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Mary Balagna is vice president of Project Linus, an organization that makes quilts and handmade blankets for children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need throughout the nation. In her work from Bloomington, Illinois, along with president Carol Babbitt, she serves more than 60,000 volunteers called “blanketeers” in about 400 local U.S. chapters. They make and collect more than 400,000 quilts and blankets each year. In addition, Mary oversees the Central Illinois chapter as chapter coordinator.

One of Mary’s responsibilities over the past decade has been to prepare materials for classes and booths at the annual Project Linus Expo held in Bloomington for chapter coordinators and their personal guests. That amounts to between 600 and 800 kits, each with a number of pre-cut quilt pieces. Some class kits include enough pieces for an entire quilt top so class time can be spent on sewing rather than cutting. That means Mary cuts as many as 20,000 pieces each year! It was getting painful. “We just couldn’t do it to her anymore,” Carol says.

That’s why the organization decided to start die cutting. They purchased an AccuQuilt™ Studio™ Fabric Cutter. It works by placing a die (with steel rule blade embedded in it) into a tray with fabric on top in layers, then a mat the die cuts into. You roll everything through the machine, and perfectly-cut shapes come out the other side. The shapes are easily plucked from the machine and inserted into bags. “If you are going to do anything on a large scale, there’s just not going to be a better way to do it,” Carol explains.

One of the benefits of having a cutter in the office is that Carol and Mary have easy access for year round project preparation. Carol loves using it to make sure pieces are perfect. “When I cut, I drive myself crazy. I measure, measure, measure, measure then cut. I can’t be accurate enough. Die cutting gives me a lot of peace of mind.”

Find out more about Project Linus at www.projectlinus.org. To see the AccuQuilt cutter, visit www.accuquilt.com.

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In the newsletter dated Tuesday, October 14, 2008 we incorrectly stated that if you purchased the book Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space we would give you the companion planner for free.  The correct Shoppe special is buy the book and receive the the companion planner at half price.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

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If you remember we used 30 blocks from the Antique Block exhibit of Susan Brooks at the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, California. (Open through Nov 23, 2008).  There were more blocks that we didn't use so here are some for you to see.  I'll give the museums names for them in a comment in a few hours.

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Click on "Challenges" and upload your latest project.  You can also check out what other people are working on.  Find out what MkNavy90 is doing this quilt for. 

Remember to scroll down the blog to October 5 and give us your comment on what kind of challenge you want TQS to do.  Today is the last day to enter your idea for a chance to win a free series subscription.

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(Carl's Dinosaur Quilt by TQS member quilteresq)

In America, October means Halloween and football.  But did you know that it is also National Dinosaur Month? We found this dinosaur quilt by TQS member quilteresq called "Carl's Dinosaur Quilt" in our TQS Quilt Gallery.  To see more dinosaur theme quilts in our quilt gallery, go to "Search" in the purple bar under Ricky's head, choose "Find a Quilt" and type in "Dinosaur" in the "Name of Quilt" box. 

It's also National Spinach Lover's Month, but we couldn't find any quilts posted involving spinach!!!

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On Friday Ricky and Alex got to spend an entire day with the Morning Star quilting guild of the Buffalo NY area. Why, you might ask? This guild, in partnership, with Aurora sewing center "WON" Ricky and Alex for a weekend. On Friday, this guild got up close and personal with the two. Last night Ricky performed a concert for the guild along with 200 plus others who are attending an all day seminar with Alex and Ricky. Today, these lucky folks are getting six private lessons, from traditional to contemporary, with our two favorite caped crusaders. Now you might be thinking, how did they "win" Ricky and Alex?................last year TQS held a contest for guilds and stores. The number one store and guild that brought the most members to our site  won- and guess what? HELLO BUFFALO NY!

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Everybody knows Ricky Tims is a "jokester"; remember Alex's "I think I tinkled" comment. Well, now it's official; he's the "Joker" too. These new, beautiful playing cards by C&T Publishing, features 4 of Ricky's Rhapsody Quilts (detail shots), in the four suits of the playing cards.  If you would like to get your hands on Ricky; uh, I mean Ricky's cards, you can get them at Ricky's Web Store.

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Look what Ruth found outside her principal's office!  (She was doing PTA stuff, so don't worry!)  In North Carolina, 4th grade students learn all about our state and it's history.  Did you know we have a state dog and it's the Plot Hound? This quilt was made by the 4th grade students in Mrs. Morehead's and Mrs. Mann's 1998-1999 classes at North Ridge Elementary.

Adair Anderson's 8th grade government class used quilt blocks in their lessons, too.  To see, click here to watch Episode 306. 

And the North Carolina state vegetable?  The sweet potato.  Who knew?  What is a unique fact for your state?

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OK - I know this is a quilting site - but can we just talk a little more about the Lobster -  Pretty Please?

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Alex's was a HIT in Maine!!  More than 200 people from the Northeast came out to see Alex in Auburn, Maine yesterday.  (And Alex thanks each and every one of you!)  The local paper, the Sun Journal came for the fun, too, and featured the following article about 'Alex's journey in quilting' in today's edition of the newspaper, as well as on their website.  We thought you would like to read it.  Click the link below to read the article.

http://www.sunjournal.com/story/286330-3/LewistonAuburn/I_want_you_to_quilt_Former_Home__Garden_TV_host_fires_up_faithful_in_Auburn/

And if you missed it, here is the link for the article that ran in the Sun Journal on Tuesday.

http://www.sunjournal.com/story/286011-3/Entertainment/Renowned_quilter_to_speak_at_Garden_Hilton/

Keep watching here in the Daily Blog for Alex's next scheduled appearance.  You never know when she will show up in your own backyard!!