Thank You....

Thanks for all the posts. I have many to reply to. I'm sure many of us have this "When did I sign up for THIS??" moment during our child rearing. I don't think anything can take you down and make you more humble than watching your child make all those wrong choices.

It's just consumed me to the point where I can't quilt....I know I SHOULD be piecing because that is when my mind is free to work out life's little problems....I have until July 2nd to get a lot of stuff done. I need to kit up a couple of tops and take them to Oregon with me so I can turn them out while sewing with friends the week of the Sister's Show.

I am so excited....4 friends from Wisconsin are joining us. They've never been to Sisters...

We all met at a retreat I taught at in Madison last November, and we had SUCH a great time, my friend Randy invited them all to come sew with us! and YAY they are ALL coming. It's going to be a fun reunion.

So I am setting my sights on that. As for the kid....I'll be here when he has questions. But I refuse to take any verbal abuse or disrespect. I'm done tiptoing and pussy-footing around in an effort not to do anything that will tick him off...This second half of my life is supposed to be the BEST half. I wouldn't let a stranger on the street talk to me the way he has.

I know I can not change his behavior. But I don't have to allow him to dish it out to me either. No more excuses.

I love funny cat pics....they make me smile! This one did this morning because it reminded me of where I wanted to put my head yesterday. But today is a new day!!!


So..here is what I've been working on during my flights and layovers :c)I honestly thought I'd get farther on it this last trip than I did....but I just didn't. It was so nice outside that I spent my time walking the Des Plaines River Trails and getting eaten alive by gigantic mosquitoes! But it really was nice to enjoy the greenbelt area. It was fabulous! If you ever get to Libertyville, IL, check it out!

I marked the angles on the border with a hera marker, starting in the center of each border, and used an equilateral triangle as my guide. Then I am quilting on that crease, and echoing on the inside of each triangle.

I know this is one of those borders where a judge would say "the border is quilted much more than the center" and knock me down for it. I don't care. I love the texture this echo quilting is giving it. Besides. It's MY quilt, right? I just know I'm loving the texture more and more with every stitch I take into it.

Again, thanks to ALL for listening and commiserating with me. I've been told I was brave for posting about my troubles. I guess it is like showing your imperfections to the world, but you know what? When no one else was here to listen to me in person, YOU did. And I know I'm not alone. That is an amazing feeling. When I feel like I can't go on with just my own strength alone, you lifted me with your stories, your words, your encouragement and it means A LOT to me.

Today IS a new day, I better get on with it!

Pulling hair out...

Hi Ladies! I'm back from my visit to the Chicago area, but have not had a moment to post.

In fact....I'm dealing with some pretty crappy stuff emotionally over youngest son and his decision yet again...to quit school.

I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm at my wits end. I'm all cried out. I'm not motivated to post anything right now....

I'll be okay, but I'm going to take a couple more days off until I feel more like myself. Thanks for worrying. It's nice to know you are there. :c)

Website Disappearance??

Hello from Chicagoland!

I have arrived safely and have been whisked off to lunch, quilt shop hopping, antique mall browsing, and Culvers Custard tasting!

While at the quilt shop I was informed that my website is coming up as a blank page. There have also been emails saying the same!

Just checked with my webhost and here is the reason:

UPDATE: All Services Are Being Restored

6:00pm EDT: The vast majority of customer sites are currently viewable, and all customers sites should be viewable shortly. In an effort to ensure that no data is lost, you and your visitors will not be able to edit your site (including dynamic content) for an additional 8-12 hours. We deeply regret any inconvenience this may cause you.

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Update: We're still in the process of bringing up servers. No data has been lost; if a file appears to be missing, it is only a temporary issue. Again, we are truly sorry for any inconvenience this power supply issue may have caused you.

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We experienced a power supply issue at one of our data centers, which caused the startlogic.com site, as well as some of our customer sites, to be offline for a brief period of time. We are currently in the process of bringing the servers back up, and all services should be restored momentarily.

We apologize for any inconvenience that may have caused you. We realize that you depend on us to provide you with a reliable hosting solution, and we take that responsibility very seriously.
- 06/15/09 at 18:06 ET

My site is one of those affected, and it sounds like everything will be under control, at least I have my fingers crossed as much as the rest of you.

I am probably the MOST impatient of all!!

So in the mean time..I'm thinking Sushi Thai for dinner...maybe a swim in the pool....but then collapsing into a comfy bed with my own remote control sounds fairly enticing as well!

Toodles for now!

Binding Bliss...

Sometimes the planets must be aligned just right, my star is shining, my guardian quilter is helping...whatever the case might be... (even tho the ipod is still missing..can they please help me with THIS detail NEXT TIME?!?)

I can't believe I went all the way around this quilt, sewing on the binding....and NOT ONCE....NOT ONCE I tell you....did a seam fall anywhere near a corner!

I think this is a kin to a golfer's HOLE IN ONE, don't you?

I mean, it never fails..I usually have to un-stitch a bit, re-piece a seam further up the side, to avoid having that seam fall in the corner miter. Sometimes I end up doing it TWICE in one quilt. (Which is more than anyone's fair share if you ask me.)

But something serendipitous happened this time...My muse was with me....no seams near ANY corner.

No hand stitching got done...I ended up doing more packing, and then started watching the "First Wives Club", a chick flick with Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler...too hilarious.

Last night I also quickly machine basted this little leader/ender framed 9 patch thingy for hand quilting. It's just the right size to take along with me. This one I pieced several months ago while having a sew day at Mary's house.

The border is in the process of being quilted on the "Love in the Barn Door" quilt, and I wanted to be sure I didn't run out of things to quilt on during the next week!


This morning, look who I found napping in the basket on the dining room table!

Well, he WAS napping, but now it looks like he is just GLARING..due to the fact that the little beep the camera makes when you turn it on woke him up. Sorry Oscar!

Time Out!!

Just enough time out for a pedicure, that is! With DH gone to WV motorcycle riding in Hatfield & McCoy country (and having a grand time of it so I've heard!) and son off with a friend....I've really enjoyed puttering around my house and doing a bit of this a bit of that.

You know, it's amazing how much time it takes to go through all the email. To keep the website updated, to add things to the calendar, plan this trip, that one, contracts back and forth....sometimes it seems to eat up half the day when I thought I could fit so much more into it.

That...and the fact that I find myself drawn back to the computer time and time throughout the day to check for mails, end up reading my friend's blogs...and their friend's blogs....more hours gone. I don't think of them as wasted hours, I just need more of them in the day!

I have spent HOURS re-synching my iphone to my computer....because it was synched to the old one, not this one, and when I went and plugged it in here to add more songs to it....it completely deleted EVERYTHING in the synch. Pffft. I had them all on the computer..I just had to RE-ADD what I wanted and that meant going through everything. And then...heaven forbid you end up with duplicates, so that ate more time getting THOSE off there. Sheesh.

I finished the quilting on the Fungly Fifties. LOVE it. Binding to come...and then pics to follow. I can't wait to wash it. I need to get the funky smells out from whatever trunk it's been stored in all these years. At the same time, I'm hoping nothing disintegrates in the process! I'm thinking laundromat...big machine..need more water than what my front loader does..need to be sure all soap and whatever is fully rinsed out. In my mind...I see it coming fluffy out of the dryer...the quilting stitches sinking into that batting and looking cozy and soft. It's going to be great on the guestroom bed!

Pati sent the nicest comment about my mention in Quilter's Home magazine. She wrote:

I haven't seen you mention it here, but I am reading the June/July issue of Quilter's Home and you are the #1 Designer Website that Mark's Posse reads and the #4 website overall. (pgs 16-20). Congrats!!!

Thanks Pati! I haven't picked up a copy of the magazine yet, but I did thank Mark for the mention when I saw him last weekend! (I'm still laughing when I think of how fun his lecture was..what a hoot!)

It has been the most amazing year, it really has. I also didn't tell you, but I was one of the nominees for the 2009 Teacher of the Year Award from The Professional Quilter. I'm still stunned. I still can't believe it. It was amazing to find my name listed amongst the other nominees:

Linda Ballard, Sue Benner, Laura Cater-Woods, Cindy Erickson, Liz Faminoff, Diane Gaudynski, Peggy Gelbrich, Harriet Hargrave, Dea Heller, Margaret Herndon, Marlene Horning, Rose Hughes, Bonnie Hunter, Ruth McDowell, Cindy Needham, Liuxin Newman, Judy Niemeyer, Cindy Roth, Bev Sievers, Gabrielle Swain, Linda Thielfoldt, Cathy Van Bruggen

Margie Engel was chosen as the teacher of the year and I am SO excited for her! Her applique is fabulous and I love her work. Way to go Margie!

I'm spending the rest of the weekend just enjoying my time....working on bindings...packing the trunk show to fly to Chicago on Monday, cleaning house, loving on my doggies and kitties and dreaming up quilts in my head...

Wishing you a quilty weekend as well!

Ohio Treadlers?

Katie contacted me about a treadle machine she has listed on Craiglist for the Beverly/Parkersville Ohio area. Though I am not needing another treadle machine myself, I thought I'd help her out by expanding her posting capability :c)

I know NOTHING about this machine, just that she needs to sell it. If it seems of interest to you and you want to know more, please contact KATIE

No affiliation, yada yada yada!

DH has left for a weekend of motorcycling in the backwoods of West Virginia with a buddy from work. That means....YES! I am home ALONE...chick flick city and binding binding binding going on here for the next 2 nights!

I think I also see some take out Kung Pao Chicken in my near future!

I have been experimenting with making protein smoothies for after the gym.

For successful smoothy making..I've learned the following:

milk and yogurt and protein powder need to be blended together first so you get no clumps.

Then add the fruit....preferably NOT frozen...so the blender doesn't stall on the chunks! (defrost frozen berries in the microwave but don't COOK them either!)

Add crushed ice LAST for the same reason.

And then...when you pour it into your super insulated mug...don't lose the spoon inside it because the cup is taller than the spoon. :c| Ask me how I know!

Quiltmaker & Christmas Lights!

I got a great email from June, the editor at Quiltmaker!

She writes:

I wanted to let you know I’ve got a posting live now about Christmas Lights, a Bonnie Hunter special offer, and a giveaway of your books.

I hope you have a chance to LINK back to us ;-)

*note* The special offer is linked to the right in my side bar :c)

The link will take you to Quiltmaker's Blog page....with a wonderful name of QUILTY PLEASURES! Leave a comment mentioning your favorite quilt-related blog by 12 noon Mountain time on Friday, June 19 and they will select 5 different people to win a copy of Scraps & Shirttails!

I have to thank June for writing such nice things about the visit I had with them last July. It really was a blast and I hope to see them again if I ever get back to Golden.

Thanks to the responses on yesterday's post....it confirms what I thought, that the problem lies with IE, specifically IE 8. There was only ONE person standing up for IE...but the fact remains that the other browsers don't have a problem with blogger's interface, just IE. I'm not picking on IE...just have experienced many weird issues with them that I haven't with the other software. For instance, when I upload anything, change a format, add anything to my side bar...I have to check all the browsers to see that it works in all. If there *IS* ever a problem...it's with IE. So I don't think I'm "picking on" IE in any unwarranted fashion, the facts have proven time and time again that they have problems where the other browsers don't.

If you ARE experiencing problems with IE 8...maybe if you switched back to IE 7 those problems would go away. Or just wait it out. Or get Firefox :c)

No quilting commenced yesterday. Though the elephant had moved, that meant that I had other things to do around the house that took up my time instead. In other words, if you feel better, don't you think you need to be doing laundry and dishes and mopping the floor and cleaning bathrooms instead of just playing with quilts? Yeah yeah yeah...the guilt got to me since I had been gone since Friday....and nothing had been done since then because I came home with the crud!

So today..I have high hopes. We'll see where they lead me!

Feedjit??

*Update* My apologies to Feedjit! Feedjit wasn't the problem, and they have gone the extra mile in making sure their widjit works on my page. The problem is definitely IE8 related, and I really recommend all users to switch to Firefox. I'm not going to bend over backwards and remove the "friendconnect" that is causing the conflict with IE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've heard for about a week now that some people had trouble reading my blog...others didn't...

The problem then was narrowed down to being IE related.

Well, the culprit has been found. No, my page does not contain a virus, but it DOES contain a FEEDJIT!....or rather.....it DID.

I got this email this morning:

Hello, there are some problems showing your blog in IE. The problems are raised by the widget from feedjit.com.

Best solution is from my opinion to delete this widget.

Discussions about this you can see at http://www.quiltfriends.de/showthread.php?p=601566#post601566

The problem being that the site is in German, and my German is REALLY bad...so I took their word for it and deleted my feedjit, which was a widget at the bottom of my page telling me where viewers of my page were logging in from. Fun idea, kind of nice, but I hate the fact it messed with some people's IE. So...I am now feedjit-less!

I am a Firefox girl. The first thing I did when this new puter came home with me was to put firefox back on it. Those of you still using IE......WHY? So Anyway...those other bloggers out there who are having people complain that there are problems with your blog? It's not you, it's your Feedjit....(or THEIR IE!)

The elephant is on my chest, but maybe it's a smaller one today. Just occassional productive hacking, I'm breathing better and hope to be on the mend!

I added borders to the Fungly Fifties top yesterday..PERFECT...solid red 1" inner border, and a 4.5" aqua/black check that you would have suspected CAME from the same era...it just looks right!

I got her loaded on the machine after I pieced a back, and began quilting, only to find my tension was SERIOUSLY screwed up. If I didn't know better I would swear that someone came down here and gave the knob a few turns for good (or bad) measure!! Which means..most of the first row I had to unsew...under the influence of cold meds. Needless to say, there is still a long way to go on this quilt.




















The reason I also decided to quilt it? IT NEEDS WASHING!!! It's got funky smells and I don't dare wash it without it being quilted and bound first. How's that for a catalyst??

And yes, I know it is "Wild At Heart" again...but that's what was already on the machine table! In my sudafed induced stupor, I really didn't care what I was quilting this quilt with, only that it needed to be something where lines didn't cross, because there was fullness to take up in several of the blocks. And I just happen to like how this one looks.... :c)

Besides, this quilt is so fungly busy that no amount of heirloom quilting or continuous curve outlining was going to do much to enhance it. There are many many many places where seams don't meet or points are chopped off, and outlining would just make those come more front and center, so this works!



P.S.
I heard back from the German group that there are still problems viewing this blog with IE. Anyone have any other ideas, other than to ditch IE?!? I have nothing to do with the interface of this blog software..I just type into it like everyone else. *baffled*.

Those Fungly Fifties!

I am home from the QU show! I tell you what, Quilters Unlimited puts on one of the best shows I've ever seen as far as independent non-judged shows go. Really REALLY a nice venue. If you ever have the chance to go, DO!

I also saw first hand how much work goes on behind the scenes to make things like this run smoothly....the amount of volunteer hours is staggering, and they all did a fabulous job.

I had maybe...45 minutes tops to shop the show! *LOL* Which is probably a good thing considering that I still managed, within that short amount of time, to adopt a Singer 301 that just had to come home with me! She even had a name tag on her, telling me her name is Edie. Edie likes her suntan! She is a long bed 301, takes the same bobbins as a featherweight, and is considered to be the featherweight's "big sister". Her bed folds up just like on the featherweight...but what I love about her is that her workings are all encased. No exposed belts or motors! She is gear driven, and is the first model introduced with the "slant needle" design which is supposed to give you better visibility when sewing.

Being a tall girl, at 5'9"....Having the larger more open throat space also gives me more room to see what I'm doing since many times I'm sitting where I end up hunching to see through the throat space on my featherweight. She's also just a BIT heavier. 14lbs I think, and less likely to go scooting around the table when sewing on a larger project, or putting on borders or binding. Isn't she swell?? She does a BEAUTIFUL straight stitch, and her motor just hums! She came with her case and instruction book, and a new cord and foot pedal so I know she is wired safely.

Her serial # is NA156809 which means she was born in 1951!

On my way home yesterday, I stopped at one of my fave antique malls since I hadn't been there for months and months....and I found this AWESOME FUNGLY FIFTIES top! The block pattern is one I've always loved, but never wanted to attempt because of the curved piecing. Hands All Around! I just love the oddball combinations of the 1940s and 50s fabrics! There are some feedsacks in there, lots of dress prints and plaids...some of the fabrics you can almost see through, so if I were going to quilt it, I'd probably put a layer of batiste behind those blocks or something...not sure. It may just be a fun study in fabrics. Makes me want to get out that Fungly that Tonya and I were doing last summer and finally finish the borders for it...this is just so interesting to look at, bold and splashy with plenty of strange-bedfellows combinations!

For those asking,the blocks are hand pieced, and then the top is assembled by machine. Lots of bias edges on those outside triangles! I'm adding borders, and I've decided I'm going to machine quilt it. The top has flannels, feed sacks, rayons...everything...some puckers, lots of points chopped off. Not anything that can be improved by hand quilting, so I'm going to machine quilt it and use it in the guestroom :c)



The one other thing I brought home with me was a chest cold. Whhhaaa! Sinuses down the back of my throat, sore throat, elephant on my chest...miserable. So no gym for me today. Maybe not tomorrow either. I leave for Chicago on next Monday and I can't have this coming along with me!

I think I'll load a quilt in the machine and play today....

Quilters Unlimited Show, Chantilly, VA

Weeeeeeeeeeeee! What a fabulous time I'm having! Not a lot of time to post this morning, gotta grab a quick breakfast and head over to the Expo center to start a class, but I want to post you a pic of 3 happy faces!

Pam Clarke, Mark Lipinski, and me :c)

24 Hours of Booty!

DH Dave and I recently accepted the challenge of participating in 24 Hours of Booty. 24 Hours of Booty conducts annual 24 hour cycling events, which increase public awareness and support for cancer research and programs, while raising funds to support the LANCE ARMSTRONG FOUNDATION and local cancer organizations.

I am asking you to help by supporting our fund raising efforts with a donation. Your tax-deductible gift will make a real difference in the cancer community. It is faster and easier than ever to support us as 24 Hours of Booty participants - you can make your donation online by simply clicking on the links below. If you would prefer, you can also send your tax-deductible contribution by using this printable form.

Any amount you can give, great or small, helps in the fight against cancer. We greatly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on our progress!

Click here to visit Dave's personal page.

Click here to view the team page for Bootylicious Take 2

For the past 14 years I have provided quilt patterns on the Quiltville.com website free of charge. If you find this site to be beneficial to you as a quilt maker, I ask that you please consider making a pledge to help fight cancer as a way to say "Thanks!" for all you find here.

If you can spare even $10, please think of someone you know who is living with cancer daily and all that they go through. Your donation can help. If you know someone with cancer, PLEASE donate. Your continued support is necessary to help find a cure for this disease.

Hot Off The Press!!

I knew it was coming, but mine hasn't come in the mail yet from the publisher!

The July/August issue of Quiltmaker Magazine has the beginnings of my next mystery quilt! It's a simple one, called Christmas Lights, and has only 3 parts, given in the next 3 issues of the Magazine, so it is finishing up with the Nov/Dec issue, just in time for the holidays!

This summer is going to be extremely busy for me with traveling, so if you want to do a Mystery with me....this is how we are going to do it, and since the parts are divided per issue, it gives you time to take care of your summer and fall busy-ness with lots of time in between steps to get things done.

The quilt finishes at a lap size....but if you want to make it bigger, just don't start putting things together until the mystery is revealed...you'll then be able to figure out how to make it in the size you want.

My special thanks to Subee who sent the photos!!

Just Another Manic Monday....

This morning's busy day started due to a coupon that came in my email...a free pair of undies from Victoria's Secret. Well who can resist free?? Of course, the "freebie" was limited to those of a certain price and only plain colors, no patterns were included. white, beige, pink, black..but who cares if it's free?

Bank run, 45 mins of hard cardio at the gym, and a phone call from Jeff asking me to meet him because he needs some tools for his electrical courses.

We met up for lunch at our favorite Mongolian Wok place....I like that I can choose what goes on my plate, and they will do a healthy stirfry on it. I like mine with lots of garlic and hot red chili...MMMM!

From there, it was off to Lowes to get him the stuff he needs for class.

I'm happy to report that he is loving the courses. He says this is what he wants to do. He wants to be an electrician. I am so happy with this, you can't believe it. We bought the tools you see here in the basket, plus a few more...and a tool case for them to go in.

We brought them home, and I had him mark everything with either a sharpie marker, or dots of fingernail polish to be able to distinguish his from his fellow students.I have found this to be SO helpful when I am teaching a workshop that involves rulers and rotary cutters....so many look the same and it is easy to get them confused as someone else's...

So here I am back at home. It's just about 4pm! The above took my whole day. No quilting yet..and I have a guild meeting tonight..We'll see what I can do with the rest of the day that is left!

Pineapple Blocks...that's where I'm at!!

There are a thousand other things I should be doing...but it's Sunday, and I don't want to.

I am making a complete huge mess...playing with little scraps and sewing more pineapple blocks.

I am "NOT" showing you a picture of the floor, especially around the trashcan because there are snippets and trimmings ALL OVER...but I tell you what, I do love the thread cutter on this machine! It is so awesome to hit that button, have it cut the threads, and use the knee lift to raise the presser foot to remove my work. Amazingly fast and the tails are long enough they don't pull out of the needle when you start to sew again.

I'm up to 70 blocks now, and I need just short of 300...I know I know, crazy woman, but that's what I want.

What's the point in saving little scraps if you don't have a project to use them up? I keep looking at this stuff I've saved, and all I can think is bigger projects will use more faster :cD

I really AM loving this quilt. It will be heavy, of course..and machine quilted of course, because I am certainly not going to hand quilt with all these seams.

It's fun revisiting all these pieces of fabric and seeing where they have come from. Some are MEGA OLD...some are gifted from other quilters, some are trimmings from recent projects...I just keep working in mosaic fashion, not paying attention to anything other than value in these.

I've been watching some old movies while this stitching is going on. Any of the "free" on demand channels, love those..the hallmark movies, etc...just background noise. The binding and sleeve have not been touched on the Nine in the Middle...I have been in a piecing mood, not a hand stitching mood, so I'm going with that.

The Nine in the Middle quilt can come up to Dulles VA with me this weekend. I've got 3 nights in a hotel..good for handwork! I'm teaching 2 1/2 day classes and one full day...there will be time to do binding in between those, and see the show. I'm going to Mark Lipinski's lecture on Saturday night..I can't wait!

P.S.

I have had many questions regarding the sewing table. It came with the Janome Machine as a package deal, manufactured to fit the 6500P and 6600P. It is NOT portable like the Sew Ezi table. It does not fold down, it is stationary and weighs a ton and a half. I have no further information that that. Sorry!

Can't see the Forest for the Trees!!

House, Summer 2009
It has stopped raining enough for me to take some pics of how green things are here! I absolutely love it in the summer when I can't see neighbors across the creek...everything all shady and green.

I've included pics from the porch swing, from the top of the driveway and sides of house, from the back at the gazebo where the hot tub is, of the trees EVERYWHERE (and then some) and of the view from my kitchen window....and back deck.

I love the front porch swing...we pulled out the bushes in front of the porch rail about a week or so ago...also under the master bedroom window..look how GREEN those bricks are!! There were bushes all there.....

Now I want to paint the shutters a brick red....what do you think? Right now, the shutters are the same color is the house, so they aren't that much of an accent?

I eat my breakfast sitting on that porch swing in the mornings. i love watching and listening to the birds. It's also a great phone conversation place....I can often be found in this porch swing, rain or shine! (And bugs...and humidity!)