New Blog and things....

I've added a new blog to my  list of things to do.  Ha!!  Like I didn't have enough!  You can visit it here, and I've named it:

Insanely Cheap Quilting

This blog will contain (at least this is the plan for now) only pictures of the quilts as I finish them.  After several request to see pictures of finished quilts from potential new friends (others call them customers) I decided to put them all in one spot. I copied them from this blog, so at this time you can't click on the pic for a larger picture.  I will try to replace as many as possible so we can all get a closer look. 

I was sooooooooo lucky to get my sweet (most of the time) daughter home on Saturday from Indy.  She had an amazing run of good luck.  Long story short - left late, stood up brother for breakfast, cried, wallet left at school, cried, Evan took over, cried, met Evan's roommate at DQ with wallet, flew to airport (in a car) arrived 45 minutes before takeoff (before checking in), cried, got to front of line, held up airplane, got on plane, taxied over Philly, deverted to Manchester, NH, her final destination.  She was the only one on the plane that was happy to go to Manchester.  Talk about luck!!

We decorated the two trees, fire in fireplace, and had eggnog.  What a great weekend we all had.  It's good to have most of the kids home for Christmas and that's all I wanted for Christmas this year, was for us to be together.

House that we have been trying to get, listed to go on the auction block today, cancelled on Friday.  This morning I've got to try to find the details, wish me luck.  We've been trying to get this house since last spring.  Keep your fingers crossed that all will fall into place for us.  Without this place I'm not sure what we are going to do.

Okay, if I don't post anymore before Christmas, I am wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas!  I hope you get to spend time with your families and loved ones, that is the true meaning of the season!

Thanks for checking on me,
hugs,
joanne

love to hear what you've got to say..............

This is the reason I quilt

****Please Read****

If you were carried to this posting via a link please read this posting. As I mention in this post, I will never put together a quilt that will qualify for any ribbons but I do love to make quilts for the ones that I love.  I charge .005 - .007 per square inch with a meander or loop pattern.  If you want to have your quilt "professionally" (art) quilted, I am not the one.  As I mentioned at the bottom of this posting "There are plenty of longarm quilters out there who can provide you with works of art, I am not that person, I am doing it for the love of the quilt."  I consider myself just an additional option for quilters.  I am sorry if I have offended anyone with this option.  I do own an HQ16 mid-arm machine and I am quite happy with my purchase.  Now on to the ........

Original Post

Ever wonder how a person got started doing what they are doing, or why someone is doing something for what may seem like an insane reason? My journey started the summer of 2007. My beautiful daughter was headed to college and I wanted to make her a quilt. I wanted a top that would fit her bed the way I wanted it to fit. Long enough to tuck in and cover the pillow, and wide enough to roll up in without being too wide. So I ended up with this quilt that was 6 ft. wide by 9 ft long. I knew I wanted to get it finished so I decided on a simple 9 patch with alternating solid colleague fabric. So, off I go to the local quilt shop and drop $8.95 per yard for the Purdue fabric and about the same for the matching black and gold. I was so proud when I finally got the top finished, and couldn't wait to have it quilted. I contacted a couple of local quilters and discovered the going rate was between .025 - .035 per square inch to have the quilt finished for me. E-Gads, I did not see that coming! Now, my dilemma was, I have 3 more children all standing in line for their own special quilt - can you see the $$$ adding up quickly? I could, and didn't like what I was seeing! Okay, so it's time to check out buying a machine and doing it myself, great plan, right? Right, I went from "honey, it's only going to be $2,000 - $3.000" to "honey, I really love you and I found a machine for $$$$$ (I don't remember what I actually paid). So, that is where the story begins. I have a machine and I want to do my quilts and then I get the brainy idea that I can also do others to "help" out quilters who will never have a "show" quilt just a quilt that was meant to be loved.
Recently, I quilted a top for a lovely lady and received this email from her:

Dear Joanne,
I wanted to thank you for quilting my top. I have a retina problem and deal with double vision quite a bit with detailed work. Myself, I was pleased with how the tops turned out for my first attempts. Oh, they are the flying geese and puppy dogs you are working on at present from (Name withheld) in (State also). My other daughter from Ohio joined us in Paducah, Ky this past spring for the AQS show. We rented a cabin sewing several days and doing the show along with going to Hancock's there. It was my first big immersion to quilting. Anyway, when you get to comparing the precision of others and all the programs/web sites one does not feel very accomplished. You are an answer for the desires of my heart.
Thank you for your service to others during these economic times.
God bless,
Signed, customer

Here was my reply to her:


Dear ****,
I have only been quilting for a short time myself, and you should see my first quilts!! Oh my goodness, talk about not square and mis-matched seams!! AND I thought I'd do one of those rag quilts, and ended up cutting it wrong and now it's falling apart at the seams. lol!! But you know what, I made those quilts for my kids and they don't care about the mis-matched seams and bring it to my attention to "fix" the latest hole because they love the quilts. Those quilts will never be in a show or up for any kind of "judging" besides by the ones I love and the ones who love me. I love them enough to make the quilt and they love the quilt. For me - that's enough. I don't need ribbons to tell me that my quilts are worth something; I already know they are even with all of their imperfections.
NOW--lady....I did have some "problems" (but not problems) with your flying geese. It wasn't as square as it could have been so there are folds and tucks in the quilt. BUT - I saw an amazing difference in the second quilt that you did!! It was PERFECTLY WONDERFUL! Now, I want you to keep on quilting and spending time with your girls, so the next quilt you send me I will quilt it for half price. I would like to encourage you to keep quilting for the ones you love.
I am more than happy to provide the long arm quilting for ladies like you and me, who do it for the love of the ones we love, not for the ribbons and recognition that the "perfect" quilts will bring.


Hugs to you and your wonderful girls....
hugs,
joanne

After she received her quilts here is the email that I received:

Dear Joanne,
Our quilts came today!!!!! I love the flying geese, even with its imperfections. It will really keep me humble. It will be bound and put on our bed for daily use since we have an almost three year old grandson, Jo's cat and my dog. I knew it would not quilt very well and that it was due to the materials I used. It was "just my practice one after all". My grand loves his puppy dog one.................kept rolling himself up in it and talking to the doggies. It will be bound and put up for Christmas or his birthday, since they are close together.
I have cut out a table runner with a starburst pattern in the center and friendship stars on either end of that. Will machine quilt that here myself. I have done a very primitive one with just strip pieces as practice.................and I love it!

Signed,
Customer


I quilt for this!!!! I want to do the quilts that will be loved and cherished. There are plenty of longarm quilters out there who can provide you with works of art, I am not that person, I am doing it for the love of the quilt.


Thanks for reading,

Hugs,
Joanne

Love to hear what you’ve got to say………

Noah's Quilt

How cool is this?!  It is finished and on it's way to the church for the auction on the 14th of November. This picture was taken after the quilt had been washed, and it is so soft.  The fabrics that you ladies chose resulted in a unbelievable finished project. The wonderful ladies that helped with project were:

Denise V,   Aurora, Co

Sheila H, Hilliard, OH

Becky H, Noblesville,  IN

Sue C, Plainfield, IN

Julie W, Oakland, CA

Jan B, North Vernon, IN

Sue S, Scipio, IN

Mike R, Noblesville, IN

Amy K, Indianapolis, IN

Sharon K, Indianapolis, IN

Janice B, Madison, WI

Sidney C, Salt Lake City, UT

Lish S, W.Lafayette, IN

Micki B, Dunfanaghy Donegal, Ireland

Nancy H, Zelienople, PA

Katherine H, Forest Park, IL

Rhonda P, North Vernon, IN 

Dawn C, Ft. Wayne, IN

Thank you all for your help in this very special project of mine.  I truly appreciate your help and support for making this possible for me to complete.  I know the family will appreciate the kindness and thoughtfulness that you have shown in your contribution to this quilt. 

Thanks and HUGS to each and every one of you!!

joanne

This was a forward and I think it just about says it all............

Cleaning Poem

I asked the Lord to tell me

Why my house is such a mess.

He asked if I'd been 'computering',

And I had to answer 'yes'

He told me to get off my butt

And tidy up the house.

And so I started cleaning up...

The smudges off my mouse.

I wiped and shined the topside.

That really did the trick...

I was just admiring my work..
I didn't mean to 'click.'

But click, I did,and oops I found

A real absorbing site.

That I got SO way into it.

I was into it all night.<>

Nothing's changed except my mouse

It's very, very shiny.

I guess my house will stay a mess...

While I sit here on my hiney.

Thank you for being my blogging buddy and friend!

Day One, or So This begins....

So, I'm finally going to bite the bullet and begin this blog. I've had the name SplittingStitches for years, but never done anything with it. Having several friends who do this blog thing, the pressure is on! Ready or not here I am getting set to expose myself and my life to the world, or just put it out there, my guess is no one is interested in how my corner of the world plays out, so this will be just private between you and me. ha!

Okay....so my exciting news for the day is.....are you ready? Sure? This is some big stuff......Now with all of that build up here's the news....I've got my first paying quilting job! YIPEEEE!! Now that may not seem like a big deal to you but it's pretty darn happening for me!! My customer will arrive between 10 and 11 tomorrow with her top and backing in hand. The pressure is on!! I will post some pictures as soon as I can. In the mean time I'm going to post some pictures of the couple of quilts that I have done.

You may say, COUPLE??? What makes you even think that you can do a quilt for cash when you've only done a couple of quilts!! Are you out of your mind?! Relax....I've promised to do either a meander or a loop on the top. Trust me, nothing fancy. I don't do fancy, I can't do fancy. I only dream of fancy. aaaahhhhhh wonderful dreams of fancy.

So stay tuned, I'll keep you posted!