Well helloooooo Dolly

I can tell Dolly, you're lookin' swell Dolly.


You're still glowin', you're still growin', you're still going strong.

I feel the room swayin' while the band's playin' one of our old favorite songs.

Let her take a nap fellas.......find her an empty lap, fellas . . .

Dolly’ll never go away again.

(Please join me in welcoming the newest member of the family . . . Dolly, a rescued Saint Bernard pup, 90 lbs and growin' strong.)

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Thinking outside the box, assembling shelves.

In order to make sure the distance between vertical support bars was accurate,

I used the actually shelving, not a ruler.

At this point, the center vertical support was in place. The third and final support was being installed.

1) Install shelf unit (temporarily). 2) Place pencil marks on side of bar at center and bottom.

3) Remove shelf, align bar with pencil marks, and using a small drill bit, drill through screw slot marking the spot where your drywell hummers go.

These are the drywall hummers. If you don't use these, the shelf can collapse. (Ask me how I know this.)

These happen to be heavy duty and you can see by the raised pieces at the top that they actually screw into the drywall. There are smaller ones that you press in if you're hanging a picture. But these babies are for serious shelves that hold mega fabric.

Unfortunately the screws that came with them were too short, so I pulled out my bag of tricks and found better ones.

This is my Black and Decker handy dandy tool. It comes with multiple inserts for flat head and phillips head screws. (And a few other things I haven't figured out yet.) It's light and easy to use. Check out a Black and Decker outlet near you. Ask for one for your birthday . . . you'll thank me later.

Ohhhh, happy day!

(My bag of tricks . . . I have several, LOL.)

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

You'd think I'd be better at space allocation . . .

after setting up multiple sewing rooms in multiple locals. However, it all came down to electricity. (Thank you Ben Franklin for creating such a conundrum in my life.) Because an outlet wasn't on one wall, the cutting table had to be shifted to another.

. . . which led to lighting difficulties, which led to shelving issues, which led to yet another trip to Lowe's and then Home Depot. Are you confused yet? I know I am.

And let's not mention the part where, after reading the directions, I came up with 21-1/2 inches instead of 20-1/2 inches centering vertical bar supports. (Thus the patched holes in the wall.)

Have I mentioned how much I miss my dad and how we would have chuckled extensively over this one. He taught me better, he really did.

But the exciting news is (and what led to this very expensive venture) is the fact that I'll have 2 big baskets to hold fabric pieces. Leftovers. Stuff to make more stuff. Directly in front of the cutting table. Hanging from one of the shelves. How handy is that.

Let's just hope this can all be accomplished before the wall looks like a machine gun went off.

Thank you for listening. I feel better now.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

On the lookout for . . . .

2 yards of "The sampler collection" by Windham. . . cream colored background.

I found this in Zooks last August, but need a bit more.

Have you seen this in your local quilt shop?

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Decisions, decisions . . .

I love the farmer's market series and Mary Jo's had a great selection. Some folks use them in I-Spy quilts, but I just cut them into 2" squares and enjoy the splash of color.

The new Betsy Ross collection is wonderful. Perfect for blendable backgrounds.

A few more blenders and yes, indeed, I found curtain fabric. The lovely gold with just a touch of red will bring out all the wood tones of my molding, floors, and ceiling. It's a very rich looking fabric too.

The selection of 1930's prints was stupendous. These lovelies are for a springtime quilt.

and last but not least, a few solids for a couple of different projects. A word of caution though, Kona's are not what they used to be. I was disappointed in the weight of some greige goods. However, I did find solids of wonderful quality on the opposite side of the aisle. Be sure to look through the whole collection before deciding which to buy.

If you're using your Tom-Tom or Garmin to direct you, program in Harris Teeter. For some reason, Mary Jo's would not show up and Harris Teeter is in the front of the new complex.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Destination . . . . fabric!

Heading east through verdant green.

And tempestuous smoke.

With layers of pink and pinker.

And finally to all the colors of the rainbow.

We had a whirlwind, turn around, no back that way, where are we going again, let's laugh some more . . . trip. And of course we found fabric. But I'll be showing that a bit later on.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . . .

Counting the minutes . . .

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I'm wanting the day to hurry along.

Any road trip would be fun this time of year, but I'll be heading up over the mountain to Mary Jo's!!! This is the annual birthday fabric buying adventure, but this time I really need to look for curtain fabric. I have enough quilting fabric you know. LOL, yeah right!

Enjoy the weekend. I promise to share pictures upon my return.

Until then, keep stitchin . . .

Thrift shop treasure hunt

I was just browsing . . . honest.

and did not have a single measurement with me.

Luckily, as a quilter, I always carry around my imagination, a sense of proportion, and a love of texture. Lace is just so wonderfully frilly and feminine. I've discovered you can mix lace patterns so long as you keep the color the same.

Unless of course, the curtain police are coming.

If that happens, I'll just take them on a neighborhood hike to view the phenomenal colors of nature.

Like my newest double-pink geranium. Aren't geraniums the most cheerful, steadfast flowers!

Just like good friends.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Quilting pals across the US, what's your opinion?

As you know, I tend to stay out of the political arena. However, a dear friend shared the following with me and I believe Rosemary has verified some key points. I'd like your opinion.

**************

From: "David LaBonte" My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the Orange County Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to "print" it myself by sending it out on the Internet.

Dear Editor: So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.

Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.

They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture. Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity.

Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany , Italy , France and Japan . None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defening the United States of America as one people.

When we liberated France , no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here.

These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl. And here we are with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.

And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty , it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.

(signed) Rosemary LaBonte