Saturday, October 9, 2010

Ah! That's Better!

I don't know what it was last night, but it hit me when I was at the grocery store, buying ingredients for four dozen muffins (two dozen of each of two kinds of muffins) that I'd committed to baking for the office today. Really, NOT a good time to get ill! All I can think is that something I ate for dinner didn't agree with me--no one else in my family was sick so it must have just been something that affected me. Or maybe Hubby's trying to poison me. (I'm just sayin' if you hear I've suddenly moved on to that big quilting bee in the sky, tell the coroner to check for toxic substances, okay?)

And while a good night's sleep didn't completely wipe out whatever was ailing me, I felt well enough when I got up this morning to make the muffins--with frequent hand washing and other precautions to make sure that in the event I actually had some kind of bug, I wouldn't pass it on to anyone else. And, as the day went on, my stomach started to feel better and better, and by tonight--well, I wouldn't want to test it with anything too hard to digest, but I'm feeling a lot better than I did. So, of course, my friend Patty was right when she left a comment saying she'd checked Sacramento news and there was no news story about a woman blowing up.

Also in her comment, Patty asked a question about quilt kits and I thought I'd ask you tonight--

"Question.. do you find yourself hanging onto old 'kits' years later, or do you disassemble them and use the fabric in something else. I still love quite a few of them. But, once I've bought it and put it away... the desire to actually MAKE the quilt keeps taking a back seat. Just wonderin'????"

I've known Patty for years--ever since she had an online shop selling Thimbleberries fabric. She's the person who first told me about a Yahoo Thimbleberries group we both belong to. If you're familiar with Thimbleberries, you probably know they've designed with an eye toward quilt kits forever, and have done yearly block of the month projects probably longer than anyone else. Personally, I rarely buy kits because I have such a habit of changing things in other designers' patterns, but I think I'm a little unusual in that regard--particularly when it comes to Thimbleberries. So what do you think? How would you respond to Patty?

10 comments:

  1. I am know as the "Kit Queen" in my quilting circle - LOL! I have kits from years ago still in the que. And, no, I won't disassemble them to use the fabric in something else. It's not that the excitement fades, but there's not enough time!! And, then the next thing comes along and... I only once used kit fabric for a different quilt - I bought a kit to make a 9/11 patriotic quilt and decided I really didn't like the pattern all that much (I was just all emotional at the time I bought it) and since it was now 2008, I decided to use the awesome fabrics to make a Quilts for Valor charity quilt. Was SO happy I did that. But, generally, I color inside the lines too much and don't often change things up. Doesn't make me very creative, does it? But, then again, I love the process part. Glad you are feeling better!

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  2. If Patty had asked this question when I bought my kits, I would have been aghast at the idea of taking any of them apart or making anything but exactly what the kit was for (and probably placing the fabrics in the exact same way as pictured). But, alas, I haven't sewn up a lot of my kits and now my tastes are evolving; I'm wondering what to do. I look at my kits and realize I have a beautiful, rich stash of fabric there. I'm leaning toward taking apart my Thimbleberries and 30's BOM kits and putting those fabrics into stash for a scrap quilt.They account for the majority of the packages laying around my sewing space. Good question. I'm curious what others are thinking?

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  3. Sandy from ThimbleberriesOctober 9, 2010 at 8:27 AM

    You must have read my mind. I have so many quilt kits and runner kits that I have been wondering, do I really want to make these quilts or runners. I haven't decided. A few years ago I would have said I can't use the fabric for other things. Some of the kits I love and I need to make the quilts. The ones I don't care for I will probably take apart. I'll let you know when I finally decide.
    I am glad you are feeling better. I would have hated to read about you in the news or hear about you on the morning news.

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  4. Actually I do take the kits apart if I am working on something that I know the fabric in them would be better then the one I was thinking about using. I bought kits all the time when I first started. I can say that sometimes the kit pattern is extremely hard for me to understand so I just change the pattern and use the fabric. I have so much great fabric because of the kits.

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  5. I used to buy kits, but not anymore. I still have a lot of those kits and haven't broken them open to use the fabric for some other project, but that is a good idea. But for now, they will stay in their package until I get around to them.
    cindy

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  6. Well Kim.. it looks a few of us aren't real sure about what we want to do with these kit's we've bought and never got around to making.

    I think I'm going to do a little of both. Take some apart and use the fabric in other projects. And, try and sell a few on ebay that I just don't have the heart to break up... mostly some of those older BOM's. I still love them, I just don't have the desire to OWN or make them myself. Too many other ideas spinning around in my head that I'd rather pursue! :-)

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  7. OMG, quilt kits stay in their package and age for years in the "kit section" of my sewing room. I have sworn off buying kits and never will I do another BOM again. Seems that by the time I get around to those kits I don't even like them anymore! Dang, huh? One thing that I found (when I finally get around to opening the kit) is that the shop has switched out some of the fabrics so I got something other than what their demo quilt was...hate when they do the old switcharoo without saying so up front. I have moved toward the buy it when I want a project way of shopping. There's always another pretty quilt idea and fabric coming down the road.

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  8. groan ... i missed out on the entire day yesterday - i was in bed with a killer headache (when i wasn't making FREQUENT trips to the bathroom) .. maybe it is some kind of quilting pox - especially the explosive stomach part ... anywho ... i have yet to make up a quilt kit - i love to buy them and have everything i need right there, but by the time i think i will start one, i decide that i want to make some changes and there isn't enough fabric to do what i want to do - so it all goes back in the package ... oops - mother nature is calling my name again - groan

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  9. Well, I don't know what kind of quilter this makes me, and I've only been quilting for about a year and a half, but two block of the month quilt kits that I purchased, one being the Thimbleberries from 2009, I've already disassembled, as once I had the whole series of blocks, I didn't want to make that particular quilt anymore. I'll use the fabric in a different quilt pattern.

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  10. I only have one kit and I bought it a couple of years ago. I would like to get it done.... someday. :)

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Tell me what you're thinking--I'd love to hear from you!