Something About Nothing

Finally getting the few photos I took at the Pie Plates Super Spring Retreat  up.  As usual, I had a wonderful time!  We met together in the newly renovated Fountain Green Dance Hall.  A large space with plenty of room to stretch out and sew. The quilt in this photo is from Bonnie's Choo Choo Train pattern.  And this Log Cabin variation is from my friend Sylvia , who will soon have this pattern up in her Craftsy Shop.  This is Alice and her little guy, who kept us entertained throughout the retreat.  Krisanne , another one of the wonderful teachers, was putting together a beautiful new scrappy pattern. I spent most of my free time figuring out this little puzzle:  I'm pleased with how it turned out! This year the teachers all stayed with Karla, a very talented quilter who lives in Fountain Green.  Her new studio is fabulous!!!  Lots of great lighting and space to stretch out and sew. S...

 I'm playing and working this week at the Pie Plates Spring Retreat with my buddy, Sylvia .   Getting ready for the retreat was a bit of a challenge for some reason!   I only had one class to teach - Outdoor Concert Quilt - but all of my samples are in California so I needed to make another one.  I arrived at the retreat excited for the time with friends and sewing.  I had my old camera with me because I couldn't find my new one but I soon discovered I didn't bring the cord to connect the camera to the computer.  Sheesh. I brought my big, wonderful Juki sewing machine, because my regular sewing machine needs a trip to the shop but I FORGOT MY FOOT PEDAL!!! *deep sigh*  Fortunately Sylvia, her camera, and her Bernina came to my rescue!  This is my "Oh you want me to smile, do you!" face.  Once the sample was mostly completed (had to save some to show the class) I started working on a free form project I dreamed up th...

At Quilt Market I finally got to play on the sewing machine I've been drooling over in Quilting Arts magazine. (photos borrowed from HQ website) The HQ Sweet Sixteen from Handi-Quilter. *Deep Sigh* I took some time to play with the HQ18 Avante too. (photos borrowed from HQ website) It is a wonderful machine but honestly I've become so accustomed to quilting on my home machine that the Sweet Sixteen was truly SWEET for me. A long neck with plenty of room to push around a quilt and lots of speed! I sat at it's lovely table for a long while and quilted leaves on vines and a few swirls with the Sweet Sixteen.  The sales person said it looked like I've quilted before (just a little - haha) and then told me of all the wonderful features.  I can't recall them all now because I was in a dreamy daze.  The speed of the machine was beautiful and the stitches came out so even.  It really made my quilting look professional without really trying.  The sales person stepped ...

One of the blogs I follow, Chickpea Sewing Studio , posted about another blog called Sew, Mama, Sew . Sew, Mama, Sew is celebrating June as Sewing Machine Month. SMS is asking their readers to blog about their personal sewing machines. The idea is to have an easily accessible resource of people's opinions of various sewing machines. SMS will compile a list of everyone's reviews and post it on their blog. I thought this was a great idea and so here I go (take a deep breath because I own 5 machines). 1. What brand and model do you have? Singer 6105 How long have you had it? It was purchased in about 1981. How much does that machine cost (approximately)? I think it was about $150. What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)? Mostly garments with a few curtains and quilt tops. Actually I quilted a couple of whole cloth quilts on this machine without a walking foot, they were disasters, but still loved and used. How much wear and ...