"Drat", says newbie...

Gee, if my first effort looks as good as your henny penny, I'll be most pleased! I like your fabric selection. I worry about my ability to come up with a combination that I like. In my wanderings last night, I saw a fabric with geese in flight, which appealed to me. I have to see whether I can find something to go with it--and the amounts of each fabric to get. I really know NOTHING!

Awwwww. And now I am totally mystified as to why your name is familiar. I have been on a number fo groups, although my activity on some of them has dwindled quite a bit. Well, maybe I'll figure it out someday.

Has anyone made a quilt for a cat?

Well, perhaps you have retained some of your reading, and it will help you. I gazed at some books for beginners yesterday. Hmmm. I will go to the library today if they have anything relevant (to a rank beginner). Then I can start my more systematic planning and purchasing.

Oh, gee, after I wrote that I was seeing responses to Jacqueline (I think), and I hoped folks would know that they didn't have to reply separately to me--although I will appreciate the replies.

I have a feeling I will start by hand and then decided I have to tame a machine. My 15-y-o daughter sews some on her grandmother's old Necchi (sp?). I would want something REALLY basic. But then even as I type that I think that might be a mistake if I really get into these things....

Well, there's no extra room here. I do look at houses and wish for just one more room for projects.

No, sweating it wouldn't have any positive results. But I'd better get more organized or something.

LOL! I THINK I'm going to try my first dyeing or discharging experiment today. I hope whatever it is doesn't turn out too bad.

I'm going to have to guard my stash of chocolate, I guess. I'lll have to go back and look at the posts re chocolate....

LOL! And are you the Pat who will endanger my chocolate supply? :-)

I have the chocolate but not the licorice. (I THINK I'm trying to take off weight.) I tend to collect a lot of what I'm into, so I fear the amount of fabric I'm going to end up with. I guess I should figure out how much of each kind of fabric I need to get....

There is nothing wrong with a really basic machine. If all you are going to do is patchwork and quilting, that is all you really need. You can do a lot with a simple straight stitch machine, though you probably want at least a basic zigzag stitch. Some of the old Singers (pre-1960 or so) are really good machines and can sometimes be found at garage sales or thrift stores for very reasonable prices; I picked up a Singer 401 for $7 at a garage sale earlier this year, though finding something like that at that price is a bit unusual. The nice thing about the old Singers (outside of their reliability and durability) is that there are still enough of them around so that it is relatively easy to get parts and feet for them. I bought a walking foot and free motion quilting foot for my Singer on e-bay. Sewing machine dealers are also a good source for used machines, because a lot of people trade in a machine when they buy a new one. I would recommend buying a good used machine rather than a cheap new one from a discount-type store, though I know some people have been happy with some of the inexpensive machines.

Julia in MN

Oh if it's dark chocolate I'll leave that for the other raiders. lol. I'm not much of a dark chocolate person. Give me milk chocolate any day.

You're a braver soul than I am. I absolutely love hand dyed fabric. It's my weakness as far as fabric goes. I just haven't had the courage to try it yet. I haven't had the courage to try paper piecing either. But one of these days I'll do both. So good luck and let me know how your hand dyes come out.

Mika

AHA!!!! Another cookbook collector. I have been collecting cookbooks for almost 30 years. I finally had to sort through them and pack some of the lesser used ones away. I used to collect recipes from newspapers, magazines and all sort of stuff but I was getting overrun with that too so I quit that. I just stick with the cookbooks now.

As far as space to quilt, I have everything set up in my basement. When the last kid moved out DH and I decided to move my stuff from the tiny spare bedroom to the basement so that I have more room. With a baby crib in there it was just too crowded. Our daughter and her baby have moved back home with us now so that room is even more crowded. lol. At least I don't have to give up my basement though.

Mika

You have a quite lovely room to create your masterpieces in Sandy. And masterpieces they are. BTW, how is my little buddy doing? I'm hoping the NBAA will be in Vegas next year. If it is, you know what that means?!!! Another meetup and trip to that wonderful quilt shop. There were only 3 locations that had convention centers large enough to handle a convention of this magnitude. They were Orlando, Las Vegas and New Orleans. Well Katrina took New Orleans off the list so that leaves Orlando and Vegas. It was supposed to be in NO last year but had to be moved to Orlando and it's already scheduled for Orlando this year. Hopefully that means it will be in Vegas again next year.

Hugs, Mika

Gosh, thanks, Kim!

Which little buddy are you asking about? Dexter is fine, though he's developed a thryroid condition like me. You may not have been around last November when Tuppence's liver suddenly failed and she went to the Rainbow Bridge. I miss her so much!

Yup!

I'll keep my fingers crossed. :)

And you're probably right about that, Jean. If you do get a machine, you need to get one that has everything you think you could possibly use. All of them will do very basic stuff, so you could limit yourself to those functions at first. But you'd soon want to do some of the other stuff.... ;)

Howdy!

Jean B, JoAnn's *is* having a sale, and/but-- they'll have another! And they'll have 40% discount coupons, esp. after you sign up on their mailing list (I get them at my home addy and p.o.box); they've even been printing those coupons in the Sunday newspapers! So, don't blow your budget before you know what you want (I said "want", not "need"); another sale is just hours away.

Mat: the green one, Olfa:

I've used Olfa for 15-20 yrs, no problems. The cutters,the acrylic rulers, all that fun stuff.I also like the O'Lipfa (for long cuts) & Optima rulersfor "squaring up" the edges of the blocks & quilts. Mats & rulers are an investment, tho',no need to buy ALL of them at once. You're new to quilting; you'll get there. Meanwhile, a wonderful FREE resource is the public library; most have a varied selection of quilting books; check it out.

Good luck!

Ragmop/Sandy

Howdy!

huh! aren't they all?

Ragm> Debra wrote:

Yes.

Polly Ester has kindly sent a quilt for Our Tom, and you can see a good pic of him on it here:

it's faux fur on one side and batik on the other. I've made one of Colin's face, but I have to post it.

I think I want to make for Sassy now... she was diagnosed today with diabetes.

And of course there's Jill who makes quilts for homeless animals in a LOT of shelters.

-georg