My friend is getting married soon, and my Mom and I agreed to make a chuppah (canopy) for her. The canopy is a painted silk panel. We'll attach ribbon to the corners, then staple the ribbon to the posts at the four corners.
I needed to buy fleece for the snuggie I'm making, and decided to get some ribbon for the chuppah at the same time. I went to the local fabric shop.
I haven't been happy with this store for a long time. The store is dark, messy, the salesclerks are sloppily dressed, and never acknowledge when a customer enters. The store has a big selection of home dec fabrics, notions, fleece and a lot of cottons. They call themselves a quilt shop, but they don't know anything about quilting. They've always had the strangest selection of fabrics. I found out the owner buys the stock of fabric stores that have gone out of business. I've long since stopped buying my quilting fabric there, and now only shop there as a last resort.
I walked in on Saturday with my dad. I had to wait for the two salesclerks behind the desk to finish their conversation so I could ask where to find the fleece. I picked the color I needed, brought it to the cutting desk, and asked for a yard, and said I needed ribbon. The clerk cut my fleece and set it aside, placing a slip on it that indicated it was $9.90.
I found some 3/4" white satin ribbon, and five different colors of 1/4" satin ribbon. I needed 8 yards of each.
While the salesclerk was measuring out the white ribbon, she said casually, "Oh, here's a dirty patch," but she kept measuring. Then she came to a part where the ribbon had been cut, and was scotch-taped together. She kept measuring.
"I don't want that cut part," I said.
"What's this for anyway?" she asked.
"It's for a canopy for a wedding."
"Is the wedding TOMORROW?" she asked, and guffawed loudly with her co-worker. We all knew the hurricane Irene would hit the next day.
I didn't reply, feeling like I had just been insulted. What difference did it make when the wedding was?
Since she'd lost count measuring the ribbon, she had to start again. Again, she passed the cut piece.
"What are we going to do about that cut?" I asked.
"I don't know if I have eight yards after this cut."
"That's ok," I said, "I need four two-yard pieces,"
"You don't UNDERSTAND" she said, raising her voice, "I don't know if I have eight yards on this whole roll! There's NOTHING I can do about it." She glared at me.
I blinked. I couldn't believe it. I put down the five other rolls of ribbon I'd been holding and backed slightly away from the counter, and then the fleece caught my eye. I really needed the fleece for a project I'd be working on later that day. I reached into my purse, took out my wallet, pulled out a ten dollar bill and threw it on the counter.
"We're done here," I said. "Come on, dad." I took his arm, and picked up my fleece as we rounded the counter and walked out.
Two steps out the door my dad said to me, "You know, I bet she doesn't even understand why you left."
"Did I overreact?" I asked.
"Oh no," he said, "she was really rude to you."
We got into the car, and I thought about the encounter, "She wasn't just rude to me once."
"No," he said, "she insulted you twice."
I'll never,
ever, go into that store again.
Of course I said yes. 
I had bought this wonderful Philip Jacobs fabric a few weeks ago and thought it would be perfect.
It's a baby snuggler, designed wrap a baby nice and snug.
Placing the velcro strips was a bit tricky.
I did a bit of testing first.
Next up is a snuggie for my best friend, who's expecting a baby in October.
If we lose electricity, I get to read and fold the laundry.
I wanted you to THINK they were the same. 
Everyone notices the ladies are different, but I've used different fabrics in the M and the S's.
I've sewn a long piece of red to a long piece of white fabric for the tail of the Q, and here I am positioning it. Notice I have allowed for the seam allowance. I'll pull the "tail" piece away, and cut the block apart, then insert the "tail".
Oops. Re-do. (Do note, however, I have trimmed the width of the tail so it is quite skinny.)
As you can see, the letter is WAY too big. Here's how I judge. I set one of my cutting rulers over the letter and use it as a guide. This ruler is 4-1/2". I want to allow for the bottom seam, but I also need to allow for the top of the Q.
Here I've cut the excess away, but I'll use part of what I cut off as the top part of the Q. This top bit already has the background fabric attached, so that will save me some fiddling.
Now I need to add the piece to the left side of the letter. After working out how wide I want the Q to be, I trim away the excess (always remembering to leave enough for the seam allowance.)
Insert the last strip on the left, and PRESTO!
A nice, new Q!
Woo Hoo! The two Rules quilts, the "White Cat Rules" and "The Black Cat's Rules" are now hanging side by side at Quilted Threads in Henniker NH.
I love great big fat S's. This one is about 7" wide by 10" tall. Dunno what I'll use it for, but I love it.
I'll be teaching a class on free pieced letters at Quilted Threads, in Henniker NH, on Saturday October 22, 2011 from 10 - 4! You can follow this link to get more information. (You'll have to scroll down a little bit.)
I've found this to be true. Usually my nasturtiums are covered in aphids, and yes, they've left the tomatoes alone.
I'll be re-starting the alphabet, and I've got new how-to instructions for the letter Q, which I will post soon. I won't attempt to post a letter every day, because I don't want to add more stress to my life, but they will be appearing every couple of days or so.
I brought the quilt outside at 7 AM this morning, where the sun was shining directly on it, making the colors sing.
A wisp of cloud floated by, enabling me to take this picture, which I think best represents what the quilt looks like in real life. As the cloud drifted away, the shimmering quilting began to pick up and reflect the light back, and I thought, "This is the way this quilt should be seen!"
The colors look a bit truer here. I'm happy with the way this turned out. I can't wait to see them both hanging side by side.
Not really, I still have to sew the hanging sleeve, but for all intents and purposes, this quilt is done.
I've finally got the binding all sewn on the black rules quilt, and now I'm in the process of hand sewing it down on the front.
belongs to Monty Q, Millie's "sweetie."
After all, every couple should have a quilt.
So I made them a very special one.
(this is the Only Time I have ever held Millie, btw)
So let's have a big cheer for Millie, because without her my life would be much less interesting!
Here are some R's for you. 
You get the idea of how I make them.
I like these R's better.
love that fussy cut fabric!
another R, kinda stocky, kinda boring, but I like it.
This R is in Tonya's quilt. After all, a cat wearing a beret - how very Parisian!
This R from Julie's quilt is probably my all-time favorite R.
Really.
My son calls me the Energizer Bunny, but this bunny has run out of gas. I'm exhausted. I didn't plan to start a quilt-along when I decided to make 26 red letters. At first I thought I could do it, and wrote the how to posts five at a time, over the weekend. This past Sunday, after a lovely dinner with my Mom and her husband, I looked at the clock and realized it was 8:30 PM. Not enough time to write about Q, R, S, T and U. So I winged it.
Tonya's original instructions for making the Q included a small X in one corner! It was very finicky to make a Q that finished 3-1/2" tall!
Here are a few examples of the "old school" Q.
Here's another one!
In her book, Tonya greatly simplified the Q. It didn't sing for me, so I tried inserting a slash through one side.
I liked that way it looked. This white Q is about 2-1/2" tall.
I've been wrestling with how to explain how to make this Q...
I started with these components, but I think the easiest way is to make an oversized backwards L, and insert the slash through the upright and then complete the Q by adding the other two sides.
I goofed in this photo (above.) In order to complete the Q, and add the strip across the top, I had to do a bit of unsewing. I promise to show better how-to pictures soon.