I figured it out...

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I really should go back and put it where it belongs - but I'm too lazy - and besides - I want to sew right now.  Talk to you later.

Feeling better today...

Hi guys -

I'm feeling much better today.  It took long enough!  I didn't get much done in the last week - but I did manage to do some sewing - between naps, of course.

First - I got the placemats all together into a top - turned out to be about 41" x 45".  Not bad.  I only used 7 of them - so the extra one will probably be - drum roll, please - a placemat!!  I'm going to practice my free motion quilting on it - like I was going to do in the first place!

 

Anyway - I may use this as the back for my other little table topper - make it kinda reversible - haven't decided yet.  But for now, it's going on top of my "unquilted tops" pile - 'cuz I'm getting a little tired of working with blue and yellow.  I get bored easily.  And besides - Halloween is coming and I want to work on something "Halloweeny" right now.

So I dug out a charm pack to play with - Pungkin Peers by Julie Dobson Miner - Studio E Fabrics - really cute.  And my book - Rotary Cutting Revolution by Anita Grossman Solomon.  I wanted to try her "No Waste Windmill Block".  She makes them with 8" blocks but I figured I could resize it for 5" charms - so here goes.

Here we have the first pile all nice and cut -

And the second stack ready to go -

Oops....

Oh, well - guess they're going to be a bit short.  Not the first time I screwed up the cutting - so I figured it was time for another nap.  (Naps - funny how I hated them when I was a little kid - now they are one of my favorite things.)

Later - I put them up on my design wall - 4 x 4 -

Not bad - how about 6 x 3 ? -

Yeah, I like that better - more like a table runner or placemat - depending on how big it turns out.  I love how quilts decide how big they want be.  This one already decided it wanted to be smaller - or I wouldn't have screwed up the cutting - don't you think?

Anyway - I put the extra (short) pieces up to fill the holes - and got this -

I'm really liking how it looks.  Now I'll sew it together and see how big it wants to be.  Then I'll decide on borders - or not.  Stay tuned.

Bitchy Pill + Voice Mail = Mini Bitch Rant

I'm not feeling well today.  I have been fighting a cold/flu thing and the meds I'm taking make me bitchy.  (Yeah, I know - I don't really need a pill to make me bitchy!)  So I decided to take a nap and when I heard the phone ring - I let it go to "voice mail".

I still don't understand why they call it "voice mail".  I get "e-mail" - you're mailing information electronically - that makes sense.  "Voice mail" just doesn't make sense to me.  It's not like you're mailing your voice or anything.  And at my house, if I don't answer the phone - I have a machine that answers it for me - I call it my "answering machine".  (I told you that I took a bitchy pill - or two!)

Anyway - this is the message I got while I was taking my nap -

This message is for (my full name).  We have received an approval for your follow-up.  Please call us at 555-ABCD.  555-ABCD.  Thanks.  Bye-bye.

OK.
(my full name) - Must be official - no one calls me by my full name unless it's official.
We - Who is "We"?  Who are you?
received an approval - Must be medical.
follow-up - Which one?  I wish I had only one doctor.
us - Who is "us"?  I repeat - Who are you?
555-ABCD - Oh, goody - I get to check the numbers of all of my doctors to see who you are.
Bye-bye - What are you - three?

I know with all the HIPAA rules they can't say they are a doctor's office calling - just in case the wrong person gets the message.  (Too bad they don't guard your financial information as closely as they do your medical.)  But I really want to call them back and leave this message -

This message is for you.  I got your message.  Please call me at 555-EFGH.  555-EFGH.  Thanks.  Bye-bye.

Ya really gotta shop around...

The other day I received some gorgeous rayon thread from Nancy's Notions.  I love their stuff.  (AND - I even figured out how to insert the picture - and the links that follow - YAY!!) 

Anyway, they had a Madeira (R)** Rayon Value Thread Pack (#MSSA) on sale for $17.99.  The regular price for this pack is a whopping $65.70!!  A pack of 18 spools - 40 wt - 220 yds per spool - for a buck a spool!!   Wow - I couldn't pass it up at that price!!  Good deal, right?  I thought so, too.

So then I get an email from Jo-Ann's - they are having a sale.  Cool!!  I'm browsing around their website and I find their Madeira (R)** Thread Sampler - Rayon Power (#1081629) - 40 wt - 220 yds per spool - same stuff - on sale for $38.49.  The regular price is $54.99!!

Then just for the hell of it - I checked Connecting Threads.  They have the same stuff (#20835) for $28.95 - regular price!!

Now these may not be exactly the same thing - and I may be reading it all wrong - but they sure as hell looked like the same thing to me.  They all were Madeira (R)** - Rayon - 18 pack - 40 wt - 220 yd spools.  I just couldn't believe the range in price!  And - the best part is - I accidentally got the best deal.  I would have been really pissed if I had paid Jo-Ann's $38.49 sale price!!

Now maybe I should stock up before Jo-Ann's has another sale.

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Update - I got another email from Jo-Ann's this morning - and I just had to check the price on this thread one more time before I posted this.  They had it at the same price I mentioned above - but get this - they have another set on sale - Madeira (R)** Incredible Threadable Embroidery Boxes .  Regular price $149.99 - on sale for $149.95!!  I can save four cents!!  Seriously?????

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**  I know, I know - Madeira(R)** is a registered trademark name thingy - and I really wanted to put the "R" symbol after the name - really - but I don't know how to get the symbol from "Word" to this blog - so please don't sue me.

My first post - WOO HOO!!

I'm new to this - so bear with me while I try to figure out what the hell I'm doing.  For those of you who are offended by the profanity - STOP READING NOW!!

I will undoubtedly say something rude, out of line, offensive, or worse sooner or later - so if you are easily offended, don't say I didn't warn you.  I will try to be more funny than bitchy - but we'll see how that works out.  Can't tell just yet.

As my title line says - The Quilt Bitch - I love to quilt.  I love to bitch.  And sometimes I make a bitchin' quilt.

I decided to start a blog so that I could share my love of quilting and maybe some pictures of my projects and an occasional - or maybe more than occasional - bitch rant.  I couldn't decide what to call my blog but I knew that it had to have two words in it for sure - "quilt" and "bitch".  I really wanted to call it "The Bitchin' Quilter" but thought it sounded too much like "The Bitchy Stitcher".  I love Megan's blog - and sure didn't want anyone to think I was she.  (Yes, I do believe the grammar is correct on that one.)  Megan is waaaaaaaaay funnier than I am - so I decided against a blog name that close to hers.  I had a couple of names on my list - and imagine my surprise then my very first choice was "available".  (Maybe I should have re-arranged my list - but, oh well, too late.)

Anyway - for now I'm somewhat anonymous and no one really knows that I'm here - so I can pretty much say what I want about anyone/anything I want without having to censor myself.  Would I say something about someone that I wouldn't say to his/her face?  Probably not.  Would I say something on this blog about someone when I knew he/she might see it?  Probably not.  I really am a nice lady.  But there are times when someone does something that just rubs you the wrong way and you have to tell "somebody".  This blog is my "somebody".  I don't get out much these days (I'll tell you more about that someday), and I "really do need to talk to some grown-ups in the daytime" (I'll tell you that story, too - someday).

As far as the quilting goes - I'm not perfect but I have won my share of blue ribbons at the local county fair and at a Quilt Show in a near-by town.  I have never entered a quilt in a juried show or any type of international competition.  Maybe someday.

As far as the bitching goes - I'd like to paraphrase Leslie Gore - "It's my blog and I'll bitch if I want to, bitch if I want to, bitch if I want to.  You would bitch too, if it happened to you."  I swear sometimes the world if full of idiots - and they are all out to mess up my life.

And sometimes I really do make a bitchin' quilt.  I promise to post pictures and show them to you when I figure out how to do that part of this blogging thingy.

Wow - that was easy.  Didn't hurt much at all.