First Annual Christmas Shop Hop

We started our day by meeting up at Rhonda's house, then driving to Hershey to meet up with Cathy.  Cathy's birthday was Friday-so Happy Birthday Cathy!  Cathy was so gracious to be our chauffeur for the day.
Our first stop was Martin's Fabric Barn in Myersville.  This was a new shop for us.

They had a nice selection of fabrics. The prices compared to Sauder's-our old favorite.

Cathy bought some fabric for her Easy Street quilt.

Martins' was a little complex-fabrics here, yarn and gifts upstair,
another building housed iron knick-knacks, another had household item like candles, curtains, quilted purses, etc.

Deb is buying some Christmas gifts in one of the other buildings where you can see some of their wares.

We even saw some hexi tiles in their outdoor furniture area with a couple of flower designs.

We went to Burkholder's Fabrics in Denver next.  This is an old time favorite.  It is a beautiful shop with a huge selection of fabrics.  Comments were  made about the lighting being Otte type lighting so you could see the true colors of the fabric.

They even have deer in a pen outside so husbands who aren't quite as interested in the fabrics have something to do.

Peggy, Rhonda and I are standing in front of one wall that has a huge selection of rulers.  I even saw a ruler here that I couldn't find on the internet.












Next we met up with Linda, who was delayed due to being a super responsible pet owner and taking her dog to the vet for his yearly vaccinations.
We met at a local restaurant for a nice lunch and small break in our adventures.

Sauder's was next on the list.  I didn't even think to take a picture here as we come to Sauder's so often.  

Next stop was Obie's country Store in Goodville.  One reviewer of the store said, "so much fabric it's frightening."  I will have to agree.  The pictures speak louder than words.

                                                                                                                                   

There is one more fabric shop to visit.  This one we spied on our way to Obie's.  It is Goodville Fabric Outlet, just a few doors away from Obie's.  The front section was quilting cottons.  There were back rooms that went on forever with upholstery fabrics, polyesters, etc.

We decided to go to Good's next.  This is a variety store that carries a nice selection of fabrics.  We did buy a few pieces of fabric, but I know I didn't get to look around as much as I would have liked to.  Stores close early in Lancaster.  We had about 15 minutes til closing time.  Enough time to do a little bit of damage to our wallets.

One more stop in our day.  We went to a candle/ dried flower/ craft store.  If someone gives me the name I will update our website with that info.  This was another huge store with extra large Christmas decorations, rooms of scrap booking supplies, candles, country decor, etc.  

We were finally running out of steam and congregated in their little food court.  We all enjoyed this Shop Hop so much we decided this will not be a one time thing.  There are a lot more shops in the Lancaster area for us to explore. We are sad that we don't have great fabric stores in York where most of us live, but we acknowledged we are really blessed to be so close to all these stores with such great prices on their fabrics.  

On our way home we stopped for dinner and unwound from this wonderful day.  Great fun with a great bunch of ladies.

November 2012

Show and Tell.  Here is Linda's quilt from the retreat the club went on with Bonnie Hunter.  Jared Takes a Wife.      It is just beautiful.  She wants to share on Bonnie's website, so hopefully we will be able to figure out how to do that.

 This is Rhonda's table runner from the Shop Hop she did in Bedford.  How cute is this?  Can't wait to see it all done.
There were a few tops pieced, but not quilted.  We decided to wait to showcase them until they are done, done, done!

 We started working on Bonnie Hunter's new mystery quilt-Easy Street.  All but two of our group are going to be making the mystery this year.  Should be lots of fun!

This cute little make and take was so easy.  Rhonda had little kits made up for us.  Now I think we will be making more on our own for little Christmas gifts.  This was from the Shop Hop in Bedford too.

I didn't do such a great job with pictures this month.  Too busy trying to get those little four patches done!  Everyone was at club this month-though not all at the same time!  

Sheree brought her friend Jody (I think that was her name.  Forgive me if I got that wrong-old age.) and they were working on memory quilts of Jody's grandmother.

Next month we are going to do our own shop hop for our Christmas Party/meeting.  We will be meeting up at Rhonda's at 8:30 on December 8th.  If we have time we may even go out to eat!  We will be visiting some of our old favorite shops in Lancaster and even some new ones!

October 2012

We had a lot of show and tells again this month.  Rhonda totally amazes us with all that she gets done.  She quilted 13 quilts this past month in addition to finishing this lovely reproduction quilt.

 This is one of the quilts that Rhonda quilted.  This is Linda's Alaskan quilt.

 Here is another of Linda's quilts that Rhonda quilted.  This one is Jared Takes a Wife.  This is the Bonnie Hunter quilt that the club started while on the Bonnie Hunter retreat.  Beautiful colors!

 Rhonda made a scrappy quilt with leftover Connecting Threads scraps.  This is a D9P.

 Peggy finished her Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt Double Delight.  I think this is for her sister.  Those Bonnie Hunter quilts are difficult for me to gift to someone.  They all look so different with just one color change. Beautiful!

 This is one of my show and tells.  I made this Christmas quilt from a Missouri Quilt Shop youtube tutorial.

 Here is my Christmas table topper.  This was so easy to make, but it helps if you pay attention and follow the directions.  This didn't turn out with the colors where I wanted them.  :(

 Peggy followed along with Craftsy this year making sampler blocks.  She put them together with sashing for a Christmas sampler quilt.  Here is number one.....

and here is number two.  There are some fun and interesting blocks in these quilts they both look different with the different block arrangement.

After we went through all of our show and tells we worked on our different projects and planned for our next group project-a snowman quilt to be started in January.

For eats we had a wonderful Butternut Squash soup that Deb made.  She is going to be sharing the recipe, so I will post that here.  We also had broccoli salad, bologna and cheese, chips and I think there was a coffee cake for dessert.

Here is the soup recipe.  It is called Harvest Soup

Ingredients

1 Tbs. olive oil

1/2 cup chopped carrot

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/3 cup chopped onion

1-1/2 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes

2 medium Golden Delicious apples, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (Deb used seasoned veggie broth and the chicken broth.)

    Ground black pepper to taste

      Whole grain croutons

Directions

In a large pot heat oil over medium heat. Add carrot, celery, and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender and starting to brown. Add the squash, apple, and broth. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until squash is tender. Cool slightly.

Puree the soup, in batches if necessary, in a blender or food processor, or with an immersion blender.  Season to taste with pepper.  Makes 4 to 6 servings (about 6-1/2 cups).

Next week a few members of the club will be going to Bedford to do a Quilt Shop Hop.  Have fun!

Next month we will be getting together on November 24th, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  Happy Thanksgiving all!

September 2012 Quilt Club

 We started quilt club with another fun show and tell.  Here is Peggy's quilt top she made for her mother in law in her MIL's favorite fall like colors.

 Another quilt top Peggy completed-a spider web.  I found a tutorial for this pattern.  Peggy said it was an easy quilt to make-the best kind-it just looks complicated.  This is in Christmas prints.

 Peggy's third show and tell entry!  This is a mystery quilt by Alycia and Craftsy for Quilts of Valor.

 And finally Peggy finished the Tree's Up! Lights On! quilt that we did as a club.  We are thinking that we would like to make this quilt again.

Rhonda has been busy quilting some of Cathy's tops that we saw last month.  Here is the Arrowhead quilt ready to be trimmed and bound.

 This is a Chevron baby quilt that I sewed while on vacation this month.  It is quilted and ready to be bound.

 Sue finished the amazing art quilt for Jesse and Audra's wedding.  See last month's blog for some close up pictures of the talented work in this quilt.

 Linda's grandson Bronson helped her quilt at club today and helped to display her show and tell-more of the Hoito bags she is making as gifts.

 Here is a block Rhonda was playing with to use up some of those scraps.  Great idea for another fun quilt.

You can get a peak at Rhonda crocheting slippers here.  I was taking a picture of the dessert.  I should have taken the picture of Rhonda to share too-sorry Rhonda.  Rhonda made chicken corn soup and sopapilla for us.  I can attest that the soup was delicious and everyone else said the cake was too-yum!
We also had cucumber dip/crackers, sweet bologna, and apples with caramel sauce.

Peggy made a cucumber dip with Greek Yogurt.  I will add the recipe here when she shares it with us.  This was really good too.

ZESTY CUCUMBER DIP

1 medium cucumber seeded and diced

1 medium tomato seeded and diced

1 container of plain yogurt (I used greek yogurt)

3 scallions diced

1 packet of Italian dressing (dry)

1 tbsp lemon juice

can be eaten with crackers or fresh veggies  

Finally here are the babushkas that we made for cancer patients.  Deb will distribute them to people that she knows who have lost their hair after chemo/radiation treatments.   That looks like a pretty good variety for them to choose from.

We talked about our Christmas get together and we decided to combine that with some fabric shopping in Lancaster.  We will be going to Shady Maple on the 8th of December and then on to Obie's, Good's, Sauder's and Weaver's!    

Next month we will be getting together on the 20th.  One project that we may work on is a seasonal table topper.  See everyone next time!

August 2012 Quilt Club

 Wow were we productive this past month.  Lots and lots of show and tell.  Up first is Rhonda's Fire Escape quilt.  It is a Panther's quilt for a co-worker of hers.

Here is a baby quilt that Linda made for a co-worker too, I think.  

 This is Cathy's Christmas quilt made with the Arrowhead pattern.

 Peggy finished her scrappy tumbler top.

 This is Peggy's Christmas tumbler quilt.  She made the tumblers larger on this one.

 Another top finished by Cathy-a baby quilt with the block we used for our charity quilt.

 Here is Linda's quilt top from the Bonnie Hunter weekend-Jared Takes a Wife.

And another finish by Cathy-another Bonnie Hunter quilt-Star Struck.

 Deb did some mini paper piecing from Bonnie Hunter's new book.

Here is a Carpenter's Star that Pam made to take a tutorial on feather quilting.

 Another finish by Pam and another quilt pattern by Bonnie Hunter-her mystery quilt from last fall-Orca Bay.

Cathy's Sudoku Quilt top.  How many finishes did this make for you Cathy?  Four?  You are on a roll!

 Rhonda hand pieced some mini hexies. She has not quite decided what this will become.  Her mother would like a bed size quilt!

 Sue has been making these wonderful duffle bags as gifts for her daughter's wedding attendants.  They are monogrammed on the pocket with the attendants initial.

 And on the inside, on the pocket is the wedding info.

 Here is the contemporary quilt that Sue made as a wedding present for the couple.

The next few pictures are details of the blocks that family members made for a quilt that Sue designed for the couple.  Some amazing talent!

 Here is Sue's quilt top.  Sue, why don't you tell the story of the bear block in the comments?  So cute.

 Sheree has her Jared Takes a Wife top finished too.

And finally-the charity quilt for the Special Olympics.  Rhonda put a lot of work into this one.  She quilted it, pieced the backing and put the binding on.  When I left she was even working on the label.  Thanks Rhonda!

Here is the back.  Rhonda used the extra blocks in this pieced backing.  Looks great!

Rhonda recently became a grandmother to little Griffon.  Congratulations!  We had a little grandmother's baby shower for her.  I didn't think to take pictures of her gifts.  :(

 I was remiss in taking photos of our projects this month too.  Peggy showed us how to make hot pads in five minutes.  They all turned out cute.  Here is what they looked like.

We also worked on Hoito Bags.  Everyone should bring theirs with them next quilt club and I will get pictures then. 


We will get back together again Sept.22 for more quilting fun!

Here's a picture of some of the completed bags-Sheree, Rhonda, Cathy and Linda.