The wonders of Packing...

I started packing for my trip last night. And freaking out because all this needs to fit in two bags, and a carry on! AUUGHH!

I mentioned that I was going to get some of those space bags. Let me tell you....THEY ARE AWESOME! They have this travel size that you don't need to have the vacuum to suck out the air....they are double zipped at the top, and you grasp the top, and roll it towards the bottom...there are one-way flow valves in the bottom that let OUT the air, but keep it from coming back in!

This is my coat! I know I need a warm coat there for evenings and mornings....and I didn't want to carry it on the plane, and it takes up A LOT of room in my luggage..so...voila! Suck the air out and here you have it! It's like..Coat-in-a-seal-a-meal!! Only these bags are reusable!

I can't go to Lucy's and not have a handwork project! I've seen so many pictures of her front living room and that comfy couch...now I'm going to be sitting on it enjoying the evening and her family and stitching on MY hexagons while she works on hers! (Or whatever she is working on!

Would you believe there are THREE quilts and their trimmings in the third space bag?! That batting holds a lot of air....Suck it all out and you have one small package! They might need to be dryer fluffed when we get there, but these would have nearly filled the suitcase by themselves if I didn't put them in a space bag!

This pic is of some goodies I'm taking to Lucy and her family. Other than the ballcap on top (for Pim) I don't think that she can tell what they are right now...they are all squooooooshed :c) Fun fun fun!
I also reamed the local goodwill store for a bunch of plaid shirts for her..all 100% cotton and NOT homespun. It's hard to find plaids that have an old look, but still that cotton feel, where homespun is really thick and ravelly, you know? So...I'm taking a bunch of shirts. Those are also packed into a space bag, along with 3 good sized samples of different battings for her....and it sucked out SO SMALL!

Now if I could only put space bags around my thighs and tummy and suck THOSE small too...wouldn't that be great? :c)

Bonnie

Testing New Camera

I have SIX days before I leave for Lucy's....It's time to master the new camera! I tell you, they need to make things SIMPLER instead of more complex! I love the size..but this is the first cam I've had where there is no eyehole to peek through to frame the shot..just the screen. I don't know why this is so difficult for me but it just is! All my life I've been looking through a peep hole, and it is a whole new skill to just align something in the screen on the back of the camera without putting it up to my eye!

So far I have loaded the software....taken a couple test shots, and uploaded them to the computer. I know for quilt pics I need to figure out where all the gadgets and settings are for doing things like turning off flash, and chosing the image size, etc. But for this test pic..I'm pleased! I went to upload it and found it was already the perfect size for uploading to the web! Usually they are 22" wide or something and I have to size them down. Whooowhoo...I'm liking this cam already!

This pic is of my old Kitty....Oliver, otherwise known as Ollie Boy. He is about 10 or 11 years old, and getting that old man grey peppery look to his fur coat..he was jet black other than a few select white spots on his feet....Now he is flecked with white hairs. Makes him look distinguished, huh? :c)

I'm meeting a friend for lunch at Olive Garden at 12:30. I'm hitting UPS and the Bank as well. Not planning on going into the massage clinic today unless I get a call in...Mondays are usually slow. THANK HEAVENS!

Bonnie

Squares & Spirals!

I had fun playing yesterday with the spiral template from Circle Lord. Sometimes I get busy doing my own thing, and forget how cool these templates can be if I would just remember to USE THEM!? I have templates that I bought with good intentions, completely...and they have yet to be tried. Maybe the right quilt just hasn't come along yet.

The spirals can be done either as a single spiral with the lines farther apart, or you can double stitch it, so the stiching is closer together..In this quilt I alternated double spirals with single ones to give a fun texture to the quilt..I filled in the corners of the blocks with flaming "stuff" I don't know what else to call it, not really enough room to do mc tavishing.....just kind of sunflower petals or flames.

It was hard to get a pic of this that would show the detail, but I hope you can get an idea!

I've got THREE more quilts to do before leaving for Lucy's on Saturday. Talk about nose to the grindstone...or is that quiltstone? These three quilts are going to a customer who lives in Amsterdam, so she is getting personal delivery service from me! Hmmmm...I wonder if this means I can write my miles and my airflight off as a business expense? :c)

Bonnie

Long Time, No Post!

Oh you guys...life has completely run away with me and I don't know which way is up! Working at the massage clinic has taken over everything, and it is great and exciting. Yesterday I had the priviledge of working on an Olympic Gold Medalist! I was SO nervous, but she was so great. She has a meet this weekend at Clemson, and we needed to get all the toxins and lactic acid flushed out of her leg muscles so she is able to compete at her best tomorrow. I enjoyed her so much! So that's the kind of exciting thing that has been going on here.

I leave for Lucy's one week from TOMORROW!! Have I packed? NO! I'm quilting customer quilts like crazy so that no one is waiting on me when I get back.

I bought a new camera, would you believe I haven't even had time to load the software in my computer? I took the following pics with my old camera because I didn't want to stop and do all that with the new one yet. I've got a week to learn to use it! *LOL*


I'm posting a pic of a customer quilt...there were two identical ones. I thought this was a GREAT pattern for signature blocks! She used 5" squares of red prints, all different red prints...and then the signature blocks were 5" X 2.5" I believe, she put it all together basket weave fashion. I thought it might look fun scrappy too, if anyone needs an idea for a signature quilt...This one has ease of construction, and definately possibilities.

These belong to an "older" (Oh I hope she doesn't read my blog) gal, and she still does not use rotory cutters! I showed her how I used mine, and she said "This old gal is too old to learn new tricks". She learned to quilt with scissors, and scissors it is. When she brought me the tops they didn't have borders on them...I offered to add the borders for her because she didn't know exactly how she was going to cut 2" strips with scissors and have them straight, and her tops were a bit wibbly wobbly. Adding the borders squared them up and stabilized them a bit better.

The quilt also has a musical theme, being centered around black gospel quartets and their members, promoters, church members, too...so the outside border (and backing fabric) is that fun sheet music print you've probably all seen before. It just doesn't photograph very well. I had fun reading all the signatures and quotes and imagining the great southern black gospel music ringing through these churches. I've always wanted to go hear that. I love quartet music!

The only dang thing I still need to do is add hanging sleeves to the back. I FORGOT! Which means that I don't have the ease of sewing one edge into the binding...and only having to stitch one side to the back...I'm going to have to stitch both sides to the back and not into the binding because the binding is DONE! It's machine topstitched binding, and I'm not picking it out to insert a hanging sleeve under it.

So that's the kind of stuff that is going on here! Nothing really super exciting in the way of my own quilts, but sometimes life just goes on day by day in it's own normal routine, and that is okay too. Can't have excitement every day, right?

Bonnie

The Prom...

The prom went off without a hitch as far as I know...Jeff is still sleeping, and I haven't gotten the run-down from him yet, as if he's likely to tell me!

I arrived here after running to the clinic to squeeze in an afternoon massage client, to find his date already here. They were watching something on TV....This is the first time Jeff has ever had to wear a tuxedo, and man...he looked so handsome! So grown up!

The table was already set with the good china. The potatoes were already baking. I left instructions to turn them on at 4:30. DH started the steaks, I began to make salads, heat rolls, cook veggies, and saute the shrimp.

They ate by candlelight and I served them their dinner on my great grandmother's engish china. I think they had a good time, even if it wasn't a restaurant. We took pics before all the light was gone outside. Lily's mom picked them up after dinner to chauffer them to the Prom. From the prom they were being transported back to the school for the "after prom" all nighter that the school puts on. They actually keep all the kids participating INSIDE so there is no hanky panky and no drunk driving going on on prom night.

The school is only two blocks away, and the one thing I can complain about is that every hour they were making announcements over the loud speaker that I could hear from my HOUSE through the open windows! ARGHG! It was nice knowing that the kids were there having a good time, but what a pain for all the houses in the neighborhoods that surround the school to have to listen to that all night?

The plan was that when the school opened the doors to let everyone home about 5am, that they would go out to breakfast at waffle house and then come home. I don't think they ever made it to waffle house because Jeff came in about 5am and straight to bed he went and he is still there now. I guess that means that he really had a good time, plenty of food at the afterprom at the school, and he is TIRED! I'll get the full story after he wakes up and is coherent again.

The Tux jacket we rented has to go back between 1pm and 6pm today....which reminds me that I've got some DVD's to take back...and since the time changed last night, I'm already late on returning them. DANG! OH well. Such is life!

Bonnie

I fell into that wild vortex called LIFE!

You guys must be considering my blog as a real DUD anymore! Where did all her fun posts and pics of her projects in progress go?? Do you know I haven't sewn anything of my own since.....since....heck, I'd have to check my OWN archives to find out. I have finished the binding on the leader/ender strippy. The sleeve STILL remains to be sewn down..it wouldn't take more than an hour, but it's an hour I just can't make myself do right now.

The sinus thing is finally about to subside I think.....not so clogged anymore, just a bit drippy, which is much preferred over clogged! *sniff sniff*

I've been working on customer quilts hard and heavy....I want everything cleared up for when I go see Lucy 3 weeks from SATURDAY! YES! So if I've had time...it's been on someone else's quilt, not my own. Understandable....and good too, because starting May, my student loans have to start being paid back. Oh Joy! When I haven't been quilting for someone else, I've been working at the massage clinic. I'm happy to report that I've more than made my rent this month! I'm going to be gone the last week of April, so I won't be able to count on that week's income to cover my rent for May, so there is just a whole lot of shuffling going on here trying to get ALL the bases covered.

Jeff's prom is Saturday. We have reached compromises. He has done chores for money...he and his girlfriend SPLIT the cost of the tickets (which I thought was fair since SHE asked HIM to the dance)and they are having dinner here at the house. We are going to grill them a steak dinner, baked potato, salad, rolls, veggies, and dessert....set the table with the good china and candles. This compromise came about because he didn't get a job to have enough money to take her to a fancy place, and I refuse to pay for his dates in that way.

All we had to rent for him was the tux jacket...he has Jason's old tux pants/shirt/bowtie/cumberbund/shoes from when he was in jazz band. It will do. Jeff owes me about 3 GOOD carwashes for the jacket rental. We will take our own pics....I'm not paying for the photographer, that isn't my job either. So it has been a whole lot of compromise around here. He's still not happy about it, but it's better than nothing, and at least he has made an effort for part of it.

The pic is of a customer's quilt I just quilted with the fabulous fans templates by circlelord. I'm just posting it for eye candy so you have something to look at and know that I HAVE been quilting here, even if it hasn't been on my own stuff! And I'm still alive and breathing.. :c)

Bonnie

Quilting On Drugs....*LOL*

What started out as a simple allergy bout has grown into a full fledged attack on my sinuses! AUUUUGHHHH! I'm doing everything I can to keep hydrated, and keep my sinuses dried up so they don't go into the dreaded sinus infection stage, but I'm not sure if I'm winning, or if the stuffy sinuses are! Pressure, headache, hard to breathe...

Antihistamines and decongestants make me woozy.....so I needed something to quilt that was not too painstakingly precise. I also need to stay caught up on customer quilts because I already fell a bit behind while Jason and Shanon were here (understandable)and I don't want to get farther behind when I leave for my trip to visit Lucy on April 22nd! Yes...less than a MONTH!! (we are counting down sleeps :c)

I've been asked before what some of my favorite pantographs are, and though I don't do a lot of them, there are times when they really fit a customer's budget and can look great on a quilt. It also works really well when I'm under the influence of decongestants..*LOL* I just plug in the headphones, listening to the lastest crime novel on MP3, and away I go!

This is one of my faves...It's called "Feathers All Over" by Deb Geissler. The feathers flow and twist and turn and it is impossible to tell where one row starts after another row ends, so you don't get that 'blank line' that can sometimes happen in between rows of stitching when doing pantos. The design is not too big and open, and not too intricate, just right. I also tend to like leafy, viney, jungle type things, or flowers that look random, so again it doesn't look like things are marching in around all across and up the quilt. I like it so that you can't easily pick out the repeat.

Really busy scrap quilts are the perfect candidates for something like this...also random looking pieced quilts...even in a set collection of fabrics, like yellow brick road, turning twenty, etc...are GREAT for some of the pantographs that are available out there. And while quilting in a decongestant-induced-fog...I can still quilt a quilt that the owner is going to love! This one is a "minnesota hot dish" and belongs to Diana Stewart.

Bonnie

Teenage Retirement??? *AUUUGHH!*

Jeff, my 16 yr old is still cranky because he still doesn't have a job....I have offered and offered to take him looking, but all he wants to do is "hang out" and "chill" with his friends. Okay. Fine. Now his prom is 2 weeks away and I told him that without a job, I was NOT going to pay for his prom date. I told him if he HAD a job, and just hadn't been paid yet, I was willing to front him some money, but he had to have the job for me as security that he would be able to pay me back. I'm sticking to it.

He thinks we are the worst parents in the world...but we have done EVERYTHING...including taking him to places to pick up applications, and taking him back to deliver them. I ask him if he has checked up on any he has turned in, just to see if they have any openings yet, and he won't do it. He has to date turned in only 3 applications, about 3 weeks ago. I AM NOT going to pay for his prom!!!! But it is making life sorely miserable here because he feels like we are so unfair. (I don't get how he sees that...when we have done everything short of DRAGGING him to find a job!)

Blogger is being cranky this morning (Maybe it got it from jeff!) and won't let me upload pics! AUgh. So I'll try again later....

Bonnie

Tea Party Quilt Done!

I finished the tea party quilt today! I worked at home finishing the quilting and applying the machine part of the binding and hanging sleeve, and then I took it to the massage clinic with me to hand stitch the binding down while I answered phones and worked the front desk.

I got the whole thing done! I feel so good to have it this far and am anxious to send it back to Elizabeth so she can see how it turned out....

Other than that, it was a pretty basic, non-eventful day and was MOST WELCOME!

Bonnie

Life Back To Normal!

I got a call last night that Jason and Shanon WERE able to get on the last flight out to Dallas, so I was one relieved Mama! So glad that they wouldn't be spending the night in the terminal, even if they did have the quilt with them. They have named the quilt the LUCKY quilt, because they are sure that was why they were the last two passengers on that flight.

I went to bed EARLY last night after hearing that they were on their way back home to Dallas. It was like everything, all the stress, exhaustion, exhilaration, etc just lifted and left me with nothing left to give last night. I slept like a log. Ahhhh...now things can get back to normal!


I'm uploading pics of the big bin of scraps that I've been trimming down in the mornings while they were sleeping in. Nice quiet work, and I really am making a dent in it. I used to not really be able to close this bin! And besides the chock full bin (that got even fuller after I added the pile of scraps that was gifted to me last week)I also had a 1/2 full laundry basket left from trimming backings and bigger pieces that needed to be either sorted by color and folded and put away, or ugly stuff I wanted cut down and fed into the scraps. The laundry basket is completely empty and now I'm just working on this bin!

Also is a pic of my trip to Mary Jo's and Long Creek Mills yesterday. The thread I needed. Especially the different shades of green...because what I had wasn't going with anything! A girl just HAS to have the right green, you know? And tanny-neutrals are always needed. Who can live without the right shade of pink or purple either? I am thinking when I run low on something, I need to keep a little color card so I know what to restock with. Long Creek Mills is so huge and overwhelming it is easy to forget what you went in there for in the first place! It's a good thing it is 2 hours drive away from me (as is Mary Jos)because I like to buy thread just because I like the color, who knows if I'll ever have a quilt that needs that thread, I just have to have it because it is pretty!

The two piles of FQ's......I was shopping for Lucy and myself, so it was "One for Lucy, One for me!" We have such similar tastes that I feel pretty sure she will like what I picked up for her off the 99 cent table! The ruler is a hexagon ruler, she has a project planned for that, so I'm tucking that into my luggage for her too. ONE MONTH FROM TODAY!! I'm going to the netherlands one month from today...can you tell I can't wait!

I need to get this house in order (Jeff just left for school so I am home alone again! AHHH BLISS!) and finish the quilting on Elizabeth's tea party quilt. It is about 1/2 done, but with all the running around of the family being here and together, I didn't get the time this past week to finish it as I wanted. That is my goal...and then I will save the sewing on of the binding and the hanging sleeve for evening work. Here is a little sneak preview though!

Bonnie