Last week was our annual Christmas party for my quilt group. Each year, we have a 3-course dinner which is planned by half of the group members. This year our theme was "Nederlandse Nostalgie" or "Nostalgic Dutch style". We started with old fashioned Dutch vegetable soup with bread and herb butter. Our main course was kale stamppot, hachee (goulash style) meat and a sauerkraut casserole. Dessert followed with ice cream tarts and homemade orange bavarois. We topped our dinner off with coffee or tea served with assorted Christmas chocolates. It was all delicious!
It is quite something to see the tables all set up for 16 people. The feeling of belonging together among this group was very obvious around the table. Christmas cheer was in great attendance and we all had a fun evening.
This year, there were two challenges. The first challenge was for everyone is the group. I gave them each four small squares of various Christmas fabrics from my stash. They all started with those same four fabrics and were asked to make an ornament to be swapped during the dinner. They were allowed to add their own fabrics as long as the original four were in the ornament. Above shows the results of everyone's labor. It was fun to see what they all made.
This is the one I made. A wooden spool tree with my fabrics glued to the spools.
We also had a mug rug swap for those who wanted to do something extra. Names were drawn and you made a mug rug for a specific person. Eleven of us participated and here are the results of everyone's creativity. They all turned out beautifully!
I had drawn Bep's name. She loves going on vacation in her caravan so I made her and her husband each a mug rug to use while out travelling in their caravan.
It is hard to believe that a another quilt year has passed so quickly. As the year draws to a close, I am working away now on the quilt theme for 2015 for our group. It promises to be a fun year to come.....
Heidi
