I'm a winner!

Don't you just love those words: "I'm a winner!" Not, of course to be confused with "I'm a whiner," although to be truthful, I suppose I am a whiner once in a great while. In any event, I AM A WINNER of a fantastic Civil War panel of Grant and the Generals of the Army of the Potomac from Bonnie Hunter and her Quiltville blogs' giveaway. Thanks Bonnie! This panel will be included in the quilt I will be making of my blocks from my Civil War Diary Quilt Block Exchange. You can't believe the squeal I let out when I learned I was the winner.

Today was Sit & Sew at Redwood Sewing Center (formerly Scottie Dog Quilts). We have Sit & Sew classes Tues. & Thurs. mornings and Wed. evenings. You come, bring your sewing machine and do whatever you want. There's always a teacher there to help you out (she said modestly since Tues. & Wed. I am the teacher!). The Tues. class has been meeting for about 15 years....note that we've only been open for 10 years. But I taught the Tuesday morning class for 5 years at another, now defunct Quilt Shop. There are a few who come regularly who have been there since the beginning. It is fondly referred to as "The Tuesday Class."

Show and tell happens quite frequently. Today we saw Margie's newest "Martinique." She'll be teaching a class on this quilt from "Baker's Dozen." If you are local, be sure to come see it in person. This picture doesn't do it justice.

Katie showed us a quilt for her granddaughter Cera who is 4. I love the whimsical ladybugs.
Then Judy showed us her Asian masterpieced French Braid. Every time I see it I marvel at the story it tells. Judy confesses that this quilt grew so big they had to buy a new King Sized bed as it was too large for her Queen. I bound another quilt this afternoon and prepared backings for four more. Busy as a bee! I heard the weatherman say it's rain for the rest of the week. Bummer! But guess what? I'm a winner!!!!!

New Year's Resolutions

Now that we're on the subject of New Year's Resolutions....do you make them? I don't, although I do try to take stock of the past year/month/week and think about the wrongs I've been guilty of, the habits I might like to get back. I don't RESOLVE, I just yearn.....sounds a lot like a wishy-washy type B personality doesn't it. Well, welcome to my world!

That said, I'd like to think that this year I'm going to make more quilts....more for me, my family & friends and especially more for some of the charities I love so much. A week from Sat. (Jan 10) here at the store we'll be gathering to make quilts for the Eureka Dialysis Center's patients. We do this every year. On National Quilting Day in March we'll be having a sew-in for Sunshine...a quilting charity for children overseas.

Now wouldn't it be great in 2009 if we tried using up some of our stash? That's about going green, you know. You could smugly say to those who say you aren't green enough, "I've been recycling my stash, don't you know?"

My friend Bonnie Hunter has written a new book called Scraps & Shirttails: Re-use, Re-purpose, Recycle. Bonnie is the undisputed Queen of Scrap Quilts, so this book is perfect for using up your stash.

Stash quilts have such vibrancy, impact and charm.



















Another Queen of Scraps is Pat Speth. She coined the phrase "Nickel Quilts." Of course you know what those are: 5" Charm Squares. Pat is the one who started this whole thing. Both Nickel Quilts and her second book, More Nickel Quilts are still on the best seller lists.



Pat has a brand new book out (just arrived today!) called Amazing Nickel Quilts. This book is another winner and it really is amazing the way she can do so many things with a 5" square.


Also you might want to check out our Stash Pot Pie classes. Each month we have a night or day class with another new scrap quilt pattern,

Looks like I just might get to using up that stash in 2009...how about you?