What is with the low number of posts?

Maybe everyone is sewing?

-- Jo in Scotland

Perhaps everyone is sewing?

-- Jo in Scotland

i have been quilting. and making blocks for BOM's. and mending. and visiting. and....life does happen. I do lurk occasionally, tho!

Flaming sounds like a comforting idea. We were singing "Welcome, sweet spring time" and our temp went from 80° to 26°. Even the Yorkie has moved back from the cool tile floor to the sheepskin rug in front of the fireplace. Want to start an argument or two just to wake everybody up? Let's see. Bernina is vastly superior to Janome. Anybody that machine quilts is not really quilting. 'Real' men do not quilt. Nobody with a brain would use a steam iron when piecing. Anybody who doesn't pre-wash is careless and stupid. Putting in a new needle after only 6 months is wasteful. The only people who use prints instead of solids are hiding missed points. Quilts should not be used/abused. They deserve 'put away and save' status. Hooo BOy! that was fun. Anyone? Polly

Polly

I'm not going near any of those with a 10 foot pole. I'll just sit back and watch the sparks fly.

Anyways, life. It's what happens and takes up newsgroup time. How can February be the shortest month and the longest month at the same time. Too short for everything that needs to be done, and too long that it seems like spring is never going to get here.

The very, very last page of the yearbook was sent on Friday, three days early. Only to have that now extra time taken up with more planning for state conference at the end of this month. And planning for next year's schedule has started as well as more, and more and more, it just never ends on the school front.

But, I took a class back in January at the LQS on using a long-arm and last weekend I went and rented her machine for $20 an hour and quilted two lap quilts. It went quite well. A few bumps along the way but overall pleased with the results. Finishing the binding on the quilt for Grandma and then will tackle the other. Hope to post pictures later this week. Also have finished the baltimore blocks so am ready to sash and border them. Maybe tomorrow.

Otherwise been working, surviving, reading RCTQ, but not responding much.

Steven Alaska

I don't know where everyone is. I have spent some days lately working in the yard. The weather here hopping around from spring back to winter so I take advantage of the 'spring' days. I don't have a 10 foot pole but I agree with the Bernina is vastly superior to Janome. That should bring Leslie out. LOL, ducking and running. Taria

You'd think my list of flames would at least have drawn out the long-armers ... they probably 'do' have 10 ft poles. Polly

When I grow up I want to be Polly.

Until then, I'm mostly limiting online time lately. Lots of things going on that are (sorry about this) more interesting and urgent than surfing. You see, if I just drop in here for a few minutes, I end up sucked into the yawning maw of the Net for hours. I'm sort of an addict, have no self-control, all that stuff.

Otherwise, I'm missing my friends at RCTQ and needing a good big dose of quilt talk time. Maybe we should all square off around Polly's list and start making people laugh.

For my part: Bernina? Janome? Well let me tell you, my Montgomery Ward 7-Jewel ZigZag sewing machine (circa 1950ish), portable, weighing in at 52 pounds, is the best. So there. hehehehehehehehehehehe

Love ya all, Sunny

I thought of some more. There are quilt police. If you violate the rules, your quilt is no good. All seams must always be pressed to the side and they have to be ¼". 'Art' quilts are superior to traditional ones even if they are downright ugly. Hiding your best scissors from the family is selfish. Sleazy thin fabric from the $1 bin is good enough. Quilting is 'just' a hobby. You must be born with the quilting gene; study and practice will not help. Maybe everybody is in the drunk tank in New Orleans; this is Mardi Gras weekend. Polly ... with no plans to grow up.

"Sunny" When I grow up I want to be Polly.

Polly, we hope you don't grow up. We like you the way you are!

Donna iin Idaho

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I certainly have no skill at shaking the missing into a fight. You don't suppose they're quilting, do you? Polly

"Donna in Idaho" <

">> Polly ... with no plans to grow up.

How about:

batting backing and thread.

Sings: "We didn't start the fy-er..."

Nel (giggling and poking head above settee/couch/sofa/settle) (Gadget Queen) with long wooden spoon

Well, I am checking in daily, not a lot to say. However, my favorite machine did not die completely as I had thought. (A capacitor blew up in the transformer, which blew a fuse. Easily replaceable parts, fortunately.) It is home and ready to go. And it is a Viking. Neither a Janome nor a Bernina. I have been busy sewing, contemplating and trying to breathe.

Have fun, Pati, in Phx

Nel, you are good! Really, really good. I particularly like the one about using a kit. I used to wonder (quite uppity, too) why anyone would do that. I finally realized that there are lots of good reasons and they are none of my business. So there. Polly

"Sartorresartus" How about:

Hehehehe...

I have Husqvarna Vikings, Berninas, Elnas, Frister & Rossmans, Singers, a Toyota, a Brother, a Jones, and a Big Ole New Home... The New Home is a mechanical wonder, heavy as a lead coffin, but sleek as butter. The only modern Janome machines I have tried have been plasticky and flimsy and/or have danced off the table into my lap. Not buying one of THOSE, taverymuch!

I do love my older New Home, though not as much as the old Berninas, Elnas, Singers, et al.

I sometimes wash my fabrics before sewing, and sometimes not. depends...

And I haven't posted much recently because I'm changing my way of business and also trying to stock my Folksy and Etsy shops, with my partner in sewing...

Breathing is good. Keep at it!

PS: for Polly: Growing up is for kids. I gave up years ago! ;)

I can think of a million reasons for using a kit.

I can understand using a pattern for something wild and wooly, or something pictorial when that is not in your skill set.

I don't get insisting on a bought pattern for dead common ancient geometric patterns. You have a ruler, you know your multiplication tables, you even have or can get a bit of graph paper. One of the old aunties used to look askance at me for using that much. Her drafting tools ran to a piece of lathe, a dinner plate, a teacup, and a stack of old newspapers for drawing on. So I suppose I ought to be more sympathetic to folk who insist on boughten patterns for everything all the time, but it strikes me as dreadful wasteful.

Pet peeve alert! Those little templates on keychains that you use for drawing out repeat patterns for the quilting. They are a great idea, especially the curves, but I would love them better if they actually had measurements on them so it was a bit less by guess and by golly when using them. I have a set of the ones for feathers, but half the time I still use a teacup because I _know_ how big that is without fussing.

NightMist