New Table

I finally got the table I bought in Houston. It came about 2 weeks ago but luckily UPS dropped it and it got here looking like thisLovely huh! The owners of Sew Perfect Tables were so nice. They immediately sent out another table. After a bit of grunting and groaning...deciphering of directions and whining....DH got the table together. There are 3 reasons I bought this as opposed to other tables out there.

1.)price. It is reasonable. I didn't need a loan or financing to be able to afford it! Plus it's the same price as the Janome table but a few inches bigger.
2.)it has an extension table that folds down. This is great in a small room. When I need it I can open it up. When I don't, it's down.


3.)it is adjustable!! whoohoo!! I am short and am so tired of stretching to sew. My feet never touch the ground as I have to raise my chair so high. I used to have my foot pedal on
books to reach it after I raised the chair high enough.

It is a bit industrial looking. To be honest though, I want something that works and don't necessarily need beauty. I quilted a panel on it last night and was thrilled to have a totally flat surface! WhooHOOO!

DH MUST love me

In this time of delicious looking food, I thought I'd post what I fed DH last week. You see, every once in a while I make "cream of green" soup. This is quite an arbitrary name. It is actually, cream of "whatever is in the bottom of the fridge" soup. I take all the "seen better days" veggies plus leftover canned vegis, an onion and maybe even some frozen vegis and saute them in a pan. After they are a bit soft, I add broth, water, wine.....whatever. I let it cook and then puree it. At this point it is very thick and I either freeze it or dilute a bit more and then add some cream, milk or cheese.

Now lets have a short science lesson here.....red and blue make purple, yellow and blue make green,.... carrots, parsley and tomatos.....uhm.......how do I say this without using my potty mouth........perhaps a picture will sufficiently describe the color and look.....


Luckily it tasted delicious. You just couldn't look at it while you ate. (I have been making this soup for a long time and this picture is way prettier than it actually looked!!) I asked my SIL, Mr. FancyPants if he wanted some ugly soup. He said that I'd served him ugly soup before and this couldn't be that bad.....untill he saw it. He said I outdid myself in the color and texture department this time. I couldnt' get Mrs. S to eat any. She couldn't get past the color.

The Blackmailing of Mr.FatQuarters

Mrs. S and Ms. A used to ask if we could get a cat. No, no , no! DH convinced them that he was allergic. When this cat story "broke, " the girls couldn't raze DH fast enough. "HEY, YOU ARE ALLERGIC TO CATS DAD!" Since Saturday he has been full of bluff and bluster with contradictory comments like

"You are not keeping that cat" followed by , "Your cat is calling you."

"You are not keeping that cat" followed by, "What are you going to do if the owner comes to claim it?"

"You are not keeping that cat," followed by, "You better go buy that cat some food and a litter box."

"You are not keeping that cat" followed by, "Whatcha naming your cat?"

Sunday we caught him petting and cooing to the cat in the garage. Yesterday I got this picture. HA! It seemed blackmail was in order.....He received the following email

"If you want this photo to remain a secret you must deposit 5 yards of quilt shop fabric into my sewing room by noon (12 o'clock) today. Failure to do so will result in the instant publication of the photo. Your fate is in your hands..... (no fake sneezing!)"

His response.....(exactly the way he wrote it)

It looks like I was sleeping! I don’t even remember the event! (sigh) What color fabric do you want……?

We have a strange relationship! LOL!!

The new way to wake up

4:30 am - wake up for apparently no reason. Lay there pretending to be asleep

4:37 am hear a soft meow

4:45 am coffee pot begins grinding and brewing (someone didn't adjust the timer to "fall

back!"). The grinder sounds like a wood chipper at 4:45 am!

4:46 am cat begins walking over my head

4:47 am cat stops moving but PURRS like a lion in my ear.

4:48 am cat crawls back over my head, settles in in between my face and arm and and allows

me to breathe in cat hair, all the while shoving its nose in my face

4:49 am doze

5:10 am wake to cat licks on my arm

5:30 am sigh, give in and get up and feed the cat
7:43 am already cleaned and scrubbed the pantry,drank coffee, washed new set of dishes,
drank coffee, cleaned out the fridge, drank coffee..... all while the CAT NAPPED! Poor
bubella musta been tired after waking so early! Crimmeny!


.......I'm in deep, deep trouble here........

How exciting!!!

Uhhhmmmm......how did this post???? Look at the date at the top????? Did I lose an entire day during the last hour????????

I received this photo and letter from Maria about the luggage tag tutorial I posted a while back. It's so exciting that others are using what I created. I wish I were more creative as it a certain high knowing that others not only like what I created but want to share it with others. Below is the letter I received along with this great photo.

Hi Morah,

I am a fellow quilter who doesn't have a blog but lurks on other people's :)I loved your luggage tag tutorial and have made a few on my own andfor my church fair. I went on a quilt retreat last week and made afew more and before I knew it I was giving a class in making them (nopayment, just sharing as you did) and this is what everyone made. Afew more were made after this picture was taken and everyone thoughtit was just a great project! Thanks for sharing your idea!

Maria

Thanks Maria and friends. You made my day!!

Oh Bother!

The view from my lap last night. At one point I laid down on the couch and so did the cat!.....on my belly! Oh bother!! I think we are in deep, deep doo doo here!! DH insisted that the cat go in the garage overnight since we don't really "know' it. She is so very indignant this morning! MEOW! I'll call the lost pet dept. at the newspaper this morning. Someone MUST be missing this very loving creature.

Cats

It is no big secret that I don't like cats. To be fair, I'm not a lover of dogs, birds, fish, iguanas or any other animal that requires my attention. I've harbored a secret love for kittens and puppies but since they grow up to be cats and dogs, I've been able to refrain. (plus I have been a terrible pet owner in the past.) I have to say though, in all honesty, it's not that I don't like the cats, it's more that their owners are usually, .....well....cat crazy. They love everything cat, collect cat fabric, talk cat talk, call one another with cat antecdotes and are ....well....cat crazy! I just never, ever wanted to be cat crazy.

I guess nature had another idea for me.

Two days ago there was this cat in the backyard. Then later in the day I found her sitting on our little patio. Yesterday, DH told me that he shooed a cat out of the garage. Was it the same cat? He couldn't tell me any details only that it was a cat. Then last night as I was making dinner I hear this loud meowing. I asked DH if it was the tv. Nope. I went out in the garage and there was this cat. She was meowing to beat the band. I couldn't get her out of the garage! Finally I decided that she must be hungry and yup! She was starving. Not knowing a thing about cats, I gave her milk. I went in the house. When she was done, she came to the door and meowed and meowed and meowed. CCCat told me to give her some meat. All I had was chicken fajita meat. Thats what she got.

She ate and then rubbed and rubbed against my legs. Finally I got brave enough to pet her. Then Mrs. S came over and she pet her.

Every time we went back in the house, she stood outside the door and meowed and meowed. If we opened the door, she was right there trying to get inside! This is a picture of the cat trying to get in. I;m crouched on the floor with the camera pointed out of a crack in the door!

At one point we finally got the cat out of the garage and this is what happened at the front door!

To make a long story shorter, Mrs. S finally shamed DH into allowing me to keep the garage door cracked so the cat wouldn't be out in the rain. That silly cat stood just kept standing by the door and meowing and meowing. It wasn't loud just persistent.

We went to bed and everytime I got up in the night, I heard the meowing at the door. It was pitiful!

This morning it was back to ear piercing meows! Hungry? Yes!

This cat has adopted me. It is very, very loving and people friendly. It jumped in my lap after it ate, put its paws up on my shoulders and it's head on my chest! AHHH! I can't like this cat. I don't like cats.

To be fair I called a lost pet hotline and tomorrow will put an add in the paper. .... This cat must be a lost one. Noone would turn out such a loving animal. It's obviously not wild and is very clean and been well cared for. ....... I also bought a litter box, litter and food to keep it from "screaming " at me in the morning. .....I also pet it every few minutes....I don't like cats!

Right now it is in the garage. It can't come in until it "proves" that it is litter trained......Every time I go out there it purrs and purrs.......AHHHH! I DON'T LIKE CATS!!!! Every time I come in, DH asks how MY cat is......(uhmmm, he doesn't like cats either but when I came in the house I caught him petting the cat!!)

BIG BIG BIG BIG SIGH! WE DON'T LIKE CATS! But we may be new cat owners........How far away is the cat fabric, cat talk and cat antecdotes? Oh bother!

Why do I???????

Hate borders so very much!?? I mean, they stop me dead in my tracks. I like the beginning and the end of the quilt. The middle, that is, the borders and back, I hate. I think it's because they are long slippery pieces that require measuring. Urgh!!! Got one border on the quilt I'm working on.....one more to go............

Confessions of Quiltaholics

This is a note Mollie sent both me and CCCAt after her and I visited Mrs. H's house.



Hi fellow Addicts:

I need help.....................yes, I entered into the world of a major problem yesterday and am finally realizing I have to reach out and ask others to join me in my sad state of "material addiction"! The symptoms are as follows in case you are going through the same malfunctions:

1. When older quilters pass away you are the first one at their door with a garbage bag hoping they left fabric behind.
2. You take any kind of fabric regardless of what "lies beneath" the surface, i.e. mouse droppings, roach eggs, bird poop, etc. Keeping in mind while sifting through the smelly, dirty, cluttered mess you can go home, wash it and it will be as good as new. (Your washer and dryer may have to be replaced, but what the heck - it was free fabric!)
3. You go to bed at midnight after separating the stash you have just received and then toss and turn all night waiting for the first sign of daylight so you can take one load out of the washer and put the next one in.
4. Get up up at o'dark 30 pretending to go to the bathroom, but sneak out of the bedroom, close the door and make your way to the dryer where you take out the first load washed and get a thrill out of seeing what you actually brought home.
5. Standing for hours folding, caressing, and admiring fabric you normally would not have bought at any cost due to it's low thread count and color content - but, what the heck - it was FREE!!!!
6. Drinking coffee, trying to concentrate on other important things in life (like learning lines for an upcoming play), but descending into the fabricaholic world after each sip.
7. Dreaming up ways to use the hundreds of yards of fabric already amassed from a now admitted addiction of over 20 years and trying to figure out a clever way to let others know without causing a "snit" among fellow quilters.
8. Sending out a plea for others in the same shape to join me and maybe we can overcome this terrible malady by becoming one combined union of quiltaholics and leave this world a better place.
9. Last but not least - IF YOU HEAR OF ANYONE WITH A LOT OF FABRIC AND FEELING POORLY - DON'T FORGET TO CALL ME- MY NUMBER IS: 555-5555
Love,

Mollie

The note I sent back to them....
As with any 12 step program, the only way to fix your problem is to first admit that you have a problem. I too am ready to enter this scary arena. I am ready to "talk" at this, the first meeting of our sad and pathetic group.....

My name is Morah. I am a fabricholic and I have been "new fabric free" for 24 hours. One little online fabric purchase could push me over, back to the dark side so I am here to maintain the strength to remain "new fabric free." .

I too have been sucked into the dark abyss of another womens version of "a sewing room." Mouse droppings, bird poo and roach eggs posed no threat as I merrily dug through bags and drawers determined not to miss even one fabric treasure.

I have been caught in the "I have to buy something and use this coupon because today is the last day" syndrome. Circling and circling Joanns just to find something to buy so as not to lose the 40% off.

I have derived intense, almost sexual pleasure, while shop hopping with friends AND in finding the last fat quarter of a much coveted fabric While my quilty friends all wish that they had found it first.

I've been known to walk through a fabric shop with my hand bouncing off of bolts of fabric like Huck Finn walking along a fence with a stick. Humming generally accompanies this activity.

I don't really, really, care that there is no way, in my lifetime, that I will use the fabric I own now let alone what I may buy once I fall off the wagon. Ownership is half of the art of quilting.

Like Mollie, I too enter an almost trance like state when folding, stacking or rearranging fabric, regardless of color, type, or quality. The aura of calm surrounds me for just so long before I begin to suffer withdrawal symptoms. These symptom can usually be fended off by at least sitting in my sewing room for 30 mins. per day.
\
I have been known to drag unsuspecting friends into my periods of fabric frenzy.

When I'm not acquiring fabric, thinking about fabric or wondering how I'm going to use my fabric, I am reading about fabric, blogging about it or surfing the web for new ways to buy fabric.

For these an many more reasons, I'd too would like to be a part of your 12 step program....as soon as I find a reformed quilter who no longer overindulges in fabric purchases to be my sponsor, I'll be on my way to recovery.

Morah

This is the note CCCat sent back. About 10 months ago, one of our friends, "K" quit quilting and gave away all of her stuff.


Do you suppose we could enlist "K" to be our sponsor? I can't think of anyone else who is a "reformed quilter" to help us. I always thought it was "once a quilter, always a quilter" until "K" reformed. She must have been so slightly infected by the quilting bug that her body and mind threw it off or discovered a vaccine for it. As far as for me, forget the vaccine. I'd rather tough it out (or fall off the wagon). I can't help but think of all those babies growing up now who will have a chance to go through my stash. They will have a ball!

I thought these correspondences were absolutely hysterical!!!!

Pictures from Saturday

Isn't this a cute little print!!! The girls said I need to take this and make it for my first grandchild.

Another little kiddie print.

Look at the top fabric. I love it. The rest is just ho hum stuff but good fillers.

A few of the 40 blocks. These are mostly hand sewn and sooo , soo, uneven. The seams run from 1/2" to 1/16th of an inch. You must enlarge the photos to see the fabric combos.
Look at the bottom right block.

Look at the block with the pink and red outer triangles. The triangles are pieced.

Enlarge this one and look at the middle bottom. The lower left triangle is pieced.

These stars are hand pieced also.

Up n' atem Saturday

Good thing I got up and “at ‘em” early on Saturday. Before noon I’d already visited Joanns, Big Lots, cleaned up my house and was in the grocery store. I ran into my friend Mollie and she told me she was on her way to a deceased church member’s home. She was a quilter and her family asked Mollie if she wanted to come over and sort through the fabric and take what she wanted. Well, being the pushy broad I am, I quickly switched gears, stopped shopping and volunteered to go. Little did I know what we were getting into….

When the daughter of Mrs. H. opened the door, the smell of closed up house, dust and moth balls was immediate. They were so grateful to see us that they had trash bags ready. We first began with the few boxes they had put in the hallway. They kept telling us that not to be alarmed as we walked around the house. The hallway and living room were cluttered but I attributed that to them breaking up the house. Not. As we were sorting, daughter A came out with a huge box of clothespins and beads for crafts. Pay dirt for me the preschool teacher/camp director. Of course I wanted them! “Come with me” said Daughter A. She took me into one bedroom that was filled with boxes, bags, bags and bags of stuff. She dug through unbelievably cluttered closet and found all sorts of crafting treasures for me. By the time I returned Mollie had finished sorting the 3 boxes and I thought we were finished. Once again. Not.

Daughter B now took us to the “Bird Room” It seems Mrs. H not only collected crafts and fabric but also finches. Now the full scope of the situation hit us. Poor Mrs. H saved every bit and snippet of fabric, thread, notions ect.. Plus, because she was obviously not well mentally, she didn’t clean plus bags and bags and bags of these snippets filled dressers, cabinets, boxes and tabletops to the point that two people navigating the room was difficult. Oh I did mention that this was the bird room so there were obviously bird cages at one point…..so all of the tops of things had bird poo covering them…..plus we do live in Texas so cockroach droppings…. And dust. Mounds and mounds of dust. Through this all though, it was a big adventure. We ended up taking tons of crafts and two bags of fabric. Afterwards we went to Mollie’s house, invited over CCCat and sorted the fabric. Wait, did I mention that we did this for less than top quality fabric!!!!

I didn’t even bring my fabric in the house until today. I left it in the garage! It smelled and I was terrified what may be attached to it. I got it all washed and as soon as I fold it all, I'll take a picture and post it.


I did walk away with one great find.....Blocks made by Mrs. H. I can't tell if they are original or reproductions but as soon as they are all clean and pressed I'll post pictures of them also.
Plus my partner in "bird poo" wrote the funniest thing about the entire incident. All to come in later posts......

Goin' GaGa

I just love, love my new phone. I went to the Sprint store with the intention of getting any ole' simple phone. However, my daughter and I share a plan and because she needed to have XYZ features, with the ability to download L-M-N-O-P files, I knew that we were going to have to upgrade our plan.

My conversation with the ever so perky sales clerk (but very helpful) at Sprint:

Me: I'm just looking for a plain phone. My daughter needs to do XYZPDQ on her phone and I just need a phone.

Perky Sales Clerk: Well come down to this end. This phone is very simmmple and has larrrrge numbers. (read with your talking to a two year old who doesn't speak your language, voice.)

Me: (Chuckling) Why thank you...and on went the conversation.

We moved to the computer screen

Me: Oooo how did you get to that on the Sprint site? I haven't been able to find it.

PSC: Fiirssst, yoou cliiiick heeere. Theeen, yooou cliccccck heeere.

By now, I am so amused with this sweet young thing assuming that I am dumb as a doornail that all I could do was smile. I didn't buy a phone just then and chuckeled all night long reliving our conversation. When I went back in the next day I bought this

a Samsung Instinct. The poor girl nearly fell over. She was just so amazed that I chose the total opposite of what I'd asked for (and what she assumed I'd understand how to use).

This touch phone stuff is very nice! Plus because DD needs XYZPDQ, I have internet, texting, GPS (invaluable when lost in Houston and tired from Quilt Festival), and on and on. I can't wait to have the time to go back to my sweet little sales clerk, who was certain I was going to return the phone, and tell her how much I like it.

Another reason for my absence

This has been hanging over my head for at least 3 months. It isn't that I didn't know that it needed done. Oh, I knew in August. But true to form, I waited until the last minute to begin it. That sign language fabric is a pain to work with because each hand symbol must be cut out and reassembled from the panel. It would have been nice if they hadn't printed three of each symbol in a row. This was a door prize for the Travis County Services for the Deaf Fair (I hope that is the right name!) My daughter was in charge of one of the booths and needed a door prize. Guess who she volunteered to make it!

So Much to say

I don't even know where to begin.......

Ok, let's start with Houston. If you judged by my checkbook, it was a blast!!!! I will probably revisit the quilt show theme more than once but let's start with my checkbook! I have been, as my friend says, gritching over my table for a long, long time. Well, I finally bought this one. I had looked at the Janome table (I sew on a 6600) but this one had an optional extension table. Uhm....did I say optional? This table is not the most beautiful table out there. Let's face it, the cabinets that run in the thousands of dollars are beautiful , BUT, and this is a biggy, this table has an adjustable height for those of us that are not the standard 5'4"! The owners of this company were very, very, very nice. I just can't say enough about them. Trade shows are exhausting and they were perky and friendly each time I visited their booth (I kept taking all of my friends back to show them my new baby!) I am waiting on pins and needles today because if it shipped exactly on time and all of the stars aligned, I may get it today.

Next checkbook depleter.....thread! I bought some of the Brytes by Superior. I've already used it and am in love. I love the thickness of it. I also bought PolyQuilter thread. I cannot wait to try it.

I also bought fabric from my favorite quilt shop and designer, School House Quilts, Judie Rothermel. I bought not one but 2 fat quarter bundles of the Lancaster line. Pictures later.
I bought this specifically to make a quilt for my bed.

I also got a new phone and in my infinite wisdom thought the camera on it would be enough for pictures of quilts.....Wrong! I will try to get them off the camera and see how they look.

Thats all for now.....