Quilt History books

I'm home! It was hilarious because I hadn't even boarded the flight to come home when I was checked in for the flight tomorrow morning. Yes, it's a bit of a crazy scheduling situation at the moment, and while (fingers crossed) it looks good to get away tomorrow, there's no guarantee that I'll get home on Sunday! But I'm a gambler! Plan B or Plan C will be implemented if need be. And what are they? I've no idea yet, but I'll think of something if I need to. 

The flight home was pretty uneventful, except if you think the Toronto airport is huge, Denver is HUGE. There is the West Terminal and the East Terminal, and within each of those, there are multiple buildings that you get to by train. It's a crazy place, but I managed to get to the proper gate! and well within the time frame. I had no problems getting the luggage checked. 

So, are those sunflowers? Or Black-eyed Susans? I should have the proper response tomorrow, but I'm leaning towards sunflowers. Think BUSH Sunflowers. Remember - I was in Colorado, not Canada. 

As we arrived in Toronto, there was that giant Airbus 380. I'm not sure what plane it's beside, but the 380 is massive. When you see it from the back, the way the wings are attached makes it look like a waddling duck. 

The Airbus 380

I think I arrived home around 2 PM. I love flying west—you gain time, but you lose it all on the return. The first thing was cuddles with the girls. You would think by now that they get it that when we go away, we come back. But Murphy? Nope—she's just a silly girl. 

I immediately unpacked my suitcase. I don't need this one for a few weeks, but I didn't want to leave my samples squished. So they are laid out on one of the project tables in Studio B, and I hope to get that all cleaned up in October.

The suitcase is empty

I saw this license plate at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum and I probably have it already, but I bought it - just in case! I now need to do something with all those license plates. I'll come up with a plan!! 

A "new" license plate

Even adding the seven (shhhhhh!!!!) books I purchased at the museum, I wasn't even close to the weight limit on my suitcase. I didn't see the weight, but it wasn't an issue. 

I love these state quilt history books and added a few more to my collection. 

Quilt history books

Another quilt history book

Two more states

Washington state

Those are the books that I'll keep when I need to downsize! It's so much fun to read the histories of the quiltmakers. 

Oh -- I should mention that those books are used, so the most I paid was $10. Most of them were $5. A very good deal. Last year when I went to Golden, I only had carry-on so I was very restricted in what I could bring home. This year - big suitcase (well, medium) and I was good! 

Then I had to finish the book I was reading while I relaxed and had a cup of tea. Then, it was time to get to work and get the binding on that quilt. I decided to trim the quilt BEFORE I cut the binding. Usually, I make the binding when I make the top, but that did not happen with this quilt. The back of the quilt was plush, so there was a HUGE mess to clean up before I could cut the binding. 

What a mess to clean up!

The good news? The binding is on the quilt, and it's packed in my carry-on. Now I must also find some clothes to throw in there, but the important thing is in the suitcase! 

The binding is on

Look at this silly girl. This is how she washes her face; she looks like such a goof when she does that! Then, when she realizes you are watching her, she gets shy and stops!!!! Oh, Lexi -- I love you to bits!

MOM - stop looking at me!!!!

I am NOT saying this because I was just at their offices, but this is the most recent issue of Love of Quilting (Fons and Porter), and OH MY -- it is a good issue. There are two quilts I'd love to make and some great ads for stuff I'd love to have, but my long arm is too old - perhaps a new one is in order? Anyway, check it out. I thought it was great, and I got to meet the editor while I was at Golden. 

The most recent issue of Love of Quilting

You may see me on a video somewhere mentioning how much I liked this issue! 

Well, that's it for today! 

I'm off to pack some clothes!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

I'm blown away!

No - not by the weather, although the nasty weather we had yesterday was  - well it was just nasty. The rain came down in buckets, winds, lightning and thunder, and just craziness.

Thankfully, I was inside all day teaching so I was totally oblivious to it except when I left the store. Thankfully my car was parked right outside the back door!

The ongoing classes were in the morning. The show and tell from both classes was mind-blowing! Both groups are so creative that I was stunned.

I'll get those pictures up this week. I'm impressed beyond words.

Today we have our UFO meeting and well - I'm going to have to cough up $10. There's no way that I'm going to get my two blocks completed. I've got one almost done and the other one is partially completed. Totally my fault - bad planning. I did have a sewing day a couple of weeks ago and I should have been working on my homework. I had time. Oh well - live and learn and let's move on.

I found this when I was cleaning up something this past week. I've touched so many bags and projects that I've lost track of where I'm finding things. I do remember that someone bought this for me. The big question is who??  Anyway - you know who you are and THANK YOU. It's now added to the license plate collection.

One more row by row license plate

When I was madly cleaning up the kitchen table the other day, there were a few things sitting there that needed repair. One of them was my drying rack. I had broken one of the legs when I brought it in the house. No big deal - I found a splint for it and some nice bright orange duck tape. It's all good now. 

The drying rack is fixed

Then I had this pattern box. The box was in good shape. It's just that the glue holding the corner together came unglued! I didn't want to throw the box away as I needed the box. So I got out the trusty bright orange duck tape and fixed the inside.

Inside of the box is fixed

But that orange duck tape would have looked a bit obvious on the outside, so guess what? I found shiny silver duck tape in my tape drawer and you wouldn't even know that the box was repaired. Now the patterns are back in the box and looking much neater!!

Outside fixed with silver duck tape

 I did manage to find a home for some of those Marti Michell patterns yesterday. Make sure if you want something that you send me an E-MAIL!!!!  If you send me a comment, I don't always know who you are!

Today, I have three more patterns. These are all Marti Michell as well - but this time they are mystery quilts. I don't think I even know what they look like. Again - these patterns require a specific set of Marti Michell templates. Yes - you could still make your own templates from freezer paper if you really want the pattern.

Requires Templates sets A & C

Requires Template Set M

 Here's a link to the set M so you can see what it looks like. It's based on a five by five grid. The templates really, really make cutting fast.

Requires Template Set L

Here's a link to the Set L. It's based on a 7 by 7 grid. Again, cutting for these shapes speed up the process.


I have more stuff, but I'm really not sure how much information is there that isn't already in the template sets. I'm going to check it a bit closer and see. Those ones might just hit the recycling bin.

By the way, those mysteries come in a big white cardboard envelope. If you want the pattern and it needs to be shipped, we can even use that envelope as a shipping envelope. They aren't thick and wouldn't cost much to ship.

Here's an article on textile waste in our landfills. The article is about clothing, but guess what? As quilters, we also produce a HUGE amount of textile waste. I'm shocked at what people throw away. I cut up my batting strips to make rugs and the rest goes into pet mats. I use up small fabric scraps to make scrappy quilts and the smaller scraps go in the pet mats. We need to be more responsible about what we buy and how we use it. I always laugh when I hear people talk about quilting as a hobby is expensive. Well - if we made quilts from scraps, it would essentially be free. Think about it - do you really need that new fabric collection that is going to sit in your stash and NEVER be used??  That's a total waste of money and works out to be very expensive. 

Quilt Market just happened last week in Kansas City. I'm not sure how many fabric companies that would have attended, but let's say that there are about 50 companies in the US. I know - sounds incredible, but there are a lot of fabric companies out there. Let's say that each one introduced 300 new fabrics (that's an average). And let's say that for each fabric, they printed 2,000 yards.

Now let's do the math. 300 (new fabrics per company) X 2,000 (yards printed per fabric) X 50 companies = 30 MILLION.  Yes - the equivalent of about 30 MILLION yards of fabric was just released to the North American quilting public. I'm just talking about the QUILTING industry here.

It gets better - those companies release FOUR times a year. so let's do some more math. 30,000,000 X 4 (releases a year) and guess what? That's 120 MILLION yards of fabric released to the North American market EVERY YEAR!!!!!  Let's say the price of each yard of fabric is $15 (average) - that's $1.8 BILLION.  Yep - that's expensive. But that's why I'm buying WHAT I NEED - not stockpiling.

If you stockpile - then yes  - it becomes expensive. If you buy what you need - it's NOT an expensive hobby at all. No worse than any other hobby!

I think we need to send a message to these fabric companies that they need to SLOW DOWN. Our North American market cannot handle that much new fabric each year. But the moment that a company sees they can make money off of us - they push as much fabric out the door as they can. Many employees of fabric companies are NOT quilters and all they see is the DOLLAR, not the fun, nothing but MONEY.

Now where the heck did that come from???  Oh yes - the article on the textiles in the landfill. We all need to become much more responsible. I'm converted now and I wish someone would have knocked some sense into my head years ago - like TWENTY years ago! I wouldn't be dealing with the issues that I'm dealing with now!

On that note, I'm out of here to do a bit more work on my homework.

Have a great day!!

Ciao!!!

Multi tasking - good or bad?

A huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. After I finished posting the blog yesterday, I hit the garage and soon my front step looked like this.

Donation stuff waiting to be picked up

When I removed all the stuff from the garage that was in the "donate" pile, I saw a few other things that have been hanging around. I packed those up and out they went as well. A couple of things from the basement and I was done for this round.

The more I think about my stuff, the more I realize how few things I need on a daily basis. And I'm so much a seasonal person (decorations) any more.  So - there'll be another pickup scheduled for July. Once you start this process, it's easy to let go. What if you realize you gave something away that you need? Well, you could always replace it or borrow it from someone? I know that the stuff I'm giving away is stuff that I haven't touched in years - I doubt that I'm going to want it or need it.

What if you accidentally give away something that was a precious memory? Well - it's just that now. A precious memory. You must ask yourself this question - what are the consequences in five minutes, five months and five years of that item being given away. If nothing serious is going to happen, you probably don't need that item.

What if the item is sentimental, yet you don't know what to do with it, but you don't want it? Take a picture. Put it in a folder on your computer marked MEMORIES and toss the item. Seriously - why are you keeping things that you don't need or want just because Aunt Sue gave it to you? Let it go!!

I'm reading a book right now on decluttering. While I like some of what this person is saying, she really has some whack job ideas. Keep toilet papers rolls because you can use them to keep cords tidy and other ideas. Seriously???  Put those toilet paper rolls in the recycling and use an elastic or one of those velcro cord keepers. I get it that she wants to recycle, but that's ridiculous. The other thing she says is to organize your books by color on the shelf so they look pretty. Yeah - pretty useless to organize by color when I won't read them by color. I want my stuff to be organized the way that I would shop for it (and hence "shop" for the next book when I'm going to read it). I don't want my house set up to be pretty - I want it to be practical. The eclectic look is just fine! I'll finish reading the book, but I could write a much better book (but I'm not going to).

I'm going to have some more tips for you in another post.

Yesterday was a heads-down intense day of working. I didn't go to the gym, and I didn't go for a walk, but I did well over 10,000 steps yesterday. And I didn't leave the studio. Why?  I had two machines going yesterday - The Designer EPIC was embroidering its merry little heart out............. (gosh I love that machine!)

Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC in embroidery mode

 AND the long arm was fired up and it was working its magic on the other side of the studio.

Long arm working away

 Let's just say that until I got a rhythm going with the two machines, it was a wee bit of a challenge to keep up with both of them. I even toyed with the idea of firing up another machine to do some piecing, but that wasn't going to happen.

Between bobbin changes, babysitting where babysitting was required and fixing stupid human errors, I was super busy. Do not worry - no quilts were harmed in the process of yesterday's work. But when you know the bobbin is going to run out soon and you walk to the other machine and then get wrapped in what it's doing and then you have to wait for the long arm to trace back almost an entire row - well that slows the process down.

And let's not forget that I did not optimize the quilting pattern on the long arm for one row. Hmm - why did that machine stop? Oh, shoot - that will make an ugly join in the row. So I had to fix that. But here's the best part. I know how to fix stupid human mistakes like that. I'm getting pretty handy with the pattern repair function on the long arm.

What got done in all that running around?  Here's the first quilt. This one is mine.

My quilt - DONE

 Now if you've got a good memory, this quilt was in a magazine last year. Obviously, it's not the same quilt. I didn't like the lack of contrast in the borders on this one, so I had to remake the top and that's the one that went into the magazine.

Here's the second quilt. It's in McCall's Quick Quilts - December/January 2018. The fabric collection was from Northcott - Silent Night. You can see the pattern in the border in the second quilt is much more pronounced than in the original one. Either way, the panel/fabric is gorgeous!!!!

Second quilt made for the magazine

Might as well finish up the original one - it's not bad. So that's now in the "to be bound" stack that hasn't gotten any smaller since the last time I talked about it.

And I got a customer quilt done as well.

Customer quilt - DONE

This one has to be trimmed and the binding put on (yes - the binding is in the bag this time!) before Saturday's class. That shouldn't take long, but I've got a lot of stuff going on and I have two errands today that will require some time to get done.

The next quilt is loaded on the long arm and I might get to it today. If not, tomorrow evening. The quilts for next week are already in the "on deck" area and waiting for next week to come.

I wonder how many people were running around yesterday getting their rows/blocks for the 2018 Row by Row Experience?  I didn't have time. But I've seen some beautiful rows and can't wait to pick up a couple.

When I was out west, I picked up two quilts to be quilted (I'll return them when I go back later this year). And LOOK - there was a little gift attached to the quilts.  Thanks to my aunt for that.

A Row by Row license plate from 2017

It's amazing what I can get done if I don't have my nose in a book! I did finish a non-fiction book yesterday and I started another one. But since these non-fiction books are not page turners, they're easy to put down.

That's it for today. Oh - can't share what's on the embroidery machine, but you'll see it as some point. I've been up since very early this morning finishing off the embroidery - even with that fast DEsigner EPIC, it still took a lot of time to get done what I was doing. It's very cute and now to finish the items off. Since the embroidery unit is set up, I think I might try to work on the sashings for that Halloween quilt that's been on my design wall forever. Wouldn't it be nice to have that to hang up for Halloween???

On that note, I'm out of here.

Have a super day -stay WARM. I had to put long pants on yesterday and a big sweatshirt and I'm still freezing.

Ciao!!!

Something new!

So what happened yesterday?  Was I

One more Row by Row License Plate

NO - I wasn't gone to Maui! Although that would have been nice. However, the weather here is just gorgeous so I'm not complaining. I was busy as a beaver in the studio trying to get everything prepped for my two classes yesterday. And I accomplished that mission, but it meant forgoing the blog. So sorry about that.  But I'm back and this week, I've got the entire week to get stuff done!

I want to focus on something very new. Actually, this week is going to be all about NEW stuff. Today it's about a NEW quilt store that just opened up on Friday. I knew it was opening and I've had a couple of electronic conversations with Andrea, the owner. But I had some time to kill yesterday and I decided to pop in.

Here's what it looks like front the front! Don't you just love that name!

Storefront for Oh Look, Fabric!

Well, let's go on in, the sign says OPEN.

I love it in inside - it's bright, it's airy and nice modern colors for the decor. The fabric is very modern and solids. There is more fabric coming in - hey - it takes a lot of cash to open a fully stocked to the rafters quilt shop. There's a nice selection. I don't have a lot of this kind of fabric!

Fabrics for sale!

She also has some handmade goods for sale in the shop from various artists in the area, basic supplies, like batting, interfacings or stabilizers (I didn't exactly check which ones), zippers and notions. She has some clothing patterns and she has MODERN knits!!  YEAH!!!  I know that is not normally my cup of tea, but I'm really really wanting to try to make some T-shirts.

I had something specific in mind when I went into the shop which wasn't exactly the best thing to do. I didn't find what I was looking for, so I got all this instead!

Oops - look what jumped into my shopping bag

See that cute llama fabric? Perfect for the backing of Elizabeth Harman's Lloyd and Lola which is on my radar screen to make. The blue with the triangles is my knit fabric and a few other goodies as well. I was going to make a table runner (that was my original thought), but I think I'm going to do something else with what I bought. I'm going to design something. I've got a couple of ideas in mind. And after I left, I thought - oh crap - I should have bought enough to make a truly MODERN quilt. Well - that's an excuse to go back! I need to learn!

The address is 221 Main Street in Milton. There's parking on the street, not sure if there's parking in the back - I didn't ask. But it's downtown Milton, not far from the pet store where Murphy had her dog training - as if that did any good! There is a Facebook page as well. There are some videos of the shop in setup progress as well as one with all the walls shown. She has some very cute quilts hanging in the shop - no patterns yet, but they are on the way. Also designed by a local artist. I really really want the one with the face shot on it. Look at the video. It's very cute.

Make sure you check out the shop and say Hi to Andrea. Let's support our local shops!!!!  Check out the hours - she is CLOSED on SUNDAY and MONDAY. I notice that she opens at 11 AM during the week and closes around 6 or 7. Now that is smart so that people who work have a chance to get there.

That's it for today. It's just me and the girls this week and I have a LOT of stuff to do. More on what else has been happening tomorrow.

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!!!


In case you're wondering about the Row by Row plate, I got that from Ronda, who got it from a friend who in fact had GONE TO MAUI!  Thanks Ronda!

Should I be doing this?

I have lists, I have deadlines and what did I do last night?  Well, I did a little bit of what I was supposed to do, but I really, really wanted to get this quilt off the design wall, so I could put something else up!  So I finished it.  The inner green border was on and ONE of the sides with the pinwheels. So technically I had to cut and trim seven pieces of border in order to finish it.  

Quilt top - DONE

This is the mystery quilt from my guild for this past year.  Not bad to get it done within the same year that it was offered!!!   Once the quilt centre was complete, we were on our own to figure out the borders. I decided to use up every little piece of leftovers and made pinwheels for the border. The quilt needed some relief from the busy centre so a 2 1/2" strip of green was added.  Why green?  No idea, but it looked good at the shop so green it was!

I wanted to balance that inner border and not worry about the binding at the edge of all those seams, so I added another 2 1/2" border.  This border was cut, but not together.  Now the top is DONE!!!!  It actually felt great to work on something that had no deadline. I think I needed that little boost.

I found some backing fabric in my stash and made the binding (which was cut, but not sewn together). This is larger than I normally make quilts, but that's OK.  It's fun and I love the end result.

Backing, binding and top - ready for quilting

I did get some work done on the deadline quilt.  The backing is done and the binding is done. Yahoo!!!  I was thinking of custom quilting it, but seriously - I don't feel like it so an overall design it is.   It's not as big as I normally make them so I'm good!  Should be no problem to get it quilted and bound tonight and in a FedEx box tomorrow.

Then onto the next deadline project which is July 10.  By actually writing down those deadlines, I'm not sluffing them off.  They are very real and that's the point of all this list writing.

I had a bunch of errands to get done after work which I accomplished last night.  Errands take up a lot of time and when you work - well there just isn't a lot of time.

I had to stop and pick up something that someone got me.  Oh my god -- I just love it.  Another Row by Row license plate!!!! Jeanette was on vacation on the west coast and thought of me when she hit a quilt shop!!!    Thanks so much Jeanette!!!! That makes three for 2017.  She took a very interesting trip to the west coast via Amtrak!!!   It sounded like such a cool idea. Something to look into (trips by train and how relaxing that would be!).

Row by Row license plate

I do have a day planned for row by row. Can't reveal the details yet. Oh no! But it's going to be fun. That I can guarantee you!

On that note, I HAVE to get the pattern finished today for Coast to Coast to Coast.  So many enquiries!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Ever had one of those days?

You know how it is. You have loads of work scheduled. You're primed and ready to go. And then disaster.

That was me yesterday.  I have loads to do. I knew exactly what I was going to do and then I had a stupid case of allergies that made the day very uncomfortable.  Sneezing, itchy eyes, running nose, stuffed head.  I was in agony!  Well, I wasn't, but it was so difficult to focus and concentrate.  I sucked it up and did accomplish a fair bit. Pills don't work unless you take them BEFORE which I would have if I'd have known I was going to get sidelined!

I got one more quilt top assembled. But not before I had to do a repair job on the border. It was a special border and you know how they say, measure twice, cut once. Well, I measured and then I cut and resewed and oh heck!  The darn border is now too short!!!!   So I had to do a repair job.  Let's just say that if you didn't know that had happened, you wouldn't see it. But it took time and I needed a clear head!  But that top is done!

I got the bindings on two quilts. Just need to hand stitch down the sleeves and those are good to go!  Still lots more to go, but no patterns so having to make up the design as I go along which slows down the process a bit.  As I woke up this morning, I thought of something else that would be awesome for one of the quilts and sure enough, I managed to find it within moments.  AH - the benefits of putting things where you think you would find them in the future!  That helps a lot!   No luck on the purple magazine holder, but I'm thinking!!!

I still managed to finish reading a book, have a couple of snoozes (I was exhausted) and Miss Lexi went to the dog park!

Got two more license plates the other day!  I know there are more to come!

Two more plates

Total plate count for 2016 - 65 (so far!)

 Keep in mind, that I purchased almost all of them!!!

And if you want to know about the 2017 theme - it will be announced on October 24.


Now here's a good reason to drink from a bottle with a lid rather than a glass.  I had a glass of water on the cutting table. I often do and I've never spilled it. Until yesterday!  I pushed something against the end of the table, which moved the ruler holder and whap - that glass of water went all over the cutting table, on the floor and all over this bolt of fabric that was leaning against the table. Theh glass remained on the table so no broken glass. The silver lining!

Ooops!!!

 No permanent damage to anything!  But it was another "moment" that I could have done without yesterday!!!  It always happens like that - I guess when you're feeling good, if you have a moment, you just let it go. But you're already feeling lousy, those moments become huge irritations!

But I feel much better so far.  I did sneeze twice at the dog park - something in the air???  But I'm fine now.


Here's a couple more pictures from the retreat. This is Frieda fondling Mary Beth's pants!  OK - I must explain because that sounds bad, but at least Mary Beth wasn't wearing them at the time!  Some of the ladies were obsessed with leggings. Apparently there is a Facebook page where you can buy leggings?  It reminded me of e-Bay where you had to bid, except this was at a certain time of the day??  It sounded way too complicated and restrictive in that I couldn't buy when I wanted.

Mary Beth had a pair of these leggings with her and I have to agree that they were the softest thing ever!!!!   So we got Frieda to pose with fondling Mary Beth's pants!  Thanks Frieda!!!!

Oh these pants are so soft!!!!

Shirley was binding a quilt at the retreat.  I absolutely love this quilt - it's all about Pet Rescues!  I remember seeing it at Quilt Market last year. OK - now I want to make it. I did manage to get most of the fabric when I was at the retreat. A couple more fabrics are missing - hmmm - internet search????

Pet Rescue quilt

The fabrics are by Leanne Anderson. The pattern is a free download.  Cute!!!!!  

On that note, I'm off to tackle my stack of projects to see what I can get done today.

Have a great day!!!

Ciao!

Collectibles

Let's start with a question for you to contemplate today. I believe I have posed the same question in the past.

Quilters (most of us) tend to be collectors/hoarders who have compulsive behaviors. Does that sound like you?

Now here is the question - were we like that BEFORE we became quilters or did we learn that behavior after we became a quilter.   You know, have our brains somehow been affected by the chemicals in the fabric dyes and we've become brainwashed and obsessive?

Wouldn't that make an excellent thesis for a graduate student?

I'm not sure about myself.  I was always a collector, but didn't get frantic about collecting things - I think the internet has something to do with that. Let's not forget the marketers and our peers to assist us in our obsessions.

When I was at Spring Market in Salt Lake City, I came across something that I HAD to have and I didn't care how much I had to sneak around - I was getting these!

What are they?  Why little badges of course!

Sew on patches from Moda

Moda had a camp theme in their main booth. All of their designers had a small space to display their collection(s) beside the main booth. Each designer had their own badge. Check out this link to read about the badges.

Well - I couldn't help myself - I COVETED those badges and I shamelessly walked around to the booths and either took one from each booth or asked for one, if the designer was in the booth.  YES - I got to meet a lot of cool designers. Quilters have no shame when they want something. I went over a couple of times and I ended up with only ONE duplicate which I have no idea where it is at the moment. I think I got all the badges of the designers who were there, but there are MORE and I want them all!

In addition, there were these buttons as well.  I didn't collect these - they just happened to get in my bag.

Buttons

Now that brings me to the Row by Row.  As you know, I got a bit obsessed with Row by Row.  Are you ready for it?   Can I have a drum roll please...........................

Here are my license plates for 2015.   I didn't count them.  Perhaps we can have a guessing game.

2015 License plates for Row by Row

On top of the 55 plates for 2014  (all used up!) and 14 so far for 2016.  I guess I could write a book with this many!

I haven't counted the kits I've collected, but lets just say there are a few!

Kits/patterns from 2014

Kits/patterns from 2015

Yardage/quilt for Row by Row

As we move into the Row by Row season, which started on Tuesday and I'm sure there were people all over North America and Europe who are going crazy and driving everywhere, planning vacations, swapping and road trips. I have decided to be rationale and reasonable for 2016 for a couple of reasons.

1. The logistics of dealing with many people, different currencies became a nightmare and I still owe two people their plates and two people I owe money. I need to get that finished by the end of the weekend. 
2. It consumes a LOT of time.  Since I started to work full-time, time is much more precious these days and while road trips are fun, I have plenty of fun road trips already planned and I don't need one more. 
3. The cost.  Let's do some math because I think a lot of these row by rowers haven't done the math or they have NO budget.  On average (in CDN $), those plates cost $6.   That's an average - probably low - I bought one for $10 at Quilt Canada.   So 55 multiplied by 6 = $330.  That's just for the license plates!  Never mind the kits, the gas and whatever else that I purchased in the store. Bottom line - I don't want to spend that kind of money on this project. 

So I have a new plan for 2016.  The plan has to be flexible enough to have fun and yet be reasonable.  Thanks to the offer of a "friend" (thanks Shelly for the inspiration), I came up with a plan last night. Crap - I posted it on Facebook and hopefully no one saw it - well a few did and I've deleted it!   I know exactly what I'm going to do for 2016.  I've recruited a few people because I can't do it without their help and they know who they are and I just have to wait for the collectibles to roll in!   I'm pretty excited about my plan and it will be way easier to walk into a quilt store and say NO because I have a plan.

I love having a plan!   Do you have a plan?????

On that note - I'm out of here!   Wait - I saw this REAL license plate on my way to work yesterday.

Cool license plate

While it was a man driving the vehnicle, I bet his wife (or it could be him) is a quilter!


Have a great day!!!!!

Ciao!