Worked This Week

Whew! What a week! The last three days, I was in the same high school class. It was a trip...let me tell you.

First, let me back-track. We moved back "home" in March 2004. I am a home-body and am working on a quilt everytime I sit down, but since all my friends are still working, I wasn't having the contact with them that I wanted. I started subbing at our public library and also signed up to sub for the school district. I see quite a few people I know in both places. One of the fringe benefits is that one of my high school classmates now teaches at our old high school. We knew each other "back in the day," but weren't friends. We have developed a friendship. Isn't "growing up" grand?! She's teaching me to knit. This summer I will help her start making a quilt out of her deceased husband's bluejeans.

When I started subbing, my initial thought was - NOT high school...no way...no how! That changed after I had the same fourth grade class two days in a row. LITTLE ANIMALS! I decided I would try high school and if it didn't work out...I would just go home.

I enjoy high school! Believe me when I say that the kids are not like we were back when our parents told us if we got paddled at school we would get another when we got home. Back when we said, "Yes, ma'am" or "Yes, sir" and did exactly what we were told when we were told. We didn't pout and make comments about our "rights." We, ahem, also weren't so blatant about the copying and cheating that I see now.

Which brings me to what happened... the teacher left me a copy of the principal's memo about students and their internet usage. She also taped a copy of the memo to each and every computer monitor in the classroom. The students can use the internet for class work only - no personal business, e-mails, games, music, videos. One young lady told me that they couldn't do that. She had rights. I advised her that the only right a student had was the right to a decent education IF the student put in the effort. A few minutes later as I walked around the room monitoring the computer activity, this young lady's neighbor was looking at prom dresses! I told her to get off the internet. She looks up innocently, "But this is for school." I asked her which class required that she do research on the cost of prom dresses. When she tried to argue and her neighbor once again brought up the rights issue, I offered to let both of them go discuss this with the principal. The rights girl hushed and the prom girl got off the internet.

If I talked like that to any adult at school my parents would have killed me!

Starting the Stitching

I asked if points were going to be counted off for using the fancy stitches on my sewing machine. ;0) On the two "class" blocks, I will try very hard to use a few more hand stitches than machine stitches, and perhaps the evening bag will be all hand stitched. I make no such promises on the other seven blocks! When a person has invested good hard-earned money in an expensive computerized sewing machine, it just makes good sense to utilize the machine.

These first blocks are the "class" blocks. See the nice hand stitches?! NO? I can't either! On the first block, squint at the pink and you'll see a long and short blanket stitch. Then check out apricot and green blades on the fan.

I did a close up of the second block so you can see the stitches better.

The first embroidery work I did was as a teenager. Mama taught me a few stitches so I could make dresser scarves and pillowcases. It's just not my "thing." I did counted cross stitch back in the early 1980s. I did several pieces for my son's nursery. After that...that's all I wanted.

When I have a threaded needle in my hand, I want to spend time at my quilt frame.

Just a few of the machine embroidery stitches...

I sewed the corner of a cutwork napkin on this block. I also decided to "audition" my mother-in-law's cameo brooch.

Crazy Quilt Base Blocks

For the Crazy Quilt Challenge, we needed two blocks. Then, the - ahem - "powers that be" decided to throw in an extra challenge piece - I call it "extra credit" because I'm going to need it when part of my fancy stitching is done on my high priced sewing machine and not by hand.


The first block is just your standard CQ block beginning with a whompy cut hexagon in the center and building upon it log cabin style. I pulled fabrics from the pile as they came and just tried not to put two identical pieces side-by-side. The lace is over a piece of blue tissue lame'. Don't you love the sequins?!






For the second block, the teachers suggested a fan. Mine didn't come out exactly like the directions (because - ahem - I read them... thought I remembered what they said... then did not refer to them again.) BUT it still looks like a fan. I clipped the stitching along the edge and turned the lace back the way it should go. ;o) As you can see in both blocks, I did add a bit of lace and trim as I sewed the blocks. All of this was done before I got the goodies from the shopping trip. I made another seven blocks and intend to make a CQ throw 3 blocks x 3 blocks. We'll see.



My extra credit piece is going to be an evening bag. My husband and I are planning an Alaskan cruise for later this year. It will be our first, but we have decided to "do it up properly" with the two formal nights. I thought a CQ evening bag would be a neat idea. For this, I decided to use all dark fabrics and left the pastels out. Hopefully the red hexagon will be in the center of the back of the bag. Both my sister-in-law, Carol, and my husband, Sam, don't want me to embellish this. But it will happen. What is CQ without embellishment? I feel that I need to get a few pieces of dark lace for this...black, red, navy, etc.



More to come later! Ta-ta! (That's fancy talk for "Bye Ya'll!")

Going Crazy

For Crazy Quilts that is! I joined the HGTV Quilting & Needlework forum's Crazy Quilt Challenge. We are learning how to make...NO, Fair! You peaked! Crazy quilts!

I did not have a single silky, slinky, velvety, slimy piece of fabric anywhere. As I was lamenting to my mother about it and supposing I'd just use quilter's cotton, she said, "Wait a minute." I followed her and watched as she dug into the recesses of the closet in her guest room. She emerged with her hair a bit wilder than before she ducked under the hanging clothes with two "Piggly Wiggly" paper grocery bags of silky, slinky, slimy fabrics! I was amazed. A friend gave them to her years ago. I don't know what Mama was going to do with them, but as I sorted through, I found where the bodice of a Barbie doll dress had been cut out of one piece. Ah-ha! I remember! I rifled through the same sacks years ago to make Barbie doll dresses for nieces who are now 25 years old and older. One piece is evidently from a dance costumer. It is hot pink solidly covered with sequins. I hit the mother-lode! Literally!


I brought the grocery bags home and dumped the fabrics in my sewing room floor. After sorting, I discovered that about half of the stash were lining fabrics. I folded them and put them back into one of the bags and filed it away in the corner of my room - under my quilt frame. When I pressed the "keepers," I found satins, tissue lame', lace, netting, and even a piece of suede cloth.




I rummaged through my stash closet for my sack of lace. Even though I had a mean ole son I had several nieces. I made soft-sculpture dolls which needed doll clothes when they were little. I don't know where the silver, red, and gold rickrack (left in the photo) came from, but probably something Mama picked up when she was buying and selling antiques. She gave me several sewing related items that she came across in boxes.




Then, went digging around for linens, doilies, hankies, etc. I found some soiled or extremely worn dresser scarves Mama made years ago along with some small crocheted doilies. I even found a long length of crocheted trim that is not in very good shape. The ecru colored trim in the lower right hand corner is tatting that Mama found in a box during her antiquing days. I think I'll divide it and leave part of it as is but try to oxy-clean the other half.


Before it was all said and done, one of the wonderful ladies on the HGTV forum announced that she and another lady would be going on a buying trip for fabrics and laces and we could sign up to share in the booty. After the trip, she cut the fabrics into blocks and the laces into sections or motifs. Once she received each participant's check, she dropped the loot in the mail along with a bonus Victorian print on fabric. It was like Christmas all over again!

I'll have to play with all of these after I "get good" at CQing!

What a Bummer

I woke yesterday morning with the total and complete yucks. I was supposed to sub at the high school but knew I had fever. So, I called the secretary and told her the sub needed a sub. Took my temp - yep, had a fever - and went back to bed. Yesterday was a total loss.

Two More Quilted Cardigans

I've had fun making these. And, since I've lost a bit of weight, I need to make another!







The red jacket is the first one that I made. I still like this one the best. I have a really hard time finding sweatshirts. That is such a surprise. I really wanted a white sweatshirt for this one...with so many different shades of red, I didn't think I would be able to match it to the fabrics I already had in my stash. I had to settle for gray.









When I made this one for my mother, the navy sweatshirt was much easier to find. At first she thought she wanted the original cuffs left on the sleeves. After she wore it a time or two, she returned it to me. I cut the cuffs off and bound the sleeve edge with a piece of bias binding cut from one of the blue fabrics used in the jacket.

Baby Quilts

Can you believe that it is February already? I thought I would share baby quilts I've made for friends and family.

Hayden's quilt is a Pam Bono pattern.

Grant's quilt is a snowball block alternating with a basic 9-patch.

Rilee received a whompy Raggedy Ann and Andy. I did not have a pattern for this and was so glad when I completed the last block. I doubt I EVER make another whompy block! Rilee's grandmother sent me a photograph of a cousins' slumber party. Peeking out from the pile of pillows and blankets was a corner of this quilt.

The free machine embroidery Dutch dolls were from http://www.annthegran.com/. Beginning with this quilt for Brianna, I started machine quilting the baby quilts I make.

Tanner's quilt is a Fons & Porter design.

Some day I will be making quilts for my own grandbabies!

Part 3 - Read January 8, then January 26 before this

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em…

My husband moved back home. I proved to him that I can make money with my hobby while his hobby just throws money in a hole filled with water.

I stopped at the LQS (local quilt shop) after he’d been gone four weeks – the second time he moved out. Wait a minute! I didn’t stop to buy anything! I stopped to touch the fabric and feel the fabric and smell the fabric. I’d been going through withdrawals because I hadn’t had enough money to buy fabric for several weeks.

One of the women who works there asked me what I’d been working on lately. I pulled out my photographs. Yes! I carry photographs of my WIPs (works in progress). You never know when someone might want to look at them. The owner of the shop asked to see them. She fell in love with the Grandmother’s Flower Garden that I intended to use for a roof quilt. I had enough hexagons pieced to make two queen-size quilts. To make a long story short, she asked me if I’d be interested in selling them. She had a non-quilting customer who was building a farmhouse. One of the guestrooms was going to have two queen-size beds in it and she wanted two matching quilts.

I hadn’t thought about selling my quilts, but I told her sure, to go ahead and call her customer and we’d set up a date for me to bring the quilts to the shop so that she could see them. Long story short – she fell in love with the quilts and paid…are you ready? She paid me $3,000 for each quilt! She paid that much because both were hand-pieced and hand-quilted. Then she wanted to know what else I had.

I cut the kids’ car covers down, and she bought the quilts with matching pillow shams and valances for her grandchildren. Remember the boat cover I made out of old blue jeans? I took it apart and made four quilts out of it. She didn’t buy them, but she called some of her friends. I sold all four of them and have orders for two more.

I’ve been selling tablerunner and placemat sets some of which have matching potholders, as well as purses, totes, and quilted jackets. Most of that stuff I made a while back and never had used any of them.

My husband eventually called me, and we met for lunch. He was a real big spender…we met at a hamburger joint. He did offer me some money to buy groceries though. I told him, "No thank you." He looked surprised and asked if I’d gone to work. I just smiled. He asked if I’d robbed a bank. I let him sweat for a little while but I finally told him that I was selling quilts.

The kids were down to just a couple of quilts each and I had sold all but one of the quilts I’d made for our bed. There weren’t but two quilts left hanging on the walls in the house. All the quilted window shades were purchased by a woman who hung them on her basement walls to make it look as if she had windows.

He said I probably didn’t even cover the purchase price of my materials much less a fraction of my labor. I pulled out my checkbook and showed it to him. His bottom jaw dropped. When he recovered, he finally asked about my fabric stash. I smiled when I told him that I had been working on it. With him gone, I took over the garage. The kids helped me clean it out. With a fresh coat of paint, a big walk-in closet filled with shelves for my stash, books, and patterns, and a table for my machines, a cutting table, and an ironing table…my studio was set up. One wall had been set up for a design wall. He asked to see it.

When we got to the house and he walked into the old garage, his jaw dropped again. "Where? What? How?" He asked as he looked around the room.

I just smiled.

He walked over to the longarm quilter and asked where it had come from.

I just put my hands on my hips and smiled.

He wanted to know how it worked. Since I had a quilt in the frame, I showed him. He wanted to give it a try so I moved him down to the end where there was some cotton batting showing. It had some of the backing behind it, so I just sprayed a piece of fabric with some quilt basting spray and stuck it to the cotton.

He had a blast. I have to admit that he was pretty good. I let him work on the quilt. He finished it that night, but it had gotten pretty late so he asked if he could stay. I let him.

We have a booming business now.

Our daughter, who earned an art degree, is our pattern designer. She comes up with some new funky stuff as well as puts together some wonderful fabric combinations for traditional designs. She also designs most of our quilting patterns.

The oldest son is our business manager. He handles the advertising, business contacts, and incoming orders for not only our completed quilts but also for patterns his sister designs. We have such a huge volume of business and he keeps us on our toes.

Our youngest son is our computer guru. He built and maintains our website. He also takes the new designs to draft the patterns on the computer and prints them so that they can be sold.

My husband quit his job, and sold his boat. He invested money in the family business. He is a genius at the longarm quilter and has even won awards at some of the most prestigious quilt shows in the country and around the world.

We all take turns making the quilt tops. The kids have all learned to piece on the machine and have surpassed my expectations. Their points are actually pointed and all the seams intersect at exactly the right spot.

And me? My official title is "Purchasing Agent." In other words, I feed my habit. I get to visit fabric suppliers and buy FABRIC! You should see my stash now!

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental.
This story is copyrighted ©
No part of this shall be printed or reproduced without the written permission of Sherry Ray.

Quilt Show Winner!

I am so excited! I entered three items in Quilts on the Bayou, the Jefferson Texas quilt show, this past weekend. http://www.jeffersonquiltshow.com/

My sweatshirt cardigan placed Second in its category. The Log Cabin cardigan is the third cardigan I've made using a sweatshirt as the base. I made the Log Cabin blocks then sewed them together. After a good pressing, I sprayed the back with quilt basting spray and positioned them where I wanted them on the sweatshirt. I then sewed them down using some of the fancy stitches on my sewing machine.

While looking for extra fabrics to coordinate with what I had, I rounded the corner in Hobby Lobby and came face to face with some loopy trim that was a perfect match.

Threads From the Heartland which is a Joanns BOM placed Third in the bed hand pieced/hand quilted category.

My husband and I were getting ready to go on vacation a few years back when I realized that I did not have a project to take along while he was driving. I picked up some pre-cut blocks and threw together a sewing kit. While Sam drove, I pieced blocks. This quilt is 100% hand stitched, including the backing and binding.

Last, but definitely not least, my hand quilted wholecloth quilt placed Second AND took home Third Place in Viewers' Choice! I was on cloud nine. I quilted this quilt in 11 months finishing it in November 2003...most of that time I was still working a full time job. This is Sam's favorite. It graces our bed every summer.

This quilt also won First Place and Best of Show in an online quilt show back in 2004.

The center medallion is a circle of pineapples. This is a Benartex preprinted panel. I did not want to take the time and trouble to draft my own just to find out that I did not like investing this much time in one project. I loved it! I will, someday, draft my own pattern and do this again.

Back to the quilting frame!

Part 2 - Read January 8 First

Confessions of a Quiltaholic

After only two weeks in the apartment, my husband moved back home. He said he missed my cooking, which is really a surprise because I haven’t cooked in ages…except for the time I toasted the bread before making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Is that considered ‘home cooking’?

He wanted us to go to a marriage counselor, but all I could think about was how much fabric I could buy with all that money. Of course, I didn’t tell him that! I asked him if there wasn’t something else I could do. Two days later he handed me a piece of paper with the date and time of a Quilter’s Anonymous meeting. Can you believe it? After the fiasco at the Fabric Hoarders Anonymous meeting he forced me to attend last month. Go figure.

He left me with no choice so I had to agree to attend. Thankfully it was in the next town. But still, I was afraid I would see someone from the FHA meeting. You all know that fabric "collecting" and quilting go hand-in-hand.

When I walked into the meeting room, I kept my coat and sunglasses on. I wanted to make sure no one recognized me. I looked around, but with the sunglasses on, it was kind of hard to see faces. I found a place to sit. They had the heat on in the building, and it sure was hot. I didn’t want to "blow my cover," so I kept my coat on.

Just like at the other meeting, people were standing up talking about their addiction. I don’t understand it. If it is something you truly enjoy, why is it called an addiction? But if this is what it’s going to take to save my marriage…a woman’s gotta do what a woman’s gotta do.

As the testimonials made their way around the room, I felt eyes upon me. I stood and said, "My name is Sher…" I cleared my throat. "My name is Cherie McRae, and I am a quiltaholic." Little beads of perspiration were starting to form on my forehead and my upper lip.

The woman sitting beside me said, "Honey, don’t be so nervous. We’ve all been there."

I nodded at her and thought, ‘Another do-gooder.’ But I continued. "It started out innocently enough with potholders and throw pillows."

I heard several people say, "Me too."

"Then I made a baby quilt for my sister’s baby. Of course, after that I had to make one for my brother’s baby." I wiped the sweat off my forehead with my hand.

Several women were nodding.

I heard one of the women beside me say, "She must be going through the change."

"I joined several swaps, and I had all those blocks so I made a quilt for my bed. And two quilts for my sons. And a quilt for my daughter. And a quilt for my mother. And…and that was just from the swaps." Sweat was pouring off my face. A woman behind me handed me a tissue…I needed a bath towel.

"I even cut up fabric in my stash."

I heard a gasp from in front of me.

"Yes, it was hard to do, but I used fabric in my stash and made another quilt for my bed. Actually, I now have six quilts for my bed. My sons have five quilts each. My daughter only has three so I really need to make her…"

The woman at the head table started shaking her head ‘no.’ I peered sideways around the edge of my sunglasses and almost fainted. She was the same woman who was at the head table at the FHA meeting.

"Well, maybe my sons can give her one of theirs."

I heard someone say, "Her poor daughter is getting hand-me-down quilts."

I could feel the perspiration rolling down between my shoulder blades. I wiped my forehead and blotted by upper lip with the already sopping wet tissue.

"I’ve made bed quilts, wall quilts, and lap quilts. I’ve made throw quilts and dog quilts. I’ve even made quilted window covers. The good thing about all this quilting is that the walls and windows have so many quilts on them that our electricity bill has dropped tremendously. It doesn’t take as much energy to heat and cool the house as it did before. It’s just sort of dark in the house because the windows are covered with those quilted window shades." I started fanning myself with my hand. A woman behind me pulled one of those cardboard funeral parlor fans out of her purse and handed to me. I thought I saw a quilt block in her purse. She must be a closet quilter.

"I’ve made quilted clothes and quilted purses and totes. My daughter didn’t mind too much, but my oldest son said the kids at school made fun of his quilted gym shorts. My husband wasn’t too pleased with his quilted undershorts."

Several people gasped.

"Could someone turn the heat down please?" I asked politely.

Someone went over to the thermostat and checked it.

"I went to a thrift shop and found blue jeans for a dollar a pair. I bought thirty pairs the first time and cut them up to make a rag quilt. Later, I bought twenty pairs and cut them up to add to the first quilt. Then, I went back and bought thirty-five more pairs and cut them up. I added them to the same quilt. My husband wasn’t the least bit pleased about his new boat cover."

"Ingrate," was uttered from the front row.

A woman handed me a roll of paper towels that she snitched from the restroom. I sopped my face and my neck.

"I started thinking about all this quilting and how the quilts on the walls and windows helped with the insulation and lowered our electric bills, so I started making a roof quilt."

Several jaws fell open with wonder. I could tell that they wished they’d thought about that!

"I didn’t want to do anything elaborate for a roof quilt. I thought a simple Grandmother’s Flower Garden would do." I started swaying. "Would someone please turn the heat off?" I begged.

The person who checked it earlier said, "The air conditioner is on. You need to take your coat off."

I clutched my coat around me and shook my head. "I just kept on making quilts and quilted clothes. I made placemats and tablerunners. My husband just doesn’t appreciate my hobby at all. Do I ever say a word to him about his fishing? Noooo. Why can’t he just go fishing and leave me and my quilting alone? Besides, I made some quilted reel holders that slip over his rod and keep his expensive reels from getting scratched. He said one of his fishing buddies wanted to know where he got them."

The women behind me whispered, "I wonder if she would share the pattern for the reel covers?"

I had sweated so much that my shoes were full and they were starting to squish.

"I personally liked his boat cover so much that I made a car cover for my car and a cover for his pickup too. The kids each have a car cover. My daughter’s is Sunbonnet Sue. The boys have Fishing Freddie and Overall Sam. My car cover is the only one that gets used."

I started swaying. It was just so hot and nobody would turn the air conditioner down to a decent temperature. All of a sudden I started going down. Somebody shouted "Call an ambulance." Another shouted, "Call her husband."

I tried to holler, "NO!" But about that time everything just closed in on me.

When I regained consciousness, a bunch of mad people were standing over me. The EMT’s were just standing there staring down at me.

That woman at the front table was standing right beside me with her arms crossed over her chest. She was tapping her right foot on the floor right beside my face. And the things she was saying weren’t at all nice. She accused me of sabotaging her FHA meeting last month, and she said that I showed up at this QA meeting just to sabotage it.

I was a little cool so I reached to pull my coat up around me. It was gone. I sat up and looked around me. My clothes were in a pile…my coat…my quilted cardigan…my quilted vest…my quilted skirt…I looked down and thank heavens I still had on my quilted bra and quilted panties. For a minute there…

Then I saw my husband. He didn’t look very happy. I asked him what did he think he was looking at. Everybody in that room knew he was wearing quilted underwear!

He’s back in the apartment.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is a coincidence.
This story is copyrighted ©
No part of this shall be printed or reproduced without the written permission of Sherry Ray.