November 3: Panto Effort Plus

Angel Wings from Willow Leaf Studios

I do more free style than pantographs, but I am determined to improve my skills with pantos and with groovy boards.  Therefore,  I bought some DVDs from HandiQuilter. Yesterday, I watched one dedicated to pantographs.  I learned a number of things and actually feel that I had more success than failure on this little quilt.  I am going to use the panto 2 more times this week to improve what I am doing.  My biggest problem with pantos in the past was getting the next row lined up so that I did not have any gap.  Using the tips on the DVD I think that I managed to avoid leaving the gaps.  There were some other errors, such as missing the point or not getting the curve smooth, but I think they can be attributed to needing more practice doing this particular design and pantographs in general..  Probably should have done a little more finger tracing of the design too since I got mixed up twice with direction.  However, overall I am happy with this first effort.

Beyond quilting:

One of the activities we have decided to do to get us out of our chairs is to do action games on the Wii.  Monday was bowling, I was high score for one game and Kevin was high score for the other two.  However, I did win the cribbage game that night so I feel we balanced each other.  Last night I was not nearly so talented or maybe two talented becuase I had a lot of splits, and I even threw a few curved balls, but we did laugh pretty hard, so...........

Tuesday evening I spent time with Connie.  She wais knitting a sweater and I worked on one of my needle punch designs.  I am betting that we laughed and talked more than we worked, but I came home with a huge smile.  Today, Sandi came over and we chatted about quilting, Vermont, and life. She sure knows how to make me feel welcomed into her friendship.   Between the two of my new friends I must say I spend a great deal of our time laughing, but in both cases we also have some serious discussions.  I am truly blessed to have found these two unique, wonderful women!

Tonight I am going with Connie to her church's craft group while Kevin works at the school.  Don't know what to expect, but I am sure of one thing, the ride to and from will bring more laughter and thought into my life.