A friend came to visit last week ... no time to post

 C is one of those friends where there is no awkward silences, we simply start where we left off.  And she is my favorite project consultant, we reviewed many projects and mapped out the way to continue.  There is hope for my (I want to change the pattern) Wool around the Garden languishing project.  Now to get to it!

 

We immediately took down the September 'gallery' and put up the Halloween display.  I found out I have two fall quilts that have the same plaid border ... guess they've never been hung this close together before.  Oh well!  One will come down after Halloween, the other will stay up for Thanksgiving.

We laughed and giggled, attended a "Woolies" meeting (group giggling!), watched TV while we sewed, gathered rocks on the beach, Stacked them, walked thru the Redwood groves, and ate fairly healthy if you don't count the ice cream breaks! (We never count those!)

The weather started out so well, an 80 degree day for our beach walk, 70s for the Woolies meeting.  Then Fall Fog rolled in and, well, we got a lot of consulting done!  Can't complain about that.

Here's 'my' stack of rocks and my surprise 'sewing is cheaper than therapy ... I think' present.  Both sitting in front of my sampler corner!

A married couple that I know is moving out of our area.  They know I quilt (everyone who knows me knows that!!) and asked me to help re-home some antique table linens and 50s quilts.  C and I consulted on those.  I'm happy to report that Latimer Textile Museum will except any donated textiles.  If they don't incorporate the items into their archives, they share with their members or sell / auction them off keeping the proceeds for the museum.  Sounds like a win/win!  I see some Newport quilters next week and hope to hand these off to be taken to Tillamook.  

Our new Guild year has started.  P and I are in charge of the BOM program and we decided we're doing 9patches - all the different figurations of 9 patch.  September - the year's 1st meeting - we showed a traditional 9patch made with fabric squares.  Easy peasey!  In October we're presenting Double 9patch using strip sets.  

So many guild members have 'written off' 9p because it's so elementary.  We hope to show interesting possibilities.  A 'new' member posted her 'first 9p' on IG.  She pieced fabrics to construct the dark squares - EXACTLY what we hoped for!!  Someone trying something new and making it their own!  Happy Dances all around!

The new President introduced a new EPP project exchange.  Halloween fabric coffins!  A Dresden Plate pattern with the points cut off.  AND she commissioned a local shop with a 3D printer to make us a 2 piece template.  And it is GREAT!  Taken apart you have a window template to line up your motifs for cutting (the green cats) 

Warning:  It is addictive!  C cut out the card stock papers and then started gluing the fabric onto it with my new Glue Pen!  We were a team!  I cut out 10 piece sets out of 6 fabrics now bagged and ready to exchange!  It's going to be cute!!

                        

The Whimsical Griffin, he made the template, is willing to sell it to anyone wanting one from his Etsy shop.  Here's the link.  Whimsical Griffin   He's charging the same he charged us to walk in and buy it.  He thinks postage will be $3.  

I'll keep you informed of our progress.  We hand in sets this month, but don't get the exchanged shapes back until next month.

And a fun time was had by all - again!!

 Just back from a four day retreat!!  Oh man, oh man – it was great and worth all the hassle of remembering everything you’ll need.  And then packing, driving 4 hours, unpacking, then trying to find the fabric / tool / thread that you KNOW you packed!!  It’s always crazy - but oh-so-worth-it!

Retreats are my favorite thing.  Just the time alone with your quilting peeps and your favorite activity.  They cook for us. The phone is rarely for us.  Giggling 24-7 with friends,  even without the benefit of Mike's Hard Lemonade!!  Not much money spent unless you go shop-hopping!  And win-win – you get stuff done!

On Wednesday, we arrived at the Big K Ranch in Elton OR in the afternoon – first project:  I started repairing my DGD’s Halloween quilt.  What a pain in the patooty!  So, after hours - a whole side border, I called it good until I got back home.  (Today’s update:  All broken quilted lines are sewn over.  I only have 4 squares to tack down by hand.  Tonight during tv!!)

Thursday, I started the funner(?) stuff!!  My machine was already threaded with orange … so what better time to stitch up “Peek a BOO!”  A Jenny Doan pattern for a twin sized quilt.  P made the twin quilt earlier, it was darn cute, but P and I reduced those 4” squares to 2 ½” and me 2”.  Makes a mighty fine wall quilt!  Together they look like big brother and baby Boo!!  Too cute!  L got a kick out of how we were making the same project but with totally different processes!!  All was well for me, until I forgot about the column of “Peek” resting on the table and kept sewing!  Yep, P helped by ripping that seam out and I got the errant column in.  Much cuter!!  And yes, there were games, or photo opps!  A Scissors headgear was a huge success - "Now where did I put those scissors?"

 

Friday, was the ‘funnest’ stuff!  We bought Applique with a Twist from Meg Manwaring.  (we meant to buy Daily Dose of Applique in the same set up!  It’s hard to keep your focus when you are excited to find it and you’re 69 years young!)  But the pattern is practically the same!  Kind-of, sort of!!  The sashing is scraps sewn into ‘ticker tape’.  Yep, that’s what I call it and I’m keeping it!  Ticker tape is FUN to make!  You chain stitch, of course, just add another strip of whatever color attracts your eyes!

The final ticker tape (in our version) is 2 ½”.  So we sewed!  P’s scraps were longer, mine were from an age old project of mini log cabin blocks. I’m sure you remember the grocery bag full of ‘pieces too little to use, but too big to throw away!’  I moved them to Oregon and had a ball with them.  I have enough log cabin blocks made to create a KING-size bed quilt!!  That sucker is going to be    H-E-A-V-Y!

No need to make more, so I magnanimously donated my log cabin scraps to ticker tape!  Still so fun to see all those favorite fabrics!  Sigh!  We each pieced ticker tape until we had a dozen or so – laid them out on a table and took turns picking out strips.  Ended up with a pile each!  And yes, we have as many scraps left as we took!  Scraps are famous for ‘fluffing’!

That evening I wanted to get started with a Boro wall quilt I’ve wanted to do since before COVID.  P and I went on a QuiltTour trip to Japan in January 2020.  Yes, COVID was there, and we were touring around with crowds of tourists.  But we were lucky, got to come home as scheduled; and I don’t believe anyone in our group ended up with COVID.

It was a grand tour, ending up at the Tokyo Intl Quilt Show.  We bought a few fabrics (not as many as we’d liked to – big hassle to get them home.)  So time to gather those beautiful fabrics, some we bought from Yoko Saito herself!  I played with what I’d brought, but I needed more lighter fabrics.  So took pictures of the arrangement so far, and packed it all up again.  P thought we were going to work on Kantha – also from the Orient, but very different. You think you are communicating but sometimes you’re not!  Mostly my fault, I’m sure!

I made an improv forest wall quilt earlier this year for ModSquad – I love it!  But I ended up with lots more trees than needed.  Yes, they are that addictive!  The Newport Guild has a Charity Benefit silent auction at their August Quilt Show.  This year there is a ‘tree’ theme for donations for Re-Foresting.  You can donate a small quilt for the silent auction OR you can display it and make a donation.  This is going to be a close call – it’s still in 3-5 pieces, but I already love it!  I was going to donate the 'second favorite' tree quilt - …. But I may go with a donation!!  I’ll keep you informed!

 

ModSquad Challenge

Retreat edition - in pieces!

P, L and I had been working on improv birds this spring.  We all brought them to the retreat.  They are stinking cute!  So cute that 2-3 more retreaters started them too!  I cut so many stripes so we would have a choice of stripes for bird legs.  Well, we couldn’t use them all - so I sewed them end to end and made a border I dearly love!  You just can’t go wrong with these birds!!  Here are the online directions!  Start on a free day … it’s addictive!

I'm thinking I could add one more row - there's almost enough border!  I do like rectangle quilts more than square!  We'll see.  There IS a possibility that I just want to make some more birds!!  Yes, they are that fun!!!

Can you believe we fit all that into just 4 days??? This week I'm going to watch grandchildren compete in tennis and baseball.  It may be in the rain ... but it's always good to see the 'Mids'!  They used to be the 'Littles' but now in their teens!  I have no idea how that happened!

Good books lately - 

The River by Peter Keller  Two college friends camping and canoeing in the Boundary Waters.  Tested by fire, white water and violence.  But this softie loved meeting the main characters. 

Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey  A real cutie and who doesn't love Tom Hanks!  Kerry Winfrey has written several light romances - you know, the kind you long for.  She also has a newsletter that's fun to read.

The World Played Chess by Robert Dugoni  A book about serving in Vietnam.  It was heart-breaking but not too brutal for this softie.  Very good

The Book of Lost Names by Kristen Harmel  A WWII resistance in France novel.  The characters came to life and it was hard to put the book down.

See you next time!  Rain or Shine!

Third blog post in a week!!!

I’m at a mini retreat this weekend.  Does your guild hold these?  We meet at the clubhouse our meetings are at.  Start at 10 on Saturday, BYOL (lunch) and Pot Luck Dinner.  (I made tabuli!)  We quilt until we wilt (about 8:30 these days!!!)  Come back Sunday morning, Leftovers Lunch and quilt til about 4!  It’s great fun.

I’m working on the 2^nd “dog destroyed” quilt.  It’s my favorite Halloween quilt.  It was tied (tied quilts are so comfy!)  Most of the damage was on the back? 

I’m sure you remember my whining last year?!  THREE quilts returned for ‘repair’!  

I repaired my DSIL’s Cancer Survivor Quilt first – I’m superstitious!  This Halloween quilt was my favorite of the four I made.  So prep-work was: cut the ties; remove eaten back and batting.  There were a few chews on the front.  But not bad.  Replace one four-patch; slipcover one square I missed the damage on! 

Then there was the “Tie” holes.  I had some of the awesome orange “Maywood’s ShadowPlay”  I used in the alternate squares; so I fused and cut 2” squares to cover them.  So far so good – Now the checkerboard looks like Pluses!!  SCORE!!

You’ll see before, during and after pictures, I’m sure!  More to come!

Anyone out here use Instant Pot?  I found a recipe to make applesauce.  Umm, Umm, sure is good!  We like chunkier applesauce … so I revised the recipe a little!  (I'm getting braver about revising, as long as DH is my 'taster'!)

I have a good friend, U, who has two types of apple trees in her backyard.  Every year, about this time, she puts out the call:  “Help!  I’m up to my knees in apples, come pick!” And we come!!  I’ve been twice this week! Of course, I only pick half a Trader Joe’s bag at a time!  My body doesn’t like marathons any more.  Not cooking, not quilting, not walking – not even binge watching!! 

One tree is Delicious apples – planted by a seed by her father.  One is a tree transplanted from the family home – type forgotten.  SO  I didn’t use the apples the recipe suggested,  our apples must have been tart-er.  The recipe doesn’t call for sugar.  I added some quickly!

DH helped me peel the apples the first day.  Then he took to the couch and didn’t even go golfing that afternoon.  I thought I’d killed him!!  The second day, I started the applesauce after he left for the golf course.

With some trepidation … I have arthritis in my hands, especially my left thumb.  The apples are organic, small and gnarly!  I used that kitchen tool – the apple star.  Wear an apron – those things throw apple juice far and wide!!  

Then I peeled the eighths; cut them in half, put them in a 6 cup mixing bowl. 

When the bowl was brimming, I put them in the IP with my revised recipe.  

While that was cooking, I kept working with the apples.  Had the second batch ready when the first came out!  Cleaned up the kitchen while the second batch was cooking.  Done and cleaned up in 2 hours!!

A half Trader Joe’s bag makes 2 batches.  The finished applesauce is about 2 quarts – I freeze mine.

Here is MY adaptation of the recipe:

six cup mixing bowl brimming with cut up apples

1 cup water

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice (from about 1/2 a lemon)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup of Brown Sugar

Cook on high for 6 minutes – release early as described.

This year is the first time using an Instant Pot, but the applesauce is a big hit with the grandkids.  In fact, Miss P asked me over Labor Day if I could make some applesauce!  I said no – didn’t have my stuff.  But I’d make some and bring it next time! 

I'm sure it will be a hit!  And if not - well, more for us!!  Tee-hee!

Fall is flying by

I can't believe it's even Fall - let alone this close to Halloween!  It's been busy.  Just last week 4 intrepid Brookings quilters headed to Santa Clara for the Pacific International Quilt Festival.  And what a show it was!  Fabulous!

We traveled through Santa Rosa and saw the fire damage where it jumped across 101 several times.  Brookings was threatened by a fire this summer, but we definitely got lucky when the wind changed for our little town.  Our hearts go out to the whole community - we know first hand that everyone is affected.

I've been playing with my large collection of selvedges lately!  It all started with an UFO I needed to finish because almost everyone else was finished and I was a heartbeat away from being Queen of the UFOs!!  Gasp!  That's never good.

A small group banded together and decided to try a group fabrication - because, seriously, aren't they amazing!  We decided to start with a 'barn slice' as explained in an old copy of Quilting Today Magazine.


I helped a friend who couldn't finish hers (on the left) and made my section out of 'text' fabrics I've been playing around with. It reminded me of the deserted barns that have weathered to all grey.  Those narrow little strips led to more selvedge postcards.  And then selvedge Mummies on post cards!

Don't try to follow how my brain skips merrily from project to project!  Just go with the flow!




 I love this layout of selvedges.  Reminds me of old string quilts!










Riel Nason has a great Halloween book published showing her awesome selvedge Halloween quilts.  I fell in love with  "Mummy needs Fabric" and reduced it to a postcard size.

You would not believe how big of a mess results from these innocent little postcards!!  Selvedges everywhere!



I have a small group meeting here tomorrow and this afternoon I TORE our small condo apart looking for 2 Halloween hangings.  Nada!

 "Hello, Police!  I'd like to report a robbery.  No, they did not take our big screen or the 3 tablets/computers we own.  They took a Halloween four-patch and a wool hanging with 3 jack o'lanterns on it!!!  Oh, never mind, you're right - I'll probably find them when I get out the Easter decorations!!!! "  But don't you just hate it when you CANNOT find something when you 'know' just where you must have put it!!!

But while looking for them, I found some others I can substitute!!

"Witch and Famous" is a quilt I usually hang on the door.  The wind is roaring and pouring rain today and tomorrow ... it will be safer inside!

The original pattern had a complicated border ... but after listening to friends complain about it, I found this 'spooky' stripe in my stash and it was perfect ... and easy!!








  Small, Fall, Wall is an old fall quilt.  A reduction and less complicated version of an pattern put out by Red Wagon back in the day.  Linda Brannock actually came to a retreat and taught us!!  So lucky!

She told us, "Just because we make it that size, doesn't mean you have to!"  You could have heard a pin drop in that room.  Our minds were all grasping that fact and figuring out which pattern we were going to reduce first!!!

I ended up making 4(?) of these.  Everyone loved it and 'needed' one immediately!

 The pumpkins table runner was from a Cathy Ware class a few years ago.  Again I adapted the pattern, the tops of the pumpkins hung off the body of the runner and that was just too fussy for me!  My table is wider than usual and making the whole piece wider made it look better too!  Win-win!

Look at those cute pumpkins on top of it!  I got the fabric one at PIQF - itty-bitty yo-yos and buttons.  Who doesn't love those!

It's late and I must start heading for bed! Big day tomorrow:  I have to get up early and assemble Vampire doughnuts!!  [insert evil laugh here!] But I'll leave you with some eye candy from Portland Expo!  Enjoy!

 

Season's Greetings, Dearie!!! in other words - Happy Halloween!

Why, oh why, do we love Halloween so much!  Why couldn't we love something in summer so all our Holiday decorating isn't the last 3 months of the year!!!  Oh well, I do love it!

Here's some more pictures of the Halloween quilts - with the grands!

Don't you just love that 'spontaneous' zombie hand coming up from the back of the quilt????  I love elementary school age!  They are so-o funny! This was the second skeleton quilt - and I like the calm of the checkerboard compared to the disappearing 9patch.  These quilts were tied after quilting around the panel.  I love a tied quilt - it molds around your body so much, keeping all the heat close!

I imagined these quilts being brought out in the Fall and used until after Halloween.  Washed and hidden away until the next fall.  When I mentioned that to my DD she said, "I don't think that is going to happen, mom.  We're still dragging out the baby quilts to sleep with when we don't feel good!!" Oh well!

Both strippie quilts were quilted with a walking foot on my DSM.  If you enlarge the picture - you can see it.  They turned out well!

 

Strippie quilt.  Note there are 2 Orange fabrics in the one on the left.  I may have been a little 'stressed' working to deadline.  I lost one of the black fabric strips on my black wool design wall!!!  Imagine my surprise when I walked back into the "Staging Area" (no longer a sewing room!  No room to sew in there!!!!) and spotted it after redesigning the quilt! Sometimes I truly miss my mind!

This 4 yr old face - doesn't it just melt your heart????

The skeleton is about the size of a thinner 4 yr old???  I really wanted these pictures of the kids standing next it it.  It won't grow, but they are all shooting up like weeds! Note "Nap Anatomy" was made with disappearing 9patch blocks.  It's chaotic!  Perfect for a Halloween quilt, but I did do checkerboard for Mr Bones, the second one. 

Parental units with the kids!  This was the only time that Mr K, 2 yrs old, stood still for a picture. The rest of him are just blurs!!  (Hope for better luck next visit!) 2nd skeleton pictured with the Portland bunch.  Hmmm, I didn't change those sizes, I must have taken the Portland picture with "square" on the Ipad! Trust me, the quilts are the same size!

 

And at long last - a finished UFO!  I took this class in fall 2014.  Adapted from a pattern that had the pumpkin stems/leaves hanging off like penny rug flaps.  I didn't want to deal with that fussy work and my table is big.  This 17 x 43 runner is a better fit for me.

The pumpkins are hand appliqued using blanket stitch, the strips were couched and I used warm and white batting.  It's sturdy!  I machine quilted it with my DSM.  I can't hand quilt through all those layers.  My mind thinks I'm 30 but my hands feel like they are 90!  I'm starting to get picky about what I do by hand.  AND it wouldn't have been done - back to the bottom of the UFO pile for sure!!

At our babysitting gig,  DD left me the homework assignment about our 1st graders' heritage.  Asked DSIL where his family is from "Dunno! somewhere in Europe?"

Hmm, deadline looming, must be boy-ish or Mr M won't do it.  Well, okay then - how about England and we can make a Buckingham Palace guard!  Off to JoAnn's for some felt - which thankfully was on sale.  You'd be so proud of me!  Two grands in tow, into JoAnn's - and coming out with ONLY what was needed for this project!  It may have been a first!

Miss P - my 3rd grader - was involved in all the conversations; the shopping and then she (because she wasn't allowed to do the project for Mr M - which they both would have preferred!!!) made her own person.  She had a "Peace" t shirt; jeans and very stringy embroidery floss hair!

Mr M cut out the paper patterns we drew on the Flat Stanley type doll.  He placed and glued clothing, drew the face, designed a gun and sewed on the buttons!  Those weren't going to stay put glued!  Of course, all with my help and supervision!  It took a couple of hours, but turned out really good!

At the end, the funniest thing happened.  Miss P turned to me and said, "Gee, when I did this project, I was Swedish!  Can we have different ancestors?"  YEP!  Remembering that would have saved alot of texting and anguish. Oh well, I believe we were working closer to Christmas that time.  DH does have Swedish ancestors and we liked the idea of candles on her head!!!

Did I mention he has the same teacher!?!?!?  Hope she has a sense of humor!

Batting clean up!

Ok, does anyone else feel like they've been watching too much baseball???  I'm going batty!!

First story to finish -

Last day of the cruise.  We were at sea and already our minds were on getting everything packed and out in the hall before bedtime!  It's amazing how what we brought and what we collected, and/or bought exploded in the room!!

Friday:  On the way to Victoria

At 10 in the morning, we met with all the quilters we'd met on board for a giant show and tell! There were 6 (one not pictured, darn!) of us and it was fun to see the different "favorite parts of quilting." We loved seeing all the photos on our phones and the handwork we had with us.  A couple of them even went to the quilt shops after hearing about them from us.  And we made plans with N to meet at Road to California.

I went to the Captain's Mariner's lunch with U. A great dining room lunch with yummy soup; a cheese strata; and berry cobbler. We got our picture taken with the Captain too!

Then it was "Out on deck for a Cause" for me.  Walking for Cure for Cancer, in honor of mom - I walked 2 of the 3 miles and then went for ice cream on the Lido Deck!!  OK, you know I always am ready for ice cream anytime, any place, so this was no surprise! The walking tour tonight is making me cautious about how far to walk this afternoon.

Stroll thru Victoria                            6:30                        2 hours                 

Start out from ship terminal and walk with your guide on a journey of discovery through one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in Western Canada. Streets are lined with period houses and you will hear captivating stories of the people and events that shaped this charming town.  The crown jewel is beautiful Beacon Hill Park, complete with manicured flower beds, towering trees (keep an eye out for nesting eagles and herons), and perhaps the occasional ghost or restless spirit.  

Reaching Downtown Victoria you will encounter a vibrant city with an English old town atmosphere. Your guide will introduce to you two very famous buildings - the Legislature bldg and the our famous Empress Hotel. A great deal of history surrounds both these famous landmarks and some of the stories are right out of the "truth is stranger than fiction" department. 

Your tour ends on the lawns of the Empress Hotel.  Guests who wish to stay in town to shop or explore independently are welcome to do so, but must make their own way back to the ship.

Wear sturdy walking shoes, bring bottled water. Restroom facilities en route are very limited. Bring your sense of humor to best enjoy this lively and entertaining outing.

We were an hour late docking.  Not sure how we got that far off schedule.  So the Walking tour of Victoria started later and by the time we got to the Beacon Hill Park, it was after sunset.  We did see a group of trees that Heron were nesting in.  (Don't cross into the white part of the pavement, just saying!!) But we saw a tree with peacocks nesting in it.  They are BIG!  And how did they get up that high???  It was full dark when we got downtown, the Legislature Bldg was lit up.  I walked thru the Empress Hotel after the tour.  Did a little shopping and then caught the free bus back to the dock.  It's a lively downtown area, very pretty setting.  But the tour was tougher walking than I thought! We were always cutting across rough lawn, in the dark or semi-dark.  I had to keep my eyes out for anything I might trip over!!  (Save the knees!) U was not feeling 100% so she backed out.  It was for the best, it would have been way too much for her. I didn't know anyone on the tour, but glad I did it.

When I got back to the room, U had used our "communications white board" (Best Dollar Store buy for the cruise!) Told me to meet her for a drink in piano bar, she'd saved me a place.  We're all packed and suitcases in the hall, night-night!!

I'll report on our Seattle Mini-shop hop later!  I promise!!

Our quilt guild had a bus trip to the Expo in Portland. 23 intrepid quilters.  One was 90 years old and the rest of us could hardly keep up with her!!!  The last bus trip for this guild was 10 years ago to Santa Rosa.  She was just a 'youngster then, only 80!!!)  We kept track of yardage bought at our stops and it was a very impressive number by the time we got home! It was lots of fun!  And we were all still friends when we got back! Bonus!

For the last two weeks, I've been making Halloween quilts for my grandkids.  I've been collecting those cute Halloween fabrics for a few years, added a few more on the bustrip to Portland, so it was time to get off the my ...  and get sewing.

Now a smarter person wouldn't wait until October to do so .... but let's not go there.  DH and I babysit at both homes before Halloween and I'm happy to say, 3 quilts are done, and the fourth one is planned, pieces cut out and ready to sew together.  With no further fanfare ... here they are!

The skeleton panel was the hit of the bus trip to Portland.  We found it at Fabric Depot and carried off the majority of the panels on display!!  Bordered with disappearing 9patch blocks.  This is the first of this design.  I'm going to make checkerboard with the same 4.5" blocks that are cut.

 

Halloween strippie!  I tore apart 2  half-price kits I bought for the fabric.  I wasn't going to make those patterns anyway!  I love this back.  I bought that panel a year or so ago from Forget Me Knots in Bandon Oregon.  I guess I was saving it for this back!! 

Funny story - my design wall is black and there are black 8 1/2 strips for the strippie quilts.  Well, I thought I'd messed up and only cut one because I didn't 'see' it on the design wall.  So quickly found another orange fabric; put the black in the middle and orange strips top and bottom!  Then of course, noticed the darn hidden-in-plain-sight strip!  Oh well!

 

This is obviously the same pattern - made for one of the two younger grandsons -who would live in Superhero capes if they could!  The blue backing fabric is Japanese and has "Super Hero" banners on it.  Since there wasn't enough, I added a Halloween town print too.

Hey!  Why are there not Halloween gift bags???  I could have used 4 of them!  Designers take note!!!  Nanas everywhere are ready to buy them!

I made the lap quilts the size of my favorite lap quilt! 57 x 70  It's big enough to cover you with room to spare.  And it looks nice on a twin bed, just not quite enough drop.  A bunk bed size, if you will.

I had to rely on my old border figuring secret!  Did you know you can 'Google' math???  I asked it "what numbers divide into 43" (the width of the center section), the other dimension was 59.  Both are PRIME NUMBERS!!  nothing divides into them!!  P Poor Planning on my part, I'm sure.

So I found my old adding machine tape.  (Every sewing room needs some of this, along with Freezer paper!!) Laid out a length equal to the size I needed; folded it again and again until I got a section around 3 - 3 1/2." Then marked my quilting segments using that!  Works like a charm!

Another secret I'm passing on to you today is marking:  Mark your quilt with Crayola Washable Fine Line Markers!!  A quilting friend in Nebraska (she's been featured on the cover of Quilter's Newletter Magazine a few times!!!) told me that's all she uses!  AND they go on sale every August!!  But DON'T tell anyone we're using them for quilting or the price will go up!!!!

That's all for now.  I'll be back!