A little Reading And Very Little Quilting

This book came highly recommended by a member of my guild (on loan from her) and it was indeed quiet an enjoyable read.

I bought a spool of Aurifil thread, which Linda had recommended, and made another quarter log cabin block. Pat advised me to pay close attention to the width of my seams at the end of each seam, since many tend to veer off course at the end. Guilty!! Since all my pieces were already cut out, I wasn't able to use Astrid's suggestion to cut the outside pieces just a tad larger or Linda's suggestion to size my fabric before cutting to aid in piecing accuracy.

I did order a new piecing foot for my machine and it was selling for only $3.75. Now, I did have buy a few more things to get Amazon's free shipping, but hey, I had my eye on that quilt book and pink cutting mat already.

Why Is A Quarter Inch Seam So Elusive?

Uuuhhh!

Just getting ready to do some hand work...unfortunately it's deconstructing hand work. This is the most offensive to the quarter log cabin blocks that I have finished so far.

Why am I having so much trouble with this simple looking block? I've been having a tough time maintaining a quarter inch on my machine (Brother) and once I got that under control the block is still under sized...usually in one corner. I've now moved on to a scant quarter inch. I don't understand it...accurate seam allowance and accurate sized strip and still under sized...is it my thread or pressing?

Athens TN Roadtrip

Sweetie and I took a road trip to Athens yesterday on the bike. The weather wasn't as great as they had been talking (nice and sunny today!!) but we were leathered up so it wasn't so bad. We were there to check out some ATV's.




I spotted these around the downtown area of Athens. The last two aren't the best photo's but we were rolling by. I'm sure there were more but we were looking for food.

Athens is a fair sized college town (Tennessee Wesleyan)so you wouldn't think it would be such a difficult place to find some lunch (other than fast food). One would think that there would have been a number of places around the courthouse in downtown Athens...but not so. We did find a small place that the locals frequented down the street from the ATV dealer...it was OK and cheap.

Outside The Block Fabrics Selected....Maybe

Even with all that black and white fabric, I still had to go to the LQS in Ellijay to look for some fabric with more white than black...less black than the fabric with the flower things. I bought a FQ, but when I got it home, it had just too much black.

After guild on Tuesday, I took a run up to Blue Ridge to the LQS there and found the fabric with the dot circles. In the picture, it doesn't appear to have enough black...Oh the agony of fabric selection!

Oh My!, The Generosity Of Guilters!!!

When my daughter was down for a visit in July, I had her look thru quite a few quilting magazines so we could find out what her tastes in quilts are. This is what her first choice was....in black and whites with a red center. All of which I have the least of! So, I jumped on it with my normal speedy manner. This came in the mail today (ordered last week...not in July).

Now comes the part about quilter's generosity. A couple of weeks ago, after my guilds class at the LQS, I was browsing thru the black and white FQs. Brenda (went on shop hop roadtrip with her) came up to me and said she had been meaning to bring me the left over black and white fabrics from the West Virginia quilt that she made. When she showed up at the next guild meeting with all of these fabrics...I was almost speechless!

My HP Laptop Is In A Coma!

My HP DV9700's screen flickered once and went black on Saturday morning...I'm using Sweeties desktop for now. After doing some research, it appears that HP has been having a lot of issues with laptops (using cheap component parts - NVIDA chip in my case)and not doing recalls. Most have been crapping out at the 2.5 year mark (like me)and of course, it's out of warranty!

On an HP discussion site, a website was mentioned that fixes the problem for $75 - 100(includes shipping) depending on how bad your problem is. Many have used them and were very happy with their service. HP wants $400 to $500.

Do you have to share a computer? I like having my own computer...maybe I'll actually get some sewing done!!!

Work on UFO's and 2011 Started Projects

I finally got the W,X,Y and Z carved out and have all but six of the letters burned. Actually, I really should do an extra "A" and "T" so the grandkids could spell out their names...I'll put that on the list and use the extra blocks.

As far as quilty UFO work...well, there hasn't been any. I have cut out 20 or so five inch neutral tone squares and pressed what Civil War-ish fabric that I have to have another try at half square triangles.

I've also selected three fabrics that are also Civil War fabrics to make a table runner/wall hanging. I'll post a picture later.

Sweetie and I have been faithfully going to the gym 5-6 times a week for two months now and my muffins are starting to shrink! It has also helped to have cut back on the snacks. Sweetie is such an effiecient calorie burning machine and is working at gaining weight while working out...life just isn't fair!