Next in the saga...

I bought a new piecing foot at Joann's. With my coupon I only ended up spending $2.99 for the foot. I wasn't feeling too badly at that point since it wasn't really expensive and because while I was at Joann's I picked up some darling fabric Easter eggs to hang on my tree as soon as I take the Valentine stuff off.

This morning as I was getting ready to head out the door I discovered my missing foot. Yep - right in plain sight. I have little table in my foyer area. I have a piece of antique spongeware on it where I throw things like my sunglasses, mail, whatever I have in my hand when I come in the house. I moved the mail and there it was.

Now I feel guilty for blaming the cat. Poor Gracie! Her "mom" is an idiot!!

Why Suzie can't quilt

After returning home from quilting with S4 I took a moment to take the 1/4" foot off my little Janome so that I could piece on my ancient Kenmore that I keep in my studio. And then...and then...I have no idea what I did with the foot. I put my Janome away and that is all that I remember. I don't know if the phone rang and I got distracted or what. My fear is that Gracie nabbed it and has shoved it under something. I have another foot thingy that will accept a snap on 1/4" foot so I guess I will have to pick one up at Joann's. It just makes me crazy. I have looked in all the logical places to no avail. I have been on my hands and knees looking under the hutch and the china closet but I still don't see it. If I do find it on the floor somewhere, Gracie is in big trouble!

Since I couldn't sew, I ripped apart my offensive quilt along block, cut replacement squares and straightened up my studio. I also managed to get some laundry done which I never seem to be able to find the time to do.

If I am this scatterbrained now, what will I be like at 65?!? I think I will go get another cup of coffee if I can find the coffeepot...

Quilt day

Today S4 (Society of Sexy Sewing Sisters) quilts at Marsha's and I have been looking forward to it all week. Unfortunately, I have had a raging sinus headache since about 3am on Saturday morning. I have taken sinus meds and ibuprofen, nasal spray, consumed quarts of hot peppermint tea, repeated hot showers and it STILL won't go away. I am afraid it is a sinus infection and I hate to go to the doctor's office.

Anywho...if I manage to drag myself out of the house today, I have finished all the strip sets to start the block construction of my "Chocolat Delight" quilt. (I just feel so pretentious when I
name my quilts!) I will probably feel better when I am surrounded by "the girls", eating, talking and occasionally sewing!

Dragging others to the dark side...

I went shopping after work with Pam (best quilty buddy) to hunt for the perfect piece of fabric to complete my blocks. I found the fabric at Burkholder's (I knew I would) and then found several remnants of other fabric that will find their way into quilts. I have no control when it comes to batiks...or for any other fabric that I like. Pam said she didn't need anything and yet I dragged her down the garden path with me and she found fabric and bought it.

I am a very bad influence. Sadly, I am not ashamed...

Nothing in my stash?!?

I was going to finish catching up with the quilt along blocks but now that I have decided I really don't like one of my fabric choices I went digging through my stash for some green that would work. Nothing! Nada! It's hard to believe but I have nothing in my stash that will work. Really! I am going to make a quick trip to one of the LQS near my best quilting buddy's house tomorrow...maybe drag her along and then get invited in for a glass of wine. Sounds like a plan.

Last night I started grabbing random charm squares that I have had for a while and making strip sets. I decided a couple of months ago to make a quilt for my bed with them. They are "Chocolat" from 3 Sisters for Moda. I love these colors! I think I have 5 or 6 charm packs...could be more. I get overjealous sometimes when I find fabric that I really like. Anyway, I have them in a basket and I pull 3 out, sew them together and then make up 3 sets of 3 for a quick, no thinking 9 block. I am pretty sure I am going to do the "disappearing nine-patch" thing with them. Our quilting group, S4, is getting together this Sunday and I think making these sets would be pretty mindless work while we are talking. I never do anything that requires real thinking when we are together having learned (the hard way) from past experience!

Ohhh...I just got a phone call from one of the shops on the quilt hop back in December. Turns out that I won a door prize. Whoopee! I was planning on a trip north to pick up a new sewing machine next weekend so I will zip by and pick up my prize. More to follow on both!!

There's a give away!

Check out Rhonda's blog at Quilt Nut! She is giving away a sweet little pattern and fabric. Doesn't get much better than that!!

I'm in love!

OK, it's just a dishwasher but it's a really nice dishwasher! My folks came for dinner last night so I got to try it out. It hooked up easily to my sink, ran quietly and my dishes came out clean. Not a spot on my cutlery or glasses. Brought a tear to my eye...

I finished another "quilt along" block and have now decided to rip one apart and replace some fabric. I am not happy how one block in particular looks and after looking at the blocks on the design wall, I really think I need to make a change. That also means that I will need to re-cut block #9 but that's ok. I want to be happy with this when it is completed! I absolutely hate my digital camera but I will post a photo of the quilt (so far) after I make the changes to the block. (Blog pages are just so boring without photos!)

Getting caught up

While waiting for my dishwasher to arrive yesterday, I cut out the last 4 blocks from Amanda Jean's quilt along. I managed to sew 2 blocks, get some laundry done and watch a little football. The dishwasher arrived and I nearly cried...you have NO idea! I love to entertain and this past Thanksgiving actually resorted to plastic plates. They were high quality and looked like ivory china but it just made me feel badly. I had 10 people for dinner and made just about everything myself. I tried to get all the prep dishes done before dinner but even with using plastic plates, we still ended up in the kitchen for about 45 minutes after dinner. I hate when that happens. Now, I can load the dishwasher, grab a cup of coffee and actually sit down in the living room and chat with my guests.

Yesterday, my nephew also brought back my baby changing table. It is white wicker with three full drawers. We bought it about 6 weeks before Chad was born. This thing is nearly 37 years old! Good grief!! I think every one of my sisters used it for their babies, just replacing the pad on top. Anyway, I cleaned it up and moved it into my sewing studio. It is PERFECT!! I put a medium size cutting mat on top and it is a great height for cutting. I put most of my yardage fabric into the drawers and I am just so pleased.

Someone inquired about my Mystery Quilt on Superbowl Sunday and ask if I was doing it on line. I had not thought to do that but (Joy) if you will send me your email address I will get you the info and you can quilt with us on February 3rd.

It is ridiculously cold outside this morning. It will probably take 20 minutes to warm up the car. Thank goodness for remote start...never have to leave the comfort of my home to start the car. Gotta love those guys at GM!

Busy weekend...

I went shopping with my mother and my sister yesterday. First stop was at Joann's so that I could use my 50% off coupon. We went to the one in Lebanon because they have a better selection (and larger store) than the one that is closer to home. I bought a Debbie Mumm Christmas teapot that was discounted 70%, picked up a sweet Valentine dish that was discounted 40% and then found a box of 26 spools of Gutermann thread that (after my coupon) I only spent $15 to purchase. Whoo eee! The tread colors are so pretty and I will use them to quilt small things like table runners and small wall hangings that just are not big enough to go to trouble to put on the longarm frame.

Anyway, next stop was Kohl's. I love that store! Mom bought some clothing, Julie bought a decorative apothecary jar for the beach house and I bought a beautiful mercury glass tea light holder. It was in the Christmas clearance stuff (at 80% off!!) but is the silvery mercury glass so I can use it year round. (Looks lovely on my coffee table!)

Next was lunch at Red Robin. I LOVE the tuna steak sandwich on focaccia bread. Extremely yummy! Julie and I always get that and Mom decided to try it as well. Another convert!

Last stop was the Pfaltzgraff outlet in Hershey. CLEARANCE SALE! I could have spent so much money, however, I restrained myself. I do not need that Autumn/Thanksgiving china that was 75% off...no, I don't need it but I want it! I have an addiction to china. I have more china than anyone I know and I still feel the need to acquire. (I think there may be something seriously wrong with me!) To pacify the bad girl inside of me, I bought a couple of small serving pieces that I can use with my own white china at Thanksgiving and since they were on clearance, I really had to buy them.

So, we zipped home and I went over to Julie's to help her do the borders on the wall hanging she did for her beach home. We loaded it on the frame and she started to quilt with a very beautiful variegated YLI thread. She started a large loopy meander and the thread started breaking every 8 inches or so. We re-threaded and it broke. We pulled out the bobbin and re-threaded and it broke. We checked for burrs on the needle...none. We loosened up the tension and it broke. She slowed down her stitching and, again, it broke. Julie hit the frustration wall so we decided to call it a day. I think she wanted to take it to the shore this weekend to hang so she most likely took it off the frame and did the outside border on her Viking. I am going over to the spring house today and take everything apart, grease it up and see if that cures the problem. YLI may just not be the thread to use.

I need to get caught up on the "quilt along" with Amanda Jean so that is going to top my list of things to do today. I think I will also start cutting the pieces for the mystery quilt I am hosting on Superbowl Sunday. My last big task planned for today is to find a spot in my kitchen for my new (to me) dishwasher. My niece is moving and needs to get rid of her portable dishwasher so that is coming to my place today. I am nearly giddy with excitement! Who ever heard of a 1200 sq ft apartment without a dishwasher?! It never occurred to me to look for one when I signed my lease. I love where I live so I don't complain (too often) about the lack of a dishwasher unless I have company and then I hate doing dishes and pots and all that mess. Takes FOREVER after everyone leaves and I hate when my guests want to help with dishes. So now I will have a dishwasher and Thanksgiving next year will be so much easier!

Long winded today! Think I need to get moving and actually do something!!

Grammy Time...

Just a quickie post...We got back from our little trip to Virginia last evening. We (my parents and I) had a great time visiting with my sons and celebrating my grandson, Alex's, 3rd birthday. He is such a cutie pie and makes me laugh! He loves it when I make up little songs and sing them quietly into his ear. It is just so sweet when he starts singing along. Maybe it is because I am the mother of sons but this little boy melts my heart!

I popped into 2 quilting shops in the Tidewater area. I bought a 1/2 yard of Moda Roman Holiday blue tone on tone and a fat quarter of a beautiful fabric from England. Wish they would have had some real yardage of that fabric because it is beautiful!

No sewing until the weekend...my time is promised to other projects and other people.

Tagged

OK - I was "tagged" by Rhonda and I am supposed to tag 7 other people but everyone I read has been tagged in the past month or so. Bummer! Here are 7 weird or interesting (!) things most folks don't know about me.

1. I don't like fruits to touch...like in fruit salad. I don't like the blending of the juices or whatever. Blech!
2. I can touch the tip of my nose with my tongue (and can also make a knot in a cherry stem with my tongue but that is probably more than you EVER wanted to know!)
3. I can blow air out of my eyes.
4. I have not had my natural hair color for about 35 years (OMG - how old AM I?)
5. My favorite color is blue however I have nothing in my decor that would indicate that and I rarely wear blue.
6. I went to 5 different second grade classes (yes, all in the same year!) I was an Army brat and my father was in flight school when I was seven.
7. The smell of bougainvillea sap (like when the bushes are trimmed) makes me nauseous.

There you go!

Here it is!!

Here is my "Field of Snow Geese"...

(For the record, I photographed it at work since I cannot find my camera anywhere!)

We put it on the frame on Saturday and after 3 hours of trying to figure out what the heck we were doing, the quilt was done. I went home, attached the binding and did the handwork last night. Julie put her quilt on yesterday around lunchtime and we are taking that one off as soon as I get home this afternoon.

Loading the quilt was a scream (literally) but we managed to "giterdun". Using the longarm was great fun and it was nice to finally have something finished. Here's a little closeup of the quilting. I just meandered since that is something I know how to do!

Shopping Fool

My best quilty friend, Pam, and I went to Sauder's Fabric in Denver (Pennsylvania) yesterday. They were having a sale...a major sale. Turns out the "truck load" sale meant you had to buy full bolts of fabric but the savings was significant. Most of the bolts had 15 yards and at 3.95 a yard it was a heck of a bargain but I would never use that much fabric in a quilt and I rarely use the same fabric more than once or twice so we passed on those. They had 5 yard bolts of VIP fabric for 2.95 a yard but VIP quality is marginal, at best, so we passed on those. Where we hit the mother lode was in with the regular fabric that they had moved to the clearance section. Those fabrics were already marked down to between 2.95 and 4.95 a yard. They were discounting $1 off per yard plus an additional 10%. I bought Robert Kaufman, Hoffman, Benartex and P&B fabrics. Mostly they were fabrics that were introduced several seasons ago so I guess they were just cleaning out their stock. Lucky us! I bought fabric for quilt backs...lots of that...and also pieces of fabric that I just liked. (I am the princess of pretty, girly fabric!)

In a fit of madness, I decided to host a Mystery Quilt gathering on Super Bowl Sunday. I picked out the most darling free pattern from the internet (I am soooo cheap!) and we should be able to complete all the sewing (and maybe event the quilting) while we are together. It's a table runner but not your average runner. More after February 3rd!

This weekend my "Geese in the Snow" quilt goes on the longarm. I am excited and nervous. I know that I am just going to meander...nothing jazzy...for my first time out. This is a quilt for me so it is perfect for this first attempt. I have had this quilt in the closet for 18 months so I am more than ready to get it finished!

Liar, liar...

I SAID I was going to participate in the NYE Mystery Quilt. I have the fabric (after much deliberation). I had to work in the morning but planned to come home, start the process and go hint by hint just the way the rules tell you to play. "Rules"...that's the problem. I hate rules! So, I cheated. Yes, I said it, I cheated! I looked ahead and thanks be that I did. I would have loathed the quilt. I have beautiful fabric that I intended to use that would make a gorgeous winter lap quilt. The mystery quilt has a theme when you start putting all the parts and pieces together. There are large pieced hearts all over the quilt. Now, I will do hearts and in some quilts and with some fabrics I know I would like them. This fabric simply does not lend itself to hearts. Because I am cheap (!), I poked around the internet and found a free quilt pattern that I will use today.

I need to sew! I made a fleece cape in chocolate brown for Emily to wear on Christmas Eve over her brown velvet Christmas dress, a large flannel bag for storing my sister's folding table and that's it. I did not work on my parent's Christmas quilt at all. We all gathered here on the 30th for a soup and sandwich meal that I always host after Christmas. I truly had intended to have the quilt finished by then but just could not find the time. I told my parents that since we are Episcopalian, I am opting to celebrate all 12 days of Christmas and they will have their gift by Ephiphany!

Now that I have made the proclamation that I need to sew, I better get hopping! I hope everyone had a safe New Year's Eve and wish all a joyful New Year!!