Ready, Set, GO!

I am getting ready to start teaching my own independent classes. This will be our first project. It contains all of the elements of a traditional quilt so it is the perfect beginner class! I have been teaching for about 10 years but it has always been through a shop, Community College or Chautauqua Institution. I am so excited to be more in control and be able to concentrate on what my students want. Wish me luck!

Heart Star Table Runner class at Sew Special in Uniontown, PA

I am teaching at Sew Special in Uniontown, PA this coming Saturday. The project I am teaching is my newest design called Heart Star. See the hearts? It is a paper pieced table runner with a Y seam and I am looking forward to showing my students how easy it is to do! If you're looking for something to do Saturday, January 21st, call the shop and see if there's still room: 724-438-1765

WTF--Did I get your attention?

What has happened to us? Why do we think we have the right to offend others and that by calling it FREE SPEECH it makes it okay? Let's call it what it really is--a lack of respect for others.

One of my recent Facebook statuses was asking people to refrain from posting things they wouldn't want their children, other peoples' children, their parents/grandparents or other peoples' parents/grandparents to see. One response was "We can't control what others do on their computer or what they're thinking. Same as wishing upon a star to lend a prince charming. Free speach, I believed they call it *_* (this was copied and pasted from FB so all the typos are the writer's)

Does free speech mean we don't have to have manners anymore?

Posting inappropriate pictures or words makes the writer look trashy and uneducated and it has no purpose except to shock. If you need attention, even negative attention, so badly you need to get off the computer and get some therapy!

I'm not saying that everything that comes out of my mouth is nice or even proper but I certainly wouldn't post something on the internet for the whole world to see that I wouldn't show my children myself so why do other people think its okay to put whatever they want there. Who raised these people? No one, it seems.

In this day and age, it seems, we have no modesty, we are proud of things we should be embarrassed by. Celebrities showing off their ankle bracelets meant to monitor their whereabouts is a good example. Would you use the "f" word in front of your grandmother? If you would, I would venture to say there is something psychologically wrong with you or she must have done something terribly wrong to you to have so little respect for her. If you wouldn't, why would you do it in front of the REST of the world?

I don't think its asking too much to respect my rights and others' rights not to be offended every time I/we turn on our computers by simply choosing another word or by eliminating an expletive from your comment or post.

Okay, I am climbing down off the soapbox and going back to quilting. I just needed to get that off of my chest.

BTW- in my life, WTF stands for Where's The Fudge?

Uggh! Back to work! Finally.

2012 is already 5 days old and I've been slacking for months. I lost 2 really close friends in the last 3 months and struggled through the holidays without them. I didn't feel like decorating or celebrating in any way but when you have children you don't really have a choice, so I did the minimum-- a Christmas tree and small angel wallhanging on the front door. My husband did all the shopping and planning and he did a wonderful job but it was still hard.

To be completely honest, I have been barely functioning lately. I'm sure I have disappointed several people but they have been so kind and understanding not to show their disappoinment. Grief is a strange thing. You just don't know when it will hit or how it will affect you. It can be crippling if you let it and coming back is hard but, as I've been told, "Life if for the living.", so its time to get on with the business of living.

There are plans to be made, classes to teach, shows to vend and new designs to be sewn. When I was on Facebook a couple of days ago I posted a picture of a quilt design that I have been playing with and waited to see what people thought of it. One of the groups I belong to on FB is Quilt Guild and there are a lot of wonderful, creative people who are generous enough to take time to offer suggestions and help. Over the course of 2 or 3 days I got opinions and suggestions and the process was very interesting.

This is what I started with:

I won't bore you with all of the changes in between but if you want to see them they are on the Quilt Guild page of FB.

This is what I ended up with:

I'd love to hear what you think about it, too, if you've got a minute!

Happy New Year! I hope its a good one for all of us!