Amy Currioman

I’ve spent most of the last two days sewing a quillow. Do you know what a quillow is? It is a quilt with a pocket sewn in so that the entire quilt can be folded into the pocket. Once that is folded in, the quillow now looks like, and can be used as, a pillow. So it is a quilt/pillow, therefore called a quillow. I’ve made several quillows in my life. I’ve sold some, and I’ve given some as presents.

This one I just made is being sold to one of my husband’s friends. He is planning to give it to his wife as a Christmas gift! I made a matching pillow case for it, so he can get a pillow form from the local fabric store to put inside it, or they can insert a throw pillow that they already own inside it.

Anyway, here is a picture of my lastest quillow! I hand-tied this one instead of machine quilting it. I thought that the pattern of the fabric lended itself to hand-tying. When I make a quillow, I let the fabric “tell me” what type of quilting would be the best suited. I hope the wife enjoys it!

I got an email from my sister N today, asking me if I would be willing to make a quilt out of old T-shirts for some friends of hers.  I assume that they are willing to pay to have it done!  So I said yes, I’m interested in doing it.  I wonder how many T-shirts they have, and what size quilt that they are going to want made?   I’ve made a lot of quilts out of woven fabric, but none out of knit fabrics; I think that T-shirts are knit aren’t they?  So it will prove interesting to see what they have and how it goes!

We’ve been talking about finishing part of the basement and putting in a bathroom, so I’ve been looking at the different options about what kind of fixtures to put in there. I was really excited when I found out that I could buy clear Glass Vessel Sinks!   I found them on the Internet at the mrdirectint.com website.  I was amazed at how affordable they are!

I love to do decorative painting, and I think that I’d like to buy a clear glass one and do some reverse painting techniques to customize the bathroom to reflect our personalities!  I really like decorating the house with “one of a kind” original things, and this would really do the trick for that bathroom!  I just love having a “blank canvas” to work with!

I have to admit that I’m a jewelry junkie.  I love the sparkle and shine!  My hubby thinks I have way too much jewelry, but I disagree, of course!  There are some outfits that I wear that just don’t have the right jewelry to match in my jewelry box. I think that maybe one of the reasons that my hubby thinks that I have too much jewelry is the fact that I have kept every piece of jewelry I ever owned ever since I was a little girl.  I had hoped to have a daughter to give it to when she was going to play “dress up.”  Of course, that never happened; I only had sons!

But now I’m hoping that maybe someday I’ll have a young niece or some grand-daughters come along and play with my inexpensive jewelry some day.  And of course, I keep the older and broken pieces around just in case I need them for a craft project of some type!  It would be cute to decorate a miniature Christmas tree with the broken pieces!  When I look through my collection of jewelry, I see a lot of broken watches that I wish I had been able to use.  It seems that I am one of those strange people that can’t wear most watches – they stop running very quickly.  I used to think that I was over-winding them, but it even happens with the battery run watches!  Maybe I should buy a watch that comes on a necklace chain!

I’ve been interested for a while now in making my own designer candles.  I’d like to buy some pretty bulk jars and fill them with a lightly scented soy wax.  Then after the wax has solidified I think I’d like to paint the jars.  The biggest reason that I think I’d like to do this is because I have heard so much about how cheap wax is bad for your health and also leaves a lot of soot on the furnishings of the house they are burnt in.  I’ve heard that soy wax burns clean and doesn’t have any negative health side effects.  I’ve always liked candles; I think they are very pretty. 

I tend to avoid burning them, though for a couple of reasons.  One reason is that a lot of candles make a mess with their wax dripping all over the place.  Another reason is that some candles just burn down the middle of the candle and then seem to drown themselves in a puddle of melted wax.  And still another is that a lot of the scented candles make my nose run and eyes water and give me a headache!  Not knowing exactly what is in the candles makes me suspect that if I made my own I could control all of that.