HODGEPODGE WEDNESDAY

Here we are to Wednesday already, and time again for Hodgepodge.  So much thanks to Joyce for getting this together every week as I sure enjoy it.  To join the others participating click HERE

1.  Picture postcards were first printed back in the mid-1800's and deltiology is the official name for postcard collecting.  When did you last send a postcard?  Receive one?  Do you save postcards sent to you?  Do you collect and/or send postcards when you travel?  Honestly I am really wracking my brain here and I think I remember receiving maybe a couple of post cards over my entire life but it was before I was even an adult.  Vaguely remember my grandmother sending me one when we were little girls and they came to the house addressed to each on of us kids (think there were 4 of us at that time) individually. I was thrilled to be receiving ANYTHING that came for me personally.  And I did get one in high school from some boy I was "kind of" dating at the time when his family was on vacation.  I have never sent one, and never collected them.  I do kind of like looking at them though.  Kind of like an old fashioned text, haha.  Picture and a quick hello.

2.  What treat do you most like to indulge in while on vacation?  Oh I hate to admit this but it is probably food.  I for some crazy reason feel like I am on somewhat of a free for all so I indulge in desserts and treats I ordinarily wouldn't.  Of course now with my borderline high blood sugar at times, guess that is out.  ; )

3.  Are you good at hiding your feelings?  As a general rule I usually don't.  I am somewhat of a gut spiller.  How I am feeling is usually pretty apparent.  However! IF I need to, I can do it better than you might think.

4.  Does your town/city/country still deliver telephone books to your home?  Do you check the yellow pages when searching for a local business number or has the internet replaced the phone book in your home?  Believe it or they DO still deliver it, (maybe because we live in a senior citizen park?) and the current one sits on our desk in the corner, but I never look at it at all.  The internet has totally replaced it.  If I could I would stop it.  But the new one comes, I replace the old untouched one with it, and put it in the re-cycle bin.  

5.  Would you rather be first or last?  Well it totally depends on for what? First in LONG lines for most things, haha.  First for hugs and kisses from grandkids, and first for understanding and for saying I am sorry.  But definitely last for speaking in front of groups, or for trying almost anything that seems weird or unusual.

6.  July is National Park and Recreation Month (in America, but everyone can still play along)...where and when were you last in a park?  Did you participate in any recreational activities while you there? Well, if you mean just ANY park, then it was last Wed. afternoon when I went to my nephews all-star game.  It was a HUGE park (called Mile Long Park) and the ball fields were surrounded by beautiful trees, luscious grass areas, and play grounds for kids.  If going to the game counts as participating, then I guess I did.  But I have not been to a National Park in years.  

7.  What was one of your worst ideas?  Goodness there has been sooo many over the years, haha.  Let's see though....one of my worst all time ones might have been MANY MANY years ago when I decided I wanted WHITE Berber carpet in our house.  Whatever I was thinking with 4 children, (3 of them teen-aged boys with LOTS of friends) 3 cats and a dog, oh and a very messy bird, I honestly don't know.  I must have been nuts.   I had visions at the time of this CLEAN, fresh, lint free look, and lived instead with a stained, dirty constantly, nightmare mess for several years...sigh.  Not my brightest moment.  

8.  Insert your own random thought here.  I think I might be over-thinking the whole first quilting attempt as I continue to watch videos, look at patterns, and consider my options.  I went today to a local quilting store and oh my what a find!  It was much bigger than I expected it to be, and there were both classes going on, and a GIANT machine that did quilting for you should you be interested.  The fabric selections alone could have kept me in there for hours.  I did talk quite a bit to 3 different women who worked there in various different ways, and it was their general consensus that I probably don't need an actual class to get going as I have done so much sewing over the years and know how to follow pattern instructions etc. pretty well; which seems good as the classes seemed kind of pricey to me.  So for now I am going to go with on-line tutorials, and help from some of you who have offered should I need it.  And after hearing the prices of what it costs to have a quilt professionally quilted I don't think I will ever be doing that either!  WOW!  Seemed pretty stiff to me.  So I am glad I wanted to do that myself anyway.  Soo now that I am aware of just how expensive this new venture of mine might be, haha, I am still pressing on.  However, I did not purchase any fabric from this store either even though I know that the fabric is probably far superior to JoAnnes fabric.  But for my first attempt especially, I don't think I need that.  Sooo all of this to tell you I think I have settled on Christmas table runners for my first project.  They are darling, seem pretty quick and simple, and don't need a lot of fabric, and are fairly small and should be good for my first attempts at machine quilting AND! will make nice gifts for my daughter and dil's as well.  So hopefully today I will purchase a little fabric to get going.  I am still using the old machine until I get my lessons on the new one as truthfully I am kind of intimidated by it, lol.  I don't know, maybe I could work it just for sewing (no embroidery or quilting) so we will see.  Hope you are all enjoying your week.  OH! Melody booked her airline flight for her visit in Aug today!  Soo happy.  Can't wait to see them all!