Quilt group's annual Christmas party

Last night was the annual Christmas party for my quilt group. It was preceded by an incident that really tore into the core of the group. Words can be uplifting and encouraging but can also be used to be hurtful and hateful. We made it through the riff with all but the two members in question and it put a new light on our Christmas party. A couple of the ladies expressed how rich they feel from our group's time and friendships together.

The ladies trickled in and placed a gift under the tree. We sat down to a table set for an Italian style Christmas. Three courses were made by half of the ladies in the group. This meant the other half could sit back, relax and enjoy. We opened a few gifts after each course that was served giving lots of time to admire all the beautiful creations. Our theme for this year's gifts was "A Tisket, A Tasket". 

Elly found the pickle in the Christmas tree again this year. I give a gift to the person who finds it each year. This year, the gift was a winter themed key fob. I found the ice skate charm at a German Christmas market. 

And just look at the many beautiful gifts given and received!

I had MiekeV's name to make a gift for. I wanted to make something special for her and when I saw this sweet chart on Cathy's blog I knew it was perfect for her. Mieke loves her garden which is a thing we share in common. 

I also made her a pincushion. It is large at 8 inches square but you will see why I made it large. One the one side is a patchwork block which is called Cake Stand or Amish Basket. 

One the back, I stitched a triangle of fabric which I lined with lace and embellished with a button and bow. A piece of satin ribbon was sewn just above the triangle so that when a pair of scissors is in the holder, they are secure. A safety pin keeps the fob for the scissors also secure. I handquilted the pillow front and back before assembling it. 

My gift received was a **beautiful** quilted wallhanging by MiekeW. She made me a basket in all the pretty warm tones I so love. Even the bottom of the quilt has tiny baskets across it. Her husband made the wire hanger which says "yellow basket". How wonderful is that! And she "wrapped" my gift in a big burlap stocking with white yo-yo's on it. Humm....I think Jos might need to fill this stocking for Chrismtas...what do you think? *wink*

Heidi