We got bumped from our flight home from the CHA Super Show

Flying standby is a risk, and for the first time, we didn't make the flight home from Long Beach to SLC. It had to be because of the sold out flight of Californians traveling to the Sundance Film Festival. We understand that even the jump seats were filled with employees of the airline. Luckily, we were able to squeeze into the vehicle LeeAnn's family drove to the show, but what a long, long drive home.

Within 18 hours of arriving home Sunday evening, we were busy at another daughter's home making blankets for the Linus project. I had never done one of the quilts made from polar fleece where you cut l" strips 4" in depth all around the outside and then either make a knot at the top of each strip or make a tiny slit at the top and pull the 4" length through the tiny slit. I purchased a wonderful tool to make these slits where the rotary cutter is guided in perfectly aligned rows, but of course I couldn't find it, so we made do with a rotary cutter, cutting mat, and clear rulers.

One of my fun toys purchased at the CHA Super Show was a freehand cutter that is made by Purple Cow. Shaped like a computer mouse, it made the tiny slits perfectly with simply a push in the right spot. It probably would have worked well to cut the 4" strips if I'd thought of it. Now I'm anxious to buy more polar fleece and do more. It was a lot of fun once I got the "hang of it"

Another fun tool I purchased at the show was a chenille maker. I haven't had time to try it out yet, but it will be fun to be able to use up some of the tons of fabric in my stash. I was a seamstress long before I became a stamp maker. To make the chenille, you put about 7 layers of fabric on top of each other and sew rows of stitching side by side completely quilting the entire project. The tool slices through the top layers between the rows and when it is washed, they fray and form the chenille. It reminds me of the large letter openers, but they don't work! Believe me, I tried before spending money on the real thing. They are a bit pricey, but there are always coupons!