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by Terry
Where has the past
month gone? Heck, where has this entire year disappeared to? I was
thinking about making quilts for my immediate family members for Christmas and
now, suddenly, it's almost Christmas and I haven't sewn a single stitch! I
have, however, drafted a gorgeous stained glass pattern for my mother, drafted a
snowman design for my wonderful daughter-in-law, printed off a ton of
photographs for both of my sons' memory quilts (with hunting as the theme),
printed off a few photos for a bereavement quilt to give to my aunt (we lost my
young cousin Christy a couple of weeks ago), and that is pretty much it.
Sounds like I haven't done much, but really, just drafting mom's took me almost
three (3) weeks!!! I can hardly wait to show it to you!
In October, I had to sadly report that I had not
sewn a single stitch for over a year and a half. I have finished
several projects since then, including two (2) charity quilts for
our charity drive.
I purchased a new Baby Lock Wave serger several months ago (read
that as: early this year) and hadn't used it, so I fired it up
to sew the quilts. I had so much fun using it!!! I plan
on "playing" on it when I get caught up. I bet you have a lot
of "playing" to do when you "get caught up", too, right? Do
you see it happening anytime soon? I sure don't!
I cleaned out my sewing room a few days ago, too, and imagine my
surprise when I found a ton of blocks that I started for the
charity drive
and then forgot! These will make cute medallions and I hope to
start kicking them out the door after the holidays.
I have been updating the Quilting
Passion Web site and I hope that you like the new format. I still
have several broken pages, however, because I didn't realize how huge my
site was when I started! I thought I would have it done in a couple of
months... well, that didn't happen. I'm now trying to update pages as
I find them or as someone notifies me of one, so if you come across a page
that is the old format and/or has broken links, if you let me know, it'll go
to the top of the list of updates!
If you're trying to find something and can't, shoot me an
e-mail
and I'll point you to it. I appreciate your patience with me as my
virtual dust is being spread about!
Wednesday morning it was 72º here and I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts.
I had to go to Tulsa, so changed into a dress, with boots, because the
weather turned nasty with a torrential downpour of rain. It rained the
entire day, not just rain, either. POURED. And it got cooler and
cooler, until it dropped before freezing! We have broken numerous
weather records, including the most snow in November, the most rain in
November, the most ice in the least amount of time, the largest drop in
temperature, and so forth. Now, normally, I LOVE SNOW. But, this
is not the time for it!!!! I was leaving today to go to the quilting
gathering in Dallas. We have 2 inches of ice, covered with 8" of snow
and it's still snowing hard. We are predicted to get about 12" or
more. I can't even tell you how disappointed I am. I am hoping
the Texas girls reschedule soon!
I have initially launched an online quilt store,
YOUnique Designs, and have a few
products ready to go. The stained glass project that I'm making for
mom for Christmas will be a new pattern sold there, as will my photo memory
quilts for my sons. All of the items are
listed on the
Order Form, however, and if you find something you're interested in and
can't find it, just let me know. You may be asking why in the world
I'm opening another site? Simple answer; Well, actually two
answers. First, I want to keep the Quilting Passion site non-profit
and second, I need another source of income to keep myself healthy!
So, how are
you doing? Ready for the holidays? Or should that be, holidaze?
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That
2007 is Oklahoma's 100th birthday?
That Texas, Nevada, and Florida do not have state income tax?
That there are several holidays in December?
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The 7th is
Pearl Harbor Remembrance
Day,
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Hanukkah begins on the 15th,
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Hanukkah is the 16th,
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The
22nd is the first day of winter,
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The
24th is Christmas Eve,
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The
25th is Christmas,
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The
26th is two holidays in one: Boxing Day in Canada and the
beginning of Kwanzaa,
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and
the 31st is New Year's Eve!
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The Quilting Passion electronic
Newsletter is a free monthly
publication that keeps subscribers up-to-date on news that may
include:
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Fabulous new
quilting Web sites that have been "discovered",
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Exciting new
patterns that are available for free on the Web,
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Quick and easy
projects,
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New patterns from
Terry,
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Mystery Quilt
updates from Terry,
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Updates on
what's happening at the
Quilting
Passion University,
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What's happening
on the
Quilting
Passion Forum,
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Quilting events, -
Updates on the progress of the
QP Forum Charity Drive, -
Updates on special projects, -
Updates on new
Contests,
Challenges, and Activities,
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Updates to the
gallery, a showcase of quilts made using patterns and from
projects hosted by this site,
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Changes to the
QP
Web site,
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And much more!
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Do you have any announcements that you feel would be of
use to the eNews? Perhaps a quilt show, a new grandbaby, etc.?
If so, please let me know and I'll squeeze them into the next edition
of the eNews. |
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Receive an e-mail
notification when a new issue of this electronic newsletter (eNews) is published by
joining the mailing list. Membership is free. To
subscribe, simply
send an
e-mail to Terry.
To subscribe to the
Mystery Quilt mailing list, simply
send
an e-mail to Terry.
To be
removed from a mailing list, send an e-mail to the appropriate address
(given above) with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject area. |
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Terry Crawford
2136 E 4675
Pryor, OK 74361
http://quiltingpassion.com/
quilting@quiltingpassion.com |
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First, you may notice that the look of eNews is different. You now
will find the "Welcome" in the left column! Also new is a section
(immediately following this one) called "Announcements/Events", followed by
another new section called "Interesting Tidbits". This section is just
a compilation of interesting things I run across during the course of the
month. The "Did You Know..." section is not new, but I think it is
often overlooked. It is located in the left column, beneath the
"Welcome".
Need a new wallpaper for your desktop? Try the new
December wallpaper located on the Web!
This time I created two different versions of it; one with the seasonal
graphics overlaying it and one without. This wallpaper celebrates the
colors of the holiday season.
What's ahead for Quilting Passion this coming winter? Well, I'd like to
begin a few new classes via QPU, plan a new mystery quilt, and, of course, I
have quite a few ideas rolling around in this head of mine. And,
if I have time (major emphasis on "if"), I may offer a simple pattern to
forum members that has a Christmas theme.
The remainder of 2006 will hopefully bring about a series of patterns that I
began in early 2005: Stained Glass, Crazy Patch, and Log Cabins, so be sure to
check the updated page of Quilting
Passion often for the glimmer of hope that I finally get around to it.
I do know that I've set a deadline for finishing this series before the year
is over! I sure hope I make it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Upcoming Events:
This is a new area for me to share interesting tidbits with you! I
hope you enjoy these small bites of information!
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With
a fire on her back, a mother rushes to save four of her children, but went
back in for the fifth. She knew she couldn't make it back down with
the baby and herself, too, so she went to the window to breathe fresh air
as long as she could. A firefighter on the scene yelled to a woman
on the scene, "Run inside and get a quilt!". The firemen stretched
the quilt out and the mother tossed the baby onto the quilt.
Everyone was saved. Story taken from New York Times, 11/17/06.
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Watch for a
new PBS documentary called the Art of Quilting to air sometime in
March 2007. Airing times differ according to your location.
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Quilter's are an economic powerhouse in the USA today! According to
the 2006 numbers, there are more than 27 million quilters in the U.S.
spending a total of $3.3 billion annually on their passion. This is almost
a 100% increase in quilters since 1997, and their spending has gone up 35%
just since 2003! The Quilting in America™ 2006 survey also shows
that 17% of all U.S. households report at least one family member who
participates in quilting. It is the most avid—or “Dedicated” quilters—who
spend more than $600 annually which drive the industry! And while they
represent only 4.7% of the total number of quilters, they account for 88%
of total monies spent yearly. The two-page summary of Quilting in
America™ 2006 is now available at
http://www.quilts.com under the “News > Announcements” section. A full
report with a detailed narrative, charts, and data will be available for
purchase next month from ckMedia at
www.quiltersvillage.com.
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Maywood Studio
releases a new line of fabric called "He
Loves Me II" that was a huge hit at the Quilt Market. The line
was created by
Jackie Robinson of Animas Quilts in Montana. Jackie also has
another line called "He Loves Me", which also features her cute daisies.
The first line is in stores now and the new line is on its way. If
you like daisies, then this is definitely right up your alley!
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I found a
Web site with the most gorgeous handmade and personally designed by
Lisa. Her
buttons and pendants are absolutely gorgeous and she is a very nice person
and a joy to order from! I ordered two buttons and a pendant and
expect them in the mail any day now. I can hardly wait to see them
in person!
I plan on offering quite a few free patterns to subscribers of the via
YOUnique
Designs Newsletter. If you haven't signed up for it, please feel
free to do so!
If all goes well, I still plan on kicking off a "Block of the Month" series for
2007. This will be a simple series that can be used to make a sampler,
similar to the previous BOM sampler
series that I did.
And, naturally, you can expect a few more mysteries in 2007!
The Quilting Passion Web site does have quite a few
free
patterns that I have designed over the past few years. These are
still available!
My pick for pattern/project of the month is fun to make, and once you start,
you simply can't quit. The projects? Making quilted postcards.
The first
is a pattern for
Fabric Postcards, by Dollmakers Journey. These are fun to make and
good for using up little scraps of fabric and trims! They will also go
through the US Mail with a regular postage stamp.
The second is a pattern for
Christmas cards, which portrays quilted cards as a "new look".
I
not only kicked off one mystery, but then two, and then a third!!!!
These are all wrapped up, but still online:
MQ 15,
MQ 16, and
MQ 17. 16 has a
Christmas theme and the other two have autumn themes. You can view
photographs of finished mysteries from these three patterns in the
gallery!
I have the next mystery beginning to develop in the far reaches of my
mind... I'll think more on it when I have more time! I actually have a
couple of ideas that I'm going to have to choose between. One is
winter-themed, the other spring. I've decided that I need to start
planning one season ahead of time! Actually, I decided that a couple
of years ago, I've just not practiced it. Yet. Hmmmm, perhaps
that should be my New Year's Resolution, you think?
If you would like to view previous mysteries, then be sure to check the pictures of quite
a few finished mysteries in
the Gallery below!
The Gallery has had
a lot of new additions, so
when you get a chance, take a look at all of the fabulous quilts made from
our readers over the past few months. Did I mention "a lot"??? A special thanks to those who
share their finished projects with me!
If you have made
a quilt using one of the patterns on this site, please share a photo with me
so that I can add it to the gallery? When submitting the photo,
provide your first name and state that you live in. I'd certainly
appreciate it!
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The forum continues to grow and thrive, thanks to quilters like you! Since
opening the forum in September 2001, we have had 6,826 people to join.
That doesn't include guests! You would be amazed at how many lurkers
we have... and that's fine. As long as we provide an environment where
people can come to learn, enjoy, and keep up with what's going on our
quilting and personal worlds, it's all good. I am just honored that
people choose to spend their precious time with us! Aren't you?
A few of our monthly projects include:
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FQ
Drawing, which returned in October and it, as well as November, was a HUGE success!!!!!
December is underway!
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Charity
Projects,
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Fabric,
Noodle, and Block
Swaps,
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Block
Swaps,
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Noodle Swaps.
There
is so much going on that I hardly know where to begin! And watch for
Cathy to begin a
new project in 2007... she's rolling it out on the 31st of this month, I
believe. We are both excited about it and hope that you will be, too.
We also have a
new administrator added to our staff. Please warmly welcome Valerie as
our new Hospitality Hostess! Her role
and responsibilities are many, and I encourage each of you to help us
make our forum an even better place by showing your support of her. We
are still hammering out details, so if we mess up, don't blame her.
Blame me! Let me share how I decided that this was needed. I
realized one day that there were a few people from the forum that I hadn't
"seen" in a very long time. Come to find out, after checking a lot of
sources, these people simply disappeared. I know of one that was going
through some very difficult times and I worry about her and wonder how she's
doing. I decided that I do not want anyone falling in-between the
cracks, so I asked for people to voluntarily send me their contact
information so that I could keep in touch, if needed. I soon realized
that this would be a monumental task and I needed help. In steps Val!
I urge you to send me your contact info and if you do not wish it to be
shared with Val, simply say so. Also, if you don't wish to share your
contact info, but you are willing to share your first name and e-mail
address instead, that would be fantastic!!!!!!! Personal note:
This is not simply a means to contact you during times that appear to be
"bad", but also for good times, too! I don't want this to be viewed as
a negative list, because it is also going to be used in positive ways.
The "Round Robin Charity
Drive", or RRCD continues to grow and has quickly become one of the
most popular activities on the forum. We have donated a total
of 1,229 quilts since March of 2002, 385 of which have been donated in 2006
alone! Let me do some math for you: We finished 164 quilts in
the month of November!!! That is just short of being a miracle, is it
not? Not only is this fun and rewarding for each of the volunteers in this
project (which is currently about 60), but the end result is that we are
making an impact on the lives of children and adults that truly need a spark
of hope. This project is very dear to my heart and I know of quite a
few ladies that think so, too. If you belong to,
or know of, a non-profit organization that
provides quilts to traumatized and/or terminally ill children and would like
to be placed on our waiting list, please feel free to contact me via
quilting@quiltingpassion.com.
If you don't have time to participate in our Charity Project, you can still
help us out! How? Simply use a Yahoo search engine that supports
us! I would appreciate it if you begin using this search engine on a
regular basis and also encourage your friends, co-workers, and family to use
it, too. Be sure to select "Quilting Passion Organization" when you do
a search for us to get credit! The search engine is named
GoodSearch.
Instead of typing the Web site in every time you want to use it, it is
simple to make it your default search engine by following these simple
directions
to change the default search provider:
- Open Internet Explorer.
- Left-Click the arrow to the right of
the Search Options button (it's located next to the magnifying
class icon).
- Click Change Search Defaults.
- Click on Find More Providers.
It should open a window that has this address:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/searchguide/en-en/default.mspx
- In the new window, there is a
yellow/orange area on the right, titled Create Your Own.
In the top blank area, paste in this address:
http://www.goodsearch.com/Search.aspx?Keywords=TEST
- In the second blank area, type in a
name for the search engine, such as Good Search.
- Click Install.
- Click Add in the new
window.
- Left-Click the arrow to the right of
the Search Options button (it's located next to the magnifying
class icon).
- Click Change Search Defaults.
- Select the name of the one you just
added, Good Search (or whatever name you used).
- Click Set Default.
- Click OK.
Again, please use
GoodSearch and recommend it to everyone!
There are numerous block and fabric swaps going on, so if you're in the mood
to sew, feel free to jump right in! We just finished a few projects,
too, including:
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Project
Romania.
At last count, I believe we sent 80+ quilts to Romania, as well as a
mountain of school supplies!
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Quilt Pink Event. This was done in two parts, on the forum and
also locally (Pryor, OK). Even though one was on the Internet and
the other wasn't, they both benefit the same organization: Susan
G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. I collected 28 blocks from the
Pryor area (including the
Pryor Patchers Quilt
Guild) and 65 from the forum, for a total of 93 blocks! There are
currently 8 quilts in progress, thanks to this! These quilts will be
auctioned on eBay around
May 2007, by the American Patchwork &
Quilting® magazine. A
super huge "thank you" to each of you that submitted blocks!
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The
2006 November
Patriots Contest: This contest yielded a total of 54 blocks, of
all sizes! These will be made into a quilt before July 2007, then
donated to our Charity Project. Prizes (quilt books) were randomly
awarded to three (3) people who submitted blocks: ECUFAN,
quiltedgrama, and DebiLohr1. Congratulations, ladies! This
will be my personal "challenge" to put together since there is such a wide
variety of blocks. I look forward to doing it, though, and hope that
I do it justice!
For those of you that are fairly new to the forum, let me introduce you to
the administration staff. I am the Head Administrator, Kimberly is our
Assistant Administrator, Peggy is the RRCD Coordinator, Sheryl is the RRCD
Assistant Coordinator and Myra is the Block/Fabric Swap Coordinator.
We also have a couple of forum monitors: Lynn and Alison. And or
newest member, Val. These ladies
do a fantastic job on the forum, and I'll be honest with you... while I was ill for the past 19 months, they
took very good care of
everything! They deserve a big pat on the back because this is hard work and
it also
takes time!
For those of you that are members of this very special forum (which is my home on the Internet!), thank you. For those of you that
haven't visited yet, please do so by clicking
here.
Remember, basic membership is still free!
Classes are being planned for 2007; watch for details in January. One
that is definitely in the works is a Quilt As You Go (QAYG) class!
Hopefully, I can complete
the series of mini-blocks I began in January 2005, as well as a few patterns
that I plan on marketing and a few that will be available for free.
I am deliriously
happy that I seem to be getting back into the "quilt zone". I've truly
missed it and I feel like I'm coming home! that may be evident by the
length of this month's eNews!
Any new ideas roaming around in your head that you'd like to
share with me?
Ideas for mysteries, swaps, new patterns, anything?
So much to do... and all before Christmas! This month is going to zip
by quickly and I really need to get in gear and finish quilts! How
about you?
If I don't get a
chance to "talk" to any of you again this month, please accept my best
wishes for you to have a wonderfully happy holiday season and a happy new
year! Happy
quilting,
Terry
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