"Who am I, what am I doing here?"

I have not worked on this page in SEVERAL years. I have much "house" cleaning up to do here. Much of this is old old old stuff.

Hello, and welcome to my homepage! I am "fabrickrazy", and I am so pleased you are visiting my little eclectic quilt room. I am always bringing in new fabric or new books. Just move some fabric and you can sit on that chair. Okay, are you comfortable now? WOW! Quick! Call the "Quilt Police" and get the "crime scene" tape out and mark off this room!!!! It's a "crime" that this sewing room is such a mess!! Looks like "someone" has been very busy buying fabric and books, and magazines, and other stuff, and not doing much quilting. Would you like to look at this quilt magazine while I try to figure out how to tackle this mess? On a more "serious" note, I really, really, really, have to get busy and do more quilting and finish these projects and stuff. And I am thinking of rewriting this whole page. Sigh. Well, it has been almost 2 months, and, have I cleaned this room yet? No And, my parents are coming for a visit, is my Mother going to roll her eyes at me? Yes. Sigh.

So, you want to know a little bit about me. Hmmmmm! Well, I first became interested in quilting around 1985. I bought a book, looked at the pictures, (big mistake: should have READ the book!) and said, "I can do this!". WRONG! I did everything wrong from the beginning----after a frustrating week, I wadded it all up--frabic, wacky-doodled blocks and the book---and shoved it all in the bottom drawer, and went back to cross-stitch. Then, around 1988, I moved to a new city and vowing to make a clean start, I enrolled in a beginning quilt class, a very well taught class, and I have been in a state of quilt madness----and quite happy too!

Along with being quite "quilt-crazy", I am also a fabricaholic! I have a pretty big stash that has over-run the little eclectic room and is stashed in the guest-bed room. I am very careful whom I allow to stay in that room! Of all the fabrics I have, there are a few special collections. I have a fondness for Christmas fabric, which started when I decided to make a Christmas "scrapaholic" quilt. I made the quilt, but have continued to collect the holiday fabric! I also adore Aunt Gracie fabric, and have a nice little stash of that line. And I also have a fondness for "all things (fabric) purple"! This stack here is my newest purple fabric collection.

Since opening my quilt room door to quilters on the web, I have been asked, "Why do you call your room eclectic?" That is a good question. I am a "Jill - of- many - interests". In that small box over there on the dresser, there are wooden Santa figures and craft paint and supplies. Some day I will finish that project. Now, open the bi-fold doors to that closet. "WOW!" is right! All of those books and boxes on that side pertain to counted cross-stitch. And this is another box, and lets open it, yep, just as I thought, all the basket making supplies are in here. Be careful with this small box, see these are some ceramics that I was painting, they still need to be fired. Here, help me stuff this all back in the closet, push hard. Whew! Didn't think we would get those doors closed. I'll have to be very careful when I open that closet again. I hope there is no fabric in there that I need any time soon! Lets look at some projects.

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Works-in-Progress

Oh my goodness, where to begin! I have so many irons in the fire, that I frighten myself sometimes! Although I am working on several quilts, for right now, these are on the front line.

#1. SHARON'S GRANDMOTHERS QUILT--This quilt belongs to my friend Sharon that lives in NC. We were neighbors when I lived up there. We were chatting one day and she told me of a quilt top left to her by her grandmother. Sharon had had the top for several years and did not quilt, but would really like to see her grandmothers quilt finished....(this is where I said, "Oh, I'll do it!"). It is an old quilt, the pattern is a "glorified-nine-patch". Looks sorta like a double wedding ring, in a way. I think some of the fabric is feed sack and or flour sack fabric. I loved this quilt the minute I saw it for a few reasons. It was traditional, it had history, was made from old fabric, and it was unfinished. The circle needed to be completed.YES! YES! THIS QUILT IS COMPLETED!! I have taken some pictures, would you care to look?

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This quilt was pieced with the patient and caring hands of Ella Williams Allen of Neamah, NE in or around the year of 1961. She machine sewed the nine-patches and whip stitched the melons. The fabrics are old, some are shirting fabric, and dress fabric, and some believed to be feedsack fabric.This quilt belongs to Mrs. Allen's granddaughter, Mrs. Sharon Hessler. The name of the pattern is "Glorified Nine-Patch", as seen in Sharlene Jorgenson's book "Quilting From The Heartland, TV project book #1. A picture of a quilt like this is in the book, and directions to make a quilt from this pattern is in the book.

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This pattern may also be called "Improved Nine Patch" 2/15/30 Rural New Yorker, "Circle Upon Circle" 12/2/33 Kansas City Star, "Four Leaf Clover" 9/25/35 Kansas City Star, "Nine Patch Variation" 1935 Hall (Carrie) or " Bailey Nine Patch" 1958 a Mrs. Danner. These names and dates came from a book called Encylopedia of Quilts. This picture is the quilt laid flat on the floor so the whole quilt could be viewed.

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#2. Hannah's PURPLE QUILT--NEW PICTURE!!

I am having a problem with getting a good picture. The borders and sashes look black here but trust me, they are purple. I will have to work on this more for a better photo. This is a "machine quilt as you go" quilt made with strips, fleece and tone on tone muslin for the backing. It was fun and can be made just about any size by adding or subtracting more panels of strips. I tried to make this a charm, but, I did end up using some of the fabric twice. For the quilting on the borders, I used that peel and stick on paper borders that I ordered. I was pleased how this quilt turned out, and my niece is pleased also! I enjoyed making the quilt for Hannah. And Hannah's little sister likes purple too, so, guess I have my quilting cut out for me!

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FOR ME?!!! WOW!! I was presented this quilt by my guild when I finished my year as guild president. I was THRILLED! They really know me! The Bonnett Babies are done in purple, and have little kitties too. The fabric is Aunt Grace fabric, which I really adore! The flowers are appliqued, and I just LOVE this quilt!

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#3. A CHRISTMAS QUILT--This is a "fussy-cut" quilt that is based on a quilt pattern whose name escapes me at the moment-- I'll have to look it up later. I have to do the sashing, which is called garden gate, I think. The problem is I don't have enough of the one fabric I REALLY want to use, so I guess I will have to just use a different fabric. This is now WAY on the back burner!

#4. CHRISTMAS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR--I think that is the name of it. This is a block of the month that I just received several months ago.*BIG SIGH* Well, I have all the 12 blocks now. I guess I should start working on it, huh?!!! Still in the box, uncut!

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UFOs

For those of you that may not know, a UFO is an unfinished object or project!

Oh my goodness---so many UFOs!!! Why, it looks like a celestial superhighway with gridlock!

Let's not assign these projects numbers, it makes me nervous and it could run into double digits.......but I see a pink pindot and white on muslin drunkards path,NEW I have been piecing on this quilt, and have about finished another row. I think I will make it one more row. (That would make the quilt 75"X75" and that is a good size. If I have enough maybe 5 x 6 rows, oh but then I have to remember I need to cut binding. I am not sure, I will just have to wait and how it works out.I have finished handpiecing this top several weeks ago And there is the lavender pindot and white muslin nine-patch, and what is in this sack--ooh-ooh--I knew I had bought some more Christmas fabric! Excuse me while I put this away right now! And here is the Santa Claus on muslin fabric that goes with the other Christmas stuff. Gosh, I need to get in here and clean more often, but I am kinda afraid of what I might find. Okay, where were we, UFO's. There is the "Lover's Knot" in shades of blue, hummmm that is pretty---maybe I will put it back on the WIP list. And these are the strips I cut for another strip quilt. I am becoming overwhelmed again----let's leave this subject! I need some chocolate, quick!

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These are just a few project that may never see the light of day again. There are only a few, but among them are: a sampler quilt I started for someone (that shall remain unnamed-because I don't want them to remember I started this for them) that I quit work on because I had the flu so bad I couldn't even think about quilts! And here is a rotary cut and machine pieced woven hearts that came out all wacky-doodled and it made me mad! And here's the flower blocks that I was going to make for-----oooh, I know she is reading this---MAMA, we need to talk!

Let's NOT go through the rest of this box, and just SAY we did!

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"What's in your sewing-basket?"

I am so glad you are still poking around the little eclectic quilt room. Lots of interesting stuff in this room. What? Yes, that is my sewing basket. You want see what is in there? Really? Sure...go ahead....open it...look at your own risk! Ummm....that is the picture of what the Christmas Throughout the Year block of the month quilt is suppose to look like when it is finished. Nice, isn't it? And....here is a recipe for Coconut Bread...I was wondering where that was! A friend in the Forever and Ever group gave me that!

And in the tray is---The Needle Nest--a little plastic, flat box with a magnet on the bottom and I store my needles there. Here is my one and only thimble. Neat, isn't it, that ridge thingy on the top of the thimble . A mechanical lead pencil, for tracing templates on fabric. A spool of blue thread that I am using on Sharon's quilt. What...oh those are pieces to that other Christmas quilt. A rock...that is not a rock...that is a bloodstone! It is my traditional birthstone. A good friend gave that to me and I carry it for good luck! And that is quarter-inch tape, I use that on my quilts to guide my quilting line a quarter-inch from the seam. A little plastic box with a few glass head pins and my wonder wheel! Look at my beaded scissors holder with a pair of stork scissors. The beaded holder matches the beaded pincushion. Oh, this little thing hanging off the scissors, that is a tiny sewing doll. And here is a my two needlethreaders. See my new one, it is lighted and you can pop of the needlethreader attachment and pop on a seam ripper! Way cool! And this is a thread snipper. Okay...that is all in the tray, let's lift it out and see what is below.

Yep...that's right...more pieces to the Christmas quilt. That stripped quarter-inch tape---it is called Tiger Tape. It is marked and you use the marks to help you quilt X amounts of stitches in an inch. How many do I quilt an inch?----LOOK!----the beaded pincushion! Hey, don't stick yourself, it is full of flower head and glass head pins!

Well, back to the inventory of the sewing basket. This is a spool of ecru quilting thread that I use to hand piece with, and that is another magnetic needle holder that fits down into the spool hole. This is a small Olfa Rotary cutter. This is a small pair of Gingher scissors. Here are some plastic templates and more pieces to the Christmas quilt. A recipe for chicken salad...uh...I guess I should take this and the coconut bread recipe out to the kitchen...lets finish inventory first. A piece of paper with the address of a quilting friend that moved. OH! Here is THE LIST. A friend in the Forever and Ever group is very organized and her home is very immaculate. We asked how she keeps her house so clean and she made out a Weekly Cleaning Chores list. It is amazing. I follow that list faithfully...NOT....! Well, okay, I try to follow the list....but, you know how it is! Okay! That's all for the sewing basket! Now, how does it all go back in? What do you mean, where are the M&Ms.....I ate them at Q-Bs! Oh, that is my Frog Prince "beanie baby-wanna-be" key chain. Remind me some day to tell you the Frog Prince joke.

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Best friends a quilter could have

These are a few of the quilting groups and organizations I belong to. I could not ask for better friends than the friends I have made in these groups. They are all stand-up people!

#1. .

#2. .

#3. !

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Activity in the Beehives!

Bzzzz.....Bzzzzz.....Bzzzz.....all the Hives have been busy! Bzzzz......Read what we have been doing! Bzzzz...Bzzzzz.

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NEW!!!!.

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I would like to thank my very own computer guru for the crash course in HTML, and for his patience, see, I really was paying attention! And for helping me acquire a site and get my homepage up and running.

Also, I would like to thank my DH, who, for once was happily in control of the remote to the TV and could watch all the ESPN, TNN, CNN, Classic Sports Channel, CMT, and Speed World, without a peep from me. Thanks, also, for not complaining about my hogging the computer when you want to do your paperwork!

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Some of my Hangouts

The National Online Quilters Home
QuiltZine
Planet Patchwork
Museum of Florida History-- The Florida Quilt Collection
World Wide Quilting Page
Vikimouse has great graphics.
A touch of Country also has great graphics.
Thee and Me

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Thank-you for visiting my little room. I hope you had fun. Please drop me a line or two, to let me know how you liked my room, or just to say "Hello!". And, please, come again. Quilters and friends are always welcomed, any time, day or night.

There have been visitors stop by since we moved in.
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