Happy UnBirthday to my QBees!

Introducing the project for the UnBirthday Party!  The pattern came from Heather Mulder Peterson's (yes...a Minnesota designer) book, Charmed and Dangerous and is called The Everyday Table Topper.   

 

Those of you who know me, know that I love working with the precut charm square packs!  For me they are like working out a puzzle.  They force me to work with fabrics I might not normally choose and because the number of squares you have are limited, it becomes a brain tease.  I love it!  This pattern was a good choice for a group to do because it only required 32 charm squares which allowed the QBees a bit of choice in which charm squares to use.  It also was easy to piece.  I had pieced the two samples months ago ... quilted and bound them last week ... Saturday night, I was dying to get into the Minnesota Shop Hop fabrics and just had to piece another one.  It actually worked out well to have one sample that wasn't finished so they could see the back side. 

Each party participant received this gift bag.  When I found them this summer at Mall of America I thought they were perfect for a Minnesota themed party.  Each bag contained a project kit (charm pack with coordinating fat quarter for binding), the Minnesota Shop Hop publication as an invite to attend 2011, and a Minnesota themed trinket.  I placed one at each sewing station ... they had no idea where they would be seated and no idea what fabric they would be working with ... they were so mixed up by this point ... neither did I! 

If you have been following this blog, you know that we have had the coldest and most wet summer since 1951 ... it truly has been miserable!  Wouldn't you know it?  Yesterday the skies cleared and the sun shone for the second time all summer.  I honestly didn't expect even half of those invited to come ... when you live in our climate and the sun shines, you don't spend it indoors.  The party was scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm ... when I went to unlock the door and post this sign at 12:45 three QBees were lined up outside the door!  Isn't that just the cutest?  ;-) 

I collected several simple and a few slightly valuable Minnesota themed door prizes while there earlier this summer...

... Roseann Kermes of Rosebud's Cottage from White Bear Lake contributed lots of goodies as well ...

... and Emily of Emily's Country Cottage in Bemidji contributed a charm pack in the official shop hop fabric!  I put the door prizes in the 2007 shop hop bag ... every QBee got at least two door prizes ... it was fun ... lots of giggles!

The party included an invitation to attend the 2011 Minnesota Shop Hop.  So I took a road map and placed a sticker where each shop participating this year was located.  I put stars on the stickers that marked shops that I have visited.  We all had fun looking at the map ... dreaming of where we would like to go and places we wanted to see ... I so hope some will join me next year!

I placed a number sign on the chair at each sewing station ... every person drew a number and that was their assigned station ... it mixes everyone up and they end up with tablemates that perhaps they've never sewn with before!  Mixing it up really increases the fun!  Here they are setting up and finding out what fabrics they'll be using ...

... QBees Julie, Cece (grew up near Fergus Falls, MN) and Barb C...

... QBees Renee, Susie and Terry ...

QBees Barb H., Lila, and Diane!

I decided to approach this project like a mystery ... and broke it down into steps ... here Renee is sorting her charm squares!

QBee Susie is busy piecing her right triangles.

Lila and Terry are trimming.

The machines were humming ... everyone had a different charm pack collection ... so no two projects were alike!  That was deliberate on my part ... I loved seeing how even though the pattern was the same, each one was different!  Love it!

Cece and I tried to explain "talking Minnesotan" to the group ... we gave lots of examples ... I think the others thought we were nuts ... lots of giggles!  ;-)

Everyone looks so serious ...

... I think it is because I only thought to take pictures when they were busy and we weren't talking!

This is Terry's layout...

...Lila's too.

Susie with Neptune...

... Barb H. with fall themed fabric...

... Barb C. with contemporary fabrics...

... Julie with contemporary holiday fabric...

... fellow former Minnesotan Cece ...

... Diane is all smiles with her brightly themed fabric ...

... Renee was pleased with her pastels!

It was so fun to see everyone's tabletopper come together ... they were each so different, just like the women who made them.  I love our differences ... our individual quirks ... it truly is what makes each of them endearing.

Happy UnBirthday QBees!  Thanks for spending a sunny afternoon quilting with me!

Next year we celebrate on the road in Minnesota!