Happy Thanksgiving!

Who doesn't love Snoopy!!!!

Home From Quilters Dream Weekend

I'm just home from the Quilters Dream Retreat held at Camp Arnold in April and October. I've been going to the April retreats since moving up here. My friend, Lisa, from Canada, found this retreat and got us in -- no easy feat since they are usually full.  Since then, we've met there annually. This was the first year that Lisa couldn't make it--still fun, but just not the same without her.

The first year we had no idea what we were getting into. However, we were fortunate enough to pick a place to sit that turned out to be the best place ever. We met Shirley and Donna from Linden, WA, and we've all be friends ever since. :0)

Here are pics of some of the things I worked on while I was there.  First, the ugliest!!  At the April retreat they have classes and do a challenge block. I've never participated in the challenge block; however, this year, Donna and Shirley shamed me into it.  I had no extra fabric, so this is what I managed to put together.  The only positive thing that can be said about it is that it is exactly 12 1/2" unfinished. Other than that--well, you be the judge. (I think its awful--however, it wasn't the most awful one there! Go figure!) Next year the theme is "Rootin, Tootin, Quiltin." That will be a fun one.  I see lots of cowboy boots and hats...

After working on the block, I put this top together for my neighbor. She's expecting her first baby, a boy, in June.

Then I spent several hours on this Buggy Barn Pattern. Its called "Poker Run" and will be for Millie when its completed. Below are the ponies before their barns were added. Notice the one on the bottom right? He totally disappears, so I won't be including him (I may put him on the back, though--haven't decided yet.) I received many suggestions of what to put in his place, but the funniest was the person who thought I should do a horse's butt!

 

And here they are in their barns

After that, it was work on a QOV that I was volunteered for and finally some work on the Cabin Fever Quilters Mystery. This is the fabric combo I'll be using for the mystery. My friend, Donna, helped me choose; she's got great taste! She also had me take a pic of the fabrics in black/white to make sure the contrast was there.  Who knew????

 Finally, don't you just love these two cases.  The pic distorts the size a bit. The top one is only about 10" square. Last year at the retreat, Mary's friend had a set of these that she used for her sewing stuff. I was admiring them and Mary said she never used hers so would bring them for me this year...and she did!!  They are gorgeous. They remind me of old fashioned train cases.

Thanks for reading!!

Dory

Best Laid Plans...

Things never work out the way you plan...at least they don't in my life!

I think I'm batting around 500 (is that 50%?).  I'm sticking to Evernote--the real test will be when I get our tax stuff ready for our accountant.  I'm exercising almost every day and for the month of February, I'm have NO SNACKS.  That means no chocolate, no muffins, basically no sugar except that which goes in my coffee.

Now...if you're reading my blog, you know the twice a week bit isn't working out too well.  However, I do have a good excuse (the dog ate my blog post...hmmm, that doesn't seem to work). In January, I became a grandma for the first time! Amelia "Millie" Jane was born on January 9.

 For that first week, my step-daughter's mom stayed with her,  but then that grandma had to go back to work. So I volunteered to go down for a week and was greeted with open arms and an adorable baby.  I had my iPad, but no computer and no sewing stuff...a whole week went poof!

Now I'm back and so far behind it isn't funny. (Imagine the papers stacked up are really quilts)

 I've been quilting for HOURS every day trying to get caught up before I take off again for Empty Spools. The good part: I'm getting quilts done. The bad part: I've done nothing about my class! I'm taking the Lone Star from Jan Krentz and its something I've always wanted to do. I'll be designing my own (I do have the design in my head--its sort of a la Jinny Beyer), but I need to commit it to paper, make a mock up and buy some fabric (oh darn!)

More posts are coming soon...promise.  After all, I know you all are suffering from withdrawal--right????

Dory

Playtime!!!

I took a few weeks off around Christmas and did a little playing!

First I put this Buggy Barn wool wonky churn dash together--except I didn't use wool.  It turned out okay, just not as okay as I'd hoped.  It was fun to piece; I do love Buggy Barn patterns and am so sad that they went out of business before I got to visit.

 

Notice that block in the upper left corner??  That's what happens when you don't pay any attention to how many blocks you're making and you have to scrounge around for another one!

Hmmmm.....now that I'm looking at this fabric again, the quilt is beginning to grow on me. I do love the border. You just leftover bits together and then cut them into strips.  

Hmmm...I may have gotten a little carried away sewing strips together.  No idea what I'll do with all these leftovers!!! *shrug*

Then my sister told me about a Christmas Stocking tute that Missouri Star Quilt Company did. She made a couple of stockings, so I decided to give it a go too.  Unfortunately, this was after my longarm was waiting for a part, so I straight-stitched on my Featherweight.  The pic is before the quilting; the next one will be quilted on my longarm. 

Naturally mine aren't done.  Yet another UFO.....<sigh>

And finally...can you guess what I did with this stuff???

I also worked on the Four-Patch Frenzy that was a mystery quilting event at Longarm University. I have mine almost completed...then I can start quilting it! I'll show pics when I'm done.

Dory

Musings....

Okay, so this is my plan for 2015. I hope that by committing it to "paper," my follow-through will be just as good as my intentions.  Hey, I can always hope, right??? (In case you're not paying attention, this blog will be short on cool quilt photos and potentially rambling and not that exciting. In other words, feel free to delete now and go on to something more fun!)

Last year I tried Evernote for the first time. This involved purchasing a scanner for my paper bills (got a super cheap one--$20 on Amazon), installing Evernote on all my devices (computer, phone, tablet, etc.) and setting up a "Financials" file on my computer. Can you say overkill???

For every bill received via snail and/or e-mail, it was scanned (if necessary), saved as a .pdf and filed in both the Financials file on my computer and then saved into Evernote. (Super cool thing about Evernote is that if you save it on one device, it automatically syncs to the rest).  I also did this with all my tax related docs: payment for quilts, business purchases, tax donations, you get the idea.  Yes, it was time consuming and since it was my first time trying this, I was overly cautious and redundant. Because this was my first year with Evernote (and partially because I'm cheap frugal), I opted for the free version. The free versions works perfectly, so I won't be upgrading.

This year, though, things are changing a bit. I've refined my Evernote usage and will not save everything to my hard drive (don't tell Dennis that part. He still doesn't trust Evernote *shrug*). I've set up a new e-mail account that will receive ONLY electronic bills (the goal here is to keep me from losing bills and getting the dreaded "late notice."

And I'm finally breaking into my Life.doc system from Get Buttoned Up. (I've owned this for four years now; however, I didn't want to rush into it!!) Not sure what it entails, but it can't hurt, right??

Then, on the personal side, I'm determined to get healthy, I've always exercised off  and on, but this year, I intend to get serious and do something physical six days a week. I'm already doing so well!!  Yesterday we took the dogs out for a four-mile walk and today I spent 35 minutes on our elliptical. Yes, I know...its only the second day of January and there are still 350+ days to go. But, its a start!

I also plan to be more organized with my customer quilts as well as my own stuff. I will quilt for customers M-F (taking Wednesday to do some piecing of my own) and will, with a little determination, quilt my own tops on weekends. Biggest barrier to quilting my own tops? Me!!  Give me a customer quilt and I can come up with great ideas; give me my own quilt and I cannot make a decision. Go figure.

So, that is my basic plan for 2015. Did you make any specific resolutions? Share if you'd like and maybe we can motivate each other!

Thanks for hanging in there with me...

Dory

Oh, yeah, forgot to mention: I plan to post at least twice a week in 2015!

A Perfect Quilty Gift

We all know its coming and it doesn't matter how much we try to pretend it isn't. Yep, its Christmas. Right around the corner, as a matter of fact. Time to start thinking about presents. Or maybe its not Christmas that has you worried, its the new baby in your family.

Wouldn't it be perfect if you could make them a quilt? Who doesn't love a handmade gift???

If you'd love to give a quilt for a gift or just have one for yourself, I have the perfect solution! Kathey Bates, a fellow Cabin Fever Quilter, has started a business: Kathey's Custom Quilts & Embroidery. And she does such beautiful work!! You and she will corroborate on fabrics and pattern, then she'll put it together, quilt it and in just a couple of weeks, you will have a finished quilt. Click HERE to view a sample of the quilts she's made.

Give her website a look and place your order!!

Dory

What is Going On???

I feel like I've just been quilting and quilting, yet I sure haven't been posting much.  Hmmmm....  Not sure what's happening.  I feel like I'm juggling time, like this guy:

Yet, when I look at my list of posts, I feel like this cat!!!!

Not sure what's going on....

Dory....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

My Anti-Spam Rant

My blog has been discovered and not in a good way.

Every day when I open my e-mail, I have at least five, yes, FIVE, e-mails from "Anonymous" posting comments on my blog. Why??  Does anyone every really click on the links in their messages??  On occasion, there may be one that sounds almost reasonable, until you realize its posted on a quilting blog! I just don't understand the mentality of people who program computers to do nothing but search out websites to post their idiotic messages and their worthless links.

So...that being said, to comment on my blog, you must have an account with Google or any other valid third party (WordPress, TypePad, etc.)  I'm sorry to do this and I hope you (yes, Sara, I'm talking to you) can all understand. I know this makes it a bit more difficult to comment, but please take the time. I love seeing that someone is reading!!

Thanks for your patience!!

Dory

(I'm off my rant now)

Its a Mystery; Part 2

I've received and completed the next two steps of the Cabin Fever Quilters mystery challenge.

We could choose from two different quilts, although we had no idea what either looked like. I chose the one with the fewest amount of fabric color combinations to give myself a chance.  The other quilt apparently has fewer steps to complete, so initially, I'm receiving two steps every month.

This is a picture of Step 2 and 3 completed!!

You can't tell from the pic, but there are over 90 of the small triangle bits at the top.  Tedious and boring, but finished!!

Steps 3 & 4 will be complete soon.

Dory

Mother Nature's Art

Check these out:

The other day as we went out to feed, we noticed these beautiful ice patterns on the trunk and hood of the BMW. The other cars had them too, but the black background really showed off the pattern.

I think Mother Nature was trying to cheer us up because it was so darn cold out!

Dory

Empty Spools 2014

Today I start classes at Asilomar in Pacific Grove.

Class this year is with Vikki Pignatelli; she does beautiful artistic work. You can look HERE for some examples of her style.  (This was Cindy's year to choose; she always goes for the artsy teachers, I go for more structure). This will be outside my comfort level, but I'm hoping to come home with something fun! This is the picture that was on the Empty Spools Brochure:

One of the best parts is that every morning, I'm up and out by 6 and going for a walk here. It will just barely be getting light; but it will still be beautiful!

More pics when I'm back!

Dory

What'd you get for Christmas??

Dennis knows I love gadgets, so for Christmas I got:

A Fitbit Force!  Have you seen these? They are so much fun. I had never even heard of them until we were wandering around the Reno airport and they had a similar one there. I was immediately intrigued.  We got home, Dennis did a ton of research, and the end result: I'm now wearing my Force everyday. It has a display so that I can check stats directly on the watch, or I can sync with my tablet, pc and phone. Yesterday I took over 10,000 steps (I'm sure it had something to do with moving everything out of my studio and into the dining room), climbed seven flights of stairs (I live in a two-story house) and burned 2,200 calories. I can even track my sleep...its so much FUN!!

And...to go with my Force, I now have a Vitamix. I was surprised by this gift as Dennis has often said that he thinks they're nothing more than a glorified blender. However, he's since changed his mind.  I've made just two things so far (strawberry daiquiris and Broccoli Cheddar soup), but that was enough to convince him. My goal is to use it at least 5 days a weed: soup in the winter and smoothies in the summer.

How was your Christmas??

Dory

A Few Last Pics from my Quincy Trip

Just realized I didn't add the last few pics of my trip to Quincy...so here you are:

This is the black/white/red quilt finished. I added a red sashing and then the border. Its not quilted yet, of course, but at least the top is done.

I also worked on these blocks at the retreat, too. These are four of the six completed so far.

One of my customers was working on this Amish with a Twist quilt for me to bring home, quilt, and return it to her in time for Christmas. She got it to me the day before I left...and she got it back two days before Christmas! It should have been there sooner, but for some reason, it sat in the post office in Kent, Washington, for THREE days.  Needless to say, I was a bit stressed!!

And this is the dragonfly that someone found. She made the rounds onto various quilter's machines; however, no one was even frightened by the "big dead bug." Instead, when I got to my machine on the last day, I found her lying in her own little fabric bed with a pillow and a bed runner. Leave it to a group of quilters!! *grin*

When the retreat was over, I spent the night with my best friend, Cindy, in Quincy. The next day, another friend of ours, Lucia, came out to crochet while we sewed. It was a great day. We had beef brisket cooking in the oven and had the house pretty much to ourselves. Lucia was missing her usual walks, so she would ride the exercise bike periodically--while enjoying a glass of wine, of course. Isn't that what everyone does on their exercise bike?

Dennis arrived the next day and that was the end of the fun sewing trip. We spent two days pulling fence posts--not quite as much fun.

Dory

Merry Christmas

I hope you all have a wonderful and joyous holiday.

I will be back to posting more regularly in the New Year. There have been some changes (especially in my studio) that I can't wait to share with all of you.

Until then...Merry Christmas everyone!!

Dash says Merry Christmas too!

Dory

What I did in November

First...you saw Paula's quilt, right? (Click HERE if you missed it and want to see more.)

I finished her quilt just in time for my trip to Carson City, Nevada. My sister, Barb, lives there and we sewed for three days straight! And I do mean "straight"! My flight arrived on a Monday in the afternoon; we went to her house and dropped off my luggage and then to her studio and sewed until around 8 that night. She has a condo she used to rent that she uses for her studio now. It gets her out of the house and away from phones--perfect.

While there, I finished three things! First, I put this little table runner together. I've had this kit for years and was looking for something simple that I could test my 1/4" seam with on my Featherweight. Perfect project for that.

 Then I made this top from a free pattern for a friend who is undergoing some serious dental work. She came off her horse and landed on her face on a rock--not good. I'm hoping this quilt will let her know that she's loved.

Finally, I've had all these blocks for years. I took them with me not thinking I'd actually do anything with them. However, I put them up on the design wall and we decided they just needed to be sewn together--no planning necessary. I think the was the fastest quilt I've ever done!!

I had a great time hanging out with my sister; we haven't done that in quite a while. She has really good color sense and her work is perfect. No cut off points for my sister!!!  She quilts, too, but she does her quilting on a Juki. She's taken lessons from Cindy Needham and really does a great job on her projects.

From there...on Thursday...I headed off to Quincy....

Dory

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope everyone is spending the day with family and friends!!

I know you've probably all seen this one before, but it still made you smile, didn't it??  It always makes me smile.

I'll be back soon with more regularly scheduled programming. Wait til you see what's been taking up all of my time...

Dory

Puget Sounder's First Voyage

Puget Sounder is the name of our new-to-us boat. It has a raised salon, which just means that rather than being like a normal sailboat, the area down below has big windows and lots of natural light.  We may change the name of the boat, but so far, we haven't come up with anything.

Friday morning we took off with another couple on their boat and motored to Port Townsend. There was good wind and we could have sailed, however, the other couple just wanted to motor. By car, Port Townsend is a 40 minute drive. By boat, its three hours...go figure.

Dash was the first mate. He thought sailing was great.

Port Townsend was sunny and beautiful when we got there. We walked around like tourists, checked out shops and had a great dinner at Sirens. Saturday was more of the same, but this time the boys got to go with us. It was great exposure for Dash and Moose made friends with everyone.

The plan on Sunday was to have a leisurely breakfast and then head back. The weather had other ideas though, so we were up early and sailing back by 7:30. The seas were rough, but not as rough as they were predicted to be later in the day.  This is Dennis at the helm on the way home. It was cold, windy and rainy--not the best weather.

Fun trip! Now I'm in the car heading for the airport to sew with my sister for a few days. Life is busy!!

Dory

A Giant Pat on the Back

Opened up my Facebook page and saw this:

"Dorothy, there are many lovely quilts at the Plumas County Fair

 that you quilted and many ribbon winners. Your art has lifted the bar at our fair."

Wow...did that make me feel good!! I just had to share it with those of you that read my blog. I'm walking around on Cloud 9 today!!

Google Reader is History

So sad...it was so easy and now we must all learn something new. *Sigh*

I've found the easiest one for me to be Bloglovin, it even imports all the blogs you follow from Google Reader.

So...off you go now. Hurry--Google reader is gone as of tomorrow. Click on the button on the right and you're on your way.

Ooops!!

I realized today, when I received a rather unfriendly comment, that my post about the Quilt-Along did not publish on the 21st, like I had intended. For that, I apologize.





However, take heart...this Quilt-Along is only one block per week and it would be easy to give it a go either from your stash fabrics and/or a quick trip to the quilt shop (who can resist that??)

And to the person who continually feels the need to comment on my short-comings, I can only respond that I am not perfect. I would love to speak with you further, but since you post as "anonymous," alas, my hands (fingers?) are tied.