Just Sayin' Sew

Before we continue with more Brown Bag Challenge quilts, can anyone please tell me how to get Brenda Lee out of my head?  Ever since the “I’m Sorry” post, I can’t get that song out of my head.  Woke up today with it playing away up there in my brain again.  And I’m really not sorry anymore.  Any help would be appreciated.

On with the Brown Bags!  (Perhaps they will be Red or Pink Bags next year?) 

You’ll remember that yesterday we left off with Jules getting her beautiful quilt from Pam.  So Jules then showed her package.  There was a bit of confusion with this one.  Luckily Madelyn had put two fabrics in her bag and thus identified that this package was hers.  Jules showed both fabrics when she showed the package.  Otherwise we might have had a fight on our hands.  Believe it or not, out of all the fabric in all the world, we actually had two ladies choose the same fabric!  What are the odds of that happening?

Jules made this fabulous organizer thing out of the fabric.  And then true to Jules’ overachiever-ness……

…….. she also made a quilt!  Madelyn was very pleased.  And the rest of the room was very jealous.

Madelyn then showed that the brown bag fabric she got was the same red fabric!  What are the odds of that?  That she got exactly what she’d given!  I bet she was surprised when she opened her bag last January.  She must have done a double take and then remembered she put two fabrics in her bag.  Good going, Madelyn!  Sue was the other person to pick the same red fabric.

Madelyn made a cute Piping Hot Curves quilt!  With little piping on each one of those curves.  A cool technique for doing appliqué.  Fabulous quilt!

Sue then gave us all a big sob story about the fabric she had to work with.  Something about directional and only one color.  But wait a minute!  Wasn’t the fabric we just saw in Sue’s quilt only red and white?  It’s a volunteer project, Sue!  No complaining allowed! Next year we’ll have to serve her cheese with her whine.

And Patti’s Irish Chain quilt is fabulous!  I think she was pleased.

The cute cat fabric that Patti got belonged to Linda.  And Linda got a cool bag to go with her quilt.

I want this cute cat quilt!  I think Boo and Miss Kitty need it.  Cats with Santa hats – so cute!  Living in little cat houses…..

Then Linda showed the fabric she received.  Talk about directional and challenging!  Well, this is a challenge, after all.  And Kay sheepishly claimed it as hers.

But look at the great quilt that Linda made.  So creative!

Then it was Kay’s turn to show her package.  And Davene claimed it.

What cute pinwheels Kay made.  I do believe that Davene loved it.  Look at those smiles!

Then Davene showed the fabric on her package….yellow ducks on a lavender background.  And it belonged to Sue.

And what a cute yellow duck she made!  Complete with galoshes and a puddle.  Very nice!

Sue had Judy’s fabric.  As you can see by her blurred hands, Judy was excited to tear into hers.

And she wasn’t disappointed.  What a beautiful quilt!  Judy’s fabric has names of quilt blocks in it and Sue included all those blocks as she pieced this great sampler quilt.

Since Judy had started the opening of the quilts, we were now at a dead end.  So we decided to move on with the package that Sarah had mailed in for the event.

Peggy recognized her fabric on the package that Sarah had sent since she couldn’t be at the party.

What a beautiful quilt made by Sarah!  Fabulous!  Linda looks on as Peggy presents her quilt to the ooo’s and aaah’s of the group.

Peggy decorated her gift bag with Nancy’s fabric.  Nancy thinks it’s A#1 if it came from Peggy.

Peggy used the broderie perse method to showcase Nancy’s fabric on a light pieced background.  I think we recognize those background blocks, Peggy!

Nancy grabbed her package and Cindy recognized her fabric.  Her heart was all aflutter to think that it was finally time for her quilt!

And what a great quilt it is!  Beautiful, Nancy!  Cindy loves it.

Cindy’s package revealed Sue’s fabric.  Cindy appliquéd a million leaves (after learning a cool way to do it from Judy R one Bee day.)  A happy quilt!

Sue then grabbed her package and I knew the fabric was mine.  Because I saw her walk in the door with the package in her hands and I recognized my fabric then.  Boy, did I have a long wait!

Isn’t it spectacular!  I love it!  Sue was really the sneaky one.  She worked on these blocks in front of us all at retreat in October.  She made the houses and the trees.  But she didn’t include any of my fabric in those blocks so we were none the wiser.  I could never get away with that.  Someone would ask me what I was working on and I’d blush to my hair roots and give it all away.  But Sue was really calm and cool and had an answer for everyone.  Smart Sue.  And it’s a great quilt!

Next it was time for my package.  But you’ve already seen a whole blog about that one.  Remember “This One’s for Sarah” a few days ago?  I blogged that immediately so Sarah could see her quilt.  If you want to view it again, you can just scroll down through yesterday’s post and the “I’m Sorry” post and you can pause to make some “Toffee Bars” as you scroll through that one too.  Or you can just click here and go straight to the post about Sarah’s quilt.

That left only two people who hadn’t received their quilts yet.  Betty and Karen.  So you know what that meant…….

Karen had Betty’s fabric…….

…..and made this fabulous quilt!  Love it, Karen!

And Betty had Karen’s fabric……

….. and made this great “split decision” quilt!  What a great pattern for this fabric!  And a beautiful quilt.  So all year as Betty pondered what to do with her fabric, Karen pondered hers.  And little did they know they were making quilts for each other.  What fun!

That concludes the Brown Bag Challenge quilts.  But there is much more to come.  Show ‘n Tell of the fabulous quilts that everyone made all using a yard of the same fabric.  It’s the fabric that you see on the margins of this blog.  And the quilts were spectacular!  Plus there are pics of the food, food, and more food.  There was so much food.  But you know that already about these girls if you’ve been paying attention.  There are also pics of other quilts that they’ve been working on all year.  And Judy’s great decorations for Christmas.

I also had help with photography from this little guy:

He’s hired!  Just for the cuteness and entertainment factor.  You’ll see more pics of him in blogs to come too.

Enjoy!
Barb
P.S.  The blog just crossed a major milestone yesterday.  The first day ever with over 300 hits in one day!  WOW!  You all really like those quilts!  Previously the best day was September 19th with 293 hits.  Hurray for you!  Thanks!

Finally!  I’ve sorted through 6,435 pics of the Christmas Party of the Century.  And I’ve narrowed it down to 61 pics for today.  What?  Sixty one?  Can I really count on the Devoted Blog Followers to stay with me through that many pics today?  Grab your coffee, some breakfast and let’s begin!

Judy was the Hostess with the Mostest.  But she tried our patience with a story to start the day.  After breakfast that is.  She got us all full of yummy breakfast things and then gathered us all together to start on the the Big Brown Bag Reveal.  And then she made us wait.  She actually got ladies to join in and tell stories of their beginnings with the JSS Bee.  She started it all with the story of how the Bee began.

See how they all watched with rapt attention?  They were mesmerized with the stories.

A happy bunch of quilters if I ever saw one.  Everyone joined in on the stories.  Tender, thought-provoking stories.

Sue comandeered the box of kleenex and doled them out as needed.  And many of us needed them.  Touching, emotion-packed stories filled the room.  Sometimes it is good to re-live the memories.

But we were also all anxious for the Big Reveal.  Of our Brown Bag quilts.  For those of you who might not remember, let me remind you of the challenge.  In January each participant brings a brown bag with one yard of fabric.  We mix them all up and then go home with a brown bag.  We don’t know who has our fabric and we don’t know whose fabric we have.  Our instructions are to make a quilt top, using the BB fabric and adding fabrics of our own choosing.  We have all year to make these quilt tops.  And some ladies actually finish these projects in March or April.  Gasp!  And then there are those (like moi) who do the entire project the day before the party.  Or almost.  Because if I finished it in March, I’d never be able to find it when party time arrived.

And if anyone has a new name for this challenge, Judy would be very happy to entertain ideas.  Personally, I think Brown Bag Challenge (or BB) perfectly describes the project.  Maybe we could change the bags to pink, Judy?  Or red?

Here are the pretty wrapped packages filled with brown bag challenge quilts.  We are instructed to put a piece of the fabric on the outside of the package so that the recipient can be found.

I recognized the fabric on this bag as mine.  And I couldn’t wait to see my quilt!

So the stories finally ended, and Judy grabbed her package and showed the fabric around the room.

It was Dede’s!  And lucky Dede got to be the first to see her quilt.

Judy did it again!  All around the border were the names of all the JSS members.  What a keepsake!  And we have decided that one by one, Judy has to make us all a JSS Bee Memory Quilt.  See how the ladies on the left pointed out the names?  We all want one.

Then Dede brought out her package.  And Sally was really jazzed that the fabric was hers.

And she pointed out to us all which fabric was in the brown bag.  Pretty quilt!

A big hug was in order.  Many hugs continued throughout the day.

Sally had Sandra’s fabric……

…..and Sandra was really excited to receive a beautiful quilt that showcases Sally’s fabulous appliqué.

Sandra had Judy R’s bright geometric print fabric.  And she made this happy, bright pinwheel quilt.

Judy had Suzanne’s fabric and Suz flew to her feet the minute she recognized it.

What a great quilt with some fabulous celtic appliqué!  Suz was so excited that she probably already has it quilted and hanging in her house.  Notice that Cindy is praying that hers will be as nice.  And Cindy’s Mom is joining in the prayer.

Suz had Tracie’s fabric.  Tracie tore into her package quickly.

What fun these cute flower pots are!  With fabulous fussy cut flowers out of Tracie’s fabric.

Susan excitedly tore into the package that Tracie had made.

And revealed these cute little flowers.  Great job, Tracie!

Lynn recognized her fabric as Susan held up her traditional holey remnant.

Lynn and Susan shared a private moment of looking at the quilt while we all got to look at the back.  What?  Turn it around you two!

And they finally did turn it around to reveal this fabulous appliqué by Susan!

Pam recognized the blue fabric on the package that Lynn brought.

And Pam loved the bright quilt that Lynn made.  Pretty!

The fabric that Pam had turned out to belong to Jules.

And Pam made this glorious quilt top for her. Spectacular!

Now I know that you are totally mesmerized with all the quilts so far.  But I fear that you will be late to work or not get a thing done today because you are glued to the pics on the blog forever.  And I’m all about building the momentum.  So since this is about half the total pics for the brown bag challenge, I think we’ll wait until next time for the rest.

Because you know how I like to keep you all on pins and needles for more.  Stay tuned!

Hugs,
Barb