We have blue skies in Seattle!!!  Birds are chirping, daffodils and tulips are poking through the dirt and the sun is shining...yet in my head I hear the old English proverb...March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb...But we all know what happens when March comes in like a lamb...it goes out like a lion so Winter may be taking a break in Seattle for a few days but I know it will be back soon!  It's all good for me - I love it when it's sunny and I love it when it rains - after all, a rainy day is a quilting day!  When my quilt group met at my house it was cold and drizzly out with spitting rain, which is what we get most of the time here, it's the Seattle-style of rain.  Inside however, I had cranked the heat, and we had plenty of quilts to see to keep us warm!

Janet opened up the bag she made, pictured above,  and pulled out a quilt that had all of our jaws dropping one by one!  Janet usually shows us a quilt by first saying she's not really a quilter...we always laugh at that because Janet should say, "I'm not your average quilter..." because she's gone waaaaaay beyond average, which is where I hang my quilting needle, in the average category.  But Janet, well, she has no problem tackling difficult quilts!

Look at those blocks!!  Each one must have over 50 pieces...any block with more than 10 pieces makes my eyes cross, or maybe it just makes ME cross!  Yet Janet isn't really a quilter...and I'm not really fat!  There, I've said it so it must be so!  Not only do I love Janet, I love this quilt - of course it IS made with my favorite colors and it would look fabulous in my home...

Like all of us, Janet was quick to point out what she thought were mistakes...like her points not matching - !!! - Matching points is SOOOOO over rated!  I don't even see things like that - if a point is in the vicinity of where it's supposed to be, it's a thing of beauty to me!  And I'm giving you this closer look, not to emphasize any perceived errant point - but just so you can see all the details, all the work - it's just amazing!

Stephanie brought in one of her latest works, a "rug" she is working on.  Apparently it's very time-consuming...I'll never know just how much time a rug like this takes because I have the attention span of a gnat and just thinking about this makes my head hurt!  Stephanie just sketched the pattern - and she told us the lady who taught her to make this is in her 80's!  I suppose it's possible I'll live into my 80's, but I know I would have to wear 10 pairs of magnifiers, one on top of the other, to be able to see to do anything like this!  It occurs to me the weight of wearing 10 magnifiers, in my 80's, would probably make my head droop...try to get a visual in your head of that, your welcome!

Stephanie has also continued with her basket making...she started with the little round one, and has now completed two more - which she said was really hard to do!  Fun, but hard.  (I can only do Fun.  Not interested in Hard, got enough of that already!)  But I do love these baskets!!

One more example of Stephanie's talents...she is making these blocks from scraps - scraps that I would consider TOOOOOOO small to use and would toss!  Not Stephanie!  She has dozens of these already made but is making more - I know I am going to LOVE quilt when it is done!  In my next life I will save all of my little bits of fabrics and I will sew together fabulous quilts.  Amen.

These house blocks were from our group project last year - but only 12 or 14 were made by our group, the rest Stephanie made.  This is such a fun, vibrant quilt - it reminds me of a Kantha quilt, because of the colors.  My blocks are still in the "aging process" - they need to be fully ripe before I can begin so I suspect they have at least another year before that happens!  I just need 12 more hours in the day!  Love this quilt!!

This is Jenny's quilt - she called it Bunnies in the Bramble.  I love it.  These colors speak to me!  This is such a cute pattern and hidden in the quilt are little bunnies that Jenny sewed on.  She made this quilt for her niece, who loves bunnies, and her name is Bunny!  I didn't get any close-up of the bunnies though!

Jenny also made this wool mittens - from a sweater she purchased at a thrift shop!  They are SO warm and wonderful - and Jenny said they were easy!  If that's true, then I know what I'll be making for Christmas gifts this year!

 Barbara made these two blocks from a pattern/tutorial by Cluck Cluck Sew.  If you haven't read Cluck Cluck Sew's blog before, you should!  She has some really wonderful quilts!  This pattern is called the No Point Star and it's great because you will never cut or sew "off" your points again!  You'll always have them looking all pointy, just the way they are supposed to be!  Barbara made these and brought them to show us because we are planning a sew day to make blocks for American Hero Quilts and these blocks would sew up into one fabulous quilt.  Thanks Barbara!

We had a really nice lunch after our meeting, nice because we just sat around and visited.  I served the gals Italian Wedding Soup, salad and we had Banana Bars for dessert...only I didn't make the Cream Cheese Frosting that my mom's Banana Bars recipe has...I topped my bars with Banana Jam.  What's that you say?  Only the most delicious jam I've ever made...recipe for that will be posted soon, Grasshopper, and you're going to want to sit up and take note!  Soon!

That's it for now - time to get outside for a little Vitamin D.  xoxo