Feedsacks!

This week has been a jumble. Bill and I have spent 2 days updating the website. Don't ever let anyone tell you that MS Front Page is user friendly!! It always turn out to be an ordeal!

One thing I added is that I am now back in business of selling 6" feedsack squares. I had them on my website for a long, long time and just could not keep up with the cutting demand along with everything else. I have continued to sell them without advertising to my customers who contacted me personally. But now I am telling everyone that they are back! They are still by Special Request, meaning that they need to contact me to order and when the order is ready, I will invoice the customer. Seems to be a good compromise for all. They will sell for $27.50 per bundle of 50. You can go to the Hollyhock Quilts website to view the particulars.

Every once in awhile, I get lucky and have a chance to buy a pretty big collection of feedsacks. Last week was one of those times. So needless to say, I've been soaking and washing feedsacks like a crazy woman. They were really nice. Florals mostly and several duplicates. Here is a pic of only about 2/3 of the ones I purchased.

It got me to thinking.... Some of you might know that I have reserved another blog name for Hollyhock Quilts. It was actually my intention to just transfer this blog to that one. But instead of that I think I will use that blog as a tutorial blog. The first entry will be the Collecting, Care and Keeping of feedsacks! It's not out there yet, but look for it soon. I also plan to have a picture tutorial for all my patterns and several of my techniques. What do you think?

Along with the box of printed ones, there was another box full of odd white sacks like sugar sacks, flour sacks, seed sacks. etc. Not sure what I'll do with them. Most of them are pretty faded or stained. But this one was in there and I think it's my favorite of the whole lot! Note what it says at the top about the Pert Little Pullets and Foxy Little Roosters. Don't you just LOVE that??

So that's it for me. Off to read my Bible Study lesson for tonight. Yes, Presbyterians sometimes go to church other than on Sunday and even study the Bible! I know you're shocked. Bill and I are leaders of a small faith group at church and it's always a good thing for the leader to read the lesson! Have a great week!

Blessings~

Wild Wednesday (Not!)!!

BORING, BORING, BORING!!! I apologize for not posting earlier this week. Let's see....

Monday was cleaning day and laundry. Sound familiar?? Tuesday was 4 hours at the Eye Dr. with my Mom in the afternoon. Wait, wait, wait.

That morning we went to the cemetery to purchase crypts because they were on SALE!! Oh yes!! You read it right! The crypts were on sale!! 50% off no less. Does that strike you as hilarious as it does me???? Not really where I would have liked to spend money, but I could just hear ourselves later saying, as we were writing that check to bury one or the other, OH WHY did we not do that??

No new fabric, nothing exciting. So I'll take the opportunity to show you a couple of Gallery Photos! Thank goodness for my friends!

This is a wonderful piece done by Lina LaMora in Purcellville, VA. It is a Drunkard's Path design done in authentic feedsacks. She says it was her 1st attempt at machine quilting. I think she did a beautiful job! Thanks, Lina!


I also want to share these darling dolls made by Jenny Alcorn from Victoria, AU. She dressed them in several of the "Fun with Feedsacks" prints. Thanks for sharing the pics, Jenny!

Other than that, I do have some good news! I got the results back from my Dr. on my blood sugar. I'm happy to say that it is back in the normal range so I guess my diligence has paid off! This week will be my last posting about my weight (which hasn't changed), not because I'm not still working at it, but I'm down to those last few pounds which may take forever to get rid of. I just can't bear filling you in on the ounces gained or lost over the next few months! But I will let you know when I reach my goal.

I give many thanks to General Geranium for her encouragement and kick start to get so many of us on the road to getting healthier. Thanks, Sharon!!

I'm actually still working on the quilt that was inspired by the vintage piece I showed you. I'm really happy with the way it's working out, too! I'll give you a sneak peek soon. I think you'll be surprised.

Have a great week, my friends. Hope you get to do lots of quilting!

Blessings~

Another Manic Monday (OK - Tuesday)!!

My apologies to any of you who tried to look at my blog yesterday and were greeted with a blank page! Apparently a link I had added caused the posts to disappear. How weird is that? Anyhoo--hopefully it's back now and working properly.

We had a fun little trip last week. I actually didn't take the camera (duh!) thinking there wouldn't be much to take pics of, but you might have enjoyed it more than I thought. Bill and I had gone to a travel show here in Tulsa a couple of weeks ago and at the booth for a new Indian casino on the OK/MO border, we won a couple of free gift certificates! His was for $50 worth of food and mine was for $25 worth of play money. So off we went on Thursday for a little Valentine's getaway.

I really wasn't expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised. I had found that if you mentioned "the web" when you made reservations that you got $30 off your room! That made the room $69. And BOY!! Was it beautiful!! They spared NO expense with gorgeous granite, big flat screen TV, and a beautiful tile steam shower along with a huge king sized bed that you practically needed a ladder to get in to! Wow!! So we went to the casino and spent several hours playing. They had a Valentine's deal where, if you accumulated 50 points on your players card, they would give you a little box of chocolates. We both had done that and when I got mine, they had me turn it over and scratch it off to reveal Happy Valentines. Great. Then Bill turns his over and wins ANOTHER $100 in play money!! Besides that we enjoyed a delicious steak in one of the 4 on-site restaurants with the gift card and had a delightful time. Came home with a little money even!

After a leisurely breakfast we took off for Joplin and I did a little SHOPPING! We stopped at the darling shop in Carthage where I did the book signing last fall and I got this gorgeous group of fabric. Haven't decided what to do, but the colors are wonderful!

Then hit a couple of antique malls and can you guess what I found???? Let's see--- Could it be FEEDSACKS??!!

Other than that, by the time we stopped for our famous fried chicken, I guess you can figure that I didn't lose any weight! But I didn't gain, either, so I'm OK with that! We had a lot of fun and now I'm back to work..... Sorta, anyway.

Hope you all have a great week and get lots of time to stitch!

Blessings~

A GREAT WEEK!!

Hi Everyone!

Well, I had a great week and lots to tell you! FIRST, I lost that 1/2 pound I gained and another pound to boot!! Yaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!! Little bits of progress, but progress none-the-less.

NEXT I guess people felt sorry for me talking about my boring life of work, eat, and sleep so I got gifts!! I opened a totally unexpected package from Sharon at Red Geranium Cottage and look what I got!! DOTS and SOAP for Valentine's Day!! Two of my favorite things!! I've been collecting dots for a long time and these will go great with them. Now ~ What to make?? What to make??

THEN I opened an envelope and there was this DARLING group of fat quarters from Barbara at QuiltSoup!! It's her new fabric line called Bubblegum Basics. It is so cute and I just can't wait to play with it!

THEN I had a couple of really nice things happen in magazines! First, I looked at the April APQ and saw that Laura Boehnke had used my Rise N Shine fabric to test one of the patterns! I have to say she did a great job and the pattern is darling!! Darn! Why didn't I think of that first!!

THEN I got an email from a friend telling me that Mark Lipinski had reviewed Sugar Sack Quilts in his March issue. GULP!! He doesn't mince words, does he? But he gave it a wonderful review and to answer his "Should I buy it?" question he said "In a heartbeat, sister!!" Wow!! How cool is THAT??

So there you have it. Today I'm filling orders from my wonderful customers that came in over the weekend and hoping to sew tomorrow. We went to see the kids this weekend and went to a huge Arts and Craps (my husband's term for crafts) show. Also, got to see Cameron play basketball! It's amazing how good 5/6 year olds can be! Unfortunately, that was the other team!

Hope you all have a great week! I'll have to remember to complain about my boring life again sometime. If I do, will you send me presents?

Blessings~

Monday Update

Well, I have to say that there is no weight dropped this week. I forgot to weigh on Friday and after attending a Birthday Party on Saturday night and a Super Bowl Party on Sunday, I weighed the same (maybe 1/2 pound more!) that I did last week!! So this week I'm doing damage control!!

I've decided that I have a very boring life. I cannot think of one thing interesting enough to tell you today. All I do is work and eat and sleep. I did get to play in my room on Saturday and got a tiny start on that quilt I told you I was excited about making. I'll show you a picture of the quilt that inspired me and then you can see the finished product whenever I'm done. Here it is:

When I am designing a quilt, it speaks to me as I go. That's one reason I have always found it difficult to computer generate a quilt. Already since I started this one, I have changed it 2 or 3 times. Hopefully for the better! I'll let you be the judge when you see it.

I haven't shown you a Gallery quilt lately. Here's one from a fellow Tulsan, Valerie Fischer. We have never met except on the blog, but it was really fun being in touch with a neighbor! She used my Tin Star Cowboy pattern and added those fabulous guitars along with the Roy Rogers fabrics to make a Christmas present for a Roy Rogers fan. I think it is wonderful!! Thanks for sharing, Valerie!!

Well, folks, I guess that's all the excitement I can handle on this Monday morning! I'm going to do some laundry and go upstairs and sew a little more. Have a wonderful week!

Blessings~

Loser Monday and My New Cabinet!

Guess what I got?? WII Fit!! I am SOOOOOO excited. I decided that I had to get more serious about exercise and Kim (DD) had one at Christmas that looked really fun so I rushed home to go shopping and pick one up. Yeah right!

Guess what I found out? So did everybody else!! I've been checking here and there since Christmas and nope, they just sold the last one. So Bill was going to Sam's and I said to check there (never expecting the would have one, either). So he asks the guy if they have any and the guy says "GO NOW to this aisle!! We just got some in this morning! GO NOW!!" So off he went and voila'! Here is my WII Fit!! Now I just have to figure it out!!

Oh, yes! And I lost another 1/2 pound last week! YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! At least I'm making progress.

OK--More news!!

You know I told you in the post about my sewing room that Bill was going to build me a cabinet for my ironing board? Well, here it is!! I LOVE it. I'm sure I'll find all kinds of stuff to add to it, but I got a little more stuff off the floor for now. It is SO cool!!

I spent several hours playing in my newly organized room (OK-so I'm still not done) and I came across an old quilt that gave me great inspiration so I pulled out some of the fabric that I bought in Houston last fall and I can't wait to get started!! I am SO excited to sew again!! I'll let you in on a sneak peek as I get some of it made.

Hope you all have a great week. We're supposed to get freezing rain this afternoon and tomorrow so I'll be huddled in my room upstairs and wait it out. Please pray that the power doesn't go out again like it did a year ago! I would be so sad if I couldn't sew!

Blessings~

OH! I Forgot to Show You---

In my last post about my sewing room, I forgot to tell you about one of the things that Bill did that I like the very BEST. It is my new design wall! It used to be a Warm and White batting tacked to the wall. It was a real problem if I needed to pin something. He saw Linda Jenkins' new design wall when we visited them this summer so we copied hers. He covered 2 big pieces of wallboard with batting and mounted them to the wall. Now I just pin into wallboard which is SO much easier! It's also great for picture taking. It measures about 7' x 7 1/2'. I LOVE it!!

Blessings~