I started this post yesterday and could not get my pictures to post so I’ll try again this morning. We are heading to 50 degrees this weekend – wow! Still much snow around but we’re going in the right direction. All the wet stuff from the quilt shop is going to get burned eventually but right now it’s just drying out. Ick.
The geese love the mud but this is Rosie – keeping her tootsies dry by perching on a cement block. What a persnickety Goat!
Since I’m determined to clean up the quilt shop should water ever enter in the future, I’m going to start Bonnie Hunter’s Scrap Seaver system of cutting everything into strips and strings. I plan to empty every basket like these and transfer all to plastic tubs with lids after cutting all into useable strips.
As I’m sorting I came across this pattern for a quilted vest that I made in 2003 ( I think) and it was stolen from the quilt shop. Has anyone seen this vest? It was quilted with gold metallic thread.
Whenever I was asked about shoplifting in the quilt shop, I always answered that yes, we knew it happened only when items disappeared but that we simply could not police all corners of two buildings. Ultimately God knows who stole from Country Threads and we simply turned it over to Him. One time in Houston during the opening hours of Quilt Festival when people were standing three deep at our booth, we discovered several very detailed and difficult punchneedle projects had disappeared off our displays. Another time in Houston my purse was stolen and one time in Kansas City my van was broken into and our luggage was stolen during set up day. Bad memories – hadn’t thought about these times in years!
Another Harvey picture – this Harvey by Earlene.
And I made a Harvey and gave it to a friend before I took a picture.
Orders for Spring Gameboard are coming in.
Don’t forget to make note of the pattern you’re ordering! Harvey is still available until Easter so order him now. Our book Beyond The Battlefield is also still available for $31.00 which includes postage.
Heading to Mason City to buy another dehumidifier for the quilt shop. Ugh.
So happy to see a blog post today from you!! It’s been awful to see the devastation around you and not help but think of you, your loved ones and all your pets. Hard to believe people can live with themselves after stealing. I always wonder if stolen quilts are ever recovered when I see them on blogs as missing from shows or vehicles broken into and quilts stolen. A world that’s hard to comprehend for me. But back to good news and that is you are getting warmer and are okay!
Kathy in western NY – I often wonder if the people who stole the beautiful punchneedle projects actually display them in their home – how do they explain where they came from? I suppose they tell friends they purchased the item. And when the suitcases were stolen – they could have taken the money but left our clothes, some family jewelry, makeup, etc. That night which was Sample Spree we spent at the mall buying enough underwear, simple clothes and makeup to get us through the next 4 days. Ugh!
When the AQS show was still in Des Moines, a whole trailer was stolen from the parking lot. The vendor had parked it, went to dinner, and when they came back, gone! My friend that owns the quilt shop in Adel, has said they slide the cardboard out of the middle of bolts and slid the fabric into their big bags. If people worked as hard at real jobs as they do at stealing, they would be very successful! Stay dry, Mary sorry for your mess !
I always think of quilters as honest people. So disappointing to hear of your experiences of theft. I guess there are always people who will take advantage. I can’t understand why. It’s such a violation.
I so enjoy your posts and love the pictures!
Thanks!
So sad to see so many fields covered with water in the Midwest. Pray you don’t have any more rain. There is such a feeling of being violated when items are stolen. So many of these things just can’t be replaced. I always wonder what joy the people that take these things get out of it. Glad you are okay.
I had to get out my Iowa map to locate the flooded counties and rivers mentioned in our local paper. I think I would be like your Rosie! (I am a Capricorn so maybe we have even more in common!) Water, water, everywhere…so sorry for yours! Seeing all the Harveys is like an early Easter treat. Thanks to all who have shared their photos.
I was getting really worried as your last post was Fri. and the pictures on TV are horrific. I saw an awful picture on line of Hamburg, Iowa, but that’s over by the Missouri River. I looked at the map and realized you aren’t very near any rivers, but I know Forest City is on the Winnebago River and remember the havoc it played there last year. Had to laugh at Rosie keeping her feet dry. Our dog, Sonny, is the same way always seeking out sidewalks and stepping stones because he doesn’t like water at all. I can’t imagine what he would have done if born in the Shetland Islands where his breed comes from. He would have been responsible for those sheep no matter what the weather. I hope things dry out and no water comes your way.
Pat Smith – I think I posted on Saturday, skipped Sunday and then my IPAD wouldn’t cooperate on Monday. Yes, Forest City is pretty flooded – again!
We have been flooded, icky icky. So hard to get rid of some things but oftentimes there is no other choice. Especially if it’s river water. We had a water scare this time, the culverts were frozen so everything ran over the top.
And my lab doesn’t want wet feet either. And when I worked in the bookstore, when the romances had the nearly nude men on the front, someone stole just the cover off the book!
Dee Winter – they actually ripped the cover off and swiped it? Good grief!
I was happy to see Rosie is one smart goat! I don’t like wet, muddy feet either. I always wonder what makes people think it’s ok to steal something that someone else owns and/or has put time and effort into making. It just would not occur to me! If I don’t have the money, I save until I do. When I was in charge of our quilt show, a vendor told me that a woman we all knew was a thief and other vendors confirmed it. When she came to the vendor area, I put my arm around her and said, “Oh SoandSo, I haven’t seen you for so long, and I haven’t had time to see the booths. I’ll walk along with you.” We did and no thefts:)
I am happy you are pretty much flood free. Happy 50 degrees:)
Plastic totes work for a few inches of water, hurricanes not so well. Air pressure and wind we think is what lifted the lid on the LEGO tub. It was not just water there was glass shards, insulation bits and gunk.
Flooding water is horrible sometimes it comes so fast hard to prepare for it.
Carla – well, I never thought of that! What a mess your LEGO tub must have been! Reed’s twin, Myra, is a LEGO maniac – ! Oh, does she ever love LEGOS!
As long as I have known you, I never knew you had a goat named Rosie; hopefully she not parr of the posse who terrorized Emma otherwise I would be conflicted. I’m with Rosie, I would be standing on the cement block with her, don’t like mud on my shoes.
Rose M – yes, I guess we’ve never talked about any goats except Susannah! Isn’t that funny? I love the quilt you recently put on Instagram! It is a masterful job of combining scraps!
Mary, if when people ordered patterns it would save some time if they put the pattern names above the address on the envelope. Example: Harvey
Betty – yes, it would save all of us time!
Isn’t the weather just wonderful. My dogs want to be outside on the deck. But had a little snow still blocking use of the gate so they have to wait another day.
My garage floor is a inch thick in ice. I have never had this before. So put boards down to walk on so I don’t fall.
It makes me sick to hear about people stealing valuable and sentimental items. I just can’t imagine how those people think they are justified to take someone else’s belongings. We recently had our car stolen from our yard while we were watching tv. It was found over 300 miles away….what a nightmare. I can’t imagine handmade quilts being stolen….it would break my heart. You and Connie are strong women.
How can people live with themselves? One of our local shops found a heavy woman shoving a bolt of fabric down her sweat pants!
I hope your weather is improving on a daily basis. It seems it was just yesterday when you were posting pictures of the newly planted fields and that time will be here again soon.
My sewing room is a mess with sorting, half finished projects and needlework too, and here I sit, staring at it and awaiting surgery to repair a broken arm. Didn’t plan it that way, but that’s life.
Hope spring Is on the way and Happy days are here again.
Brenda A – oh no! How did you break your arm? Since I don’t have a good excuse, I’ll keep sorting. Hope you’re on the road to recovery very soon!
Mary … I was in the doctor’s office, putting my underpants on, in my stocking feet. Slipped, fell, and the rest is history. Remember what your mother said about making sure you had clean underwear on,!
Brenda
Brenda A. – oh dear, I am so sorry!
This weekend I will be attending the first and second rounds of the ncaa tournament in Columbus, OH and cheering for Ohio State against your Iowa State. Ready for it to begin tonight. Yes, this time of year is so exciting for basketball!
Marilyn Cook – oh my gosh, you’re actually going to the games??? Oh, how fun is that! So, we’re going to play each other and one of us will have to get interested in another team – haha! I just love all the games and thought it was hilarious on Facebook that some folks don’t know Ohio from Iowa and then throw in Idaho, too. Someone wondered if we grew potatoes in Iowa – good grief! Tell us all about being at a game in person!
HI Mary – I would like to order both Harvey and the Game Board patterns. I forgot the prices –
can you please remind me……..
Thanks – Cathie
Cathie Braman – Harvey is $10 for both sizes and Gameboard is $5.
Thank you – sending a check tomorrow.
Hope your water dries up enough so the goats don’t get wet feet!!
Have a great evening.
Cathie
I am so saddened by people that feel the need to steal items. I just don’t understand their thinking! I remember going to a shop hop in central Iowa last year and the owner said that the previous year’s shop hop she had lost thousands of dollars worth of merchandise and it forced her to put in video cameras to monitor customers. Such a sad fact in today’s society!
My farm cats have come out of the metal shed because it’s warmer outside now. So fun to see them out and about! I think your animals Mary were just as excited!!!
Prayers to the people in Nebraska and western Iowa from all of the flooding.
Julie DeBower – saw on the news the guy who managed to save 14 hogs out of 700! And all the poor cattle! Tragic!
I wonder how long Rosie stood there? She looks like queen of the hill. (block)
Harvey looks like he is going to the prom–white shirt and white buttons etc. Pretty sharp.
Good idea about making strips with your fabric.
I also saw about the guy who saved 14 hogs out of 700. That is too many to compost. What a mess!
Kathy Schwartz – just wondering about all these dead farm animals – will the rendering company pick them all up? And surely they can’t all get picked up before the weather gets really warm – what then? And how are things at your place? I suppose fixing the loafing shed is on the list at some point. Oh my, it has been a rough winter!
After having water “float” items in our basement several years ago, I learned the hard way to keep everything up a few inches off the floor! I had a plastic tote on the floor that contained some fabric. I didn’t realize it had a small crack so those items were soaked!! Live and learn!!
Ugh…. Water is so damaging. And double ugh to people who steal. I always thought quilters were honest people and the majority are. It is always those few who spoil our reputation.
I had a long drive from Santa Fe, NM to Windsor, CO today–should have been 6.5 hours but ended up being closer to 8 hours–spent a lot of time thinking through some recent difficult years and the betrayal by someone I considered to be my best friend. I used to own a wildland firefighting business and people would steal from our booth during academies and shows or from our storefront. I wish I had answers for you, but it’s apparent there are people who do not have the same morals and values I have and I have had to learn to give it up to God and make peace with the fact that there are some things I will never understand. I’m sorry you’re having to deal with water damage on top of that, too. I once worked at a store that sustained water damage from a flooded river. Oh, my. That is a difficult clean-up effort.
Rosie is a smart cookie to keep her feet dry! Hope spring comes soon!!
I feel so bad for all the people dealing with flooding..it’s awful. Our basement flooded years ago on Good Friday. I had started a load of laundry before we went to bed. When we got up, I heard water running and couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Looked in the basement…4” of water. The timer on the washer malfunctioned and didn’t turn off after the washer filled and the water pressure forced the hose off the machine. Yikes! My sister in law once started a dryer load before bed and got up to find it had run all night….repair guy said they were very lucky not to have burned the house down. No more overnight laundry for me! So sorry for your water damage and hope you get some dry, warmer weather!
Hi Mary, I made that vest jacket. It’s my all time favorite. I’ll have to find a photo to send to you. I am cutting up my fabric. Strips. Squares. Tumblers. Rectangles. Triangles. Fit future scrappy quilts. Some of my fabric has dates of the early 90’s in the selvedge. It was too pretty to use. Guess what. It’s even prettier cut up! A bunch of us worked on the Bills Eye quilt at the cabin retreat I just came back from. I put my photos on FZb but I’ll send the to you via email too.