Its been almost a week since I've actually had time for quilting stuff. This week has felt more like a month. My brother has finally made a break through on his mental health. He should be released from the hospital Monday or Tuesday. Then I can get back to more quilting..... umm, unless there is another crisis to deal with. I really, really want to finish the last of the customer quilts so I can do things for myself for awhile.

In between running to the VA hospital twice a day and taking my SIL to the places she needed to go there has been very little time at home.

I did get some quilting work done last night and early this morning. I have 3 necktie quilts I want to get finished ASAP. This will be the money I can use to buy a new washer and dryer.

In between taxi trips, I got the circles made for the 3 small necktie quilts. As you can see, when the circles were complete..... gee whiz.... there is a lot of extra fullness. I screwed up in the sewing process. I was in too much of a hurry. I know better than that!



So I start taking all 3 circles apart to do over. Well would you look at that? See the amount of space between the two ends? That's the amount of extra fullness in the circle. I know this because with the seam open the circle lays flat. What caused this? My seams are not accurate. I was in a hurry and not careful about 1/4 inch accuracy. Especially in the center area.

I should have reminded myself of my own advice..... "If you don't have time to do it right the first time, how will you ever find the time to take it apart and do it over?" Well here is one of the circles all done over. It's really nice and flat now. Yippie!

I don't need to be back at the VA until later today for visiting hours. No therapy sessions on Sunday. I'm hoping to get the other two circles finished by that time. In thinking about my mistake it occured to me.... "It takes much less time to do the quilting right in the first place than it does to explain why I didn't."

Ooo.... too much deep thought this morning. A bit of mindless quilting will help.

Update

The last couple of days, I've barely been home. Just here long enough to sleep. I had no idea that things would be so demanding on my time. I feel like a taxi driver with no time off.

Ok, enough complaining.

My niece is out of the hospital. Doing fine. Baby is fine too. She is going to classes today.

My brother is doing better. He's on medication for depression. As soon as they are sure it's working for him he will go home. The counselors at the VA are really good at working with PTSD patients. The patients themselves help each other a lot too. Just talking together about their experiences helps everyone. It lets them know they are not alone.

My brother and SIL are also working out their problem. They are talking at last. Lots of misunderstandings for both are now history. It's good to see them holding hands and smiling at each other again.

I'm headed to the studio to see if I can get some quilting done before I get a phone call to taxi someone someplace today. Geeze, I sure am putting a lot of miles on their car. It reminds me of the reason I gave my car away a few years ago. I had almost forgotten. Nope.... I'm still not ready to get a car again.

Oh, oh, too late, the phone rang before I could get started. SIL reminded me she has a doctor appointment at 9 this morning. I better get going.

If you want to make God laugh.... make plans.

My brother has been having a lot of mental problems lately. I believe part of the problem is that he turns 60 this month. Vietnam has been on his mind to the point it has consumed much of his thinking. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (PTSD) Yes, vets can get it many years later. Over the past few weeks I've spent a LOT of time listening to him talk. Things got to the breaking point yesterday and he asked me to go with him to check into the VA for awhile. So I did.

While he and I were there, getting him checked into the hospital, his grand daughter lost control of her car and crashed into a house. She was on her way to U of L for the first college class for this semester. She is fine but is staying in the hospital for a couple of days because she is 3 months pregnant.

My brother and SIL have been very near the point of divorce the last few weeks because of his PTSD. They just celebrated their 40th anniversary last week. I'm going to act as the mediator to see if I can get them talking again. She doesn't understand PTSD so she is withdrawing from him. He thinks she doesn't love him anymore. If only I can get them to understand what I see in them both. The love is still there.... they just need to show it more.

I did work on the necktie quilts for awhile before all this happened. Nothing is finished and I probably won't get much done over the next few days. I will be chauffeuring my SIL between hospitals. My SIL doesn't drive. She also has some doctor appointments that I will take her to. It doesn't look like I will be home quilting much for the next few days.

My apologizes to my customers but sometimes life is more important than work.

Another fair day

This daughter has 3 kids. One is in the very back of the stroller, barely visible.




This daughter has one child.... Ladybug.

There is so much to see and so much to do for little kids.

The rides are the most fun.

The littlest ones wait patiently while the older ones ride. Guess who gets to watch the little ones while everyone is on the rides.

More rides and more rides.

Finally the little ones get their turn on a ride. Can you see the excitement?

The other little one is not so sure about this rideing thing.

I saw some little kids who screamed to get off as soon as the ride started. My grands screamed to stay on the rides. Especially Ladybug. She absolutely had a fit because she had to get off the merry go round. It's a good thing that a home version of a merry go round isn't made and sold in Walley world. (smile) Santa might just be tempted to take one down the chimney.

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Taking the grands to the fair is just as much fun as seeing Christmas excitement. Nothing is quite like buying lots of ride tickets and junk food for the grands. Ten minutes after we got in the car to go home every grand was sound asleep.... no doubt dreaming of riding more rides and eating more junk food. Hopefully to remember the fair fun they had with NaNa when they are older.

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Two more sets of grands waiting for their day at the fair. It's much easier for me to keep up with everyone if each group goes on a different day. I get to see each child enjoy their time.

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Today though I must get some quilty stuff done.

A day at the KY State Fair

Start with a kickoff breakfast. Cheer for the scholarship winners and for the $5,000 a pound winner of the champion ham auction.



Take trolley tram ride to the south wing.


Spot this at the entrance.... hmm.... wonder what it means? Must be a KY accent thing.

Check my entries to see if I won. Yippie!

Ok, I gotta check out the work of the machine quilters I know about and see what quilts the toppers are doing these days too.

Take time to look very closely at the stitching work of other machine quilters.... and drool a lot!

Then wonder how some qualify as quilts? It's three layers. Fabric, batting, and back. Yup, it meets the criteria. But..... it's also 4 layers of three dimensional quilted parts. It wouldn't keep anyone warm but it would look very nice on a wall. I like it! This gives me inspiration for when I get around to creating art. I'm not allowed to enter the "original design" category because I'm a professional. If I could enter that category, I might try doing a three dimensional piece like this.

I wander around to see what else is there. HEY! Now there's a category my SIL can enter. For year's I've tried to get her to enter something..... anything.... just for the fun of it. What can be easier than a leaf contest? She grows Hostas so why not enter the Hosta leaf category?

Then there are lots, and lots, and lots of other displays to look at. Christmas wreaths.

Ceramics.

Leather crafts.

Flower arrangements.

Baskets.

There is a category for just about anything these days..... even an ugly lamp contest. The uglier the better. I didn't find the ugliest (ribbon winner) but I didn't look at all of them yet.

On to lunch in the senior room and a few games of bingo to win a bag of chips.

Sit and watch all the people coming and going. Quite a few dogs there too. All of them as part of a show someplace.

Watch the parade of Queens show too. Two from each county. One for Queen of the county and one for Queen of the county fair.

Also get to listen to the politicians as they have the kickoff show.

The best part of the kickoff show was the singers. They were very good!

A bit more walking around and it was time to go home. I took lots and lots of pictures. Far too many to post here. It was a fun day and I plan to go back again before its over. I just barely covered one area. There are animals to see and more contests to watch. Right now it's time for me to go chauffeur my SIL to the grocery stores. If I were not retired, I probably would have skipped going to the fair this year...... retirement is fun!

Neck tie quilts

I need to clear up a couple of misunderstandings about my blog posts. One is that I'm retiring from quilting as a business. I am not quitting quilting completely. My blogs are still going to be mostly about quilting; but, now I will have much more time to do (and show) the quilts I make myself. I have a whole bunch of finished charity tops I made myself and are waiting to get quilted. I have probably 40 or so ufo tops I plan to get finished and quilted too. I'll be posting about the quilts and quilting for a long time even after retiring. You will still be able to look at my posts for inspiration for your own customer quilts.

Retiring the business is simply giving me the feedom to live a more normal stree free life. It gives me the time to be with my family and friends without the worry of completing work by the deadlines. Retiring the business means I will have time for doing my other crafts too. I will have more time for making rugs and cardboard furniture. Hmm.... I might even find time for taking a drawing class or learn basket weaving. Who knows? Anything is possible when I have free time.

Next to clear up is about the comment I talked about yesterday. Well off course I knew she wasn't talking about me personally. I knew she was talking in general. I had been searching my brain for the right words to describe how I had been feeling the last couple of years. I couldn't put into words what I knew was happening to me any more than I could describe it when it happened to other machine quilters. As I read that comment, I thought... ah ha!.... that's what my brain wanted to say all this time. She gave me the words that my mind couldn't seem to form.


Ok, on to some quilty stuff to talk about. I have 30 ties to be made into 3 quilts. Wall size of aproximately 40 X 50 or 60. There is to be a big circle (daisy or sunflower shape) in the middle made from the ties. The circle will be 36 inches across on a background of 40 inches wide.

Yesterday I sat down and did the math. I really like to see a design in full size before cutting any pieces. I drew out a sketch. Didn't like it. Drew another one. Then another until I got something I liked.



Next I cut out the pieces of stabelizer to go on the ties. 180 of them. There will be 60 tie pieces in each circle so I cut 180. I didn't have a plastic template the correct size for rotary cutting. I made a cardboard template the right size and traced it onto the stabelizer. Then cut them out.

After all that was done, I hand washed the ties in hot water. Normally I would have put the ties in the washer but mine is broken. I haven't gotten a new one yet. So hand washing was all I could do. Why use hot water? If they are going to shrink it's done before I put all the work into the quilt.

Today I will be taking the ties apart, ironing on the stabelizer, and cutting all the pieces. I may get started on the sewing if the work goes smoothly enough. I want to do as much as I can so I will have all 3 ready for the customer to view next week. If they approve of the finished tops then I can quilt them.

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I may not get a chance to write a blog post tomorrow morning. I'm headed out to the fair for the kick off breakfast at 7 am. My brother is dropping me and my SIL off at the gate and picking us up tomorrow evening.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my question on the other blog.

**My concern would be turning into the obnoxious business owner like I see people turn out to be with this job. They go from being really sweet to being too busy to do anything else and you are now "in the way". Loosing my friends/family to this {business} scares me as well.**

Oh my goodness! How well this person described me. I just had to type talk about it. As a professional machine quilter that had become the obnoxious business owner of course. (smile)

Going from a sweet person to an extremely "to busy" person happens so gradually that we don't even realize it until it's too late. It's because we are nice sweet people that we get ourselves into a situation requiring us to become obnoxious and rude. What do I mean? Well, a nice person has great difficulty saying NO to a customer. We say yes because we are nice and want our customers to be happy. We commit ourselves to get quilts done on deadlines. Deadlines mean we must stay at the machine to be on time. We will commit to doing 3 quilts when the customer has only scheduled one, because we are nice people. We hate to make a customer unhappy by telling them we can't do more than the one quilt.

We are such nice people that we become victims of "sad" stories and requests. We say yes to the customers because this is our income. Without it we must do without the things an income buys. We have a fear of getting a bad reputation among toppers. At the same time.... we will start saying no to our family and the friends who are not customers. We believe they "will understand" our need to earn our income. The more we say yes to our customers the more we have to say no to everyone else. It's so gradual! One sad story, one extra quilt request, one deadline, one illness that puts us behind schedule, one at a time, over a long period of time.

Each time we say yes to extra work or quicker deadlines; some customers then begin to believe it's ok to do it again... and again... and again. Not only that but they also tell other people about how nice and accommodating we are; so the other people also bring us special requests and sad stories. We say yes to them too.... because we are nice. In my case, I found myself doing two and three quilts in one day by working 16 or 18 hour days and using very quick to do designs instead of what the quilt really needed.

As professional quilters we start to find ways to cut corners on our "away from the machine time". In my case I cut corners on everything that keeps a person healthy in addition to saying "no I can't" to family and friends. As a result, I started getting sick over and over again. Putting my work even farther behind schedule. Requiring me to find even more ways to stop "living" and just keep quilting. Before I knew it, I realized my grand kids are grown and having kids too. Hmm.... when did he grow up? I thought he was still in elementary school. Now he's made me a great grandma again. (I have more than one great grandchild.)

Then comes the machine quilter's "burn out" phase. When the quilting ideas seem to elude us. We know how to quilt. We have done really great designs all this time. But, we stand and stare at the quilt on the machine without any idea of how to quilt it. Stand and stare time is not acceptable for a professional machine quilter. If the machine is not moving, it's not earning income.

Suddenly, I woke up one morning and realized I didn't like myself anymore! I had become the type of machine quilter I had feared becoming most. The one too busy to be nice. I started thinking back on all the times I had been rude to others. I thought of all the times people had invited me to lunch or to visit their quilt groups or go on retreats and I had said "no I can't". I thought of all the times my kids and grand kids had asked me to spend time with them but I said "no I can't". I thought of all the charity quilts I used to make but now say "I can't" to myself. I thought of all the times beginning machine quilters had asked me to help them learn to use their machine. At first I would say yes I will help you but later have to back out of it because I had deadlines to meet. NO, I didn't like myself at all! I was no longer the sweet, healthy, helpful, charitable, grandmother person I remembered. I said to someone, can't remember who, that I was a much happier person when I didn't have any customers and was broke all the time. Hmm... it might have been in a blog post.


I knew it was time for me to retire. So I could be the person I remember as me. True, I'm a whole lot older. Is this what they mean by "older and wiser"? In my case, yes. Now that I'm officially retired, I plan to first spend time with my sons and their families. I miss the closeness we had and the joy of just being around them. I have new great grands that need a quilt made just for them. I will eventually get around to showing others that I'm still the sweet person I was years ago. I have a lot of rudeness to make up for.


I best get into the studio and do some work today. Only a few more to go before the chains that hold me to the machine break and I can transform into the person I remember.

Unequal and unfair exchange

Thank you to all who have responded to my question.

Lately, I've had several requests from people to be my apprentice employee. More requests than I normally get. These people are toppers, but not my customers. My answer is always NO. The main reason is insurance coverage but there are several other reasons too.


I did put a little sarcasm in the post but only because over the years I've seen this sarcasm from other machine quilters when discussing the same issue on some forums. Machine quilters invest large amounts of money into starting and running a machine quilting business. The machine itself is only the beginning.

I was trying to show the unequal balance between the person who has invested years of learning and the person wanting to take advantage by becoming an apprentice employee.


Hmm.... how to put it more simply? Ok, if a neighbor is constantly asking to borrow food items from me. Eggs, rice, potatoes, sugar, etc. This goes on for a long, long time. This would be ok if the neighbor bought and returned the items or would loan me things when I needed them. An equal exchange is fair. But if the neighbor never replaces any item and never has what I need to borrow; then, I'm supporting not only myself but them too. It's unequal and unfair. Eventually, I will need to tell the neighbor they have to support themselves.



Here is another example. Someone asks me to teach them how to make a quilt. They really, really want to learn but need individual instruction instead of a classroom. I agree to help them get started. I do this because the person is so eager to learn and I'm a very nice person. Over time, one quilt turns into several. I furnish everything from fabric to patterns, templates, sewing machine, and thread. I get nothing in return and the student never buys anything for their own quilts. Suddenly I realize I've been supporting not only my own hobby but theirs as well. This is unequal and unfair. Eventually I need to tell the person they must support their own hobby.


The point of the examples is about the unequal exchange of having or being an apprentice employee. Unless the apprentice employee has a knowledge and talent, equal to the established quilter, then the exchange is unequal and unfair.



Hmm... Another example. Let's say I really, really want to learn to draw portraits. So I go to my favorite portrait artist in the hope of learning from them. I don't have money to pay for private lessons. I could offer to be the apprentice and create an unequal balance. The artist would have to teach me before I could do portraits for the customers. Does that sound fair?

It would be much better if I barter for lessons. I could offer to do other things that the artist needed in exchange for classes. I could offer to wash their dishes, scrub their floors, clean paint brushes, cook their meals, make their beds or what ever they need done in exchange for the lessons I really want but can't afford. This is much more equal. You get the idea? I'm giving the artist something they really can use in a more equal exchange for learning.

In all the years and all the people who have asked to be my apprentice, there is only one who has been serious enough to actually buy a machine. She did offer to become my house keeper but I said no. She's been waiting patiently on me, for several months, to help her learn. I will be going to her house so she can learn on her own machine. Now that I'm retiring I will have the time needed to actually be a really nice person again. (smile) I'll be talking with her in a few days to set up a day and time to get together after the last waiting quilt is finished.

Ok, I gotta go make another post on the other blog.

Need your thoughts today

I need some opinions from my blog friends. If you don't normally go over to my other blog to read would you mind doing it today? Read my post there and let me know what you would do.

Or.... you could....

So..... you say you want to become a machine quilter. You've seen the prices that machine quilters charge? Of course you have. You've been a customer and know how much you pay for getting just one top quilted. That's really good money isn't it? You say to yourself; "Why not get a machine and become a machine quilter so I can earn the money instead of paying it? It's so easy, just move the machine around and get paid for having fun."

So you invest a few thousand dollars you happen to have laying around doing nothing. To the tune of $20,000, sometimes even as much as $50,000, depending on how many bells and whistles you want added. There are stitch regulators, computerized machines so it will work by itself, hydraulic lifts, push button advances, white light and black light, tool kits for working on the machine, special chairs for sitting and sewing, a floor mat specially made for the chair, special handle bars for closer work than the supplied handle bars, zippers by the set to be used on the leaders, and the types of gadgets you can get with your machine go on and on. You can find cheaper (midarm and shortarm) quilting machines today than when I got my Gammill. This Gammill, at the time I got it, cost more than my house.

Once you own the machine you have to take some classes to learn how to use it don't you? Other than how to load the machine and maintain it... you won't get any free training. The only way to get the training for doing stitching designs is to start taking classes. Wherever you can locate the classes. Online, in a far away city, at the local quilt shop, at a quilt show..... just start paying for those classes and trips out of town.

Ok, now that you have the machine and have taken some classes, you need practice. You need fabric by the bolt. Can't practice without something to practice on.... am I right? You could just use this as both top and back while you practice or it could become the backing for the tops you already have of your own.

Ok, you bought the practice fabric. Now what? Well, you will need thread..... lots of thread. Every color possible of every possible type and every possible weight is best. You want your customers to have a good selection when they start beating a path to your door.

As you get more and more customers you will need lots more thread! It will seem like you just don't have the right color for one of the tops waiting to get quilted so you buy more thread. Then naturally, you need something to store the thread. Before you know it.... there is a few thousand dollars worth of thread living at your studio.

Now you know you can't have lots of thread without lots of bobbins. Well of course you need a bobbin or two for every color thread you own. It's such a waste to pull off the remaining thread so you can use the bobbin for another color. Especially if the bobbin is full. You must get expensive bobbins, because nothing about these machines is cheap. At $3 each it doesn't take long to have quite a bit invested in several dozen bobbins. Oh, and don't forget to buy plenty of extra bobbins because they do warp out of shape and become unusable over time. You can't use warped bobbins, it messes with the tension of your machine.

What next? Oh yes, you gotta have batting. At least one of every size, type, weight, and color from every batting company you can locate so your customers have a good selection. You can buy batting by the piece as I have done or buy it by the roll. If you buy batting by the roll you also need a rack to store it so it's easy to pull off a piece to cut. I chose to buy by the package so it stores easily under my machine table.

An intake table comes next. Somehow this table will always become a catch all for everything. You've got to clean it off regularly. You need a nice big table for laying out and measuring your customer quilt tops when they are brought to you. I mean really, without laying the top out to look at.... you won't be able to come up with a quilting design in 30 seconds or less. Customers expect a professional to know right away what design is going to be done. If you are lucky, over time, the customers will come to trust your judgement and say "do what you think best". This will leave you with the freedom to think about possibilities and search through your books etc for just the right design.

Ok, speaking of books.... you will need to buy lots of quilting design books. Not piecing designs. You need quilting designs. At from $25, to as much as $200 each, when you have one or two hundred books that's another substantial investment in your quilting business.

But wait..... there are also stencils and pantographs too. You need to invest a few hundred dollars in buying these too. You really need lots of them so your quilting looks fantastic on the customer quilts. Stencils require marking devices. Pencils, erasable markers, chalk, etc.

Ok, let's talk about videos as well. Videos show you techniques so you can learn to do them. It's like a class with a famous teacher right in your own home. A class that can be repeated over and over again until you get it right. Another hugh investment of a few hundred dollars. Some tapes cost as much as $100 each. Multiply this by a few dozen and it's become a really big investment.

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Just when you think you are getting really good at the designs.... another machine quilter in your area will come up with something new that you just gotta have so you can do it for your customers too. So you start buying the newest thing.... quilting technique dvds. A few more hundred dollars to invest. Oh, and don't forget the player. Can't view videos or dvds without a player. Invest in a good one.

Then along comes the computer software or computer quilting disks. Won't work in the dvd player.... must be played on the computer. A couple hundred of these dvds and computer disks mean a few hundred dollars more invested in your quilting business. You must also have an updated computer so it will play the disks. A few hundred dollars more.

Hmm... now what? Oh yes, the gadgets. Towa bobbin tension gauge, hand held templates to quilt around, marking devices, magnifying glasses, mirrors for checking the back of quilts on the machine, needles for the machine, extra check springs, oil, seam rippers, scissors, a spare bobbin case or two, extra light bulbs...... before you know it you have a drawer that looks like this full of expensive gadgets you absolutely need for your business.

Then you have another drawer full of more gadgets you really need too.

Then you fill another drawer with stuff for testing out the designs before you actually stitch them on a customer quilt.

Then along comes the plastic pantographs. You really need these for those quick designs on a customer's utility quilts. Who ever thought a single piece of plastic could cost an average of $300 each? Well worth the cost in time saved doing a customer utility quilt though. Oh, and you need to buy a new pointer piece for your machine so you can actually use the plastic pantographs.

So you invest in more of the plastic pantographs.

and.... even more investment.

Then you decide on some smaller plastic pantographs.

Well now, you've taken classes, bought devices, bought dvds and cds, bought templates, and gotten lots of little gadgets to make the quilting work go much easier. This is not all. Now you need your business licence and to set up an account with companies you will buy your supplies from like batting companies, thread suppliers, etc. (Actually you should have done this right after buying your machine but I forgot to write about it above. I'm putting it here rather than editing.)

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You need intake forms, a waiting list to keep track, batting prices at a glance, and quilting prices at a glance. Hmm.... how do you set your prices? Lower than everyone else in town? Higher? The same? What type of quilting will be your specialty? Well of course you want to earn lots of money so you set the prices that will earn you the maximum for the least amount of work. You must do a bit of every kind of quilting. This works for getting as many customers as possible.

You need a brochure and business cards too. Both must be designed to get the topper's attention in 30 seconds or less. If a brochure reads as interesting enough, in 30 seconds, they will continue reading.... if not, it never gets read.

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What will you do about storage? Tops brought to you need to be stored somewhere. So invest a few hundred more dollars in storage devices. It could be a hanging rack or drawer units. The choice is yours to make and your money to invest.

Finished quilts waiting for the customer to pick up need storage too. A few hundred dollars more depending on how particular you are about the storage. These also become catch all places and need regular cleaning.

I can write much, much more about the money you will need to invest in your business. There are things like hiring an accountant to help with the taxes. Buying a digital camera so you can share your work with other machine quilters or just photo all the quilts you will do. Then there is storage of all the photos you share... this cost money too. Maybe paying for a website domain and a person to build the website. The expenses (investments) are never ending. Just when you think you've got it all; something new comes out.

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Now you could do all this investing over the course of a few years. Not everything must be bought before you go into business. If you start with the machine, and keep investing most of what you earn back into it, in a few years you will have invested thousands upon thousands of dollars more than the initial cost of a machine.

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Or..... you could.....

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convince a long time established, well known quilter to let you become their employee apprentice. She or he will have already invested the thousands of dollars in a machine, years of time learning, paid to attend many classes, gone to many quilt shows, bought thousands of dollars worth of gadgets, cds, dvds, templates, books, worked hard for customer relations, created good advertising, established a good reputation, created really good forms, gotten good credit with suppliers of batting and threads........ and the list goes on. You get the idea, right?

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You won't have to invest anything at all; not one cent when you become an employee apprentice. But, you will be able to take advantage of their years of taking out of town classes. You can watch their videos, dvds, and cds. You can read their books and study the designs. Practice with their plastic templates and hand held gadgets. The quilter will be there to show you what you did wrong and help you learn to do it right.

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Just walk in as an employee apprentice and start earning money. She or he can teach you everything you need to know.... for free.... and pay you while you learn. Then give you a customer base to get you started when you are ready to open your own machine quilting business as a competitor.

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Think about it..... but reverse the roles..... you are the established machine quilter with the years of experience and thousands of dollars invested. I am the one with no experience asking to be your apprentice. What do you say to me when I plead with you to be your apprentice?

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Yes, I really do want to know what you would say to me. Nicely of course. Feel free to ask questions of me if you need to understand the roles better. This is a make believe situation. I'm preparing myself for the eventual requests from quilting friends as the economy gets worse.