Ami's AfterChat Newsletter

THE NEW MAIL PROGRAM
Many thanks to all of you (particularly at the beginning of the alphabet) who have endured multiple e-mails in my efforts to test NetMailer. It usually takes about 3 hours to update my mailing list every month, and send the AfterChat to all of you. I was doing it manually cutting and pasting from my word processor to AOL's screen. After 6 hours of work (after electronically importing the list) I scraped NetMailer off my hard drive and sent it back to Alpha Software. I don't believe I can give that particular program a thumbs up. I've since downloaded PowerMail and it appears to be doing just fine. Unless you don't get this. (If your e-mail of this AfterChat isn't in your mailbox, just let me know and I'll send you another one. (VBG)) You should also know that our very own Grandamand gave me an over-the-phone tutorial in how to use PowerMail, and I clicked buttons I didn't even know I had! HUGE thanks to Grandamand! I couldn't have done it without you!

ITALY
My trip to Rome (the reason there was no chat last month) was fantastic. Quilting is still very new and on the verge of blossoming. I visited with Maria Luisa Gariboldi, the author of the first Italian quilting book, and Il Mondo di Pezza, Rome's first quilt shop. I got to teach a workshop on applique and was treated to a home cooked meal with all the trimmings and then a pizza party after class where the conversation was non-stop. Pictures of my trip and a full report will be on my new and revised home page any day now. I will send you another e-mail as soon as I know when it's up and humming. I'll fill you in on all the details of the trip during the Chat.

HOME PAGE OF THE MONTH
It seems everywhere I look folks are recommending web sites. I just wish they'd tell me what I'm going to get when I go there! (So often I could have skipped the trip since it's out of my field of interest, and I do have a life off the computer. Don't I?!) Anyway, I shall only recommend web sites you can't live without, and just to make sure, I'll put in a full description. So here goes. This one was recommended by Debbie in Minnesota and you'll sit there with your mouth open. Just type in http://www.execpc.com/~judyheim/qltstud.html to look at THE STUD MUFFINS OF QUILTING. Finally, we get equal time in the pin-up department. This page is not to be missed, and all I can say is that it's about time! It's all in good taste and it's good fun. (Send me your web site suggestions for future AfterChats.)

SHOE LACES
First, let me thank you for all your suggestions as to what I should do if ever I encounter any more of those automatic toilet flushers at the airport. I still like the gum over the sensor eye and may try that on my next trip. On the way to Rome I encountered one that actually behaved and didn't flush me out of the stall. Unlike the one I described previously, this one wasn't set on STUN. I did talk to it sternly as I approached and gave it the SIT, STAY commands. Psyched it right out. And I didn't have to wait for a sink when I got out. Pretty much everyone in there moved aside.

Now my problem is with the shoe laces on my tennies. Four, sometimes five times a day, they're flapping underfoot. I seem to be able to keep the laces on all my other shoes tied nice and tight, but short of super-gluing them I'm at a loss. What am I doing differently? Right shoe, left shoe, all day long I'm re-tying. Losing significant quilting time. It's like someone sprayed silicone on them just to drive me crazy. Any ideas?

THE ULTIMATE PILLOWCASE CHALLENGE
In addition to my shoelace problem, I am asking your help on yet another front. I am the proud owner of 63 brand-new-still-in-the-wrapper pillows. Don't ask. I know, that's a lot of pillows. They're little "camper pillows" about 19 inches by 15 inches, but they still take up a lot of room. They could fill an elevator floor to ceiling, if you need a picture for your mind's eye. I bought them because we had way too much empty space in the basement and I wanted to throw my money away. I picked the most useless thing I could think of and bought 63 three of them.

Not really. Actually, I bought them because they are the perfect size pillow to fit inside the Quilter's Portable Workstation I invented. I figured people would be beating down my door in search of all the hard-to-find parts to make one of the Workstations and I'd be ready. Well, customers for my handy dandy Quilter's Portable Workstation (and the kits to make them, with everything included, even the......pillows) are staying away in droves. I want my basement back. It's time to get out of the Workstation business and move on.

I called our local shelter for battered women and offered the pillows. They were thrilled. As you can imagine lots of kids come through the shelter with their moms and the idea is to give them each a pillow, one they can take with them. But you can't just give somebody a naked pillow! So I told them that my online quilting friends might want to help me make bright, cheery, colorful pillowcases from scraps of quilting fabric. (You do, don't you?)

So, here's the deal: I've come up with an incredibly simple pattern (it's a pillow case for crying out loud, how hard could it be?!) that uses the absolute minimum amount of fabric. Very easy. Very fast. In fact, in the time it took you to read this AfterChat up to this point, you could have made three of them!! Each pillow case takes 1/2 yard of fabric, two slices with a rotary cutter, and two seams. You'll spend more time waiting for your iron to heat up that it will take for you to make the pillow case. And I've got all the angles figured out.

Excuse #1: I don't have the time. (Neither do I, but it really is fast. Still, if you just can't squeeze in one more project, send money! Make your (tax deductible) check payable to: "YWCA Safe House." Send it to Ami Simms/4206 Sheraton Drive/Flint, Michigan. Even if it's just a buck. You'll feel better. Promise. Besides, every dollar you contribute will earn you one chance at a Lands' End attaché case. (Wow! Is she kidding. Nope. For real. Warm up that pen.) Yes, Lands' End wants to help and is donating one of their Lighthouse soft-sided attaches. It's just about perfect for toting around any quilting project when you're on the go. It's made out of rugged nylon pack cloth. On the outside there is a full front pocket and an umbrella holder. On the inside it has a large organizer pocket, plus three smaller pockets, pen and pencil stalls, and a key clip. It retails for $49.

Excuse #2: I don't sew very well. I'm just a beginner. (As long as it doesn't fall apart while I'm jamming the pillow into it, no problem. Besides this is great practice---the more pillowcases you make, the better you'll get. For every pillow you make, you'll get one chance another Lands' End attaché case. (Yes there are TWO of them!! Are those Lands End people nice, or what?!)

Excuse #3: Your directions stink. No wonder you couldn't sell any of those Quilter's Portable Workstations. I've read the directions five times and I can't figure out how to make this stupid pillow case to save my neck. If you don't help me I'm flushing the whole thing down the toilet. (No problem. If you can make it through Step #2, I'll finish your pillowcase for you! Just send it in as is!! You'll still get credit for having completed one pillowcase.

Excuse #4: My luck, you'll run out of pillows before you get mine. (Now way. If I run out, I'll go out and BUY MORE!!!)

Checks and/or pillowcases (YES! You can do both!) must arrive on or before February 13, 1997 to be entered in the drawing for the attach cases. Send them (notice plural) by any method you choose including carrier pigeon to: THE ULTIMATE PILLOW CASE CHALLENGE c/o Ami Simms/4206 Sheraton Drive/Flint, Michigan 48532. There will also be additional prizes for the five people who send in the most pillowcases, and the top five most generous check-writers. These 10 extra special people, who will no doubt be feeling so wonderful for helping out such a great cause, will receive a Quilter's Address Book----from those generous folks at Lands' End.

1. Fold it in half selvage to selvage.

2. Make two cuts with your ruler and rotary cutter to create a long rectangle, 15 inches wide by as long as your fabric is from selvage to selvage. (Make the first cut to even off one side. Make the second cut 15 inches from the first.)

3. Place the rectangle right side up on a flat surface in front of you. Locate the ugliest looking selvage edge (the one with the writing, or white stripe perhaps).

4. Put a mark 19 inches from the ugly selvage.

5. Bring that ugly selvage up towards the middle, and make a fold at the 19 inch mark. Right sides are together, raw edges even. Press.

6. Take the pretty selvage edge (i.e. the OTHER one) and bring it UNDER the ugly selvage and keep pulling it toward the middle about 2 or 3 inches. Make a fold even with the ugly selvage. Right sides should be together, raw edges even. Press. Pin. (This will make a pocket style pillow case so the pillow won't fall out.)

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   (If you turn this stupid diagram sideways, squint your eyes, and hop on your left foot, it may bear some resemblance to what the fabric might look like. Maybe not.)

7. Stitch 1/4 inch (if you need the practice) or 3/8 inch (if you're flooring the accelerator and need some fudge room going that fast ) away from the raw edge, back stitching at the beginning and ending of the seam. Repeat for other side. Zigzag raw edges. Turn right side out.

8. Write your name, address, phone number, and email address on a piece of paper and stick it inside your pillow case so you'll be eligible for the drawing. (If you're sending a check, use your computer to write this information as many times as you have dollars on the check so you'll be eligible for the other drawing. My administrative assistant (read: CHILD) will cut them apart.)

9. Mail to: The Ultimate Pillowcase Challenge, c/o Ami Simms/ 4206 Sheraton Drive/ Flint, MI 48532. Be sure it arrives ON or BEFORE February 13, 1997. The pillows will be presented to the Safe House on February 14, 1997 in front of as much media as I can assemble. Anyone who would like to come on over for the presentation would be most welcome.

Thank you for your help and I'll see you in the chat room.
Ami Simms

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