A true sewing bee

This week, I was deliriously sick when class time came around. I arrived to a group of excited Piecemakers ready to work on putting their quilt top together. I blurted out some barely coherent guidelines for creating sashing for our top. The group chose a beautifully faded dark stripe fabric which does evoke 'local fabric' though I haven't yet found the words to describe why. I quickly cut strips of this fabric and made a pile of squared quilt blocks and a pile of strips for sashing. I left the Piecemakers to attach these strips to all of the blocks. When I left, they were lively and had an entire pumpkin pie to keep them company. I returned to my bed and hoped for the best.

When I picked up the squares the following day, it was clear that the Piecemakers had enjoyed their task. They had completed it wonderfully and it made me think that our little group has gone from instructor-instructees to a bonafide sewing bee, where each member brings her own unique skills and creative energy. When one member or more is down, the rest make up for the missing pieces. The Piecemakers' quilt top is completed and ready for viewing during the Common Threads program at Alys Stephens Center, beginning this Monday, November 7th and running through the week. All of the Piecemakers are represented in the quilt and they rose to the challenge of creating a community quilt in eight weeks. The remainder of our class time will be dedicated to finishing our quilt and learning other quilt making techniques.