EYE CANDY

Some one sent me this picture this morning and all I could say was, WOW! If I wasn't married I'd probably put it up on the wall like a teenager. LOL! Enjoy.

I'M DRAWING

I didn't do much quilting today because I was falling asleep all day long. I went to bed at 2a.m last night and woke up at 6:30 this morning. I was falling asleep while on the computer, while trying to quilt, while trying to read, I even think I starting dreaming while dozing off on my chair. Hard as I tried I couldn't keep my eyes open. The small amount of time that I wasn't sleepy I drew this little dog. I have got to practice, I can see I'm pretty rusty. I bought some art supplies at Barnes& Nobel at some really good prices for my son in CA who's into painting big time. I couldn't resist and bought some supplies for me to. I also bought a new chair which I needed badly because the old one was really aggravating my sciatic nerve. New chair, no pain. Don't even get me started on that sciatic pain. There are days when it sticks with me like an old piece of gum on hair. Tonight will probably be another sleepless night since I took at nap at 7p.m. I swear I have got to get my sleeping hours back to normal.

I have to go put some anti itching cream on my little dog because she has a big red bump on her little forehead. A mosquito probably got her.

MY ESSENTIALS, WHAT ARE YOURS

I have always been curious as to what supplies every quilter, painter, or multi media artist uses so I decided to show you all my most essential quilting supplies. I have lot's of rulers and didn't have room for them in the picture so just imagine them somewhere. I use the 4x25 inch clear ruler with the yellow lines every time I cut fabric. I'm a gadget person, I love all kinds of gadgets. 1. neck strap with scissors 2. Roxanne quilting needles (I love these needles) 3. 1/4" quilting tape 4. bees wax to run my thread through when quilting 5. round clamps(this is what I use when I roll the sides of a quilt while quilting on the sewing machine. They make it easier for me to handle.) 6. Wrist pin cushion 7. Thimble (my favorite) 8. Scissors (super sharp, small and large) 9. Multi Viewer (it multiplies one block into many so you can see what a quilt will look like) 10. Mini Iron, I love this thing for ironing small blocks especially applique 11. Safety pin clips you attach to the sides of a pin so they're easier to handle and see. 12. This helps you push needles into hard places but I use it to open safety pins 13. Thimble It, you put these on the tips of your fingers that you use to feel the quilting as it comes under the quilt while hand quilting. 14. Finger Needle Graber, you put them on your finger tips to make it easier to grab a needle. 15. Needle Graber, does the same thing as #14 16. Quilter's FabriCal, a calculator just for fabric. This is wonderful for figuring fabric yardage. It's the best. This was a gift from my cousin. Thanks cuz. 17. Clips to hold the binding in place on a quilt while you're hand quilting it. Use these instead of pins. 18. Finger massagers, you put these on your thumbs and massage away. Have someone do it for you of course. 19. Seam ripper with a light. A must for tired eyes. 20. Marking pencil 21. Mini vacum attachments that you attach to a regular size vacum. These are great to take the dust and thread lint from your machine. 22. Quilt Pounce, it looks like an eraser doesn't it, you remove that red cap and put chalk powder inside them cover it up and pounce over any stencil to trace to quilting design. It's great. 23. Marking pencils and chalk markers 24. Wax, again. 25. Rotary cutter, I don't know how I almost forgot that. It should be at the top of the list. Things that are not listed: 26. Baptist Fan templates that I made myself because it's my favorite hand quilting design. 27. Tiny 1/2" applique pins.I knew I would forget something. Ugh. I didn't list all my stuff of course, these are just the things that I take out every time I machine piece or hand quilt. I'd love to see what supplies you use.

Handi Stippler

I just got the Handi Stippler I ordered a couple of weeks ago. It' suppose to control the speed of your machine to whatever speed feels comfortable for you and whatever speed allows you to make better machine stippling. I have to say I love this thing, it allows you to change your speed from real slow to real high and it has many settings in between. The price was very reasonable compared to others I've seen. Now, I'm not plugging this product I'm just giving my opinion. I'll let you know when I find a gadget I think is great. I'll try anything if it'll make my life easier.

Hurricane My Way

O.K here we go again, playing the guessing game of will the hurricane come our way or not. I can't tell you all how tired I am of this. Having to deal with the possibility of getting a hurricane every summer has really gotten to me and now I'm getting angry. I am ready to relocate but hubby has his job here and we have the Galveston beach, the city of Houston, which is a great city by the way. I guess what really made me seriously think of relocating was the evacuation during hurricane Rita. That was a total nightmare! My son in CA has to deal with earthquakes and my newly transplanted son in Jersey City has to deal with cold and snow. So, what's it's easier to deal with, hurricanes, earth quakes, bitter cold or snow? You may not think snow is a big deal but it is when you've lived in Houston your whole life. We only get snow flurries every couple of years, so where is the best place to live. Hawaii is out of the question, it's too expansive to live there. I shall let you all know what happens. Which all of us luck.

Umbrella Girls

O.K this is the second time I post this the other post got lost in cyber space. I bought this quilt top from a co worker who got it as a wedding present from some ladies a long long time ago and it had been in a drawer for 18 years, since my friend isn't into quilting she asked if I was interested in it. I just fell in love with it when I saw it so I gave her $30 for it. It has the smallest applique stitches I have ever seen and the fabrics are good strong cotton and it looks to be from the 50's, very vintage. All the shoes are embroidered and the blocks are pretty big like 16 inches. It's not perfect, one of the sides is missing the border but I will replace that with no problem. I will probably pick a color that matches one of the dresses middle part. I can't wait to make this into a quilt.