Evening Edition: Free Kindle Book!

I asked at the receptionist’s counter at the chiropractor if I had won the valentine guessing game for the hershey’s kisses, and she said they won’t know until they count them TONIGHT…and winners will be notified tomorrow.

TOMORROW?! But that’s NOT valentine’s day! What good then is the smelly romantic candle and the sexy romantic music CD and all of those foil wrapped roses tucked in amongst the hershey’s kisses in that vase?!

Gifts like this kind of lose their “ooomph” when the winner is drawn after the fact, don’t you think? LOL! So my next appt is on Thurs, and I’ll find out if I won then --- oh the suspense if it all!

I met up with Jason and Kim at Ikea --- and I was good, really good! We had lunch in the cafeteria and visited before hitting the floor. While they shopped for book cases and shelves and other stuff they needed, the only thing I left with was this:

A 6 plugger outlet!

And I didn’t even buy it. Jason laughed at me when I pulled it out of the cart, leaving all of their stuff behind and he said –”Put that back in here and let me take care of it” It was all of $3 or something like that.

But I felt so special with my Valentine’s Plug-In gift! And then while standing there in the aisle at Ikea, I told him that HE was the BEST Valentine’s gift of all! “Really??” he aked. “Really!” I said. “Just take today and count forward 9 months…” His birthday is November 10th. The light blub moment was priceless. “Oh, mom – you shouldn’t have told me that….oh ewww…you’ve forever warped Valentine’s Day for me, I’ll never be able to think of it any other way!” Revenge is sweet isn’t it? LOL! This just made my day.

I guess I’ll go put the 6 plugger outlet where I need it to be, behind the quilting machine….and spend some time back working on the border units for Midnight Flight. Loving how this is coming together -----and loving that I still have 5 days left at home before I have to go anywhere.

So on to the freebie part of the post:

Camp Follower by Suzanne Adair is free today in the Amazon Kindle store, and has received an average user rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars based on 8 customer reviews.

Category: Historical Fiction / Mystery & Thrillers

Book Description:

A deadly assignment. A land poisoned by treachery and battle. She plunged in headfirst.

Late in 1780, the publisher of a loyalist magazine in Wilmington, North Carolina offers an amazing assignment to Helen Chiswell, his society page writer. Pose as the widowed, gentlewoman sister of a British officer in the Seventeenth Light Dragoons, travel to the encampment of the British Legion in the Carolina backcountry, and write a feature on Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton.

But Helen’s publisher has secret reasons for sending her into danger. And because Helen, a loyalist, has ties to a family the redcoats suspect as patriot spies, she comes under suspicion of a brutal, brilliant British officer. At the bloody Battle of Cowpens, Helen must confront her past to save her life.

Praise for Camp Follower, nominated for the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Historical Mystery/Suspense and the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction:

“Adair wrote another superb story.” — Armchair Interviews

“Full of details, a unique historical perspective, an elaborate plot, and outstandingly strong characters, Camp Follower is a historical mystery with something to please everyone.” — No Name Café

“Adair takes her reader on an exciting adventure, filled with historical fact wrapped around an intriguing plot.” —The Midwest Book Review

“The smells, sights, and sounds of the Revolutionary War in the Carolina Back Country have nowhere been better depicted than in this thrilling novel of conflict and suspense. Suzanne Adair is a gifted storyteller, and her latest book deserves a wide audience.” — John Buchanan, author of The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas

I love ANYTHING to do with NC history since I live here ---so I can’t wait to read this one! It was still free when I clicked it a bit ago. Double check before clicking that it is still free for you because this can change without notice ---

Enjoy your Tuesday Evening!

More Valentine’s Fun!

My buddy Pat Sloan is having a fun giveaway on her blog and I thought you’d like a chance to go enter!

There is a gorgeous FQ bundle of Amy Butler “LARK” fabrics and a LINKY PARTY! Also up for giveaway --- Aurifil thread and exclusive radio show ear buds.. on Pat’s Blog today!

Go have some fun with it! I’ve already commented to win--- you know I need that THREAD! I’m on my way to enjoy my grown up kids --- Spreading me some Valentine’s Love IKEA style!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

“I don’t understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine’s Day. When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon.”

HAHAHAHA! So true!

I am thinking back to when as kids we would make valentines in school…..or holders, boxes and bags to contain the valentines that were given to us by classmates – the anticiptation of what would end up in our little “mail” boxes by the end of the school day was almost as infectious as Christmas!

Remember covering shoe boxes with paper doilies, construction paper, glue and glitter? Great memories!

And those conversation hearts, that always seemed to end up tasting like soap, but we loved the colors and the sayings!

It’s going to be a full Valentine’s Day here --- I’m headed back to the chiro for a 10am appt. Did I win the chocolate kisses? I have no idea! Thanks to all of you for guessing along with me, I’ll let you know whether I did or not!

This afternoon I’m headed to Charlotte to meet up with Kim and Jason --- Hmmmmmm….if I leave a bit early would there be time to swing over to Gastonia and hit Mary Jos?!? Honestly….I should stay on track and get more of the book edits done. Those are hanging over my head! Besides the fact that I need more machine time than I need more fabric, that's for certain!

My Sweetie knows how much I love pink roses, and he surprised me with them on Sunday so I could enjoy them the full week of Valentine’s before I leave for Fort Myers and Naples Florida on the 20th! The little table topper is one an online group did as a Valentine’s swap when I lived in Texas. It comes out Every February 1st and stays the entire month --- I’m ashamed to say it’s the full extent of my Valentine’s Day decorating ---but I love it!

Have a Sweet Day, Everyone!

iPhone-O-Gram! How many kisses??

How many kisses do YOU think are in this vase?? You too can win the vase, the foil wrapped chocolate roses, the candle in the holder and the romantic music cd--lol!

This is a sneaky picture taken at the reception area while checking out after my chiropractic appointment today.

I go back tomorrow---this place is a hoot!

Bonnie

PS---either the kisses have been settling in that vase, or someone has been snacking on them! The volume is a bit "down" from Friday ;-)

Which Ikea Lamp?

Must be an IKEA thinking kind of day. I got a message from MaryAnn G asking which lamps I use for my sewing machines and I am happy to oblige with the info!

She writes:

Bonnie,

I am really enjoying Orca Bay--my first mystery. I work at it when I can, and am enjoying the process even though the mystery has been solved!

I was wondering what little Ikea lamp you have used/seen. I am heading near an Ikea store at the end of the week, and would like to check them out.

My Virginia Bound and Star struck quilts are living at my sister, Teri's, until she has time to quilt them for me. Soon I hope to have lots of "Bonnie" at my house.

Everytime I visit Shipshewana, I remember what fun we had the afternoon after the Camp Mack retreat.

MaryAnn from Cincinnati.

She didn’t have to remind me who she was – I already knew! We met up in Shipshe a couple years ago ((Could it be that long already?!)) and scrounged through the bulk foods grocery together, dug through the boat in the basement at Lolly’s together, had lunch and an all around great day. Who could forget?!

I stopped at the IKEA just south of Washington DC heading home on my way down I-95 on Tuesday and picked up a couple more lamps myself. There is a nice big IKEA right off the interstate at Potomac Mills in Woodbridge.

THIS is what you are looking for in the lighting/lamp section on the bottom floor at Ikea. This is the one with the heavy round circular base – price? About $10.00 And it is much brighter than those little bright bendy lights you have to attach to your machine with sticky hooks.

Here I am sewing using this lamp ((Had to get the pink one, dontcha know?! And as a Minnesota born girl, I just had to ADD that DONTCHA to the dictionary! LOL!)) It’s got GREAT light that shines way out in front of the needle….love that long bendable neck on it.

It packed easily in my bag and came with me up to PA and MD this last trip too! ((It’s OFF in this pic though.))

It comes in a clippy version too. ((Yep, just added the word CLIPPY to dictionary too! :cD )) So far I’ve only used one of these on my longarm machine, clipped to the handle….when doing things like using white thread on white fabric, or black thread on black fabric, the best way to see what you are doing is to SIDE LIGHT the area you are working on. Side lighting with this lamp is AWESOME. The light bulbs do NOT get hot….they are nice and bright. Here’s the pic of a white one clipped to the long arm handle:

Price for the Clippy Version? About $14.00 or so. Nearly broke the bank there --- could buy about 4 of these for the price of ONE of those bendable bright lights that have to stick to your machine.

And Ikea must really be on the brain for more than just myself and MaryAnn! Look at the message I got today:

Jason and Kim want to meet up at Ikea TOMORROW! Spending part of Valentine’s with my son and his sweetheart? Priceless – I’ll be there with bells on. I wonder what I will find to come home with me? Maybe this time I’ll actually TRY the Swedish Meatballs in the cafeteria. ((Hey, I’m a cheap date!))

PS--if you go, don't forget THIS! It's milk chocolate with crunched up butterscotch pieces in it...HOLY. MOLY!!

Memory Baskets!

I decided that yesterday was THE DAY to resurrect a project and push it to completion. You see, some tops --- I’m fine with them being “just tops” for a long time. A completed top has reached a stage where it is fine to rest a while. But then comes the time where the push to be a “REAL QUILT” niggles and naggles at me and I have to do it.

If you’ve followed me since the beginning you’ll remember how this quilt came to be. My friend Lucy lives in Haarlem, the Netherlands --- and we started doing these blocks together as a joint project, across the seas. We decided that we’d kit these up, and any time we cut a basket, we’d cut two identical ones--"One for you, one for me" and send them to each other – just the pieces --- so we could do our own sewing. It was SO FUN to have little envelopes of 10 baskets or so at a time arrive in the mail! This project had no deadline, and it was a good thing.

I think we started them before I went back to Massage Therapy school, but they quickly became my lunch time project. I’d applique the handles during my lunch at school, much to the interest of fellow students --- of course they already looked at me like I was the grannie of the group, I was 42 when school started – most of them were around 20! Boy, were those fun times. Can that really be that long ago already? I guess it can!

By the end of the school week I'd have a bunch of basket handles ready to go, and I'd assemble the blocks as Leaders & Enders in between other projects until I had all 180 baskets I needed to complete the quilt. When Lucy made her first visit to the US in 2004 or was it 2005? We spent part of our time sewing our baskets together at my house in between bouts of fabric shopping. Great memories!

In searching back-posts for more on this quilt ---I came across THIS POST stating where you can find a 4.5” block. It’s a place to start for you. I have no immediate plans to draft this up as a free blog pattern. There are many tiny basket patterns already out there, or you could use EQ to size any basket down to a size you want.

THIS POST was when I finally got the yucky original VERY BROWN border off, and put the wild piano key border in there. Oh, there is a picture of Oscar in that post. I miss him so much.

December 11, 2005!! YIKES!! That’s when I wrote this post –the original top was done but I hated the borders! Good call to remove those.

So let’s get this top turned into a quilt! And this is where we throw in something fun:

Sandi D gifted me with several yardage-long-lengths of fabrics that she had been given when I was in San Diego in January.

Was she just sharing the love, or was she finding an easy way to get rid of it? LOL!! See these Liberty Ladies?! Do you remember this fabric? It was actually a “Quilt For The Cure” ---Beehives are a sign of industry, wheat sheaves are a sign of prosperity. The cornucopia is a sign of abundance. Ladies with togas and spikey crowns and sheilds? Well….I’m not sure about those…… let’s look closer!

Uhoh! What’s that I see on her ANCHOR?! ((ANCHOR? What is the anchor supposed to symbolize?!))

HOLY MOLY! It’s another MILLENIUM FABRIC!! LOL!! Anno Domini MM = The Year 2000!

Uh. Yep. Selvage proves it!

There wasn’t enough yardage to use it for the WHOLE back, but there was enough to use it as a panel down the back center. I mean, seriously? Where else would I use this stuff?? It would be a hard one to match the print on too, if I were to sew two panels of it together…..do I really want to match seams on pointy-crown-wearing-ladies?! I’ve got some left, I can do the hanging sleeve in that too. As I think about it....Lady Liberty symbolizes so much of my life now that I've reached the magic age of 50! It's a good fit, don't you think?

The baskets are SMALL. And that made choosing a quilting pattern difficult. I originally thought I’d hand quilt this, but come on, who am I kidding? I chose a little tear drop pattern called Holly’s Hearts by Urban Elementz. Of course, I was so careful to make sure that the ladies heads were pointing the same direction on the BACK of the quilt as the basket handles were facing on the FRONT of the quilt, and forgot that the panto was going to stitch with the top of the pattern at the other end of the machine…Whooops! So now the hearts are upside down. Do I care? Not really. What is it they say? Done is better than perfect!!? I was SO not going to unstitch that quilting!

Two special blocks--- The first light pink one--that is the fabric that I made a dress from for DH’s and my 1st date in 1981. There are very few scraps of that left --- but I mean it when I say that when I got married my scraps came with me! The second pink basket – that’s the one that Lucy signed for me. She has one I signed for her in her quilt-to-be too.

The quilt came off the machine last night. Today’s job? Trimming it up, and choosing a binding. With baskets in this much variety, there are so many different ways that I can go. I’ve picked out a few choices here:

I do know that I do not want more BROWN in this. I’m all browned out! There are quite a few purple baskets in the center, as there are blue, red and green. But the one I’m leaning the most toward is the purple-y burgundy at the far right. It’s barely got a design on it – it’s black vines on burgundy. It’s warm, it’s deep, and it isn’t busy against the busy piano key border. And best of all? It’s NOT brown! :cD What do you think?

I’m headed back to the crazy-chiro office this afternoon! This means I get to put in more guesses to win that huge vase full of hersheys kisses and the candle ;c) Can’t wait! :cD

Evening Edition-- Free Kindle Book !

This is a disjointed post.

I’m thinking on a couple of things. First at the top of the list have you checked out ALL the link-ups on last Monday’s Mystery Link-Up post?

It is the last one we are holding for Orca Bay – and I’m so sad to see it over! It’s been so fun to visit each one and discover new bloggers, new friends, new ideas for the same quilt we were all making!

This was SO cool, all the way through November til now. You can click HERE to get back to the post. Pour yourself a hot cuppa something yummy, and settle in and visit!

The next thing on my heart is my sadness over the passing of Whitney Houston. Oh, I have heard such varying things from "What a sad loss of such a beautiful voice”, to “What did she expect? She did it to herself, she made her bed and can lie in it.” And my heart weeps for her family, her loved ones, and most of all for Whitney herself.

It's sadder than sad. She had so much potential – but perhaps she never believed in herself enough to see that she deserved to make a better choice. I don't believe in speaking ill of the dead, nor in rubbing their noses in it after the fact. What good does that do?

I only hope and pray my children know how much I love them, and know they are worth the world to me, and love and respect themselves enough to never walk the path that Whitney couldn't get herself out of once she found herself hooked. I think it would be every parent’s nightmare to watch an adult child take wrong turn after wrong turn, and the only thing you can do is love them in spite of their choices and hope that they will start to choose differently.

I will miss her. I will miss her ethereal voice, and put it down as a tragedy. My friend and I were talking about Karen Carpenter the other night, and how there has never been another voice like hers since either. Anorexia. A desire to be what the public wanted to see, what was acceptable to others….bad choice. Sad choice. We have lost so many wonderful talented people who should have been kinder to themselves, should have loved themselves more. How is it that WE can expect so much from people and not see that they have feelings, hopes, fears, dreams as fragile as the next person? Do we expect too much from those who give of their talents so much that the fame and media pressure pushes them over the edge, and then we blame THEM for their actions? What part do WE play in the tragedy of those who choose to take their own lives, or make choices that ultimately end their lives? And then we tsk tsk tsk and rub their noses in it. I'm so sad.

I know it’s deep. I wish the world would have been kinder to these two ladies. I wish that they had felt worth it, felt loved, just as they were, without having to fit some mold that society forced them into. I wish they had felt strong enough about themselves and who they were to make a better choice.

Do you love YOURSELF enough to make a better choice? I hope I can show that kind of strength. Do *I* love myself enough to make a better choice? Sometimes it's not easy.

This is how I choose to remember Whitney:

Beautiful lady, I'll carry the echo of your voice within my heart.

And on to our freebie book! This was still free for me a minute ago when I clicked it after finding it. Check before clicking that it is still free for you.

The One You Love by Paul Pilkington is free today in the Amazon Kindle store

Genre: Suspense/Mystery

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Emma Holden's nightmare has just begun. Her fiancé vanishes, leaving the battered and bloodied body of his brother in their London apartment. Someone is stalking her, watching her every move.

And her family are hiding a horrifying secret; a secret that threatens all those she loves. In a desperate race against time, Emma must uncover the truth if she ever wants to see her fiancé alive again.

With over 300,000 downloads worldwide, The One You Love is a fast-paced suspense mystery, full of twists and turns, following in the tradition of writers such as Nicci French and Sophie Hannah.

Holding a Wake ----

Yesterday we joined a bunch of DH’s work staff and their families, and trekked over to Wake Forest University to watch the Demon Decons get TROUNCED by the Clemson Tigers!

We had high hopes at the beginning of the game….the one thing I can say for Wake Forest is that they have TEAM SPIRIT! And it is infectious. You can’t help but root for them because the cheer team, the dance team, the band and all others put so much into it.

I think our favorite part of the whole game was watching the pee-wee basketball league of 8 to 10 year olds play a game during half time.

Watching these little guys try so hard to dribble that ball, to get it across the court, to grannie shoot a basket ---one little kid was bound and determined to make a goal for the OTHER team…he didn't want to take the ball back down the court to his OWN team’s hoop…he wanted to shoot it at the closest one!

The whole crowd was yelling “Wrong basket….go the OTHER WAY!!” And when the light bulb finally went off for him, everyone cheered as he dribbled that big ball down the court to go attempt a basket in the “RIGHT” hoop. TOO CUTE!

And it reminded me that this is what sports should be about. This is why we love college sports while not really paying attention to professional sports. Some of the joy just goes out of the process when there is money involved. When it is a job, instead of a love.

SO --- our team got SLAUGHTERED! But we had a wonderful time, and came home with DOOR PRIZES, after all, it was Free T-shirt Day!

It’s a pretty gastly picture! But we were having a good time. And the best treat of all? ICE CREAM! Wake Forest’s colors are yellow/gold and black. And they had Oreo Cookie ice cream that they had colored yellow with the black cookie bits in it----FUN! Should have taken a pic of that, but I was too busy eating it!

It was a great way to spend the evening with DH’s co workers and their families….I hope we can do it again!

Sew Day in the Basement!

We had a great time loading on Laura’s beautiful sampler quilt, choosing a design to go on it, picking out a thread color to quilt it with, and seeing this flimsy top turn into a real quilted quilt!

Sometimes picking thread colors can be the HARDEST choice of all. How do you choose?

I pretty much live by the “unwind several different choices of thread over the quilt top, being sure to cross light and dark areas and pick the one that is the LEAST obtrusive.”

I want something that isn’t going to look too light in the dark areas, nor something that doesn’t shout out too dark in the light areas. Most of the times this means we go for something medium.

In Laura’s case we chose a medium toned lilac pink.

The label actually reads as “Wild Rose” – I had to walk over to the machine and pick up the cone and check it to satisfy my own curiousity as I was writing this post!

There isn’t an overabundance of pink in the quilt itself –there is “SOME” pink, but the pink thread just traveled so well from area to area and blended in with all the batiks--- be they brown, green, red, purple, blue, aqua, turquoise, yellow or cream. The pink was a happy mixer!

As a piecer, my focus is usually on the piecing first, and the quilting comes secondary. I want texture, LOTS of texture, but I don't want it to look like thread is just laying there on top. I want the thread to sink in and just leave me texture.

I love this swirly feather that Laura chose from the patterns I had available. And see? That pink thread adds to the colors in the quilt, but doesn’t stand out so much that it overpowers what is going on with the piecing. This swirly feathery design is called “Feather Meander #1" and is designed by Jessica Schick. Isn't it beautiful?

Here’s the whole quilt as it came off the machine:

Isn’t it fabulous?! One thing I’d love to point out…don’t just think because the blocks are already large….((The blocks before the borders are 12” finished)) that you can’t add MORE to them, making them even bigger, but at the same time adding more intricacy to the over all design. The simple framing inner border around each block brought more color to play within each block. The “Lady of the Lake” style triangle second border around each block is another place to add some dynamic motion. The final narrow sashings around the outside of the triangles bring another place for your eyes to rest a bit…and make it so you don’t have to worry about matching triangle seam to triangle seam if you were to join this quilt block to block to block as this one is.

And I love the final border that is just a “Use up whatever is left until it is gone” kind of happy parade.

It’s a winner, Laura, it really is!

PS…I write my posts in Windows Live Writer, and spell check does NOT like certain words. It always wants to say that piecer is not a word, and nor is sashings. I got tired of it and clicked “ADD TO DICTIONARY”. HA! Maybe now it will believe that I know what I’m talking about and not just making up words to be words. It also drives me nuts that any time I type SEW in a message on my iphone that it automatically ”corrects” it to SEE or SEEING instead of SEWING. I need to have a talk with Apple about that. They too need an “ADD TO DICTIONARY” feature!

Enjoy your Sunday, Everyone!

Love from the Basement ---

Evening Edition: Free Kindle Book!

It’s cold and blowing out there. The kind of blowing that cuts clear through when you aren’t used to these kinds of temps…..when we left home to go to the Wake Forest game it was a brisk and bright 41 degrees. By the time we left the coliseum and headed home the thermometer had dropped to 27 degrees, and I bet it’s even dropped farther now that it is dark out.

BBbbrrrrrr! My poor daffodils may be frozen by morning. I never did get out there to trim a bunch to put in a vase in the house.

As we drove home I thought of the warmest, quickest thing I could make for dinner --- and realizing I had all the ingredients at hand just waiting for me in the kitchen, I made a huge batch of potato soup to warm us through. You can find the recipe HERE. It’s a “cook on the stove” recipe, and I can have it on the table fairly quickly, versus something that has to cook in the crock pot all day long, so it’s good in a pinch!

And even better, the leftovers will be so good tomorrow for an easy Sunday at home day.

I’ve just sat down to check email and do a bit of web-surfing before getting back to some sewing tonight…and this freebie came along. I just clicked it, it was free for me, so hopefully it will be for you too.

My Temporary Life by Martin Crosbie is free today from the Amazon Kindle store, and has received a perfect 5 out of 5 stars based on 16 customer reviews.

Category: Drama

Product Description:

“I kept thinking is this a true story, I couldn't put it down, I loved this book!”

“Martin Crosbie has created a world where a hero can emerge from the ashes of sadness and fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.”
“It's a "coming of age", a great thriller, a true romance, the journey of one man's life and the thrilling road he took for his own redemption. Then there was Hardly, oh Hardly...”

Heroes are not born. They’re made.

Malcolm Stewart’s strength was forged during harsh childhood days—ugly days when he faced down schoolyard bullies and endured the neglect of a promiscuous mother. It is a strength that he has wielded to defend himself and his friends.

Yet those years and traumas have taken their toll. Somewhere along the way, Malcolm Stewart lost his love of life.

That changes the day when beautiful, tempestuous Heather enters his world. He feels the stirrings of something long dormant. And when he learns of Heather’s own abusive childhood—and the daughter that she was forced to leave behind—Malcolm knows one thing:

He must help Heather get her little girl back.

Their harrowing quest takes them from Scotland to a remote corner of Canada. There, Malcolm faces more than he bargained for—from being accused of kidnapping, to being targeted by an enraged psycho. And he discovers that Heather’s story is more tragic than he could ever have imagined.

Yet his love for this woman with the flaming red hair—and for a little girl he has yet to meet—gives Malcolm Stewart the one thing he desperately needs: A chance to be reborn.

A chance to become the hero he never dreamed he could be.

Martin Crosbie’s debut novel has been attracting extraordinary attention. Read the first few pages and you will see why. This thrilling romantic suspense will take you on a journey that you’re not likely to forget.

Laura and I had a great time working on her quilt! I’ve got just about 1 1/2 rows left to finish….we ran out of time before it was time to leave for the Wake Forest game – so I’ll finish it up and drop it off to her at guild meeting Monday eve. I’m looking forward to the meeting – Miss Lisa is giving us a program on machine maintenance – boy do I need it!

What will you get up to Saturday Evening? I just might find myself tucked back under that pink & brown Dear Jane quilt and putting in some more hand quilting stitches ---whatever you do, take some time out to enjoy the warmth and love of those around you. Sometimes we need to step AWAY from the machines, get out of the basement --- and just go be in the presence of those who love us. Just Go Be.

Iphone-O-Gram!! Whoops!

One diamond sewn to one triangle is good.

Two diamonds stacked and sewn to one triangle is NOT good!!

This thing is flapping its tongue at me and mocking my lack of attention when sewing!!

Anyone seen my seam ripper???

Bonnie

Like a New Old Friend!

I love this networking thing!

It is amazing to me how I can just let a “NEED” out there and someone comes to my rescue SO generously that I am completely blown away.

It is my deepest wish that I can also be aware of those opportunities when it comes to giving to others. I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end. I need to push my giving end more, and I'm learning so much by watching those other givers around me.

For instance --- Remember me talking about my K-Tec mixer and how I loved it, but the only way to get it to run anymore was to hold down the “pulse” button because the on/off button had quit working?

Well, I got a very generous email from Mary M who said “So glad you love your K-tec, and sorry to see it’s not working. I have an extra just sitting here, would you like it?!”

Would I like it?! Oh my goodness! Just like that, I had a replacement mixer winging its way to me. I’ve used the new old mixer – it has replaced the old one and has become just like an old – but NEW—friend! And I am so grateful for people who are so giving and generous.

The same thing happened when quilters found out about machine needs. You know I’ve had a hard time with the demise of my Bernie. It’s still not over ---I’m seriously thinking of sending her in to Big Bernina in Chicago and just having her worked over until she is good-as-new. It’s just that “nagging” thing that putting good money after old may not be the brightest thing to do. I’m still sitting on the fence and watching and waiting and checking shops to see what trade-ins they have available. My ultimate dream would be that someone trades in a gently used 1080 or 1090 and she could come live with me happily-ever-after.

But in the mean time, through a network of quilters who had read about my plight, I came across this little work horse!

She is now at home with me. I set her up in the usual “Bernie Spot”. She fit the feet of my old Bernie like a charm. The plexiglass table fits. She doesn’t have many bells or whistles, but she has that wonderful Bernina straight stitch and feed dog motion that I love. She is completely mechanical, not a computer circuit board to be found. She will do zig zag and a few other stitches, but mostly --- I just PIECE. And piece and piece and piece and piece. And I think she will be happy to ride shotgun with me without worry of shaking a circuit board loose.

I ride my machines hard…and this one….she now has a place in my “Fleet!”

We spent some time bonding yesterday. That seam allowance is still right on, as it should be…she is wearing my old Bernie’s 1/4” foot! It was like meeting a New Old Friend. She is her own individual self though. Her motor hum sings a pitch a bit lower than my 1080. She has her own feel and things will take some getting used to.

Isn't it funny how we are such creatures of habit? I kept reaching for the "back up" button in the same place it was on my 1080, and it isn't there! I *KNEW* it wasn't there, but that motion of habit is so ingrained that I kept pushing where there WAS no button! Sweet girl, we will figure this out, the two of us.

Together, she and I made quite a pile of pieces! Here I’m working on the border for the Midnight Flight Quilt ----I’m teaching this in Williamsburg in August, so you’ll get to see lots of this in progress along the way!

Another friend, Laura, is on her way over to sew today! She has a beautiful quilt she finished at Camp Dogwood Retreat last month and I offered her machine time on the longarm to get that big puppy quilted…and let me tell ya, Laura knows all about BIG PUPPIES! She has a couple of the biggest great-dane sized puppy dogs at home that I have ever seen! We are sure to have a fun day ----

This afternoon, DH & I are headed to Wake Forest University to go watch the Demon Deacons take on the Clemson Tigers in Basketball! It’s great to spend a weekend at home with my peeps!