I was so in hopes that Mr. Esther would be delighted with the Brother embroidery machine Santa brought him. Nope. He's ignored it. The children gave him a wii for Christmas. Every lady in the neighborhood that doesn't quilt is in the den with him bowling. Well, that's what they...

There have now been three deaths in my family in as many months and my hubby's health is not good. We spent yesterday at the hospital. Although I want to get back to quilting I'm not quite sure what sort of project to start with, and all my WIPS seem so uninspiring right now. Any suggestions on...

What do you do to keep the dyes from running and muddying the bright colors on new fabric when you wash it? I have a bunch to wash and would prrefer to not washing each and every piece separately. tia, Denny

I have been searching through tons of patterns that I like, and I am finding that there are some that are downloadable only in .pdf format. Now, I can skip these and find things that don't require Adobe, or I can use the Adobe formatted patterns and give you all a link to the free Adobe Acrobat...

I am wanting to do a baby blanket. I have 5 different types of material for it. I was wanting to look at perhaps doing a basic log cabin style blanket.... Can anyone help me with a pattern? I have looked online and just not sure I am looking all in the right places... Barbara in Spring Branch...

Hi! I just discovered this group, very cool. I'm sure I will learn lot's of great tips and tricks. I've noticed a lot of talk about prewashing fabric. Well, I tend to be too excited about starting a project to prewash plus I love to cut it when it is nice and crisp. However, I recently finished...

There have been so many posts lately asking about different sewing machines, I thought it would be nice to have a threat about what your favorite sewing machine is, and why. I have a kind of crappy SM (Viking Platinum 770) so will be interested to hear others opinions. Trixie

I'm just starting to feel a bit more human since the beginning of Dec (total flare)... Butterfly I don't really know what you mean by "flares" but I don't think you mean it in a good way. :( Connie Reply:

http://www.checkernewsletter.com/?p=405 a general look at quilters zodiac signs. just an amusing read. j.

HELP!!! I think I am going senile. I thought I remembered last year someone's link to "The ten days of Christmas for quilters" I have tried googling but to no avail. I thought it would be cute to do at our quilld's Christmas meeting. We have a few board members who are willing to get up and make a...

Can anyone give me some information on press and seal.I have read here that it is good for marking quilt designs and as my DSIL is coming over for a week from VA,I will ask her to bring me some.Is it in the supermarkets and easily available,will she know what I mean .? She is not a quilter...

Dish Network still has SQ scheduled for 5:30 a.m. (PST) so I missed the first show in the 900 series. I thought it was supposed to be 8:30 nationwide. Jan

How many of us like this series of almost-solids and use them a lot? Or do you think they're passe'? Monique, more a fan of Moda Marbles.

I have never hosted a swap but am thinking about starting some ongoing swaps (one would definetely be fabric charms for I spy quilts). How do you handle international swappers? I am un-employed and cannot afford to mail out lots of packages. Do they send stamps? Money? Or do they send fabric and...

A friend just called and asked if I had any blocks with a musical theme. I've just done a quick search on the internet and have found nothing. I remember a while ago that there was a series that had a piano, musical notes, violin, conductor. What a purchased pattern or one on the internet? Any...

After losing Cassie a couple of weeks ago the house was so quiet and Sugar seemed so sad. I was at Petco buying food and saw a beautiful Russian Blue with Green eyes. I went to the cage and she started to "talk" to me and licked my had and purred so loud. She is about 1 year old and very...

Found one more part that we are not sure what it is. I think it's a buttonholer. But no where in the manual is there instructions or even a pic saying what it is. So if you could take a look in my sewing album I would be grateful. Thanx again for all the...

Hi all. Been very busy here as the countdown is on to DS #2 wedding.....19 sleeps as they tell me :)) Finally got back to my quilt I'm making for their wedding. Started machine quilting today. I'm using Hobbs 80/20 batting and wondering how far apart the stitching needs to be. The top consists...

I'd like to thank eveyone who has so generously helped with supplies for my Critter Comforts project. My second load of animal quilts was just picked up and will be on their way to animal rescue groups in LA. These are the rescue groups that are beginning to receive dogs and cats fom the Hurricane...

I finished the neighbor's quilt. It took a little while to put on the binding, because the last few days i've just not been feeling well, but I finished it last night, and I"m mostly happy with the way it came out. There are some mistakes in it, but there's even more love, so I won't worry about...