two blogs

I guess I didn't get enough rest on the weekend. I have spent the last hour or so, surfing through a variety of blogs. Thought I would tidy my blog up a bit and found out the I have two blogs! I have another one that I have posted on my emails.....no wonder I don't get any comments or traffic to this blog. Now, to figure out how to delete the wrong one!!!!



Wish me luck!!!

best hubby

I have the bestest husband ever!!!! His gift to me this year is to help me make it through the DARK days. I suffer terribly from Season Affective Disorder. I couldn't understand why I HATED Christmas! I was diagnosed over almost 15 years ago and now that we know that I don't really hate Christmas, we have been working at doing things to improve the situation. Every year has gotten better and better. We have my HAPPY LIGHT! When the girls were younger they really encouraged me to spend some time in front of the light every day.....I can honestly say that this was the best thing I have ever done for my mental health.

This year, Jerry has been encouraging me to take it easy. He has allowed me to just sit and do nothing. Sometimes at the end of the day, I can't answer a question straight and asking me what I want for supper is a really dumb question. Now, the questions I get are "are you hungry?". Not what do I want to eat? Food magically appears in front of me and when the plate is empty, it is taken and away and a cup of tea is put in my hand!

I spent the day on Saturday lounging around watching TV and dozing. I had planned to stay in bed and sleep in.......actually I woke up earlier than usual....5am!! Everytime I did curl up on the couch and try to sleep....the phone would ring or the dogs would need to go out!!! Jerry did the running around and trouble shooting at the store on Saturday and I tried to take it easy! Thanks!

We have also decided to take things really easy this year at Christmas. Sorry, Kids....gift cards for everyone!!!! We got each other new glasses and hopefully can do a gym membership in the new year! But we'll do our usual stocking stuffers for Christmas morning and then just spend the day with family! I am looking forward to it.

Christmas Sewing

I have been a busy little sewer...not on my own projects, but for customers. I have a new baby, Susie Q is her name. She is a HandiQuilter 16 Sit and Sew model. So I have a bigger, newer machine to replace my Brother 1500. The brother has been used and abused for almost 15 years. It was time to treat him a bit kinder...so I have semi-permanently lent him to a friend. I'll get him back when she longer wants him.

I have been quilting smaller quilts (not queen size) to get the hang of this new baby. Very smooth stitching, but much noisier than I am used to. I have to turn up my music a fair bit.

The picture quality isn't great because I am using my camer phone. I again, put the batteries in my "new" camera (less than a year old) BACKWARDS and forced the cover closed! I am going to have to smash the camera to get it open again!

The following quilt was quilted using some of the ideas in "Free-Motion Quilting Made Easy" by Eva A. Larkin. There are some really good ideas in this book.

New Machine

I finally broke down and bought a new machine to do my Free Motion work. My Brother 1500 was over 10 years old and was feeling worse for wear. We have done many, many, many quilts together and I will miss my brother.....but he is going to a new place.....he will be passed on to a friend who will get a lot of use from him! He is very excited!!!!!



My new machine is a HandiQuilter 16. That means 16 inches from needle to the back of the machine and over 8" in height! Wow! I have done a few smaller things already and know that I'll have to get some extra table space built around the machine.

I think my new friend "SusieQ" will be happy in her new home. She has a great spot in the corner of my 2nd classroom and has been much admired already.

New Classroom?

I am taking a break from trying to clean up my back storage room....aka "the hole". It has become the dumping ground for everything....even the stuff that's not mine! I have got to learn to say NO when offered stuff someone is sure I can make use of it! I took in 12 boxes of binders and office stuff. I was able to pull out the binders that I will use (I hope) and then give away almost everything else. It started with an email asking if I wanted any hard plastic magazine storage boxes (harvard boxes). I said, "sure, why not. I am sure I can use them". Then the binders were offered and the office supplies......I now have two binding machines (the thingies that put the plastic combs on booklets). One was a semi-permanent loan from elsewhere. I guess I should return it.


So, the painter will be here later this morning. He'll do half the space, then we'll move everything to the other side of the space, and he'll paint the other half. I have been putting masking tape on the floor and drawing a map to see what the best use of the space is. I want to have room for 6 students. Space will be a bit tight at the end of the tables, but there will be more space widthwise than we have in our main classroom.


I really do hope I am not biting off more than I can chew...... I should really take before and after pictures so that I will be able to appreciate all the hard work....a couple of short videos showing the back room and all the stuff (a very polite word) piled on one side.

Quilts and More Quilts

Ok, I'm working madly on quilts to put in a show next weekend. I have one almost completely quilted...need to put some branches on and the binding....where is the binding fabric? Don't know. Can't find it....must be the same place as the serger I lost earlier in the week! This was a fun quilt and is the combination of a failed Block of the MOnth and a successful "nothing to lose" class. Can't wait to get it all finished.

The second quilt is a "participation quilt project" from our guild. I had my name drawn twice. The first in 2006 when I was going to become the president of the organization and thought a quilt with our Alberta Rose (our logo) would be great. Did'nt get the quilt completed before my name was drawn again in 2008. The friendship stars in the border are the result of that draw. All the blocks except one rose and one star are signed. I hope I can find the ladies who made those blocks and get them to sign them for me.

The following two pictres are close-ups of the quilting under way.

Now on to the good stuff!! Just got in this Gypsy Sit Upon to try. Don't know which way should be up....but I like this side (with the little nubbies) up better. A comfy sit while I quilt.

That's it for me today....heading home to clean carpets.

No Kids!

I miss my kids....no, I am not a mother with her youngsters off to school. I am a sewing teacher with no classes booked!

Every afternoon this week I felt a little funny.....My body and mind are so tuned into that 4pm time slot, that I would feel really uneasy until I realized why. I miss my kids!

So, starting after the long weekend, we'll have full houses again and I'll be happy, happy, happy!

I have been trying to get some projects sewn at home for a show our guild (Alberta Handicrafts Guild) is doing at http://www.heritagepark.ca/specialevents.htm in Calgary. We are 80 years young!!!! and have a lot of very talented people our our groups. So, I have a quilt almost quilted, one waiting for "white" batting, a sweater to get buttons, yarn tails to sew in on a pair of socks, lining and handles sewn on a hand woven bag......lots to do, so little time! The show will be held during the annual Fall Fair and should be a lot of fun!

On a personal note.....I have a new basement floor! We are having a wood laminate flooring installed, then we'll have some painting done as well. The floor looks beautiful....better because I didn't have to do it!