Saturday January 18

I can't believe Jan is half over! Time is just getting away from me. January was not the best month I have ever had. My very best friend died last week. My husband and I went to her funeral on Wednesday. She was an amazing woman. Her name was Debra Smith and she was only 58. She was diagnosed with ALS Two years ago. She lived a very full life, loved her family very much. She will be missed.

I  have been  busy doing stuff for the Dixie Quilt Guild. I have the job of begging for donations to be given as door prizes.  I really really don't like doing it. I have found one positive thing in the job though. I have met some new people. One is a fiber artist names Carol Ann Waugh. She is an amazing fiber artist. She lives in Colorado and has a gallery that features artists from her area.  She was so generous. She sent the guild 3 of her books to give out as door prizes at the retreat! Her web site is www.CarolAnnWaught.com   Check her out!

The last couple of days I have been working on quilting material to make sketch book and journal covers. My dear friend and fellow long arm quilter, Cathie Purdy, suggested she and I make some note books covers for a friendship group we belong too. We each quilted some of the fabric and then we put the books together. I liked the idea so much I made most of my family and a  few friends ones for Christmas this year. I assembled mine differently, but the general idea is the same. It is really fun doing this. I am making more to sell. Either over the internet or at Art Shows. I am not totally sure how I will do it. I am going to do some painting on fabric for some of the sketch books. I will post photos of the finished products.  The photo below is a cover for my three ring binder.

They are very easy to assemble and you could use regular fabric....or pre-quilted fabric.  My book covers are lined. Some I put closures on....ribbons, button or magnetic. I did not want a closure on this one. But am out of black ribbon. I need to make a run to Joann's but will wait until tomorrow when there is not as much traffic as there is now. Living in St. George is nice for many reasons, but..... shopping on Sunday, if the store is open, is nice.

I need to get busy. I am currently working on a huge quilt for a friend and client. It is a queen sized pieced top and she wants it quilted like a whole cloth. I must mark the entire thing before I load it on the long arm.  I have gotten the design down to where I think I work it fine by minimal marking. But, I am going to have to use a blue pen water erase pen. The purple one will disappear to quickly and I don't think chalk will stay on. Besides some chalk is as hard to remove as the blue pen. The only thing I don't like about the blue pen is it stays in the material until the piece is submersed in water. Spraying makes it go away, but does not remove it.

Hope you all have a great week. I will try to post again next Saturday or Sunday.