I was a guest at a nearby quilt guild last night. It’s wonderful to go where people understand you. They get your fabric addiction, your collections and your fondness for cutting fabric up to sew it back together. They never ask why you make quilts—they know it’s because you’re driven to create.

I can have a real conversation with someone I’ve known for only a few minutes. We quilters understand each other. We speak the same language.

I’m always amazed at the assorted tidbits I pick up at these meetings. Quilters are hilarious, and always full of information. Here are the best ones, some funny and some not.

• In regard to a quilter who pieces lots of tops and then sends them to a longarmer: “She quilts by check.”

• Most cuddly quilt ever: pieced flannel top, no batting, cotton chenille on the back. So soft!

• You’re at the grocery store. They ask you, “Paper or plastic?” You respond, “Either one. I’m bi-sack-sual.” Which has nothing to do with quilting but the quilters thought it was a scream.

Quotable:

• “She has several PhDs: Projects Half Done.”

• “She has PIGS: Projects In Grocery Sacks.”

• “She has STABLE syndrome: Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy.”

If you don’t belong to a quilt guild, I’d encourage you to check it out. The best friends of your life could be waiting for you there, and you won’t believe the things you’ll learn!

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You might enjoy this post about what makes a great quilt guild.

Everyone is invited to arrive about an hour before lunch will be served. This gives opportunity to visit and to see the tables. The tables were not just any old tables—they were dressed, too! A guild member or a small group adopted each of about 22 tables and chose a theme for their table. Then they went to town with linens, favors, centerpieces, china and flatware, all centered around the theme. People were so creative!

This was a lovely springtime table with patchwork-trimmed china. The centerpiece was luscious!

This table had a pansy theme with living pansies in baskets and pansy china.

Chili peppers were this table’s theme. I love the Kaffe Fassett border at the bottom edge of the photo!
He probably never imagined that fabric being used to suggest chili peppers.

This table used M&M candies as its theme. It’s bright and cheerful!

Blue and yellow were all over this one. I wonder if these ladies set this kind of table every day at home?!

This had to be one of my favorites. A bee called The Floozies, which is artsy-tartsy, I’m told, made all manner of sweet little treats from wool, much of it recycled. Displayed with clear glass, aren’t these stunning?!

I was tickled pink when a Floozy gave me this pincushion after the luncheon.

The actual bed turning is what made up the program. An antique bed was set up and draped with a nice group (I’d estimate about 30) of quilts. Holders lift one quilt from the bed at a time and a narrator reads a few lines about each quilt. It’s like a fast-moving show & tell. The quilts are paraded around the room so everyone gets a good look.

There were close to 200 people at this event so it was hard to get a good photo of the bed itself. The quilts provided by guild members were wonderful—everything from tied utilitarian to valuable antique from 1850, and lots in between.

And as if all this was not enough, my hostess Kaye was carrying a Rufflicious bag! Rufflicious is a bag I designed for Quiltmaker and you can find the complete free pattern for it here. It was a treat to see someone carrying it!

I had a delicious lunch, saw gorgeous quilts and made some new quilting friends. Does a Sunday afternoon get any better than that?

Here are the tables piled high after I showed all the quilts.

Two women brought Quiltmaker projects that they’ve been working on: Sandy just needs to finish her binding on America the Beautiful.

Kathy (in the middle) is doing the handwork on Home & Harvest, and even has dyed some of the wool herself. (This is a 6-part series pattern that ran in all 6 of Quiltmaker’s 2005 issues.)

Special offer: I just made arrangements to sell all six issues that contain Home & Harvest at a special price. Buy the Home & Harvest Bundle for only $12.95.

It’s always fun to see what people make out of our patterns. If you’ve made a Quiltmaker pattern, be sure to send us a photo. We’ll be creating a new submission system soon, but in the meantime, follow these submission guidelines. Happy quilting!