7/20/19 - NT @ G's Quilt and Craft Retreat

Welcome to the July meeting of the Nimble Thimbles Quilt Bee!!  A change in the schedule meant that our hostess for the day was none other than our fearless blog mistress, Joy.  However, She wasn't in the mood to clean her house and host a large group.

What's a quilter to do???

She threw the group a zinger.  That's what!!

Joy emailed G's Quilt and Craft Retreat to see if they happened to have any opening for our meeting day:

They were booked for our "regular" day, but she opted to change the meeting to enjoy the space for a Sew Day:

Everyone thought that was a brilliant idea!  :o))

There was a brief business meeting regarding our next meeting.

Upcoming events:

8/10/19 - Sew Day at SECU Family House.  Thanks, Candy!

As per usual, the photos below, begin with random observations...

Margaret is organized and ready to sew QAYG blocks:

She brought two sandwich baggies of scraps for Joy:

Here's a closer look:

This is another project Margaret brought along:

Britt made use of the Sewing Room design wall:

Ella brought some fabric from Barry for Joy:

Smile, everyone:

Chatter and preparations around the room:

Coffee, anyone?  Morning snack is served:

Linda is excited to be sewing with friends:

Gayle brought along handwork:

Ruth is arranging her materials:

Lynda Mac also brought handwork:

The cutting and pressing studio is already in use:

Once everyone arrived, we switched to Show and Tell mode...

Jean started us off with her quilt, "Swear at Margaret":

She plans to add a "little something" to the back of the quilt:

Ruth B. is making Bowl Cozies for her trip to Nantucket:

She's been working on her Blooming 9-Patch and members suggested Slow Bloom or Late Bloomer for a title:

Dee Dee shared her heavily painted art quilt made for the Money Challenge for the Original Works group:

She also turned a Thrift Store embroidery find into a wall quilt:

Ella is digging in her tool bag.  It's ALMOST big enough to fit her:

Candy (in background of the photo below) had no Show, but she had a TELL:  She's working on a 16 Bowl Cozy order for the sorority sisters of a friend and her Gray Quilt is in process at home.  Ella (in the foreground below) has been busy with patterns from Shabby Fabrics, including these Christmas Tree Napkins:

Fabric Grocery Bags were made to use up stash:

Hint!!  Dee Dee suggested that Ella use hair ties as a less expensive alternative to elastic sold by the yard:

Margaret showed off her quilting on this Silent Auction $4 kit (11 FQs for the top and the fabric for the back) purchase.  These are SEW "her colors" that she plans to enjoy it for a while:

She just got this (quilted) Binding Tool quilt back from Cheryl B:

Margaret plans of working on the binding if she get tired of the other projects that she brought to work on:

Linda is attaching the binding to this Baby Quilt:

Gayle recently finished this cheerful quilt for her son's 40th birthday:

The backing is a Wide Back in shades of purple:

Britt is almost done with the top of her Pecking Order quilt:

Joy recently completed the top of this "Baby Breeze" donation quilt:

Lynda Mac has been busy working on her wool embroidery:

These are the three blocks that she has been making progress on:

Carol is working on Halloween quilts for the grands:

She also had a TELL:  Only THREE more days of work before RETIREMENT after 40 years of nursing!!!  She's got vacation between now and then.  Congratulations and best of luck, Carol!!

With Show and Tell complete, we all got back to work...

Dee Dee is pairing up Posy blocks:

Jean has hatched a plan for these necktie labels:

Carol is trimming up blocks:

Thank you to the "Delivery Boy" for bringing our main course:

Oh, look!  A beautiful Bowl Cozy in use:

Jean used QAYG on her current quilt:

All of the Retreat House amenities are being put to good use:

Carol is trimming her way through a large stack of blocks:

Joy is trimming up previously sewn PINK scrap squares for July's Rainbow Scrap Challenge:

Jean is implementing her design plan:

What a GREAT idea for those tie labels:

Our friend Karen from the NT Nights group stopped by for a visit:

Linda is preparing to trace out her V is for Victory quilt:

Ruth B and Candy, Bowl Cozy twins:

Margaret was busy with her scrap blocks:

Our guest, enjoying the variety of projects in the works:

Joy moved to the next part of the process with her RSC project:

Carol used the Cutting Room design wall:

Looking good, Carol:

More pressing for Joy:

Britt helped out with Carol's quilt layout:

Here's direct view of the changes:

Jean hand stitched the M down on her Monty in the Morning quilt:

Dee Dee wondered what on Earth she was thinking with these labels:

Another quilter using the Cutting Room design wall:

Posy blocks...

Looking good, Dee Dee:

Awesome Hillsborough art:

With all of the design walls in use, Margaret laid out her blocks on the "abandoned" sewing tables, after several members went home:

And then there were two...

Joy played with some bright scraps.  Random layout:

Too many design options.  Straight set:

Hmm... Wonky "Pecking Order" blocks may be just the ticket:

Britt put her Blue and Green project on the Sewing Room design wall:

One last little bit of PINK sewing for Joy:

Britt's Blue and Green scrap project is growing nicely:

With minutes remaining, Joy's teeny tiny bright mini quilt top is complete:

QUICK!!  Clean up, pack up, and lock up:

Thank you, G's Quilt and Craft Retreat!!  We had a wonderful day and look forward to sewing in your well-appointed facility again soon.
Until next time...
(Mini) Retreat!!!