A doctor and a lawyer were talking at a party. Their conversation was constantly interrupted by people describing their ailments and asking the doctor for free medical advice. After an hour of this, the exasperated doctor asked the lawyer, “What do you do to stop people from asking you for legal advice when you’re out of the office?”
“I give it to them,” replied the lawyer, “and then I send them a bill.”
The doctor was shocked, but agreed to give it a try. The next day, still feeling slightly guilty, the doctor prepared the bills. When he went to place them in his mailbox, he found a bill from the lawyer.
…………………
Has anyone made a signature quilt? A reader would like to see some examples because she wants to make one. Inspiration, anyone?
Reader photos
And a finish from me. The rust fabric with the fish started out as a man’s shirt – typical subject matter for a guy who loves to fish and a great rusty color. I cut it all into squares and made this quilt – not scrappy at all this time. Mens shirts, only use 100% cotton, are such a great source of inspiration for me – I think I’ll make another one of some kind.
I love this quilt – I’d give it to a fisherman if I knew one – maybe I’ll know some kid who likes to fish one day.
I have so many shirts on hand that it’s time to use them. This is what I did tonight so far with a jellyroll.
Fair week coming up – someone asked why I got a one woman quilt show. Haha! I’m probably the only one in the county with hundreds of quilts and most definitely the only one who had a quilt shop for 40 years. It’s a big job and not necessarily one to be envious of but I don’t see anyone else volunteering. It takes everybody to make the fair a good experience for all the visitors – sort of like it takes everybody to make an active church thrive.
I wish I had a picture from the childrens sermon this morning – two little girls hopped up on the piano bench with me – they were so cute folding their hands to pray.
Pencil Tree plants are the common name for Euphorbia Tirucalli or sometimes called Firestick cactus native to Africa. Etsy has them for sale for $12 – $81! I’ll give you one if you’re in my area.
Thanks for all your comments and conversation – I’ll look forward to my coffee tomorrow morning
Love your straight line quilting on the fish quilt. It stands out well on the blog picture.
As for a signature quilt I had to mail blank squares to several friends/relatives for signature. I included the pen and included a stamped, self addressed return envelope. Very Clearly marked the area I did not want anything written in ie the quarter inch seaming area. I actually marked a half inch area I wanted nothing in. A little tedious procedure, but well worth it.
Candy–I saw a pillow in a fancy shop at one time that had a button placket and pocket on the front. I thought that was neat, but I really like using the placket for the backing of a pillow cover. Great tip!
Teresa–I really thought the bears in your garden were the plywood cutouts! Ha! You got me. We have seen moose, horse, zebra, dragon, cowpoke cutouts, but never bears except for the live one that walked through town on the bike path a few years ago. Thank goodness NO bathing bears here. Your garden is lovely, and I hope you enjoy planning and planting at the new house.
Take care in the heat, everyone. Kris in WI
Mary–I forgot to add that while I don’t have a collection of men’s shirts to make into a quilt, I do have some allover fishing/hunting prints that might work like your fish quilt. So many good ideas. Thank you for sharing, everyone. Kris
Thank you Kris for the compliment on my gardens. We too couldn’t believe mama bear would bathe in our tiny pond, best part was she must have been sitting on the pump and it didn’t break. We couldn’t believe it.
I’m not enjoying packing but am so looking forward to moving. We’ve been here 32 yrs so lots of stuff, but we are purging. It will be sad to leave, our boys were 1 and 3 when we moved in l, so many happy memories.
Barbara, I have questions about Chunky! Imagine that. Is it a male or female? I don’t remember what age they mate but I’ve seen videos about the bears bringing their cubs back to show somebody who befriended her sometime in her life. So, please keep us posted every so often on your daughter and Chunky. It is an amazing story and so much fun to follow. What a story most of us will never experience.
In the meantime, I always enjoy a good joke that makes me laugh out loud. It feels so good, a great way to start the day. Smiling is nice, a belly laugh is better.
Take care, everybody. Betty in Rapid City
The pillow idea is a game changer. Its been warm here in Wisconsin and no rain in site. I know the farmers are glad for the heat and some days to dry everything out. It means I have to water all my flower pots…..I really need to cut back. I had to search and read about a pencil tree, how interesting for a plant. Hope you have a great turn out at the fair, and you are so kind to share all those quilts and to help set it all up. I used to help set up the TN fair fine arts quits when we lived there, and it was an enormous amount of work. Always grateful that my husband came along and helped. Please share pictures if they let you. I have done a signature quilt, and I made all the squares (white batik fabric in the middle for signatures) and the couple colors around the white fabric. I also bought some small clip boards at the dollar store, applied fine sandpaper which makes it easier to write on fabric and keeps it from slipping. I brought a number of fabric pens for them to sign their message. I didn’t want my pens to walk away so I taped a large silk flower to each pen using floral tape. I allowed guest to take the blocks, clip boards and pens to there table to sign and then prayed it would all come back, they did. The couple loved the quilt, and some guest did some fantastic artwork along with their message. I found batik whites held the signatures the best thru multiple washings. I ironed each message with freezer paper before sewing all the blocks into the quilt. I did end up using some blank blocks in order to make the quilt come out in a usable size.
Love your fish quilt. The colors are perfect. It rained here very early this morning and is still cloudy. There’s a lot of smoke in the air too from various fires around the state and in Washington. Have been enjoying your jokes. Laughter is always the best medicine! Your quilt display at the fair will be appreciated by a lot of people I’m sure!
You sure got a lot of squares out of that shirt! What is the best size to cut them? It sure turned out great,I love it.Your lawyer,doctor joke was made me laugh!Have a great day!
Sharon – I doubt there is no right or wrong way to cut up a shirt. I guess I’d start at the smallest part which would be the remainder of the left side under the pocket and see how many you can get. And go from there.
Love your fish quilt . Orange and blue are a favorite combo of mine
I don’t have a photo of a signature quilt, but I do have a few hints. It’s safer to collect the signatures on fabric squares, before making the quilt, than to have people sign a finished quilt. Somebody is sure to mess up and need to try again.
Cut the fabric square with a half-inch seam allowance all around and iron it to a square of freezer paper to stabilize it. Draw a light pencil line on the seamline and tell them to sign inside the line. The extra seam allowance lets you adjust a bit if the signature is off-center. Give each person a piece of paper the same size as the fabric square, which they can use to practice. Use a Pigma Micron pen.
If you must have them sign a finished quilt, be very sure to have paper squares for them to practice on.
I would like to add one tip to Dot’s comments on signature quilts. My daughter wanted a signature wedding quilt so we used Dot’s ideas but, I also bought several clipboards at the dollar store and glued fine sandpaper to the board for a stable nonslip hard surface to write on. Worked great.
Mary, I love your fish quilt!!
When my grandson called me out of the blue he reminded me of the time I took him and his older brother fishing at their great granddad’s lake. He remembers sticking his thumb in the mouth
of a catfish and getting bit. I remember putting worms on the hooks. Something I’d never done before , a sign of true love.❤️
It is great that you shared your quilts for the fair!!!
Great morning here, temp 69 early on. Lovely day.
Love all the jokes, so funny.
and love the fish quilt, i will be looking for mens shirts, that look’s like a good size quilt from just one shirt.
Kathy – look for the biggest shirts! Yes, you’ll get more fabric for your buck that way. When I first started shopping for shirts, they were $2. Now they’re $10.
Loved the pattern and fabric choices on that fish quilt. I never would have guessed it would look like that.
Yes, I am having my morning coffee with your blog. I wish I was on the new deck or front porch but the humidity and heat are already too much. I need to go to town to Menards to get all my credits on my account applied to my credit card. The deck is finished, and I can’t believe I pulled it off. A big chunk of $$$$ but had to be done. If I was living in an apartment I would not have that expense but I love my townhouse. Might not go to town as we are under a heat advisory.
I would love to see all the quilts at the fair. Not been attending fairs the last year or two, It’s the heat that keeps me away.
Enjoyed everything in today’s blog!
Fran – good to know that you’d like to see the fair quilts!! I want to go that day to listen to the judging so maybe they’ll allow me to take pictures.
Mary your fish quilt is stunning. I was able to zoom in on the picture and I just love the coordinating fabrics you used. The colours are wonderful. Can you tell us the name of the pattern, is it one of yours?
Well good news, it is official our house sold as of last Thursday and we official have bought the 2 acres property so packing has begun. The bad news is we have to be out of our house Aug 15 but can’t move into the house we bought till Sept 12th. We will live with my mom for the month.
Originally we had that long possession date because we thought it would take a while to sell our house, we were very wrong. It sold in 6 days. Wow! So the fun begins. No sewing for me right now but I will bring a project to my moms.
Theresa – so everything will be in storage while you’re at your mom’s? I guess you should be thankful your house sold so fast but the inconvenience is huge! And all that packing – ugh. We all can’t wait to see your new place!!!
Theresa – it just dawned on me that you’ll be leaving your beautiful yard! I hope your buyers know what they’ve got and keep it as nice as you do.
Yes, I too hope they enjoy and love the garden as much as I do. Yes ,all our stuff has to go into storage. We will take very fragile items, things that can’t really fit in a box, I’ve got some Christmas items that won’t really fit in a box, and our clothes to my moms. Packing sucks but I’m super excited about the new place. Will definitely send pictures when we move. The garden along the driveway at the new place has been neglected. Luckily my son is as avid a gardener as I am so I will have help. You can see the barn from the deck and he already said he wants to line that side of the barn with hydrangeas so when we look to the barn it will be pretty. Guess he got that from me.
Teresa – perfect idea for hydrangeas along the barn. I planted them by my barn and they are huge!!! The stems I tried to root this spring failed however.
Love that fish quilt – such great color combo! 🐟
And the jokes are such fun! I absolutely love puns – I have a quirky sense of humor!
What a wonderful gift you are giving your community by sharing your quilts at the fair!
I love your fishing quilt! And all of your fair quilts, got a real kick out of the chunky the bear! Not sure I would sit down and feed the bear tho….
Your blog is always the first thing I open up in the morning to read with my coffee! So now I can picture you in your porch having coffee and reading the comments with Keeper sleeping in his chair.
Thankfully, our daughter-in-law made it home safely on Saturday afternoon with four of the children. Austin’s 16 so he could help drive. He is a very good driver! If I had a Porsche, I’d let him drive it. 😆
Our son, Ryan and grandson stayed home…someone has to work 😀. It was a real treat for us. Collin, the 12 year old was all in to the Granite threshing Bee. He was here all by himself when he was 5 or 6 and loved it! So fun, he had all kinds of questions for grandpa when we got home Friday night.
The weather forecast looks HOT
Joy – yup,it’s 10 am and I’m still in the porch in my bathrobe! Guess I don’t have anything pressing today. Sounds like you’ve been having a great time with family. Going to be hot here, too, later this week.
Your fish shirt quilt is really striking! The colors you added with the sashing is wonderful. I have a bunch of men’s plaid shirts I cut into 4-inch squares to make simple four-square blocks with light sashing because I remember one similar to that I slept under at my grandmas. That’s in my to-do pile while I venture off to three other things.
We are having a beautiful day here today, pleasant temps and low humidity for a change. I need to finish my applique pieces so I can sew on the porch while the puppies play. I still can’t do much because of my back but I can enjoy nature.
Blessings all!
Linda – I love quilts made from just squares! Maybe I’ll do a broken 4 patch with the next batch of shirts. I’d better start cutting! Be careful with your back.
Great joke! It’s great to start the day with a laugh!
My husband would love your fish quilt. Thank you for giving me an idea about how to make one for him! He adores fishing, supports my quilting addiction, and even buys me fabric sometimes! And after buying me some beautiful hand crank sewing machines, the man deserves a quilt to his liking! I’ll save the picture you posted to inspire me to get busy.
The scrappy log cabin will be so sweet. Such a favorite pattern!
Erin – wow! Even I’d give him a quilt for a vintage hand crank machine! Haha! I have several old small machines but would love to even see a hand crank one.
That’s a great fish quilt. Must have been a BIG shirt. I like the scrappy one too.
You are doing a great community service, sharing your quilts.
Our library made a quilt to raffle and the high bid is $200. The public has no idea the cost or work in a quilt.
I am binding a runner and a throw quilt, both started in March.
We had so much fun with our grand girl last week.
We’ve had 8.25 inches of rain in the last week. That’s too much but the gardens look so much better than the past 2 years of drought.
Mary H – oh, my gosh, that’s a lot of water!! Hard to work in a soggy garden. I have never seen it so green in mid July – Iowa is beautiful! So glad Ada could visit. Send me a pic sometime – she’s growing up too fast.
It is GREEN! I guess our daughter is over. No happy medium.
I kind of feel, as I get older, that the clock is ticking too fast. So much I still want to do.
What a great quilt! Some men’s shirts have a surprising amount of fabric. You have such a great eye for color! Keeper will love his new chair quilt.
What did you think of the All Star game? I turned it off. I thought it was really over produced, if that makes sense?
Meredith – overproduced is a great description! I also turned it off – all that hype for nothing – I hope they lost money on the whole affair. For those of us who love the WNBA this was an insult
Thank you for adding the jokes recently. Having something to laugh about first thing in the morning has worked wonders for my attitude!
Barbara – if you hear of any great jokes, please send them to me so I can share.
Mary what a great color for the fish quilt. It will make a fine gift for someone special. Love that you took quilts to the fair to share. And a great start on another quilt. Can’t wait to see the finish of the log cabin blocks.
Saturday we had an immediate family gathering of my siblings and their families that could come. We had 67 in attendance. Great time as the gym was open and the kids and adults who could played kick ball.
On Sunday we had a family reunion for families on my mom’s side. We had close to 90. Not an actual account as people kept coming after the initial count but still a great turnout.
Being that my sister was the host this year I took 3 of the quilts that my grandmother and great grandmother had made. The patterns were a Basket block design, variation of the Grandmother’s Fan and a Double Irish Chain. It was well received and I’m glad I took them.
Rita – sounds like a big family! Were the quilts for show or did you gift them to family members?
The quilts were just for show. These will stay in my possession and be passed down to my girls. I explained the difference between heirloom quilts, antique and vintage quilts. I think they were impressed. The basket quilt was given to my grandparents as a wedding gift, they were married Feb 4th, 1920.
Rita – I think I need an explanation about the differences, too – please put it in the comments for all of us.
Love the fish quilt. I have a whole tub of men’s cotton shirts awaiting the right pattern. I know you showed a really scrappy one you had made and I was inspired to start collecting more shirts. I loved that quilt too. I have the shirts all cut apart with all of the usable pieces now I just need to decide on my pattern and get it made. Now I will start looking for men’s shirts with themed prints.
Mary, your fish quilt is beautiful! Love the colors. You are really good at putting colors together.
And another good joke!
Hi Mary, the fish quilt is wonderful, great use of colour! And nice detail with 4 patches on the corners, l seem to have lost the desire to sit at the machine this week, strained groin,so sitting in my easy chair working on my grapevine getting to practice needle turn on leaves.. Take care everyone, best wishes from Sandy
Sandy – ooh, I’m so sorry you’re in pain! I think needle turn is painful – ha! Sorry – I used to do it all the time but no longer.
I love your new quilt, Mary! You are so good at combining colors that work. Whenever I hear of someone working with recycled shirts, I have to share my favorite idea (which I’ve probably shared here before, but here it is anyway). To make the back for a cushion, cut a square from the front of a shirt (including the button placket), the size of your cushion top. This is such an easy and cute way to finish a cushion, without having to insert a zipper, or use an overlap (which I really dislike… they never stay closed). Remember to undo the buttons before you sew the front and back together, then just pop your insert in and it’s done!
What a great idea for a cushion, Candy! I’ll have to try that.
Candy – I’ll bet many readers don’t know this so thank you!! I’ll find one of mine to post on the blog tonight. Great written directions by the way! Thank you
Great idea!!