Tomorrow is the day!!!!

Whew...where has the time gone? Tomorrow, on our way out of town, we drop the cable boxes off. I will try to post again from my phone (hopefully successful this time)otherwise, I will only be able to post when I drive over the river and thru the woods to the rec center to use wifi. It may take a couple of weeks to get the line run up to the house for Internet and TV.

We have to much stuff and I never want to move again!!!!!

Here's to a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year for everyone!

17 Days and Counting and Scrapping

I really, really, REALLY hope I never have to scrap a vehicle windshield again. The garage is full of stuff that AMVETS is going to pick up, so the SUV had to side outside. Fortunately, I went out early to start up the SUV to warm up and it took about 30 minutes to budge the snow/ice crud that was on the windshield. It didn't help that I only had a plastic snow shovel, a push broom and an old Walmart gift card to clean with! I was about 2 degree (F) and windy...talk about frozen face!!

On Tuesday, I referenced a blog post from Nicole, at Sister's Choice Quilts, and I called her Noelle...sorry Nicole. Noelle is a WIG friend that introduced me to quilting, shared her vast knowledge and even some of her huge stash. I'll miss her.

The big POD is coming this morning and I have more to do!

19 Days and Counting...and Shoveling!

I really, really....REALLY hope this is the last time I will have to shovel snow! This is some really heavy, wet stuff. If it snows in Georgia, Mother Nature will have to take care of the snow. Several boxes were packed today in between the shoveling.

Tomorrow is the last Delphi Women Retiree birthday get together that I will be able to go to. We usually meet every other month somewhere around Milwaukee for dinner. I'll head up to Wisconsin early tomorrow and go to my son's house. I'm giving him my '99 Saturn so we have to take care of the title.

OK...time to get moving again.

21 Days And Counting

We're making good progress on the packing and dismantling. This weekend we had a moving sale/give away to get rid of things that just won't work at the new house. A couple of guys were here Saturday to take the pool table apart and crate and box it.

Noelle, of Sister's Choice Quilts, had a great post a couple of days ago about her experiences of being the new person, the outsider, at classes and guilds. In my new town of Ellijay, the guild meets every Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. I'm hoping that because of the area has a lot of retirees from other places, they will be use to and welcoming of new people. I'll check that out in four weeks and report back.

Back to more packing.

I Have A New Bubba

I made it back to the Brother dealer today and swapped for a new Bubba. Now to find the time and space to piece some blocks.

We had our inspection yesterday and everything seemed to go well. After the clean up from Thanksgiving Diner, I started packing the stem ware and china. My Sweetie dismantled his shop this weekend and will start moving things into the garage this week to get ready for the MOVING SALE this weekend. Boxing will continue in preparation for the arrival of the big POD.

I'll do my best to squeeze in a block or two! 8)

Our Last Holiday To Celebrate Here!

Thanksgiving will be the last family celebration here. We will still be here for Christmas but if everything goes well (inspection and Grandma's longevity) we will be too busy packing. We have accepted an offer on the house from Florida Grandma and we close on December 28th. Grandma is 87...a fragile yet spry 87...and I say a little prayer for her well being every night. I doubt that she still drives and I do fear that she will be lonely here, even though family lives less than 10 miles away.

After the closing on morning of the 28th, we will put the bare essentials in a little U-Haul trailer (everything else going in Pods) and head for Georgia!!!!

Thank you Cowgirlquilter for reminding me to pick up milk today! All the other shopping was done by Monday morning, but I put off getting milk and bananas until today.

Bubba was picked up yesterday and still does the same thing...the first 3-4 stitches have the top thread laying on top of the bottom thread. I will visit the dealer again.

OK...It's off to do some more food prep. I like to cook in peace and quiet so, I get everything but the turkey done the day before (sweet potatoes baked yesterday)and then everything get popped in the oven and the turkey in the Nesco when ever on Thursday.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!

House and Bubba Update

We are having a third visit on the house today...Grandma is bring DD and SIL. I'm not sure if they have any other 3rd looks to do...so time will tell!

Bubba is still in the hospital and I haven't heard from them yet!

Bubba's In The Hospital

Bubba wasn't checked in until this morning. I had a lunch yesterday with WIG ladies...8 of us met for lunch at California Kitchen Pizza in Schaumburg...very good menu, but a little noisy for a person with hearing problems. I don't think Bubba has major issues, but I'm such a rookie and was out of patience after all the hassle of just getting to the point of actually sewing. When I checked him in, I had to fess up that I may have cleaned out something that I shouldn't have. I discovered that a tiny little piece of dense fuzz that I pulled out had a backing on it. The lady at the store said it was probably felt and not fuzz...oooppss! I did that after the jam up when I was trying to determine why the stitching was off. Hopefully, Bubba will be back home soon.

We're having a second visit on the house tomorrow (granddaughters saw this weekend and grandmother in town from Florida coming tomorrow)so I had to put everything away again (in one place). That's OK...we sure want to get this place sold and hit the road to Georgia!!!!

Not A Productive Piecing Day

This is made from a photo I took this summer of a giant moth and I jazzed it up with Kaleidoscope Maker.

All most all the quilting that I have done on Bubba since I purchased his has been free motion practice.  Today was the day that I was going to drag out my meager stash and do something with some strip sets and strips from an abandond project.  Unfortunately, my strips were cut at 2" and that size doesn't play well with anything I wanted to try.  I decided I would go ahead and see what could be done with a 4 1/2" (sewn) center square.  After enough pieces were cut to sew some 9 patches, it was now time to sew.

As I've mentioned before, the house is on the market, boxes have been packet to clear clutter, and my small sewing area (Costco table) is now in the storage room/shop/doggie bedroom/etc/etc/.  It had already taken enough time to find my rotary cutter (last minute stash in computer bag in questroom) and the right ruler, but now I was trying to find my 1/4" foot and other machine accessories not involved with freemotion.  Finally, everything was accounted for.

I had been trying out some decorative stitches so I had to put the round hole sole plate back on, attach the foot, put in new thread, place the material under the foot, press the start button and stall out after about four stitches.  After the thread mess was cleaned out, it took many attempts to get the bobbin thread up...it kept snagging on something.  I don't know how may times I took the sole plate off and took the bobbin out, but finnally I was able to bring up the bobbin thread.

Now there is an issue with the stitches.  The first few stitches looked good on top, but on the bottom the top thread was just laying on top of the bottom thread and then looks good on top and only OK on the bottom.  I don't know the machine that well and haven't tinkered that much with it and the dealer is only 6 miles away, so....Bubba is taking a ride tomorrow morning.

And where did spellcheck go on this thing!?!?!?  Hummmm, yesterday I clicked on an updated something or other....and the image insertion thing looks different too!

Kaleidoscope Kreator

This is the same picture that I posted yesterday.

Today, I finally decided to purchase the Kaleidoscope Kreator after using the free trial for a while. It's great fun and I have ideas for picture gifts.

I Am Ment To Be A Long arm Quilter!

The Expo was 75% quilting!!!! Let me try and name off the quilting machines I was able to try out: Tin Lizzie, Gammill, Nolting, Voyager, Indigo, Mega Quilter, and a couple more that I can't remember. The only one that wasn't there that I wanted to try was the HQ16.

To my surprise, the one that I enjoyed the most was the Voyager! It's the cheapest and doesn't look as slick as others...but it was smooth! Even without the stitch regulator turned on, it worked great. I even had to go back to it several times to compare the feel. Maybe they did a better job setting up for the show, but most of the others (especially the big dogs) weren't that smooth.

I don't normally pat myself on the back....but damn....I did good...even without stitch regulation!

SOME DAY!!!!!

Going To Sewing & Quilting Expo Today

This picture was taken off the back porch in Georgia. There isn't any hunting allowed in the 10,000 acre area where the house is, so there are lots of deer.

Later this morning I'm meeting two ILG members and we're head to the Sewing and Quilting Expo in Schaumburg, IL. I'm hoping the Expo is at least 25% quilting and there are a couple mid/long arm companies there. It will be great fun looking at all the gadget...just love gadgets.

Maybe instead of Internet Ladies Group, I'll refer to us as Women's Internet Group and then we would be WIGs....hhmmm.

Will report back later today on the Expo.

A Big Thank You To All Veterans

This picture was taken outside Sheboygan, WI...it's the biggest flag I've ever seen....it's gi-normus! My sweetie (Vietnam Era Marine) and I were coming back from camping at Kohler Andre State Park.

Sweetie is off work today and if the sunshine holds out, we may take the bike out for a little cruise.

Fondling My Stash

This is my stash....I had to gather it up, fondle it and then put it away in one place. It only took one fairly small plastic container to hold it all, but hey, I'm just getting started!

Right now I'm testing a fabric washing technique for FQ's and smaller pieces. I put them in a lingerie bag and then put it in the washer...time will tell.

Back To The Quiet

I took this one morning at 6 a.m. off the deck in Algonquin. It wouldn't have been a good day to go out boating.

About an hour and a half ago I returned from Milwaukee. I handed my GS over to DS and DIL and I had to put a dehumidifier in the basement of my rental property in Bay View. While I was there I sorted thru some of the treasures (junk I can't part with) that was left in the attic when I moved to IL.

In January, my dog Reggie and I will head down to our retirement house in North Georgia for a couple of weeks. I'll take my treasures to their new home. Unfortunately, there are a lot more treasures still in the attic!!

Catching Up

Every now and then you are in the right place at the right time...and you have a camera in your hands. My sweetie and I took a motorcycle trip around Lake Michigan in 2006 and I was able to snap this picture from the back of the ferry in Bay View (Milwaukee), WI.

Let's see...what's happened this past week? The previous Saturday morning (very early), my sweetie's nephew was shot four times during a home invasion. Amazingly, he was discharged from the hospital on Sunday afternoon. Fortunately, the hand gun was only 22 caliber. Otherwise the first shot wouldn't have glanced off his scull.

On Tuesday, four other ladies joined me for a walk on the Prairie Trail in East Dundee and then we had lunch. Four more ladies joined us for lunch.

Wednesday, my DS came down with GS and GD to stay overnight. I will have my GS(toddler)for a week while my DS, DIL, and GD are in Mexico for a wedding.

GS and I went shopping this afternoon...made it to JoAnn's to get more thread and some muslin for practice free motion quilting.

The World Wide Web

With as much evil that there is lurking out there on the WWW, there is still good to be found!

I found my college buddy on Facebook after 20 plus years and we got together this summer...it was just like old times. I'm the one in blue.

Last Saturday, a friend since the 5th grade (at a one room country school) found me on Facebook. The really spooky thing is that while we were driving back from Georgia on Saturday, we were listening to a segment on WGN that brought her to mind. After we were settled in, I fired up the laptop and there she was.

On Mother's Day Weekend in 2005, I found my dog on line at the Wisconsin Humane Society in Milwaukee. I've dated several men that I've met on line....most were good experiences...you can usually weed out the weirdos early in the game. In 2006, I met my significant other on line.

After retiring and moving to Illinois to be with my sweetie, I needed to find women to do things with during the day. I did know a couple of women that were the wives of my sweetie's friends and they are very nice people, but I wanted my own people. So, I went on line.

I looked for women's club in my city and surrounding cities and came up empty. Then I finally came up with the magic combination of words in my Google search to find a Women's Social group on Yahoo. They are very nice (they originally only wanted married women, but I changed that) and I'm still a member of that group. Most of the women in that group were only weekenders at that time, so after I found Meetup.com I started a group for daytime women. I'll tell you, you can find a group for almost any interest, especially if you live near a major metropolitan area. The 50 member group was in existence for a year and then I decided it was time to get ready to move to Georgia if the house sold tomorrow. So, I just recently closed the group and had the active members migrate over to the Yahoo group.

You really don't have to move out of state to find yourself in need of women friends. Most women at some point in their lives (usually after years of working and raising kids) find themselves without a female support system. Your friends from high school and college are long absent. It's a sad situation, but you can change it. We all need female friends because...hey we are just more fun and interesting.

Meet Bubba

This is Bubba, a Brother QC 1000, and my quilting space! Can't wait to get to Georgia!

When I retired, I bought a new Viking Emerald 183, with the intention of making cloths for the Grandkids...not! In December of last year, a friend turned me on to quilting and I quickly upgraded to Bubba.

Someday, I hope to have a mid arm and frame as I can't imagine wrestling with any quilt larger than a lap quilt. Maybe if you were only staying with stitch in the ditch...but hey, not my plan.

Later, I'll post pictures of what I have started. On the table, you can see a practice sandwich for freemotion....I need more practice.

I have to go dry my hair and head out to find a new pair of jeans and start shopping for a dress (haven't brought one for a few years) to wear to a wedding in late November. Then, I'm meeting with 7 or eight women for lunch...I'll post about my internet friends and experiences another time.


Later!

Back From Georgia

Finally, I'm back on to update. We headed down to the house in Georgia for a week after my first posting and put me off my plans. Here in Illlinois, I have very limited quilting space (a Costco folding table) and I don't have the luxury of leaving it set up (the house is on the market). Once we are down in Georgia full time, I will have my own dedicated quilting space...my own creating haven...my own room! Can't wait to be there full time!

OK...I have to go outside now and do doggie poop patrol before the lawn care guys come thru...later!

First Blog Post

Hello out there....Welcome to my blog. It wasn't that long ago that I didn't even know what a blog was! I started reading a few that were mentioned on The Quilting Board and then The Quilt Show mentioned quilterblogs.com. I have my list of favorites that I check on every day. First, I get my cup of coffee, check my email, check the Quilting Board, and then my favorite blogs.

In a way, I think I'm starting this as a means to get me going on finishing the two quilts that I've started and start making blocks. I've studied quilt patterns, stitch patterns, online fabric shops, machine and frame setups, quilting techniques. I've checked out dozens of books and magazines from the library on quilting and watch my DVR'ed and on-line quilt shows.

It's time to put that knowledge to work!!!!

On my next post, I'll put in some pictures of my machine Bubba and the two quilts that I have started.

Later.