Amisha

Sunday's afternoon was filled with emotions. At first because -like never- almost all the Minerva's girls (living in Gainesville) were there. And we had a very good reson to come to this reunion. But before telling you more about it, I invite you to see the advances in each of our works:

Yanina and her king size quilt, a piece of art made by hand. We all agreed once it's finished instead of putting it on her bed, she should put it on a museum.

Gladys and her lovely knitted blanket.

Amisha completed her promise and finished her red & white quilt. She also did the apron that Pilar is showing us... beautiful, right ?



Later on the reunion, Yanina talked for all of us and gave Amisha the wall hanging that we had prepared for her with so much love and care as a good-bye gift.

We feel great that she liked it (she was admired how we chose her colors. That means we know her well).


She said she doesn't think of hanging the quilt but instead she will bring it everywhere, she would fight a cold New York and her long studying nights with it.



Amisha, you're an admirable woman. We're sure that you will get all your academic goals and will come back even stronger to fight for your ideals. Good luck on this new journey.

With all our love and friendship from Minerva's Circle.

Camila's Quilt

At Minerva’s we are a little sad because another friend is leaving us....
Our sweet Camila is in her home country by now.
We all will miss you.

We had a busy week trying to get the quilt ready on time for her, and we did it.
I do not how but we were good..
Here are some pictures of the process….

Here is the final result. All of us made a single square and then we put them together.

We used her favorites colors...I know she love it.

Camila now must to figure out which belong to each of us….I challenge you…it will be difficult.

.... and 30 hours later we got this beautiful quilt

We surprise her at the restaurant with our farwell gift, we all know that she will enjoy it.

With a lot of Love from Minerva's ...

We will miss you...We wish you the best and we hope too see you some day...


This is the back of it....with all the quilting in each square.

I took the liberty to include this wounderful letter that she send us... she really touched us with this....

Dear Minervas,

You have no idea how happy you guys made me by giving me that precious quilt!
It was an amazing surprise (completely unexpected!) and it is definitely the best gift someone could get. Carmen said that before and now I can confirm it. It's priceless!!!!
I'll treasure it for life and will always remember you guys and the good times we spent together.

The quilt is the most beautiful I've ever seen. The colors are perfect! My favorites by far!!!! I'm sure I'll never get tired of looking at it… ha ha
These four years were a very important part of our lives and this quilt is definitely one of the best memories I'm bringing from the wonderful time we spent in Gainesville.

It's a pity I didn't have the chance to see you guys before I left. But at the same time it was good because I hate to say goodbye.

You guys are an awesome group! I'm very proud to be part of it, even being so absent in the last few months.
I hope Minervas will last for years and years and many new people will have the chance to enjoy and experience it!

Please keep me in the email list so I can follow what's going on. I'll keep in touch as well and as soon as we get settled I'll send you guys our new address, so we can receive lots of visitors… he he

Soon I'll send you the pictures we took on Saturday!

Beijos (kisses) to all of you! I'll miss you guys!!!!

Love,
Camila

New crafts at Minerva's circle

Sunday was a busy day. A big group was there and new faces! well, not new, we had actually seen them on our anniversary party and we were very happy to have them with us. And also, we had anew craft going on, Michelle taught us how to make those crystal magnets for the refrigerator. So easy! and such a nice result! We should post some close pictures the next time, but this is how some of the busy girls looked working on it.:

 

Pilar brought her sewing machine and showed Gladys how to make curves with it!

 

And this is the result! nice ah?

 

And so did Michelle, she made these golden stiches that really amazed all of us.

 

It was a fun meeting once again. I brought my fabric to make a new skirt and I discused about it forever with Flor. I didn't bring Luca, the mascot, so I though I was going to get a lot done but guess what! you guessed...I did nothing else than being in good company and having interesting conversations. But I got good ideas and soon this skirt will be ready to wear.

Minerva's circle first anniversary

It was more than a year ago that it all started, but only now we realize what a special year has it been, that we need to have a celebration. It actually started years back, when Teri introduced some of us to the quilting world. Hand quilting. It was summer of 2004, when Gisele said that there was a class being taught in one of the villages about quilting. I was hesitant about it, sewing wasn't my hobby even though I had made some clothes here and there. I even forgot to go to the first class and I missed the day that we were getting the fabrics and the instructions. But since a couple other friends were also going I thought it was a nice idea to attend to the following class and of course to learn how to do hand quilting. I had no idea what I was getting into, in fact, I didn't realize until weeks later. The teacher, our friend Teri, was very good at explaining things and not only that, she was so excited about it that she got all of us excited as well. She was also very inspirational and let us create and enjoy ourselves with the process of making something out of just pieces of fabrics that didn't mean anything. I made a baby quilt for my niece in Spain and in the meantime at home, I started another big quilt for my little sister. What amazed me the most was that because of those classes I started hanging out with more friends from different countries and it was even more interesting meeting, every day I would learn something new. And the following year came along and we joined another quilting class, we met some new friends, and we shared good moments together. Then we started with the blogs, the other crafts and the craziness of internet. That was mainly Gisele and I. Then the 2 of us got together in one of our homes and started sewing together. We would have Teri or other friends once in a while but it was mainly the 2 of us. Then we joined a knitting class, and met some new people, like Clara. And the group started growing. Then we decided to really get together and do it. Pilar and Claudia that had taken the second quilting class were really into it and they started coming every Sunday. So we decided to get a common room to fit everyone. And then new friends started joining and it was just an amazing experience. Not all of them came every Sunday and not all of them quilted, but it didn't matter. The important thing was that whoever came was welcomed and was free to get inspired by others and enjoy each others company. At least that's how I felt. And that's how I still feel. Even having some of our friends living out of Gainesville, it really doesn't matter. We are all part of this magical circle. Congratulations Minerva's circle for a wonderful first year!

More about last Sunday

As I mentioned in the previous post I hadn't had so much fun in a long long time as in our last meeting. I don't know what was in the air but we were all laughing and having a good time. I just wanted to share some of those moments with everyone else.

I don't know when Clara finds time to make this beautiful but most importantly, perfectly made quilt top for her daughter! It looked beautiful!


The mascot of the group, aka Luca, was wearing the t-shirt I just made for him from a drawing that my friend Soraya designed. He looked really cute with it on.

Amisha was trying to get a balloon for Luca and this was not easy. We had a good laugh until she got it!.


Pilar didn't even need to take her pants off! She was sewing them right on the spot!

Claudia showed us her new creation, a bracelet she made in a jewelry class.

Marcela was posing too with her new three bags, she has been very productive with these bags lately, they are nice...

Michelle played with Luca and his balloon.



And while everybody was talking...I was doing some flamenco moves....


And for next week we are announcing our first Anniversary celebration! Hurra! We will have a very special event, here goes the announcement!

You are invited to the First Annual Minerva's Circle Anniversary Party!

When: Sunday July 1, 2007, 4pm-6pm
Where: The Mcguire Commons Room, on UF Campus
Who: Anyone interested in quilting, sewing, crafts, or anyone interested in someone interested in quilting, sewing, crafts, etc.!
Why: to see what Minerva's Cirlce has been up to during its first year, to share inspiration, to socialize, to encourage new members, and to eat yummy snacks!
There will also be door prizes made by Minerva's Circle members!
See the linked flyer for more info and directions.
Please pass this on to anyone you think may be intrested.

Happy birthday and see you soon!

At minerva's Circle we are celebrating something most of the time. This past Sunday it was a special one. I think I haven't had so much fun in a very long time. It was a speacil day for Minerva's, we were celebrating a birthday and a farewell.
After her 3 week long trip to China and Korea, Amisha came back with a birthday in her hands! Actually her birthday was today, but we wanted to make sure we remembered and gave her a nice card that Pilar made.


This time too, we wanted to say goodbye to a good friend and member of this special circle. Clara, from Portugal is moving out to North Calorina, and after a great year of quilting, knitting, chatting, and sharing a special friendship with her, it was time for Minerva's Circle to say goodbye, or rather, see you soon.
Michelle made sure we were all color coordinated with the fabrics, bright and colorful, just like Clara. We made 9 blocks and all of them were quite different. We put black sashing and black back and quilted in yellow so you can see it clearly in the back. I think she liked it. We all enjoyed making it and some of our members didn't participate because we did it in a rush, but all their hearts are in it too.
Clara, we hope you enjoy this wall hanging and that you remember all your friends from Minerva's. We will have to visit you and see how it looks in the wall of your new home. Best of luck and warm wishes from Minerva's circle. More pictures here.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS RECIPE

Since we went to the Blueberry Picking the other day, I was so excited about baking them and turning into muffins. So, this is the recipe I got from a book (*) that my friend Denise left me before she went to Chile around a year and a half ago.

Makes 12

• 1 ¼ cups flour
• 1/3 cup sugar (I recommended 1 cup instead)
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• ¾ cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F

2. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or use paper liners

3. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a bowl

4. In another bowl, whisk the eggs until blended. Add the melted butter, milk, vanilla and lemon rind and stir to combine

5. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture. With a large metal spoon, stir just until the flour is moistened, not until is smooth.

6. Fold in the blueberries

7. Spoon the batter into the cups, leaving room for the muffins to rise

8. Bake until the tops spring back when touched lightly, 20-25 minutes (for me 20 min were enough). Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before unmolding.

Enjoy baking -and off course tasting- this yummy muffins!

(*)Baking. Easy – to – make home bakes. Carole Clements (contributing editor), Hermes Ed., 2001.

A Gifts Sunday

Our last meeting was a gifts Sunday!! Amisha brought delayed gifts for every one who had had birthday; everything handmade and we are very happy and very surprising...! Receiving delayed gifts is a lot of fun!


Amisha continue working with her red quilt..... thank you Amisha for your presents!!!

Claudia is very excited with the dolls and she made one very special.

Michelle finished her baby quilt and in our meeting she make a label, look that it is beautiful!

It seems that the dolls that Minerva's circle will be sending to kenia are done.

These are the last dolls from Carmen and Flor.

A few weeks ago I received another gifts by mail. That was a surprise too. They were sent by Giselle and are handmade. A beautiful pin cushion and a seeds wall hanging.

I received this apron. It is terrific!! and i'm scared to use it for cooking it could get spoted

Here is Claudia and her new gift bag. She, the bag's queen add a beautiful model for her stock. She looks happy! don't you think?

There are all kinds of dolls

We had a good laugh today showing our dolls that will be sent to Africa one of these days. Some are sexy....with funky hair color and classy necklaces...some are loooong, with a flamenco flare....some are boyish looking, but with beautiful smiles....some are ready to clean a house yet cuties...and some are following Tokyo latest fashion...hehehe

As for me I received a late birthday present but beautiful! Claudia made me this mobil with three wonderful stars...The white one represents my Luca, I am the red one, of course red, and the big center one is McNair, such a precious present, I love it!


Yanina had the latest top fashion made by her! ON! We were all impressed with the finish, it looks very professional and it fits her perfect.


Flor was working on a skirt/pants with a beautiful fabric she got for her wedding and following one of Yanina's own patterns. Something typical in Argentina.


Claudia showed us her new hair style, made by her hubby, cute :)


As you can see most of the girls were working hard, Pilar was eating just for the picture, she did make some improvements in her pants that she will showcase in coming editions.


And Luca was also a member today, he did a performance on the piano today, he is a natural already in the Maguire commons room.


Have a nice week you all! I will be seeing you in 3 weeks!