Arizonian Bee 2024

February 7, 2024 – cloudy & breezy – 🌤️  61°

The skies were stunning as we set up for our Bee on a brisk Wednesday morning at the Arizonian RV Resort in Gold Canyon. This roomy venue became a hive to 75 bee folk, including ten members from the AZ Blankets 4 Kids Board. Our kind hosts put some pep in our steps with coffee and breakfast goodies in the morning, followed by a wonderful lunch of soup, sandwiches and salads. One salad in particular got rave reviews, so we requested the recipe, identifying it as the delicious Thai salad in the pretty blue bowl. We put a little note in the bowl, asking the talented chef to share their recipe with us via email. Are you ready for this?! It’s made with a base of cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, radicchio, green cabbage, and kale, topped off with nutty sunflower seeds, dried mango, crispy toasted quinoa, and an exquisite Zesty Thai Sweet Chili Vinaigrette. Instructions include a trip to Costco to buy their Thai Chili Mango Salad Kit. Open packages, toss all ingredients in a bowl, and you’re done! If you want to be extra fancy, put it in a pretty blue bowl like our host did. 😉 Seriously delicious. It’s made by Taylor Farms and available in supermarkets everywhere (no trip to Costco required).

Letty outdid herself again with a lovely Valentine themed door prize basket. Louise Bassett, from the Arizonian, won this sweetness. We also gave away a $25 gift card to local quilt shop, Mad B’s. This quilt shop is one of several throughout the Valley that accept donations for AZ Blankets 4 Kids. We so appreciate Mad B’s and all our drop-off locations for providing this service to AZ Blankets 4 Kids. This was a day of lucky Louises at the Arizonian, because Louise Yates won the gift card to Mad B’s. Our 50/50 raffle netted a whopping $158 for Mable Smith from Holiday Village and matching amount to our Arizonian quilt group hosts, represented by Bev Rippentrop.

We also had a beautiful collection of handmade scarves that were donated by the family of Eloise Babcock, after her recent passing. Eloise was a skilled quilter as well, and she shared a quick and easy pattern and assembly technique with us in 2014. It’s called the 2 1/2″ by 4 1/2″ Quilt. Check it out and make one to donate to our kids in her honor. You can see happy winners of her handmade scarves and more pictures of our busy bee below.

Bee By the Numbers:

•  95 finished quilts came “in the door”
•  38 quilts were finished at the Bee
•  133 wonderful blugs (blanket hugs) went out the door at the end of the day to meet their new huggers (kids)
  

Margaret sews binding on a bright and cheerful block quilt.

Birds-eye view of busy volunteers at our tying tables.

Smiling volunteer presses a quilt top in red, white and print blocks set on a diagonal.

A quilt of scrappy purple blocks gets tied by a cheerful table of four ladies.

Birds-eye view of tables for layering, pinning and trimming.

Jaylene pauses for a smile while machine piecing a quilt top.

Louise presses the pieced top in progress by Jaylene in the previous photo.

A sneaky snap of Georgia piecing a quilt top at her sewing machine.

Barb dances the quilt in a wavy free motion pattern on her machine.

Valerie concentrates on piecing a quilt top with her sewing machine.

Three ladies busily binding quilts with their sewing machines.

A busy table of four tying scrappy strip squares.

A selection of sandwiches on the lunch buffet.

Splendid salads lined up for lunch.

A fan favorite mango Thai salad beside some of the sweet treats on the lunch lineup.

Happy winners choose their special scarf made by Eloise and donated by her family.

Another happy winner of a special scarf.

Mable Smith with her big cash prize from the 50/50 raffle.

Louise Yates displays her gift card to local a local quilt shop and blanket drop-off location.

Louise Bassett with the Valentine themed basket she won, made by our lovely Letty Fowell.

Bev Rippentrop displays a certificate of gratitude and the other half of the 50/50 prize for our hosts at the Arizonian.