My life BQ

That's "before quilting". Before I was obsessed with
fabric, I was obsessed with beads. My friend at work
got me hooked on beading in 1991. I made this
bracelet years ago and I have gotten so many
compliments from quilters that they asked me to
help them make one for themselves. It is from Carol
Wilcox Wells' book Creative Bead Weaving.
I started making one in all blues. Goodness knows I
have enough blue beads. Hmmm this could also be
why I have more blue fabric than any other color.
I was so inspired when I got home I made these cute Christmas trees on Sunday.
They are for my friend Teri who lives in Paducah. She is
the one we stay with when we go to the quilt show. I
actually made myself a pair with a gold star and base
years ago. I wore them to church one Christmas Eve
and Teri liked them, so I took them out of my ears
and gave them to her right there on the spot. She likes
them but asked me to make her a pair in silver. So
here they are! I will mail them some time in November.
I just have to make myself another pair... SOON!
They are too cute. (BTW the pattern is from
Bead & Button Dec 1998)

Until next time...
Susie

LABEL...label...label...

This is why I have always begged quilters to label
their quilts. I'll tell you the story how it happened.
My Aunt Marcia (my father's sister who had no
children) had to go into a nursing home because
of Altzheimer's disease. My two cousins, Anne
and Jane, and I spent a weekend cleaning out her
house. It was a task, let me tell ya. She kept every
piece of paper that ever crossed her path. But, she
also kept many family heirlooms. I pulled this quilt
top, all balled up wrapped in a sheet, from the
back of her linen closet. I had only been quilting
for a few years at the time, but my heart started to
pound. I could tell it was old. On further
investigation Anne and Jane and I realized that
there were names printed or stamped in the centers
of those hexagons. My heart kept pounding! We
recognized two names as our great-great-great-
grandmother and our great-great-grandmother.
Then, OMG, we saw a date!!! July 3, 1843. (It's
written in the green hex in the bottom right
corner) Well I just about fainted. There was no
question about who this quilt top was going home
with. Poor Anne and Jane didn't even hint that they
would want this because I think they knew I would
fight hard for it. I think if I had any hint of
resistanceI would have grabbed it and ran!

I am having trouble getting a clear picture of the
date but I will try again tonight. We also found
some more goodies that I will share with you all later.

The moral of this story is LABEL YOUR QUILTS. At
least name, date and place. Imagine who will be
holding your quilts years from now and how excited
they will be to have just this small connection to
their past.

Until next time...
Susie

Before and After

Ta Da!
You guys are great. I completely forgot about synthrapol. I had some in my pantry. I bought it for some Cherrywood rayon that I made a jumper out of. It was a few years ago but it still worked. Next time I am at the grocery store I will buy some dye magnets. There is still a very faint tinge of pink but it is hardly noticable.
Thank you to all of you for your suggestions.

Until next time...
Susie

Pre-washing vs not

This isn't a survey but I would like to know if and why you all pre-wash your fabrics or not. I usually prewash everything before it even makes it into my sewing room except kits or BOMs with small pieces. I do it because I don't want the fabrics to shrink at a different rate. Now here is another reason.
This is in the Star Struck soldier quilt that I just finished. It must have been one of the reds that I swapped. I usually wash the quilt before I give it away.

So here's the question. Should I wash it again? Will that make it better or worse?
I don't usually have this problem.

Until next time...
Susie

Mary's triangles progress

These blocks are so much fun and so versatile. This is
what I have so far and I think I will make it larger.
It is just a lap size now and I think I will get it up to
a twin. Not sure about borders but I will keep you posted!

Until next time...
Susie

Remember

We all know exactly where we were and what we were
doing seven years ago. I was at work here in Washington
DC, three blocks from the White House, listening in
horror to the radio. When I heard there was a fourth
plane missing and presumed heading to Washington,
I grabbed my purse and left, not even waiting for our
boss to let us go (which he did about 30 minutes later).
It was 10:15am. It was a mad house out on the street.
Everyone, and I mean every single person was on their
cell phone. I couldn't get through to my husband but
I could leave a message. So I called him every 15
minutes to let him know where I was.
It took me 1 hour to travel 6 blocks. Everyone
was polite and seemed calm. I remember thinking on
my way out of town that this could be bad so I stopped
at the grocery store, the bank and the gas station. I
arrived home to lots of messages on our answering
machine checking on us. We all spent the rest of the
day glued to the TV. My boss told us to call the next
morning to see if we could open. We were able to come
to work but there were army guys on every corner with
machine guns and so many emergency and military
vehicles crowding the streets. I didn't want to stay home
the next day. I wanted to come downtown to make sure
everything was still the same. Every thing was still the
same but every one wasn't.

Let's not forget NYC, the Pentagon and the Shanksville,
PA crash. I truly believe that it is entirely possible that the
plane crashing in Pennsylvania could have saved my life.

I will never forget.

Until next time...
Susie

Finished Star Struck

A commenter asked for a photo of the finished Star
Struck and here it is. It was so easy that I think I have
to make another one. I finished the binding and put
the label on yesterday evening while my boys were
over watching football with their dad. They (the boys)
have started hanging out at our house on Sundays.
They live together about 3 miles up the road and I do
love having them around. I usually cook a brunch
after church and something yummy for dinner. Last
night we had chicken barbeque. I must admit though
that since they don't have internet access at their
house that could be the reason they hang out with us.
They both had their noses in their lap tops most of the
day. That's OK. They were home and I was content.
Don't get me wrong. I do love our empty nest and I've
said many times that I like my grown children better
when they visit!!
Here is the label on the back. Have I mentioned how
important it is to label ALL your quilts. I embroidered
the top part. I'm still a novice machine embroiderer.
And while I'm here let me say that the Embroidery Library
is my favorite site for designs. They have the cutest
designs, lots of ideas and their site is one of the easiest
to navigate. I love them.

Until next time...
Susie

Apology

It's been two weeks since I've posted. I don't have any
excuses except that I tend to rebel when non-life-
threatening things hang over me. I also have had some
health issues, computer problems, camera problems
and been screaming busy at work. But I have had those
before and still managed to post.

I have also noticed that I have had more than 10,000
visitors and missed my 1 year blogiversary. This
weekend I will decide on a giveaway and announce it
next week. I don't usually get many comments on my
posts, so maybe this will generate some.

So dear readers (Hello...hello... is anyone there???) I am
sorry and will try to do better.

Now every time I thought to take pictures as I was
sewing these past two weeks I was working on
something that I had posted about before. I finished
the Carolina Crossroads, label and all that I will be
donating to our Guild Quilt Bingo. I decided not to
name it Carolina Rebel because some people might
take offense. I am now binding the Star Struck that
I will go to Leslie, a guild member and Red Cross
volunteer who actually has the privilege of handing
out quilts to wounded soldiers at Andrews Air Force
Base. I put borders on it and just now realized I
haven't taken its picture.

Pat and Debi, if you are reading this please don't
look at this picture.




Our guild is having a pin cushion swap this Wednesday
and I made this one. It was designed by Ami Simms.
I used real tart mini-pans (that Georgia gave me, if I
promised to make her one) and glued some heavy
washers in the bottom to give it some weight. I made
it a little differently than the directions (what a surprise!!!).
I also made this cute little pin cushion with a golf tee
that fits into a spool of thread. I got the pattern from
Arlette at Polka Dot Pineapple. She has the cutest things
and a few tutorials too. I need to raid my husband's golf
bag to get some more tees.

My cousin's daughter is getting married tonight so we
will be with all our family and I am looking forward to it.
(Especially since we weren't together at the beach 'cause
I got dragged to Alaska!)

Until next time... (and I promise it will be soon!)
Susie