God Rest Her Soul

My beloved Bernina 1080 is not well. Over Labor Day weekend I went to spend much needed time sewing. When I stepped on the presser foot, no go. It's a belt or something in the motor. I will take her to the hospital but it was time for a new machine. I have loved her. She was such a splurge 20 years ago. I have not had an ounce of trouble. Love this machine.

Here is my new beauty. It was a huge decision. I tried a less expensive Janome but I'm a Bernina girl. And, you know they have that 830 which sells for $6,000 dollars. That is just crazy, but if I had $6,000 under my mattress I would have spent it on that machine.

I love my new machine. I feel so fortunate to be able to have such a beauty.

I'm on a disappearing nine patch binge. I finished this top in a day. That's unusual for me. It's just a little more than 2 charm packs. I bought way too much of the border material so I went and bought more charm packs. This is what some people are getting for Christmas.

The Bird of Paradise is blooming! We go to a mexican restaurant every Friday night. It's our Margarita Night. I love that tradition. We walked past a bird of paradise every week. I think they are so exotic. My honey bought me one. I think of our Friday nights when I see it bloom.
I found more Chenille plants. I love their fuzzy blooms.

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Found Time

No posts recently. No sewing recently. During vacation I sewed every day. I made the committment, again, to sew a little each day even when work started again. During a workshop, Edyta Sitar said we should sew 1 hour each day. We would finish our projects that way. It sounded so reasonable. I know I spend an hour a day reading blogs and watching tv.

For the first time ever I turned down a professional opportunity. I was all signed up to start my doctoral program. I would be doing it with a friend so we would work on things together. I went through the GRE exam, the interview, the essays and application, etc. As it got closer I got this panicky feeling that I just didn't want to do it. Add that I found out the total cost would be about $35,000. I don't know about you, but for me that's a really nice car. Lots of money for me. So, for the first time in my life....ridden with guilt....I chose to pass on a professional opportunity and focus on slowing my life down.

So, my theory is that I have "found time." I would be going to class every Monday and Tuesday night until 9 PM. Then I would be studying on the weekend. Why can't I put at least half of that time into sewing? Why, why, why?

The first 2 weeks of school have passed. The swelling in my feet is mostly gone. (Mostly, sure is getting harder as I age.) So, I will spend time doing the things I love- sewing, gardening, reading.

I bought the City Park kit. It says that it is for all skill levels. I had to read the directions 5 times before I could get it. Guess I'm below all skills levels. It's lots of cutting but looks like easy construction. I love the City Quilts book. Simply and striking quilts.



After the first week of school my whole body ached. I left telling my friends I was going to pay for a massage. Instead I went to the nursery and bought....

Brazilian Cloak

Blue Pea Vine

Aggie Giner

Ginger...whose name I have forgotten.

Off to the sewing room or quilt shop. Have a lovely Saturday!

I Don't Know How to Use It....So I Buy More

First, let's begin with a trip to get doughnuts. The milk for my coffee was sour and, being the lazy person that I am, I didn't want to exert myself by going all the way to the grocery store. So, Iris and I went to get doughnuts and milk for my coffee. It's a drive through which fulfilled my lazy needs. Iris is so much fun in the car. It just makes me laugh to see her in the rear view mirror.

As I've said before I don't know how to handle the colors in the Kaffe fabric. So, I bought more. I have no plan. I'll finish the Kaffe dresden this week. Then I'll stress over what I can do with this fabric that will do it justice. I think his fabric is a work of art.

Seven of the eight pinwheel blocks are done. It helps to post a picture of the design wall. I think I need more pink and green. My goal is to finish the last block today. I'm ready to be done with this.

Below are the last 4 blocks I've done. I deemed them good enough. Done.

The sun is out after a rain storm last night. I'm off to check on a sick mandevilla. Who but me could kill a mandevilla?

Kaffe Dresden Progress and More PInwheels

The blades of the dresden are sewn. I drove to the LQS for their 25% off sale and got two choices for binding. I'm going to make a wall hanging. Can't decide if I try to do the quilting. My free motion is just pathetic. Probably don't want to try on this.

More pinwheel blocks. Everyone else has finished thier quilts. I have 3 more blocks to go. Amazing how much I get done when I'm on vacation. My goal is to keep the productivity up when I go pack to work next week.

Below is a picture of all the blocks on the design wall. I think I need more pink. I didn't use a layer cake. I couldn't find enough Jennifer Paganelli fabric when I needed it so the quilt has taken a different direction. Next time I'll stick with one line of fabric. It's too stressful to find fabric that matches.

This is the sweetest picture of Iris the dog. In this picture it is bedtime. I have a Milkbone and she's waiting patiently at the top of the stairs for her bedtime snack.

Off to make more blocks!

Kaffe Dresden Audition and Pinwheels

I have this spot in the hallway that needs something. I put a print up but he didn't like it. I really did. Now the conference room at work looks really good...with that print.

I love dresdens. First I thought Verna because the walls are kinda butter colored. I think it's too washed out on the walls. But I do love Verna. I have a jelly roll and some yardage so this charm pack is destined to something other than a dresden.
I've had this Kaffe charm pack since quilt festival. I'm scared of all the color. I don't know what looks good and what looks too busy. When I see other people's usage of Kaffe, I think it looks great. A little insecure about this. And I know he won't like it...but what does he know?

How do I lay it out so it is colorful rather than chaotic? It's too dark on the right. Need some light there, I think.

Iris the dog decided to wake up at 3:00 AM so I got an early start. I had 2 blocks done before 9:00. I think I'm halfway there with the Pinwheel Sampler.

Here is a blurry overview of the blocks so far. One of the upcoming blocks is not my favorite. I have to decide tonight whether I go ahead and make it or not.

Tomorrow's goal= at least 2 pinwheel blocks and a draft of the dresden. And to sleep past 3:00 AM.

Why I Haven't Finished Anything

With all the fabric purchased... and all the viewing of blogs... and all the challenges entered....I haven't finished anything. I have a couple of tops just about ready. Yes, work gets in the way. I'm exhausted and will work on that this year. But who isn't tired daily?



I'm stuck at the mitered borders. Easily fixable. I can learn that. Then it dawned on me that I don't know how to do the next part. It has me paralyzed. So off to take a machine quilting class.



Stitch in ditch...doable. Free motion= quilting drunk. But I did quilt my name.



So I decided to dive in on a quilt top I didn't care much about. Not much but still it was time and money. I did not post the picture because I think I might cry. Making the quilt sandwich on carpet= bad idea. I have some buckling. My in the ditch was okay though. The free motion is horrible.



I will find a solution to making the quilt sandwich without bubbles/buckles. I can stitch in the ditch but I'll leave free motion to the professionals for a while.



Next I took a binding class. Such a lovely teacher. She made everyone feel accomplished. I'm happy with my progress and feel I can bind.


I have many projects I abandoned as work overtook my energy. Today I went back to what I love- piecing. I made 2 more blocks for the Pinwheel Sampler. Love how these blocks are framed.

Now, do I cook something for dinner. Keep in mind I have to go to the grocery store. (yuck!) Or do I make 2 more blocks?

A Reason Not to Weed

We've had a few days of monsoons. Way too much rain but I can blame the weeds in the courtyard on the rain. I worked on the other side of the backyard and then turned one day to see the courtyard filled with weeds.

I started weeding, albeit slowly. Then I noticed that one of my "weeds" had a familiar blossom. Last year's pink Turk's Cap has made a comeback. I'm thrilled.


My sweetie bought me the birdbath I've been coveting. Funny what becomes an obsession. It was ridiculously priced. I watched it go 25% off but still a little crazy for a bird bath. Especially since the birds already have 2 in the yard. And they actually use only one and the dog dish. Then it went 40% off. The smart man made my day. I think it's so cute.

My Blue River Hibiscus bloomed during the monsoon. Poor thing had to fight through the water. It's a little beaten by raindrops but still so pretty.

Another Luna Red bloom. Lovely.

Dancing Girl Ginger has decided to come back to life. It took a while. It's still in a pot. I think it will get planted by Dr. Moy.

Happy 4th. God bless our country.