Bonnie, thanks so much and no the sunflowers are not real. I'll post a close up so you can see them better. I have alot of sunflowers in my yard but kept forgetting to go cut some today and now it's dark. Nana, glad you enjoyed this table and thanks for your comments. I didn't like it for some reason so tweaked it some tonight. I still think it looks kinda square in the center but I don't have time to put a place setting in the back now. Jane, you do need to get your buns movin' and create some beautiful tables for us. What have you been doing??? I love seeing all your beautiful tables. Jeanne, thanks but after looking at it today I didn't care for it so changed some things. I replaced the Garden Angel with the bird with TUDE. It reminds me of myself at times.LOL Not the angel DM taught me to be. Sure miss her and if she was here I'm sure I wouldn't get attitude like I do. She always taught me to be nice! That's just not always fun.LOL

I received the most wonderful package from petalpatsy. We don't know each other, but it was just like she knew what I would like! There was a lovely Christmas card, lots and lots of great fabric, TWO books - Stash Envy and Kaleidoscope Quilts - TWO packages with candy - Kisses and a Whitman's Soho box which I had never seen before but it says "Artist Inspired Chocolates" - how cool is that? (!!), a very nice shade of medium tan thread, a tissue packet with a quilting design on the wrapper, and a Hershy's Kiss thimble in a little mess bag - I will love using that thimble! How great everything is and I can't possibly thank you enough, Patricia. This was my fist time with this type of swap on the Quilting Forum and it really exceeded any expectations I would have had about it. I have to comment on the two books that you selected for me because they are so appropriate. I read Stash Envy a few years ago and loved it, but did not have a copy of it. As for Kaleidoscope Quilts, Paula Nadelstern who is the author was the dream teacher for our quilt quild in 2008 and I attended her class but had not purchased her book, so I am thrilled to have that as well! Merry Christmas to you, Patricia, and to all the other quilters! Jeanne

CLOSE-UP - "Pouty Lips! You're fired!" Now, I have to cut the backside of the Eiffel tower, starting an inch below the top, and removing some the sides and all of the back - all the way down the Tower. This way, the Tower will lay flat on the MDF board, and will be easy to mosaic the night sky background, and the trees and Seine River in front of it. I think that the Tower is made of aluminum; it's very lightweight. I bought a mini hacksaw from Harbor Freight Tool to use. Hope it works! Any hacksaw experts in this mosaic forum with some helpful hints? This is my final post on... HELP! Questions about tempered (crash) glass for mosaics... . I'll start a new forum called PARIS MOSAIC in a week or so. Thank you all for your input re: tempered glass, and your compliments. Susan

I wanted to comment on this because Les917 and I live in roughly the same area. I have been to the one and only homegoods/Marshalls store near me (Mundelein). It was a combo store, with clothes in the front and the back third a home store. The outside sign on the building clearly indicated this was a Homegoods store, not just a Marshalls, although Marshall's shared billing on the exterior. The store was a mess. The home goods section a stack upon stack of mismatched everything. Some items were broken, others were wearly, worn and definately looked El Cheapo. A few (FEW) items I considered but nothing remotely worthy of the claim I'd read about it on this forum (In fact, I'd never heard of Home Goods before here, so when I saw the sign I made a detour to check it out.) The store was in a brand new strip mall so it wasn't old. We also have a Tuesday Morning here. I call it the Morning After. It is also a small exploded landmine of little better than garage sale fare. I sometimes stop in (maybe two times per year) to see if anything changes. Nope. You'd find better merchandise in the home section of Walmart clearance. I am amazed that you all find these great bargains. They don't exist near me....