Kathleen, I hit my fav Gordman's yesterday (as we drove 2 hours to see our college basketball game) and shop of course! That trip is multi-tasking for sure!!! LOL I did not have a haul like your's but did get a few things for my winter tablescape & some xmas presents. No way did my cart look like yours, but I tried!!! LOL (forgot my camera to take pics in the store)! Karen, NO you will never live that down, but it would have been even better to tell the story with PICTURES! LOL Also, with back problems, I know how you feel, I was so dreading the climb up to our seats at the game, but we push our bodies to do what we enjoy ( I guess )!! I will be doing my starting Friday sometime, have to go get pics of the Festival of Trees for all of you first & then I will start my table. Since it's all new items, I'm excited to get busy on it!!! Karen, you have to post pics of your wreath, sounds beautiful!

I don't sew clothes for myself anymore - only crafts/household decor. I do sew for my 2 1/2 yr. old granddaughter, but judiciously . . . they outgrow clothes so fast and you can get them so cheap now - much cheaper than I can sew them, so I only make very special or unique things for her. This winter, I made her a couple of animal-print fleece coats with black fur trim that get comments every single time we go out the door! My Joann's store has a rack of flyers right inside their door, and every one has a 40% off coupon for a 'cut' of fabric - as much as you want, as long as it's not on sale. Once I use my mailed coupons, I can go back as many times as necessary and use another flyer coupon. When I have time, I look through the pattern books and make a list of the patterns I want, then wait until they go on sale for 99 cents to 1.99 . . . which they always do, within a few weeks or so. I really miss our Walmart fabric section, so I'm pretty much at the mercy of Joann's . . . although we have a factory a half hour away that makes worldwide draperies, bedding, etc. They have an outlet store that sells end rolls of all their high quality decorating fabrics for next to nothing. I have made lots of valances, pillows, etc with their fabrics for a few dollars. I also mix and match pattern pieces to get a new version of something . . . it's true, sewing isn't what it used to be (cheap), but with a little effort, you can still "get your project runway on" and express your creativity without breaking the bank :)

Oh boy! Most of it is separated by TOT color. But then there are the flowers/large prints, novelties, holidays, 30's, Kona's, Batiks, wide backing, whites/WOW, muslin, flannels, baby, patriotic.....etc. All folded in clear containers so I can see the contents. There are various sized containers and the fabric gets moved around as it's used up except for what I consider basics and those are kept in easily accessible plastic pull out drawers. My scraps are sorted into 2 1/2", 2" and 1 1/2" strips and squares and triangles of all sizes. Since my 'crumb' marathon, I probably don't need to keep the odd sized scraps sorted, but probably will. Then there's the basket I throw stuff in to separate or put away when I get around to it, or want to feel fabric but not able to sew. TMI??? SharonG/FL

It took me many years to realize that not everyone loves what I love and I wonder how many times I gave someone something that they later gave or threw away. We who do arts and crafts think our creativity, cost of supplies and time spent are priceless but not so much do others agree. I've stopped giving unless there is a genuine interest shown by someone. Even then I hesitate since they might be just trying to be nice. I make quilts and I think they are just wonderful but others would look at them and wonder what kind of a complete idiot takes perfectly good (and expensive by the way) fabric and cut it up into all kinds and sizes of shapes and sew it back together again. I would rather that people just be honest about what they like and dislike so that we don't waste our "priceless" gifts on them in the first place.