Don't Sew Late At Night!!

And here I was so proud of my productivity! I've been taking shirts apart,and as I cut them into strips I thought it would be good motivation to cut block parts for a quilt I want to do as I go....so I have "INCENTIVE" right?..uhhhhhuhhh.......we all know the path to "WHERE" is paved with good intentions?

Obviously,the path to either ripping out, or setting aside if you were sewing like I was last night!

First off, I love OLD quilts. I love old "farm style" quilts, not fussy ones, but the utility ones that were made from the scraps of every day fabrics. Lots of stripes and plaids, pieced frugally and quilted simply to keep families warm.

I fell in LOVE with this antique quilt! I love anything that has a strong "positive/negative" feel to it, and I'd never seen the "Milky Way" pattern done as blocks this way and put on point. Fun, huh?

So okay...Bonnie gets big ideas and begins sewing thinking how hard can this be? It's 4 patches and 1/2 square triangles, right?!?!?!


It took me until this morning when I took pics of my 4 blocks to see that half of my 4 patches are marching in the WRONG DIRECTION!! It must be the optical illusion of this kind of block...but BLLLAHH! I don't want to pick them out! I'd rather just start over! I guess they can go on the BACK of something? I can't believe I got FOUR BLOCKS wrong, all just as wrong as the other!

Good thing there are lots more shirts where these came from!

Oh..one thing I learned. It sometimes isn't worth it to buy women's shirts. Darts and tucks and extra seams to make the shirt "fitted" plus sometimes pieces cut on the bias make using them really difficult. I'll still buy them if I REALLY REALLY think I have to have the fabric in that shirt, but I think I'll stick to mens 3X extra tall! :cD

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IT'S HERE!!!!

My copies of Quiltmaker just arrived!! I am so thrilled!

It is very fun to open up a magazine and see your quilt inside. They did such a terrific job with the photography and the writing. How fun it was to work with them on this project! I really hope I can do more with them in the future, this venture was pure pleasure and well worth waiting for!


They have included directions for my Blue Ridge Beauty quilt as well as a little article on "leaders/enders". I hope that scrap quilters everywhere will look at their stashes a bit differently and find a way to be more productive at the same time!

What a great thing to come the week of Thanksgiving. I know I have so much to be thankful for. I'm really overwhelmed when I look at how things have happened in the past year. Next year this time...as I look back...I wonder what I'll see!

We are thinking of heading up to the Winston-Salem area on Friday and spending the long weekend up there getting a feel for the area. I don't know if it will be a good time to try to connect with realtors, but we have printed out some properties we'd like to see and can use the tom-tom to do a few drive-by sightings to see if it is something worth checking back later on or not. I think it will be a good weekend to "get out of dodge" even with all the holiday travelers. I just need to get a feel for where I'll be, you know?

I've spotted a listing for a 1900's farm house on 6 acres, with barn and shed. The house has 2545 sq ft....Might not have a basement for a quilting studio, but with 6 acres I'm sure I could build the studio I want :c)Wouldn't that be something? I can't wait to see inside of it!

It says it is restored, 3 bedroom and 2 bath and has heated tile and many extras.....hmmmmmmm!

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A "Crumby" Upload!

I finally got on the stick and pulled all my crumb quilts/projects/blocks into a tutorial page on my website.

I've been intending to do it ALL YEAR since Tonya and I had our crumby week over last New Years..but you know how life goes!

You can check it out here: Crumbs, Crumbs, Crumbs!!

My idea is to have a place where all kinds of crumb projects can be shown, along with how different quilters make use of their crumbs, so if you have any techniques, projects to show...let me know! I'm happy to post them!

In addition to my crumb quilts, I posted some charity crumb quilts that I did...and the book covers projects.

Send me ideas and pics if you have them and want them included!

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Might not look like much......

But this is all I've accomplished in the last couple days!

Isn't this tan floral great?! It looks SO vintage. And the tag on the inside said "old navy" I wish there was an old navy shirt factory near me, I'd love to just have their bin of cuttings, wouldn't you? But I think everything is made over seas now anyway, and like I really need another fabric source?! :c|

I decided that I needed to force myself....to stay away from GOODWILL! *L* And take the time that I spend buying up all the shirts and turn it into time I spend cutting up the shirts!

And a wonderful thing happened. I began to relax! I found sitting there removing seams and separating pieces to be a way to unwind and let go. To enjoy a TV program instead of worrying how I was going to get everything else done before a move, to worry about Thanksgiving, to worry about the holidays.

This small pile of disassembled shirts might not look like much, but oh the possibilities!

I've been cutting up shirts in between clients at my massage-work because I don't have any hand work that I care to concentrate on right now. Scissors can be very therapeutic! You know how stressful moving and buying a house can be on a marriage? I know what I want. I know what is important to me. Quilting space and a great kitchen.

What's important to Dave? Maybe some acreage, and a 3 car garage! So I get this email with a forwarded house from him.....it is the most BUTT UGLY house you have ever seen...BUT..it had a 3 car garage and 2 acres...(*&@#$(*&@#*($& AUUUGHHH! See me sitting there stewing and taking out my frustrations on shirts with scissors..SNIP SNIP SNIP! Tear tear tear (I tear the hems off and several of the seams open)

Please don't mis-understand. I don't want to leave the impression that I am the house-hunting version of "bridezilla" (House-zilla?!) I have simple tastes. I have a modest home, but it is newish. Some 1950's ranch with small rooms and no master bath just isn't what calls to me, and neither is some 1970's brady bunch contemporary thing with only 1.5 baths and no kitchen cupboard space.

I just keep praying "full basement full basement" so maybe no matter how ugly the rest of the house is, I'll have a place to hide and quilt quilt quilt, and scissor up some more shirts!

I spent some time last night emailing back and forth with Pepper Cory and it is fun to know that she is a North Carolinian too! She writes:

In January I'm opening The Quilt Studio, an intimate (translation: small) learning environment for seriously-addicted quilters. Want a schedule when they're ready?

ABSOLUTELY!! Heaven knows I am a seriously addicted quilter and always in need of some...ummm...quilt therapy? :cD So there is another North Carolina thing I am looking forward to discovering for myself!

When looking on the map for communities that we could settle in, I am immediately drawn to Pfafftown, NC. How cool is that? A town named after a sewing machine! I'd need to be in Berninaville, but Pfafftown would work for me too! However, I think it is a bit far on the other side of town from where the new plant is.

One other place I refuse to have as my address...*cough* Horneytown? Yes,there really is a Horneytown nc! Of course my adolescent and young adult sons find this extremely funny. But then I remind them that we are moving from Irmo, home of the "okra strut". I guess every place has it's own giggles!

Here is a pic of a guy in a Horneytown volunteer fire dept shirt:


Is there a funny-named place near where you live?

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