WOW!! I want to thank everyone for the Great Welcome and kind comments! Also, it’s heartening to know there are other people out there doing hand work. I was beginning to think I was a dying breed.

Because I’ve always worked outside of the home things take me longer than usual, although I have been known to stay up until 1-2:00 am to get something finished. Of course, I get imprints of my keyboard on my forehead the next day! Not a good impression at the office :-) Unfortunately, I'm finding that I'm only going to be able to update my BLOG once a week -- I had higher hopes for this -- oh well.

Last posting I forgot to add the picture of the Lone Star quilt. Gram-in-law was so impressed with the fact that I sewed by hand (the Wedding Ring Quilt) she figured this one would be a snap since all the pieces were cut out and ALL I had to do was put it together. Well, I found the “Y” seams were a lot simpler for me to handle than the curved seams of the Wedding Ring. That might be because I made a lot of clothes in my time and encountered Y seams all the time. Anyway, I managed to get it all hand pieced and hand quilted in one year – I was soooo proud of myself! Then I found instructions in a book that explained making the points in strips …. Ok, so I still wasn’t a real knowledgeable quilter. I put this quilt together from the center out, adding points around the center. It got a little cumbersome when the points split apart from each other and I'm sure I didn't put the cornerstones in using any method anyone else would recognize but I'm proud of it. Sure wish I could keep up that pace now but I wasn't working outside the home during this. His Gram was terminal and living with us so I was a caregiver.

About the middle of the Lone Star I found a Hawaiian Breadfruit pattern and tried it ... this was the start of a beautiful relationship. Hawaiian lore says your first applique must be Breadfruit to be successful and happy doing applique. I guess that must be true because I'm happiest working on applique. I've always wanted to a do a full size Hawaiian quilt bed quilt but I'm afraid that will always remain on my TO DO List. I'm just in awe of the quilts these women produce! And not a machine to be seen.

Before I started everything I read pointed to needleturn and the original method of marking the backing and the pieces. I find myself going back to this method even now. I find everything aligns better and still gives me flexibility. I had always used DMC cottons – embroidery floss at first and then their machine embroidery thread on a spool. Herrschners, of all places, carries every color DMC makes. Today I do use Silk (wall hangings only) but when I get irritated enough at it I’ll pull out my old DMC, run it through my beeswax and sigh contentedly as I stitch my pieces down.

I also got involved making quilts for a support group working with women going through Chemo and Radiation for breast cancer. These were paper pieced, I had them machine quilted. The leader of the group would have them signed by friends and family before giving them to the women. I turned out about 50 of these - the same pattern and the same colors -- and got so tired of both the pattern and paper piecing I just couldn’t do it anymore! I still get the chills when someone mentions paper piecing - but it was great to see the looks on faces when the quilts were presented. One of the leaders of the group told me it was amazing when several women were in at the same time - they all had their quilts with them. She said it was one of the most colorful days at the hospital anyone remembered.

Oh yes, we are back to being fairly normal South Carolina weather but they are calling for snow again next Tuesday. Even with all this the cherry blossoms have flowers on them so spring cannot be far behind.

Until next time ... Keep stitching!

Geri