Room To Spare!

Oh man, I love Target! :cD

I did find a shoe cubby thing...this one is bigger with more cubbies and a different brand than the one I had before, But I'm not that big into matchy matchy, you know me! It was on sale too $39.99..$10 off. The new one is on the bottom, the old one is on the top.

I drug it home...cursed when I found the electric screwdriver was not charged, and proceeded with the neanderthal arm-strong screwdriver to put the thing together. It went pretty slickly.

I moved the previous unit out from the corner of the room where it was kind of behind the computer...and moved it to the other end of the cabinets for easy access. I ditched LOTS of old pantos because I didn't want them anymore. I'm talking about the original ones that came with the machine, ones from Norma Sharp that were like comforter patterns? The kind that go great with big puffy poly batting :cÞ I ditched some other stuff I knew i'd never use. I know I should offer these to someone, but I really don't want to be bothered to mail them to anyone, unless you can pick them up from me by thursday when the trash guys come! And believe me..they are ones that just don't work well.

Some of them look good on paper..but the lines are so close together that there is no way to hand guide them that intricately and be right on. They just don't quilt up nice. There has to be room for error and variation in pantos, and if the lines are too close together chances are you will get them crossing each other and I hate that.

I now feel so much better than I did just a couple hours ago. I can see the difference it makes to my room. Easy access....less to wade through. I've got them organized by style...so feather designs, leaf designs, flower designs, star designs, etc...that is easier for me than doing them by name because half the time I can't remember what the pattern is called...just that one with the "squiggles" or "doo dads" You know? :c)

My arms also feel more rested having given them a couple hours of not massaging and not quilting. So tonight....the machine may be humming!

Bonnie

PS....I just went through a stack of old magazines and removed the pages that I want to keep. Will add those to page protectors in my inspiration binders. The rest....trash-ola!!! Cleaning something always makes me feel so much better! When my life is too cluttered emotionally...cleaning something physically just seems to be the ticket to help work things out!

Read More»

Procrastination, tired arms, too much fabric, yada yada yada

I finished my last massage client last evening about 8:30pm. I got home from the office, ate a bowl of cereal, went to bed! Next thing I knew it was 7:30 am and I had a 9am client scheduled this morning. Shoot! I should have just stayed at the office and slept on my massage table the way I was feeling!

So now I'm back..nothing scheduled for the afternoon. Good thing. My arms are achy and feel heavy....I'm not sure I can run the quilting machine with any dexterity at the moment! I thought I'd give it a few hours rest and then quilt this evening.

So here I am thinking that some putzing around the quilting room is in order. For one thing, I have not found a good way to store pantograph patterns where I didn't have to go SEARCHING for the one I want. Right now I'm using stackable shoe organizer cubicles. But I still have to pull them out and find the one I want...tho there are two units stacked here, I suppose I could use one more.....it would organize better. So....trying to remember where I got these! TARGET?! Maybe I'll go to target today and see what they've got, but then maybe it was home depot?

I'd love to know how other machine quilters store their pantograph rolls. Really...I need HELP in this department!

I continue the desire to want to make scraps usable, downsize, streamline, produce scrappy quilts without great expense and have fun with it. I want more time to finish my own projects instead of piling up the unquilted tops, but I'm having a hard time figuring out just HOW to do it! There are so many things I want to participate in. Like the 365 block challenge on the heartstrings quilt project list. Big bin of strings here...plenty of desire, but my time has had to be spent elsewhere remaking quilts for lectures and workshops.

I know you are all shaking your heads at me thinking "When is she going to realize that something has to give!?" I think I am at that point. If the workshops/trunkshows keep filling in, (I'm doing some booking into 2009!) that is going to leave less time for quilting other people's quilts. Facts is facts! And I hate to do that because I love to quilt other people's quilts. I feel like I'll be letting people down if I don't quilt their quilts..but SOMETHING is going to have to give. October is my 12th year anniversary of being a longarm quilter. TWELVE years! That is a huge milestone. I'm not going to stop quilting for others, I'm just going to have to spread it out a bit so I don't spread myself too thin.

Maybe I should just forget about going to Target for the shoe organizer thingies...and just take a NAP!

Bonnie

Read More»

Happy Scrappy Houses, Too!

The top is done! So far I think this has been my favorite quilt to "re-make" for workshop demos. It uses up a ton of 2" strips....and a gazillion pre-cut 2" background light squares, colored 2" squares for the windows, 2" squares for the chimneys, and 2"X3.5" pre-cut bricks for the doors. It was a wonderland of mix & match!



I love scrap quilts because of the riot of color, I think. I put fabrics together that I probably never would for a "whole quilt" type color scheme. I broke every self-imposed rule I could come up with...including using the back side of the fabric (not always on purpose!) Mixing batiks and metallics with 1980's and 1990's calicoes, and even some novelty prints!

A while back I needed to borrow some fabric from Lucy. Okay...I was begging for fabric from Lucy! And she said she was happy to give me what I wanted, but along with that piece, I HAD to take one of her "ugh!!" fabrics and I had to use it. That fabric got cut up into 2" squares and I have used it now and again in projects, always laughing while sewing it in, remembering the fun time we had while she was trying to force it on me and I was trying to give it back to her, or leave it behind by "mistake" :D

I used that "ugh" fabric for the window in the green house block above!

I also did a house that reminds me so much of my friend Tonya....I had a brick that had little bright neon frogs on it...so that became a door on this block!

The last time I was at Tonya's and we were sewing with my crumbs, I had made some wonky star blocks just for fun. They got set aside......when I picked the blue fabric for the outer border on this Happy Scrappy Houses quilt, There would ONLY be enough if I used contrasting cornerstones. Plain fabric cornerstones looked boring...so I pulled these little wonky star blocks out and set them in the corners. Now I have that memory of sewing with Tonya in this quilt too.

I love music! So it was fun to make a house using this strip of blue music fabric.

All of the cornerstones came randomly from the 2.5" scrap square bin. I did end up buying the sashing fabric (on sale at Joanne's) and there is NONE left...what little bit there was is now cut into strips and put into the strip bins.

I need to do some more scrap cutting since I weeded through my FQ's when Lucy was here in April. All of those "CUT THIS UP AND USE IT!" pieces are in a laundry basket sitting on my floor here. The task feels daunting! But it will be fun having new strips, squares and bricks to work into future projects.

On Aug 9th I am heading up to Maryland to teach two workshops and do a couple of trunk shows! I'll be gone about a week, and I am really looking forward to the trip!

Bonnie

Read More»

My Header Quilt

I've had people asking to see pics of the whole quilt that my header pic is taken from.

I LOVE this quilt, and no, I don't own it, but I wish I did!

It has terrific chrome yellow sashing and with those green cornerstones and wonderful scraps in the blocks, it is just so FUN to look at

I think this would be a fun way to use up crumbs and small bits! :cD

Bonnie

Read More»