Turning Right to go Left

I am not a person who enjoys driving a car however, I am grateful that I can get myself around to various places.  My friends have always teased me though on the fact that I do not like to make left hand turns and I do them rarely. 

I decided that my character DeMaris in my latest book Beg(ga)(he)r (www.jrarmstrong.net) needed a few quirks of her own so -- she also does not make left hand turns when driving.  Instead she makes 3 right hand turns.  It works just fine.

Imagine my surprise when I read a short article on the merits of skipping left turns and going to the right.  You save time, gas and money by not sitting idling in the left turn lane.  And it's also proven to cause less accidents. 

I found my yellow quilt that has been missing for a few years and then realized it was a perfect fit for my book signing table.  Tried it out last week and found several people came over to look at it and talk to me about quilting and my books.  

This quilt was from a Block of the Month probably dating from the early 1990's.

Lost for something to say?

Recently my husband and I were invited to a family gathering.  I told my husband I had RSVP'd to his cousin saying that we would not be able to attend. 

"I can't imagine what we would have talked about to a group of people that we didn't know.  I'd last twenty minutes talking to each one and then what?  Nothing," he said and then added, "You'd last thirty."

"Why would I last ten more minutes?" I asked perplexed.

"Because you quilt."  I had to laugh although he was probably right.  The people that were attending were either our age or older and the probability was that several people in the group quilted.  Still I hadn't thought of quilting, outside of my quilt group, as riveting conversation.  I must drag this topic out the next time I am stuck for something to say.

"So, do you quilt much?"
"What is the newest quilt tool you've bought?"
"Seen any good rulers lately?"
"Do you know the proper way to say F-I-S-K-A-R?"
"Have you seen the latest fabric line of ______?"

Goodreads Giveaway

My latest book Beg(ga)(he)r is now a https://www.Goodreads.com Giveaway.  Check it out and give it a click!  Thank you. 

New t-shirt slogans

Recently my husband and I were at a craft show doing a book signing.  Looking around I saw several people wearing t-shirts with an athletes name on the back.  I turned to my husband and said, "With all the trouble athletes seem to be getting into I don't think that's someone to look up to.  One should wear a t-shirt with more moral fiber."  And being the writer that I am added, "Like authors."
      My husband looked at me, "Hemingway?"
      "Okay, so not authors.  What group of people have morals?  People from the Bible." 
     So with that being said, here are three t-shirt slogans:
     Moses -- the First Speaker of the House
     Jonah -- Do what you're told the first time
     Daniel -- Learned to get along with those who roar

Anybody want to add?

Unicorn

The date on this stamped piece is 1998.  It is supposed to be an embroidery piece which as you can see I started.  Got bored and put it away.  Later I got interested in beading and decided to add that dimension on here.  I laid them down in rows.  Got bored with that and put it away.  A few years ago I took 2 on-line classes for beaded bracelets which were done in stacks and layers of beading and decided to get this piece out again.  It is not moving quickly and I do put it away for long periods of time.  I have tried in the past to do at least 15 minutes a day on it. 

Am hoping by putting this 'out there' I will feel inclined to have to work on it.  Will start today's 15 minutes right now.

American Quilt Show

Quilt Week in Grand Rapids, MI has arrived.  A friend and I went yesterday for opening day.  There were free magazines on the table when we walked in, checked out all the quilts (some wonderful, some not so wonderful) and hit the vendors (my favorite part).  I tried to stay away from fabric since there are several quilt shops in my area and instead focused on items I don't normally see.  However, I did have to buy a black and white piece: white background with black skeletons seeing as how my daughter is studying mortuary science. 

Of course, I had to hit the sale books.  All books in the back were $5.00.  I actually found a book I have been looking at for some time.  Also found three other books that I'd never looked at but had to have.  We also sat in on a talk about natural fabric dyeing.  And ran into some people I knew but hadn't seen in a long time. 

We were there almost to closing, were winding up on our purchases when my friend looked at the two bills in my hand,  "Is that all you've got left?" she asked.  "Yeah."  She pulled out her money and counted what little she had and then looked at me.  "What's the problem?" I asked.  "We agreed neither one of us wanted dinner."  "Yeah, but we still need to get out of the parking garage."  Oh, we have a problem.

Fortunately they took charge cards.