hmmm, some confusion to say the least. #1 confusion - who my pal was. boy was i off. and i have to admit you did the greatest job of keeping me off track. i have to thank you ever so much for all you have shared with me throughout the year. my gardens will forever remain gorgeous because of you and my heart will forever be filled with smiles at your kindness and geneorsity. #2 confusion - ruth/lil -- i didn't send that. i had ordered something for you back when it was your birthday that never was shipped but it wasn't from maine. i mailed your package out yesterday. i can't be that out of it that i don't remember ordering you a wreath LOL but then again! someone else deserves that credit and it sounds like a great gift. sure hope you enjoy the one i really sent! yaya, you will be missed. you really ran a tight ship and i so appreciated being a part of this group. i must admit, for a while there, i thought you were my pal. now i see how wrong i was. go figure. since i have been full of doom and gloom this year, a year i can't wait to end, i have some happy news. we got a new pup. he's a total freak, into everything, so mischeieveous, a pain in the butt, but so playful and sweet. i do think he's missing something upstairs, unless i just don't remember "puppy". already he's so spoiled. but it's just wonderful to have an animal in the house again. it was only a short period of time, but i certain missed having that special something! now the better news -- even though i am a youngster myself (LOL), i'm going to be a granny! i can't wait. things weren't done the "conventional" way, but what the heck...it's going to happen anyway! it was truly a good thanksgiving! it's been my pleasure belonging to this group. i'd love to stay in, but with the way things have been, i feel it would be unfair of me to commit for another full year. rose - i wish you as much success in running the group as yaya had. i'll even come around and sneak a peek and chat a bit. be well all, talk to you soon :) happy holidays earthly

Carol: I used to feel the same way, but then I actually tried free-motion machine quilting. My work is completely hand guided, done without drawn patterns 95% of the time, and worked on a treadle sewing machine, so I don't feel that I've lost that connection with the quilt that handquilting always gave me. I actually feel like I have more freedom of expression as the process is like drawing. It's also very challenging to do well and I like a challenge! I'm not trying to talk you out of hand quilting, because I love doing that, too. I'm just suggesting that machine quilting might be a little different than you remember. Google "Hollis Chatelaine" and I think you'll see what I mean. As far as books on pictorial quilts--It's a hot trend in quilting and there are dozens of books on the subject now. I'm including a link for you to look at, but be warned, it lists dozens of books on the subject of pictorial and art quilts, plus books on embellishments, new techniques, etc...so you are going to want to allow yourself a couple of hours to browse through it. Art quilting has come a long way in the past 20 years. When Caryl Bryer Fallert won Best of Show at the American Quilter's Society Show (the most prestigious show in the world) for a machine-quilted art quilt in 1989, the judges received almost universal criticism from the main-stream quilting world, but the precedent was set and now such quilts regularly win at the major shows. There are several art quilting forums on the net and you might want to check them out--they are going to know much more about the subject than I do. Annie Here is a link that might be useful: Index to pictorial and art quilt books

We would like to be able to buy our paper here in France, but there is a really poor choice (only some paper pizzaz and very expensive) So it is a good way for us to have original and acid-free paper using color copy. We can copy fabrics, wrapping paper (some are really cute but not acid free), a friend of mine copied dried leaves, I saw in a magazine, you can put little things in a clear plastic drawer and copy them (like jelly beans, buttons, cookies... funny isn't it ?) but not tried yet. You can scan your papers too, but in my opinion is a lower quality, but I suppose it depends on your scanner and printer! We are very interested by others ideas to make our home-made SB paper. really! hello from France Joelle if you want to visit my site, here is the link: Here is a link that might be useful: La page du Scrapbook'coeur!

I use the blue glue (I think it's Zig brand??) for tiny items like small punches and small areas of die cuts. For pics and large items, I use double sided tape. I've had no problems with the glue at all. Actually, I like it better, but I've become so accustomed to my tape runner that I automatically grab that rather than the glue stick every time. If you're uncomfortable using it, then don't. There's nothing wrong with the tape you're using. Of course, you could always test it on a small item. As far as it coming through to the other side, I've not seen that happen yet. But then again, I'm not putting gobs of it on either. IT's a thin enough substance that that shouldn't happen.