“Point Me…..In the direction of Albuquerque…”

Any of you who are somewhere around my age just MIGHT remember these lyrics from a song David Cassidy and the Partridge Family sang back in the 70’s -- Which is probably the only reason I ever LEARNED to spell Albuquerque!

I loved that whole album and wore it out on my little portable record player! Those were the days---

So today as I boarded my flight in Greensboro, I was humming this song…….

About an hour into our flight, after beverages had been served, our captain came on and told us that something was wrong, and that we were going to make an emergency landing in Greenville/Spartanburg SC.

((!!!))

I was sitting in the exit row, and what REALLY scared me was when the flight attendant came back to our row and told us to bone up on the emergency info in the card in the seat back pocket.

A few minutes later, the pilot came back on and said we were going to push through to Knoxville, Tennessee, as there was a much greater chance of getting us all on to Houston since they had more connections going through there.

20 minutes later we were on the ground. We were ushered into the terminal but told to stay by the gate, because our boarding passes all said Greensboro to Houston, and if we went out of security they would not let us back in.

3 hours later…and we were finally boarding our plane after it had been fixed. By this time I was REALLY singing!

2 hours later, we landed in Houston, all was well. We all ran for our connections --- Mine was already boarding and I walked right on the plane without even stopping for the ladies room ---I was sure hoping my bags would make it! But at this point, I figured there was nothing I could do but get on that plane and hope for the best.

I arrived in Albuquerque with no further incident! And look….tile designs in the ladies room! LOL!! Yep, that’s me in the mirror in the lower right corner! My bags showed up, my ride Susan and her hubby showed up….and knowing I was still recovering and that I had been traveling all day, they dropped me off at my hotel.

After a rest, I decided to venture out and find dinner! And a walk was definitely in order as sunset drew closer!

What a beautiful day! That’s also my long tall shadow on the road as I took pics of the mountains to the east! Susan said to watch them at sunset, they turn red with the setting sun….

Sure enough! On my way back……as the sun was setting in the west, the mountain to the east turned rosy! What a gorgeous evening!

There is excitement building for tomorrow’s “Oklahoma Backroads” workshop with the New Mexico Quilters Association! Pics to follow!

Mama & The Quilt Retreat ---

My mama has been bitten, and bitten HARD by the quilt bug!

She’s only been quilting a few years now, but she has EVEN joined a guild. She has EVEN gone on Quilt Retreats--- YES, WITHOUT ME!

It’s my biggest dream to go on a retreat with HER some day…and just be one of the girls sewing away. Not to teach anything, not to do a trunk show, but to take a couple projects and just sew and giggle with my mama and the girls up in the mountains of Idaho.

And I get pangs of jealousy ((And deep pride)) when I get HER updates on facebook telling us “Oh it was so fun! We sewed our brains out! Eat toooooo much and giggled a lot!” I can just imagine HER having this much fun, and after raising 8 kids, it’s about time she got some time to herself to enjoy this!

So what’s mama been up to? That picture at the top is a pillow she cross stitched in memory of her father, my grandfather who passed away a year ago. He LOVED ducks. So mom cross stitched the duck, added the phrase “To a duck Lovin’ Dad” along with his birth year and death year. 1916-2010. All the plaid squares around the border, and the buttons came from Grandpa’s shirts. I used some of the same shirts in the quilts in Scraps & Shirttails II. There IS memory in fabric. It’s tactile, tangible, and holds so much connection.

And that’s not all!

I’m taking pics of pics here, but I think you can see she’s gone hex crazy! I only demo'd to her on that visit to Minnesota in August, and she was off and running!

She covered a small tote with them…((you can’t see from the pic, but even the black background is all hexies!)) And then the crazy woman went and covered her SEWING MACHINE TOTE with more hexies! Isn’t that so cute?

And mom has ALWAYS been so good at sending short little notes in the mail. They mean so much! Sometimes it just has a little cartoon clipping from the paper in it, or a funny picture that made her think of me, sometimes just a thought…and always always, a stick of gum wrapped up in a dollar bill.

I’m chewing away on that stick of gum right now….feeling you right here close to me, mama! I’m so proud to be your daughter!

Oodles of love,

Evening Edition, Free Kindle & Nook Book

First off...I DID find my mp3 player! I don't know how it got into the outside side pocket of my purse, but there it was when I reached in there. Oh well! I'm glad to have found it! I plan on listening to a story while stitching hexies on my way to Albuquerque NM tomorrow morning----

Here's a recent freebie that came my way --Spooky enough for Halloween!!

Maybe it’s just the cover that gives me the jitters, but I had to click it anyway!

Blood Ties by Lori G. Armstrong is free today from the Amazon Kindle store, and has received an average user rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars based on 14 customer reviews.

Get the free Nook ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Get the free ebook from iTunes.

Category: Mystery

Book Description:

Julie Collins is stuck in a dead-end secretarial job with the Bear Butte County Sheriff’s office, and still grieving over the unsolved murder of her Lakota half-brother. Lack of public interest in finding his murderer, or the killer of several other transient Native American men, has left Julie with a bone-deep cynicism she counters with tequila, cigarettes, and dangerous men.

The one bright spot in her mundane life is the time she spends working part-time as a PI with her childhood friend, Kevin Wells. When the body of a sixteen-year old white girl is discovered in nearby Rapid Creek, Julie believes this victim will receive the attention others were denied.

Then she learns Kevin has been hired, mysteriously, to find out where the murdered girl spent her last few days. Julie finds herself drawn into the case against her better judgment, and discovers not only the ugly reality of the young girl’s tragic life and brutal death, but ties to her and Kevin’s past that she is increasingly reluctant to revisit.

On the surface the situation is eerily familiar. But the parallels end when Julie realizes some family secrets are best kept buried deep. Especially those serious enough to kill for.

I love PI type mysteries, and this one sounds worth a go! Just be sure to read with the LIGHTS ON!

As always, double check to be sure the price is still free when you go to purchase. Things change without notice!

Packing it up over here, and early to bed...My flight boards at 8:30am, so need to hit the road a bit before 7am!

As Seen Around Town ---

When I returned from Maine I found one of those little slips in my mail box…..

The kind that mean you have to get in the car and drive several miles away to the main post office because you weren’t HOME to sign for a package when they tried to deliver.

It’s kind of a pain, it doesn’t happen often, but it was such a pretty day…..and since I was out getting shots in my rear for the re-occurring bronchitis, I figured I’d just loop around and do it all.

In this little area of town, on a little street corner that has seen better days, sits the remnant of what gas stations USED to be like! And I think this is the cutest thing ever!

Not only that, it’s the LAST “Shell” shaped station left of its kind.

Eight were originally built in the late 1930s by the Quality Oil Company, a Winston-based marketer of Shell Oil. The station on Sprague Street survived through the 1970s and '80s as a lawn mower repair place. It slid into disrepair towards the end of the 20th century. A state historic society, Preservation North Carolina, stepped in and restored the faded highway icon in the late 1990s. Today it's used by the organization as a regional office and info center about the station and other preservation projects.

And that’s all I have for you today, a bit of Winston Salem history….and my detour to the post office that had me pulling over to take these pics :c)

I wish I could say that I’m feeling 100% better. I’m not. I’m on the mend, but man, is this bronchitis ever a doozy. Yesterday I slept 4 hours in the afternoon. I think I needed it. I haven’t left the house since Tuesday morning to go to the doc. I wanted this gone by tomorrow, but it’s not going to be……

I’ve occupied myself with quilting the mystery quilt – I’m finishing that up this morning and binding should be sewn on today ready to start the hand work tonight.

I’ve got to pack for New Mexico!

And I can’t find my little MP3player that has the books on MP3 that I want to listen to. WHERE IS IT?!

Chicken Soup for the Cold!

Or the bronchitis…or whatever it is that ails ya!

Basic crockpot soup is so simple. And you can change the ingredients to your own liking. I don’t even really cook with a recipe, but be warned this is a two day process.

I just start like this:

A few weeks ago before leaving on a trip, I took 1/2 of a roast chicken that was left over from a few nights earlier dinner and popped the whole thing in a freezer bag and froze it to save for later. I knew it wouldn’t make it just living in the fridge while I was gone, and there was a lot of meat still left on that roast chicken!

Yesterday, the desire for REAL chicken soup in my mind, I took that frozen chicken, carcass and all, and put it in the crock pot, covered it with water and set it on to simmer until all the meat fell off the bones. I like to add salt and pepper while it cooks down, but at this point that is all I add to it.

When it was done, I strained everything through a colander. Set the meat and the bones to cool a bit, and put the broth in the downstairs fridge so that the fat could rise to the top over night.

I separated the meat from the bones, getting rid of any messy bits. Watch for the little bones, they are in there! Clear out any gristle, cartilage, skin, etc. If pieces of meat are large, you can shred them or cut into bite size pieces. I just go through it with my fingers and tear it up.

Yes, you could do this with boneless/skinless chicken breasts, but really, using the whole carcass gives the soup so much more flavor. Soup made without the bones is just not as tasty.

Refrigerate meat over night.

In the morning, put the meat back into the crock pot. I use a slotted spoon to remove all the gelled fat that collects at the top of the broth, and add the broth back to the crock pot as well. Put it to simmer on high.

Add your veggies! ((And more water if desired!))

I threw in 4 stalks of celery, chopped

A couple handfuls of peeled baby carrots, whole ((I like them chunky! and I add as many as I want))

1/2 of large onion, chopped

You can also add potatoes,turnips, or other root veggies but I didn’t have any on hand, and I planned to add dry alphabet soup mix to it later, so that would take care of my starch quotient!

Season as desired! I always taste before salting and try not to add too much.

I threw in garlic, poultry seasoning, oregano, bay leaves, and some Cajun seasoning for fun! ((Yes my sinuses were dying for a little fix!!)

And this is the fun part:

Alphabet soup mix! You can get this at the grocery store where the dried beans are, it comes in a little package. OR..you might find it in your bulk foods at whole foods, etc. It’s got rice, alphabet pasta, yellow and red lentils, and split green peas. It really makes the soup GOOD, but you want to add it at the end and only let it cook until the lentils are tender enough or everything goes to mush.

I also found a “make your own ABC mix” HERE!

I added 1 cup of this mixture about 45 minutes before serving time. My carrots were almost done at this point, my celery was still holding shape and not too mushy. Don’t add this too soon, and don’t cook it too long, but it’s great!

It made a large pot full, I’ll freeze what I don’t eat when I leave for New Mexico, and it will be ready to pull out for a quick easy dinner.

Crock Pot Soups just Rock!

Introspective….

I’m still going through my Maine photos! This is one that Carol took of me on our scenic drive back down to Portland!

Thanks so much for the comments over the past couple days. I don’t always include personal conflicts in my posts, but when stuff boils over, I know I do let the words come out of my fingers onto the monitor instead of actually speaking them out of my mouth. It’s cathartic in many ways, and at times I forget that people might actually be reading this thinking “Oh, she shouldn’t have said that” or “I would NEVER tell that mess to the world, it’s too personal.”

But this is who I am. Multi faceted. And sometimes I need to just type things out to get things out and not always worry about what other people will say or think. The people who read my posts are visitors into my world, not the other way around. I need to keep it real to keep my perspective and my sanity.

That said…I was reading and came across this article that listed “10 simple ways to stop yourself from messing up your life!”

Okay. I bit. Of course, I thought NONE of them would apply to me, but they all kinda do in one way or another --- and maybe they will to you too!

Note --- the things in bold italics are my OWN emphasis…

1. Stop taking so much notice of how you feel. How you feel is how you feel. It’ll pass soon. What you’re thinking is what you’re thinking. It’ll go too. Tell yourself that whatever you feel, you feel; whatever you think, you think. Since you can’t stop yourself thinking, or prevent emotions from arising in your mind, it makes no sense to be proud or ashamed of either. You didn’t cause them. Only your actions are directly under your control. They’re the only proper cause of pleasure or shame.
2. Let go of worrying. It often makes things worse. The more you think about something bad, the more likely it is to happen. When you’re hair-trigger primed to notice the first sign of trouble, you’ll surely find something close enough to convince yourself it’s come.
3. Ease up on the internal life commentary. If you want to be happy, stop telling yourself you’re miserable. People are always telling themselves how they feel, what they’re thinking, what others feel about them, what this or that event really means. Most of it’s imagination. The rest is equal parts lies and misunderstandings. You have only the most limited understanding of what others feel about you. Usually they’re no better informed on the subject; and they care about it far less than you do. You have no way of knowing what this or that event really means. Whatever you tell yourself will be make-believe.
4. Take no notice of your inner critic. Judging yourself is pointless. Judging others is half-witted. Whatever you achieve, someone else will always do better. However bad you are, others are worse. Since you can tell neither what’s best nor what’s worst, how can you place yourself correctly between them? Judging others is foolish since you cannot know all the facts, cannot create a reliable or objective scale, have no means of knowing whether your criteria match anyone else’s, and cannot have more than a limited and extremely partial view of the other person. Who cares about your opinion anyway?
5. Give up on feeling guilty. Guilt changes nothing. It may make you feel you’re accepting responsibility, but it can’t produce anything new in your life. If you feel guilty about something you’ve done, either do something to put it right or accept you screwed up and try not to do so again. Then let it go. If you’re feeling guilty about what someone else did, see a psychiatrist. That’s insane.
6. Stop being concerned what the rest of the world says about you. Nasty people can’t make you mad. Nice people can’t make you happy. Events or people are simply events or people. They can’t make you anything. You have to do that for yourself. Whatever emotions arise in you as a result of external events, they’re powerless until you pick them up and decide to act on them. Besides, most people are far too busy thinking about themselves (and worry what you are are thinking and saying about them) to be concerned about you.
7. Stop keeping score. Numbers are just numbers. They don’t have mystical powers. Because something is expressed as a number, a ratio or any other numerical pattern doesn’t mean it’s true. Plenty of lovingly calculated business indicators are irrelevant, gibberish, nonsensical, or just plain wrong. If you don’t understand it, or it’s telling you something bizarre, ignore it. There’s nothing scientific about relying on false data. Nor anything useful about charting your life by numbers that were silly in the first place.
8. Don’t be concerned that your life and career aren’t working out the way you planned. The closer you stick to any plan, the quicker you’ll go wrong. ((!!)) The world changes constantly. However carefully you analyzed the situation when you made the plan, if it’s more than a few days old, things will already be different. After a month, they’ll be very different. After a year, virtually nothing will be the same as it was when you started. Planning is only useful as a discipline to force people to think carefully about what they know and what they don’t. Once you start, throw the plan away and keep your eyes on reality.
9. Don’t let others use you to avoid being responsible for their own decisions. To hold yourself responsible for someone else’s success and happiness demeans them and proves you’ve lost the plot. It’s their life. They have to live it. You can’t do it for them; nor can you stop them from messing it up if they’re determined to do so. The job of a supervisor is to help and supervise. Only control-freaks and some others with a less serious mental disability fail to understand this.
10. Don’t worry about about your personality. You don’t really have one. Personality, like ego, is a concept invented by your mind. It doesn’t exist in the real world. Personality is a word for the general impression that you give through your words and actions. If your personality isn’t likeable today, don’t worry. You can always change it, so long as you allow yourself to do so. What fixes someone’s personality in one place is a determined effort on their part—usually through continually telling themselves they’re this or that kind of person and acting on what they say. If you don’t like the way you are, make yourself different. You’re the only person who’s standing in your way.

And of course the MOM person in me sent it off to Jason because I thought he might need to read it too. In typical Jason fashion, he’s probably rolling his eyes at me and quickly hitting the delete button!

I took this picture on the way up to Rangeley from Portland! LOOK at that color! Most of it was on the ground by the time we drove back down the Mountain on Monday – but I saw it! I really did!

Across this lake, toward the Mountain in the back, on a shore that you can’t see, sits Rangeley! Just look at those clouds giving us just a glimpse of blue sky! The colors are so much more vibrant when the sun is shining!

And just like the sweet town on a shore that you can’t quite see….are good things in life that are just around the corner out of sight as well. Keep moving forward!

Evening Edition, Radio Show, & Free Kindle Book!

What a day I’ve had today!

It’s a good thing that the shots in the hind-end kicked in as fast as they did, because at 4pm I got to do a pre-recorded phone interview with Pat Sloan which will air on HALLOWEEN! How fun is that?

Knowing this was coming, has kept me in a “vow of silence” mode since I boarded that plane in Portland Maine, trying to get my voice back so I wouldn’t sound like a complete froggy ((Remember the little kid from the “Little Rascals” who was called Froggy? I sounded like that! LOL!))

I’ll get you a reminder to tune in and listen when the show goes live. There is also a button in my side bar to remind you! You can also steal the button and link it in your own side bar so you’ll have radio shows to listen to any time you want, all at the click of your own button!

You can listen in on your computer, subscribe to the podcasts by itunes (search for American Patchwork & Quilting), or download to your mp3 player for listening on the go!

I love spending time with Pat, she always keeps me laughing, and I can hardly wait to be Cruisin the Caribbean with her in just a couple weeks. BRING IT ON!

As for the free Kindle book:

Code Blue by Richard Mabry, M.D. is free today from the Amazon Kindle store, and has received an average user rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars based on 65 customer reviews.

Category: Mystery

Book Description:

In the first book of the Prescription for Trouble series, “Code Blue” means more to Dr. Cathy Sewell than the cardiac emergency she has to face.

It describes her mental state as she finds that coming back to her hometown hasn’t brought her the peace she so desperately needs. Instead, it’s clear that someone there wants her gone…or dead.

Cathy returns to her hometown seeking healing after a broken relationship, but discovers that among her friends and acquaintances is someone who wants her out of town…or dead.

Lawyer Will Kennedy, her high school sweetheart, offers help, but does it carry a price tag?

Is hospital chief of staff Dr. Marcus Bell really on her side in her fight to get hospital privileges?

Is Will’s father, Pastor Matthew Kennedy, interested in advising her or just trying to get her back to the church she left years ago?

When one of Cathy’s prescriptions almost kills the town banker, it sets the stage for a malpractice suit that could end her time in town, if not her career.

It’s soon clear that this return home was a prescription for trouble.

Sounds worth a shot to me, and I downloaded it. I keep some books on my iphone, some on my kindle, and some on my android tablet, and I like having them that way!

No affiliation, just an avid reader passing on the freebie. Be sure to check the price before clicking as what is free now might not be later.

Enjoy!

Regional, um…Delectables?!

This should come with a foodie post warning. But maybe not.

Read on at your own risk!

In just the last few months I’ve had conch fritters in Nassau, Bahamas, caviar in Cordova, Reindeer sausage on a bun in Moose Pass --- I’m usually up for EVERYTHING. At least once. More if I like it!

So when I was asked by the Maine Quilters at Quilt Camp if I’d ever had a MOXIE….I agreed to give it a go!

Of course, I never thought anyone would actually LEAVE their sewing space to run to town to go get me one, but I was wrong!

Just what IS a Moxie? Everyone had their own definition for what it tastes like.

“It’s kind of like a root beer. But not really.”

“It’s like a cola, sort of…..that is if you mixed it with medicine.”

“Oh, I love Moxie! We grew up on the stuff….”

“You can gargle with Moxie and it’ll cure what ails ya”

So here I am on a dare. It doesn’t look THAT bad does it? I mean, it’s brown…smells KINDA like root beer, kinda not.

“You gotta put it over ice, it goes down better!!”

((!!!))

One little sip…..surely, it can’t be all THAT bad?? I mean, they’ve got to sell enough of the stuff to at least keep bottling it and keeping the stores stocked, right?

OOOoooooooooooooh! Do I swallow or not? LOL!!! I guess they ARE right. Moxie is an acquired taste! If I had to describe it, it reminds me of those “suicide” drinks my kids used to make at the soda station at Burger King. You start at one end of the machine and put in some Sprite, Some Fanta Orange, Some Root Beer, some Mountain Dew, some Grape, some Coke, and throw in a bit of Hawaiian Punch. And Robitussin! I think the only thing this drink has going for it is fizz and caffeine…LOL!! Nope, I think I’ll stay a Diet Dr Pepper girl, thank you very much!

Another Maine Must Have! Whoopie Pies! I’ve only had these in Lancaster, PA before…but evidently they are a big thing up here as well.

I picked up the peanut butter one, and did well to leave it alone for quite a while, but on my last night in Rangeley, my curiosity got the best of me. That peanut butter filling just needed..well..I had to….

Ooooooh! It’s like whipped marshmallow cream with peanut butter in it. I know I said I was just going to just reach in a finger and give the cream a taste, but….

And on the score board: Whoopie Pie gets a 10.0!! Moxie? Uuummmm…..better luck next time, Moxie! ((Not even gonna go there!!))

As for me….time to hit the GYM!

Quiltmaker Magazine’s Goings-On!

Just a heads up post for things to look for!

First off…The November/December issue of Quiltmaker is OUT! It’s a great issue with gorgeous quilts!

Click HERE to get a preview of what you will find in the issue….I am in LOVE with the red feathered “Infinite Stars” quilt! Definitely a must-do on my Quilt-Bucket-List!

I’ve also got a really FUN Addicted To Scraps block in there for you!

I call this block “Moth in the Window” and it is GREAT made with scraps from your recycled shirts, plaids, stripes, etc! Grab those pre-cut strip bins, your easy angle ruler, and get to piecing!

Quiltmaker has drawn up this layout inspiration for you as well:

((I tried to biggie-size it, but it got blurry…but I think you can get the idea here!)) I love the 4 patch cornerstones….those could all be made from your leaders and enders while you are piecing the blocks!

And that’s not ALL that is going on!

The next edition of 100 blocks by 100 designers is about to be released! Check out the link for some sneak previews and more information! This is Volume 4, and is the 3rd issue I’ve had a block in, and all the issues have been great. If you’ve missed any of the previous issues, they can be ordered here.

My block even made the COVER! Woot! Can you guess which one it is? Look close!

I will be participating on the blog tour, which runs November 7 – 11!

This means there will be a GIVEAWAY here on MY blog! And the fun part is --- it takes place while I am at sea on the cruise with Pat Sloan and 55 or so other quilters! ((My guess is those 55 people will be too busy and without net access to leave a comment and enter, so your chances of winning just went up a few notches.. ;c) ))

Just be watching for more info…I’ll keep you clued in, and just like last cruise, stuff will be written ahead of time ready to auto-post so you won’t miss a thing!

UGH!

I am just back from the doc with another whopping case of bronchitis. Coughing up the proverbial lung so to speak ((Or barely whisper, or squawk, as that is all the sound I can get out other than a horrible rumbly cough!))

I kind of “KNEW” I was in trouble when the tickle that I acquired in Maryland started to feel “chesty” on my way home last Tuesday. But I was flying to Maine on Wednesday and there was no time to get to a doc or get a prescription as I got home around 7pm, and my flight left at 7am the next morning!

I did what any other “home remedy” person would do and started on the mucinex DM, airborne, vitamin C, Advil cold & sinus, lots of fluids, good amount of sleep ---and it seemed to be doing pretty well until Saturday afternoon late when the cough turned “productive”. ((NO, I’m not going to sit here and describe to you how yellow/green is not your friend!!))

I also knew there was nothing I could do until I got home --- Rangeley doesn’t have a pharmacy, you have to drive an hour away down the mountain to get to one. I just had to hunker down and suck it up!

Yesterday morning before heading out, I called my doc and made an appt for this morning. 7:50am. After getting home at midnight? Okay. I can do it.

Bronchitis confirmed, and two shots in the tookass, and a long wait-around at Sam's club pharmacy for the other meds---I’m back to laying low at home waiting for the meds to kick this out of my system before I leave for New Mexico on Saturday.

I WILL BE WELL DANGIT!

On the home front --- along with coughing up a lung, I’m worried about my son’s wounded heart.

Jason and his long time girl friend of 4 years just broke up this week. There is always more than one side, and I’m not butting in. I’m just here to listen. And I hurt for him.

He's devastated of course, but he found an apartment in the same complex as his brother....though on the other end as to not be TOO close. I'm glad they are both there in Columbia. Jason seems to be doing okay, big rants and lots of anger and "Love stinks" kind of messages coming from his facebook --- but he is entitled. Time wounds all heels as they say.

The hardest part? Feeling like I’ve lost a daughter. Kim was the daughter that I never had. I love her parents too, and I’m just extremely sad. But THEY need to work this out, or not --- and I’m learning as a parent of a grown child just how hard it is to want to jump in and “fix” things, even when you can’t-- and it’s hard to sit on your hands, and just be here to listen and encourage and try to keep him focused on hope for the future.

And with that….meds are making me a bit sleepy, so I’m off to crash for a bit. Unpacking can wait for later!

And I Sewed, Too!

I have to tell you, I felt like I was slacking and playing hooky and getting away with something I should not be getting away with either!

And it was GREAT!

Usually, my trips go like this…..I teach ONE class per day that lasts either a half day ((4 hours)) or a full day ((6 hours plus time for lunch)) with the average day running from 9am to 4pm. And everyone does the same class. And I spend my time with each student, making my rounds around the room.

If I need to sew for a demo, I bump someone out of their chair and use their machine.

I don’t sit! I certainly don’t sit at the front of the class and work on my own projects, that’s not what I am there for.

So Thursday night I taught from 2pm until dinner time….and then *I* got to sew!

Remember the trouble I had with the difference in seam allowance when switching between machines at retreat in Shipshewana last November? Even though my new featherweight had a brand new highly touted “PERFECT” 1/4” foot on it, all my blocks came out to be 1/4” too small when compared to the ones I had made at home on my Bernina.

I was NOT going to deal with that this time! ((And yes, I ditched that 1/4” foot with the little black guide because it sews FAR too wide, and because that black thing is there, you can’t see WHERE the edge of your fabric is))

On the left is the pair of triangles sewn with the “perfect 1/4” foot with guide. TOO WIDE!

ON the right is the one I sewed on my home machine, my Bernina 1080, with it’s scant 1/4”.

These triangles needed to measure 2” when pressed. The one with the 1/4” foot on the featherweight came out 1 7/8”. You can see just by looking at the pic that the seam allowance on the left hand pair is too wide.

So how do I get what I sew on THIS machine to match what I am sewing on my home machine? I had a light bulb moment!

I put my original foot on that came WITH the featherweight…..this foot is too narrow by itself for a 1/4” seam, but I took the “CORRECT” triangle pair, the one I sewed on my home machine, and put it under the needle. I sunk the needle right into the stitch line. I used my little screw on seam guide and adjusted it right up to where the seam allowance needed to fall.

I knew the seam would be the same as the ones I sewed at home at this point…I double checked by holding ones I’d done at home against the ones I was doing here. NO DIFFERENCE. I think this is even more important than measuring your seam with a ruler. Just be sure you bring a unit that you sewed on the “other” machine so you can set the traveling machine to give you the same result.

Friday I taught until about 3:30pm…and everyone had really gotten into their projects and didn’t need me anymore, and the machine beckoned!

I sewed until dinner, and I sewed after dinner until I crawled off to bed around 10:30pm ((Yeah, I know, what a WIMP!!))

Saturday I got in LOTS AND LOTS of sewing time! So much so that all I had left were the leader/ender bow-ties I had brought….and they became primary project material!

Woah! Can I actually do it this way? Is that cheating?

If I am using one bow-tie to be the leader ender of a second bow-tie…does that make it more legal!?

When I ran OUT of pre-cut bow-tie parts..I grabbed the motley crew of scrap fabrics I had brought with me and pressed them. And then I had a cutting fest! ((Yep, there are some real classic vintage oldies in here! How fun to put them to good use in these ties!))

I spent my last night in Rangeley back at Quilt Inn, covering the wonderfully large cutting table with little kitted up squares for MORE bow-ties!

I’m headed to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, NM on Saturday. Guess who’s going to be ready for some MORE piecing time?!

Quilting and More Quilting!

What a wonderful place for a retreat!

Here we all are, on our last morning….trying to gather for a group photo! The weather was not as cooperative as it looks, it was windy and cold and we were huddled together trying to brace our smiles on while poor Dan had the job of taking pictures with 17 different cameras.

Hard to believe that after being together Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning ---filling the space up with the sounds of machines running and talking, laughing and even singing….that this wonderful space would once again revert to being completely empty.

This is a glimpse of what it looked like before the onslaught:

Look at all these great windows! Lots of natural light…..plenty of ample space for everyone to sew and visit!

20 Quilters, plus Carol and myself! Can you see where my spot was? Hint --- look for the hot magenta featherweight!

When the weather cooperates, this is the view from the back deck!

When it doesn’t, you get fog, and rain, and a whole nuther kind of beautiful! Besides, if it’s raining, there is no guilt about staying inside and sewing!

Little by little the retreaters arrived, many of them eager to see each other since they haven’t been together since the same time last year.

We started sewing at 2pm….and everyone was eager to get working on their projects!

The quilters had their choice of which quilt to make, either Star Struck, or Texas Braid…and they came with strips and pieces cut and ready to go! This was my first time teaching two classes at once, and the juggling act was a bit of a challenge, but soon all were headed in the right direction with pedal to the metal!

At 6pm we were called to the dining room for a wonderful meal! Our sewing went on into the late evening hours…but I have to confess that I was pooped out and in bed by 10:30pm each night. I have become a total wimp when it comes to burning the midnight oil. If I don’t get a decent sleep I just don’t do well the next day! So off to bed I went…

A glmpse of my cozy room! It was right off of the sewing area, and very convenient! We also used the bed as a place to lay some of the larger quilt pieces out. I pity the maid who has to get the thread bits off of that white coverlet bedspread! LOL!

Take a wander through the slide show and see what we had going on! There are over 50 photos in the album, not all of them show in the thumbnails below. I was tickled at the variations that people were coming up with, and enthralled with the mini version of the Texas Braid quilt that someone was making in 50% scale..her pieces were 1” X 2.5”!!

		Quilt Camp, Rangeley Maine 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I’m on my way home today! We’re leaving Rangeley around 11:30am and making our way toward Portland where we will meet up with “cityquilter” Grace for a shopping spree at Mardens! I’ve never been there before, but I’ve been told it is a Maine Must See, so we will! Anything I acquire will have to be shipped home as the luggage is already at maximum weight capacity!

As fun as this has been, it’s time to get this girl HOME!!