National Quilting Day

Today is Worldwide Quilting Day!

I hope you have set aside some time today to do something Quilty to Celebrate!

When I lived in Nebraska, we always had a Soup and Sew Day sponsored by the guild. To build and cement our Quilting Life and Friendships. It was always a big deal since the National Quilt Museum is in Lincoln Nebraska!

I celebrated a few days early, and unfortunately, no pictures!!!

I did a presentation on thread for the Kentuckiana Longarm Guild I belong to. Based on that presentation, I was asked if I would come and share it with a Guild in Indiana.

Our date was set, and I ventured up to Indiana on Thursday afternoon to share my quilts and some thread information in the evening with the Washington County Quilt Guild. I had such a great time sharing some of what I have been working on the last few years!!!

So while I may not make it into the Creative Spaces today… I did spend some Quality Time this week with Quilts and Quilters!!!

So how are You celebrating “National Quilting Day”?

Pupdate- Goldie

So what is new in Goldie's world.

Quick snap… of Goldie 7 months!!!

LOTS!!!

We think she is on the mend!

After the last test for Giardia came back positive I whisked her off to a visit with specialist. Required a drive up to Louisville with Goldie. Due to miscommunication, it required a second trip the next day to deliver a sample.

Took about a week to get the full panel of results back.

But we got an answer.

Her lower GI track was compromised. She had Cryptosporidium and Clostridium Difficile (C-diff). Poor girl. Both were causing her problems.

So a bag of Hydrolyzed dog food (to also rule out a food allergy) another script of Panacur and a script of an antibiotic, (fortunately sprinkled over food but needed to be dosed every 8 hours). We saw some immediate improvements.

Good NEWS!

She has been gaining weight and growing, now that she can absorb some nutrients. We send in another sample… and hopefully we will be done…. but will have to keep her on a tight lead until we can use some bleach in the yard. C-diff stays in the environment for a very long time.

Where did she pick it up? I suspect at the vets office when we went in for her regular course of vaccinations or for the Giardia. She had not left the house or yard since we brought her home. I feel strongly about taking puppies out before they are fully vaccinated and it was just too darn cold to go outside. Too easy to pick something up…. and she did!!!

More Later! Beth

On Duty!

A little side business this past week.

On Wednesday…. I had a FB Chat message…almost didn’t read it…. but really glad I did.

My sister… lives far away in Nebraska and was just up the road in Indiana last week for the birth of a grandchild. I drove up the following day to visit with sister, niece and great niece for a few hours. All was well. Sister flew back home, niece and baby went home.

Wednesday morning Chat Message from sister- C is back in the hospital, a lot of pain. She can’t be alone with the baby in the room. Can I go?

It is 5:30 am… and I haven’t had coffee. Message back coffee and a shower and I’ll be on my way. Dressed and packed some clothes for a few days… collected electronic backup/charging stuff and was in the hospital by 9:30 am.

So what did I mostly do?

This:

Such hard work for me!!! however by doing this… mom got to rest, really rest and recover and go home yesterday from the hospital yesterday. The Grampa flew in from Missouri…. as I was leaving. But I think I will plan a little trip up… in a couple of weeks just to check in!

Needless to say….not too much else got done!!! Another left turn, but a fairly pleasant one, since everything turned out well in the end.

Do you have detours that while not in the plan are so rewarding and well worth the change of direction?

Stay tuned! More Later! Beth

Whew! and

putting it all away…. may take days.

  

The Quilters Day Out was only 6 hours from open to close and I was busy pretty much the whole time. Not even time to take a picture!!!

They INVENTORY did not decrease as I would have liked.

Everything from setup to take down took a bit longer to get done, because well this part of Kentucky has been nothing but gray skies and COLD or RAIN for the past 6 weeks or so. Lots and lots of rain… so much so that the landscape has taken on a dramatically watery vista.

Today we have the beautiful glow from actual sunshine and a cloudless sky. Temperatures have warmed up so much that the hyacinth is up, both the hybrid and the wild variety that is growing in the lawn, the maple (silver) has bloomed and my lilac is leafing, as is the hydrangea. I also see the day lilies showing some green sprouts too. Of course it is pretty early for this, so hopefully they won’t be stunted by a surprise snow in March.

I will be spending the next few days unpacking the boxes of stock and marking it down so I can modernize the store. Are there items that you are interested in or think would be a good fit for I HAVE A NOTION? Please help me out with how I can better meet your needs, since it will benefit both of us!!!

Look for the Markdowns in the Inventory Reduction Category coming soon.

Seriously it must go.

If you see something you really really want email me with an offer… of course the more you want…

So Seriously, Lets TALK!!!

More Later, Beth

Are you in the area?

This Saturday (one day only) is the Louisville area Quilters Day Out and Gathering of the Guilds. Click the link for more information.

Under the Gathering of the Guilds part, local Quilt Guilds come to recruit/entice new membership and share some of the interests and projects that their membership does, including demonstrations.

The Quilters Day Out part of course is the venders mall, which is where I Have a Notion will be.

So if you are attending… Please stop and say hi!

More Later…(after I have put things away and taken a long nap!!!)  Beth

A Bit About Fusible Products

Before I hurt my hand I was working on this bright little quilt.

Each of the little stacks of hearts illustrate a brand/type of fusible and how well they stack up, stick and feel. This is designed for touching, to feel the layers and the suppleness or the stiffness of the layers of each of the stacks of fused hearts.

(I think the pictures will enlarge if you click on them)

Another thing that nice to know is how the edges hold up after fusing and stitching. Some fusible products are much better at holding the fabric edges down than others. Here I used an open narrow zigzag stitch to finish the edges of each heart.

Over the years I have used many different fusible products... about 200 yards so far. I like having a selection on hand to use, depending on the project. Sometimes I need to have some real stick and others need a light stick just to keep in place until I stitch it down. Sometimes you do not want to trace a thousand leaves... and would be happy if you could just print out a paper backed fusible with all your leaves traced and ready to be fused to the fabric.

Some fusible products stick… so well that the glue becomes part of both fabrics and taking them apart…. will never happen, while some others depending of the fabric treatments, you may be able to peel a fused piece off and reposition. Still others allow you to create your design pieces and they will have a ‘temporary’ sticky feature that allows you to play with placement before making it permanent with heat. Another downside to some fusible products is that the glue may maybe so heat sensitive that too much ruins the stick or there is so much glue that the layers of fabrics become stiff that they are nearly impossible to stitch through by machine or they will transfer the glue to the needle causing additional problems.

The hearts hanging on the side are to show how a fusible product looks on the back of the fabric, minus a backing so you can see how each the fusible feels and looks after fusing to the first fabric.

After sharing this with a guild I have been asked to expand this into a talk on various fusible products and characteristics.

Do you use fusible products in your creative process? Which one is you favorite? Do have one that has disappointed you?

More Later- Beth