Summer's here....our time off!

 It's closing banquet time and just so you know , here are the busy beavers in the kitchen preparing a wonderful meal for all the hungry quilters.  What a great bunch and how well they look after us.

 Our "All things Chocolate" Challenge...there were 18 entrants and quite a variety.... Some of them are sitting on the table with our President's challenge...the etui or needle case....and again there were some amazing pieces.  What talented quilters there are in SVQG.

 The three winners of the Chocolate Challenge...myself in the middle  and Vera Turner on the left and Vivian Hayward on the right.  It's interesting to note that Vivian also won the etui challenge.....hey, that's my sister-in-law...wonder who I try to emulate???

 Here are the three winners of the President's challenge  ...that's Ce(Madame Prezzy) wearing the chatelaine name tag, with ReBecca Paterson on the left, Vivian Hayward on the other side of Ce and Ellen Henderson .

Here's the quilt I call Jumping Jack's, I know it is not the actual name of the quilt but the pattern the ladies used to quilt it is called Jumping Jacks and it stuck in my head.  Took them three quilting days to finish and it is really nice....it's a comfort quilt.

 This is the official turning over of the reigns.  Muriel Gilbert got the frog, she kissed it and it did not turn into a prince...oh well!.  If you're wondering, froggy holds the quarters of the naughty quilters that forget their name tags.  It adds up after a while.

Jean Thompson made this sweet quilt and donated it to our comfort quilts. I find my camera, although  I love it, it does not give true colours...this is much more vibrant in person.  Gorgeous really..  and what a sweetie, Jean is.

 Just watch that Linda go.  She's one of those quilters that sit quietly in the background and stores up her work and when she brings it in, you are amazed at how much she has done. She likes to show it all finished and  wow us.  Here she is holding two wine gift bags made from hubby's shirt sleeves....hmmmm, wonder if he now wears them sleeveless???

Linda is also a hooker...not the bad kind, the good kind that hooks rugs....and here she shows two pieces she finished.  I love hooked rugs, a craft that just seems to go hand in hand with quilting.

Celtic work...this is a  dining table seat cover and it has that wow factor....terrific , Linda!

One step further and she has a table cloth...it all ties in together and I bet it looks great.

 Two bags....all finished and looking great...she's been a busy girl.

 Sandra Alston stepped out of the box and did something different for her.  This is a painting she did and has framed....the light is hitting it a little too much for you to see the wonderful colours.  Well done, Sandra!

 Vera tried to hide behind her block of the month for 2012 all finished and quilted but I caught her peeping out.  Again , the camera does not pick up the  softly mottled background that makes the Christmas colours just pop.

Sandra is another one of those quilters that save up their pieces and then astound us with her work. A little touch of applique always gives a quilt that little extra pizzazz....and the quilting is wonderful...way to go, Bill!

 Another of Sandra's work...the colours are stunning and the work, as always ...perfection.  I hope you get to see this one in the show to see the true colours.

Bea Elliott put together this fabulous scrappy.  She told us she had it all organized and then her cat decided to "help"....don't you just love pets.

HOwever, she put it together, it works extremely well...balance of colour and my favourite type of quilt...scrappy!!!!

Martha floored us with a little talk of what she does for a living...she is a cartographer and she explained and did a small show and tell of her work.  I guessed she is an intelligent young lady but she proved it today....impressive,girl!!!

This quilt is called "Saving Grace" and is intended for a lady suffering from cancer...that terrible disease we'd all like to see gone.  Helen got the top from Geraldine Gordon (Miramichi Guild) , got some assistance from quilters at SVQG  to baste it and then she quilted it on her machine ....she removed her splint to eat lunch today which goes to show how difficult it can be to get it done quickly.  Blessings on you, Helen, a wonderful thing to do.

 Lillian Kyle got her BOM 2012 done and brought it for us to ooh and aaah over.  Easy thing to do, since they are all so beautiful...shame they only get displayed over a short period of the year....hope you get to see them dispersed throughout out quilt show in September.

Marg Stevens...who will be that special birthday in July...you know, the one that gets you all those fat quarters....did the apple core (by hand while watching tv) and made a gorgeous set of placemats. What a great idea....I find it overwhelming to make a quilt in a one  patch pattern but placemats would be fun to do....I think I will write that down in my "Be sure to do!" list.

If I am not mistaken, I believe this is another of Marg's creations and I believe she said it was a BOM with sampler patterns....whatever, it sure did turn out nice.  I like the charcoal background, makes the patterns pop,

ReBecca did the "Show and Tell" and when it was almost done, she showed this piece of fabric that Ce had challenged her with...well, ReBecca, showed her, she made a small box(etui) put interesting  'stuff' in  it and gave it back to Ce and challenged her to do something with the 'stuff' in it....should be interesting to see what happens next...this could be ongoing...keep tuned, folks!