I thought I had messed up my sewing machine last night because I could NOT get the bobbin thread to catch. Luckily I called my dealer and the repairman knew what the problem was and I was able to fix it myself. I then did another four USA coasters and cut out denim squares for the majority of the day. I really would like to get all the jeans I have cut into squares because they will not take up near the room they are taking now. I also am thinking of making more denim quilts, but would like to add some embroidery to some of the squares. I think tomorrow I may sew on my dog quilts and see if I can get them finished.

I still am feeling a bit under the weather with this cold, but so far it is just a throat thing with just that overall "sick" feeling.

Later . . .

The weekend passed quietly. We caught up on our Tivo programs and nothing much else. We went out for pie at Baker's Square with Kathy, Paul and Michael. I came down with a bit of a cold on Sunday and did not feel so good. It seems to be a throat thing and I am only hoping that it does not develop into a head/chest thing.

Since I was not feeling 100%, I decided against doing any quilting. I messed around looking for designs and decided to do some more denim coasters. There really is no precise measurements when doing the coasters and I just did not feel on top of my game to try to do any precision placing. I thought I would do several of the designs and then sew, cut and wash them all at the same time. I am thinking I might try putting some on eBay and see if I can sell them. I will be doing some Christmas ones, but I just liked the USA designs.

Later . . .

We ventured off to San Francisco today to go to CALUMET. Max has been wanting to take a trip over there and check out the store - yikes! That place would be a Professional Photog's dream. I must say there was little to be offered for the likes of my little camera (they did have a really cute "purse" to carry your camera in). Max picked up some lens cleaner, some background paper and back drop stand. I swear, between electronic toys and camera equipment, we are going to have to STOP talking to Duane! Actually, new toys are always fun. At least this way Duane will not have to drag his stand down here if he wants to do a photo shoot.

Later . . .

I made the switch from sewing quilts to doing some embroidery. I had a couple of blouses for Desirae and a pair of overalls for Deanna that I wanted to put something on. I had a hard time sifting through designs to come up with something that I thought they would like and that would look cute. I think I managed to pick out some cute designs. I doubt that Deanna will care and I am sure Desirae will be happy with the puppy.


Later . . .

We had a pleasant, relaxing weekend. Max's parents came down on Saturday for a visit and we had an excellent dinner (Fillets, roasted potatoes, asparagus and mushrooms). We played catch up with our Tivo on Sunday - too many programs that we are trying to watch. Max had ordered some stuff from B&H for her camera, which she received on Monday. The big disappointment was the tripod she ordered, which had a broken lock and had to be returned. I ran off to JoAnn's yesterday and picked up some material to do quilts for the dogs. I have the pieces cut, but have not started any sewing as yet. Once I get the pieces to the design board I will post pictures.


Later . . .

I wanted to shift gears and do some embroidery, but as I was getting started I managed to break the auto thread feeder for my machine. I called an ordered one, but it will probably take a week to ten days. Since I did not want to be doing bunches of thread changes, I decided to do some tea towels in "redwork". That way unless I broke the thread there would be no thread changing. I guess until I get the new part I will go back to the quilt making - that also uses one color of thread. I did do a BUNCH of laundry to wash a lot of the material that I want to use in my quilts. Whew - that was a job because then I had to iron all the stuff! JoAnn's is having a sale right now so I might pop in there and pick up some material for the dog quilts and I also need to find some border material. I am thinking I will have to make an order at Christian Lane Quilters to get the backing for the wild and crazy quilt I just finished. I do have two other quilt tops that I could finish, but I honestly think I am going to ask for some help with my "Heart" quilt. I might go ahead and tackle the Celtic Circles one myself. Of course whatever I do, I will keep everyone posted.

Later . . .

I finished my quilt top this morning - now the really hard part starts! The border went really well with the wild and craziness of the quilt. I think it is a "happy" looking quilt - makes me smile. I really love the quilt making process and I love quilts, but the actual batting, backing, quilting and binding process is still VERY overwhelming for me. I do have a friend who has a long arm machine and said she would be happy to do the quilting for me. I do want to learn to machine quilt, but I think I will start on something a bit smaller. I think I am going to make a couple of baby quilts to use for covers on the dog's beds and I will do the quilting on them. It is easier to take a towel or blanket off the dog beds and throw it in the washing machine than it is to try to take the covers off and wash them and get them back on.

I think I am going to work on some embroidery before I move on to my next quilt. I still have SO much about my software that I do not know how to use.

Later . . .

Max was VERY happy this weekend when Paul rented a digger to work on his backyard. She has ALWAYS wanted to do some digging and scooping and there was much to be done. We spent the majority of the day over there helping him pull out trees and get rid of rocks, dirt and cement. He is redoing his backyard and Max was only too happy to volunteer to help. We spent Friday in our own back yard getting things cleaned up - removing old plants from the garden and pulling some weeds. It was a great day to work outside because it was not hot.

We had a good weekend and I was VERY happy to be able to do some physical labor. The pain that I felt at the end of the day was from sore muscles that have not been used much in the past year. It just felt really good to be able to be active and capable of moving freely. I am convinced I am on the mend and that I can postpone my knee surgery for a while. I am going to give exercise a shot and see how I hold up. Since I have stopped the Arimidex, I seem to be doing MUCH better in the joint area and am capable of moving around more freely. I am sure there is a knee surgery in my future, but just not in the near future!

Later . . .

Yikes! How is that for bight colors? I am in the process of sewing the blocks together now, but I do seem to have a problem with the sequence when moving the rows from the garage to the sewing table. I guess the really nice thing is that it really does not matter how the blocks go together - it is a mis-match, random placement anyway.

This will be a nice sized quilt once I add the 6 1/2 border all around. It will be nice to have something that we can actually put on our king sized bed and have it cover the top.

I will admit that I amaze myself connected to the mistakes I make - I am the only one that will really know I made it, but nonetheless, I would like to actually do something and have it right from beginning to end. I guess it is all about the learning curve and I should not be to hard on myself considering I am just beginning the quilt making journey. The border is a very bright and wild pattern of small colored circles. I am excited to have it done, but I also don't want to get ahead of myself and make any of the mistakes I made last time.

Later . . .

I have been sewing and having a wonderful time in my "NEW" sewing room. I guess there will come a time when I stop gushing about my table, but I am truly amazed at how much easier it is to work when you have the space and a flat surface. I have all my 9 1/2 inch squares (80) sewn together and tomorrow I will take them out to my design board in the garage. This is going to be one WILD quilt!

I will take some shots of the design board tomorrow and get them posted so you all can see the bold, bright, crazy colors that comprise this new quilt.

Later . . .

I started working on the quilt that I wanted to make and OMG I LOVE my new table. Sewing with the machine dropped to a level surface is something I had never experienced and it is really MUCH easier to piece quilts that way. I am looking forward to trying my hand at actually doing some machine quilting with a table that will be big enough to support the quilt and also having a flat surface to work with. As you can tell from the picture, I still have plenty of room to have my cutting table and ironing board set up and still have access to my machine. What does not show up in the picture is I still have the four foot card table set up with my serger, another sewing machine and a lamp. For sewing purposes, I think I have died and gone to heaven!

I still need to do some organizing, but right now that can wait.

Later . . .

This is the finished project - right down to the Koala bear hugging my lamp! We bought and put together another set of drawers that is in the right corner with the printer sitting on it. The left corner is my receiver, DVD player and TV. We purchased molding to cover the speaker wires (in the left corner and coming down the middle of the wall for the center speaker that is sitting on my cabinets. I still have a lot of rearranging to do as far as what goes in what drawer, but it is actually DONE! I have a small white stand behind the portion of the table where my notebook is sitting that my external drive and USB hub is sitting on because the wires are not long enough for them to sit on the floor. With them sitting on the stand, I can actually swing that portion of the table around to the front and all the cables will reach. Each of the swing extensions can be completely moved with the way the room is set up now. The whole room is actually AWESOME!

Later . . .

There are changes that are going to be made - considering how big the table is. We have to get a longer cord to attach the woofer for the surround sound. I think I am going to get rid of the metal/plastic drawers and buy another one of the white ones. We have to get the cords and wires taken care of, but this is what the table looks like! The first picture shows the table where you can see the drawers. The second one is with my computer, chair and sewing machine. The last one is with the machine in the down position. It is going to take some getting used to - being so high and the chair is high too. Seems like all I have been doing is preparing - now I want to put the finishing touches on the room and be DONE and let the sewing projects begin.

Later . . .

Well thank goodness I received THE phone call for my table. I am expecting delivery tomorrow between 8 and Noon. I must say I am really excited about getting the table and seeing how it is going to fit and just how cool it is going to be to sew on it.

I did manage to do some sewing today on some blankets that Joy and I had done when I was at her house. I will be sending hugs and kisses to the grandkids in their own personalized fleece throws. They are warm, cozy, a nice size and hopefully they will think of me when they are wrapped up in them. Too bad they will not have them for their camping trip coming up this weekend.

I want to make them quilts in the near future - but one thing at a time. I have so many projects that I want to tackle, but one day at a time.

I will post pictures tomorrow after I have my table. Max and I know that we will probably have a bunch of little things to do this weekend to whip the finishing touches on my sewing room. It has been a long time coming, but I truly am really excited!

Later . . .

Go figure it is October 1st already. This last weekend Max and I did little tasks around the house and then went to see the new Jodie Foster movie "The Brave One". Pretty intense movie, but I really liked it and it was nice to actually go to the movie and have popcorn. She really is an incredibly good actor. Spent Sunday catching up on TV shows (life is back to normal now that the new season has started). We are trying out some new programs and have not decided what we will keep watching and what we will let go of. My brother Don came down Sunday with some friends of his to play golf at Poppy Ridge and he has been spending the night with us - not getting much visiting in, but we did just see him when we were at Avila Beach.

I had an appointment with the audiologist tonight and ordered some new hearing aids. I am not really enthused about wearing them, but I will at least give it a try. These are the new "state of the art" digital hearing aids (Resound Metrix). The really nice part of this is I can try them out for 60 days and if I don't like them I can give them back and try something else and if I don't like those I can just give them back and get a complete refund. The insurance will pay $1k toward each aid so that brings the cost of $5k down to $3 - still pricey, but if they work the way they are suppose to it might be worth it.

Still no table! A new one was shipped and I can only hope to receive it the first of next week. I did receive a "sorry for the inconvenience" gift of an Incredible Threadable Box of rayon thread - which is VERY cool.

Max received 1 of 4 photography books she just ordered from Amazon. "The Digital Photography Book" by Scott Kelby. Makes her happy to have something else to read about taking pictures. She really is having fun with her new hobby and has taken some really nice photos. The book must be good because she is laughing in the background - always a good sign.

I made a label for my denim jean quilt and plan to sew that on tomorrow. No picture at this time.

Later . . .