Thursday - Not Much Going On

Well, all, not much action going on here in Wisconsin. The weather finally got warm (we're supposed to get above freezing today) and there's slush everywhere.

Tuesday night I went to a class on long arm machine quilting. I wasn't too surprised about what I learned, but it was rather anticlimatic. I guess I'm looking for something that doesn't exist yet: a quilting machine that will quilt the entire top without having to forward the fabric and can have continuous all over quilting. Like diagonals, etc. I'll use my $20 rental credit one of these days, probably on the Bento Box quilt when I get the top all done.

I have a blue and pink queen sized Trip Around the World top that I completed before Thanksgiving. I had hopes of quilting it myself on a rental machine, but after the class I've determined that I don't want to use it to learn on. The LQS gave me a name of a local lady (no shipping cost!) who does really good machine quilting and I'm taking the quilt top over to her house on Saturday.

Last night I didn't get any quilting done. I feel a little bit guilty, but I'm a big fan of the TV show "Lost" and last night was the season premiere. Its one of those shows that you really can't sit and listen to (and who can do 100% listening when the machine is whirring away) and miss the visuals. So I veg'ed in front of the TV watching Lost and enjoying myself. DD was playing on the computer in the other room (she's very active in Webkinz) so I just sat there watching my show.

Tonight I plan to finishing the quilting on the flagstone quilt and at least get the binding sewn on so I can do the hand work this weekend. Yes, I'm already thinking about the weekend and not focusing on what I have to do today.

Laurel

Flagstone Quilt 80% Quilted

Here's a pic of the progress on the Flagstone quilt. The entire top (minus the borders) is stipple quilted. It was alot harder than I remembered it being (moving the quilt around on my little machine). And its taken alot more thread than I imagined. I've just about finished my second big spool. I don't buy thread in the cones 'cause I just couldn't understand that you could go through thread so fast. I probably have to add bobbin thread every 45 minutes or so. This quilt (unfinished) measures 70" x 47". Its a big lap quilt.

As to finishing the quilt, I've just got the borders to quilt and then the binding.

Tonight I'm going to a long arm machine quilting class at my LQS. I'm really excited to go and learn this. I have a queen sized Trip Around the World that I want to quilt on a big machine and the class provides the know-how and a credit towards the rental.

Looks like we've had a rest from the snow for the past couple of days and by tomorrow its supposed to get above freezing. Wow! A regular heat wave!

Take care and stay warm.

Laurel

Car Trouble and Cold

Well, the last 24 hours haven't been very good. After picking up DD at after school care and running a few errands, my car wouldn't start when we got ready to leave the nearby grocery store. With a storm front coming in (snow 3-5 inches) and brutal cold coming our way this week, we bought a few staples and a couple of luxury items (ice cream). But when I couldn't get the car started (whirr, whirr, whiiirrrr, whiiiiiiirrrr), I decided that it would be best to walk home. Its about 8 city blocks and took us about 20 minutes. I carried three bags and she carried one with her backpack on. She had forgotten her boots at school so she had to schlep through the snow with her tennis shoes on.

I called a friend who offered to come pick me up, go over to the grocery store and help me jump start the car. We worked on it for about 20 minutes, then she called up one of her friends (a guy) who helped for another 30 minutes. No go. So she brought me back home. By this time, its 9:30 at night, the snow is falling and blowing hard and drifting and its getting colder by the minute. I called a tow truck company and left a message for him to call me so he could pick up the keys to the car and tow it to the local garage. He never called.

So this morning, after snowblowing 4-5 inches of snow off the driveway and the sidewalk in 13 degree weather, I called the local auto repair garage and explained the problem. They, of course, needed the keys. I told them I had to walk DD to school (8 blocks the other way) then I'd walk to the garage and drop off the keys. So that's what I did. When I entered the garage the tow truck guy (who didn't call me back) was standing there waiting for my keys (its a small town). I walked home (5 more blocks) and waited for the garage to call me back and tell me how much this little adventure is going to cost me. Well, I got the phone call a little bit ago and its almost $300! Ouch! So they had to order a special battery (naturally) and are waiting for it to be delivered so that they can install it and call me and pick me up to take me back up to the garage so I can pay the bill and then finally go to work! Whew!

So while I've been waiting this morning, I've uploaded the software for my new digital camera that I've been using for the past 2 months and then uploaded all the pictures. So I hope I can now put the quilt pictures (what you've all been waiting for) on this post.

This is the blue, brown, & cream flagstone quilt I've been working on for about a week now. Its a lap quilt and I just need to put on the boards and then the top is done. The quilt shop where I originally bought the fabric offered to buy a bolt of the fabric I want and that should be available in the next day or so.

Here's another picture so you can see the fabrics a little better. The fabric is mostly from Moda's Bistro line. I used scraps from fat quarters that I had bought specially for a table runner I gave as a Christmas gift (the friend picked out the fabric/colors).

I have also mentioned that I was going to try paper piecing. I got the pattern off the internet. Its called Triple Star and is an original design by Marcia Hohn.

I like the block but have determined that I did not like paper piecing. It did make it tons easier, but I still had trouble lining everything up. So I don't think I'll make another of this particular pattern. What I think I will do is find other star patterns that I've always wanted to try and make 8 or so different star blocks using the same colors and then put them all into a quilt. But in the meantime, the block and all the fabric is back in a storage bin waiting for the day when I want to tackle that.

Hope you all are keeping warm and healthy.

Weds 1/7/09

Last night while Katie (dd) was at Girl Scouts I worked on my flag stone lap size quilt. I don't know while I call it a flag stone quilt, it is not the right colors. The pattern just reminds me of a flag stone walkway. Hopefully, I'll post of picture of the Work in Process soon.

After Katie came home, I made a huge pot of chicken vegetable soup for tonight's Soup & Salad dinner at church. I tasted it and it sure was good. I dropped it off at the church on the way in to work this morning. Hopefully there will still be some there by the time I get there after work.

I spent my lunch hour today looking for a quilt guild. I looked on line and will be calling the shops near home to see what they recommend. The last guild I belonged to was in 1985 in the north Chicago suburbs. I can't even remember the name anymore.