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Wednesday, October 05, 2011

What a Squishy Day!

My mail box was over flowing! And what came made me smile, and laugh out loud, and fill me with so much joy that I have these women ((And you blog readers)) in my life!

First up?

a handful of leader/ender bow ties from LaVella in California!

She writes:

Hi Bonnie,

These were supposed to be your “Get Well” bow ties. But I am a SLOW sew-er.

You got well and went to Kansas to play --

Worked on your house with your hubby – (He did a wonderful job on the floor.)

Went to Alaska --

Well maybe I can get them mailed before you get home!

Quilting hugs and a big thank you for making me encouraging me to use CHEDDAR!

LaVella, these are SO cute and I’m happy to include them in with my own Cheddar Bow Ties which are not nearly as far along as some people’s I’ve seen wandering around blog land! I’m doing mine as Leaders & Enders and my chains of piecing have been so long that it doesn’t seem to make much of a dent in the ties to sew a piece through at the end. But I am persevering! Thank you so much!

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The funniest of all came all the way from OZ! Annette writes:

Hi Bonnie,

Recently my friend had the job of cleaning out the sewing room of her friend who had passed away. SO MUCH STUFF!! Amongst the piles and piles of fabric I found these three pieces of millenium fabrics and immediately thought of you as I’d seen other millenium fabrics sent to you on your blog.

Anyway, if you can utilize well and good, if not, nothing lost really. If you don’t want feel free to chuck in the bin!

Happy Stitching,

Annette

LOL!! As I say in several of my lectures and scrap classes – if you still have Millenium fabric in you stash, CUT IT SMALL! Get it out of there, Use it NOW! It’s not getting any younger, and neither are we. With some fabrics it’s hard to guess how long we’ve had them---this one shouts it out loud!

However, if cut into strips ((think 1.5” at least)) They are just going to read as a color when sewn into the quilt. They will read as a royal blue with sparkles, or a navy blue with parts of words in several languages, or a black with an interesting geometric design on it.

It was never my purpose to find myself REQUESTING millenium fabrics from anyone, but they seem to show up now and again and I just bust a gut at how many of us BOUGHT this stuff to begin with.

It’s kind of like that one song that is on your ipod that you’d have a hard time explaining WHY it was on there…. ;c)

Which brings another fun idea….what is the most hideous piece of fabric in YOUR stash…and WHY do you keep it there? Leave a comment and let me know! What is your plan for it…can you, will you use it up? I don’t want to be like the lady who passed away, and have to count on my friends to sort and disperse my stash. Seriously. What would I be MOST embarrassed for them to see if they had to come in and clean up after I’m gone? HMMMMM!

Now this one brought tears!

A WHOLE stack of Scrappy Trips blocks! SO much variety!

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These came from Robyn in Utah, gifted by the ladies in a class she taught!

She writes:

Dear Bonnie,

Last Wednesday I taught your scrappy trips (Althought I called it Scrappy Concerto in 2 1/2” Major since our theme was “Symphony of Color”)

I had 25 in my class and we had a ball.

The class donated these blocks to send to you. I had 2 very beginner beginners and a couple not much more advanced. The patriotic block was done by a 94 year old lady who plans to send her quilt to a wounded soldier.

I enclosed a picture of the class and of my own scrappy trips Quilt. I absolutely LUV you and your ideas. For once in my life I’ve organized my scraps and am using them.

I also made several other twin size quilts that went to charity.

Thank you Thank you and keep designing. I am faithfully one of yours!

Happy Quilting,

Robyn.

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Here are all the blocks laid out on the floor! Isn’t this fun! Thank you ladies! I know I can put these to good use for a good cause!

And yup, that’s my sweet Side-Kick, Sadie Jane keeping watch over the blocks so they don’t go anywhere..LOL!

It’s another lovely at home day for me. And I have lunch planned with a friend, which is always NICE! It seems our paths are always going in opposite directions, so even when I’m home I sometimes can’t catch her because she is busy busy herself. Today….we catch up!

Happy Wednesday, Folks! Get out and enjoy it!

19 comments:

  1. Wow.... a whole bunch o' squishies in the mail! I never saw the millenium fabrics until I started seeing them on your blog.... too funny!

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  2. Another idea for the millenium fabric is if someone would just make a quilt out of just millenium fabrics. Quite a remembrance - as well as someone else might love it and the quilt would be so special. I remember that night because my husband was Deputy Chief of Police and he had to stay at the station all night in case the town and/or computers went beserk. I am sure others have strong memories of when we turned 2000. BTW I do NOT want that fabric as mine has been given away. Judy C in NC

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  3. One of my ugliest pieces of fabric is a yard or so of millennium fabric that was given to me by someone. It is a huge print of large champagne bottles with 2000 on them and some fireworks or confetti in the background. I figure I will use it up in scrappy bindings over time. Hopefully it will be gone before the next millennium!

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  4. Luck lady Bonnie. I would love to get mail like that :)

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  5. Bonnie, I was trying to leave a message on the 'linoleum' book giveaway post and blogger just won't let me post my comment yet it worked for this post. Confused ? yes I am!

    I was just trying to tell you that I live not far from a town called Kirkcaldy in Scotland which was famous for making linoleum. The whole place used to stink when it was in production. Just a childhood memory and a useless fact!

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  6. I don't have anything that's ugly left. Kelli and I just chopped it all into 1.5 inch strips. We are making Perkiomen Dreams...actually four of them we hope. We are making Christmas presents. We are doing sewing dates for as many weekends as we can manage until we are done...or until Christmas comes.

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  7. About 10 years ago, my grown kids asked what I wanted for Xmas, and so I thought....this will be easy this year! I said, all you have to do is go into ANY quilt shop, and pick out a few fat quarters! Ask the gal at the desk what they are! I was so delighted to think I was going to be overloaded with a variety of fq's.

    Well....my middle son's gift was a 4 yard cut piece of Cheater Cloth! It's in Americana colors of beige, dusty blue, and brick red! And it's in the Double Wedding Ring design! UGH! Everyone says use it as a back.....but it's just too damned ugly for that! I guess I should just strip it down into strings.....thin thin strings! Ugh!

    What makes me really crazy is that some woman at the quilt counter told him to buy it! That's just wrong! And mean!

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  8. Hmmm, my ugliest fabric? Well, I do have a piece of Y2K fabric, but I think it is kind of cute--it has the M&M characters on a black background with brightly colored M&Ms. I have been thinking about fussy cutting the M&Ms and using them somehow in a child's quilt. I have other fabrics I'm not crazy about, but I envision them cut small and they will be fine!

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  9. The ugliest fabric in my stash is an orange floral print on a gray background. It was in a scrap bag I bought from the guild boutique at a quilt show. Someone else obviously thought it was too ugly to use! It is still there because I saved it for another quilter in an internet group. She was supposed to send a postage paid envelope for it and never did. I guess she decided it was too ugly also!

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  10. I have a fat quarter of hand dyed fabric that I got off of ebay when I ordered a whole lot of FQ's and it is a dye job gone bad, mostly gray, brown , and vomit colors........kinda like they wiped out all the dye bins and then let it dry. It is getting cut into little pieces that I need here and there. YUK!

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  11. What fun things show up in your mailbox! Mine is just bills, and requests for money :-) Enjoy your quiet day at home. I find myself yearning for a day like that, but none coming for quite some time. Oh well....

    Enjoy your lunch!

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  12. Love the cheddar background on the bow ties!
    The scrappy blocks are fabulous and will make a beautiful quilt.

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  13. Each year at our September meeting we do an Ugly fabric contest...every year you hear a quilter say "but I like that fabric!" Ugliness like beauty is in the eye of the quilter....

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  14. Anonymous3:42 PM EDT

    My ugliest fabric is some 70s stuff - it is a beige background with tiny little orange and green mushrooms. I keep thinking that I should make something out of it because it seems like all that 70s stuff is stylish now!

    sullivan36@sncglobal.net

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  15. Anonymous4:36 PM EDT

    Our great cool weather went away! Darn! I was really enjoying the "FALL" feel to the air.
    COme on snow!
    And LaVella is the sweetest person! She is in all my swaps I hostess.
    XOXOXO Subee

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  16. Anonymous6:42 PM EDT

    Great find in the mail box, Bonnie.
    My ugliest fabrics will be cut up into fat quarters soon and are going with me to Quilt Camp in Rangeley, Maine. You can see them for yourself when you get there next week!!
    Faye Bushey, Maine

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  17. If I ever saw any millennium fabrics I didn't buy it! And the most embarrassing thing in my sewing room is the vast number of UFOs. My 100% cotton fabric could go to my guild's community service committee for all the good projects they do in the community but who will want the UFOs? The mystery quilt began but not finished, the BOMs (2-12 blocks done depending upon the BOM), the quilt pattern I just had to do and bought all the fabric for and cut out and sewed a block or two and something came up and it got put aside and forgotten, the quilts I began in classes and never finished! The list could go on and on! I won't admit to how many I have...because when my daughter helped me clean my sewing room 3 years ago we agreed there were way too many to even begin counting! I will definitely have something to do if my retirement years are lean money wise!

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  18. After reading once again about the Millenium fabric... I just have to tell you that I was sorting and straightening fabric a week or two back and found that I also have a piece of it! Not any that you have shown... but I have some! Funny thing is I bought it for a patriotic quilt I was going to make... I don't even remember it being a Millenium piece! Guess I had better cut it up and use it! The old addage.... Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do with out, comes back to haunt me time and time again... when I see something like this that I've probably had for a long time! Although, I did also find a piece that I was going to use that had a date of 1997 on it... soooo as long as I'm using it... I guess it's alright!

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  19. Glad the Millenium fabric made you laugh...it certainly made me laugh when I "found" it...enjoy chopping it small enough :)...
    the ugliest fabric I've got is a fat quarter of "boy" fabric...boys on motorbikes jumping over things...it was the "prize" I ended up with in an ugly fat quarter game...it just languishes in the stash box...one day it will become useful for something or be chopped into teeny tiny pieces so that it isn't noticable what it once was...

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