The good and the bad

It's been a while since I have been here. I have meant to pop on a few times over the last couple of weeks but things just seem to get in the way. Some good things like playing with my new machine. Here it is A Husqvarna Topaz 20. I have been playing around with this and made a bunch of shirts for my friend. We are bowling in honor of her Mom and so I placed her company logo on some shirts and then our names underneath. She will iron on a In Memory of Logo on the back.

And the bad. My grandfather passed away at the beginning of the week. He had a long wonderful life but that doesn't make losing him any less hard. Plus after 48 hours without sleep most of the time was spent in the hospital it left me wide open to what ever is going around and I caught it.

I have decided to sign up for another swap. This one at Four Seasons it is a winter based swap. Here is the fabric I have picked out for this. It is so much easier to find fabric they screams winter. I already have the pattern all picked out and will start it in Sept.

Good Ol Summer Time Swap Done!

I signed up for a summer Mini Swap called The Good Ol' Summertime Mini Swap . I have really enjoyed making this quilt. I am not so sure about this fabric reading summer. I have decided that Spring, Fall and Winter all have colors that scream their season. I do not think that is the case with summer unless you want to make a beach scene which I did not want to do.

Now the back is a different story. I am sure that the back screams summer loud and clear. This is my mullet quilt. Business in the front and party in the back. I can't say where I am sending this as it is a secret partner swap. This quilt is square you just can't tell by the pick .

Now to get ready for my next swap. This is winter so it should be a lot easier.

Great Trip but Good to be Home

Few things warm the heart more than the word road trip!!!! What is one to do but pack up the sewing machine hop in the car of a good friend(Neen) and hit the road. We spent an extended weekend at our dear friend Howdy's house. Quilters came from all directions to eat and shop and sew and shop. It was great. I entered her house with fabric and came home with a completed top and it is already loaded on the machine to be quilted. I will post a pic as soon as it is off the machine. Did I mentioned we shopped?

I did say few things warm the heart more than a road trip. However nothing warms the heart more than returning home to your family. I walked in to a clean yes I did say clean house. A freshly painted bathroom and best of all what you see below.

Hmmm maybe I should leave more often. I do need the hall painted.LOL

Mice and Monsters

Help I have created some monsters. My girls have been calling me at work every day to know if we are going to sew when I get home. As soon as we start sewing the complaints start. They really don't like their machines. I have tried their machines and I have to say that I agree with them. There is only one speed on these things and it is full speed ahead which is very hard to control.

Nothing like a little dinner at the mall. I decided while we were there we might as well check out Sears and see what they had for machines. These are just like the machine that I first started out with. The presser foot is so smooth and the speed very easy to control. My old one still works 13 years later even though I have long ago upgraded. I think they seem very happy with their new machines. Don't you?

And here it is all set up and ready to roll. Isn't it pretty. The girls are in my sewing room giving their machines a good work out as I type. They have decided they want to enter their quilts in a show.

As I am jogging yesterday I look up and see a mouse watching. This mouse does not run away. This mouse is not scared of me. This mouse comes from a large family. How do I know this. Because this is about the 15th mouse we have killed in this house. Well okay my cat got this one. This was the last straw though. I got off the treadmill and called Orkin. They could come today. GREAT!!!! Oh wait you can't even move in my sewing room let alone catch mice. And so the cleaning began. I cleaned for over 8 hours. Look I forgot there was even a cutting mat on this table let alone three of them.

Look at all these nice empty surfaces. They all use to be piled high with fabric. I didn't think to take a before pic.

This is just half of the trash. A truck full had already been sent to the dump before I snapped the pics. If I haven't touched it in a month then it was thrown out! While I don't like having Mr. Mouse he sure did get my butt in gear to clean.

What's on My Wall?

It is time for Judy's "What's on your Wall" Monday again. Not much has happened on my design wall this week. The braided quilt has come down now that the top is completed. The new quilt on the wall will get quilted this week then I will quilt the braided quilt.

Here is a close up. This was done at a Quilt til you Wilt all night sew. It was a blast but it was also quite a few years ago. It is time to get it done!

First EVER Quilt Show

What a great weekend so far. The sun actually came out. It rained 22 days in June and July was trying to go for the same record.

I called my dear friend(My sister in a past life) to come and spend the night at the camp and go to a quilt show with me and the girls the next day. What a great night. We had dinner on the beach and then chilled with some movies.

And then today was my girls FIRST EVER Quilt Show!!!!! They were so excited. I had them pick out their favorite quilt and I took their picks in front of them.

Her is my little vet in front of her favorite quilt. Plus I has to buy the pattern cause she wants to make one now!

Then my little artist decided this is the quilt she wanted her pick taken in front of.but she also wants to make a Bargello Quilt.
They took to the shopping with no problem. Didn't even care if Mom was near until it was time to pay the bill. They new how much they were allowed to get and wanted to make sure they picked out the perfect fabric.

I think they may have liked the shopping more than the quilts.

We all managed to find something we loved. My SIPL bought us all a piece of fabric i honor of the girls first quilt show and here is what she got us and herself. Left to right. Me, artist, vet and SIPL.

Of course we ended up with a lot more than that. Here is what my little vet ended up with. They were told to stick to some tone on tones because they keep stealing mine. And her new quilt pattern.

And my artist. Of course she had to get some red! And was told to stick to some tone on tones as well.

Then I couldn't pass up this fabric. This would go great in a little girls quilt.

I am sad to say that the evening is over and my SIPL had to go home. I was very sad to see her pulling away. I was very tempted to run after her :-(

And for anyone following Judy's "Whats on your wall Monday" My braid quilt top is finished and ready to go on the machine. I will need to take a better picture in the day light.

A Sewing Family

To break up the summer a little I signed the kids up for a few sewing classes. Darling Husband thought the last thing they would want to do during the summer was sew. Well as this turns out to be the rainiest summer in history and we've only hit the 80's once and that was in May, this ended up being a great idea. First up was pillow cases! I don't have pics :-( of theirs. Will get some pics when they come home tomorrow. I love the way they did them. Here is a pic of the one I made.

Look at how nice the inside looks. No raw edges and no hand sewing to cover up the raw edges.

Today was aprons. Don't they look cute. Our little artist used potato fabric and the whirlwind went with animals. Our vet used blueberry plants. They are all so cute. And it gave the sitter a few hours of time that she didn't have to think about what to do to occupy them.