Weekend Project

So, when I wasn't busy sewing my finger, this is what I did this weekend.

This is a new pattern by Laura Denison. I've made several of her other bags and totes and just love them all. I have some ideas for doing this one again in the near future.

Did You Know...

.....that a Pfaff sewing machine has the ability to sew right through your finger, nail and all?!?

I came running upstairs to find The Bearded one with this sticking through my fingertip. He couldn't see it at first because of the blood I was dripping.....

See, from this side you can hardly even tell where it was......

But, from this side.......

Now that it's all said and done, I'm medicating myself with some Crown Royal. Typing isn't easy when you have a big 'ol bandaid wrapped around your middle finger.....luckily no blood was shed on the project I was working on. And no, I have NO IDEA how I managed to do this. I do know that i pulled another piece of the needle out of the top half of my finger before running upstairs for help with the tip.....

Thanks Terry!

A couple weeks ago Terry, over at Atkinson Designs was cleaning her studio and giving away leftovers from her beach quilt. Being a March baby and a Pisces, these leftovers were colors that really appealed to me. And guess what, I was the lucky winner! Aren't they just yummy!

I lover Terry's choice of colors and I almost have enough to make my own quilt. I might have to add just a few more. Besides Terry's wonderful choice of pallette for her beach quilt she is a talented quilt designer with a great line of patterns and books. I have made many of her patterns and we won't even talk about how many YBR's I've made over the years!

The Best Things in Life are Quilted!

Friday evening I had the opportunity to go to Bonnie Hunter's trunk show and talk. What an an amazing artist she is! She is the most talented, funny, inspiring and giving quilter I've ever made. She shares her ideas and quilts on her amazing website: www.quiltville.com . If you're new to quilting or haven't yet discovered Bonnie's website, I urge you to take the time to go check it out. Just don't blame me if you're there for quite awhile.

I only wish I had been able to take one of her workshops. Unfortunately they were sold out before I even knew she would be in the area. This was the first time she's been on the west coast so despite the fact it was an hour away, I jumped at the chance to go.

Thank you Bonnie for a great evening and for being so willing to share your passion with the rest of us. The Best Things in Life really are Quilted!

Having Fun!

I happened to catch one of the Saturday quilting programs that demo'd a kaleidoscope kreator program. I had totally forgotten about it until this morning when I read Pat Sloan's blog where she linked to yet another blog with these really cool design your own Keds. They were just too cool. So, I downloaded the kaleidoscope program and started having some fun -- way too much fun.

KD -- forgive me for playing with your picture -- if you thought your nosegays were pretty to begin with, check these out! I think you'll agree with me.

The program comes with a variety of shapes and then there's an add on program with even more shapes which I immediately went back and purchased also.

And of course I had to play with a picture of a certain little spotted guy.

I also played with some floral closeups.

The possibilities of combinations and shapes are amazing. You can flip and turn and resize the orignal photo. Tomorrow I'm going to print some of these on some fabric that's been treated with Bubble Jet Set. I have a few ideas.....

No You Can't Have Your Own FaceBook Page!

All right, all right -- I'll play the video for your again. Just don't get nose prints on my screen!



So, I was showing The Bearded One a video Pam posted of her two labs in the snow. One of them loves to do snow angels. As you can see, The Bearded One was not the only one watching the video.

Another Year

Well, another year has passed. At least this year wasn't as bad as last. Last year was a significant birthday -- you know, one of the ones ending in zero. Hate those. Last year I had decided that if I didn't celebrate, then I certainly couldn't be that old. It was also the first birthday since my mother had died. Well, nobody would just "let it pass". My wonderful quilting friends, the QB's moved up my birthday party because they really thought I wouldn't show up. They then proceeded to wrap all my FQ's in orange. And how could I possibly forget the foam rubber cake, iced and everything. Did you know that you can't easily cut a foam rubber cake? Anyway, this year was quite tame, rather quiet. I spent part of the day at Pat's with her spinning friends. Did you know that you can die wool in a crockpot with Wilton's icing dye?

The Bearded One isn't a good shopper. Over the years I've gotten used to doing my own shopping for him. This year I had told him I wanted a yarn swift. He said "a what"? It wasn't worth trying to explain so I saved him a trip to the yarn store and did his shopping for him last week. He left it sitting in the office, taunting me and wouldn't let me use it. This afternoon I decided enough was enough and it was time to put it to use. When I openend the it what do I find in the box? A crowbar! Nice guy! Luckily he decided not to try too hard to hide it. He claims he fully expected me to try to use it before now. (Shhh, we won't tell him that I did, obviously just before he swapped it out for the crowbar.)

Hey Janet -- no ORANGE this year -- yippee!

That Plaid

Remember how I mentioned that The Bearded One actually liked Hip 2B Green? Remember how I mentioned he said it would look really good in a green VW bay window bus? Remember how I said "no way". Well, just in case you were thnking I was being mean or something, I'll let you see why I feel that way.

See this plaid upholstery? This is just one of the reasons why you will never see one of these buses in my driveway. What are the other reasons, hhhmmm, let me count the why nots. Comfort, lack of heat, tacky, tacky upholstery, comfort -- I could go on and on but I think you get the picture. Besides, he's about to spend lots of $$$ to give his current bus a transplant.

Enough ranting, I think it's time to go do some quilting.

Hip 2B Green

Remember that kit that was just "calling my name" the other day at Sew Expo? Well, here it is! And, surprise, surprise -- the Bearded One actually likes it! He says it would look just dandy inside a lime green bay window VW bus! Humph! That's what HE thinks. Ain't no way one of those buses with that hideous green plaid will find it's way to our driveway.

The QB's that were with me Thursday will be surprised it's done -- or maybe not. And I didn't even work on it at all yesterday, Saturday. Instead I accompanied Ann down to Olympia to "look at" an HQ16. Yup, she bought one! She's pretty excited. I know she's gonna love it. I've had mine for almost 3 years now and don't regret the decision to purchase it.

So, now I guess I'd better finish Sally's QOV so I can load this one up and quilt it. I even purchased some lime green King Tut thread for it. I suppose I should see what's in the stash for the backing. Unfortunately there really isn't anything that would work with it. The Bearded One was once again trying to be helpful and suggested a nice ORANGE -- not!