3/50 Project

The 3/50 Project

Click on the link above and find out what this is all about. This is a great project!! Please support your local independently owned shops!

What independently owned shop would you miss if it were to close? Please post a comment telling me why you would miss this local shop. I will draw one person to randomly win a great quilting related gift.

Guess what independently owned shop I would miss and the first person to get it right will also win a quilting related gift.

Prize to be drawn January 10th 2010

New Beginnings

The holidays are coming to a close and a new year is dawning. What do you have planned for the coming year? For me it's just simple things. I hope to get my quilt room clean, get more quilting done (pieced and quilted) and spend more time with my BH. This January will be five years since I met him and in our life that is a milestone, but more on that in another post.

Santa did not bring me a camera for Christmas, but that is o.k. I still have a few gifts coming. With all the snow that we got here in the Midwest on Christmas day and me having to work, I was not able to celebrate with my parents. I hope to get to see them this weekend. The short of it is, I should have a camera in a couple of weeks. Yeah, look for lots of pictures to come.

Have you seen the one seam flying geese yet? If not, then head over to the Quilt Show.com and check it out. I want to make some geese now, but should I really start a new project? I think I should start/finish the others that I already have on my plate.

Has anyone else noticed that a few designers are giving us a sneak peek at their new Christmas fabric lines coming out this Spring and to think we just got this year's Christmas over with and now they are wanting us to think about the next one!

Adventure With Grandma

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma.

I was just a kid. I
remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb:

"There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "

Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been.

I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her world-famous cinnamon buns. I knew they were
world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm.

Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me.

"No Santa Claus!" she snorted. "Ridiculous!
Don't believe it. That rumour has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad. Now, put on your coat, and let's go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous, cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said,

"and buy something for someone who needs it."

I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.

I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church. I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs.Pollock's grade-two class.
Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out for recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough, and
he didn't have a coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement.
I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!

I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that. "Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes," I
replied shyly. "It's .... for Bobby." The nice lady smiled at me. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) and wrote on the package, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" -- Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house,
explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially one of Santa's helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his doorbell and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.

I still have the Bible, with the tag tucked inside: $19.95.

===============================

He who has no Christmas in his heart

will never find Christmas

under a tree.

Learning to Sew Straight

Who knew that sewing a straight line would be so hard. I am using the stitch guide (the little metal arm) that came with my walking foot (even feed foot) and I still have trouble with straight lines. I'm thinking my problem might be that I am sewing way too fast. I need to slow down. I need to put the sewing machine on a slower speed and that way I can't go any faster, plus that would help me stay on the straight and narrow patch per say. I'm also finding that if I don't have it lined up at a 45 degree angle when I start I also get off course. Next time I get a hair up my butt and want to try some cross hatching I will try the blue painters tape. I could off set the tape just a bit from where I want to stitch and follow it with the edge of the walking foot. This way I have no chance of stitching into the tape. Tape that has been stitched into is very hard to get off ones quilt.

I'm looking into a new camera. I'm thinking I might go with the Nikon 12mp coolpix camera, but really don't know that much about other than what I have seen from Ashton on T.V. Just looking for a camera under $200 that is 12 mp or more. Any input?

I've been thinking that some of you might not know what I do for a living. I can't recall if I've blogged about it before or not. That could be old age sitting in. Hell, I'm getting ready for yet another birthday. I can't be 29 forever. Lol, but I digress. I'm manager of a Viking Sewing Gallery here in Kansas City, MO. We sell Singer and Husqvarna Viking sewing machines. Teach new owners how to use their machines, plus all the different accessories and software we sell. At times this can get overwhelming with all the new products coming out. If you would like to be on our E-mail to find out about our sales or upcoming classes please send us an E-mail to vikingkansascity@earthlink.net and we will add you to our list.

Hoilday Joy

I have the Christmas spirit in my heart and mind.

I just spent the most amazing Sunday with my BH. We went to brunch and the did some shopping then went and saw Avatar then more shopping and dinner. Avatar is the type of move that is very thought provoking. It was brilliantly filmed and if this is how films will look in the future then I'm all for it. You must see this in 3D. The 3D felt incredibly natural and not too showy as it has on other films. I got so wrapped up in this film. I want to go and see it again, but this time in 3D IMAX.

The table runner is done. Just need to put some binding on it. Pictures to follow later once I have a camera. I did cross hatching for the quilting. How does one keep their lines straight? I found it very hard. I did draw my lines on, but it was still hard to follow. There has to be another way. Maybe cross hatching is not for me. I know next time I will do a serpentine line and it will not matter if the line is straight. I think I will try this tape idea next time. It just might work.

May the joys of the Hoilday Season be with each and everyone of you. Merry Christmas.

Christmas in Full Swing

Busy, busy, busy.

Not much time for quilting with the Christmas in full swing. The tree is up and decorated, holiday party this Friday, shopping in full swing (not done yet), candy made and cookies baked, and sewing machine are flying out the door.

I am making a super cute quick and easy table runner just so I can feel like I'm getting something done.

Oh yeah, my camera stopped working and need a new one. Maybe Santa will being me one.

Favorite Blogs

Happy Thanksgiving

I have over 100 quilting blogs that I like to read. Thank God most of them don't update on a daily basis or I would never get anything else done! I do find when I miss a few days of checking them, it takes me a bit longer to get this job done, and because of this I find I really don't read the blogs, but look at the pictures. I only post comments when it's something important. I know I should post once in a while to let them know I was there, but hey, I like to be a lurker. These are a few of my favorites:

• Flat Out Quilting

• Quilt Dad

• The ManQuilter

• I'm Just A Guy Who Quilts

• LaVieEnRosie

• Simplify

What are some of your favorite blogs to read?

P.S. Love quilt blogs done by men. Us guys have to stick together. There is not many of us out there.

For Love of Theatre and Fabric

I'm in love with Elphaba from Wicked. Went and saw the show and it was just amazing. A few tears might have come from my eyes in the last half of the show. It just goes to show you that I too have a heart.

Highlight of the show was of course Defying Gravity, For Good, and the finale when Fiyero and Elphaba embrace.. Such true love. Just thinking about this has brought a tear to my eye.

If Wicked come with in a 100 miles of where you live you must go and see it.

We spend time looking for just the right quilt pattern then go and shop for fabric to make this pattern come to life. We spend hours placing it together, but then get tired of it for one reason or another. I have done this on more than one occasion. I have just a few quilts that are half finished in bags stashed around the quilt room. I stopped and asked myself why we do this and I think it's because for some patterns, I'm just tired of it from making the same thing over and over. I know it will be great when it's done, but how many more flying geese or half square triangles can a person make or just get tired of the fabric. Maybe I did not like the fabric as much as I thought I did. Then with some patterns I reach a hard spot and just don't want to take the time and get it done. I'm ready for it to be over. Maybe it's not a hard quilt pattern it's just that I made a mistake and made it harder than it really is. Sometimes, the best reason that I could come up with is, I just want to buy some more fabric and start something new. Just remember that a person never needs a reason to stop one project and start a new one. It's your fabric and you can do what you want with it!

A Wicked Christmas

I was driving home last night and wanted to hear some good showtunes. Nothing better than singing to your favorite songs in the car and having the car next to you look at you funny. So I woke up today and jumped right on i Tunes and made a show tunes list. I have my top 30 on there now. I need to come up with some more. Anyone care to help me out with with a few of the favorites?

Why do I want to make this list? I don't think it has anything to do with the fact that I'm going to see Wicked this Wednesday night. I think it has more to do with the fact that I love to sing showtunes and I don't have any in the car.

Maybe this is the gayest thing, but I think there should be a Showtunes Hero . You know like Guitar Hero, but using show tunes. Who knows, it might be a big hit.

I got my issue of Quilter's World and saw this on the cover and decided I needed to make myself one. It was very easy and took no time at all. I used what fabric I had from my stash. Quilted the whole thing then added my applique. In the past I've always quilted around the applique, but I found this to be a lot quicker. I'm not much for applique, but I would do it this again for sure.

Have you seen Bradie new pattern Country Corral over on her facebook page? Check it out and let her know that I sent ya. I'm going to have to add this one to my to do list. It's just too cute and I love the fabric. Bradie sure does know how to make me spend money. What can I say, the girl has good taste.

Long Days

Welcome to the fist day of November and just think Christmas will be here before you know it. In fact 53 days, but who's counting.

I know it's been way to long since I have done a post and I'm sorry, but I've been busy with work. If you're a Facebook friend then you know I've been selling lots of sewing machines. I had a great Saturday. I sold six machines. That was a lot of fun. I wish I could do that everyday.

I've got a lot of projects that I would like to get done before Christmas. It's Under the Tree by Holly Berry Collection. There are 12 different blocks that make up this cute wall hanging for a total of 468,000 stitches. This might take awhile, but when you have 10 hour days that you need to kill it's all water under the bridge. I'm going to use corduroy as my outside border. The pattern calls for 1/4" black ribbon for the sashing and I'm going to use a fancy trim foot with a 3.0 twin needle to make quick work of this.

Even with me working long hours I've had some time for shopping. Here are a few items I bought that you might want to peruse or even ogle over.

A batik jelly roll and 35 FQ's. Out of the blue/green/white/brown bundle I'm going to make a quilt like this one for my Nephew:

I leave you with this one last picture to show you that I have been making some time to quilt.