Trip to the Quilt Shop, Some Fabric & How I Figured My Stash Quilts

Went to the quilt shop (Village Mercantile) in Boonville, IN. I try to go once a month to pick up and deliver quilts so this was kinda my monthly trip. Betty is having "open sewing" til Christmas for people to come in and sew for the tornado victims so I spent the day sewing and I took along 5 completed quilts to donate. And . . I bought a new walking foot. It was $115! Can you believe it? I sure wish I'd bought two back in the mid-80's when I bought the first one. Bet I paid about $50 or less for it then but if I'd bought two, I'd probably have lost the second one by now anyway. The quilt shop has a little tea room upstairs so I ate lunch there. The food is always fantastic and the dessert is yummy. I brought home some kind of chocolate turtle cheesecake for Chad and some kind of biscotti something torte for me . . we'll have dessert later. I bought some fabric! I am making a quilt for Chaplain Lewis' wife. I came across his blog about this time last year and have loved reading his stories. In a couple of his posts, he mentions his wife and from reading about her, I know she is a very special lady and I want to make her a quilt. I wrote to him and explained my plan to make her a quilt and asked about her favorite color. It's sage green. No problem... I can put some lavender and pink with sage green and make a very pretty quilt. Then he writes me back and said something like "I really don't want to sound unappreciative but . . she's not much of a pink/purple type lady." Hmm, this could be difficult. She seems to like more of the country/rustic type colors. In my entire stash, there's a lot of pink and purple and . . and . . goodness, just a lot of pink and purple mostly. So, I had to buy fabric today. Betty helped . . these are NOT my colors. I don't even know what I'm going to make so I bought 4 yards of each of the four fabrics. If I have to put something from my stash with this, I have a problem! Now, Debra asked how I figured I could make 180 stash quilts. Back when I got the goofy idea to put all my fabric on a spreadsheet, I got to about 2,000 yards and stopped recording. So, conservatively measuring, I came up with 2,700 yards of fabric and that doesn't not count fat quarter towers and bundles, nor does it count fabric that was already baggged for specific projects nor does it count fabric on bolts. There are at least 10 bolts of extra wide backing fabric and probably another 20 bolts of regular cotton fabric. I figured an average quilt top will take about 15 yards. Some will take more, some will take less. 2,700 yards divided by 15 yards per quilt = 180 tops. I have made 4 tops so far and nope, not a dent . . not even a little dimple in the stash. But, gotta start somewhere, right? Judy

Blog Etiquette Question

Laurie Ann on the Stashquilts group asked this question and I've been wondering about it too. When people post comments on our blogs, what's the proper way for the writer to respond? I sometimes wait a day or so and go back and respond to my own post with responses to the questions posed by others but I'm not sure anyone goes back several days to read. Most of the time when I have a question about someone's post, I forget about it after I've written and I probably never go back to see the response. But . . that could be because of this CRS I seem to have! :) I'm thinking I'll start putting my e-mail address at the bottom of my entry and if anyone has a question in which they'd like a response, they could send me an e-mail. I think I'll make a separate gmail account just for the blog just in case it gets picked up by spammers. But, is that defeating the purpose of the blog? I suppose if someone has an urgent question, and really wants an answer, they already know to send me an e-mail?? Thoughts?? Judy Send Judy E-mail

My Favorite Cookies

Like I need cookies . . but you can't have the holidays without these. They have to sit out all night to dry (so the design stays in them) and I can bake them in the morning. Anyone know what they are? Probably everyone knows what they are but I didn't til moving to Kentucky. We didn't have these in my part of Louisiana so they're a fairly new treat for us. I think they're German and I know for sure they're good! Judy

Mail Man Brought Good News!

I have a friend in CA . . Vicky. It's kinda funny because she grew up in the town next to my little town in Louisiana and even played basketball for Sulphur (her town) and they played my town (Westlake). I'm sure we skunked them! :) Anyway, we're almost the same age, but we didn't know each other then. We met online and though we've been internet friends for probably four or five years, we've never met. Just to prove to you that she's a swell kinda girl, she even has a dachshund! (This is sounding like one of Darcie's stories, huh?) While I'm kinda off track, did you know I also met my husband online? Back to the story . . Vicky is a very generous person . . very generous. Last year for Christmas, Vicky sent me this box of about 30 half yards of a whole collection of fabrics from Pat Campbell. They were the kind of mottled hand dyed looking fabrics and they were gorgeous (can't remember the name of the collection or I'd tell you). I knew right off that I wanted to make something for Vicky using some of that fabric so I got busy and made her a quilt, and surprised her with it. She lives near the Road to California show and I was chatting with her a while back and she said "why don't you enter this quilt in the Road to CA show?" Heck, I'll do anything with a little encouragement. So, I burned a CD with the requisite pictures, sent in the application and today my mail man brought me the acceptance letter from the Road to CA show crew. I'm pretty excited . . wish I could go to CA in January to see it hanging but I can't. I'll just be happy to know that Vicky is there seeing her quilt in the show. Judy

Black/White Dots Anyone?

I've been thinking about this Birds in the Air quilt but it's going to be probably a week before I can work on it. Several suggested black or dark around some outer rows. I love black/white dots so here are a couple of EQ drawings I've come up with. Any thoughts on which one you like better? You can click on the picture to get a bigger image. Judy

Two Stash Quilts

It's Bonnie's Happy Scrappy Houses! But, I made mine 13" so they'd go faster. I had planned to not use sashing but then I thought it needed sashing. They are so fun to make. All of the fabric came from the stash. Is it too wild to donate to the tornado victims? Be honest! I'm going to bind it with a wide (maybe 3" cut) red binding. I have probably 10 more house blocks but I ran out of the black whacky check fabric and, since the goal is to use the stash, I'm not buying more but I do love black and white fabrics. I'll find something else and make another one of these. Notice: All my houses have purple front doors! It's my neighborhood and I can build all the houses the way *I* want them! :) This one may not be finished. I had most of these blocks put together so last night I set them but I feel like it needs a border and maybe another row of blocks. I think I want it to be bigger but . . I'm out of the white on white. I should have not set them and I could have mixed in some other WOW's but I didn't and all these have the same WOW. So, what do I do now? Judy

What Quilt Maverick Means to Me

Bonnie mentioned in her Thanksgiving Day post a challenge of sorts for us to tell what "quilt maverick" means to us. For me, it kinda changes from time to time but for now, I love doing quilts that use regular, every day type blocks but they are colored differently or parts of them are colored differently so that when one looks at the quilt, they can't always see where one block ends and the other begins. I guess it's more of a "blending of blocks" technique that interests me at this time. Thanksgiving Day was great here. Most of the leftovers are put away. DH and DS are set to go shopping in the morning .. not me, I am NOT a shopper and I am so much NOT a shopper, I don't plan on going to Wal-mart, Target or the mall til well after Christmas.

I'm doing a Christmas quilt for the AQS Projects magazine which comes out in the summer (I think). I have my Christmas fabric but I'm testing my instructions with some stash fabric. Probably not what I would have chosen if I were at the quilt shop but I'm using 10-1/2 yards out of the stash! Here are the fabrics I'm using:

Thanksgiving Eve is CRAZZZY!

I should never have gotten out of bed today! 1. I like for my cornbread to dry out before making dressing so I make the cornbread a day or two ahead, crumble it and let it dry. I'm cooking Thanksgiving Dinner at my little house in town which has 2 square feet of counter space so I decided I'd put the cornbread in the bedroom with the ceiling fan on. I have two 9 x 13 glass pans so I set those on the sewing machine cabinet. I HAD a big plastic bowl of cornbread that didn't fit on anywhere so I put a towel on the bed and put the bowl there. Speck is a mini-dachshund and he can't jump on the bed so I didn't worry about it but I closed the door anyway. I went to get dressed. Got out of the shower and there's Speck with his tail between his legs so I wonder what he's done. Then I see him licking his lips, then I see the bedroom door open. He had gotten on the bed and eaten half the bowl of cornbread so I had to throw that out. No doubt he has a tummy ache! 2. I made a blackberry wine cake. My tube pan is at the other house so yesterday I bought one of those floppy plastic or whatever they are cake pans at Wal-Mart. I don't think it was the pan's fault but my cake split right in half coming out of the pan. It's just us here for Thanksgiving so it was nothing a little icing couldn't fix. 3. I am NOT a cat lover and there's a cat at my front door. He has just appeared! He is someone's inside cat because he tries to come in every time the door opens. With a dog inside and a cat outside, it is not easy getting in or out of my house. The cat must've been around dogs because he/she/it just wants to check Speck out; Speck wants to eat the cat! I open the garage door, the cat comes in. It's going to be down in the teens and even down to 7 degrees in a couple of nights. Is this cat going to leave and go home or am I the proud owner of a cat? On the good side, I made a deal with myself . . once I quilt the customer's quilt that is on the longarm, I can spend a whole day piecing! I go through spells when I'd rather piece than quilt and then there are days when I'd rather quilt than piece. I'm so anxious to get this stash down, I think that's why I want to piece. I'm going back to the kitchen to see what else can go wrong! Judy

New Stash Quilts Blog Ring (Revised!)

Several of you asked about a stash busting blog ring and I wasn't sure about it but have decided to give it a try. This is new for me so please be patient if I make errors. I had originally thought having a second blog for stashbusting would work best but I've removed that part so if you have one blog and want to be in the stash quilters group, that's fine. Please respect the "rules" from your other blog rings and let's not step on toes. If anyone would like to be a part of the stash quilts ring, please go to my website to fill out the form. Thanks! Judy L.

Can you help me name this quilt?

I may use this quilt for a pattern and I can't think of a name for it. Any ideas? BTW, the one with the brown/green is a stash quilt! :) And, do you like it? I never know when I do these patterns if I'm the only one who likes them or not. Thanks for any ideas you can come up with for a name. Judy L.

Well, I've done it AGAIN!

I'm telling you .. I can screw up any computer and my patient, kind DH says I can do it within 5 minutes. What he really means is that when he goes out of town, it takes me 5 minutes to ruin a computer. I have a new (maybe 3 months old) desktop and last time he was gone, I decided to "fix" the computer because the memory card reader thing wasn't working right. I know zilch about fixing anything computer related but I tried . . that counts for something, right? I messed it all up and he had to totally reload everything so I lost all my documents and pictures. I have a notebook that's a little over a year old and I like it a lot. I have virus protection, I do live updates almost every day. Last night (oh yeah .. Vince is out of town this week), this little thing pops up and says something to the effect "your computer is infected with the Trojan.voodoo (or something like that) virus". I was determined I could solve the problem but Norton can't seem to solve it and in researching, I've found that it is difficult to remove. No joke! So, the notebook is unplugged from the network, sitting in the corner alone, turned OFF til DH gets back on Sunday and can hopefully fix it. Thank goodness I do a full backup every few weeks on it so I should be able to find most of my stuff. It's so disappointing that I can't seem to keep my darned computers working! Anyone feel sorry for me? Judy

Made it!

The storm has passed, no damage to us but I think Madisonville, KY and Daviess County, IN may not have been so lucky. It was windy but we've surely had worse storms than this one. I guess it had the potential to be worse and after what happened week before last, everyone is kinda edgy. I got scared (well . . more scared) when they let school out early to get everyone home before the storm hit. While at home, I went through some files on my old computer and found this picture. The not famous person in this picture is me! :) This was taken at Martha Pullen's Quilt Academy year before last (I think). I'm back at the house in town where all my sewing stuff is and I plan to finish a quilt top tonight! Judy L.

Storms Brewing

For those of you who have read any of my posts, you know I'm terrified of bad weather. I didn't used to be but in 2000, we had an F-3 tornado right through the middle of here and it was just horrendous. Having lived my whole life in south Louisiana, I had never experienced tornadoes . . not that having grown up around them makes them any less frightening. Then 10 or so days ago, we had the F-3 just across the river that killed about 25 people. So, today, we've been warned . . they're coming. Schools let out just after lunch. Everyone has been told to get your emergency plans in place. We left the house in town where I quilt which has no basement and came out to the house in the country that does have a basement. My car is loaded with as much as I could throw in there in about 10 minutes and I feel like I am sitting and waiting for Dooms Day! I just received an e-mail from my friend, Becky, and here's part of what she told me: If I get blown away, it has been a real pleasure knowing you, thanks for all the good times. Thanks, Becky .. that's encouraging! I'll just go hang out in the basement for a few hours. I brought some quilts that needed the binding stitched down so I can occupy my hands. I think by 5 or 6 p.m. we should be safe. Will report back then. Judy

Graduation? Don't Count the Chickens before they Hatch!

Can you believe these grades? Why do I look at them before bed time . . then I'm all angry and can't go to sleep! The problem (well . . one of the problems) is that he makes a 90 or 100 on everything he turns in but half of the assignments just don't seem to be getting done. What do you do when they're almost 18? I can't run away from home because (1) the stash will not fit in the car; (2) the longarm will not fit in the car; (3) I have deadlines that I have not met because of Bonnie's Happy Houses! So . . I'll just go finish pulling out my hair but between these grades and the tornado watch, I am NOT going to sleep! Judy

My First Quilt

Finn's post encouraged me to dig out my very first quilt! Back in the early 80's, I was trying to find something to occupy my time during lunch one day. Shopping was my favorite thing to do back then and I came across a little quilt shop. I had always loved sewing and had played around with some of my grandma's quilt patterns when I was a kid but I had never had a class or any "formal" quilt training. So, I signed up for a beginner's piecing class. We were going to make a four block sampler. Well, I had too much fun and I made 16 blocks. This quilt, besides being ugly, is hand pieced and hand quilted (quite sparsely!) Looks like I had lots of fun fussy cutting those roses in some of the blocks. Heck, come to think about it, everything was fussy cut since it was all done with templates and scissors. There was a little old lady who worked in that shop, Ava Broussard. I know I would never have stuck with quilting if she had not taken me under her wing and kept me enthused. I wish she could see me now! Ava was elderly back in the 80's and I'm pretty sure she has passed away. She would invite me to her house for lunch sometimes. She lived in one of the BIG, old house in north Lake Charles . . where some of the first houses in Lake Charles had been built. Her husband had died and she lived in this huge house by herself and the neighborhood was rapidly going downhill. I always worried about her living there alone. She made the best kibbi and she knew I loved it so she would make a big batch and freeze some for me to take home. And, she always had homemade lemonade! You know . . I might just try to make some kibbi soon in honor of Ava. I've never made it but it doesn't seem like it would be hard to make if I can find a good recipe. Then, in the late 80's Ava began losing her eyesight and had to move from her big home where she had raised her children into a townhouse in Sulphur near her son. The new home was in a much safer neighborhood and was brand new and really nice. When Chad was born, she made a baby quilt (3 pigs) for him and I saved it so it still looks brand new. (But that baby quilt still isn't as old as my first ugly quilt!) That's probably one of the few baby gifts that I saved. Well, this post has taken me down memory lane. Thanks Finn for prompting me to dig out my first quilt and remember how it all began. Judy

More Happy Houses

So much for my deadline I should have been working on. I never claimed to have much self-discipline. These houses are too much fun. I now have 5 made and probably 6 more almost made. I also was never one to follow directions! I've been strip piecing so for now, I have a bunch of them that are the same but I'll make more so when I shuffle them, they'll look more scrappy. My houses are 13" unfinished so I'm thinking I might not use a sashing. I'll make these houses like the neighboorhood where my studio is located . . real close together! Tomorrow . . no house building. I have other quilts that I HAVE to work on! Judy L.

Happy House

The last thing I had time to be doing today was playing but I want to make one of Bonnie's Happy House quilts for a tornado victim from last week. I couldn't stop thinking about it so I made one block . . that should keep me satisfied til I can get time to make more. I made my block a little larger so I don't have to make so many. I love Bonnie's Happy House Quilt. Here's my one block: The othe thing I didn't have time to do was spend the morning re-doing my blog. Last night I decided to add some Thanksgiving art to the sidebar. About the time I thought I had it right, it thundered real loud, scared me, I shut the machine off and went to bed. Well, this morning, the whole blog was a mess and I had to re-do it all since I don't know enough about what I'm doing to fix the problem. So, it looks a little different today and my plan for the day to sew all day did not happen! Judy

Quilts going to Lake Charles

I finally finished the quilts for the lady whose husband was injured prior to Hurricane Rita's arrival in Lake Charles. Her favorite color is olive green and her quilt is greens and pinks/rose made from the Many Trips Around the World pattern in the Tradition with a Twist book. I love that book -- it's the Blooming Nine Patch book. The baby quilt is a panel with an added border. The green one is a big quilt and it was a windy day so Chad had a hard time holding it for the picture but it really is a pretty quilt. They're off to Fed Ex tomorrow. Hopefully these will bring a little cheer to her hectic life. The recipient works for a law firm and I'm sending the quilts there since I don't know her so I'll be anxious to hear her reaction. Judy

Happy Anniversary Quiltville!

Happy Anniversary to Bonnie Hunter and Quiltville! Just saw on your web page that it's your 10 year anniversary. You are a wonderful quilter and a generous and kind hearted lady. I wish you many more happy and prosperous years of producing award winning quilts. In so many ways, as a longarmer and a piecer, I wouldn't be where I am today had my path not crossed with Bonnie quite a few years ago. Judy L.

My First FiberArt Postcard

This is my first FibertArt Postcard. The writing could be a little neater but I think it turned out pretty cute and I had lots of fun! And, it's kinda hard to quilt a 4" x 6" piece on the longarm! :) The theme of the postcards was to be "My Favorite Season" and mine happens to be Fall. Gayle McKay got me started on this artsy quilting idea and I think I'm hooked. Gayle and Steve are also wonderful longarm quilters - http://www.stevequilts.com I had lived in south Louisiana my whole life except for 2 years when we lived in Jasper, TX. In 1997 (at the age of 43), Vince and I got married, and Chad and I moved to KY where Vince was living. Until that time, I had never seen leaf color or snow. Prior to moving here, the only thing Fall meant to me was allergy season. In south Louisiana, we didn't have much season changes. It was just hot and hotter. We seemed to always have the air conditioner running on Christmas Day. I also love Winter and maybe I like Fall and Winter so much because I lived most of my life without experiencing either.

As I look out my window today and see the beautiful color surrounding my home, I feel lucky to be living here.

JL

I hate Tornadoes

I am so afraid of the weather and I wish I wasn't. So, that fear is why I am awake and blogging at 3 a.m. Tornado sirens started going off at 2:30. I'm kicking my rear end for not paying closer attention to the weather. I could've gone home where there's a nice, safe basement but no, I'm stuck here in town swearing I will not get caught here again without my basement. News crew is guessing an F-3 tornado hit Newburgh, IN which is just a few miles from here. They're also saying Henderson, KY had a tornado . . all way too close for comfort. This is what happens when it's warm when it should be cold. We had an F-3 tornado in January, 2000 and I think that's when I developed my fear of the weather. Well, the radar map looks clear so I think I'll venture back to bed . . and sleep with one ear open listening for the tornado sirens. Update Sunday a.m.: WOW! Daylight surely brought a shock. I now realize we were so very lucky. Tornadoes danced all around us but our county was spared. Henderson, KY; Newburgh, IN and Boonville, IN (Warrick & Vanderburgh Counties) all bordering our county were just devastated. Boonville is where my local quilt shop is located. I have talked to Betty (the owner) and they have no damage . . but they don't have power. News is reporting 20 deaths and that number is expected to rise. All we lost was sleep and I am feeling extremely blessed this morning. The yellow quilt I shared here Friday belongs to a lady who lives in Newburgh. Hope she's ok. Judy

Quilt with Poly Batting

I don't normally post pix of customer quilts but since this lady made the quilt from my pattern, Stars in the Meadow, I figured it would be ok to share. I love making feathers and the poly batt, as much as I dislike using it, sure gives these feathers the poof they need. JL

Singer 301 info

Several of you have written me about the Singer 301. Here's about all I know about it.

• It makes the most perfect stitch!
• It only sews straight -- no zig zag, nothing fancy
• They never break!
• They weigh about 11 pounds
• FW bobbins and bobbin cases fit the 301 but it is a "slant" shank so the same feet do not fit the FW & 301.
• 301A is the short bed which fits into the cabinets. 301 has the longer bed (the little flap that flops down on the left of the needle -- has nothing to do with the amount of space in the throat
• Price - The least I've paid was $5 at a garage sale for the tan/mocha one that I use ALL the time . It was missing the cord and foot pedal (which cost me an additional $20 at the local sewing shop), had no cabinet or carrying case but I can't pass up a 301. The most I paid was $125 on ebay for the first tan/mocha because I could only find plain tans around and I wanted the two-tone. I paid $35 for one at Goodwill but it came with a gorgeous cabinet and Singer stool and I paid $100 for one in GA at an antique store. It also came with a cabinet and stool. We had gone to GA for two weeks at Christmas and I took a FW that was so darned slow (has since been fixed) and I couldn't fix it so I was lucky to find anything to use. Glad it was a 301.

So, if straight stitching is all you need, you can't beat the Singer 301, IMO. If you're looking for one, check ebay. They often have pretty decent deals on there for the 301.

Sewing Machines on Parade

Nines asked to see pictures and I'm such an accommodating kinda girl! :) They're all old . . nothing new and fancy but here are most of them: This is the Bernina 1230. I keep it set up, with the walking foot for sewing binding. I think I bought it in 1990. It was a pretty traumatic time in my life. We (ex-husband and I) had just built my dream home -- a purple Victorian. It looked so authentic that people would stop and ask us how we had managed to move a house that size. The house was almost 2 years old and he came home one day and announced that we were moving to Jasper, TX. OMG! Anyway, sold my favorite house in the whole world to the first person who looked at it and moved to Jasper, TX. Not a happy time so the sewing machine, big cutting table and serger were a peace offering from the husband. You might notice the Ursula sticker on the sewing machine. Chad was 3 at the time and he's now 18. I love having that sticker on there. The Singer 301 is my absolute favorite machine. I do all my piecing when I'm at home on the machine on the left.It is just a little bigger than the FW but still light enough to carry around. I think it weighs about 11 pounds. It comes with a little case kinda similar to the FW but larger and opens differently. Anyway, the one on the left is a mocha/tan. The one on the right is just mocha. They also make a black one and I think it looks like a little locomotive and I would love to have one of those but . . I don't have one yet. I have another mocha/tan one in the car in its portable case because I used it in a class Saturday and have another class next week. And, there's another plain tan one at home. Last but not least are the Featherweights. They're cute but not my favorite for sewing. Nothing wrong with them but I like the 301's so much better. Notice the green one? There are a couple of Centennial models in there too. There's another FW at home and I keep on in Louisiana so I don't have to haul a sewing machine with me every time I go home. So, now you have it . .almost all the sewing machines I have accumulated. Judy L.

Polyester Batting

Does anyone like poly batting? I can't figure out what I dislike most about it but today it's that all the rough spots on my hands and nails snag horribly on poly. I so rarely use it but I have one quilt that I'm doing for a client and it really needed poly batting. I'm trying to get as close to trapunto as I can without doing the real thing. No way would I do real trapunto on a quilt belonging to someone else . . I'd cut a hole no doubt. Here are a couple of pix of the work in progress. I'll share more later.

Speaking of Sewing Machines

Debra, a fellow blogger, has just purchased a new Janome 6500, as has Brenda, one of my quilting buddies here. So .. what happens to Judy when she begins to hear about Brenda's new machine and then she hears about Debra's new machine? Of course, she wants one! Now, Judy doesn't need a new sewing machine. No doubt, neither did Debra or Brenda and they still got one! As luck would have it, the 1/4" foot to my trusty Singer 301 broke on Saturday so Monday I had to make a trip to the sewing machine shop . . who also happens to be the Janome dealer. Funny how that foot broke at the exact time I was wanting a new sewing machine! So, I sat down and played around with the 6500. They had a special because there's a new model coming out . . maybe a 6600 but I can't remember. Then I came to my senses. Let's see, how many sewing machines does one quilter need. Make that one quilter who only does straight stitching! Somewhere in this house are:

• Bernina 930 from the mid 80's -- works great!!
• Bernina 1230 from the early 90's -- works great!!
• Four Singer 301 machines from a long time ago -- all work great . . in my opinion, the BEST machine for straight stitching.
• Eight Singer Featherweights from a long time ago -- all work great.

Now that is 14 sewing machines but there are more. There are Singer 99-K models, there is some kind of a green Singer, there's a Singer 401 or 403 (can't remember) and then on the non-sewing type sewing machines, there are:

• Bernina Deco 500 embroidery machine -- never used it much; probably never will again
• Bernina serger -- use it some . . not a lot
• APQS Millennium longarm -- use it ALL the time and love it!

So, I walked out with the new 1/4" foot and felt so proud of myself for making a rational decision related to a sewing machine. Not like me at all!

Know what's really funny? The 1/4" foot for the 301 cost me $22 and the sewing machine itself only cost me $15. Amazing!

So, Debra and Brenda, enjoy your new Janome 6500 machines. I'll still sit here and wish I had one but know I don't need it and am being so frugal and wise to just continue with what I have.

Now . . I think I will buy myself a color laser printer. That is what I'm really wanting!

Judy

Woman's Best Friend

I love my dog! And, he loves me! No matter where I am, he is always in a position where he can see me. Here he is sitting under the longarm. If I have batting hanging down where he can't see me, he may have to change positions a bit but he doesn't get far.

When I'm piecing, he stretches out on the back of the sofa. In this position, he can watch me as I go into the kitchen too. Isn't he just the cutest dachshund?

Judy

Cute T-Shirt Quilt

This is the cutest T-Shirt! Our county school board president is a quilter and she used a T-shirt from every school in our county to make this quilt to hang in the central office. I didn't get a very good picture but I tried to do as many different designs in the various backgrounds and I could. It was definitely a fun quilt to work on. Judy

How did it get to be November?

Time flies when you're having fun! Just to prove I'm serious about reducing the stash (and maybe a little obsessed with doing so), I've added a list in the sidebar to track the progress. I have two stash tops done . . well, one is done, one is almost done. But, I have to get back to the longarm tomorrow. Maybe I'll quilt on Wednesday and Thursday, then get back to piecing on Friday. Because I hate shopping and I detest lines, every year about this time I head to Wal-Mart and stock up on supplies to last me through Christmas. I had planned to go out today and fill the little SUV with toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, etc. so I do not have to go to Wal-Mart or Target again til after the first of the year but it's raining so I'll wait. Anyway, today is the first of the month and Wal-Mart is always more crowded near the first of the month. So, today I sew! JL