Thimbleberries Club

Tonight was the first meeting of the 2010 Thimbleberries Club. Looking at the pile of stuff I brought home, I think I might have tried to make up for not joining and buying Thimbleberries last year! Seriously, I didn't do too bad--I was kind of proud of the fact that everyone ahead of me in the check out line spent more! The kit on the left is the fabric for the first few months--and I can't remember if it's split into three or four month sections, but in any event, I have what I need for now. Plus a Twice the Charm roll. And a magazine.

At club, we have show and tell, and one of the ladies showed us a smallish quilt she made from a pattern in the magazine (the quilt is called Kyoto Star) so a few of us thought we NEEDED the magazine too.

One of the things I enjoy most about club is coming home and being pumped up and enthusiastic about quilting and all things Thimbleberries, and tonight was no exception--as you can see, I already made my two blocks for the month!

During the 2008 Club year, I heard several complaints about the quality of the fabric from RJR, but from what I saw of the fabric so far this year, it's fine! I don't know if they've changed manufacturers again or not, but I don't have any complaints.

As has been the case in the last few years, this year Thimbleberries is offering three colorways, and our club group is large enough to make it possible for the shop to order all three. I've selected the "Dawn" colorway, which is made up of lighter shades--think 30s pastels that have been grayed down just a touch. "Dusk" is more the typical Thimbleberries tones that we've come to know over the years, and most of our club members have picked that one. Finally, there's this colorway, which I think is called "Midnight," although I like to refer to it as "Night Stalker"--can't you just imagine some pervert out roaming the streets, peeking into windows at midnight?

No? Okay, maybe it's just me--I'm the weird one! But we all knew that, didn't we?! The quilt in that photo above is an alternate layout--the "regular" quilt has the blocks scattered more randomly rather than laid out in rows; I think I like these rows a whole lot, so I'll likely lay mine out like this one.

By the way, if you had the slightest interest in the Thimbleberries Hometown Christmas quilt that I talked about a couple years ago but couldn't find the series of four pattern books--well, the pattern has been reprinted in a new Thimbleberries book called Block by Block to Beautiful Quilts. Somewhat sheepishly I'll admit I haven't finished mine yet, so it's not too late to join me!

Do you realize the Friday Night Sew-In is almost here? I'm thinking about cleaning my house on Thursday night so I can start sewing after work on Friday and keep going all weekend! How about you? Will you be joining in on Friday?