Tips for safe holiday shopping

The holiday season is here.  This week we celebrate Thanksgiving here in the USA.  We plan a large meal for our family, or plan to help out in serving a meal to those less fortunate. We remember the Thanksgivings of our childhood.

We take time to be thankful for all that we have. Even if we don't have a lot. We spend the day eating too much, watching parades and football games. 

We plan Christmas. Some decorate the house for Christmas that day or that weekend - like I will be doing.

And then.... we start dealing with the hectic schedules. The extra things to get done before, during and after work. The events to plan and attend. Gifts to buy, wrap and give. Family events to coordinate. All in preparation for Christmas. Shopping, shopping shopping.

As someone who has been in the retail business for more years than I ever planned I have noticed a lot, heard a lot and want to share some safety tips for your shopping experience. 

First - pay attention. To everything.  Watch your bank statements, your checking balances, your credit card charges, PayPal accounts etc. 

Keep all of your receipts.

Keep a daily diary of where you go and what you spend where and for what.

Pay attention to your surroundings.

Watch your purses!  So many of us carry larger purses or tote bags with us. Many have no closure to them as in a zipper or even velcro, or a flap over the opening. Please keep those at home!  Carry a small purse and hold it close to you.  Have a strap that goes across your body and carry the purse in front of you instead of to your side or swinging it towards your back.

If you do take a purse with you put your purse in a shopping cart/buggy. Cover it up, strap it in if the cart has the child safety straps, and strap it in under the basket not in the top basket. Having it strapped in helps stop someone from just grabbing it and going, but they could still reach in and take your wallet.  As you shop cover it up with the merchandise you are buying. 

Don't carry cash with you. Carry a credit card or a debit card. If you get your cash stolen, or just loose the cash... it is gone. If you get your CC card or DC stolen or loose it you can get those replaced. (Although time consuming).

When you have stopped to look at something please remember your purse that is sitting in that shopping cart!  Don't walk away from it.

Keep your cell phone and car keys separate from your purse. If your purse is taken you still can make an emergency call and you have your car keys to get home.

Never carry your social security card with you.  Don't keep your driver's license in your car. If someone steals your car ---- they will know where you live.

TAKE DAILY PHOTOS of your children. IF something should happen to one of your children and they get lost you have a current photo and one that shows what they were wearing.

When shopping hid your packages in your car trunk. If you have no trunk cover up the packages with an old blanket. OUT OF SITE - OUT OF MIND for thieves.

IF you feel you are being followed after leaving a store go back inside the store. 

When you can, shop with a friend and look out for each others safety.

When shopping with children keep them close to you. Inside the shopping cart if young. Holding your hand if nothing else. And if they are in the shopping cart - make sure they stay seated. 

Pay attention when you are walking to your car, don't be distracted. Keep your head up, have your keys ready to get into your car. 

Look around your car before you get in. This for safety and to make sure no damage was done to your car by a stray cart or a bad driver who hit and ran.
Look into the back seat of your car and the passenger side of the car next you yours before you get in. As soon as you get in lock your door.

Wear comfortable shoes and clothing. Dress in layers. It may be cold outside, but inside will be warm. 

AND A HEALTHY TIP :

Keep dehydrated and remember to eat while you are spending the day out shopping.  Do your best to eat healthy too. Staying on your diet (the way you normally eat, not necessarily a diet to loose weight) is important and you are less likely to not feel well from all the strange foods. 

I wish for you a safe and healthy week and holiday shopping time.

Ms Phyllis

Tips for the Holidays.

It's a busy time of year. 

There is so much going on in our lives at this time of year we hardly know what to do first, or even remember to breath.  We sleep less, eat more.

We make a to do list (even if it's our head), so we hopefully don't forget anything.

The Christmas gift lists start to take shape, kids are begging for one toy or another or many. Parents are trying to figure out how to make the kids happy and stay on a budget. 

There are meals to plan, parties to plan and attend, gifts to buy or make, wrap and send; cookies to bake, a house to decorate. 

Decisions to make at every turn.

And all the while we are also planning Thanksgiving dinner. 

So here are a few tips to help you get through. 

1.

Take time this season remember the good times of Christmases past. 

2.

Make all your gifts to give this year.  Or have them made for you. 

3.

Set aside one night, or day to decorate the house and the tree with the whole family there to help. 

 

4.

Select which festivities/parties you will attend. You can't attend them all and still have time for yourself. 

5. 

Try to eat healthy as much as you can.  Drink plenty of water. And even though you feel like you don't need to walk anymore or exercise - set some time aside each week for this and  to take care of yourself.  It's no fun being sick over the holidays. 

6. 

 Send out Christmas cards or a Christmas letter this year. It's tempting to do it all over the internet, but everyone still enjoys receiving snail mail. 

7.

Watch your favorite holiday movie.

8. 

Start a new tradition or bring back an old tradition you had forgotten about. 

9. 

Donate to your favorite charity to help others out. 

10. 

And don't forget to wrap up in a quilt at the end of the day, while you catch your breath and enjoy the little things in life. 

Happy Quilting!

Phyllis

The Patchwork Quilt (Poem)

Thank You  Cathy for allowing me to publish this beautiful poem on my blog.

"This poem was written by Award winning poet Glenda J Bowling following the untimely death of her husband in the 70s.  She was never a quilter, but captured the textures of life through the words stitched together in this poem.

Permission given to publish this in my Quilter's Pantry blog by her niece, Cathy Pierce"

The Patchwork Quilt

I realized, some years ago
That each of us, when we reach middle age or so,
Have many little lives, all held together like a patchwork quilt.
Some patches are beautiful to behold,
They are bright and some are bold.
Patches from our childhood, and Moms who wiped the tears away,
or that first day of school, what an unforgettable day!

There's a patch from our teenage years,
and the bright colors of pom poms and cheers.
A patch where we found first love,
No faint colors here.
Walking on clouds, or crying in pain.
Who would want to do that patch again?

Here's a beautiful patch of white for our wedding day
Is love truly here to stay?
Sweet patches of pastel,
From our babies that we held.
Those patches smell of talcum to this day.

This patch has a tear,
Love has grown cold, and no more our lives to share.
Patches of friendship here, some patches are weak,
Of frienships gone by, while others are strong,
of friendships lifelong.

Here's a dazzling bright patch,
Mature love, best love, true love.
Perfect match.
Another wedding patch,
We'll share all our dreams,
And send them to God on heavenly wings.

The Angel will sing a song
of a love story that grew ever strong.
A black patch here,
and mystically it still feels wet with tears.
I didnt get to say goodbye,
I try to explain
To anyone whose attention I could gain.
Grey patch here.
Tombstone, alone.

A dull patch of changes, struggles and fears.
But the patches get brighter over the years.
Children are grown,
Beginning patchworks quilts of their own,
I look at mine,
each patch one of a kind.
Some of them truly lovely to behold,
And I will treasure them until the end of time.

Others are ugly and cold.
And if I could have, Id left them out.
But these are the patches that bind,
They made me strong.
They gave me courage to keep moving on.

You see, the strength of a quilt is how it is sewn,
I was never truly alone.
The courage I felt was not my own.
When my quilt is finished,
and the last patch is sewn in,
I hope it will be the most beautiful patch of all,
And God will say "Well done, my little friend"

Time changing

"Bears of Fall' wallhanging

DON'T FORGET TO SET YOUR CLOCKS BACK AN HOUR TONIGHT BEFORE YOU GO TO BED. 

We gain an hour! But in gaining that hour most of us will be asleep and not really notice.  Until the sun starts to set earlier and earlier over the next month. 

Many will have a hard time adjusting to the time change. I tend to just go with the flow and it doesn't bother me. We will see what it does to me this year. 

An extra hour tonight - can we stay up and quilt for an extra hour?  O.k. maybe not. I'll be with those who set the clock, set the alarm and go to sleep. 

Soon the temps will change and be cooler here in East TN as with many other areas of the world. The bears will hibernate, the insects disappear, the flowers wither away from the frost and we are then blessed with morning frosts, snow flakes in the air and seeing our breath in the air. 

We add layers of clothes to stay warm. (Love my sweaters).

And we make more quilts to share and keep warm under. 

May the changing time give you a chance to take a deep breath as we look back over the summer we had, the good and the bad that it brought to different parts of the world, and look forward to what the fall and winter will bring.  

I am thankful to those who have joined and to those who stop by to check out Quilter's Pantry. I look forward sharing with you parts of my life, parts of my quilting and hopefully encouraging you along the way.

Wishing you all a great weekend. 

Happy Quilting

Phyllis

Welcome to November

Good morning to everyone who is stopping by. We love to see so many and hope that you are enjoying the blog.  This pic is a pathway at Roan Mtn. TN. If you are ever in the area it is a beautyful area no matter what time of year you are there. (Roads sometimes close in the winter though)

I hope you all have a great day.  I'm off and running to get to work. It's nice to be able to work with fabric all day and to talk with customers and help them along picking out fabrics, sharing ideas for quilts and other projects. 

Catch y'all later. 
Happy Quilting

Phyllis

Attaching Binding Tutorial

STEP ONE:

MAKING THE BINDING --- Doing the Math

1)   Measure the length and width all around your quilt and ADD 10”.

2)   Take that number and divide by the width of the fabric you are using for the binding. (Generally this is about 42”). Round this number up

3)   This will give you the number of cuts you need to make in your fabric.

4)   Take this number and multiply by 2½” or whatever width you are cutting your strips.

5)   This is how much fabric you need to make your binding.

6)   Cut your strips.

If you would like the math for the above it looks like this:

L(2) + w(2) + 10 = TL (Total length of strip needed)

TL ÷ 42 (roughly the width of usable fabric) = NoC (number of cuts you will need.)

NC x 2.5 =LOF (length of fabric you will need to make your binding. )

OR Just the math equation:

a)    L(2) + w (2) +10 = TL       b)   TL ÷ 42 = NoC            c)    NoC x 2.5 = LOF

  

OR:     {[L(2) +W(2) +10] ÷42} X 2.5 = LoF

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ON ANY OF THIS PLEASE CONTACT ME. I LOVE TO TEACH! 


STEP TWO

Once you have your strips cut you need to attach them. 

Your cut strips

Lay them together at a right angle, right sides together

Lay two strips together at a right angle, right sides together.

Make a mark as in the photo

Using a ruler make a mark from one corner to the other as indicated in the photo. Pin the fabric to keep it in place while you move it to the sewing machine.

Stitch along your mark

 Stitch the two pieces together at that line. Continue attaching all the strips in this manner until you have one long strip pieced together that will fit all around your quilt with about 10 inches of strip left over.

Trimming the excess fabric

At each of the connections measure 1/4" away from your stitch as indicated in the photo and with your rotary cutter of scissors cut away the excess piece of fabric.

The excess piece cut

This is what your seam should look like (If not better)

Pressing the binding

Take your long strip, fold in half lengthwise and press to form a crease. 

Attaching binding to quilt

Lay the opened edge of your binding along the edge of your quilt. Pin it at about 12 inches from the end of your binding strip. You want a 'tail' left at the beginning as well as at the end.  

Begin stitching at the 12" mark using a 1/4" seam allowance in from the edge.

NOTE: If you want a wider piece to show on the front of your quilt or on the back of your quilt you will need to cut your binding fabric wider than the 2 1/2" I am using here.

Stitching to within 1/4" of the edge at the corner

Sew the binding to within 1/4" of the first edge of your quilt. Take a couple of back stitches to knot your stitch and keep it from coming out.  Lift your needle and the lever so you can turn your quilt. 

The quilt turned to start stitching the next side

Preparing for the mitered corner

Lift and form a right angle

Hold a pin at the top and pull down onto the fold of the right angle

As the photos indicate just above - lift up strip and form a right angle. Pin at the fold and bring strip down over the right angle. It should look like the photo below.

What it will look like when you pull it down and are ready to stitch

Begin to stitch again as you did on the other side. 1/4" from the edge.

This is what your corners should look like

 Continue to stitch your binding on all the way around your quilt stopping about 10 inches from the place where the beginning of your strip is.

The space between the end and the beginning of your binding strip

THE BINDING TOOL! 

To make it easier to connect the two ends of binding this tool is the best!
(If you do not have this tool you can still connect the ends by folding them inside one another and cutting off the excess. Make sure you have folded the ends so you have a finished end showing.)

If using THE BINDING TOOL:
Follow the directions on the tool itself.

One end cut

Other end cut.

Right sides together matching the squared off tips

If doing this without the tool lay the long ends together so you can find the point where they will meet snugly when sewn together to form the finished binding.
Press or 'finger' press the seam open.

The finished binding

Finish stitching the binding. Your seam should look like the one above.

Pinning to the back

Now to attach the binding to the back for hand stitching!  The photo just about shows how to form a mitered corner on the back.
Pin the left side as indicated.

Hold pin at crease

Hold a pin at the crease as you pull it for a snug fit.

Pull down other side and pin in place. 

Pull down the other side to form the mitered corner. Pin in place. Continue to pin around the quilt or pin as you go. Some don't pin at all and just hand stitch and form the mitered corners as they go.

NOTES: You may need to do some wiggling of the fabric to make it work for you and your mitered corners may not always turn out perfect, but never give up!

I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions let me know.

Happy Quilting!

Phyllis

The Changing Seasons

Roan Mtn area of TN

As fall is bringing the cooler temperatures, the leaves are descending to the ground more each day and many of you are watching the snow fall outside, I wanted to post a picture taken a few years ago of an area we visit from time to time called Roan Mountain, TN.  It is a beautiful drive no matter what time of year, although some seem prettier than others. The views are breathtaking.  

I am blessed to live in the mountains and even from our deck have a beautiful view. This is not from our deck, but I do share those from time to time also. 

I am busy in the quilt studio working on a Winter wall hanging, then have a customer's quilt to put together. Then I may need to reorganize my work space before I get working on the next project. I prefer little to no clutter when I quilt, but seem to pull out way more fabric than I need at a time. I have a habit of working on one project and pulling out fabric to see what goes with what as my mind envisions other quilts!  I also tend to work on more than one project at a time!  

Wishing you all a great weekend.

Happy Quilting

Phyllis