I hate it when I fall of the face of the earth


Ha ha! So yes, again, I have fallen off the planet and only have recently returned to post pictures of my quilts. Due to my acceptance into the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza XVI, I was whisked away on Cloud 9 and can’t seem to come back down!I booked a flight to Philadelphia to visit my quilt on display. That should be fun as friends from the Baltimore Heritage Quilters Guild may also attend and visit with me! Yay!
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So… onto the quilts for August. This book is delicious. Did I mention that before? The sample photos just give you a small taste of what wonderful things you can do. Also, Project Runway started this week, and I’ll get to that in a moment, and how it ties in with this book.

I tagged my book with those little flags on things I want to try, and there’s more that I want to try than weeks in August, so I am thinking that I may want to explore this book next year in a monthly format. I’m going to suggest it at Divas tonight, to see if anyone wants to come along to try it with me.

Again, this book is great if you have previous experience with fabric and you like to experiment. If you don’t… well, I’m sure there are other books for you.

These 3 inch squares took HOURS to do EACH. Especially if you want them to look “just perfect”, which I had in my head for them to be. I liked some applications better than others, such as the quilted tabs vs. the filled cording, and the losenge pattern on the smocking was too far apart, but lots of lessons were learned.

Back to Project Runway… It started back up this week and one of the contestants has no previous fashion school training, and asks what “smocking” and “godets” are. Now, I knew from costuming what these were, but a lot of people may not. And to tie this all together there are 2 chapters in this book about smocking and godets! Which when mentioned on screen, I smiled a little smile…

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Blog Action Day for Poverty

I have never been impoverished. Sure, I felt that there were times where I didn’t know where money would materialize from to keep myself going, but I always made it through. I never had a utility shut off or been evicted. I haven’t gone hungry because I had no food. At one time, my husband and I were living so close to the edge of ruin that I called a hot line for Public Aid. Because I worked, I was told I did not qualify, even though my paychecks were clearly not enough. I had rented an apartment, so I had a roof over my head, I did not qualify for help with that either, even though I could barely afford it. I guess I should have felt lucky enough to do that. I guess there were folks worse off than me. But at the time I remember being so angry that I paid into these plans and could not get help. We changed the way we looked at money and now we’re doing ok, but it took years to get to this.

But I am dealing with this very situation right now with a family member. It’s the hardest thing to watch, while I sit comfy and warm in my own home. While I throw away more food than this family member can purchase, I feel boatloads of guilt. I frivolously spend on ridiculous things I don’t need, and this person is months behind on bills.

I’m sitting by and watching, and lately, getting more and more involved. My other family members don’t understand. But other than sending my hard earned money, what can be done? It’s really sad and hurtful.

To bring this all somehow back to crafting and quilting, with the economy being what it is now, everyone is going back to “thrifty crafting” and looking back at depression era fiber art. Not only were quilts made of old sheets, clothes, or whatever you had on hand, but EVERY scrap was saved and used. In particular, the Yo Yo. (or as Project Runway’s Angela Kessler would say: Granny Circles) What posessed anyone to make items out of hundreds or even thousands of yo-yo’s is beyond me, but they are addictive. I have been saving any usable scraps of fabric big enough for a yo-yo, and making flower bouquets out of them. Cute, and fun, and fast. And certainly thrifty.

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I am a Project Runway Addict.

Hi, my name is Cheryl and I’m a Project Runway addict.
In fact, I follow th show itself, the former contestants, and much more on my fave site for PR news, Blogging Project Runway. I have even contributed a couple of times, check them out here and here! I’m such a nerd, and while I would never apply to be part of the show, I do love it. The PR people are holding auditions here in Chicago today!

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100th post

Week 3 of my January “line” themed weekly quilt. Even I am impressed by this one. Sketched during Project Runway’s “En Garde” episode, which was a very good episode, and lots of good sketches came out of it. Who would have guessed “Line” could be so cool? DH calls the lines UFOs landing. I said “Or are they taking off?”

This is the 100th post on this little blog of mine. I’ll be posting a little more often, hopefully, in the next couple of months.

My Town and Country project is coming along. The major piecework is 99% finished. Next the applique. Then, in February, it is quilted. I sure wish I could show you a picture, but that’s breaking the rules…

I am going to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on the 24th at the House of Blues with my sister, should be a great time, and I hope to sketch afterwards for some inspiration.

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