Skill Builder blog posts geared toward newer quilters

We've got a tag-team duo with Sandi of Piecemeal Quilts and Jeanne of Grey Cat Quilts  and they have decided to provide constructive information geared toward newer quilters.  Read the remainder of this post and then go check them out!  Sandi will have have all the Skill Builder posts listed on her blog here.

Here is a sample of what they're going to be covering.

Purchasing fabric
Color theory
Fabric choices in a quilt
Rotary cutting tips (like don’t cut off your finger!)
Quilting terminology
Basic components of quilt blocks and their construction: squares, rectangles, half square triangles, quarter square triangles, flying geese
That darned scan quarter-inch seam!
Rescuing blocks (wrong sizes, etc.)
60/30 degree triangles
Foundation piecing techniques
Curved piecing
English paper piecing
Applique (in all of its variations, but we’ll need a guest blogger to take care of that one!)
Leader/Ender projects
How to break down the construction of a block so you can recreate it without a pattern (there are hundreds, if not thousands of traditional blocks that are copyright free)
Resizing blocks
Drafting your own block
Calculating yardage
Border options – solid vs. pieced, borders vs. no borders, how many borders, what fabric, what width, straight vs. mitered
Backing options
Choosing a quilting design
Basting a quilt
Quilting on a domestic sewing machine
Binding
Documenting your quilts

Finis. Finito. Terminado.Fertig. Finished.

Yes.  I did it!  I finished the quilt!  Now THIS is when I wish I could download photos to my laptop. 

It's a little after midnight, and I had no supper tonight, so when I get up in the morning I'm sure I'll be starved.  I sent DD#1 photos of the quilt with my phone when it only had two of the borders on it, and she sent me a text back that she thinks it looks awesome.  Be still my heart!

I'll be going to her house after work tomorrow.  Then DD#1, her husband and I head to Augusta.  DD#1 and DD#2 both turn 34 years old tomorrow.  That's why I was trying so hard to get this quilt top completed.  I'm hoping DD#1's husband will drive tomorrow.  I'll be in the back seat trimming loose threads from the back of the quilt.  Am I the only one that has all those threads that need to be trimmed?  I don't ever hear any quilters talking about trimming them.  So I was just curious.  I always wonder what makes some fabrics have more dangly threads than others.  Is it because it wasn't cut on the grain? 

Gotta scoot.  I still haven't packed!  And I need to get showered.  It's almost 1:00 a.m., and my workday starts at 6:00.  Ah...brings back memories of my youth.   

No internet connectivity in Augusta.  I'm gonna miss you.  All 10 of you.  Smile.

Have a great weekend!

Don't hold your breath

I'm hoping to get a LOT of work done this evening on the quilt.  But don't hold your breath.  I'll be holding my breath enough for both of us.  Gonna be hard to get much sewing done while holding my breath, though. 

So keep your fingers crossed and say your prayers for me.  I think I can do it. 

On the Border, Border, Border

Okay...no progress on the actual quilt itself, but I'm learning right now.  I'm learning how to miter multiple borders.  Like I said, this calendar quilt is going to have three borders (hence the "Border, Border, Border" title).  If I put those borders on one at a time, that means I'll have to miter the corners 12 times.  Twelve times.  So not fun.  So not happening.  No siree.  Oh jeez, at least I hope not.

So what does one do when one doesn't want to miter 12 corners?  One googles.  And one reaches out for help.  And do you know what?  My faith in the internet, bloggers and e-mail has been proven!

Julie at Jaybird Quilts has a fabulous tutorial on mitered multiple borders that I've been picking apart and scribbling notes about since last night. 

I was having problems understanding the tutorial (cuz I'm so smart and all - yep), and right in the midst of me practically having a meltdown, I get an e-mail from Sandi at Piecemeal Quilts.  I'm telling her what a doofus I am and what I'm trying to do, and bless her heart, she sends me instructions in an e-mail about how to miter multiple borders.  She even sent me some links.  And one of them was Julie's.  How cool is that??

Both of them put up with my multiple questions, my exasperations, my endless complaining, and never acted like they got exasperated.  I can't thank them enough for the help they provided me.  And for the fact that they didn't tell me to get lost and leave them alone.  And quit complaining.  And quit whining. 

So...today, I decided to make a small sample so I could get some practice doing the miter for multiple borders.  I need all the help I can get so I don't ruin all the fabric for my quilt.  I guess I got a little cheap miserly frugal and made my first sample so small I couldn't practice the miter for the three borders.  So I had to start all over again just making my next sample larger.  My first mitered corner left a lot to be desired.  The second mitered corner was a little better.  I guess I'm about 80% satisfied with it.  As for now, I've decided to leave it alone, and I'll just tackle it again tomorrow for corners three and four.   Hopefully I'll do better.

Looks like I won't get the quilt top finished in time to take to DD#1's house for her birthday on Friday.  But that's okay.  If I learn how to miter those multiple borders, that will be an awesome reason for being late. 

I owe you Julie and  Sandi.   You were both wonderfully understanding while I was going through my learning curve last night.  I appreciate all of your help.  I could not have done it without you.  Well, I haven't really "done it" yet.  But I couldn't  have gotten this far without your help.  And I know I'm going to tackle this and I'll finally get it done.  Just maybe not by Friday.

Mexican Standoff

I thought I'd be finished with the first border tonight, but it's already 7:30 and I'm still sitting here surfing the internet.  I wanted to have this quilt top finished by Friday so I could show it to DD#1 since it's her birthday. 

I want to miter the three borders.  I discovered I could sew all three borders together and then sew all three onto the quilt center at one time.  But here's where my "visual" learning is kicking me in the butt again.  I have been to three or four different sites reading the directions and I simply do.not.get.it.  And I want to get it.  I WANT TO GET IT!!

I figure sewing three strips of fabric together is totally simple.  Sew those three strips to each side of the quilt top.  Then I only have to miter one time.  One time.  Oh...the joy of hearing that.  Well, in this case, oh...the joy in reading that.

Have any of you done this?  Added multiple borders to your quilt top all at one time?  I've e-mailed one of the tutorial writers asking if she can talk to me on the telephone because my "visual" brain just doesn't understand.

I would so love to have all three borders on this quilt by the time I go to bed Thursday night.

Have you ever added all of your mitered borders at one time?  Any problems?  Horror stories?  I would love for this to be like a Fairy Tale.  ...And they lived happily ever after.  (that sounds really, really good)

I made progress - yay!

I've got all 12 blocks sewn together and have put the "frame" around them.  The sashing between the blocks is 1" finished.  We decided at the LQS we would use that same 1” width for the "frame".  But once I got the blocks together and was ready to cut the fabric, having the "frame" at 1" finished size just wasn't doing it for me.  Since I don't have a creative or artistic bone in my body, I tend to not pay attention when my inner voice tells me something like that.  So I took the fabric and put it beside the calendar blocks and started adjusting the width of the "frame".  I was hoping I could make the “frame” 2” finished size, but that looked too large, so I ended up with 1-1/2” finished size.  I can’t believe it took me all day to cut out the fabric and put sashing and one “frame” around these blocks.  As slow as I am, it should be perfect.  But it’s far from perfect.  I just hope when I get finished, I won’t have a quilt that’s a booger-bear to quilt. 

I got a comment from Misty on a previous post about a way I can possibly save some photos to my blog since I don’t have a personal computer.  If her suggestion works – watch out!  I’ll be posting up a storm then. 

With the progress I’m making, I’m hoping to have the three borders on this quilt before I head to Augusta for the girls’ birthday (my twin daughters turn 34 years old on Friday).  Hopefully it can be quilted by the end of the month.

Exciting news - to me

My daughter and I spent about 4 hours at the LQS.  We bought all the fabric I need to finish up the lap-size calendar quilt.  Having 12 monthly blocks that measure 8-1/2" X 11" (unfinished) doesn't give us much width and length, so we had to get a bit creative in order to make the quilt top larger.   We're putting sashing between the monthly blocks and we'll use that same fabric to make a "frame" around the 12 months.  We'll then put THREE borders on, and hopefully the advice we got from the lady at the shop is true.  I'm sure there are "rules" for the size of the borders, but we went with what she suggested, so hopefully it works and I won't have to unstitch, buy more fabric and then re-sew.

And hopefully I'll have a laptop soon so I can post photo of what I'm doing.  For those of you who don't know, the computer I use is a work-issued laptop.  My personal laptop got a reeeaaaalyy bad worm/virus and after taking it to two technicians, I was told it was basically trash.  But I don't have the money to buy a new one, so for the time being, I'm deeply grateful I was issued a laptop since I work from home two days a week.  Since this work-issued laptop won't allow me to download photos, I have no way to display photos in my posts.  That makes for a boring blog.  <sigh>  Maybe one day I can get a laptop.  For now, it's not even on the horizon.

Anyway...it's time for me to get in the sewing room and force myself to start cutting the fabric.  That's always hard for me to do.  But I'll see my daughter again on Friday (it's her birthday), and I'd love to have some progress to show her on her quilt.  She has picked every single fabric out for this quilt.  And I can tell you....it's must easier to pick fabrics out and gift the quilt than it is to have someone pick their own fabrics out.  Especially when it's a quilt that has so many different colors in it like this one has.

Time to put some cheerful music on and head to the sewing room.  It's gonna be a long night.  Hopefully a productive one.

Go Baby Go!

Don't you love buying all the fabrics you've selected for your quilt?  Reading your pattern and ensuring you know exactly what you need to do, and getting all your measurements straight in your head?  And if you're like me, you run your hand lovingly across the fabrics and dream about how everything is going to look once you've got everything completed.  Do you dread making that first cut into the fabric.  Or am I the only one?  I always hate making that first cut.  I don't know why.  I've wondered about it, and I finally decided I think the fabric is so beautiful as one large piece.  And I know once it's been sewn into the quilt top in whatever wonderful design I've decided on, that it's going to be beautiful as part of a much larger piece.  But I still postpone cutting the fabric.  And truthfully, cutting the fabrics is my least favorite part of making a quilt.  That's why I like buying pre-cut fabrics. 

Well, if I had one of these these, do you think it would be easier?  Do you think I could make the plunge and just cut the darn fabric and get on with it?  I think it would.  And maybe you would too.  So...to make a long story short...go visit Katrina and take a chance on winning this Go Baby! machine and 3 dies of your choice.  Good luck!

Online Quilt Block Library

Do you subscribe to the Online Quilt Block Library?  I had never heard about it until today. 

So here's the scoop:  It is an online database where you will find over 550 quilt block patterns and membership is a one-time only fee of $24.99.  There is a small collection of free patterns, but others you have to purchase.  To help you find the pattern you want, the Library is divided into two sections: appliqué and pieced (patchwork) patterns.  When you find a pattern you like simply click on the template and print it out.  Sounds simple.  But is it something that you really need?

Do you subscribe to Online Quilt Block Library?  Or do you know someone who does?  Your thoughts?

Got any Nook e-book suggestions?

I'll be heading to San Antonio next month (my first time to Texas - yippee!) and would love to have some suggestions for books to download on my Nook to take with me. 

Here are the type of books I like to read:

Romantic time travel (Jude Deveraux - Knight in Shining Armor, Legend)

Medical mysteries (similar to Robin Cook)

Espionage (especially if there's a bit of romance thrown in)

I loved all of the "Girl" books - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest (and I'd love it if someone knew of books similar to them)

If you've read a book you think is fantastic, please tell me about it.  I'm not locked into the categories I've listed, they're just the ones I thought of off the top of my head.  I'd love to broaden my reading horizons, and welcome anything you send my way.

Please suggest...and if they're free, that's even better.

Texas....here I come!!!  Well, here I come in another four weeks.

A video of "dancing quilt blocks"

This is a neat interpretation of quilt blocks dancing to folk music. 

Initially, I wasn't sure if I liked it.  But after a little while, it was almost like watching a kaleidoscope, and I came to love watching the quilt blocks changing positions, moving across the screen, and creating new designs.

Sit back and enjoy the dancing quilt blocks.

Win 10 Yards of Sunkissed by Moda

Remember this post  I did asking for your star block donations?

Shawna at 1 Choice 4 Quilting is the daughter of a retired Marine and decided to do something to get even more interest in this wonderful cause.  checking out her post here and see how you can win 10 yards of Sunkissed by Moda! 

You'll need to create your star by Monday, March 21st, 10:00 PM Eastern, so time is running short.  Check out Shawna's details to see how to participate. 

Good luck!

Want to make some blocks for "Quilt Blocks for Cancer"???

Colleen at Lucky Duck Dreams needs our help with her new fundraiser for Relay for Life called Quick Blocks for Cancer.  She needs 12.5" unfinished star blocks or 5" squares (see details on her blog).  Applique, embroidery, words and embellishments are welcome.  She says cancer survivors are STARS and they should SHINE! 

She needs the blocks by March 31st.  She'll assemble it, and is looking for someone to quilt it for her.  Please check out the details here and show your love by participating.  March 31st is right around the corner, but it won't take long to make a block or two.  This is such a wonderful cause.  I've had several family members and friends who have not survived cancer, as well as some that are survivors, and this will be a wonderful way to remember them as I'm sewing these quilt blocks.

9-patch blocks and calendar quilt progress

I heard from Debra and she's received my 9-patch blocks.  In fact in her latest posting, I can see them in the stack with the others she received.  I can't wait to see the quilt when she gets it all together.  I can't imagine how she'll combine all the colors.  Look at the variety of colors she has received.

I don't think I've told you about the quilt I've been working on for my daughter.  She's very particular, so she has picked out every single fabric that is going to be used in her quilt.  And that's fine with me.  We live about 45 minutes apart, and both have our responsibilities, so it's difficult to get together.  She always has to come to my house because we're shopping my stash.  And since I started this quilt for her, I told her she definitely has to know how much I love her.  Because she has had me step outside my comfort zone.

A little background is in order.  I have twin daughters.  They'll turn 34 years old the 25th of this month.  This daughter (daughter #1 since she was first-born) never asks for anything and is super independent.  And she's a very private person (unlike me and daughter #2).  Before I left Germany in June 2008, daughter #1 said she had found a quilt she would like me to make for her.  To say I was ecstatic would be an understatement.  I would LOVE to do something for her!  Yes!   So I said "Sure, send me a picture of what you want."  And what does she send me?  A calendar quilt wall-hanging.  But she didn't want it as a wall-hanging.  She wants it as a lap quilt.  Well, I had taken a paper-piecing class and absolutely, positively HATED it with a passion.  I said I would never, ever, ever paper-piece again.  You know what they say about "never say never".  Because here I am doing it.  I bought Carol Doak's paper and a DVD and worked at it.  I enlarged those small wall hanging blocks onto the 8-1/2" X 11" paper and got to work.  It has been as frustrating as the 9-patch blocks I talked about in the previous post.  Long story short - I've finally got the piecing completed, and 90% of the embellishments completed (photos soon).  I don't know if the embellishments should be called applique, because I'm not really sure if that's what I was doing or not.  But my daughter and I are going to get together Saturday and we're going to the quilt shop to look for fabric for the sashing, border, binding and backing.  Since I don't know about the "rules" for the sizes of sashing and binding, maybe the folks at the quilt store can assist us with that.  But I need additional width and length.  I'm thinking she'll want it 3 blocks wide with 4 blocks long.  With the block sizes 8-1/2" X 11" and since we only have 12 months in the year, that's not giving me a lot for the width.  That gives me a width of only 24".  Yikes!  Gotta add a lot more fabric to get something worthy of a lap top. 

So thankfully, I'm getting excited about getting with daughter #1 to select those fabrics on Saturday.  I can't wait to see what she selects, and I hope someone at the shop can assist with ideas of fabrics to possibly make multiple borders (gotta have more and more to add extra inches).  Last night I wondered if we could do four borders, one for each season.  Her mother-in-law has an embroidery machine.  She could embroider "Summer, Winter, Spring and Fall" on each border.  I just don't know if daughter #1 would like that idea, and cannot for the life of me imagine what colors to use.  But it's an idea and I can suggest it.  Maybe we could find some fabrics that would make that work.  We'll see.  [Just wish I knew how to use the embroidery function of my sewing machine, and I could do the embroidery myself].

Wish us luck!

Ever made a stupid decision?

I forgot to tell you - I finished the 9-patch blocks for Debra that I posted about here.  Those demons blocks pushed me to the limit.  I sewed.  And I ripped.  And I cursed.  And I stalked off and ignored the sewing room for a couple of hours.  Then I went back and I sewed.  And I ripped.  And I cursed.  And I stalked off -again.  I was afraid I was going to let Debra down.  I had promised some blocks, but it just wasn't happening.  Can you say "failure"?  Boy I sure can.  But I guess it's a good thing I was born under the sign of Taurus the Bull.  Because I certainly am bull-headed.  I got those blocks finished and mailed well before the deadline Debra had set.  I've asked for honest feedback regarding the quality of those blocks.   That's the only way I can learn.

I had so many problems issues while sewing.  I've got this super-duper Pfaff sewing/embroidery machine.  Me!  Heck, I'm doing good I can figure out how to program the microwave.  Operate a computerized sewing machine?  I don't think so!  I may be 57 years old, but had never really done much sewing.  Sure, I had made the occasional Halloween costume (a clown, a Queen of Spades costume) - things I didn't have to worry about actually fitting. 

So what made me want to start quilting?  When my daughter was pregnant, I was in Germany.  I was friends with a woman who had quilts throughout her house.  So I asked her if she'd make one for my soon-to-be-grandchild.  Her answer?  "No, but I'll be glad to show you how, and you can make it."  And that is how I got started.  I bought a 15 year old Singer sewing machine for $20, bought fabric, she found me a pattern and I started sewing.  That first quilt was hand-tied and was made with much love.  I can remember so well presenting that quilt when my granddaughter was born. 

My granddaughter will be 6 years old in July, and I haven't seen the quilt since I gave it to her.  I'm almost afraid to ask my daughter about it, because I would be heartbroken to find she doesn't have it any more.  Maybe one day I'll get brave enough to ask.  After all, it was my very first quilt.  It started this journey I've been on for the past 6 years. 

Fast forward a few years.  That friend took a job and moved to Alaska.  In the meantime, I had formed a friendship with another lady that quilted.  She had a Pfaff sewing/embroidery machine and somehow I convinced myself that's what I needed too.  No way to buy American since I'm in Germany, so we go out on the German economy and I buy me a sewing/quilting machine.  Quite a few thousand dollars I spent on that machine.  My new friend is telling me about how she's going to show me how to use it, how all those special feet I bought will each serve a purpose, and how once she shows me how to embroider with it, I can individualize little shirts and skirts and bags and hats for my new granddaughter.  Oh how exciting! 

And then...and then...almost immediately after I take possession of my new sewing machine (within weeks), that friend leaves Germany and comes back to the U.S.  And I'm stuck in Germany with an extremely expensive Pfaff sewing/embroidery machine I don't know how to use.  And since I bought it on the German economy, the only training I can get will be in German.  Can I converse in German?  Well, heck yeah!  In a restaurant (yessiree, nothing gets between me and my food).  But technical terms for sewing machine lessons?  Nuh-uh.  So I start searching for an American that can help me.  Surely someone can help me.  Nope.  Nobody.  Seems as though everybody else had a Bernina.  So why the H-E-double-hockey-sticks did I get a Pfaff???  Because that friend guided me in that direction.  And I'm a dunce.  An idiot.  A wuss.  <Insert deep sobbing here>.

I got back to the U.S. in July 2008, and haven't done a lot of sewing since then.  I did a table runner for an International Christmas swap in 2009, and recently I've been working on a quilt for my other daughter.  Every time I sit down at this computerized machine, I'm overwhelmed.  And intimidated.  And scared.  I can't figure out what foot does what, how to figure out the stitch width and length, the IDT, the decorative stitches (heck, I don't even need to worry about them now anyway considering I still don't feel comfortable with the straight stitch).  And I've checked to see if someone locally can train me how to use the machine, and it will cost me $60/hr for training.  That's money I don't have. 

I wish I had my $20 Singer sewing machine back.   There was not one thing wrong with that machine.  She worked wonderfully.  And I tossed her aside.  Like I didn't love her.  If I had her back, I'd dust her, and maintain her, caress and cherish her, and whisper sweet words into her ears (do sewing machines have ears?) and maybe she would forgive me.  But sadly, I gave her away when I got my monstrosity Pfaff.  How I miss her. 

Please don't get me wrong.  I don't dislike Pfaff.  It could just as well have been a Bernina or a Singer I had purchased.  My problem is I bought something totally above my level of comprehension.  And I knew it at the time.  But I was depending on someone else to bail me out.  To save me.  To be my safety net.  And now that "someone" isn't available.  That someone left before they could pass on their knowledge.  So please, don't think I'm saying Pfaff isn't a good machine to have.  I know it is.  I saw what that friend could do with hers, and I wanted to make the same magic with mine.  But like I said, I'm a dunce.  An idiot.  A wuss. 

So...have you ever made a stupid decision like mine?  If so, what did you do?

Quick Reference Guide

How many inches are in 5/8 of a yard? How big is a layer cake? Quilt blocks on point?  Need to know how much fabric to buy for the back of your quilt, but unsure?

Here are some Quick Reference Guides .  It would be nice to laminate these - I'll bet you'll be using them often.

Jelly Roll Dream Challenge Giveaway - 12 winners

FIRST PRIZE is $2,500 and a JANOME Horizon MC7700QCP sewing machine.

SECOND PRIZE is $1,500 and a JANOME MC4900QC sewing machine.

THIRD PRIZE is $1,000 and a JANOME JP760 sewing machine.

Wow!  What a cool contest.  I'm excited, so I know all of you have to be excited.  Because you're all so talented, and uber creative.  So when I stumbled onto this contest, my immediate thought?  Holy Cow!  Those are some awesome gifts they're giving away.  And then when I read the rules of the contest, I was blown away.  Want to hear the rules?  Ummm...okay.

Design and make a quilt making the best use of a jelly roll.  You can use MODA jelly rolls, other manufacturer's jelly rolls, or cut your own.  Additional background and border fabric is allowed up to a combined quantity of 3 yards (2.75 metres).  There are a couple more rules you'll see at the link listed below, but everything is soooo simple.

Submit your entry form along with a maximum of five photographs of your patchwork top with notes and instructions on how to make it as well as your entry fee of $25.  Didja get that?  Your quilt "top".  In addition to the prizes below, finishing and quilting of your quilt top is part of the prize.  You can enter as many times as you want.  Deadline for entries:  June 1, 2011.  Winners will be revealed July 31st.  And...squeal......Winners will also be published in a future F & W Book.  Now how awesome is that???

Now for the what you've been waiting for...TA-DA!  Here is where you can read all the details.   Whatcha waiting for?  Ladies and Gentlemen... START YOUR ENGINES!!  Uh, start your machines.  Start sewing.  Put the medal to the metal.  Get those creative juices going.   Jelly Roll Dream Challenge Giveaway

Just One Star

While reading the Moda The Cutting Table newsletter I came across a challenge from Moda called Just One Starcan comfort a soldier. "The Moda challenge is to piece, quilt and bind 100 quilts in 100 days using the Flag of Valor pattern by Minick and Simpson." Moda needs 1800 star blocks to reach this goal. The deadline for star blocks is May 1, 2011 so that they can meet their quilt deadline by Flag Day, June 14, 2011. You send completed blocks to Moda at the address in the link.

There is a tutorial/pattern for stars. Won't you consider making one...or two...or more?

I've always been patriotic - red, white, and blue always touch my heart.  I work for another agency now, but 30 years of my career was spent as a civilian for Department of the Army.  I spent 7 of those years in Europe working for the Army, and saw first-hand the sacrifice these men and women make for our country.  I saw entirely too many of injured soldiers at Ramstein Air Force Base - many of them younger than my children.  It was a truly humbling experience.  Thank you for contributing.

Interested in a book swap?

Amber of Seasons of Humility is having a wonderful book swap.  Wanna join?  Got some books you're looking for?  Or maybe you've got some books somebody else has been looking for.  Amber may just have solved your problem.  You can either lend, borrow or swap.  That's up to you, as long as both parties are in agreement.  Go check it out and see if someone has just "the" book you've been wanting.  And in the process, make a new friend.  Check out  Amber's Book Swap.

I love to read.  I have a library of probably well over 400 books that I just can't seem to part with them.  One of my daughters doesn't understand it at all - she gives her books away as soon as she finishes reading them.  Me?  I consider all of these books my "friends".  Some of the characters reached out and touched me.  Briefly, their lives became mine.  Their problems sometimes overlapped problems I had.  I just felt so close to them, and I didn't want them to leave me.  So I held on to them.  And I cherished them.  I even re-visited them and read many of those cherished stories over and over again.  But recently, I've come to realize the more I have, the more my children will need to sort through when I leave this earth.  So, I've been trying to go through all my "friends" and see which ones I can send to a new home.  And this book swap sounds like a lovely idea.  I'd know who my "friends" went to, and I'm sure I'd hear from that person and they'd tell me how much they had also come to love my "friends".  I'm reading through the books that are listed as "wanted" to see if someone is looking for any of the books I have that I could find it in my heart to send out. 

What about you?  Do your books become your "friends"?  Amber's book swap sounds like such a lovely idea.  Why don't you drop by her blog and check it out.

Are my feet in cement?

I'm still suffering from the sinus infection.  I need to get off my patootie and start working on those 9-patch blocks I told y'all about.  I wish I knew how to do that cool thing all of you in blog-land do where you say "I need to start working on those 9-patch blocks I told y'all about here" and then that little here takes you to the post where you told everybody about it.  I said I would make 4 blocks, and those blocks need to be in Debra's hands by March 15th. 

If you haven't already, go visit Debra at her website http://debraspincicdesignstudio.blogspot.com/2011/02/9-patch-blocks-needed.html (see, there's another example - I wish I knew how to say "visit Debra's blog" and have that link show up) and pledge to make some 9-patch blocks.  I have absolutely no idea how in the world she is going to get all those blocks in her hands by the 15th of March.

And hopefully I don't wimp out on her.  My feet seem to be in cement.  And it's not like me to commit to something and not follow through.  That simply is not me.    Dang sinus infection.  I almost feel like that woman in that commercial on TV with the little wind-up doll where she's dealing with depression.   And no - I'm NOT dealing with depression.  But man, this dang sinus infection has knocked me to my knees.

My apologies to you 2 or 3 readers I have.  I know this is a boring post and I'm rambling.  I just need to deal with this.  I don't like feeling this way, and I need some documentation for me to look at later so I can know it was a valid problem and hopefully one I overcame.  Lord, please let me get some energy, pull my bootstraps up and take control of my life.  [and pssst...Lord, please let me get those finished 9-patch blocks to Debra by March 15th]

"Blog has been removed" WARNING

Have you ever gone to visit a blog you've visited before and gotten something similar to the following message?  Blog has been removed. Sorry, the blog at pinelandspatches.blogspot.com has been removed.

If you're like me, you're thinking, "Wow, wonder why they closed their blog?"  Would you believe it might not have been closed on purpose????  That's what happened with Barbara.  Read this, and engrave it in your mind to prevent something like this happening to you.

Here is an e-mail from Barbara telling about the removal of her blog:

I'm devasted here.  Because of a new droid cell phone that requires a gmail account, that acct.  was set up for me at Verizon when I got my new phone. So, silly me, thinking I didn't need the old gmail account anymore, I deleted it. What a shock to find that old account was linked to my blog, so of course now my blog is totally gone.  I've dug on the web a little bit, and this is a common occurence, but there's not an easy answer. Even if I was successful in reactivating my old google account and getting my blog back, the photos seem to be gone forever.  So I googled my blog name and found some cached pages which may help remind me of what's important to re-post and a list of the blogs I follow. But my Followers and everyone will now get a notice that my blog is gone, and I have no way of knowing who all of them are.  Would you please post a note on your blog about this with a warning to everyone NEVER to delete that gmail account even if they don't use it or think they need it. If they want to keep their blog, they need it. I just didn't remember that it was necessary to have it from a couple years ago when I set up my blog.  I have a new blog already, but there's nothing in it. However, I'm going to post this and hope everyone will be able to find me again, perhaps with the help of some of my bloggy friends. It's a different name:
http://pinelandstreasures.blogspot.com/ 
Thanks...this too shall pass! :)
Barbara

So, if any of you visit my blog that normally follow Barbara...visit her at her new blog address.

Giveaway

Win a bundle of 15 fat Quarters from 'Where the Wind Blows' .  Giveaway ends Thursday, March 10th

http://vignetteinstitches.blogspot.com/2011/03/guess-what.html

Finally feeling better and a little something

After three days of feeling like I was going to fall face first on the floor from the pressure from the sinus infection, I'm finally starting to feel a little bit better.  I worked from home again today, and what a day it was.  You know how some things just kinda sorta get on your nerves when you deal with them on a daily basis and you just shrug them off?  And then you get to feeling a little bad, and those same things just drive you up the wall?  Well, I've been overloaded with all those little things the last few days.

I finally got up enough gumption to look through fabrics and try to start sewing.  I'm learning I don't know how to keep up with UFOs, because some of them, I have no idea what the fabrics are (and how does one find out?), and I didn't necessarily keep the patterns with the UFOs (so how the heck do I figure out what pattern I was using?) and Lord have mercy, all the magazines, and books, and patterns.  And then all the fabric.  No matter how I try to get it organized, I never seem to quite get it the way I want it.  But I'm trying.  I'm watching all of you out there in bloggy land and I'm gonna find one of you that hits on just what I'm missing and I'm gonna grow up and be a "big girl".

I think I'm going to try to make a goal of working on something each week.  Maybe not necessarily each day (which is what I initially was going to say), and it won't matter what I work on, just that I work on something.  It could be a block from the calendar quilt, or maybe the panel I bought that needs to be "tweaked" so it no longer looks like something for Valentine's Day, and I know I've got a Turning Twenty UFO (now where is it??). 

I'm hoping to get back into sewing.  It's been entirely too long.  And you know what would make my life easier?  A GO!  Or maybe a GO! Baby.  If you think you'd like one too, why don't you go take a chance too?  No date was given as to when the giveaway ends, so go enter the contest quick!  Don't miss your chance.   http://www.pleasant-home.com/2011/03/wonky-star-baby-quilt-little-somthin.html