F.A.R.T.

...that's what my friend Deborah (of the Knoxville Quilt Show adventure) and I are doing today:  Fabric Acquisition Road Trip!
 

 Deborah on the pedestrian mall in Knoxville 

We both need some serious fabric therapy for a dozen reasons totally unrelated to sewing/quilting.... and JoAnn's is having a big SALE!  And we have COUPONS!  

We'll also hit Trader Joe's and Whole Foods before heading back to our neck o' the woods.
 

For those of you who didn't know what F.A.R.T. stood for and were wondering what in the heck???    *lol*    ...here's a list of some quilting acronyms found online that I find a bit amusing...

FART:  Fabric Acquisition Road Trip

Frogging (or frog stitching):  using a seam ripper to remove stitches... rip it, rip it.... (around here "frogging" has a different connotation so I about fell over when I first heard this term from House Dragon)

PhD:  Project Half Done (as in: I'm working on my PhD)

PIGS:  Projects In Grocery Sacks

SABLE:  Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy

SEX:  Stash Enhancing eXperience (or eXcursion)

STASH:  Special Treasures All Secretly Hidden

SUI:  Shopping Under Influence  (usually the "evil" influence of a friend)

TOAD:  Trashed Object Abandoned in Disgust

UFO:  UnFinished Object

WIP:  Work In Progress

WISP:  Work In Slow Progress

WIVSP:  Work In Very Slow Progress

WIWMI:  Wish It Would Make Itself

WOMBAT:  Waste of Money, Batting, And Time

WWIT:  What Was I Thinking?

Yo-Yo:  a circle of fabric, gathered and sewn into a puffy circle;  also refers to the person who makes them

401 F:  Fabric for Retirement

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Potholder Planning

To my way of thinking, potholders are nothing more than a mug rug with thicker batting in the middle.  An easy project, yes?

The other day, I came across a post by Tanya (Ottawa, Ontario) on her blog Sew Many Dreams about a pair of pot-holders she made using a Martha Stewart tutorial on Heart-shaped Pot Holders.

Tanya tweaked the instructions a bit and used less Valentine-y fabrics (including denim) and I thought her potholders turned out very nicely.

One thing I particularly liked was the pockets on the back of the potholder you can slip your thumb and fingers into for added security while tussling with hot pots and pans…. a pretty cool idea!  I think I'll quilt the main part of the potholder before adding the pockets and binding.


I’m debating making the heart-shaped potholders… or making a couple of rectangular-shaped potholders with the pockets on one side…  I really like that “pocket” idea… and a rectangular potholder could double as a hot pad.

Five Things

The 4 Bushel Farmgal challenged me to post the five things I never leave home without… and I thought I’d give it a shot.

1.       I never leave the house without LIP BALM…. specifically, Burt’s Bees honey lip balm.  Seems that, in my old age, my skin can no longer tolerate petroleum products or anything with some type of mint in it.  I still like how Chapstick stayed on but can’t use that anymore.  Surprising how many skin-related products have petroleum or mint-something or other in them.

2.      I never leave home without my GLASSES, both sunglasses and regular – I need glasses to see at a distance and must have them to drive legally.

3.      I never leave home without my PURSE – My purse is more than a purse… it’s almost a briefcase/tote that I can’t do without, especially during the work week.  It holds all the regular purse stuff but also a thermal cup of water, hand cream, Tide stain stick, business cards, extra set of keys, pens,  and all sorts of work-related stuff.  You’d be surprised how much stuff will fit in my purse….. it’s considerably lighter on the weekends.

4.      I never leave home without my BIRKIES – aka Birkenstocks.  The most comfy shoes on the face of the earth.   I can out-walk all the young things in their sneakers or whatever in my Birkies!  I have Birkie sandals for the hot months and Birkie clogs for the cold months.  An added benefit is that the large/wide footbed improves stability given my balance issues (MS).  Won’t leave home without my Birkies!

5.      I never leave home without my KEYS, even if I’m riding with someone else… need my keys.  

Now I am supposed to ask two more bloggers to play along..... although everyone is invited, if you would like!

How about:

Linda from The Quilted Pineapple 

Marj from The Eclectic Quilter 

Care to post 5 things you wouldn't leave home without?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

PS – Don't forget about the upcoming Friday Night Sew-In on February 18th!