December Meeting - by Jenny B
It was a long night - in fact it was the longest night of the year! And what better way to spend it than with new-found friends at the Shirley Quilters' Zoom Christmas Party?
The evening started slowly as members got back into “zoom” mode, with technical help from Grace. There was chat about Christmas jumpers, headgear and decorations. Some members had hung Christmas-inspired quilts as their background which encouraged many questions about technique and fabrics.
Someone asked about the sizes of charity baby quilts for hospitals including East Surrey, Wigan, Middlesex and Epsom. The answer: 27 x 36 inches, with wadding or fleece backed. (Hope I wrote that down correctly!)
Once Claire checked in from Scotland the meeting proper got under way, with party games and merriment.
Bingo! Or should I say Quilt! was a great success. We had each written 25 items from a quilting related list into our 5x5 grid. It seemed to take a long time for anyone to get a line of 5, but Marion was the first to shout QUILT! Then we tried for the full house. Many of us were waiting for just one item, and in the end it was Jackie S who shouted first. Prizes were mentioned!
Then we had a very entertaining “Show and Tell” of our Cluedo Challenge Quilts. Due to the limitations of Zoom, it was NOT easy to get the clues, and most of us needed help from the quilter to focus on the relevant, and sometimes quite cryptic, clues in the quilt. Knowledge of Cluedo was a definite advantage, but we all got there in the end. We will all look forward to seeing the quilts for real when we are next able to be together.
A game of “Quilting Charades” followed. All charades led to the name of a quilting block, and I, for one, learned much about my latest hobby. Some very talented actors among us, and some lucky to escape the spotlight! The final charade was by Claire and turned out to be, very appropriately, a Friendship Star.
Claire ended the meeting by reading 2 versions of “T’was the Night Before Christmas”. The “normal” version was all related to sewing late on Christmas Eve with help from Santa’s elves. The “alternative” version ended with Santa saying: “You’ve got enough stuff, I’ll see you next year!”
How true, and what a great end to a great evening. Here’s hoping we will indeed see you in 2022, and we can work through our “stuff” so Santa will call again next year! HAPPY FESTIVE SEASON to everyone and thank you for making me so welcome to your group.