$10 a week groceries? Not this time.

I went shopping on black friday. I haven't done that in ages and ages. I didn't go to the mall or electronic and toy stores like everyone else. I went to the grocery. There was hardly anyone in the grocery. Maybe a dozen people all together. I drove my brother's van and went with my sister in law. (she doesn't drive) As you can see..... I bought a lot.

It's sitting on the table in my studio ready for me to put it away. A couple of bags that belong to my sister in law made their way to my house. My brother is going to pick those up later today.

Some bags had to go onto the floor because the table was out of room.

I bought $458.27 worth of groceries. I paid $205.32. I tried to take a picture of the receipts so you could see the total and the savings but the pictures keep coming out blurry. I paid less than half the normal cost. I took advantage of sales, coupons, and discount bins to get all this food. Only a few items were non-edibles. Furnace filters, frozen food carry bags, laundry detergent, bleach, and napkins.

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Now please don't think all this food is just for me. I was trying to restock my freezer but I also share my foods with my daughter. Sometimes she "shops" at my house. I also bought some things that will be shared with others.

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Some of these groceries will be made into Christmas goodie boxes for my nephew and my neighbor. Neither one of them know how to cook. They can microwave and can make very simple foods but are basically lost in the kitchen. Both are really trying; yet, they are struggling to pay their bills. Their hours have been cut at work so the money just isn't there. I bought foods I wouldn't normally purchase because I knew it would go to those two guys. Can you see the convenience foods? The Bob Evans, the little sausage links, and the frozen cookies? Most of that's for those guys.

There is one more person who will be getting a Christmas goodie box. It's a single mother that my daughter knows is having a hard time right now. She's working full time but her salary just doesn't stretch as much as it used to. My daughter is going to pick up three grocery gift cards to go with the goodie boxes and some diapers for the single mother. The gift cards can be used to buy milk and bread or whatever they need. I didn't buy gift cards instead of the groceries because the guys would pay regular price instead of searching for bargains.

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Normally I would have made my own convenience foods (to be zapped in the microwave) to give to the guys. It doesn't take much time to make a big batch of biscuits and sausage gravy that can be frozen. I can quickly make up a batch of cookie dough too. I just don't have the time right now. I'm too far behind schedule.

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The really urgent food to put away today is 10 heads of cauliflower. These were selling for $2.50 each but on the discount table they were .25 cents each. I bought 10 to equal the amount I would have spent on only one.

I also found green peppers on the discount table. I gave $1 for 8 of them. A slight blemish here and there that's easily cut away. For 25 cents I can deal with cutting away a blemish.

I was really hoping to find bananas on the discount table. I've had the urge for banana nut bread lately. Didn't find any though so I guess I won't make the bread for awhile.

If I deduct the cost of the items for the goodie boxes.... I spent $80 on stock up items for myself and my daughter. This would include the discount meat and produce along with the non-edible items. All in all it was a pretty productive day. I got three major Christmas gifts that I hadn't planned to get before. The rest of my Christmas shopping was finished months ago. So now it's time for me to get into the kitchen. If I'm fast enough I can get the produce in the freezer and still have time for the quilting.

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Here's the finished quilt. It took longer to finish than I thought it would.









I stitched in the ditch around the stem and leaves then did flowers along the stem.

I did a flower in the center of the blocks.

I did line dancing around the flowers.

A loop design on the inside border.

A view of the blocks from the back.

Another view of the blocks from the back.

The border from the back.

I have the next quilt on the machine. I have some produce to prepare and flash freeze before I can get onto the quilting machine today.

The latest quilt is on the machine. I hope to finish it sometime today even though I won't be here most of the day.





I was tagged by Linda for a blog award. (click on her name to visit her blog... it's really nice) I hope you forgive me Linda for not tagging others at this time. I will save my tagging for after the xmas rush is over. I'll have more time to play on the computer then. Right now my concentration must be kept for finishing the Christmas quilts.


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This is the first year that I won't be cooking the holiday meal. My daughter's mother in law is providing the thanksgiving meal this year. My daughter is moving to a new apartment over the weekend and then will take over the cooking for holidays. Her first big holiday meal will be Christmas. She's really looking forward to it. I'm so proud of her.

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So a new era has begun in my life. No more big holiday meal cooking at my house.... but I will make things to take to her house. So will the mother in law. Both of us agree it's best to let the young uns take over and we can just enjoy. It certainly takes care of the issue of which in law is going to have them and the grandkids over for each holiday. Both grandmas will go to see the grandkids. Actually, since I'm no longer doing the cooking for holidays I can visit my son's and their families more often.

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The recent passing of my aunt has me thinking of some changes I must now make in my own life. My thoughts have turned to that of my annual re organizing of my house. I no longer need all the stuff I've accumulated. For example, I no longer need a set of dishes for 30 people. So those will be divided and passed along to the kids. There are many other items in my house that can be given to the next generation. The closets and cabinets are stuffed with several things that I will divide and hand down.

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Just the thought of emptying overflowing closets, cabinets, and floorspace is getting me excited to start.

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Ok, I gotta do a little quilting before I get picked up for my visit.

I haven't been quilting the last couple of days due to a death in my family. It was a very special aunt. She took me into her family and cared for me many times when my mother was hospitalized due to her mental illness. Her name was Vondalene (Flener) Hill of Butler County, Kentucky.



This aunt was very dear to my heart. She was married to my mother's brother. They married when she was 15 and he was 16 and they were married for 62 years.


Today at the wake I saw many cousins and relatives I haven't seen in several years because everyone grew up and moved to other places. The funeral is tomorrow so I will be unavailable until Tuesday.



It's been very hard the last couple of days. I will miss her a lot.

Saying good bye to the $10 a week groceries.




For a long time my average grocery costs were about $10 a week. It stayed at $10 for at least a few years. What I would do is keep all my receipts for 3 months and divide the total to find my average. I went to the grocery a few days ago for one of my quarterly stock up trips. I bought only my normal staples. My items cost about 3 times what they were only a few months ago. My average is not $10 a week anymore.

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Boo hoo.... can you see me weeping? The economy stinks!!! My mission now is to find a way to get back to the $10 a week average if at all possible. I believe it can be done, I only have to change my way of shopping. I will be going back to shopping every two weeks instead of every 3 or 4 months. I'm doing this more for my sister in law than for myself. She's asked me to start taking her to the grocery so my brother can do some construction work on their house instead of driving her around. The more frequent grocery shopping will help me too.
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Recently, my daughter and I had a discussion about our use of coupons. She was telling me how difficult it's become for her to actually find the items that go with the coupons.

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As more and more people have started using coupons, it's become an exercise in patience to get to the stores before the items are all gone. Did you know stores deliberately have fewer sale items than they expect to sell? Usually it is a popular item they know many people want to buy on sale. It's a marketing tactic to get you to ask for a rain check. Rain checks mean you will return to the store. Each trip inside the store means you are likely to pick up an extra item or two.... since you are there anyway.

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I recently saw a tv news spot featuring a man who had a whole garage full of free items. He had shelf after shelf of things to show. He showed how he had hundreds of deodorants and hundreds of nail polish along with hundreds of other things too. He had more than he and his wife could use in a lifetime. I mean really! Can one couple use 500 bottles of nail polish or 900 deodorants? A person can do an internet search and find examples just like the man on the tv. The people can show how they have HUGH stockpiles of all kinds of items from toothpaste to disposable cameras. What they have is not a stockpile..... it's a small grocery store within their own homes.


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It's almost a culture within the couponing community to see who can get the largest stockpile. Each week you can find examples and the latest photos of stockpiled free groceries. It's almost like seeing the fabric stash of quilters who are fabricaholics and their latest fabric purchases. Their stash is already bulging at the seams but they can't resist buying more fabric.

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Now don't get me wrong, I've been a coupon person since about the late 1950's. I love the savings I can get by using them; especially the free items. The problem is that when some people realize they can get free items they tend to go hog wild to get more and more and more. They get far more than they actually need or can use. Just like the man on tv.... enough is not nearly enough. These people seriously need an intervention!

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So how do I get the best use of my coupons? Well it starts with the idea that my grocery stash is a part of my emergency funds. You know what I mean? The idea that a person should have at least 6 months worth of living expenses put away in savings just in case they loose their income. Instead of having 6 months of grocery money in a savings account I have it in actual items I would need for the length of time. When my freezer and cabinets are full I have enough edible items that I could go for about 6 to 9 months without ever buying a single thing if it should come to that. Using simple "use what I have" cooking methods I could probably stretch this out to a year.

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The reason I have my 6 month supply in actual items instead of cash in a savings account is because of inflation. If I buy the products at today's prices I won't be paying a higher price later. Especially if I loose my income when I would least likely want to be paying inflation prices.

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Instead of 900 deodorants in my stockpile, I have only 3. Instead of 600 bottles of ketchup, I have only 5. (I use it for cooking a lot) Instead of 1000 bottles of shampoo, I have only 2. You get the idea? For each item in my grocery stash, I have only what I could or would use in 6 months. In some rare cases, I will have a year's supply of an item.... but only if I happen upon a really good bargain while already out shopping. Not by rushing to the store to get the latest free item. My free with coupon items are few.... but meaningful.

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When I go to the grocery you are more likely to see me purchasing items like this.


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When I shop I go for the staple items to do scratch cooking. No way am I going to make several trips to several different stores to hunt down dozens and dozens of free convenience foods or free non-edible items. It would drive me crazy going to hunt down all those free things.

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There are different kinds of coupons.

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1. Coupons for things that people are not buying - The reason a manufacturer puts these coupons out is to entice you to buy the product to increase their sales. Very often this is for a convenience food item. If the coupon value is large enough and the sale price low enough you can probably get this free. The manufacturer knows this. They want you to get it free or nearly free. Manufacturers depend on brand loyalty to keep inventory moving. If you retry a product you haven't bought in a long time there's a chance you will go back to using it regularly. This type of coupon is also used when the manufacturer needs to get rid of an overstock of inventory.

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2. Coupons for new products - The manufacturer has a new product they are anxious for customers to try. Again, if the price is low enough and the coupon value high enough you can get it for free. This technique is far cheaper than paying to have a free sample delivered to every door in America. The manufacturer is hoping to get some brand loyal customer for their newest product.

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3. Buy one get one free coupons - This is the manufacturers way of thanking a customer for staying brand loyal. It's also used when a competitor has come out with a product that is likely to draw you away from using your regular brand loyal product. The manufacturer hopes that by giving a free product... by the time you use up two, you will have forgotten all about the competitors new one and will stay brand loyal. This type of coupon is also used to entice customers away from using generic products.

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4. A few cents off coupons - These are put out by the manufacturer to keep you buying their products. Remaining brand loyal is what they depend on for keeping their products moving. You find more of these coupons than any type. A grocery store will often double the value of these coupons. The grocery store considers the doubling to be a part of their advertising campaign which is why you often see the same product in a sales ad. The grocery stores and the manufacturers work together when planning a sale and cents off coupons. Cents off coupons and a good sale is also designed to get you to use brand name products instead of generic.

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5. Totally free coupons - These are put out for many various reasons. To promote a new product. To move or clean out inventory. To get you to switch back to using their product. Sorry, no picture of these.

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Recently there was a high value coupon for frozen meal starter and a fantastic sale on them. The final cost for a package of frozen vegetables was only a few pennies. My first reaction was.... oooo I gotta buy those. After careful thought I decided against buying the frozen meal. Why did I decide not to buy them? Because it was against what I would normally purchase. I mean really.... why would I want to buy frozen meals when I can make them myself to put into the freezer even cheaper than buying ready made? I don't want the manufacturer to become my personal chef.

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Always check your coupons and sale ad after making your list

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Your coupon use should be only for the purpose of saving money on what you would be buying already..... not for the small grocery you intend to make in your house or lulled into having someone else do your cooking for you. Don't be so hung up on getting a name brand item for free that it consumes you. Generic items are just as good if it's right in front of you but the free item is 10 miles down the road at another store. If you take the time to travel the extra 10 miles.... the item might be sold out which would mean another trip to the store to use a rain check.

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The exception to my 6 month stash is my canned vegetables. I buy a year's worth of these to closely imitate the home garden canning I would do if I could. I get canned vegetables in the fall when they are at the lowest yearly cost and purchase enough to last until the next fall. I prefer canned over frozen vegetables because it saves space in my freezer and they are still good if the electicity goes out for any length of time. Although, I admit buying produce from the discount bin to be put into the freezer is very good too.

The quilt is finished. It's a really big lone star quilt.





The borders got curling feathers.

The inside borders.

The inside borders again.

The corner squares.

The side triangles.

The star got feather fury because the customer wanted feathers on the star.

A look at the corner squares from the back.

The star and the triangle from the back.

Many people may know about product down sizing? It's the packaging of products to appear to give you the same but is actually less product for the same price. Peanut butter now comes in jars with a dimple in the bottom to give 10 percent less. Cereal now comes with a few ounces less. Toilet paper comes with about 8 percent less paper. Shampoo and dish detergent contains about 15 percent more water. There are other examples if you just look around.

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Yesterday a customer stopped at Arby's to pick up roast beef sandwiches as a gift for me on her way to pick up her quilts. We don't have an Arby's in this area. Gifts of food are the best gift in my opinion.

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Well this is just rediculous! My first thought was of the old Wendy's commercial...... Where's the beef?

The economy has just gotten way out of control. When the cost of oil was going through the roof we all knew the costs would be passed along to the customers. Why is it that the lower cost of oil has not been passed along to us? The cost of a barrel of oil was way down yesterday.... so why are we still paying as if it were still going through the roof?

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I do expect to pay more for things simply because I know the manufacturing costs have gone up. The shortened versions of things are just not good marketing. This latest marketing device may backfire on Arbys. It may cost them some customers because people want to get what they believe is a roast beef sandwich.... not a little beef with their bread.

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No way would I skimp like this with my customers! I've found that I'm barely covering business expenses these days but...... the customer gets exactly what they expect; not some scaled down version of quilting. No way would I put a batting in a quilt that's a few inches short nor would I do half a border design in an effort to earn the same with less product. That would be plain rediculous!

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The economy is going to get a lot worse in the days ahead. History tells us that. I'm going to stick with my ethics and keep giving quality quilting.... even if I just break even with expenses. For me it's simply an ethical choice. Quality is much better than quantity at any time or with any economy.

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I've seen bloggers all over the place doing quilt journals. It's sometimes done with fabrics in book size. Where they actually create a tiny quilt each day. It's sometimes done on paper in self made books. I'm fascinated that the people can keep up with quilting, blogging, and journals while making it look so easy.

I do my own sort of journal that looks like this.....

I use wax paper to audition designs on the quilts I do. I come up with several designs then choose the one that I feel works best.

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I keep most of the pieces of wax paper for future reference. But........ how can I keep them in a book without re drawing? I have a ton of wax paper pieces with drawings on them. The problem is that I tend to fold the paper drawings up in bunches and stash them away. Then forget I have the drawings when I'm looking for ideas.

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This is one of the projects I'm planning for after the rush season when I start my annual reorganizing. I want to come up with a way to save all my wax paper drawings and make them more accessible and easy to view. I'm not sure how just yet but there has to be a way.

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Then there are the designs I just seem to do on a quilt without any auditioning. The designs that just kind of pop into my thoughts. I would like to keep those for future reference too. There has to be an easy way to record those for future inspiration without redrawing them?

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Oh well, this is something I can think about as I keep working on the current quilt. I hope to finish it today.

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I got down to the end of the border designs on the current quilt before having to stop for the day. It's a coincidence that someone asked me about the stabilizing I do on quilts. I just happen to be doing a quilt with stabilizing so I could take a picture.



When I have a very large top with wide borders on it; I will do the borders first then go back to do the center design. I stabilize the center area as I go. This technique seems to tame any friendly borders before the center area is quilted. If there is any fullness it will go to the center where I can spread it out through the quilting.


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I use this same technique of quilting the borders first when the center area is going to be a pantograph quilted. I stabilize the center area with different techniques depending on what is to be done in the center. If it's going to be a pantograph design I prefer to do a single stitch about every 6 inches across in rows about 12 inches apart. If I plan to do custom quilting in the center area then I will stitch in the ditch around the blocks. There are times when I've used pins to stabilize the center area. I have to be sure to pin horizontal so I don't stab myself as I roll the quilt.

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Last night the weather was very cold. It got cold in the house too. I kept asking myself..... if I just got this house insulated then why is it that I don't feel warm? I even turned on a small space heater and put an extra cover on my bed. This morning I realized the battery for the thermostat needed replacing.

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I know for certain I have a half dozen tripple A batteries somewhere in this house. I keep a stash of batteries for things like the smoke detectors, the clickers, the clock, the thermostat, etc. I just can't seem to locate where I stashed them. I'm sure they will be very easy to find when I don't need a battery. So today I will either take time away from my machine to catch a bus to get batteries... or.... pay three times the cost at the corner store.

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It's loosing things in my house that I had hoped to stop doing this year. My intentions were to become better organized starting way back in January. I had planned to do a little organizing each month so that by this time of year.... everything in my house would have a home and be placed in its home.

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So many life happenings and illnesses this year have kept me from doing any organizing. I never thought things would be as bad as they were for me. It's been a struggle just to keep ahead of the quilting schedule. Now it's almost January again. My one hope for the coming year is that it will be a much better year.... and that I can do the organizing at last.

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One more finished quilt. This one got the Circle Lord fan design on it.



A closer view.

The next quilt is one of those large ones that will take me two or three days to finish.

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Last evening, a few minutes after my daughter left here. she called me crying. I kept saying what's wrong, what's wrong and she wouldn't answer? She was also talking to someone there so she said she would call me back. Naturally, I'm thinking the worst. Thinking she's had an accident. For a good fifteen minutes I pace the floor wondering how bad it is. Is anyone hurt? Is her car drive able? What hospital are they going to? Can I get there? That sort of thing.

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When she finally calls me back she tells me she got pulled over by the police. It liked to scared her to death. She's only been pulled over once in her life and that was just after she first got her lisence when she was sixteen. Back then it was a case of racial profiling and the police were mistaken. If you've never been pulled over by the police for your race, had guns pointed at you, then you don't know how scary it is. She was traumatized for weeks afterwards.

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Last evening it was for expired tags. Whew.... what a relief! After fifteen minutes of thinking the worst it was nice to know it was only for expired car tags.

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Now what makes this story interesting is that my daughter had the opportunity to go get her tags last month but didn't. I had told her that she would regret not getting the tags on the day she had the opportunity. When she called me last evening she said all she could think about was my words from that day..... "Babygirl, you're going to regret not getting those tags."

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"Mom, why are you always right?" Hmmm.... maybe because I've been there and done that?

Yup, it's another finished quilt. I now have 6 quilts waiting for me to do the binding. I'll probably do them this week.



A view of the border design and the sashing design.

A closer view of the sashing design.

Line dancing on the blocks.

A view of the sashing and border designs from the back.

A view of the block from the back.

After I finished that quilt I put this one on the machine. It's the lone star I finished putting together a few weeks ago. The star points were already made when I got this one. I merely measured, cut, and added the corner squares, side triangles, and outside border. The fullness of the star points prevented me from getting it to stay flat on the machine.

After an hour of doing what I could, I decided to discuss the problem with the owner. Even though taking it apart to do over would mean it's no longer the work of her mother but would become my work; she's decided she would rather have it taken apart and remade. I agree with the decision. I can't justify putting large tucks into the design because that would look awful.

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I'm sure the original piecer will be looking down from heaven and whispering in my ear as I take it apart and remake it. The problem of the extra fullness is probably the reason it wasn't finished. I'm happy I can be the one to finish the ufo. The owner has agreed to let me keep this one until after xmas to finish so I won't be rushed.

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I got an email yesterday from one of my blog readers telling me that sometimes it's the parents who are asking the child for financial help. Thank you! I must confess that this had never occured to me. I can see how it could happen and is an eye opener for me. Sometimes it's the child who is the frugal one and the parents aren't.

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It's finished.



The design in the blocks.

Customer didn't want any quilting on the applique except for on the flower pots. I did a stitch in the ditch around everything then the lines on the pots.

Line dancing on the border and on the color squares of the blocks.

This is how it looks from the back.

Another view from the back.

My daughter never stops baffling me!

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One day she is moaning and groaning because she doesn't seem to "get it" about managing her money. She's worried that there won't be enough in her paycheck to pay all the bills. A couple of bills are about to go to collections. Would I pay them for her?

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I know that I've taught my daughter how to manage her finances. For heavens sake, she grew up in a very frugal household. At the same time she's asking for financial help; I know she is not "doing without" anything. Hmm.... how to explain better? Many young people will depend on the parents to help pay bills while at the same time they are enjoying eating out regularly or buying expensive clothes or simply not trying to cut down expenses. Know what I mean?

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This time I put my foot down and tell my daughter NO! You created the bills, you pay them. It's time to sink or swim financially. My savings account is NOT your extra income and I absolutely mean it this time. I am determined to let her make her own way financially. No matter what the outcome. If you want to stretch your budget then find ways to cut down expenses! If you want more advice about how to cut expenses I will be happy to explain.

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The very next day she is calling me (much earlier than she normally wakes) to excitedly tell me..... "Mom, I got it!!" Got what babygirl? Mom, I understand what you've been explaining to me about cutting expenses! Ok babygirl, tell me what you understand. Here is some of what she told me....

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Ellisa woke up early and was hungry. I gave her a bottle but there wasn't any baby food to give her. (She's been buying baby food in those tiny little containers.) So, I opened a can of peas and put some in the personal food processor you gave me. Mom! Do you know I can make my own baby food! I don't have to buy it. Ellisa can eat what we eat if I process it for her. Mom, do you know how much money I can save by not buying baby food anymore? Yes Babygirl, I know how much you can save like this. I made your food when you were a baby. Why do you think I gave you a food processor at a baby shower?

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I think maybe she's finally "got it". Only time will tell. Hmmm.... I wonder how long it will be before she wakes up one morning and say to herself..... Oh my gosh, I've become my mother!

This is the quilt currently on the machine. I worked the whole day to stabelize it and start doing the design. It's a very large quilt. It seems to go on forever; but, I believe it will be finished today.

Why is it that grown children think the parent's savings account is somehow their second income? Why is it that each time the children have a financial crisis... it exactly matches what the parents have in the savings account?

Star quilt

The next finished quilt.


Line dancing makes the work go faster.

Leaves and curls also go faster than other designs.

A view from the back.

Another view from the back.

The "I'm not trying to rush you, but..... " phone calls have started. I got two of them yesterday. I understand how people can get nervous and anxious as the days rush by. All I can tell them is that I'm doing my very best to finish as many as possible before Christmas.

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