I'm sewing finally

Yes, I'm finally sewing at home. I'm not sure why, but I've been in a real sewing slump lately. I just haven't felt much like setting up my sewing machine at home. I mostly have been traveling with my machine and supplies (to class and my mom's house) so it all usually stays in the car. This weekend I finally set myself back up at my dining room table and did some sewing and it was great! Above is a picture of the progress that I've made on the quilt my mom chose (see previous post) and my newly, if not only partially, cleaned off work area. The unfinished projects, patterns, and stray fat quarters were closing in on me. It doesn't look very clean in the picture, but then I didn't dare take a "before" picture for comparison.

And now for a picture of the blissfully happy Bear, whose main happiness seems to be laying on a reclined lap.

Birthday Sewing

Every year for my sister's and my birthday, my Mom puts together a quilt project for us to work on at her house. We were finally able to get together this past weekend for this year's project day. It's always a wonderful day with sewing and laughing and eating. The project is a surprise until we get there and everything we need is provided by my mom. We had a great time as usual.

Above is the sample of the quilt that my mom made. The fabrics for our two are different from hers and will look really different. I didn't finish my top, but I can't wait to see how it will look.

I snapped a picture of the project that I mom was working on that day, which I thought was really interesting. She'll cut the strata in a curve and piece in another fabric, if I understand it correctly. I'll be interested to see how that turns out.

Pink Basket

I made this adorable little pink basket this weekend using all fabric from stash! The tutorial was listed on Sew Mama Sew's Handmade Holidays that I posted about earlier this week. It was very quick and easy. Go here for the tutorial, but be sure to check to Sew Mama Sew! daily for new ideas. In addition to the links to the tutorials, they also have a link to something related to the day's theme to buy, a recipe and an opportunity to win a prize each day.

Election Day 2008

The time is finally upon us. We've endured over a year of tireless campaigning. We've been inundated with information, both false and true. Millions upon millions of dollars have been spent. Now is the time. I can't urge my fellow Americans enough to go out and vote today. It is an honor and privilege to even be able to vote, and in my mind it is just not an option not to vote. I have strong opinions about who and what I am voting for, but regardless of anyone's opinions, you just need to go do it. I actually find it fun to go to the polls. If I have to stand in a long line today, I might change my mind on that, but for now I like the ritual of physically going and casting my ballot. Go Democracy!

Handmade Holidays 2008

Handmade Holidays is back over at the Sew Mama Sew! blog. Just like last year, there will be links to tutorials every day of the November for items to make for the holidays. I loved looking at the site every day for new ideas. I ended up making many dishtowel aprons as well as crayon rolls. Stop by to see what's new!

PIQF 2008

The Pacific International Quilt Festival was held last weekend at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Oh how I look forward to this event, and this year was as wonderful as ever. I've prepared a slide show again this year. It looks like I took 81 pictures. The worst part of the show is the lighting. I found that if I turned off the flash, the quilts looked closer to real life. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that you have to hold the camera extremely still when there is no flash. Quite a few pictures turned out blurry, but not too bad. I'll have to remember that for next year.

edit: These slide shows tend to show very small in the blog. If you double click on the center of the picture, you will link to the web album and see much bigger and clearer pictures of the quilts.

Two more practice blocks

I have two more Dear Jane blocks done. These are the practice blocks that I started while I was waiting for my bolt of background fabric to arrive. I'm making four practice blocks that I'll put together for a small quilt for my hubby Lance. I gave him the book and had him pick out a list of about 10 blocks that he liked, and then I chose four for the mini-quilt. I have two that are foundation pieced and two that have applique. They are going well and I can't wait to start the actual quilt!!

Sewing Republic

I can't seem to grab a picture or icon, so there's not much "visual interest" to this post, but I wanted to let everyone know about a site I just found called Sewing Republic. I don't know much about it, but it appears to be sponsored by Bernina, and it has some really wonderful project ideas with full tutorials. I've got my eye on the coasters and also the wine tote. Hmmm. I'll be needing a project to work on tonight in class... Maybe we'll see some pictures soon after all!

Quilting in the Garden 2008

Quilting in the Garden is an annual quilt show in Livermore, California that is held at Alden Lane Nursery. Every year I get excited about going, and every year I miss it for reasons that are usually not very important. I kick myself for a long time about it and I always say, "well, next year...". Next year is finally here, and the show is this weekend (Sept 27 - 28). The plans are all set, and I am determined to go no matter what. I can't wait! It is such an interesting venue for a show; the quilts are all hung from trees in the nursery. There are featured artists, which this year inlcude Joen Wolfrom and Melinda Bula. And of course there is Alex Anderson, who was one of the founders of the show. I'll take lots of pictures and hopefully have a "celebrity" sighting. See you there!

Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Aha! I finally remembered that's it is Talk Like a Pirate Day before it was over!! I usually remember a day or two later. Aaarh you hearing a lot of "aarhs" and "mateys" today? Now you know why!

Class starts soon!

So my quilting hiatus lasted a little longer than I intended. With our vacation and my MIL's passing, I wasn't able to get back to sewing as early as I wanted. My mom came to the rescue and I did some sewing at her house last weekend that got me jump-started again. Just in time as the Monday night classes are starting up again. This coming Monday, September 8, 2008 at 6:00 pm will be the preview for the classes starting on September 15th, 2008 (6:00 to 9:00 for 9 weeks) at the Veterans Memorial Building in Redwood City.

I was putting the final border on one of the projects I'll be presenting, and a certain cat decided to attack my feet from under the ironing board. You can see the back view above and the very innocent looking front view below.

He must think he's helping by keeping me moving along! No time to stand around -- there's sewing to be done!

Marlene Murray

My mother-in-law, Marlene Murray, passed away last Thursday at her home. Although she had been ill, her death was sudden, and we believe she did not suffer. May she rest peacefully, free from the pains of her illnesses.

Vacation Day 6 & 7

So we are heading out today. Sad to leave our nice digs! I thought I'd post a picture of our favorite wireless internet spot, the Bean Scene. It's a nice little coffee shop here in St. George. They make the best iced mochas and some really good breakfast food, too. The people have been very friendly here (actually, everyone we've met on our trip has been very friendly). I've got pictures of the place we stayed as well as the quilt shops I visited, but I'll get those posted after I get home. Our flight out of Las Vegas leaves around 6:00 tonight, so we'll be beat by the time we get home. The question now is, will Bear be chew us out, or give us the cold shoulder... Thanks to Steve for watching over him for us!

Comments

It looks like I'm starting to get some weird spam comments. I've turned on the word verification feature that will hopefully stop that. If you would like to leave a comment (and please do!!), you will just need to type in the funny shaped word like you do when you order things on the internet. We'll see how it goes...

Vacation Day 5

Wednesday we explored Zion National Park. At this time of the year you can only drive through the park (which we did on Tuesday on our way to Bryce), but to hike around and explore, you need to take a free shuttle bus (after you pay to get into the park). It actually is a really nice system, where the shuttle comes around every 6 - 8 minutes. You can stay on it all of the way around the circuit, or you can get off at any of the stops and hike on the trails and pick up the next one when you are done. We got off a couple of times where there were shorter trails. It was over 100 degrees yet again, and hiking very far was rough. I don't think I've ever drank so much water in my life!! We did get off at this stop (below) where there was water seeping down the mountains. They made a walkway so that you could walk behind where the water was dripping down. It was refreshing to be behind there in the heat. It was strange to be in the desert-type climate and then see the water slowly falling down only in that one area.


If you drive through in your own car, you need to go through a mile-long tunnel that was built in 1930. They had to make holes in the side of the tunnel for light and air and also to push out the rubble as they were building. We saw the "window" first and couldn't figure out what it was until we got to a sign explaining it. When we got to the tunnel, we all had to stop our cars and wait for the wide motorhomes to come through from the opposite direction. Apparently if you are too wide for two-way traffic, you have to pay $15 dollars and you get an escort through the tunnel. Fortunately we were in the shade when we had to wait.

Today we relax! I'll be scouting out the quilt shops in town -- it looks like there are three right here in St. George! More on that tomorrow!!