Happy New Year quilting

There were a couple questions about the pantographs and how they work, so I thought I would take some pictures today while I quilted.They are easy to use and with my model of machine, they work well.You can see I got close up so you can't see all the lint and thread on the floor! lol
Yesterday was a UFO day at the store. I spent the whole day there and some of the ladies were there all day with me, some came and went. It was a fun, productive day for everyone. They all got a lot accomplished and what a great way to get back to what's important after the holidays....lol.

Christmas goodies....pantos!

I got some new pantos for Christmas from my daughters. I am excited to try them out!
My machine has a throat space of about 11" so I can only quilt about 6-8" at a time.
I am not a world class quilter yet....maybe some day...lol....so hopefully I can do these. this one has 2 patterns.
Now I am anxious to try them out....I have a quilt to do for someone so probably won't practice on it, but maybe after I get that one finished I will put something of mine on. Yes, Virginia, I have a few unquilted items....lol

OK I changed something.....

Can you tell what it is???? Opinions please on font size....never sure if I get it right.

Christmas was great!!!

We celebrated Christmas Eve with my 2 daughters who live near us.

That Johnny Cash is a rebel....lol

Christmas Day we spent in Earling with my family. This is a pic of my mom and dad, and a few other family members. I hope to get a better pic of mom and dad from someone else, since I had trouble getting mom to look up...lol...It was a great holiday...great food...great family...great chatting.....more food....

He's back in the states and I am finally finished shopping...

We know that my nephew is back in the states. He has been studying in Spain this past semester, so I was happy to hear he made it through that long flight over the ocean. He landed in Detroit a few hours ago, and will soon be boarding a plane to Des Moines. My niece will pick him up and bring him the rest of the way home. We are all anxious to see him, as you can imagine. Here is a pic of him on one of his trips in Spain.

I am so envious of everyone working on their cute Christmas gift goodies, and I haven't made one thing....I did get my shopping done, though and wrapped some of the presents last night.

Sunset in Iowa & sisters

My sister from Canada has been here since Friday night. We went shopping all day yesterday and went out to eat last night with my daughters, nephew and his girlfriend. It was fun and we got some major visiting done. I took them up to Earling (my hometown) today. My sister from Missouri was there and sent this plate of goodies with me. My sisters & mom are all really good cooks. Since I haven't gotten any baking done, these are much appreciated. There are some peanut butter cookies, fudge, pumpkin bread, caramelly bars(forget the name) and scotcheroos. I didn't stay too long as it was 2:30 by the time we got there and I didn't want to drive home too late by myself with the weather so frigid. The high today was about -1....brrrrrr...the sunset was beautiful. I took a pic on my phone, but it didn't turn out very well. So I will post the goodies instead.

Friday Snow Day!!!

Sometimes when you work for the school district, you feel just like a kid....like when you wake up to a SNOW DAY!!! And it couldn't come at a better time. My sister & her boyfriend will arrive late tonight from Canada. I have been cleaning like crazy the past couple nights, after having classes Mon. & Tues. night. So what I have left to do shouldn't be too bad since I have all day to do it.

We didn't actually get that much snow, but the ice and sleet that came before made everything a huge mess. I think a large part of the midwest was in the path of this storm. I have another sister coming from Missouri on Saturday, hope she makes it. Seems like they always get lots of sleet when it does anything. My sis from Canada will stay here til Sunday, then on to my hometown (Earling) about 50 miles from here. So I will see her several more times before they go home.

I love this time of year, even if I am so far behind...no baking done...no shopping done....no decorations up except the Nativity scene. But I did get the curvy pieced quilt top finished....so here it is. I'm still not sure it turned out like I thought it would, but it is bold and colorful. And I am still working on the new Sampler quilt, though it is on hold til after my sister goes to Earling. Whew, sorry this is so long.

My kitties are the cutest....

Hi girls....
I think they look so sweet when asleep. I think they slept all day today. It has been cold and windy and dreary all day, so why not?

I got 3 more blocks finished today. Well one is applique and still needs to be blanket-stitched, but 2 are completely done. Now to work on the setting. I want each Sampler to have a different setting, which is getting harder with each one (this is #9). I have come up with something, but we will see how it looks.
Nite nite...

Saturday busy bees

These are some pix from class yesterday. It was UFO Saturday, so 5 ladies came to work on projects. We got a lot done, plus solved a lot of the world's problems too.


I hope to get a lot done today. Have been working on some class stuff this morning, soon on to sewing. What are you doing today?

It's finished!!!

Well the back loaded first...oops.....
It's finished. I am happy with it, hope she will like it also when I give it to her tomorrow. Glad I don't have to do the binding too! we did this in class just a few weeks ago.

Wednesday stitching...

I managed to get a quilt on the frame and partially quilted tonight after work. It is the last one that I need to quilt for someone before Christmas, so that means she still needs to bind it too. I work tomorrow night and hope to finish it Friday night.

I'm done for today!!

Well I got 3 blocks finished for the new Sampler quilt, though not sure one of them is a keeper. The one on the right has more contrast than it looks like in the picture, but there isn't the greatest light in there now.

The other picture is the quilt I quilted today for a friend. I hope she likes it.

Just an update on Quiltathon

I did get that quilt finished. It was big, but an easy pattern as it was a Tshirt quilt. Will post a pic later. Now it is time to make some blocks for a new class Sampler quilt.

Quiltathon update

I am joining in with the Quiltathon at Patchwork Times so hopefully will get a lot done today.
Yesterday, after class (which I didn't get out of there til 3:00 or so) I didn't do much quilty except work on some block ideas for a new quilt. But I have started off the day by pinning a quilt down and I am ready to start quilting now. Have to take a back break after I pin because of the bending, but now I'm off to quilt!

Back to normal, I hope!

I think my computer is back to normal. Not sure what was wrong, but it was very annoying. I think I am a computer junkie, as well as fabricaholic....the list of imperfections just keeps growing... I felt pretty out of touch without it.

I have a Quick Gifts Make and Take class today. This is one of the things they will be doing. The pix are my youngest daughter's hospital & grad. pix. After that, it's home to quilt. I have a quilt I need to design and get started on and one to quilt this weekend.

If you could give me feedback on this font, I would appreciate it. I am not sure why, but I realized when I checked my page on someone else's computer that my type is very large, so if you could let me know if this looks better I would appreciate it.

Computer problems

Not sure what is wrong, but I have been having trouble with my computer. Not sure if it is my computer, my internet connection or yahoo, but it is very annoying. It did let me get in here, we'll see if it actually posts.

Smokey is up a tree!

Ok, so it is just a coat tree, but still...it was pretty funny to see her perched up there. She likes to get as high as she can go. She is on our back porch, looking out the window. She likes to get on top of the fridge too.