Jeanne

thanks for taking such good care of her :-)

But, but, but, you did not say if she added any LIME greens to her stash.

Butterfly (wondering if there were any she didn't already have )

strange.. she didn't mention any LIMES to me either - just fall fabrics LOL

but I bet there *were* some she didn't have but probably does now LOL

I seem to remember that she makes a large 'pillowcase' out of a couple of FQs and then fills it with fabric and takes it on the plane as a comfort pillow!

Remember she is an expert at this!

-- Sally at the Seaside ~~~~~~~~~~ (uk)

a little birdie mentioned making a poncho this time round ;-)

Jeanne is here, safely asleep in the guest room. Her bus arrived a little over an hour late, however I brought her home "my" way (backroads) and she seemed to enjoy the lovely old homes and mini donkeys.

I have shown her how to manipulate my laptop, the coffee pot and satelite tv. She should be fine, and internet accessable, while I head off to work.

Paulette in WV

WOOO HOOO!!!

I may see her later on then :-D

another long ramble on my long trip in the usa...circa 2006

:) i spent a lovely, fun, exciting two weeks with Gen, half of that at their home in Columbus along with Don and the 4 kittys. They took excellent care of me. i had my own room with a really comfy bed. the temps were such that i slept with my window open at night and only needed a sheet over me most of the time. they have a lovely home in a lovely setting with squirrels that come onto their deck for their peanuts. so cute they were. all the kittys were adorable too. the boys were ever so cuddly, specially that wolfie. he purred if you only talked to him. Klaus slept in the sun with his feet in the air, apparently its how the breed sleeps, lol. the wee lasses were less accomodating. Brandy and i had a couple of scratching sessions but wee Chessie i only ever saw from a distance. she just isnt a sociable kitty. sad as she is ever so pretty but oh so shy. they fed me very well, going out to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays Saturday night, scrummy food there and the best was Dons BBQ burgers...not to be missed if you ever get thru Columbus, lol. i ate more than i should have and put on a couple of pounds i'm sure. i cant thank them enough to being so kind and good to me. i had a blast. my ONLY complaint is that Gen is 'the absolute worst enabler' LOL. she took me to nearly every fabric store in the state but claims we missed

i arrived in usa with only one pair of shoes and not the best for much walking so Gen made a quick stop at walmart? i think it was and i found a cheap $10 pair that will do this trip at least. only thing i did wrong was wear them to expo up in Novi, Mi 'without socks', eeeek. bad move on my part so next time we were near anywhere that i could get sox i did. whewwww. now the shoes are great. only one problem, the place i got sox was Sears and they had some neat shoes on sale so grabbed 3 diff pairs to take home. sorry couldnt resist them. one pair perfectly matches my burgandy jacket. :) more weight in the suitcase, lol.

as for how i might get some of the fabs home, assuming i still have probs with that near to end of my run here in usa, i'll fold a few pieces over each other and toss it over my shoulder like a mexican serape, should do the trick as they dont weigh your clothing now do they. :))

the trip here on the bus was fun too. not been on a bus trip like that since i was in europe back in the late 70s and when i was younger and more adventurous. on the second bus from pittsburgh, pa into hagerstown, md there was an older lady who sat in the special seat behind the driver. when we made a rest stop he helped her out and she asked if he or someone could help her get to the restrooms. i heard that and said sure enough. so off we went with her being legally blind but able to see shapes she more or less followed me along with our chatting, my voice was another directional clue to follow. what a great amazing lady too. as it turned out when we got back on the road, she is

we hit a patch of road being resurfaced and slowest down arriving in hagerstown over an hour late. i was so pleased that Paulette had not given up on me but was just about to ask the station attendent to call the driver and find out why we were so late and when to expect us. whewwwwww. shes such a patient lady. we did the drive home along the backroads/villages seeing some really neat homes, mini mules and mini horses. who knew they could make'em so small, lol. arriving so late P's dh took us out for dinner at the aussie 'Outback' restaurant. got a funny look from the young lass at the door when i said, 'g'day mate' to her, lol. i just couldnt resist as i'd asked P before we went in if the staff were all aussies. :)) again i ate ordered more than i thot would be on the plate and took most of my steak and half my jacket potato home and had it for lunch today. i've showered and pottered round today, just checking out the animals she has here. i think her birds are used to me already, well the dogs and cats are no worrys. the birds have their moments. i think as i quit talking to them other than saying 'your beautiful' in hopes by the time i leave they will learn that from me, so they now mostly just stare at me when i do talk to them. heck better than the sometimes screech i've heard out of them. my old ears are not what they used to be pre so many rock concerts in my youth, lol i must say i feel so lucky to be finding every time i meet a new quilter i've only known online they never cease to amaze me what great hosts they are....take note anyone still young, too much rock music messes up your ears when you get older and it aint no fun at'all.

yup a nice relaxing day here today after a long bus ride yesterday. i hope Gen was serious that i could return anytime for another visit. i sure did try to fit in and do my bit around the homestead. i had a fantastic time with G and D in Ohio. they're the best of the best. :) cheers for now from Shenandoah Junction, WbgV. jeanne

Don/Gen wrote:

Hehe, yep, she did that at my house. It was really fun to do. If I recall correctly, she used 8 FQ's to make the case with.

iirc, tho with my mind could be a push to recall anything correctly, no matter how recent.... i had 30 FQs left to carry home and no more weight allowance. laid them all out to find a bunch of the same size. put either 6 or 8 for each side, right sides together, sew'd round 3 sides, turned out, scrunched up the other 14 or 18 stuffing them inside and then with some thickish black thread whipped stitched over the final side. the outside was orientals with black background so the obviousness of the black and whip stitch looked on purpose. the airlines staff never batted an eyelid tho one did comment on my pretty pillow. a pillow will not hurt anyone if it gets tossed round the cabin for any reason and weighs nothing (so they thought) and has no need to fit in overhead compartment or under the seat so they werent the least bit worried. they also dont weigh clothing tho now limit your carry on articles so i figure wearing the stuff might be better than carrying a pillow, hopefuly easier for me as well. who knows. i needed to ship home after Gens enabling and i'm being VERY conservative here tho the birthday month $1.50 batiks are a worry. i really want to get back there for some more. i hope P has some time for us to do that before i leave. need to pack some to ship home so i've room for more buying at houston as well. :D cheers for now, jeanne

Jenn/Jalynne wrote:

iirc, tho with my mind could be a push to recall anything correctly, no matter how recent.... i had 30 FQs left to carry home and no more weight allowance. laid them all out to find a bunch of the same size. put either 6 or 8 for each side, right sides together, sew'd round 3 sides, turned out, scrunched up the other 14 or 18 stuffing them inside and then with some thickish black thread whipped stitched over the final side. the outside was orientals with black background so the obviousness of the black and whip stitch looked on purpose. the airlines staff never batted an eyelid tho one did comment on my pretty pillow. a pillow will not hurt anyone if it gets tossed round the cabin for any reason and weighs nothing (so they thought) and has no need to fit in overhead compartment or under the seat so they werent the least bit worried. they also dont weigh clothing tho now limit your carry on articles so i figure wearing the stuff might be better than carrying a pillow, hopefuly easier for me as well. who knows. i needed to ship home after Gens enabling and i'm being VERY conservative here tho the birthday month $1.50 batiks are a worry. i really want to get back there for some more. i hope P has some time for us to do that before i leave. need to pack some to ship home so i've room for more buying at houston as well. :D cheers for now, jeanne

Jenn/Jalynne wrote:

Well, whew, Jeanne! I was worried that you'd forgotten that shopping was a possibility in Houston. ;) Better let them ship your Houston purchases home for you -- they have a wonderful service that does that right on site! LOL!

wow, great idea, Sandy. thanks for that info. could well be just what i need. got any ideas on calming dh down when all this stuff plus what i bring home starts arriving and i havent a good place to put it all. the drawers and shelves in sewing room are already full from last yr still. i guess i'll just have to sew faster, eh. :)) its not the cost but the fact i keep collecting heaps faster than i'm using it up. he just doesnt get it. i must sit down yet again with him to splain the stamp/coin collectors point of view and relate this to fabric collecting. silly man. cheers from WbyV. jeanne

Sandy Foster wrote:

but... but.. they are valuable souvenirs!

Uhhh...they're gifts? After all, they really are gifts -- from you with love to you! ;)

Souvenirs :) Perfect :) I've been collecting fabrics from every place we have been....started a long time ago. Sure is a lot cheaper than the 'real' souvenirs and much more useful.

HTH Butterfly

Howdy!

Tell him what you really-really-really want for Christmas this year is something like this:

Ragmop/Sandy

Jeanne, we can always make a bunch of fabric into a long patchwork skirt. Tiers, gathered at each one, fold over the top for elastic. Simple to do.

Pati, > iirc, tho with my mind could be a push to recall anything correctly, no

You will get more FQ's into a skirt if you sew the corners at the waist and let the FQ's hang "on-point" like one of those skirts with a zig-zag hemline. Use long stitches to run them together and just turn over small amount at the corner and thread with a cord to tie (might be more comfortable than elastic on a long flight).

(Mental picture of J waddling onto the flight looking like an over dressed snowman with layer upon layer of "clothing" is just too funny for this early in the morning)

Would they let you take a souvenir teddy bear as cabin luggage? Pull out the stuffing and replace with FQ's.

Oh heck - why don't you just hire a freighter to ship it all home? rofl