Time for another Roll Call?

So I suppose that I should take a turn. 46 years old and doesn't seem possible. I'm about as far northwest as you can get in the U.S., Alaska. Been here 19 years when I moved to a rural bush village to teach business and computers. Only 700 people and only accessible by plane. Originally from Michigan. Now on what we call the "road system" so that I have a life and because I met my other half, Bert who is retired from the Forest Service. Going on 14 years together.

Two stepsons, one 27 and continuing at college while working at the college (the 20 year plan I think), the other 24 and in his last semester and last class for his Masters in Architecture. Yeah!

Had a wonderful small fluff ball of a dog that shared my adventures in the village and the move to town, but he is now only in our memories.

Made my first quilt with Mom in the early 80's and have been quilting continuously since about 1989. I hand applique a whole lot, some my own designs and others from patterns, typical pieced patterns, and always try new techniques and I also do machine embroidery since I bought Mom's machine. I now have two Viking machines.

I have at least two more years until retirement, maybe go five more beyond that, and then I can really get busy quilting and drive Bert crazy 24 hours a day with all my projects. Way too many projects unfinshed, in process and planed. Seriously trying to finish up some before starting new.

Will post the link to my website later. Bert has redone most of it and updated it massively with more quilt and travel pictures. Not quite finished, but close.

Steven Alaska

and we seem to have a flurry of new posters, is it time for a general Roll Call, so that newbies can see who we all are.

So here is mine:

Retired to the Suffolk coast in England from Nottingham in 2001, so of advancing years!

Two big children, neither still at home. Richard 33 has lived with his girlfriend and her three children for 5 years so it seems pretty permanent. He works in computers (thank goodness!). Rachel is 37 and lives with her husband Tim, an airline pilot, in central England. She has her own Personal Training business, but I think she has given up having a beautifully slim and fit mother!

DH Mike is into ornithology in a big way - birdwatches, rings birds for migration stats, does conservation work, so I am left to stitch! (and garden).

QI Inspector No 1 is Hodge who is a white cat with a grey tabby mask, hat, cloak and tail. He is assisted by 2 year old Mia (who is black and white and would rather be doing other things), and her brother Kiwi who shows great promise. Kiwi was supposed to be all black, hence his name the New Zealanders will understand. However, he is a bit of a clown so grows a long very fluffy brownish coat for winter, with a big mane like a lion and an enormous tail. He retains his pitch black face and legs though! In the summer he is black and short haired and looks considerably smaller.

Have sewed for ever, lots of embroidery, but only started quilting about

I've just had a sort out of my Webshots, so its fairly up to date. At the moment I am concentrating on the 'Singing the Blues' and have spent the evening appliqueing leaves - lots and lots of leaves!

Chocolate - officially nil as I am dieting, but ........ (Personal Trainer is too far away to see!).

So .. open to everyone else!

Hey, Steph! I'm also in the SF Bay Area....small world. Where is your local quilt shop? And I am also a (former) cross stitcher. I did that for many years before quilting :-). Welcome to the group! It's wonderful here.

~~~~~~~ Laurie G. in CA

OK, for all the new members.....

I'm Larisa, 35yo Stay-at-home-mom of 2 handfuls of energy (7.5yo boy with ADHD and 4yo girl who thinks she's 21). I have 3 QIs - an aged, but adorable shelter pup named DeAnna who is around 11 years old now, Nugget, 11, an orange tabby who really belongs to hubby, but who sleeps in my batting piles, and Shadow, 10, my spooky little black panther wannabe.

I have been sewing clothing since I was 5, and didn't start quilting until 2000. Hubby has finally gotten tired of my fabric addiction without any financial return, so I am starting a business and will be debuting the first product in March at a local craft fair (100% reversible fleece sleeping bags...guaranteed to last a minimum of 4 years according to the one my son has!). A friend is doing the business design work for me and has everything that I can do/have done listed, so this is a bit scary.

I am the official go-to person for my husband's office when they need things sewn - right now they want me to make a beanie with a dart on it (long story) and I am waiting to hear how many participants we will be having for the next baby quilt that needs to be made.

Oh, not that I forgot him, but I have been married for a little over 10 years to a wonderful man who has a hobby more expensive than mine (so there nyah!) and has been indulgent up until this year. However, he decided that I needed the extra bedroom for my work and has waited patiently for his space to be finished - which it will be this summer!! We are probably one of the longest lasting "met on the internet, but NOT through a dating service" couples around these days...but that's another story for another time.

Larisa, aka the off-kilter quilter

I second that! I have 4 big bananas ready to sacrifice their skins for banana bread!

Nothing too special about this one -- it's straight out of the Betty Crocker cookbook -- but I do get compliments on it

Julia in MN

----------- This message has been scanned for viruses by Norton Anti-Virus

-----------

Gen wrote:

I am 58 years old. I started sewing garments when I was about 13 years old. I continued sewing off & on, but as I got older & had demanding jobs, it was less & less. About 7 years ago, I pulled the machine out & started making skirts. DH thought my old Singer Genie was too noisy & perhaps I should have a new "quieter" machine. The store I bought my machine from teaches a variety of classes. One of the classes offered at the time was a "stack & slash" style quilt. It was in beautiful bright colors. I thought quilts were only made in drab, dark colors, so this caught my eye. The instructor was in the store at the time & assured me a beginner could make this quilt. I left the store with my new Viking No.1+ and signed up for the quilt class.

I haven't looked back since then. DH says he has no one else to blame, but himself for complaining about my noisy Singer Genie. If he had just kept quiet, who knows when I would have discovered quilting.

I am married to my 2nd (& last) husband. We have been married 14 years - we lived together for about 10 years before getting married. We actually met when I was 16 years old, but lost touch for several years - we never dated when I was a teenager.

We have 1 QI, a 3 year old Brittany who we are working on spoiling rotten. He is the love of our lives. We have no children.

DH & I are both retired - he retired at 50 & I guess I retired at 50 also. When I was released to go back to work, after being ill for one year, DH thought it would be nice if we could both be retired. Who am I to fight with good common sense!

We live in the SF Bay Area - we've considered relocating, but can't seem to find anyplace we think is as nice as where we live, so I guess we're staying, especially after all the work we have been doing to our house.

DH took up woodturning when he retired & quite enjoys it. He has sold many pieces & is currently assisting teaching a beginner woodturning class at the local Adult Ed.

I take lots of classes (too many UFO's now) & I'm very active in my Guild. I also volunteer for the Tax Aide Program of Contra Costa (sponsored by IRS & AARP).

Oh - & I just got a brand new car last week. It's a Buick Enclave & I'm in love with this car. Anyone want me to deliver fat quarters to them? - I'll go anywhere in this car:)

Pauline Northern California

It seems to me that sweet Cubbe didn't particularly care for your arrangement. Sort of looks like he gave it a swift kick before he made himself comfortable. Polly

My recipe's not special either - the trick is the ingredients. It helps to have seriously ripe bananas. I toast my pecans and I add a 'scant' teaspooon of fine vanilla. If you are unable to ripen bananas (remembering the years when we homed bottomless pit teenagers), a couple of jars of baby food bananas will do. Polly

Hey Steph,

I'm > StephM had written this in response to

Hi Morag, Jo and anyone else in Scotland!

I'll be in Stirling from Thursday 7 Feb to Sunday 17 Feb.......................want to meet up?

Megwen

Here is "my" banana bread recipe. I make the muffins more often than bread.

Combine salt, flour, baking powder and soda. In separate bowl mix sugar, oil, eggs and beat till frothy, add bananas. Fold into flour mix. Grease bread pan. Bake @ 325 for 1 hour. For muffins, 375 for 25-30 minutes.

Hi Steph! So glad you joined us. While I am sure your class is wonderful, I want to remind you that this group has a treasure load of knowledge, and can answer questions 24/7. So, now and in weeks and months to come, remember that there are lots of talented quilters here to help you get going in this mad, wonderful, exciting art.

Now, I'd just like to say Welcome to the Land of RCTQ. We have fun here, no moderator, no rules. The only thing you really need to know is that it is very wise to have your chocolate vetted. Just send a pound or two to the Office of the Official Chocolate Taster of RCTQ, which is in my Palace here in Virginia. I will test and taste and report back via email. You don't have to thank me ... this is my unselfish volunteer duty in RCTQ. A tough job, but someone's gotta do it. :)

Pat In Virginia/USA

Exactly right. The squares had been arranged in rows of green, blue, purple and red. If you look, you can see that the purples got kicked aside in the final flumpf onto the floor. I've been a collector of 5" charms for the longest time. I no longer remember what those particular ones were doing on the floor. Nor do I recall where the blocks on the corkboard are at the moment. I'm pretty sure they haven't made it into a quilt.

Cubbe is a dainty dog, catlike in her habits. So the picture is an unusual one. She only rarely lies down in the sewing studio so I took it as a special compliment that she chose to lie on the fabric that day.

--Lia

Now, there's a brilliant idea from Pauline that I hope you all read and committed to memory. Her DH thought her SM was noisy and urged her to buy a new one. ??? Yesssss. There's a tiny amplifier here used for music making. Wonder if there's a way to persuade it to make my sweet quiet Berninas sound like chain saws?. Hmmm. Polly

"Pauline" I am 58 years old. I started sewing garments when I was about 13 years old.

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen and anyone else who is quilting at the RCTQ Cyber Frame!

My name is Pat and I live in Virginia. My quilt making taste is all over the place. I prefer piecing but do enjoy some machine appliqué. I like traditional patterns, but insist on adding my personal update. Mostly, I like to use cheerful colors, very often using odd combinations. There are no animals here, but I have several non quilting friends who love to check out my new projects. I also have a bunch of quilting friends, in a few bees. One bee meets for the purpose of making a Quilt of Valor every month. That is very rewarding, and fun too!

All for now, Pat in Virginia

I'm Megwen aged 57, (now how did I get that old?!!) from Bath, England. DH of 32 years, no children but 3 nieces (21, 18, 6)and 1 nephew (8) who I spoil on a regular basis. No QIs either. Work full time playing with computers, how they have changed in the last 39 years!

I'm happy piecing tops but as yet I've not enough courage to quilt, so I'm making a pile of tops instead.

Thanks! I am enjoying reading about all of you very much, so matching up the faces to the names will be fun.

Hugs,

Mary > Thought a pointer to all our picture sites, etc. might be a good idea > here too.

My name is Kellie. I have been sewing since I was a little girl (5? 6?) and quilting since the early 90s. I was one of the first RCTQers way back when. I come and go from heavy posting to lurkdome as life allows. Have met a bunch of y'all at the Really Big Quilt Show (here in Houston), and some of you on other travels.

I like piecing by machine and applique and embroidery by hand. I like to machine quilt but am better at hand quilting. Basting is probably my least fav. part of the whole process. Followed by cutting the pieces lol I have way more UFOs than finished pieces and don't seem to hang on to my quilts very well. Most have been given away. Like my posting here, my quilting gets done in fits and starts. It has been a while since I have really worked on anything quilty.

I have 3 kiddos - one in middle and two in elementary, a Dear Husband, and one QI English Mastiff pup. The kids help me sew when i let them, the DH helps me baste when I can pull him away from the computer or model rockets, and the dog isn't usually allowed around the quilting yet cause she likes to taste everything and put her paws or head on the foot pedal to, erm, help? me.

oh dark chocolate and caramel (together or seperate) are my sweet preferences.

that's about it for now!

Kellie

Sally Swindells wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@bt.com:

Ok , my turn.. Well as most of you know my name is Els ( short from Elizabeth)i am 50 and i am from Holland! Not married anymore and i luvvvv being single.. got 2 grown children (26

• 22), both left the nest..but i see them every week..No grandchildren and doesn't look like there will be any soon either.. if at all. So now i live with my QI's : Kyra, thé wonderdog, and Noexie & Nesa, brothers in mischief (my black cats) Kyra is at the very end of her life and hanging on by her paws, refusing to let go of life..she's the light in my life.. Not quilting anymore .. been a handquilter for years ( don't even own an SM )but somehow i can't get myself back to quilting .. I just keep hanging on in this NG!

Els.