Most unusual

When I make quilts or wallhangings or bags or whatever, I can’t give them away.  Unless I make them specifically for someone I usually keep everything.  I don’t know if I’m selfish or if I spend so much time (rather anal) working on a project that I just can’t bear to let it go.

Either way, today I let go of two items.  The first was a quilt that I started many years ago in a class at Portsmouth Fabrics.   The fabrics were supposed to be Kaffe Fassett but I really wanted to do something different so I bought all nice, bright colors.  The result was The Bright One.

I took this to Keepsake Quilting in Center Harbor, NH for sale on consignment.  They do it a little differently.  Rather than taking a percentage of your selling price, they add 25% of your price to calculate the total asking price.  At least that way, the seller gets what they want and the shop gets what they want.  They will keep it for four months and then return it to the seller at their expense.  They do not care if you send it in again at a later date.

Of course, while there I couldn’t just walk out without buying anything.  I found several bee fabrics that I purchased for the quilt I will make for Wendy at some point.

The next quilt is the Birthday Quilt.  I called it that because I received the kit from Su for my birthday a few years ago.  After putting it together I used it to practice my free-motion quilting and it turned out really well.  I was putting the binding on one day at work last year and Sue (a different one) said I could give it to her since I didn’t know what I was going to do with it.  We both laughed but I decided then that I would give it to her for her birthday, which is tomorrow.  I think she will be surprised but happy.   The colors are a little off because the photos were taken at night with a flash.   I know I had taken some earlier but I couldn’t find them anywhere.  Guess they are hibernating in cyberspace.                                                                                                                                                                        

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wow, Wow, WOW!!!

How many times can a person say WOW! in one day? That was the question that came to mind last night after a day at MQX (machine quilters expo). This is a quilt show in Manchester, NH that highlights machine quilters and their creations. Su and I spent several hours wandering through spectacular quilts exclaiming WOW after every new turn. We also got to see many of the entries in this year’s $100,000 Quilting Challenge. WOW!! It amazes me the creative ideas and workmanship that exist around me (even if it’s not right in my backyard).

Every brand of quilting machine was exhibited as well. Although I yearn for one of these machines, there wasn’t much point in spending time trying each machine or asking a million questions when it’s just not in the cards right now. When I can afford one and have the space for one, I’ll go shopping for one. In the meantime I will just envy the work that is done on one.

I had a wonderful time spending the day with Su. She did very well considering the number of “spoons” it took for her to walk around for several hours. I know she will pay for it today and maybe into tomorrow. It always amazes me how well she copes with her illness; she compensates very well. I wonder how well I would handle the situation if the cards had been reversed and I was the one that was chronically ill. I fear that I would not be nearly as strong a person. I admire her. I know that her time is precious and I’m so grateful that she allowed me to share some of it with her.

I heard from Wendy that Vanessa was home. From what I understand she is staying downstairs in the living room because that is where she can watch the TV. Wendy said that Greg is going to work from home for four days. It should be interesting since Vanessa is not supposed to get up except to use the bathroom or take a quick shower. Everything she needs will have to be provided by Greg. It will be an extended stressful time for each of them.

Wendy went to the baby shower for Ryan today. He is the baby she made the quilt for. Jen and her husband were very appreciative of the quilt and said that it will match Ryan’s bedroom which is blue with stars.

I was able to finish up the “Birthday Quilt” today. Su gave it to me for my birthday about three years ago. Although it is actually a wallhanging and it took me a short amount of time to piece it, I have been using it to practice my free motion quilting. I did some outline stitching in the flower area, some stitch-in-the-ditch, some stippling (which is my downfall) some free-motion outlining of the leaves and some “squiggly squares” in the outside border. Sue N. saw it while I was working on it today and really liked it. She mentioned that I could always give it to her. Soooo, that’s exactly what I will do on her next birthday. That makes it truly the “Birthday Quilt”.

I did manage to meet Bill at the gym after work for 30 minutes on the cardio machines.

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St. Paddy’s Day…the Irish holiday

I managed to find a nice t-shirt in the closet this morning, just right for “my” holiday. Wild O’Hares Brew Pub, Dublin, Ireland. It’s always nice to have a reason to wear it.

It has been slow here, not getting much quilting done. Greg and Vanessa came to spend the weekend. We had a great time, played some board games and some Wii games. We each took a turn finding our Wii fitness age. Greg did very well, with Bill right behind him. The three girls, Vanessa, Wendy and I, didn’t do very well. Our scores will remain a secret.

I tried a new recipe on Friday night, Maple-Baked Apple Chicken, from the Fall 2005 issue of Food and Family. It turned out very well and seemed to be well-received. I served it with a spinach & orange salad, sweet potatoes and pistacchio cake for dessert. I have been doing very well on the South Beach Diet and managed to stay away from the Lindt chocolates. I only had 6 or so chips and dip. So far, so good…I think I’m down about 4-5 pounds. If the weather gets warm I can start walking again.

Speaking of weather…UGH!!! Will it every be warm again? We had more snow Friday night into Saturday morning, another couple of inches. That doesn’t sound like much but on top of the 100 inches we already have, enough already! Although the sun finally came out today and there isn’t a cloud in the sky, the temp is only 36* and it is very windy. I think the wind chill is about 28* BBBRRR. They are predicting another storm Wed. and Thurs. Oh Joy!!

Since I did my cleaning last week before company arrived, I’m sewing today. I have managed to finish the quilting on a small 30’s print wallhanging. Not sure what will happen to it but I’m happy with the way it turned out. Since I’m not able to attend the baby shower, I wrapped the quilt and gave it to G & V while they were here. It will need another label once she is born. They seemed happy with it and said she will be spending her “belly time” on it. (I’m still having trouble uploading photos, so I’ll add one later.)

It has been a delightful day with lots of sewing. I watched part of a Patsy Thompson video during lunch. I tried a couple of times to quilt a feather pattern in the corner of the “Birthday Gift” but ended up ripping it all out. Instead I’m just doing some free motion “squiggly squares” which are turning out okay. For the most part I have been using this wallhanging as a practice piece for my free motion quilting. Overall it is better than I anticipated.

Cooking up some popcorn for dinner (not exactly SBD fare) and watching Dancing with the Stars while doing more quilting. I may actually finish two pieces today.

**Didn’t finish the second piece because I ran out of thread.

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