Red, White & Blue Fat Eighth Blocks

I finally finished my blocks for my favorite kind of swap for my favorite Yahoo group. It's a great swap. You send in pieces of fabric that are about 11 x 18 and people make blocks for you, using your fabric (plus their own) and you receive those same size pieces of fabric from other people and make blocks for them. Each group has 5 people, so you're making blocks for 4 other people. I joined three groups, so I had to make 12 blocks. That means I'll be getting back 12 blocks (enough for a nice sized quilt) all using my fabric. I was kind of specific in my requests -- I gave a specific block and asked that my fabric be placed in a specific location on the block. If everyone complies I'm gonna have a GREAT quilt. Can't wait. The best part is I get to try out blocks I've never made and color combinations I may not normally use. All the blocks are Carol Doak designs from a variety of her books and this time the blocks had to be Red, White and Blue. You never know if your swap mates will like your blocks, but I always hope so. I really liked how some of these came out. Unfortunately I procrastinated quite a while before finishing these. They've got to get in the mail tomorrow so I'm not late with the deadline.

My new sewing chair

I saw the perfect sewing chair at a quilt show years ago. I never should have sat in it, no other chair could compare. My husband tried to get me one last Christmas but the manufacturer had gone out of business. I was surprised to see the same folks at the Quilt Odyssey this year. They changed manufacturers and still offer it as the Perfect Sewing Chair. It's expensive but well worth it. I got the premium version because my butt is quite a bit wider than the average person.

This chair is especially for people with short legs; it’s adjustable 6 ways. The seat position (distance from back of chair) is adjustable and you can of course change the height of the chair and the height of the back. And the tilt and the slant of the back of the chair are adjustable too. And if you want to pay a little more you can get adjustable lumbar support.

It comes with this tilting thing to put your sewing machine at an angle (I didn't get that, I got a custom color instead) and it comes with this foot thing that you put your sewing machine foot pedal goes on and it has another wedge shape and if you put both your feet on those it's supposed to keep your hips square and stop back pain. I did get that and I hope it works. It's supposed to make it so you can sit and sew longer. I like that idea.

It took me 3 years of sitting in it once a year at the show to convince me it was worth spending the money. I’m so glad I finally did. It’s great. Very comfy. And in case you didn’t notice, it’s ORANGE!!! You can read all about it on their web site: http://www.ergonomicadvantage.com/