Quilting Cuties Christmas

I'm still tying up loose ends with Christmas.... so bear with me with this one last Christmas 2014 post.

I believe I have told you before that I belong to a quilting bee called The Quilting Cuties.  This group began meeting at Hancock Fabrics in Greensboro -- back when they had a real block of the month where you came in, had a demo, and an actual teacher to walk you through the quilt process -- in 2001.

Ellen Freeman led both the High Point Hancock's (now closed) and the Greensboro Hancock's Block of the Month Club.  And when the corporate higher ups decided to no longer offer the BOM, we still decided to meet as a group and Ellen was our fearless leader.

I remember reading the Greensboro newspaper one day (back before nearly everything I read was on line...) and seeing the ad for the BOM.  Until that point I didn't know anyone else that quilted and was entirely self-taught.  Eager to learn and desperate to meet other quilters, I signed up, showed up and met the woman who became and still is, my quilting mentor -- Ellen Freeman.

Ellen led our group for several, several years until her husband retired and they moved to Shallotte, NC.  When she left, she put me in charge of the bee and we're still rockin' and rollin' right along, currently working on At Piece with Time. 

Ellen still gets back from time to time.  She even came to the High Point Guild September 2013 and gave a workshop on needle turn applique.  She was able to come to the Quilting Cuties Christmas party this year and brought along lots of show and tell.

A cute Christmas wreath made from a Twister....

A North Carolina quilt.   Ellen led our bee in a version of this quilt.  When she moved to the coast, she "beached it up," adding flip flops and a sea turtle.  She also changed up the cardinal.  The ones we did were made out of Drunkard's Path.  The one in this quilt is bigger and I think prettier. 

This American Flag is made of tumbler laid side-to-side instead of end-to-end.

Cute snowman....

Samples from classes she has taken through her guild....

Wall hanging.  I think she's loving the beach....

This table runner is from a guild workshop.  Each member brought enough strips for every guild member in attendance.  Members then exchanged strips and made Dresden Plates from then and sewed them into a table runner.

And lastly, a red work quilt that her guild is doing as a block of the month.  Ellen changed some things up on hers, but it's really cute.  I've seen more and more red work (brown work, blue work...) on quilts the last couple of years.  Hand embroidery on quilts is making a come back in a big way.  You've always seen touches here and there, usually to show details on applique, but the last few years I've seen more and more quilts, both in shops and in shows, that feature blocks and blocks of hand embroidery.

It was so good to see Ellen again!  I hate she's living so far away, but she's loving life at the North Carolina Coast and she's president of her guild (Brunswick Quilters).  I'm just hoping it won't be months and months before I see her again.  I always come away from her feeling like I can do anything and her work is so inspiring!

Love and Stitches...

Sherri