Sunday, February 12, 2006

Just a nice day

I had a nice productive Saturday quilt-wise, even though I didn't do any sewing.

Meet Gandalf, my Proto Stitch Wizard.

After getting my hair cut I drove about 80 miles north on I-5 to the SW Washington longarm group meeting in Centralia. Due to my schedule I'd not been to a meeting since early August. I spent part of August, all of September and most of October quilting a king size customer quilt that was giving me fits. I was tired of quilting when I finally got that monster done, as I spent more time ripping out my errors than actually quilting (I'm still new at this and constantly learning). I did a couple charity quilts but hadn't touched the machine since early December. It needed some maintenance done, and I'm still not at all comfortable with the mechanical demands of a longarm. I needed something to get me excited about quilting again, and hoped the meeting would do that. I'm happy to say "mission accomplished". I came back with renewed enthusiasm. The maintenance that needed doing turned out to be very easy to do. Now I'm all ready to tackle the customer quilt that's been half pinned on the machine since early December (thank goodness my friend Sue is in no hurry at all to get that quilt back).

After dinner I went back to pressing more of the fabrics I pretreated Friday night. This is always a very sobering experience - it makes it VERY easy to swear off shopping for awhile - especially when I'm trying to find room on the shelves for the new additions. Unfortunately the feeling never lasts nearly long enough! I told my husband the next time I tell him I'm ordering fabrics for him to give me for my birthday or Christmas he needs to tell me "No!"

I'm trying to keep some of them separate this time, with the new Jo Morton fabrics in one stack and the Jane Austen fabrics in another. I'll share why in another post.
I shook out all the fabrics still waiting for washing - they were still in neat piles (more or less) from the shops - and separated them by color. When spread over the floor of the hall it looks like they've been multiplying when we were asleep. I couldn't possibly have this many new fabrics, could I? While I was pressing them my husband said "someone has made a nest here". I turned around and there was Shadow, nestled in the middle of the stack. It's impossible to be mad at him when he's so darn cute!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the look at your sewing/quilting studio, Patti!

Anonymous said...

Glad you got motivated again after attending the longarm meeting. I love longarming as much as I love piecing and can never decide which one to do on which days.

Judy

Anonymous said...

Good girl for doing all that duty stuff Patti ! I'm impressed, but you know, sometimes that what it takes to get us rolling again. And I do love it to be well ordered..which is rarely is...LOL.

I must have hit the saturation point with fabric, cause when I look at what you have to wash and press it fill me with terror..guess that means I'm on overflow..right??? Or was that flood??? *VBG*

Anonymous said...

great that you could recharge your longarm quilting batteries! I commend you for tackling that huge pile of new fabric!

Anonymous said...

Patti, LOOK AT THAT STASH OF YOURS!!!! WOW girlie!! I wanna come and just take it all in in person! :o)
Oh...those new Jo Morton fabrics are just gorgeous, aren't they? I still haven't bought any...yet...but I see some making their way into my home REAL soon! ;o)

Anonymous said...

Patti,
Great sewing area!!! And that quilt on your longarm is my kind of quilt...BRIGHT!!!! Those darn repairs are awful but it gets easier! Have fun!
Hugs
Laurie
PS...welcome to Stash Quilts

Anonymous said...

hi, from another "passionate quilter"~ I love the quilt on your machine. btw, what kind of machine is that? I just got a HQ16 and finished my first top. Without ONE problem! I think I'm going to love this! hahaha So you do yours for others?

love your studio AND your stash. a gal after my own heart!

Anonymous said...

Oh Shadow looks sooo comfy - I feel I could just curl up in that little nest myself!! And have happy dreams!

Anonymous said...

Shadow's such a sweetie. I had a brown poodle named Snickers and her favorite place to lay was always in the middle of a fresh pile of laundry, although a dirty pile would do in a pinch!

Anonymous said...

You were very ambitious ! Isn't it fun to play with fabric ?

Anonymous said...

Nice to meet Gandalf, I have heard so much about him. Glad you were able to make the meeting and that it has made a difference.

Anonymous said...

My cats make the same nests! BTW, I remember that bright & novelty quilt from SB :o) I still like what you did....

Anonymous said...

I don't care about the mess...love the way your quilt room is set up!

Siobhan

Anonymous said...

I love your fabrics ! And even ironing fabrics is fun to me. ( not the clothes LOL)