It's that time of year again and we've been out shopping, baking, quilting, and busy, busy, busy. One of the highlights this year was getting to go to the Valley Quilters' Guild meeting. We had a potluck, ornament exchange, the usual fat quarter raffle, the quilt basket (fabric, tools and other fun things) raffle, and door prizes. It was a really fun night.
Mom made Cream Cheese Tortilla Roll-ups and I brought some locally made Bullseye Rye Bread from North Star Bakery. We were in the bread and appetizer group for the potluck which was great since this was our first potluck with the guild and we weren't really sure what everyone liked. Turned out to be lots of finger food and desserts, which was great.
Mom and I each made an ornament for the exchange. She created a beautiful appliqued holly ornament and I made a mini disappearing nine patch block. My block turned out a little off, since quilting when you're tired and on a block pattern you've never done before isn't the best idea, but with a little bit of embellishments I think it turned out nice.
The ornaments were wrapped when we exchanged them, little packages full of surprises. There were lots of really neat ornaments and an amazing amount of techniques used. Pretty much anything was allowed as long as the ornament was handmade so there were beaded ornaments like icicles, lace angels, stockings, quilt blocks, paper art, and more. Mom received an intricate wool appliqued ornament and I got a neat green stocking.
One great idea we want to remember for next year is wrapping the ornament in a piece of fabric. It was a really nice touch! We added chocolate to our ornament packets which the recipients seemed to like.
In addition to the ornament fun, Mom won one of the fat quarter raffle prize packs (she never wins things so that was the highlight of the night for me) and I won one of the door prizes. It was a fun night and a great way to celebrate the holiday season.