Christmas 2015

 Happy Holiday's to all the festive Fellowship Quilters!!
We had a great holiday gathering a few weeks ago to celebrate the joy and wonder of the season.  I think we all felt the  fellowship that our group incorporates in our name.
It is wonderful to be part of a loving and supportive group that has such talent and creativity!
We are a group that is so giving of our talent and the diverse projects we produce.   Most of the beautiful projects in the pictures below are gifts...that says tons!
I forgot to let all of you know we gave a quilt to Deb who works in the office of the church as she is starting chemotherapy for cancer.  Keep her and her family in your prayers this holiday season.
We also signed Christmas cards to send to members under the weather and who are no longer living in our area.  We miss all of them very much.  I also forgot to read a thank you note from the director of the Grand Traverse Baby Pantry...I will do it in January.
Chris made this jacket with the fantastic applique!
The show and tell this month was inspirational as usual.

 Sue made this bag and adorable stacked tree.

 Look at this stack and wack...each one is so different and make a stunning quilt!

 Judy had two great holiday projects.  The tree below has tiny lights inside and is really unique!

 Connie does wonders with wool and the quilt above is further proof.  She says she has to decide how to quilt it...hand or by machine.  Either will be stunning.

 Yours truly had two projects to show...the quilt above for new granddaughter.  Made in the strip pattern we did several months ago.  A second similar quilt is in the works for the second new granddaughter.  The Santa below is a wall hanging for a dear friend.

 Ruth made this cute duck quilt from some material she got from Marcia...adorable and Marcia is surely smiling in heaven .   We miss you Marcia!!   Great job Ruth!!

 Barb made this table runner and it is just beautiful.

 Joy made a cute table topper for Christmas.

 Betty finished her round robin wall hanging.  She did the square in the middle and others added the borders.  Such a great job by all of them.

 Judy made these emmeline bags that have a snap opening along with a zipper.  They are very cute and make wonderful gifts.  Hers are all going to very lucky people.  Check out the free pattern at
emmalinebags.com

 I took pictures of all the festively dressed members but will not put  in all the names.  There were lots of red sweaters and smiles!  We aren't even drinking wine!!

 We had a delicious lunch prepared by the students of TBA.  They came in at the end and sang us a verse of We Wish You a Merry Christmas.  Great end to a great luncheon.

 Judy did a spectacular job of planning our  party with Pat and her other elves to help.  We had a drawing for a bunch of presents and Pat S. was the first to get a gift.  Our smiles say it all...we are a group who take the fellowship of our name seriously and share the love with each other.
I hope everyone has a great holiday season and enjoy their family and friends.  See you in January.
Kathy

Thanksgiving

 I hope everyone had a joyous Thanksgiving.  We met on the Tuesday before and had a wonderful program and trunk show all about wool rugs.  It was brought to us by our own member Jacky and her fellow rug makers.  Pictured to the left are Alaina and Debbi who brought beautiful examples of their work.  They also talked about the process of dying their own wool and the actual making of the rug.  Lots of questions from members which tells me there is lots of interest.  Great..something more for me to get involved with and have more UFO's!!

 I love the bright colors and the details that evolve as they make these rugs.  How can anyone put them on the floor and walk on them??

 I could not get the rug below to turn so there it is...adorable even upside down.  It just makes me smile to see those fat reindeer.

 Here is Alaina's card below.  She has a studio that anyone is welcome to visit and she has wool and finished projects for sale.  The brochure above is for the Rug school that she is involved with in Manistee.  It takes place next summer so if you are interested it might be something to check out.

 Judy had a banner month...too many to show ,, she had some great projects.  The place mats are for the meals on wheels Christmas   We have done them as a group before but not this year.  Kudos to Judy and other members who kept up the tradition!

 The Quilt below was very striking...called Jelly Jive I think.  It is a jelly roll that you pick one color to use as a highlight and make the light colored units you see below and put them in the mix.  I love the way it turned out.

 Vi finished the bargello we made several months ago and made the quilt of valor below out of the strip quilt we made last month into a rail fence.  It just shows how versatile that process can be.  Great job Vi.

 Ruth also made a few placements for the meals on wheels program.

 Chris made this wonderful quilt for a friend who she said is always cold...It will keep him warm for sure this winter!

 Dianne made this soft and adorable 10 minute baby flannel blanket for a friend.  It is a great pattern.

 Connie made this moose quilt for her husband for Christmas and it is a surprise.  I know he will love it...who wouldn't.  She told us she used Ricky Tims piped border which looks wonderful even though you cannot really see it in this picture.

 Ruth is on a mission to make Christmas quilts for all her relatives..here is one of the final ones.  I know they will all love them..she has even made matching cases in which to store the seasonal lap quilts !  Lucky!

 I now have 4 grand children and so I am in the make it for the kids mode.  I made two tents with the kids names on them and applique pictures...the other tent is blue with forest animals.   The tents are made from denim and I used PVC pipe for the poles.  They all fold up into a bag for storage.  I forsee hours of fun and adventures!

 Pat is exploring her quilting skills with some miniatures..so cute!!

Remember the Christmas lunch is next WEDNESDAY  December 9th at the TBA Tech Center.  Arrive at 11 and lunch is at 11:30.  I hope to see lots of you there...I changed my grandkid day so that I can attend.  We did collect many wonderful items for the Grand Traverse Baby Pantry at the last meeting and the director Sally arrived after everyone had left...she was VERY grateful and I have a thank you note to read at the meeting.   See you all next week!!  Kathy

October

 Greetings Fellowship Quilters

October was a beautiful month and the weather has lasted into November...so wonderful!!
Our October meeting was fun because many of us had never done the 2 1/2 inch strip quilts.  We had contributed fabric last spring and the leaders had cut the strips over the summer.  The quilts are for veterans in our area.  a very fun project and we had lots of sewers.

Barb gave us the charity quilt report and we were pleased to hear that we are providing quilts for two families.  The pictures below are a sample of some of the quilts.  They were made by various people, and some were block of the month quilts.  A very good sampling.  The dedication is November 30 th at 5 pm and is at the railroad depot location.  Two single moms each with two kids.  Anyone is welcome and encouraged  to attend.

Marlyn and Pat made the two quilts below for their Church's craft fair...beautiful job!!  Hope they raise lots of $$

We did this charity block in reds and pinks...looks great.  Pat put it together...thanks!

 Linda made this beautiful 12 block quilt ad also showed many others...she has been busy!!

 Two more quilts of valor by Pat and Jackie who actually finished theirs at the meeting.  It will be interesting to see how members finish theirs off..borders and binding choices will make them all look very different.

 Barb made this quilt of valor by cutting up a panel.  It came along with a great story about a road trip they took this summer and how the car just drove itself off the highway to a wonderful quilt shop in Minnesota ....all by itself!  We have all had similar experiences.

 Ruth won first place for the quilt above at a quilt retreat.  Love it!!!

 The quit above was very striking.  Ruth cut the leaves to have shadows.  Then quilted the border to look like birch bark..  I had to include the close ups as they are so great

If my notes are correct Ruth made this for a friend at church..great colors.
Ruth made several Christmas quits for family members...she is read for the holidays
 Linda, below, made the two quilts below...modern quilts with Victorian prints for her nieces.
 Lucky girls.
I hope this finds you all well and getting all your Christmas projects finished.  Remember the Christmas party/lunch is Dec 9th. cost is $13 and you need to pay by the Nov. meeting.  Hope to see you all in Nov...I will send out another reminder in a week or so...happy sewing.  Kathy