Quilt Day!

My guild celebrated National Quilt Day by holding a sewing bee/demonstrations at the local Arts and Heritage Center. Most of us worked on quilts for Quilts of Valor and a few on their blocks for our next quilt for Camp Rainbow. We used the Twist pattern from Bonnie Hunters website to make the first quilt and then the "leftover" pieces to make the center blocks for the second quilt...sort of like a two for one!
The center is a great place to work with wonderful lighting and lots of space. Being surrounded by local artwork helps too!We got two quilts tops in Autumn colors almost finished and the patriotic themes blocks ready to go together. Not bad for a few hours work. Amazing how much faster it goes when many hands work together!I also tried out a new tool today. You know me - always in search of the perfect rotary cutter.
(And for "perfect" read one that I don't slice myself with when my eyes and/or hands are feeling all MS-y) I was told this fingertip controlled Mini rotary cutter was good for folks with weak hands...since it sort of clips to your finger so you don't have to focus on holding the cutter just on moving your finger. It took a few minutes to get used to it but in no time I was cutting out a pile of leaves to applique on my border. Now the downside - if you have any problems with your hands there is almost no chance you will get the plastic blade cover off without serious damage (for that read one lost fingernail and a nasty slice on the knuckles - big ouch!) What were they thinking? And it doesn't get any better the more you put the cover on and off either. I made a small felt cover for mine and ditched the plastic....