Posted By FarmerJ on April 21, 2011

Okay, do you remember waaaaaay back when I was preparing for our Quilt Guild’s Dress the Bed event ~ when I made the little blooming paper cards to include in the hostess gift bags at my table?  Well, I finally got my act together enough to share some photos of the event with you.  It didn’t help that I drove off and left our camera at home that day.  I had to rely on my Nebraska Mom to take all the photos and then email them to me.

It was a delightful day, and nearly 200 people spent a near-perfect First Day of Spring oooohing and ahhhhing over some beautiful quilts, all made by members of our Guild.  Guild members were asked to ‘host’ a table, which meant you were responsible for place settings, decorations, hostess gifts, and serving the guests at your table.  I seemed to have raised my hand to be a host before I knew what I was getting into.  [Not really.  I had a great time.]  Each table had a ‘theme’ and seated eight.  If you had eight friends or family members, they, of course, could sit at your table.  I don’t have eight people who like me [proven by the number of those who 'follow us' in the right column of our blog], so I didn’t have any specific guests to seat at mine.  I ended up with one of my most favorite, sweet little Guild ladies, a couple of her lifelong friends, and her daughter and son-in-law.  They were all so adorable!

Because of my lack of creativity, the only theme I could come up with was a Springtime Tea Party.  I called upon the help of many friends, some a lot more than others, for ideas and guidance.  I dug into Grandma K’s china hutch and pulled out some of the pieces from a china set we’ve had for nearly 12 years and had never, ever used a single piece.  I also pulled out some crystal glasses for water and iced tea, and my Mikasa crystal vase for the centerpiece.  I know you were expecting to see something obvious ~ like a teapot ~ at the tea party table.  But, all I can say is you’re going to have to take into account who the hostess of this table was.

I had some hazelnut chocolate filled wafers and mints for everyone to enjoy before and after the meal, and each guest had a fancy-schmansy chocolate covered cinnamon wafer at their place setting to have with their coffee.  The meal, which I didn’t have to prepare, was chicken salad on a croissant and a delicious Asian salad, followed by cherry cheesecake for dessert.

I filled each hostess gift bag with one of the blooming paper cards, a full packet of flower seeds, a Hibiscus floating candle, a package of Pepperidge Farm cookies, four Honey Stix tied together with a satin ribbon, six variety flavored tea bags ~ and there was something else I can’t remember now…that’s what I get for letting a month pass before sharing this with you.  All of the ladies at my table were delighted with their goodies.  The gentleman, not so much.  I told him to give his to his wife so she could be doubly delighted.  Squeeeeeeeeeee!

We had 22 tables, and I’d like to show you some of my favorites.  Some were so elegant, some hilarious, some vibrant, some just simply beautiful, some fun ~ all, a true reflection of the hostess.  Except for mine.  My table was not ‘me’ at all!

Okay!  Here we go!  Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them so you can see the details.

This was Sandie’s, my Nebraska Mom.  Her theme was something like “Forever In a Lifetime” or something like that.  She had all kinds of neat things like family photos, Precious Moments figurines, old clocks, etc.  It was very eclectic…just like her many talents.

This was Berta’s table ~ A Summer Picnic.  The main centerpiece was the coolest picnic basket, surrounded with sand pails, condiment bottles and flip-flop paper plates.  The table wouldn’t have been complete without picnic ants!  She had metal decor ants carrying off watermelon slices and hotdogs, while others were trying desperately to get into the main basket.  It was relaxed, fun and comical…just like Berta.  [I wanted to sit at her table.]

This was Sharon’s table ~ I can’t remember the name of her theme.  I loved the colorful quilt she used as the tablecloth, and those flower plates were just the coolest!  It was simple and like a breath of fresh air…just like Sharon.

This was Nancy’s table ~ It’s a Small World After All.  Her husband was a career military man, and she traveled all over the world with him.  She decorated the table with a variety of things she’d collected from around the world.  The most prominent being the globe as the centerpiece.  I have a real fascination with globes, and this one is by far the most exquisite globe I’ve ever seen.  She said she got in it Greece.  This table was full of interesting ‘artifacts’ and amazing stories to go with them…a true reflection of Nancy.

I can’t remember whose table this was.  [That seems to be the 'theme' here, yes?  Me not remembering.]  I just really liked this table…simply pretty.

Now, this was Lori’s table.  If you can’t tell from her collection of M&M characters, Lori is…well, a character.  I adore her to bits.  Lori is one of those people in this world that you can’t help but smile when she walks into the room.  Part of her decor, placed under the transparent overlay, included six or seven of the big M&M bags, each one a different variety of M&Ms.  I told Lori she needn’t take on eating all those M&Ms by herself in order to empty them for decor.  I would have gladly helped her with that task.  She just giggled and shook her head, “Oh, J.”  Hey, you can’t blame a girl for trying, can you?  [I wanted to sit at Lori's table, too.  She had a bag of M&Ms for each of her guests.  Try as I might, I never did get a single M&M that day.]

This was Susan’s table.  It was like she and Lori had their own little junk food section going.  The centerpieces consisted of vintage Coca-Cola and Frito-Lay tins, and she had bags of chips and bottles of soda as her hostess gifts.  Very appropriate, wouldn’t you say?  Down to earth and practical…just like Susan.

This was Edith’s table.  She’s walking proof that God crammed all the talent in certain people, leaving none for people like me.  Not only can Edith make a quilt that will knock your socks off, but she paints china, too.  She hand painted all the plates, saucers, cups and little hostess gift eggs on her table.  If you haven’t been enlarging the photos, do it on this one!  Her work is amazing…and so is Edith.

Okay…one more of the tables.

This was Jennifer and Janelle’s table.  Two more ladies that got all the talent crammed into their bodies.  One of them does floral arrangements for a living, and the other does interior decorating for a living.  Almost doesn’t seem fair, does it?  I don’t think this photo was taken when those girls were completely finished.  By the time they were done fussing over everything, you truly had a sense you were seated at a garden table.  Lovely…just like Jennifer and Janelle.

I didn’t realize Nebraska Mom had taken the next couple of photos.  Sneaky, she is.  Here I am helping Debbie get some of our silent auction items numbered with their bidding sheets.  We ended up with a variety of vintage aprons, quilted pillows, table runners, some jewelry (from another member with multiple talents), and lots of odds and ends.  I didn’t ‘win’ anything.

Here I am helping Missy, our current Guild President ~ and our veterinarian ~ hang our raffle quilt on display.  Three of our members volunteered to make this quilt and donated it to the Guild to raffle off during this event.  It helped to bring in a little extra income for our future activities.  I didn’t win this, either.  I didn’t win anything.  Not even an M&M.

I honestly cannot say why Missy has that disgusted look on her face!  I’m sure she’s the victim of a snapshot being taken at the most inappropriate time.  She’s looking at our Vice President’s table, which had some of the most awesome hostess gifts in the room.  Perhaps she’s saying she wishes she could sit at that table.  I was wishing that, too!

And, the last photo…

…a picture of the bed.  Well, sort of.  There were approximately 35 quilts on this antique bed.  After the meal, some of us volunteered to take them off the bed one by one and ‘parade’ them around the room for everyone to see close up while our two lovely MC’s took turns reading a narrative about the quilt.

If you’re not completely sick of reading about the event and looking at photos ~ if you’ve even made it this far ~ we had a special guest join us that day.  Diane Harris works for Quiltmaker Magazine [can you imagine getting paid to make quilts and travel?!], and she maintains the blog section on Quiltmaker’s website.  Apparently she had a great time, too, because she wrote about us on the blog and shared some more photos!  You can see Diane’s article here.  She featured some different tables, and she’s got a better photo of the bed…of which I happen to be standing next to.  I am terribly camera shy ~ ask Husbie, I drive him nuts running from the camera all the time.  It turns out I was in more photos on this one day than in all photos taken throughout the past two years combined!

Despite that, it really was a lot of fun!  ♥

We’re linking up with Farm Friend Friday and Farmgirl Friday ~ be sure to hop on over for more fabulous stories of fellow farm folk!

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