Fun right down to the finish..........

I've shown you plenty of pictures of the gals who came to the DayTreat but I thought maybe I should prove that I actually did work on the quilt project. After all, this was my first real quilt class and I organized this as a fun event for my quilty friends, but I wanted to learn how to make this quilt. So, after Heidi left, I began ironing my 30's fabric and cutting it into the necessary strips for cutting the triangles.

Take note of the eggs you see next to that long-legged bunny. They provided some fun just before we had our pizza. I figured everyone would deserve some more fun because after Heidi left everyone really got down to the business of sewing those triangles together.......

Connie was super-focused. She was trying to get all the blocks done and the top sewn together so she could take it to her friend, Esther for hand-quilting.

Pat wasn't under any timeline. She was having fun stitching and was the only one in the group who used the larger Kaleido ruler to make larger quilt blocks.

Barbara was also focused..........

So was Kathy but do you see that "oh, I am relaxed and enjoying myself" look on her face?

Kathy was cutting and then she and Becky would stitch and then Becky would iron........real teamwork!

Connie is smiling because she was doing her blocks in batiks like Collette did. I'm bummed because somehow I didn't get a picture of her blocks when she put them up on her design wall at the end of the evening.

Just before we ate our pizza, I announced that everyone should go over to the skinny bunnies that were sitting in the window and grab a plastic egg. Then I had them open the egg to find a number inside. Each number corresponded to the door prizes in the photo below. And I have to send a big THANK YOU to Jacquelynne at The*Noble*Wife* blog and to Jeanne Devereaux from my Seasons*BOM Yahoo group for the patterns and fabric that they sent me for use as doorprizes. I bought a few items, too, but really appreciate the extra fun they provided.

And after the prizes, it was time for more food!  And notice that cute egg candy dish in the photo below. My daughter brought it to me as a gift and because I wanted this to be a fun day for her as well as everyone else, I didn't tell her how much my theme would revolve around candy dishes.........and so we laughed that she brought me a gift of a candy dish!

I popped Take and Bake pizzas in the oven and we all sat down around a table this time to enjoy our meal. As I baked the last pizza and came in to sit down, I thought........ something is missing that I was planning for our dinner.........hmmmm.......what was it?.....

It was the little clay pot votive candles I had decorated! Duh! I remembered them just as I cleaned the table off and it hit me........what did you do with the clay pot votives, Sandi?  I had put a cover over them on the table that was behind my sewing machine and totally forgot about them. So I set them out, lined them up and surrounded them with the little packages of bath salts for everyone and then I wanted to light the candles. I had no matches. Neither did anyone else. We spend our money on fabric, I guess, not cigarettes. I was determined to light a candle so I poked a fork in the bottom of one of the candles, and held it to the edge of the stove burner til the wick lit and then I used that one lit candle to light all the rest. LOL!

Someone turned out the lights, so we could get the candlelight effect I was going for all along. More on the candle in the front at a later time. Speaking of time, it was only about 7:00 at this point but blocks were getting finished, like these from Becky and Barbara.........

And Pandora was busy chain-stitching her pieces and as it had been a long day which sometimes leads to silliness by the evening, she draped them around her and Collette.

I had not yet sewn a stitch. I had barely finished cutting my strips but I finally finished the strips and at ten to eight, I cut my first triangles!!!

Meanwhile, across the room, Connie had been stitching away and had this pile of blocks to show for her diligence. She's going to make her quilt larger than in Heidi's directions, so she has about 40 finished octagon blocks in that stack.

Several of the gals left to make the long drive home but Connie and Connie and Pat and Collette and me.......we continued to stitch and chat.........and at twenty after ten, I finished one octagon block!!!!  And I have to admit, that at this point, I was feeling a little bit tired.

I wasn't so tired, though, that it kept me from thinking about a "next time". Everyone had a great time and really enjoyed Heidi's class. When she first began she shared several other quilts she had made and this one caught my daughter's eye and several others liked it, too. So, sometime in 2012, we will have Heidi back again for a class on this quilt called "Echo". My theme has already "crystalized" and we are all ready to shop for black and white fabrics. Heidi said this class will require a two-day class so I am checking on rates at the Henderson House B & B to see about accomodations for those who come from a distance.

And in the months before Heidi returns, I will have plenty of time to take my triangles.........

and sew them into octagon blocks like these that I finished last night..........

Proof that this is going to be a comfy quilt comes from Kaiser the Wonder Beagle who decided right after I laid them on the fabric on the floor, and before I reached for my camera, decided he would lay down and take a nap..........

That's the end of our DayTreat fun! It really was an awesome day!!!
My next post will have something to do with Easter and then I'm GO!ing to get GO!ing and show you a couple of projects that I made with my little GO! Baby. I'll show you the mug rugs that I made for everyone and there might just be a little prize in it for one lucky reader. You know what I say......stay tuned. :-)
Sandi