Wednesday, December 16, 2015

FIBER JUNKIES CHRISTMAS GATHERING

If you've been following this blog.....you know about the Fiber Junkies......a 6 member group of like-minded quilters who love to experiment with new (and old) techniques. It's a very close knit group who truly love spending time together.

Gen hosted our holiday party.  I've said it before and probably will many, many more times......we ALL want to be Gen when we grow up.  She's mastered all styles of quiltmaking, not to mention knitting, journaling, and just about every other craft you can think of.  Here's one of her stunning quilts on display.
Like so many of us 'oldsters', esp. those of us whose families don't live close enough to celebrate the holidays with us, she's scaled back on Christmas decorating.  Yet, her touches were charming and festive.
 Don't you just love this creative center piece? It's made with a large candle, white popcorn and fresh cranberries.
Several years ago our group decided to exchange Christmas ornaments.....but then we realized what I mentioned above.....our decorating has mainly been scaled back so we don't need more ornaments.  Instead, we switched to giving other kinds of small handmade gifts. We make a gift for each member.
Creativity extends to the wrapping.
Inside we found a small fabric covered notebook. Kate created each piece of fabric....mine was marbled.
Judy screen printed these lovely scenes onto fabric and adhered them onto note cards.
 Gen made each of us a beautiful knitted scarf....yeah....
Val screen printed soft cotton and filled it with scented rice.....perfect right out of the microwave to soothe our aches and pains.
I made several embellished felted bowls....similar to the ones seen here.
We feasted on Gen's homemade soup and these not so attractive pepperoni/cheese stuffed breadsticks.  I had the idea to jazz up one of my homemade bread recipes...which tasted good but I need to work on the presentation! 
Denny started a tradition a couple of years ago by bringing a Yule log. Unfortuately, she's been dealing with a family emergency and was unable to attend our gathering.  Hooray.....Kate took over that duty....it was as good as it looks.
And here's another one of Gen's special touches......how about this folded tree shaped napkin!! Isn't it just great!?!
It's made by folding a two-sided half-circle of fabric. (held by Val)

As they say....a good time was had by all.  As is our custom during our Dec. meeting, we spent a bit of time making a list of 'goals' for next year....not that we even got half through all the ones we had last year.  Gosh, there so many techniques to explore!  You can be sure.....I'll be blogging about them as we turn the calendar to 2016!

5 comments:

Lara B. said...

You all are so talented Mary! It is so wonderful to have friends like this and to get together regularly to share and encourage each other.

Robbie said...

Those gifts are just wonderful!!! Your group is so wonderful. We have a small group (was 6 but now 5) and it's my favorite of all the groups I've belonged to in the past. They are a great group of friends besides being the best inspiration a gal could ask for! Aren't we lucky!-

Sherrie Spangler said...

Your stuffed breadsticks sound yummy, and all of the presents are so creative and beautiful.

margaret said...

some lovely gifts you have there and you gave wonderful bowls in return

The Idaho Beauty said...

Gosh, I'm really taken with those cards featuring the screen printed fabric. You know me - I need to know WHY I'm bothering with a technique and screenprinting is one of those techniques that I've never really gotten my head around as to why I would use it over another method. But this has opened my eyes. Just beautifully conceived and rendered.

Rather like those little books with the marbled covers. Also giving me ideas . . . .