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I can hear you now..."What on God's green earth were you thinking?" Here's the story behind this (ah-hem) beauty. I made one of these last year for a friend with a serious illness. Before I could get it in the box and shipped, my husband grabbed it and said, "This is nice...would you make me one?" Now, coming from my artsy husband (far more artsy than me and a great supporter of my quilting stuff), I was surprised. Perhaps it was the soft comfy flannel had temporarily sucked out his brain. "Of course," I said. This required an expensive trip to Sauders to buy the fabric for his "woobie" and other nice quilting cottons that I didn't need. The pile of flannel has been sitting since then. Since the Purple Martin hoopla and September classes/lectures are over, I decided that October would be the month I would get things in order and complete some long overdue projects (mending, Scout badge sewing, and of course the woobie). Little did my husband know that I had decided that I would never make one of these things again. But for him? Well...So look out David Letterman...Here's my list...

THE TOP TEN REASONS RAG QUILTS ARE A MAJOR PAIN

1. They take a lot of fabric (at least 12 yards)
2. They are boring to make (cut 8" squares of flannel, sandwich 7" square of batting, and sew, sew, sew...I made 157 squares
3. They are expensive to make (see #1)
4. They are hard on your sewing machine (lint)
5. They are hard on your hands (clip, clip, clip and clip some more)
6. They are hard on your washing machine (heavy & thread-shedding)
7. They are hard on your dryer (clean out lint and fuzz every 5 minutes or set your house on fire)
8. Flannel doesn't come in any great colors, so your quilt might look weird (see photo)
9. It's really hard to plan any kind of design, so your quilt might look weird (see photo)
10. Did I mention that they are expensive and boring to make?

I started last week and finished yesterday. Just in time for DH's birthday tomorrow. But was I done yet? As the Black-Eyed Peas would say "No, No, No, No!" Here is a cat mat to protect Lucky's favorite chair in the bedroom.

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But, wait, there's more! Here is one of two attractive plant mats! Martha, eat your heart out!

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So that's it. All obligations have been fulfilled for now. I'll be finishing a new class sample this week!