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.....

Houston Bound!

We are off and headed to Houston for Quilt Festival! A funny..... many of my friends will be there. We are toing out of our way to meet for dinner. Here we are, driving all that way, only to eat dinner with the same women we eat lunch with every Monday!

I seem to blog in spurts

I've been absent for many reasons. All good. My place of employment has been in the midst of a huge upheaval. In conjuntion with this, I have accepted a job this summer as Camp Director. I'm a bit overwhelmed, excited and buzzing with ideas. I have also been a busy bee with quilts. No pictures but soon.

I gave Mrs. S and Mr. FancyPants their anniversary present and they loved it. I cannot believe that it was finished in plenty of time!

Thought I'd leave you with a picture of me playing Rock Star at my daughters house. TOOO FUN! If you get a chance to try it go for it. I couldn't play sitting down and had the foot tapping and head bopping going on. Ms. A said that this was the most pleasant photo of me as I was concentrating so hard that I was scowling the whole time!

Rules to Potty

This is the sign inside of each stall at Frye's. I don't know if it's a sad state of affairs that they did post these "rules for pottying," or that they needed to post them. You must read them as some are downright funny (at the same time sad that it was necessary). All I know is, like a loon, I was in the stall with my flash going off so I could get this picture!

Rules for making Jello...

1. Read the directions - You may have made jello any number of bazzilions of times in the
past but at least scan the directions. This will prevent
the inevitable miscalulation...

2. Read the directions - This will prevent the "Will this EVER set syndrome"
that kicks in about 4 hours after you have quick set the
gelatin.

3. Read the directions - This will stop you from making two boxes of
jello and adding 4 cups of hot and 4 cups of cold water.

4. Read the directions - This will prevent the bruise you gave yourself after slapping your
forehead when you figure out that you didn't......

READ THE DIRECTIONS!

Now here is the really funny part. Because I don't want to waste what I already have, I'll be adding not one but TWO more boxes tomorrow to get the stuff to set! It's a really, really good thing that DH likes jello!

Why I.........

I don't remember when it happened but I began doing things for the when "I'm no longer around." I don't plan on going anywhere soon but know how important memories, ect. are to loved ones. It is why I blog. I've wanted to start a journal for years. This is as close as I'll ever get. Oh, I must admit that I enjoy talking about, reading about and thinking about quilting but, life seeps in a post every now and then. I keep a file with a copy of all of my blog entries. Eventually, most of them need to be tossed but perhaps one or two will strike a chord with my girls and they will want to keep "my words." It's why I blog about my family or the holidays. It's nice that there are other people interested in "my words" now. As a matter of fact, I find it fastinating that "strangers" want to read what I write....maybe they just look at the pictures! However, mostly I do it for tomorrow. Well.....I do do it for today too but ultimately for tomorrow. (I think it's funny that my "in person friends" will read my posts and comment to me about them!!! It's very flattering. When my one friend leaves for the entire summer, she keeps up with me through my blog!)

It's the same reason why I seem obsessed with making things for the girls. Yes, my personality is one that becomes obsessed with something and then once that obsession is over, never revisits it again! My latest obsession is making things for my girls homes. Maybe it's because "How many Halloween, Valentine or Thanksgiving table runners can I own?" Maybe it's because there are so many items out there that I want to make and I only have so much space. Mostly I think it is because I want them to be surrounded by the love that went into creating those things. I hope that they will have so many hand made things from me over many, many years that they beg me to stop! But in the meantime, I'll keep blogging and sewing and hopefully piling memories on top of memories.

Finished in ADVANCE!

Well, almost! I just need to tack down two sides of the label. This is for Mrs. S and Mr. FancyPants 2nd anniversary. I never ever finish things in advance so this is uncharted territory.


This is the back showing the quilting. I paid no never mind to using the thread cutter. It also doesn't bother me that there are a few areas of built up thread. You should be able to click on it for a better view. A closeup of the back.
A closeup of the quilting from the front.

presents

I decided that I am going to give my girls a present a month next year. I am having an absolute blast working on this project. I don't know why but I am totally obsessed with it. Some months are obvious to fill, others need more creativity!
This is what I have so far.....(if only one item is shown, I've finished one for each girl...)


February

Unknown Month

unknown months here and here

These pillows for June or July ( I may keep one of each)

These are for either January or December. You can see the closeups on the quilting here

I do believe that is all that I have finished so far. I'm obsessed!!!!

Pictures of the gang

Here is the gang last week at break-fast (Jews fast the entire day of Yom Kippur. The meal you eat when breaking the fast is called break-fast...breakfast, break-fast.....hmmmmm)

Left to right....

Mrs. S and Mr. FancyPants (green shirt)

C₂ & Ms. A(coffee cup in hand)(Ya see, Mr. FancyPants and

C₂ have the same name)

and in the front our "rent-a-kid!"(Mr. r-a-k) He is a friend of Ms. A's and spends alot of holidays with us. Mmmmm... Mr.r-a-k is eating my world famous, okay at least in my house, kugel!

These are two dear friends, Mr. & Mrs. E. We have adopted one another.



Not shown are Mr and Mrs Newcomer and their adorable children. We invited these people into our home, sight unseen, to break the fast with us. They are new to the area and I thought they might need a friend. Let me tell you, it was not a great experience. To put it mildly, I received a nasty e-mail the next day filled with twisted lies and accusations (not to mention typos, grammatical and spelling errors! If you want to insult my hospitality at least have the courtesy of using spellcheck!). I was even told that we called them names! Derogatory, ugly names. Next, I was told that we were degrading another religion and in turn of members of their family! Heck, members of that religion were sitting right in front of them! My in -laws are that religion! Why would we degrade it!? Why would we insult our guests!? To say I fired off a passionate response would be an understatement. My family told me that I am not allowed to invite anyone else to our house ( I have a reputation of finding kooks!). They said from now on I must bring any invitations before committee!

a bitty thing I made

Love this fabric from Moda. I think it's called Jolly Jingle. I gave away all of the obviously Christmas prints and ended up with these. I just love these little coasters. I have SOOOO MANY 5" squares everyone I know and all of their relatives may end up with a set!

My Winnings!

The contents of this package were a total surprise! I knew I won the giveaway and I knew I was going to receive some homespuns. But wowee! This package was stuffed!.

All of these.................

PLUS all of these...........................

Plus this adorable needle card......................... PLUS this great pattern!

Thank you Paula!!!!

HOUSTON!!!!!

Whooo! Hoooo! My dear friend and backdooor neighbor booked a room, I'm driving, have the day off work and We are definately GOING!!!! (how lucky was I to move into a house where my backdoor neighbor is not only kooky but a quilting enabler!!! It is conveinint when I run out of just the right fabric, thread, pattern. I call her and she throws it over the fence!!!) Although I live very close to Houston, I haven't been to Quilt Festival in at least 5 years. We are going on the cheap....a room on points, sharing a room and packing our lunch. Fine by me as I want to look at quilts! I'm very excited.....for more than one reason. First,I don't need anything. I really don't mind if I see the shopping or not. Last time, I had a list of things I wanted/needed and spent alot of money. This time I want to see quilts. My hope is that they are not all artsy quilts. I so love traditional quilts and although appreciate art quilts, embellishments, ect, I much prefer the traditional ones. I'm going with dear friends and the only downfall is that there are 3 of us, two beds, and I snore!!! Oh well, that will be their problem as once I am asleep I don't notice that I snore one little bit!!!!!! Anyone else going? Let me know and we can say Hi in person.

"G'mar Chatima Tova"

read the bottom to see what my title means
My non-Jewish friends always ask me many questions concerning Judaism. Wednesday night begins the holiday of Yom Kippur. I thought that some blog readers may have questions so have posted this from the website Hillel, the foundation for Jewish campus life.

Yom Kippur is a holiday that raises many questions. Numerous rituals, prayers, and themes are unique to this holiest day of the Jewish year. This fact sheet will provide an introduction to the practices of Yom Kippur. (don't forget that these are the facts. People observe to different levels.)

Yom Kippur is one of the most widely observed holidays on the Jewish calendar.
Yom Kippur marks the highest synagogue attendance rate of any other day in the year.

To afflict ourselves for our sins, the Talmud requires that we practice "self denial." Thus, we abstain from eating, drinking, bathing, sexual relations, using bath oils and lotions, etc., and wearing leather shoes.

It is traditional to wear white on Yom Kippur as a sign of purity.

Yom Kippur, the 10th of Tishrei, is the day that Moses came down from Sinai with the second set of the tablets of the Ten Commandments, to replace the original set that he broke upon witnessing the children of Israel worshipping the Golden Calf.

On Yom Kippur, it's traditional not to wear gold or other jewelry so as not to remind God of the sin of the Golden Calf.

Yom Kippur is the only day where a tallit, the four cornered prayer shawl with fringes that symbolize the 613 commandments, is worn in the evening.

Kol Nidrei (meaning "our vows"), the service on the eve of Yom Kippur, is a communal supplication asking God to view all vows made under duress as null and void.

In Biblical and Rabbinic times, Temple rituals and sacrifices were the focus of the holiday. Among the highlights of the day was the scapegoat ceremony during which lots would be placed on two goats. One goat would be offered as a sacrifice in the Temple, in the Holy of Holies; and the second would be thrown into the wilderness. Once the Temples were destroyed, prayer and return, i.e. repentance, are the focus while the Temple ritual is recounted as part of the Yom Kippur liturgy.

Today, in addition to the traditional three prayer services (morning, afternoon, and evening), Yom Kippur includes a special Musaf (additional) service, Yizkor (memorial service), the Avodah service (a symbolic reenactment of the ancient priestly ritual for Yom Kippur), Viddui (the communal confession of sin), and Neiliah (the concluding service).

During the afternoon service, we read the story of Jonah and the whale.

During the Viddui, the communal confession of sin, it is customary to beat one's chest.

The Neiliah service marks the end of Yom Kippur and concludes with the blowing of the shofar, a sign of redemption.

It is said, "On Rosh Hashana, it is written. On Yom Kippur, it is sealed." Thus, the traditional Yom Kippur salutation is "G'mar Tov" (finish well) or "G'mar Chatima Tova" (may you be sealed in the book of life).

I won!

Me! I can't believe it! Last week I won $50 at work and this week Paula's giveaway!( Can you believe she has made 400 posts!) I'm so excited that I won homespuns. They are my secret passion. I keep trying to give them up but just can't!!! She may have just tipped the scales here for me to host a giveaway of my own.......hmmmm........hmmmm......