My sister's dirt and Congrats to Karen

Well, my sister has come and gone. I would never do this on my own, but she gave me permission. So here it is - her dirt! 27 years of it.


The Mothers Fancy Star quilt top I'd made her that long ago was on display in her home this whole time. There was some yellowing due to aging and possibly stains from wood. I asked her to send it to me as is. When I saw just how dirty it was, I knew it needed a cleaning before quilting it. I did not want it to agitate in the machine though, because I did not want the seams to fray. So in the bathtub it went with hot water and Borax and a little detergent. I gently squeezed the water through it. I couldn't believe the dirt and ran for the camera. Then I called Mark to see it and his 1st comment was "Did you take a picture?" It came fairly clean. And perhaps had I soaked it a while all the stains would've come out. Quilting it and binding it will be quite a chore and I don't intend to start for a while because I want to get some work done on other projects before the holidays.

While my sister was here, she helped me rearrange my quilts in storage. This was a very rare opportunity for someone to see my quilts here at the house, and I knew she'd be interested. It is recommended that once a year you refold your quilts, folding it in quarters in even years and in 3rds in odd years. Of course the best way to store quilts is flat, but most people don't have room for that. but I happen to have a spare twin bed up in the quilt storage room. So we spread out about 30 quilts on that bed. We left 2 big piles of quilts folded for trunk shows, and draped perhaps another 20 over a couple of simple quilt racks for wall hangings. I had also sorted out quilts and tops that I'm willing to part with. The quilt tops that I'm not using in lectures or classes will get stored in a huge dresser until I am ready to quilt them. It sure felt good to get those things organized. Now, I think I'll be able to set some goals for getting some of those tops quilted and perhaps sold.

Imagine how excited I was, when I went to our county fair and saw that a quilt made from one of my patterns was on full display. It is often a bit of a disappointment to see the quilts at our fair because unlike a quilt show, they do not have the space to hang every quilt open all the way. I knew right away that the quilt must have won something, and as it turned out it was won a blue and the grand champion. I was so excited for whoever had made it. As it turned out, a neighbor of mine, Karen Walters made it. It was a surprise to her as well because she had made it for her granddaughter,Megan and her daughter, Nikki entered it in the fair for her. I thought for sure, I had a picture of this quilt from the fair. I didn't think to bring my camera and never expected to need it, but golly gee, I have a new camera phone. I guess I need to read up on how to use it. Congratulations, Karen! Karen lives just 4 doors away, but here in the country, it's a good half a mile and with our busy lives, we never got to hanging out together.


I got a few lap quilts bound and got these 3 ready for binding. (that means I quilted them) I've made each of these two several times for church. Dorinda donated the tulip blocks
(below)to our efforts at church. Another gal put them together and I quilted it.

That's it for this week. Friday I will be going with Karen to the Madison Quilt Expo. Should be fun getting better acquainted with my neighbor that quilts.
Sew long,