random thoughts

You can never go back. I often find myself wishing for the past. Simpler times. Some events prompt these thoughts. One such event - we celebrated the 60th birthday of a dear friend last night. The picture slide show took me back....the friendships, the dear ones who have gone on, the simple lives we led. Where sitting outside with friends was a normal way to pass the evening hours in the summer. Playing rook, riding in Cade's Cove, church - Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening, Friday night football, I could go on and on. Yes, we have more material things now - better cars, nicer homes, more money to spend....but some relationships are gone. Some have changed. Makes me sad. But, you can't go back. Hard for me sometimes. I'm not complaining. I know I am very blessed. Maybe just wanting to say - choose your steps carefully, you can never go back and change your footprints.

New projects

The fall quilt is one my friend, Wanda, made. I needed some quilting practice so I quilted it for her using the "Lithe" pantograph and Mother Goose thread. The table runner is one I stitched up today. The picture doesn't do it justice; it is really pretty.

Custom Quilted

I finished the scrap quilt. Well, actually I still have one side to bind but wanted to get a picture while it was still daylight. I did lots and lots of custom quilting on this one, practicing my skills. My feathers are pretty bad. Guess that means I need more practicing!

TV Stand

Back a few weeks ago we got a new TV. I gave away our old entertainment center and the old TV after I hurt my back lifting it. We ordered a new TV stand. It is awesome and was unbelieveably easy to to put together. I love it! In one of these pictures you can see how it folds open. Cool, huh? Easy to put together, good quality, looks good, and delivered to my door with no shipping costs or tax. Can't beat that.

Scrap Quilt Progress

I finished the scrap quilt top. Now, to get it quilted.

Know why I love hardwood floors?

The short answer is because they are easy to clean.

The long answer is because when your hunter kitty slips past you with his maimed bunny rabbit catch who is dripping blood and who hops from the back door, through the living room, through the dining room, through the kitchen, to the back hallway and back to the kitchen, the blood splatters are easy to remove with your handy-dandy Shark steam mop!

A nice bed

Cats and quilts. They go together like peanut butter and jelly. No, that isn't a "real" quilt on the machine, it is my practice piece. So, I let Jesse get up there and go to sleep. Looks comfy.

Quilting History Book

One of the blogs I follow (great one - MaryQuilts) organizes her quilting in folders on her blog site. I wanted to share how I capture my quilting experience. The pictures show my quilt book, the introductory page, how I sometimes add fabric scraps, slide "thank you" notes inside the sleeve with the picture and description of the quilt. Sometimes I just love to look through my book and remember all the fun stuff I've made. The quilt on the cover isn't one of mine. It is a "hope to, one day" quilt.

Wedding Gift

I couldn't remember if I had ever posted a picture of this quilt. The pattern was from a book called "Cookies and Quilts" but I don't remember the name of it. I used the Lithe pantograph for the quilting. I finished it some time ago, but didn't want to post a picture just in case the recipient happened to go to my blog. I gave it to her yesterday and she really liked it.

Things I learned

Here are a few pictures of what I learned at my recent machine quilting skills class.

Back Pain

No quilting today, no work today either. Did a stupid thing, trying to move a TV by myself yesterday and strained my back. At least, I hope and pray that is all it is. I've been in the bed all day, and I don't seem to be any better. I've read on the internet that it usually takes 2-5 days to recover from back strain. Man, it hurts. Keep me in your prayers! - thanks.

Back home

ALWAYS when I travel the first thing I do when I get home is unload and start the laundry. Not today. Got my quilting machine back on the table, dusted it, oiled it, checked it out, and then loaded my practice piece. That should tell you that I am excited about all the stuff I learned this weekend. I've always said that I didn't want to machine quilt for a business.....but maybe when I retire......

I also bought a couple of good books. One came with a DVD, "Pajama Quilter". I watched it tonight with my little white board in front of me and drew, drew, drew. The other book is by Pam Clark, "Design with lines." So many good ideas, can't wait to use them.

I accidentally left my folder and camera, but they are mailing it to me. Hopefully in a few days I can post pictures of what we did.

Skills class

Once I get home I will post some pictures of some of the stuff we learned. Today we learned how to adjust a pantograph border pattern to ensure you stop the pattern at the desired design. Also, we learned how to do various border patterns for sashing and borders, practiced several different methods of back filling, did some echoing, and did some ruler work. Tomorrow morning I have a 1/2 day maintenace class for my machine. I'll be heading home tomorrow afternoon. I am such a homebody; I am already wishing I was there, even though the class has been great.

Learning new stuff!

I am currently in a skills training for two days. I dreaded coming, mainly due to the long drive I had this morning in rush hour traffic. I made it fine and am really enjoying it. It is a small class with only three students, in the home of the Gammill dealer. Today she went over all the types of batting, thread, and various issues a long arm quilter would encounter in her business. We also got to practice several different free hand styles. I learned so much! I am looking forward to tomorrow.

I need some suggestions....

I really need some help with this one. I show it layed out on a beige sheet for the background but now I am thinking maybe something darker for the background, or should I just use cream? I would still like to use navy for the stars. The stars will go where the ends of the strips meet. Suggestions anyone??