My husband has always liked this photo of me. He took it when we were both 22 in 1978. It’s funny that this old photo is so similar to the new picture that I posted on May 28 showing the new hairdo. Steve says I still look the same. Isn’t he sweet! I, however, can see the difference time has made. 

I got a haircut today! That in itself is not unusual because I get my hair cut every 4 weeks like clockwork. But today I got lots of hair cut off! Henri, who has cut my hair for more than 13 years, agreed that it was time for a new look. Little did he know that this is, in fact, an old look for me. This is what my hair looked like when I was in my 20s. 

I keep forgetting to share this news. When I was teaching in Sarasota, FL, the ladies there shared with me a sample of a peanut butter that has 75% less fat. It was pretty tasty! Not as wonderful as full-fat peanut butter, but close. It’s called PB2 and you can find it online at Bell Plantation.

Granola.doc

My very good friend, Laurie, is in charge of the garage sale at her church every June. The money they raise goes to mission work. Spring is an excellent time to organize so I usually have things to give Laurie. I always have clothes and sometimes I have fabric. The local quilters love it!

I spent 3 hours this morning weeding out my fabric. I know that sounds horrible to some of you but I want every fabric in my stash to be something I can actually use. I don’t want fabric that I loved years ago but no longer can get excited about. Linda taught me the virtue of a clean stash years ago and I’m so glad she did.

Laurie got 5 big bags of prewashed, folded 100% cotton, good-quality cotton. I hope she sells it all and raises lots of money. I didn’t have the least bit of remorse seeing it go. 

My fabric stash is much happier. FYI – the top of the top shelf is about 6′ off the ground and the shelves are 5′ wide. I still have LOTS of fabric in my stash :-).

I am continually surprised at the size of the USA! It is hot summer in north Texas right now but it is spring in Hartford, Connecticut. I’ve been in Connecticut since last Wednesday, lecturing and teaching. Quilting is alive and well here! Isn’t it nice that quilters are the same no matter where you are?

I’m home and unpacked and have been thinking back on market. I have to say that my strongest memories are of the people I got to visit with there. It’s always nice to re-connect with friends that I only see once or twice a year, and this year was no exception. 

I met many people for the first time and for many of them, this was their first market. They were as stunned at the enormity of the quilt industry as I remember being 14 years ago. It was nice to share in their excitement!

Clear, fresh colors were big at this market. Linda and I love these colors, so that is happy news! Green in many shades was much in evidence – as was pink.

I got a chance to see a new product that will have our name on it at this market. We have worked with Superior Threads on 3 sets of thread pre-wound onto bobbins – made especially for applique! Linda and I chose 36 of the colors we use the most from Superior’s Masterpiece line. Masterpiece is one of the threads we recommend for hand applique, piecing, and machine quilting. Masterpiece is 100% cotton (we don’t use silk), strong, and fine. 

There are 12 colors in each set. Each of the 12 bobbins has 85 yards of thread. (I had no idea that much thread fit on a bobbin.) Bobbins are a great way to carry thread – they are a lot less bulky than spools. We’ll post the bobbin sets on our web site when we get them in stock – probably in June.

Lastly, I want to share with you one of my quirky finds in Portland. I ended up in a toy store (Little Finnigan’s) that sells odd toys. I happen to like odd toys. They live in my studio. Anyway I saw these Horrified B-Movie Victims on Friday and resisted them. 

Luckily, I had just enough time at lunch on Saturday to sneak out of market and go back and buy them! They are about the size of the GI Joe figures that my boys had when they were little. I think they look great perched on top of my computer.