I lived in MI for six years and had a full basement! Did I know or have any interest in quilting then. Nah. Now I could kick myself for wasting all that space. Also, when transferred back to Houiston, TX, we had a whole third floor that was livable. Did I use it for anything? nah. I didn't have any hobbies except gardening. There, you have to fight the mosquitoes and the heat so much that you can't be outside except in fall, winter, and early, early spring. I could kick myself again! Why didn't someone force me to sew then? At last, I am enjoying a hobby that is timeless and productive. I still love to garden as the Texas hill country is a wonderful place to do so as long as you have soil. We import most of ours for raised beds. We grow rocks here. The temp. drops at night so that many plants ( like fuschia) do pretty well here. Of course, like many parts of the country , deer are are a real problem but our Border Collies do a good job of keeping them away from our plants. Today, I made a tablecloth for our camping "gang". We all have small RV's. Ours is a 21' Airstream and our friends have the same and a Casita. OI found this great fabric with tiny Airstreams and other trailers on it. I made a tablecloth for our next camp out Boy, are they going to be surprised! quilting offers many opportunities to do other things that are similar, just without the batting. I did a border on the tablecloth to give it some substance. My husband cannot believe I am doing all this stuff, just form learning to quilt! I serged the edges of the tablecloth onto a 9" border folded in half so it has a finished edge. It turned out so cute! I invested in a Quilter's Calculator at Jo-Anne's awhile back.l Man, it saves me a lot of math! I had one of their fifty per cent coupons and at that time and had an extra ten per cent with the Quilter's Club of America discount there. That came in handy! I can't tell you how happy I am with that calculator as math is not my forte. I have to say though, that quilting has greatly increased my math skills even before the QC~ I never dreamed I would be able to do the math that I do! Sharpen the old brain stem! We will probably not get Alzheimers'
s if we keep using our brain like we do! Do ya think?