Show n tell

So I got word that the car is a total loss. But the whole process is far from over. I went to see the physio people yesterday and I'm going to get some physio/massage done. And I need to replace the car.

Insurance is a rip-off. We all know that but are required to have insurance. You get $2,200 for medical expenses automatically approved in this kind of a situation. However, they take from your own extended health benefits FIRST and then if they need to, they dip into their coffers. SERIOUSLY?????  That hurts more than the whiplash. I couldn't believe it. Yes - they deplete your health benefits so if you need or just want a massage, later on, you no longer have any benefits left.

What a total farce. In this case, since there was no 3rd party liability involved, my insurance hasn't done me any favors. I'm likely going to get the equivalent of paying three years worth of insurance in this event. And I envision the insurance company taking my car and selling the parts and recouping the money that they are giving me. Seriously?????  Why do we bother to have insurance? Or right - third-party liability.

It was an eye opener when I went to the auto body lot to get the stuff from my car. First off, there's something to be said for having a red car. That lot was CRAMMED and it was a HUGE lot. There's a track wide enough for one car to drive on that winds through the smashed up cars. At almost the end of the circuit, there's my red car, already tucked in behind others, but easy to spot amongst all the whites, greys and black cars. Some poor guy was trying to find two cars and I bet they weren't red!!

When I pulled the stuff out of the hatchback area, I could see why they wrote the car off. The frame has pushed inside the car and the flat floor in the back wasn't so flat anymore. It was heaved up on the side that had been hit. So that would have been too much to fix. The guy hit hard and fast and then fled! GRRRRR.  Not sure if they found him as I haven't had a chance to ask that question yet. Hopefully, today when they tell me how much money I'm getting. I'm bracing myself for that call.

Needless to say, with the physio (oh I had to go a ½ hour early to deal with all the paperwork and she wasn't kidding!). But seriously, there has to be a better way - I kept putting in the same information, name, birth date, and address - on many, many papers. Couldn't they have all that stuff electronically with auto-fill??? Anyway - with physio, the gym and getting my stuff from the car, including my license plates, I didn't get much done yesterday. Heck - I got nothing done as I was exhausted and needed a nap and then went to see Mary Poppins.

Today you're getting the rest of the show n tell from some of the classes last year.

I don't remember who made all the items, but here are some of the finished show n tell that we had after our Farm Girl Vintage and the table runner classes last year.


I love this first one. What a clever way to use different sized panels or even fussy cut fabric pieces.

A great way to use differently sized panels

A great combination of colors. This is a very simple pattern, yet the colors and quilting have your eyes checking out the entire quilt.

Very soft coloring and LOVE the quilting

This picture is deceiving as I believe this panel is a full-sized panel. But I love the way they did the diagonal quilting on it.

A Christmas quilt - nice diagonal quilting

We did have other table runners show up in class. This one is a snowman.

A snowman table runner in progress

This was another table runner that someone finished. I love the way they managed the corners of that border print.

Cute little table runner with nicely planned borders

Ginny made this one. It's amazing how we all seem to lack in confidence especially in the quilting department. The design that she chose is perfect and I don't think I could have done a better job. We really need to be more confident about the work we do. Someone else might not like it, but so what? The quilt, project, work is OURS and ours alone. Amazing job Ginny!! 

Beautiful quilting and the design is perfect

Shoot - this one should actually have gotten into the table runner show n tell. Susan V didn't want to make a table runner so she incorporated the string pieced blocks into a quilt with some panels. I love her design and this was an AHA quilting moment for her as well. It was loads of fun to see those that practiced actually got way better and their confidence level went sky high!!!!  Great job Susan!!!

Creative way to use the string pieced blocks

Susan B made these design boards. There is a tutorial on how to make at this link. I used Susan's boards for the show n tell of our Vintage Farm Girl blocks until I made some of my own. Mine are still waiting for the binding, but I'm working on it as part of my clean up process.

Small design boards by Susan B

Oh, shoot - I guess this one should have gone in the string pieced show n tell as well. Someone likes BIG. Instead of a table runner, they made a quilt. This is one of my favorite blocks - so easy to make and you can throw anything at it.

Quilt made from string pieced blocks

This one is Ronda's. I remember that because I gave her the fabric!!!!  Do I see a trend here? It seems that she shops a LOT at my house!  But the important thing here is that she is taking scraps and bits and making quilts from them. That's called designing and is doing a great job at it. Oh yes - I think we did this in EQ8 or something like that.

Ronda's quilt for a charity event

This is such a cute quilt. I have one that is partially together. Oh - I bet if I dug it out and I know exactly where it is, that it's not far from completion. Shoot - should get that out and finish it. The pattern is by The Quilt Patch (store is closed - notice how much I've mentioned closed stores in the last two days?)

Snowman quilt

This is Shelly's table runner. This one came in near the end of our year so my memory is still good. It's super cute with the pinwheels (made using the Twister ruler) and then little gnomes on both ends. More importantly - it was finished!!!!

Gnome table runner - DONE

This was Susan B's FIRST bag ever that she made.  Now how did that happen? I thought everyone made bags!  It's beautifully finished. The dark brown is cork and she has a small tag on it. It looks super professional. Great job Susan!

Susan's purse

I believe this was Diane's quilt. It's beautiful and has been sitting around for years. It's layered, but not quilted. Unfortunately, at some point in her quilt learning, someone told her to baste the layers and then trim the excess away. It's amazing how bad information like that get passed onto students. Then they struggle with the quilting and wonder why. So if you're basting a quilt, do NOT trim the backing and batting until the quilting is DONE. I wonder how she's making out?

Diane's layered quilt

Next piece belongs to Shelly. At a guild meeting, we were each given a Fat Quarter and challenged to make something incorporating that fabric. Shelly isn't fond of pink so I gave her this FQ to work with. I LOVE what she created. After she had made this, I saw a picture posted by someone on Facebook and the sky looked exactly the same. Great job Shelly and great use of that fabric. I'm impressed. I think she's a closet lover of pink!

Shelly's challenge using the "pink" fat quarter

This is a table runner made by Vivenda. It's a pattern that I designed using eight 5-inch squares of Northcott Gradations. I love the straight line quilting. It's easy and anyone can do it!! The table runner is done!!!  Here's a link to the pattern if you want to make one.

Vivenda's table runner

And then we have this. Shelly is a hair model for a friend of hers who is a hair stylist. We never know what color hair Shelly will have when we see her. I don't think I've ever seen her with the same color two months in a row. I loved the brilliant oranges/yellows and wanted to share with you!!

Shelly's bright do!

The other side of Shelly's do

Did great with the eating and water consumption yesterday. It's really not a big deal, but leading up to the start, I was binging like crazy just to use up the bad food. How silly is that? Now I'm back on track - new goals for the year. New work out program at the gym and I'm all set. I'm always telling people that you need to use your legs or you'll lose the use of them. I try to get 10,000 at least every day. But what about the other muscles in your body? I'm learning to do some gentle stretches that can be done at home with a foam roller and a mat. Simple tools, but on my - I felt so GOOD when I was done. It was better than having a massage. Given the turn of events with the insurance company, I guess that's a good thing.

We're all so tight and stiff, that as we age, we NEED to stretch. We need to work those muscles and keep them loose. I'm determined to make that happen because it's going to cut down on pain and suffering and further damage.

On that cheery note, I'm out of here.

Have a great day!!!!!


Ciao!!!!