original designs, quilt patterns, needlepoint, cross stitch, Maria Michaels Designs

Challenge!
It has come to our attention that writers of some newsletters sent out/announced through Yahoo! Groups, have been asking readers to help increase their ratings by telling their friends about them, sharing their newsletters, and urging them to subscribe. We can't let a challenge like that pass! Besides, it should be fun. You can help by sharing this newsletter with your quilting and needlework friends. The more who subscribe, the better, of course.

At the time this was typed, Yahoo! hosted 948 quilting newsletters and ours was ranked #101. I must admit that it would be quite thrilling to get into the top 20!

Ask your friends to credit you by sending me your name and email address when they subscribe. I'll keep a record and interview the person with the longest list for a future newsletter and award a free pattern. As a token of appreciation, you will receive a 10% off a pattern coupon for each time your name is credited. I'll keep you informed and announce the change in ratings each month.

Free Pattern Winners!
There are 5 free pattern winners this issue - one for each of the months we missed publishing plus the months covered by this newsletter. I must admit to memory failure, and because of some loss of data in our final, fatal computer crash, I have no way to check - did I award a free pattern for May or not? Doesn't matter, I'll award another for that month, just in case.

June's Winner is dshanl@............. Congratulations! You have won Edna's Iron Slipper Pattern! Special thanks to Edna for donating her pattern as this month's free prize. Please send me your name and address and Edna will mail her free pattern to you.

This slipper is a handy, easy, safe, way to transport your hot iron to and from sewing and quilting classes. It will protect your hands and your car upholstery from the iron's heat. It also protects your iron's sole plate from being scratched during transportation.

Darr's Piping Magic

The use of p

iping is more often thought of in association with clothing and home decor than with quilting, but quilters often add
piping to the borders of their quilt blocks and quilt borders.

Here is a tool that will help you to quickly and easily get the accurate seam allowances necessary for perfect piping.

With this clear, acrylic, plastic ruler and your rotary cutter you can get 4 different, perfect, piping seam allowances - 1/4", 1/2", 3/8", and 5/8".

The Darr Piping Magic ruler can also be used to mark your seam allowances on the fabric in preparation for cutting with scissors, should you so choose.

It also eliminates the need for accurate cutting of fabric widths for making the piping. It works best if your fabric strips are cut a little wider than necessary. Use a sewing machine piping foot or a zipper foot to make your piping. Place the piping on your cutting mat, then position the ruler over it. There are 4 grooves on the underside of the ruler, one for each seam allowance size. Choose the groove for the seam allowance you want and place it over the piping. Use your rotary cutter to trim it.

For long lengths of piping, the ruler can be picked up and repositioned without losing that accurate seam allowance. I found that I could also gently pull the trimmed piping along instead of moving the ruler.

This is a very handy tool! Read more about it at Darr's Sewing Notion site and look over their other tools as well. They make the E-Z Winder which enables you to use your sewing machine bobbin winder to wind any thread or yarn onto spools so that they can be used for sergers and sewing machine bobbin work. Their Pleating & Pressing Bars are useful for making pleats in garments and for textured quilt blocks, too.

Book Review

	Community Quilts - by Karol Kavaya and Vicki Skemp This heartwarming book is a manual for group quilting and a friendship story as well. It tells about a North Carolina Community that shared their lives while sewing quilts for over 20 years.
	The Needlepoint Book - by Jo Christensen This is an updated book. Learn every step of the needlework process, from choosing colours to blocking and finishing.
	50 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars - by Carol Doak Carol Doak is a best-selling author for paper-pieced patterns. With this book, you can create elaborate stars easily. 50 original paper-pieced star blocks are included.

Questions and Answers
Q: I am looking for patterns for Pioneer Braid. How do you put the corners together is what I am really trying to figure out. If you can help me in any way, I would really appreciate it. Judy D.

The fall issue of Quilt Magazine has an article: Pioneer Braid - A Different Way to Strip Piece - http://www.quiltmag.com/quilt.html.

Q: Have you seen this block before? I know it looks like a lone star and maybe that is what it is but the placement of the fabric gives it the double star look. I am needing to know how to finish the edges of this old top. Edna

A: I haven't been able to find the name of this pattern. I'm hoping our readers will be able to help. If you have the answer, please email me. I'll pass the information on and include it in our next newsletter.

Quilting Sites
The Alliance for American Quilts
This is a new and expanded website, so if you have visited before, it is worth visiting again.. Featured is a quilt by
Yvonne Porcella which will be raffled. Donations for the drawing are $5 U.S. You will also find documents to preserve and share quilt history, an online quilting bee, an opportunity to ask questions of quilt experts, a quilt index, and much more. Be sure to visit the site.

Marcus Brothers Textiles Inc.
Marcus Brothers offers several free patterns. Quilters are sure to like their Bog Coat because it is a great pattern for all of us who are interested in creating wearable art with our quilt blocks and patterns. They offer a long list of other free patterns, a quilt gallery, and a fabric gallery, among other features.

HP
HP's site includes a quilting home page. On it you will find links to articles, how-to's, projects, creative ideas, free patterns, tips, quilt resources, contests, and quilting resources. They even sell software for printing quilt stories and labels on fabric to add to the backs of your quilts. It's worth a look!The Food Network
You are sure to wonder why this site was included! The reason is that although we would love to quilt, sew, and do needlework all day, many of us are also responsible for family meals. This looks like a good site to find a new recipe to try or to look for a complete menu idea. There are thousands of recipes to choose from, coupons to print, calculators, food terms and tips encyclopedia, videos to watch, and recipes from some of your favourite TV cooking shows. Here's hoping it helps to provide you with more time for the needle arts!Computer Tip
Some of the programs we download from the Internet include spyware. These are programs which track your activities online and send them to Internet marketing companies. There is no way to tell whether you have downloaded spyware, but there is a way to check and see which programs are free of it. You simply enter the name of the program you are interested in and the results will provide your answer. The site is updated daily. To visit it, click on this link: http://www.spychecker.com/.To check to see if you have already downloaded spyware, go to http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ which offers a free download of its program which detects and deletes spyware for you. It comes highly recommended by the computer experts I read in our daily papers.

Humour
Out of the Mouths of Babes

A first grade teacher collected well known proverbs. She gave each child in her class the first half of a proverb, and had them come up with the rest.

Better To Be Safe Than ... Punch A 5th Grader.

Strike While The ... Bug Is Close.

It's Always Darkest Before ... Daylight Savings Time.

Never Under Estimate The Power Of ... Termites.

You Can Lead A Horse To Water But ... How?

Don't Bite The Hand That ... Looks Dirty.

No News Is ... Impossible.

A Miss Is As Good As A ... Mr.

You Can't Teach An Old Dog New ... Math.

If You Lie Down With The Dogs, You'll ... Stink In The Morning.

Love All, Trust ... Me!

The Pen Is Mightier Than The ... Pigs.

An Idle Mind Is ... The Best Way To Relax.

Where There's Smoke, There is ... Pollution.

Happy The Bride Who ... Gets All The Presents!

A Penny Saved Is ... Not Much.

Two's Company, Three's ... The Musketeers.

Don't Put Off Tomorrow What ... You Put On To Go To Bed.

Laugh & The Whole World Laughs With You, Cry ...and You Have To Blow Your Nose.

Children Should Be Seen And Not ... Spanked Or Grounded.

If At First You Don't Succeed ... Get New Batteries.

You Get Out Of Something What You ... See Pictured On The Box.

When The Blind Leadeth The Blind ... Get Out Of The Way.

There Is No Fool Like ... Aunt Eddie.

- author unknown

Because we are in the blackout area and were without electricity this past week, the following is quite timely. I can't vouch for them, but they are interesting.

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.....

Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

* * * * *
Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children-last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

* * * * *
Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw piled high - with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off. the roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

* * * * *
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

* * * * *
The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor."* * * * * *
The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a "thresh hold."

* * * * *
In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been
there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

* * * * * *
Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man "could bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat".

* * * * * *
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

* * * * *
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust". * * * * *
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake."

* * * * *
England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string
on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."