November 6: Sunday Stuff

Went to church this morning and had two great cantors with guitar.  Even sang one of my favorites - Amazing Grace.  Love starting the morning that way.

Right after church we made a quick trip to Kevin's school to look at a few examples of woods and combinations.  Kevin and I are taking a 4-day workshop together.  Each of us will build our own Shaker style hall table  I have used a couple of power tools in the past with close supervision from Kevin.  This time, I am going to be checking out all the aspects of being a novice in such a class. The class runs from Nov. 17-20.  I will post some stuff as we go.  Once Kevin has his shop up and running in South Dakota, he plans to do some workshop events, so this will be research of sorts.

Also checked out how my quilting side table is coming along.  Everything but the two drawers are finished.  The top has not been attached but I still snapped a few photos.  When the table is photographed professionally, I will share those photos to because this is one COOL top.

When we got home, I finished quilting the second quilt. Then the afternoon was spent doing other things, but I did get the binding attached in the afternoon.

We stopped at REI to look at snowshoes.  We learned quite a bit and even found out that they have some Sunday walks where we can rent the snowshoes to find out if we really want to invest.  Now we just need to wait for the snow.  I have plenty to do so the snow can hold off for a little while.

This was probably one of our least expensive weekend  in recent history.  Did a few errands and got our flu shots.  On the way home I tried once again to capture some fun artwork off I-89.  I will get a better photo, now that we know which exit we need, but wanted to share. Can't really stop, so I just have to be better prepared next time.

November 5: What I Did Today

Kevin and I slept in and then went to a church bazaar down the street.  It was a bit chilly, but my gloves were warm.  We made to small purchases and chatted with the grandma of a Navy Seal.  She was so tickled that Kevin recognized the pendant she was wearing.  The jelly is cider.  The scarf is really a steel blue variegated and will be worn with a couple of my turtlenecks.  (Warm neck seems to make the rest of me warn as well.)

Began my sewing by making two balls of binding for quilts that will be quilted by Monday if not sooner.  Decided to take advantage of having so much working space, so the Bernina stayed in the kitchen.  Might be there all week, so that each time I finish quilting a quilt I can quickly attached the binding.

Changed my plans about noon.  Decided to do the two quilts for Dad this weekend.  The bindings are made and the quilting of one is complete.  Attached one binding and will work on it tonight.  Photos when finished with both.

November 4: Piecing Backs, ETC

Had a very enjoyable evening yesterday.  I joined my friend Connie for craft night at her church.  The other women were very welcoming and happy to share their talents.  Laughter and good conversation ruled the evening, but I did get quite a bit of needle punch done, too. I know that I talked more than I probably needed to or should have, but lots of times I just can't or don't seem to monitor my motormouth.  Even so, I learned a lot of things from others, so maybe I did not totally monopolize the floor. (Wonder if Connie will have enough guts to tell me or pinch me if I do too much talking next time she hangs out with me.)

Finished piecing backs and trimming threads today.  That means that I am ready for some long hours at the HQ.  Some days I don't think I accomplish much, but I do have a number of quilts lined up, and there are no quilting fairies dropping by, so I must be the one stitching, right?

This mess is the start of laying out my turquoise quilt which will be quilted using Angel Wings from Willow Leaf Studios.  I am hoping to be even  more successful with this one believing that practice is what is needed.  I have another small quilt ready to do this design one more time this week.  I know I am almost out of week, but I think I can finish both before I blog on Monday.  Then they will go into the binding pile for a while so I can finish up two others for Dad and work on the t-shirt quilt, as well.





This one will be done on my regular machine.
In the ditch is easier for me that way.



I am going to use my circular groovy board
on these three quilts. .



The purple flowered quilt will be done in Angel  Wings.
The other one will be done with a abstract flower.  My goal
 is to  use the pantographs and really become confident
 in the use of them.

Week 2: T-shirt Quilt

No, this is not an ironing segment, but rather an oops! thing.  I use my iron for clothing wrinkles and for quilting.  The bottom is always bright and shining.  However, I made a mistake.  I have been using fusible interface and a pressing cloth this past week, but when I started putting the t-shirt squares with partial borders on, I simply forgot to use the pressing cloth on the back side.  The blocks have no issues, but the residue from the fusible really took a toll on the iron.  I used a special cleaner for the bottom---Not once but three times!  This iron is looking better, but it now has a label on it saying use only for interface and wood projects.    We bought a new one in our travels on Sunday.



Saturday, October 29:

Kevin spent the day working on some projects at school.  I finally settled in and got the top pieced, with the exception of the outer border.  Took about 5 hours.  Maybe I was dinking, though because it does not seem it should have taken that long for so few seams.

The top is laying on a queen size bed.  It is going on a full-size one, so the borders are going to be 7 inches wide, or about 1/2 the width of the blocks.

Plan is to cut the borders on Monday, but that is all.  Because of my lack of sewing table space in the studio, Kevin and I will haul the machine and it's table into the kitchen on Tuesday and I will attach the borders and piece the back out there.  After that, the quilt will be ready for quilted, so don't expect to much updating for the rest of the week.  Several other quilting projects are in the que ahead of it.

Tuesday, November 1:
Decided that I would take the front patches from the t-shirts and combine them to make a long pillow cover to place the actual quilt it for storage. The white shirt has an open pocket where my friend can tuck a special note to her daughter.  I really cut up the two pieced t-shirt blocks so substituted a plain blue and a plain yellow to give the correct number of blocks.  I am hoping that there will be enough border fabric left for the back, but at least I have a plan.  Used the same fusible woven interfacing on these blocks.  After I finished, I needed to clean off the iron again, but now that is a designated iron, I don't care too much that it is not all shiny and clean.  Whole process took about 3 hours, including the iron cleaning.

Friday, November 4:

Did not mean to let so many days pass before I worked on the t-shirt quilt again, but I am still ahead of schedule so it works.  Today the bindings are cut and ready to add.  Looks like I will have plenty of binding material to put a back on the pillow.  The reason I do have the extra is because I actually able to cut the t-shirt blocks larger than originally planned.  Tonight I am going to have Kevin assist me with moving around the sewing machine and it's table.  Should not take long to get the border on.  This weekend I plan to load it on the HQ and meander the whole thing.  The t-shirts are the focus of this quilt not the quilting.
Should be working on the binding by the middle of the week even with the other projects that are in the works.
The borders needed to be pieced, so then measured through the middle of the quilt for two of the edges.  The others will be fitted when I have the first 2 border edges sewn down.  The ironing, cutting, and piecing took about 40 minutes.  Not certain how long it will take to do the edges, but I will record the time tomorrow.

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.

November 2: Happy 4th Birthday, Dean!

Happy

4th

Birthday,

Dean!

Today, my grandson Dean turns 4.  He loves birthdays and everything that goes with them.   I made the rag quilt for this young man.  He told me it was just what he wanted. He saw the animal blocks that his great-grandpa had stitched and he told me that he knew that was the quilt he was getting.  We negotiated and decided it would be his birthday quilt.  Since he loves all quilts, I am guessing he is being very sincere.

We skyped this morning and I sang the birthday song twice.  His grin was huge.  We talked about all his presents and everything that had already happened today.  He loves Transformers, Star Wars, anything to do with animals, and information about all our presidents (Knows all of them and has a few details to share about each.) Somehow his parents managed to find presents to cover everything.  He got up at 4:00 AM to have his birthday breakfast.  He said he did not want to miss any of his birthday.   His mom said that he listed 4 different kinds of desserts he wanted, so she made all of them.  They are having company, so guess he will have to share.
Later this evening we will skype again so that Grandpa can also sing and have ice cream with Dean. 

November 1: 2 Months in Vermont

We have already been in Vermont for 2 months.  Seems hard to believe.  Time is flying by.

 Kevin is enjoying all parts of his classes**, even errors.  He says he is learning a great deal and confirming things he was already doing.  It amazes me to hear all the joy in his voice as he talks about his various classes and learning experiences.

**Disclaimer here:  He does not really love the soreness of his thumb and that region of his hand after planing for hours, but he thinks over time it will toughen up.

Today, I pieced backs for quilts, so I really have nothing to show.  But I had a lot of time for thinking about our time in Vermont and what I want to have happen.

I am finding that I need to work more on focus simply because I have found so many things that I want to accomplish while we are here.  Seems that most of the mornings are gone before I ever really get into the studio to quilt.  I am trying to block out time for my daily meditation, exercise, housework, reading, and hand stitching.  Then I feel torn because I am not getting as much piecing and quilting done as I had hoped.  In the past Kevin might have said "Finish one thing before you start the next."  However, he has learned that when doing woodworking he needs to have several projects going so that he can have "wait time" while things dry or set-up.  Therefore, he seems to think it is okay to do what I can each day.  So, I have created another list of things that I want to do, have to do, and probably should do.  (There is always that "have-to-do list that will not wait - Problem with it is that it seems to need repeating every few days.)

I designated 2011 as the year that I will get this body back to a normal weight and increase my fitness level to that of a much younger woman or at least not such an old lady.  I have about 8 1/2 weeks left to do the weight portion and believe that I am committed to making it happen.  Exercise has never been my strong suit, but I know I am already much stronger and more flexible than I have been in years. Recently, I have really been challenging myself on the Bosu Ball and gaining my balance. (My grandson Henry, 2 years old, has never had any difficulty balancing on this thing, but he is closer to the ground and never taken the falls I have.)  With the weight loss and all the exercise, I don't seem to be nearly as klutzy as I have been over the years!!!!  Still planning to find snowshoes for the winter, but probably not until Kevin starts his winter break in the middle of December.  (Better ask Connie if Vermont ever has snow by then.  tee-hee!)  I have started using Leslie's walking tapes again with the daily goal of at least 2 miles but aiming for 5 before the end of November and am actually proud of the fact that I work up a sweat.

How to use my quilting time is a biggy!

• One of my quilting goals has been to finish up quilts using Dad's embroidered blocks.  There are still some waiting to be created, but I think I have done a pretty good job of finishing many into tops.  This week I plan to quilt two more.
• I finally have my HQ set up like it needs to be and plan to practice with a purpose at least a few times each week.  I have a number of comfort quilt tops and backs ready to get me started.
• There are other quilts that I have all the materials to complete, as well.  Kevin also picked out two since we left Minnesota, so I really have NO REASON to shop for anything but backs and batting, right?
• Well, there is another quilt that needs to be made, but I am waiting for Amanda to give me a little more color input before I start her wedding quilt.  I know one color is peacock, but I have no clue about the rest.  I do have a pattern in mind if the color is right.
• I also have two quilts that I really believe I can get hand quilted before we leave Vermont, but I am leaving them sit until January.  Figured I would ask for a frame for Christmas - one made out of plastic tubing and sold at Joann's  (Hint for Christmas Hint!  Hint!)

Big Question: 
How many people really have the freedom I have to do this?