I still hand quilt my "masterpieces". But with most people they don't know the difference between hand work and machine work. I quit beating myself up about all "handmade" because of that simple fact. There are reasonably price quilting machines on the market, if you wanted to make money from quilting. The woman who has the quilt shop local charges $75 plus cost of backing for twin and on up. I think the most expensive work she does is about $150 for a super king. At that price she is still less than half of the price I've researched on the internet. She only does simple repetition designs. . .no stitch in the ditch or stippling. You can do your quilt in sections and machine quilt it. . . makes it easier to handle and makes an attractive back too. Till later, with much love. -j-

The shop hop is organized by the various quilt shops in the area. Currently 10 are participating. Each shop provides a "piece" or "clue" to the project quilt. I think we drove well over 100 miles between us to get to all of them. Although a few weeks ago, at my favorite shop a couple of ladies were up from Illinois doing their own hop to the various shops and collecting certain pieces of fabric. My aunt used to have a "sewing bee" on Wednesday afternoons, I think once a month. Everyone brought their own projects in and completed them. Many of the women all belonged to the same church and at one point they were needlepointing the kneelers at the altar. My aunt never got the hang of needle point so didn't get it done. I believe she eventually passed it on. Then one day during the summer, the ladies would come to our cottage to do the same thing and hot homemade cinnamon buns. Oh dear, I digress.

Janine, this sounds like a great idea! I'd like to do it too, but I gave away my "too big" clothes. I guess I'll go garage sale shopping. I'd love to see a picture of it when you finish the quilt because it sounds really clever and like something I'd like to try. Thanks. Peg

Here's at least one option http://huntsville.about.com/cs/women/a/tiequilt.htm There are a lot of things to do with old ties. My aunt's sister did a star pattern, by laying them next to each other and sewing them together. She did cut the ends off and used the leftovers for her corners. Definitely sort your ties by fabric content. Silk/cotton/polyester. You don't want to mix fabrics especially if this will be a quilt that will be used and need to be laundered.

Needless to say, I am EXHAUSTED! 10 shops- 2 days! the event was actually 4 days. The plan was to purchase 2 fat quarters at each shop for a total of 20... well, there were some extra goodies too. I spent nearly $100 all told. I was looking specifically for oriental style fabrics, and for the most part was able to stay with that. There were two shops that had absolutely NOTHING of what I wanted, they were more of the home*****rowd. Needless to say, everything I found, actually does go together. Yesterday between shops, we were stuck out by the airport, and could not figure out why the cops had completely stopped traffic, till over our heads went Air Force 1. That was too cool.... closest I'll ever get to a living president! We were impressed at least. Although, who knows, he may end up moving to Wisconsin if he keeps coming here. Kerry's supposed to be here this weekend until the debate. The mystery quilt (clues) that we picked up were cool, but don't think I'll make it... a little too traditional and the blocks are simply too small. Well, my eyes are saying it's time for event though it's early.