I’m thinking this month about a comment someone made to me a while back. She was a maker of wall hangings who said quilting should be kept small and displayed on the wall, and one should buy blankets for the bed, like everyone else.

It’s a contrast to my first show and tell where I brought the quilts I was making for my adult children. One was a queen size comforter with a watercolor bargello design in blues and black to grays with a rust accent. The other was a king sized bedspread in reds, white and blues with a trip around the world center and tilted pinwheel border. Bill and Linda had helped me design them and the sizes they wanted were queen and king. I didn’t even think to tell them to buy a blanket, though my son did hang that queen on the wall for a while. (Silly boy. It’s not even that well made.)

My husband has given up asking when I’ll finish the duvet cover I’m making for our bed. (It’s king size, too.) I do intend to finish it. I noticed some time ago that synthetic bedclothes make me sweat, so I converted my bedroom to only cotton & feather blankets and sheets. More recently I’ve discovered that the blankets weren’t necessarily at fault, but the cotton does breathe better on those sweaty nights.

So this quilter’s opinion is: I sleep better with a cotton quilt on my bed, but if you prefer a blanket, enjoy. I’ve gone from wondering what I was going to do with all the quilts I was going to have, to wondering how long it will take me to actually finish them. Maybe the ones I am using will wear out and need to be replaced about the time I get the UFOs quilted. I brought one to quilt while we were staying at other people’s houses last year. God knew we needed it—for warmth, and it’s just as warm without having the quilting completed, thankfully.

Actually, I’ve finished one UFO this year already. It’s a wall hanging that needed binding. Maybe our friend who prefers wall hangings has the right idea, if the goal is to finish what you start. (What a concept!)

Happy quilting!

I need some fabric.
This color’s not exactly what I had in mind.
It’s just not working.
I’ll have to buy myself an early present or two.

‘Cause, I need a little fabric
Right this very minute:
Just this perfect green with red and purple in it.
Yes, I need a little fabric, right this very minute…

Black Friday’s already gone,
But my shopping isn’t done.

So fly to the quilt store;
Look for the perfect fabric that I’ve never seen.
Is this a good one?
Now I forget which colors I was matching somehow.

I should go home to my closet
and check out what’s in it.
I don’t need to shop now,
At least not this minute;
I have lots and lots of fabric
any way you spin it.
I should have looked here first, and how!

Have I got a lot of fabric, Wow!

Happy quilting!

―Mary Brown

Sometimes when I’m depressed I write about it and talk myself out of it: “I do have much to be thankful for. November shouldn’t be the only time of year we’re thankful. I am thankful all the time for many things, large and small. Things as taken for granted as the sound of wind chimes in the back yard, the trains and planes that pass by and over our house daily, my loving husband who always comes home when he says he will, my favorite chair and quilt.”

I wrote that almost two years ago, but it is especially poignant to read it today. I have a totally different perspective now. We finally moved into a house last week, five and a half months after moving out of the last place. (At least we started moving in. Most of our stuff is still in three PODS containers in Hayward.) Many of the things I took for granted that day are not part of my life right now: the trains and planes are farther away, and the wind chimes are in storage along with my favorite chair. But some things I have kept nearby during this time away from a home. I still have a DH (Dear Husband) who “always comes home when he says he will.” And it is very comforting to wrap myself in a quilt made by my own hands when so much of what makes a house a home is far away. It cheers me every time I spread it over the bed, even if the bed is a mattress on the floor this week.

And of course I have many things to be thankful for without having all that stuff here waiting to be unpacked. In fact, I’m very thankful not to have to do that yet! And I’m sure each one of us could come up with a whole list of things we’re grateful for including friends to quilt with, fun guild meetings, fabric, etc.

Happy quilting!

—Mary Brown

We all want to keep our minds sharp, so I thought I’d give you a word puzzle this month.  Each of the following sayings has one letter changed in each word.  The goal is to make real words, but I cheated a little.  (Let me know if you know a real word for the ones I fudged on.)

1.  Frog by bands do four heard
2.  I quiet till ward tour bony aid comport dour foul.
3.  An me set, dew shell we sip.

4.  And lay spend sowing as I hood dam.

5.  I creatine less if fetter thin tiny idleless.
6.  I hat quartet us hot I bode park.

7.  I gold triend as life I worm quiet wrapper ground tie hears.

8. By hobby falls my “set any dew.”  (Answers below.)

            Whew!  That was harder than I thought it would be.  No wonder the puzzle I got the idea from was so short!  I did manage to do six without cheater words…

I found all kinds of great quilt-y sayings researching this article.  Here are some of my favorites:

Quilting with a friend will keep you in stitches.
Always remember you’re unique. Just like everyone else.

Asking a seamstress to mend is like asking Picasso to paint your garage!

I have been put on this earth to sew and finish a certain number of things. I am so far behind now I will never die!  (A favorite for those of us who procrastinate.)

Blessed are the children of quilters, for they shall inherit the quilts.
            Not that quilters need help to use our brains.  There’s quite a bit of brain work involved in our craft, especially math.  And we love every minute of it, don’t we.  Don’t we?

Happy quilting!

—Mary Brown

Answers for Quilter’s Opinion

1. From my hands to your heart
2. A quilt will warm your body and comfort your soul.
3. As ye sew, sew shall ye rip.
4. Any day spent sewing is a good day.

5.      A creative mess is better than tidy idleness

6.      A fat quarter is not a body part.

7.      A good friend is like a warm quilt wrapped around the heart.

8.      My hubby calls me “sew and sew.”

Then Lyn Mann came to share with us last October. I’m so glad her “Slick Tricks” show was misplaced. She talked to us about “Taking It to the Border” instead, and she opened my eyes to at least letting the quilt talk to me about how to finish it. Making the border part of the quilt top’s design was a new concept I hope to incorporate in more quilts in the future.

Actually, my biggest motivator, as often happens, was a mistake. I’d bought a bunch of fabric for the border and backing of a quilt that didn’t look right for the border. With Lyn’s presentation fresh in my mind I started thinking about what could be done with the leftover fabric from the quilt top. Lyn and a border book I’d recently bought gave me plenty of ideas and how-to’s to make them happen. Now all I have to do is sew it up so I can Show and Tell. Maybe my best next step is to envision myself finishing lots of projects.

Happy quilting!

—Mary Brown

I’m going to smile more and be sweet to everyone—especially the people I think it will be hardest with. I’m going to forgive everyone I need to, starting with myself. I’m going to cry before it’s a really bad time to. I’m going to leave earlier and show up on time more. I’m going to stop feeling guilty about taking time with my DH (Dear Husband) just having fun. I’m going to sew more, and not just mending. I’m going to paint and read and sew with the kids in my life. I’m going to give away and throw away a lot of stuff. I’m going to make a list of all the people and things I’m thankful for. I’m going to tell the people in my life I love and appreciate them, while they’re still around to tell. (You never know when there won’t be another chance.) I’m going to laugh. I hear that’s really healthy.

And I’m going to send a Christmas card to all the people I didn’t hear from this year with my new address. Or maybe a change of address card. Maybe next month… Perhaps I should put something about not procrastinating on that list.

Happy quilting!

—Mary Brown

For those of you who have not experienced Balderdash, it’s a game with thousands of words that most people don’t know the definitions of. One player copies the definition off the card and the other players make up something. You get points for knowing the right definition and for writing a definition that others think is the right one. I’ve gotten at least 10 points from knowing crafting terms that came up in the game, like “trapunto,” “tole,” “sashiko,” “appliqué,” and “bargello.” Hmm. Maybe that’s not much of an advantage, after all.

On the other hand, I am learning discipline and creativity and planning. Most of the sewing terms I’m most familiar with are self explanatory: pattern or instructions, rotary cutter, sewing machine, seam ripper, chain piecing, seam ripper, measuring tape, borders, seam ripper, edge stitching, quilting, seam ripper. When I learn to do more of the discipline and planning and less of the creativity, maybe you’ll see me at Show and Tell more often.

Happy quilting!

—Mary Brown

The Busy Bee

Busy, busy quilting bee,
Three more quilts this month, I see!
You create from dawn till night,
Show and tell is our delight.
Busy, busy quilting bee,
You make lots more quilts than me.

The Collector

There was a fine quilter who worked in a shoe;
She had so much fabric she didn’t know what to do.
“I can’t find what I want, so I must need some more!”
Overwhelmed by her workspace, she lives at the store.

The Patient Quilter

Keep quilting, keep quilting,
Don’t be in such a hurry.
Keep cutting and sewing
It helps you not to worry!
Just do a little every day;
Before you know it you can say,
“I made this quilt just for you.
It’s full of love and feels good, too!”

Happy Quilting!

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t do a sloppy job and slap something together as fast as possible, usually. I listen to all the tips that come my way and do my best to get it right the first time. I’ve discovered that most slight errors aren’t really noticeable, but I’ve also learned that it will bother me to see something with a visible error. Every time I see it I will be bothered. Of course I always have a choice: fix it so it’s not so visible, or give the item to someone who won’t notice or care! A quilt can still be pretty and cuddly without being perfect.

But I know if it takes too long to finish something, I won’t. My stack of UFOs didn’t go down nearly as much as I had hoped it would this year. (By the way, all of you who did make a major dent in your UFOs are greatly to be commended. Awesome job!)

The best attitude is probably somewhere between perfectionism and sloth. As always, the biggest room in the world is “room for improvement.”

Happy Quilting!

—Mary Brown