Everything just feels off today, doesn’t it?
Betty Klosterman – please email me or leave a comment.
Just a couple things, 11-3-24
Country Threads Chicken Scratch
Farm life
Everything just feels off today, doesn’t it?
Betty Klosterman – please email me or leave a comment.
Love reading all the replies today and it feels like “good friends have gathered for a chat”, It continues to rain here in Wisc, 3 full days of steady rain. I’m over it and the gloomy weather. Love the store posting, lol. I need to do a garage sale of stuff that I know I don’t need. I have put all of our decorating stuff in one corner in the family room, need to decide what I will use in the new place and what I could get rid of. Glad you got in touch with Betty.
I hate to say it, but every store I go into could have the name ‘Shit You Don’t Need’, including the grocery store sometimes, and definitely the quilt store, lol! Someone was very creative!
Candy – yes, I agree! Just the name of the store would invite me in.
hi all. to answer about dd’s ducks. these belong to my daughter who lives in new hampshire. their names are (from back to front) maxxi, pepper, millie, maple, zora and pepita. today i managed to get the pictures of the owl and bobcat resized and sent to mary. maybe she will post them.
i played with my scraps some more and sent a picture of my first challenge quilt. it is set 5×6 but i sewed it 6×5 so it looks a bit weird. the border stripe came from the scrap box i got from homestead hearth. i want to go upstairs and look for a different back. i added a spring green one but think it needs something different. i have another 30 of these blocks but am going to set them with alternate blocks. think i need a muslin type for the alternate, which requires a trip upstairs. i hope i have the strength. i hate not being able to go up and down when i choose. most frustrating.
now i’m going to watch the basketball game (orlando magic). i would love to shop at the store ‘sh** you don’t need. of course i’m sure mr. ed thinks i’ve already shopped there. ha! hugs to all, patti in florida
You bunch of crazy ladies! Love it! Dot in NC, your story is hilarious! I confess to being in a shop in un-named city and DH called and asked if I was on my way to pick him up. I said I was. Well the clerk was laughing when I came out of the dressing room….
Don’t tell him, it is many years ago
Joy – count yourself in on the bunch of crazy ladies! Hahaha!!!! Too funny
The “Sh*t You Don’t Need” store is where I buy all my “stuff I will find a use for someday”.
DebMac – me, too!! Don’t you love it?
DebMac – speaking of shit you don’t need, I have all those oil lamps set aside for you – do you remember them? Hate to add to your “stuff you don’t need” but……
Thank you Li and Mary for the picture with the diagram of the blocks for the Over/Under quilt. I will need to find my graph paper and draw it out.
Barb in Iowa
You’re welcome Barb. The blocks are 9″ finished. This top has a 6″border. 24 blocks, 4 across 6 down.
CORRECTION: I just realized the typo on the size. It is 49″x67″ not 45″x67″. Cannot wait to see colors that you choose.
I’m remembering the time Mary Ellen Hopkins gave a lecture at my quilt guild. She told a funny story I’ll always remember. Mary Ellen owned a quilt shop, Crazy Ladies and Friends, which was in a Santa Monica strip mall, next door to a grocery store. Grocery shoppers would drop in, curious about the quilt shop. One of the shop’s long-time customers, call her Susie, had told the staff that she’d promised her husband that she wouldn’t buy any more fabric, but would use up what she had. One day, a non-quilting grocery shopper came in, set a bag of groceries on the counter, and started looking around. Then Susie came in, and said “I told my husband I was going to the grocery store, but I just need a little bit of fabric to finish one of my quilts.” As the fabric was being cut, in walked Susie’s husband! Something he’d needed was in her car, and he’d come to get it, and saw her in the quilt shop. Susie told him, “I already got my groceries, and I just stopped in to say hello.” And she picked up the other woman’s grocery bag and walked out with her husband, as everybody stood there with their mouths open. Mary Ellen told the woman she’d pay for a replacement bag of groceries…
I liked the story about the lady, a dentist by profession, went to town making several “patch as patch can” type of quilts and covered patients that might be chilled. Patients would return for another appointment asking “where is my quilt?”.
Li – Connie’s husband is a dentist and Connie made all the quilts at the dental office to keep patients warm.
Oh. I sure would like to see those quilts. I will send an image of the quilt I use often sitting on the couch. Would anyone else like to do so also?
Li – good idea!
Dot – oh my gosh, what a great story!!! Thanks so much!
This is one of the greatest stories I’ve ever heard!!!
I loath garage sales, but with all the stuff in my garage that I have no idea what it is or how to use it…I’ll have to have one. I’ll headline it “SHIT YOU DONT NEED” garage sale in the paper.
Hazel and Keeper crack me up.
I love the ducks. Their colors are beautiful.
The fireplace is so inviting. Yes coffee and conversation.
And when she got home, the husband said, “ Why the heck did you buy peanuts, you know I’m allergic” 😹😹😹😹. Just kidding, but I thought there should be a funny ending!!
Jo – excellent idea! Maybe Sam and I will use that phrase, too – it’s true! All thrift stores should have a sign like that.
Hi Mary, l think my son thinks l own the shit you don’t need store! Yesterday drips started coming from his bathroom upstairs onto my TV console, he moved the console muttering about my fabric etc,lsa,I’d l can’t make Warhammer banners for you without a selection of fabric, so he said forget it! Bet it will be back on the list in a few days! Anyway, toilet leak fixed, thanks to lovely plumber, now wait for tv to be pushed back in place!
It took 2 or 3 looks at the photo before l realized it was a bale of hay!Take care everyone, best wishes from Sandy
Oh my gosh, I must have visited that store and don’t remember because my sewing shop is FULL of stuff I don’t need!
As I am looking around my house and outbuildings today I think I must already be a very good customer of The Shit You Don’t Need store….
HI Mary, I have been missing Betty, too. I thought to ask you about her a few times, but by the time I get to the computer, I forget–imagine that! I hope all is well, Betty!
Nice here again today–it is going to be 74. This is November, I think! I love all of the quilts everyone is making. Today I delivered an Honor Flight Quilt to a man who was a Marine in Vietnam. He and his wife thanked me and the Guild members many times. They were very, very nice people. All service people and their spouses deserve so much respect. It is not easy.
Your humorous posts keep us going, Mary:) Thank you for doing this. You mentioned something I thought I’d like to order, now I have to go back and see what it was. Does anyone else do that? LOL.
All the time!!!
Diane – I reached Betty today by phone!! She’s fine – I’ll report in tonight’s post .
Wonderful to hear you reached Betty. I really missed her. Looking forward to an update.
Love the picture of that store and the poster about housework. I may have to browse around online to find a copy of that poster; I need one!
Very pretty quilts today, and your fireplace looks so cozy.
I think I will have time to sew today, after taking care of a few chores.
The owner of that store has a great sense of humor. I would love to shop there, too.
I used to love to see Mary Ellen Hopkins on Alex Anderson’s TV show. She had a great sense of humor and made me laugh out loud. Especially the one about log cabin quilts. Did anyone else see that one?
The ducks are adorable. They say ducks love slugs. Any size slug. And, in Western Oregon we have SLUGS!! Huge slugs and tiny baby hungry slugs. The chickens will eat the slug eggs when they find them but not the slugs themselves. Therefore, I have always wanted ducks but feel like Mary does about intermingling them.
Mary C…You make such pretty quilts. What is the name of today’s quilt?
I am still having trouble posting photos to my all time favorite blog. When I see my daughter this week, I am going to get her to help me figure out the problem.
Thanks for liking my quilt. I made it for a challenge. I had a few fat quarters to work with
I then added lots more other fabrics. It’s my original design. I usually make a rough design and then make it up as I go.I enjoy using one focal fabric and then choosing the others to go with
Mary I will go with you to that store! The picture was a great Monday morning laugh!
Michelle – I’d love to go – I wonder where it is and why couldn’t I have thought of that 30 years ago?
This post was a great Monday morning start – moments of humor and “Aw, how sweet” with the animals and a fireplace setting. Where is that store located? Marie C. the colors in your first quilt are so beautifully melded. And the second helps remind me that left over strips can be made into a great, quick quilt. Barbara, thank you for all you are doing and the updates on how it is going. Recovery is a long process. Mary, loved the reference to heaven and Iowa from one of my favorite movies! Have a good day, all.
Jan
Jan in AZ- wasnt that store picture just hilarious? I loved it!! And I can’t remember who sent it to me.
That’s my kind of store too. I bet it’s full of treasure, needed or not.
I hope Betty Klosterman answers you. We haven’t heard from her in a while and I miss her comments.
Another cool rainy day here today. With the time change, it’s dark till late in the morning and dark early in the evening. Kind of saps my ambition to do anything when it’s dark outside. Plenty projects I want to do do, better get going.
Enjoying the photos today and laughing at the memes…
I need to purge and get rid of some of the stuff I don’t need!!
I really hope that Betty Klosterman answers you, Mary. Miss hearing from her. I love that painting on your beautiful mantel. Yes, it will be cold enough to use the fireplace soon. Right now though, New England is experiencing really warm temps – although it did go down to 27 last night. Very strange weather! I would love to hear more from DD about her ducks! I have thought about getting some but worry that they would not get along with my hens? They are so cute, DD! What sweet faces. We are heading to NH at the end of the week to close up the camp. Sad time. Jan in MA
Jan H – I used to have ducks but they’re fragile and my geese ended up killing them! I was devastated and can never get ducks again. Love the duck with the black bill! Susan – refresh my memory about the ducks – who do they belong to and then I’ll post the other two pics, too
Marie C I love your quilt. Medallion quilts are great for showing off different designs. That store is one I’d enjoy visiting too.
We are here in Iowa probably for the last time this year. We had a party for the workers and the neighbors. My son smoked a brisket and a pork roast. We spent several days before the party hanging quilts and other art, painting the front door, and cleaning. The more time I spend in the house the more relaxed I feel. I so look forward to spending many days here from spring to fall every year. Being so close to the grandsons is so special.
Of course the day after we arrived we were reminded of why we kept the Texas house. My MIL has been complaining about her hip that was replaced 6 years ago. They had to take her via ambulance to the hospital and found her hip is out of alignment so more surgery is needed. For now my sister in law is keeping her calm but we’ll help out once we get home.
Susan, I hope you will share pictures of your Iowa home with us! Jan in MA
Mary, now I have the song ‘hello, darkness my old friend’ in my head! Ugh!
I love the pictures and Hazel and Keeper are enjoying your clean windows too! The fireplace is beautifully decorated and I would love to sit by it! We just can’t figure out where we could put one here in this house and I don’t want to move!
I’m glad a lot of people got some rain yesterday but we barely got a trace.
Woke up at 6:45 am, so I’ve had my coffee and need to get the bills paid for the month, then I can do what ever. 😂
Where did you get the picture you hang over your fireplace? My parents had that picture (if it isn’t exactly the same, it is very, very close) hanging over the piano in our living room for as long as I can remember!
Thanks for the memory!
Susan – my parents had the same picture with a light at the bottom X must have been popular in the 50s-60s. I bought it at a thrift store last year for $5.00 and love it this time of year. Soon it will come down for a Thanksgiving picture and then Christmas.
WOW!!!! That’s my kind of store. I would volunteer to work there and just ask for an employee discount. Can’t wait to see the Over/Under quilt in person. I just wish everyone could see the variety of items sent for our event in December. It’s so inspiring and I can’t wait to get back to sewing more. I’m working on a quilt for a friend for Christmas made with Kantha Fabric and embroidered African animals. My friend just returned from a trip to Africa for 3 weeks. I ordered the embroidered animals from a lady in Estero Florida where we use to live. I’s so colorful and has been fun to work on. Now I just need to finish it. PS: I’ll get lots of pictures at the event to share with you all.
Barbara – my readers are the best, aren’t they? A great circle of friends who just want to help and the kids are going to benefit with your inspiration and idea. Yes, that store!!! How fun would that be?
I kinda like the ‘fall back’ part of daylight saving time. It doesn’t affect my dogs and we get to wake up to the lightness. It does depend on where you live. When we lived in Syracuse, it did start to feel like it was getting dark during the winter by 4pm! That store with all the stuff….that could be my sewing room! Ha ha
Jill – I’m with you – I want to be on normal time year round. In Iowa it begins to get dark for two+ months about 4 pm – I’m doing my evening chores at 3 pm!
Your blog this morning (Monday) seemed so peaceful. I would love to sit with you in front of the beautiful fireplace with Keeper and Hazel, enjoy a hot cup of coffee and friendship, swap animal stories and tales about family and friends. Your mantel is simply gorgeous, you have a knack for my kind of decorating.
It’s going to be a few rainy days in mid-Michigan. We need the rain so I can’t complain, I will need to entertain the dogs more than normal so Sammie and Nelson can burn off some of that energy.
Have a blessed day everyone. Life is so short, take time to relax and enjoy being you.
Linda – wouldn’t that be lovely, to sit in front of the fire and chat? We’ve all become good friends who will never meet in person – kinda sad. Were Norman and Albert happy to see you home again?
Mary, I am doing some catch up on reading your recent posts. I love your red quilt. Is that from a Country Threads pattern? Li, thank you for providing the photos of your Mary Ellen quilts, they are very nice quilts. As far as the blue background one . . . look at Mary Ellen’s book Baker’s Dozen Doubled (pages 32- 44) for help on drafting and construction. Clean windows, what a joy to have them. To me, it makes the world that much more cheerier to see out of them. We have storm windows that stay in the window, so it is like cleaning two sets of windows per window . . . a lot of work. We have a warmup today and Tuesday. We are finally getting a few days of rain here which is really helping out with the drought conditions. Now that Gracie has returned, is Three spending more time with her versus you? Janice in Traverse City area.
Janice – Gracie is elusive and sometimes I don’t see her all day but I think she’s found a quiet place in the basement. The minute Three sees her he starts grooming her – it’s sweet. I wonder if I still have my book Bakers Dozen Doubled. Li’s diagram of blocks is all you really need to draft it.
Your windows would indeed be a nightmare with permanent storms. These are super easy insulated Andersen windows – the best there is in my opinion. At the time I thought they were very expensive – $1000 per window but wonder what they cost now. As I sit here this morning I have a view of the tv, the bird feeder and the highway. Is this Heaven? No, it’s Iowa! Haha!!! We had a very rainy weekend but very welcome.
Marie C, love your quilt! Great colors too. Mary Ellen Hopkins is a master of taking simple shapes and making them look fabulous like that navy quilt pictured. I would definitely have to lay that one out on a design wall and I’d still get them turned wrong. But wow, its gorgeous.
I would love to visit the Shit You Don’t Need store!
When I make the Over/Under quilt again I will have my seam ripper handy.