It's mid-November and he's still jumping into the pool! I haven't been in the water in over a month because it's COLD (in the 50s). Steve doesn't stay in long but I'm amazed that he's in at all.

He even took time to smile for the camera before he climbed out. He's not exactly swimming, he's in and out pretty quickly.

As long as I had the camera out I snapped this photo of the yellow leaves against the clear blue sky. We have been having some lovely weather!

I believe most of you are on our eNewsletter list. If not, we sent one yesterday announcing a fabric sale. Linda needs to clear off the shelves for what's coming next. Click here to go to our home page and you'll see the link to the fabric pages there. There are some new colors of perle cotton thread and some new notions sprinkled around.

I also uploaded a new Applique with Attitude stitching video (below). I added 'Video' button to the navigation bar on our website. Both this and the first video are there. I'll add more as I can. FYI – when you want this, please forgive me for saying 'outer point' when I obviously meant 'inner point.'

I'm quoting Ami Simms, but it seems the crowd did go wild! The AAIQ auction ended last night and the quilts, combined with the funds where you all rooted for your favorites, raised more than $13,000 that will go to Alzheimer's research. Amazing! I am blessed to be a part of this event and am already looking forward to next year.

In case you are wondering, you can look at the final bids here. Hollis' quilt, Tangled, won the challenge. It is an incredible, arresting piece.

The World Series Quilt Auction ends tomorrow. I'm not in the lead. In fact I'm in last place. Those of you who know me know that I'm competitive about some things and this is one of them. But there is still time for me to pull out of last place with your help. If you were waiting until the last minute to bid, now is really the time.

That said, I'm happy and proud to be part of an event that is raising money for such a worthy effort. And I wouldn't change anything about this quilt. Wherever it ends up, I know it will have a good home with a person who is also happy to make a difference.

If you haven't been to the aucion page, click here.

I'm home from my last teaching trip of the year but that doesn't mean I'm kicking back and relaxing. Linda and I are working on some new things for the web site and if all goes well I'll be updating it tomorrow or Wednesday.

Here's one last photo from market. I didn't end up taking a lot of photos because my camera was too heavy to lug around all day and my tiny camera was at home (how's that for planning!). I bought earrings again from Meg Hannan of Rag Art Studio. I love these things – they are unusual and pretty and they make nice gifts.

On another note, I found out before I left for market that my bones are more porous and now I've officially got osteoporosis. My doctor has run every test she can think of but we came to the conclusion that it may be diet related. I'm now on a gluten-free, lactose-free diet – and sugar is not really recommended either. Luckily there are a lot more gluten-free options now than there used to be so I am not going to complain. I do admit that it makes eating out a little harder – but I don't eat out much unless I'm away from home.

I have been on a very low-fat diet for many years because that's what 'they' told us was healthy. Times have changed and now it seems that carbs are what need to be limited. Protein, vegetables and fruit, and some fat are good for you. I also found out that fiber can inhibit the absorption of calcium – silly me, I was adding extra fiber to my breakfast. No more of that.

Since I can't eat dairy, I've started drinking unsweetened coconut milk. It's not bad at all – it's not milk, but it's an OK stand in. The package says that it's a better fat (short chain) and there's no cholesterol. Nice. I think I'm going to be eating more avodados and nuts and I'm not sure what else. I'm meeting a new nutritionist tomorrow so I'll know more then.

I'm sharing this because of the years I spent thinking all fat was bad, and I don't think I'm alone in that. If you are eating what was recommended 10 years ago, you might want to read up on current studies in nutrition and diet to be sure your body is getting what it needs to keep you healthy and quilting.

Now I've got to get back to work…

Who knew?

Artist Peg Howard has used our quilt and fabric images to create some wonderful, feather-light earrings that we love – and we hope you will too!

They are inexpensive and will make nice Christmas gifts. Are the holidays sneaking up on you the way they are on me? Oh my.

Click here to see them all.

OOPS – I meant to post this tomorrow. Please look at the next post as well. It's about the Alzheimer's Art Quilt World Series Auction (boy, that's a long name) and I hope you don't want to miss it. 

AND – even better! Peg designed earrings for the AAQI World Series auciton. Click here to see them. If you order a pair with the image of my quilt I get points (I'm not sure what kind of points, but I like them!)