“Nuff said
Must-Have At-Hand Quilting Tools
There are a number of tools a quilter cannot do without. Basic things such as needles, a seam ripper, etc. are a given. This is my must-have cup that sits on my cutting table with all of my most important utensils at the ready:
Let’s see if I can explain some of my most-necessary tools of the quilting trade with you:
- Back Scratcher – the white pasta fork was a revelation from my friend Mel and it works as a PERFECT back scratcher!
- Pinking Shears (silver handle)
- Sewing scissors (two pair) – punishable by death if anyone uses them for something besides fabric
- Pencils and pen, markers and fabric markers
- Corner pushers (wooden and clear plastic ones – for those tote bags that need the corners pushed out
- Rotary cutters – you cannot see them in this photo, but they are in there! I have one of the small ones that I do use to cut paper and then a medium sized one with a pinking blade on it. My larger cutters are somewhere on my cutting table.
- The American Flag – to remind me of my roots
Griswald Family Quilting
When picking up the mail from the post office the other day, hubby tossed a package to me – quite impressed that I’d received a package from the Griswolds!
I had no clue what he was talking about (hadn’t seen the return address yet), though the stamps on the package were pretty and definitely not from the United States.
Upon that discovery, I took a moment to look at the return address – and noticed it was indeed from someone who lived on a street NAMED Griswold….in South Africa!
<squeal> It was a generous package of incomparable handmade buttons from Button Mad for my upcoming Quilt Swag fun at a quilt retreat near Abilene, Texas this coming weekend.
Despite my giddiness, my hubster was a bit disappointed – he thought I actually knew the Griswold’s!
EGGxtra Fun
Last week was spring break for our kids, and although we couldn’t afford to take them on a trip around the world, to a fascinating place or even to town for fun – we did manage to have a few laughs along the way.
One of the things they did was help a local family out by caring for their livestock while they enjoyed a spring break trip. They had four different types of animals, which meant each of my four kids got to pick which animal they wanted to take care of and it worked out perfectly! It was also wonderful for this Mom to see how responsible they really are outside of the confines of home, where they whine and complain by having to unload the dishwasher or clean their bedrooms.
One of the animals DD#1 cared for were chickens. They were lovely birds, brown and black and fluffy and fun. They just had a bit of a problem with geing able to grow feathers on their nether-regions. The owner asked me not to photograph and share her birds, and I agreed.
But, I never said anything about the EGGS we gathered! It became quite the conversation over dinner each evening, as to how many eggs the kids had collected and some funny descriptions of some of them. Below is a photograph of three of the eggs from these prolific hens, and the descriptions DD#1 gave to me as she showed them to me. Perhaps not the same as a spring break vacation, but love and laughter go a long way in my book!