Fabulous Fiber Food by Ed Bing Lee

Take a close look at this burger! Can you imagine? It's made with waxed linen, cotton and polyester, not beads. Made by Ed Bing Lee. Amazing. Visit his website: http://www.edbinglee.com/delectables.htm.

"Blue Hawaiian" Elvis Quilt Featured in Show

Barb Freese of Davenport, Iowa is a prolific selvage quilter and retired art teacher. Her beautiful quilt "Blue Hawaiian" was featured in the Quad City Times in their write up about the quilt exhibit at the Quad City Botanical Center. There were 57 quilts in the exhibit by members of the Mississippi Valley Quilter's Guild. I think it's great that they chose her selvage quilt to feature in the article.

Barb's New Year's resolution was to buy only fabrics that have Elvis in them. She puts him in all of her quilts. (I guess she'd have to!) I like all the polka dot fabrics in the quilt above.

ADVICE FROM BARB: Sew real close to the finished edge of your selvages if you plan to machine quilt. Otherwise you get that little flap going in all directions. Good idea.

Barb's Needlebook, Embellished with Baby Bracelet Beads!

Barb in northern NJ ("Fun with Barb and Mary" blog) has come up with a new way to enjoy those color windows on a selvage: baby bracelet beads! Take a close look at the photo above. You could also use them on the plain selvages, next to the color windows. I really like this idea! Thanks, Barb!

Above, the needlebook is half opened (you can see the snap). And below, TaDa! She has 5 pages of needles and pins. There is something so comforting about this level of organization! It's not attainable in most areas of life, but in the world of sewing needles it can be achieved!

To see more, visit Barb's blog: http://funwithbarbandmary.blogspot.com/2009/11/im-on-pins-and-needles.html

Join Me at Harney & Sons Tea Shop

Doesn't this look inviting? My husband and I took a ride to Millerton, NY to visit the home of Harney & Sons. There is a tea tasting room (below) where you can sample some of their 200+ varieties including black teas, Oolongs, Darjeelings, Assams, Ceylons, Japanese and Chinese green teas, blends, and flavored teas. The staff is very friendly and they make this experience fun.

Regular readers will remember the photo of the tea harvester in Assam wearing the colorful turban that had the selvage showing. So, I was curious about Assam teas. One of the Harney tea people recommended that I try one of their new teas "Mangalam," and it was so delicious. You could taste a hint of honey flavor in this brisk black tea. I bought some Brigitte's Blend. ("Like her, this blend is perfect in many situations" according to the brochure.)

There is also a cafe (above, and the photo at the top of this post), and a store (shown below). If you live in the area or plan to visit, I recommend a stop here. For more info visit: http://www.harney.com/ or call 1-800-TEA-TIME for a catalog.

How to Fold a Fitted Sheet

That's how I do it anyway. On Thanksgiving Eve I was looking online for napkin folding ideas, and I found this picture. It made me laugh, so I wanted to show you. I hope you had a wonderful day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving!

"A Thanksgiving Prayer"

by Samuel F. Pugh
"O God, when I have food, help me to remember the hungry; When I have work, help me to remember the jobless; When I have a home, help me to remember those who have no home at all; When I am without pain, help me to remember those who suffer, And remembering, help me to destroy my complacency; bestir my compassion, and be concerned enough to help; By word and deed, those who cry out for what we take for granted. Amen."

A Thousand Colors - Earthquake Quilt Update

Remember Roberta from Italy, and her project called A Thousand Colors? She's collecting quilts for the children of Abruzzo, Italy, the site of the big earthquake. She now has 350 quilts! For the whole story and lots of photos, see her blog: http://www.simplyninepatch.blogspot.com/

Also click on one of the tags below to see the original post that appeared here.
What fun it will be distributing these quilts! I want to hear about that. I'll keep you posted.

Teacup With Contemporary Fabric Design

This teacup is from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection. When I saw it I thought it looked like the new fabric designs.

Be sure to visit the Selvage Blog the day after Thanksgiving to see a special post for tea lovers.

Got Fleece Selvages?

Susan McConnell in Wellsboro, PA found a use for her fleece selvages:

"Have you ever noticed how your fleece jammie pants attract every thread and pet hair within a 50 yard radius? Fleece is the logical material for dust mops, not those flimsy "specially treated" disposable dust cloths. This cover only took minutes to make and the rolled edges of the selvages are perfect for picking up and trapping those unruly dust bunnies! When you are finished cleaning the cover goes right into the washer and dryer and can be used over and over!"

You can read the whole post on her blog at:

http://hangingonbyaneedleandthread.blogspot.com/2009/11/use-for-those-fleece-selvages.html

Debbie in Jerusalem alerted me to this post! What a small world we quilters live in these days! Check out Debbie's blog at: http://debbiesfiberwork.blogspot.com/

I need one of these mops - a big one. And one for the quilt studio alone! The house we're building has all wood floors (not very forgiving when it comes to dust).