret Santa

Sharon's fantastic cookie -decorated tree

Sandra likes this one!

When we meet in December it is near the end of the month and becomes a Christmas celebration. As well as bringing food and having a festive drink or two we enjoy our Secret Santa gifts. Not for us the tame drawing of lots for gifts, we have adapted our own rules, which are basically these:- There is a cash limit on each of the gifts, and they must anonymously be put in the basket. When the time comes, we are each issued with a number to show in which order we must choose a gift. Number one can do nothing more than choose a gift and open it, but from two onwards you choose a gift, open it and decide if you like it better than any other previously opened one. If you covet someone else's you just do a swap. This year we decided to bring two gifts each, which made for a much livlier occasion, as we have previously been a bit reluctant to steal things when people really seem to like them. Imogen swears that her gifts are always taken from her, I don't know why she should feel that, but she does always seem to choose nice ones from the basket.

Now Sharon's got it, it was the one that Imogen wanted

Thanksgiving Photos

Red beads to represent cranberries on plant material from Imogen's garden.






Imogen did a little reading for each of us about the meaning of Thanksgiving, half were on corn shapes and half on fish. The turkey place names are from a Martha Stewart pattern. Find it at http://www.marthastewart.com/ along with a lot of other interesting ideas.

Sharon, under an American Flag!!


A well-used copy of a book I bought in the '80's, Martha Stewart 'Entertaining' provided the recipes for cornbread and a cranberry, orange and walnut relish. The turkey stuffing came from an adaptation of two recipes I found on her website, the first one was highly calorific and the second more modern version, far too sensibly low-cal for us. Principle ingredients are apples, chestnuts and prunes, loved by all of us

Giving Thanks

How can I possibly thank all my friends enough?

For Thanksgiving, everyone got together and feasted!

Angela and Imogen did all the cooking and produced a real, traditional, American Thanksgiving FEAST!

There was turkey, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, stuffing, cranberry jelly, cornbread, everything you can possibly imagine - even popcorn! The feast was amazing! We all know that Angela and Imogen are brilliant cooks, but they really outdid themselves this time! We ate and laughed and talked for hours while listening to The Glenn Miller Orchestra (which really put us all "In the Mood" - we danced a bit to that one!)

The decorations included adorable, handmade turkey place cards, a flag banner and matching napkins.

Imogen even created a reading for each guest about the original Thanksgiving on handmade cards in the shapes of fish and ears of corn!

I am thankful for many things, especially for knowing Angela, Imogen, Ann, Trish, Sandra, Jane, and Caroline.

Making a Recovery

Here's Jane

about two weeks after her hip op, in a convalescent home. We had great plans for Jane to write her own amusing anecdotes but haven't got round to it yet. As she is now well enough to resume minding her grandchildren I thought I'd better post this picture.

One of the most memorable episodes for me was a phone call from Jane when she was in her convalescent home, fairly late in the evening, to say that she had run out of paracetamol, hadn't had any all day and there didn't seem to be any available on site. Could I get some and bring them in? As it was dark and windy when I turned up with them I felt like a veritable boot-legger, even more so next day when we found out that I should have checked them in!

Sponge Bob and Square Pants!

Caroline's Post

The Wedding Quilt

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Started Planning and Sewing Blocks:- March 2007

Finished Wedding Quilt top:- 24th June 2007

Finished Quilt:- September 2007

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Note:- 9th July 2007 - I have been to the hospital to see the Consultant. He is operating on my Left Hand taking out a Bone also Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (too much sewing!). Believe it or not on Friday 13th. Asks me are you superstitious? Is the Pope Catholic? thinks me.

Will be in a cast for 4 weeks, then a plastic cast for a further 6 weeks.

With great determination I manage to finish machine quilting and quilt edges! forgot how difficult this can be, but the challenge was worth it.

First week of September I finished the Wedding Quilt, ready for the Big Day. September 15th 2007

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I started planning Daughter No. 1's Wedding Quilt while trying to finish machine quilting Nemo! She was brought up with Sunbonnet Sue and Calico Joe on most of my quilts. I have always been crazy for these characters and have numerous patterns and books. Looking through my books I found an idea for a wedding block. (Having got rid of my Art Deco Book, with the pattern in it, stupid!) I searched for a similar one. Good Luck came with "Sunbonnet Sue is Alive and Well", on the back of the book was just what I was looking for.

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The problem I found the most hard was trying to buy fabric that I don't normally work with as I love Bright Fabric.

Having settled on 12 fat quarters I thought would be OK for her, I sneaked some bright yellow in!

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The Bondaweb and cutting plus fusing on 8 oblongs and 16 small oblongs took me forever! Sewing with the DMC No 8 threads was the most satisfying thing I found (Relaxing Heaven).

Daughter No. 1 has decided she will on no account see any stage of the quilt being made. The Best bit that makes me laugh was when I finished the top of the Quilt and I was ironing the edges. She came through to my workroom backwards, asking for paper scissors shouting "I don't want to see it"

It reminded me of someone backing out of a room after an audience with the Queen!

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My mate Jane took to Midsomer Quilting for a trip to buy backing and maybe a few fat quarters if any money was left over. To my delight I searched and found some fabric for £3.00 a metre, with five and a half metres left on the roll it was plenty for backing. Oh! what a joy! That cost me £15.00 so after choosing some already delicious fat quarters, I went off to find some more.

A Quilter in a fabric shop is like a child in a sweetie shop.

Now I just need a sunny day for drying the backing fabric.

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Son-in-law has named the characters 'Sponge Bob and Square Pants' so that will go on the label when finished.

Machine Quilted in YLI. Variegated thread named 'The Red Hat Club', very apt for the Quilter being over 50.

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Emma & Ade Note ......... I hope you both enjoy the story and the Quilt. It has been a joy and Challenge to make and brought me hours of fun! Love Ma. September 2007

Midsummers Day 2007

This is Caroline's Post.

We all met up for our annual garden Midsummer Madness get together. Last year it poured down with rain and we sat under the gazebo with umbrellas up. What a laugh that was!

Time came around for our get-together in the garden again. We could not believe our eyes! Raining again but harder this time so we moved inside for our Bun and Tea fight. You'd think we would have had better weather in June but no, someone up there is having a laugh!

What fun we had, stuffing our faces talking of men, eyes, hips, hands etc. Honest, we are like walking nightmares!

It came round to our Midsummer Madness parcel surprises - Santa's Secret really- Nobody wanted to swap. Sharon's was the best - A packet of Rich Tea Biscuits - How original for a group of Mad Quilters! Hoots all round. Everyone enjoyed themseves and we are looking forward to next year

Quilt Exhibition at Radstock Museum, Somerset

Yesterday I went, with husband and a friend to the Midsomer Quilting Exhibition at the Industrial Museum in Radstock. There are 213 exhibits listed in the catalogue, we didn't expect such a large number. The lady on the welcome desk told us proudly that Quilts UK only had 15 more quilts on display.

Had I known that there was so much to see I would have made a visit with quilting friends, I might still do that because the exhibition continues to the end of November, as I don't feel I have paid each quilt the attention it deserves.

I have to say that there was no one particular quilt which blew me away, nothing which made me want to rush home and emulate it, but I left feeling that more people, probably all woman, are enjoying this form of creativity. There were a lot of people in the gallery, and what I love most about these exhibitions is the feeling of kinship one has to fellow visitors, you can talk to anyone and find common ground.

It was difficult to give distance to view some of the quilts, and even more tricky to get photos of whole quilts, so these three details are just to give some idea of what there was to see. I loved the vintage quilts in their faded splendour, the original inspiration for my love of quilting, there are lots of fun pieces, one reminded me of a Beryl Cook painting, another favourite was a beach hut scene. The one we all remarked upon was the hanging which stated "Well behaved women seldom make history"

Radstock Museum itself is well worth perusal, it is about the coal mining history of the area, with a mock-up underground mine and many details of the sites of coal mines in Somerset.

There is a nice little shop selling books about local history, and a small, but yesterday very well used, tea room.