By George I've got it!

This is not the best of photos... I did not use tripod and light was wrong BUT surgery was a success and the patient survived with the exception of one small spot. It will have to suffice. I just have to bind the quilt and it is done. Yay! Hopefully I turned a very bad blooper into a design opportunity.... right.

It pays to read other peoples blogs...

in this case the blog in question is Rayna Gillman's.
I have been wanting to take a shibori class from Jan Meyers-Newbury but had a hard time finding a schedule for her. Thanks to Rayna's posting I am now signed up for Jan's class at the Newark Museum in November. This sort of killed 2 birds... I get to go back and visit my daughter and I needed to use up some airline miles that were set to expire.
The good news sort of cancels out the crappy days I have been having. THIS PART IS LONG WINDED. I am working on a black and white quilt and was ready to start the quilting on Saturday. This piece is larger than I like to work with on my regular machine. I have a Mega Quilter with original frame ( really want to sell it) and just had it in for service in May, but had not used it since. I did some practice stitching and all worked ok so I set the quilt up on the frame. After about 20 stitches the top thread kept breaking! So I spent the next 2 hours on the sample piece which I had left on there changing threads, bobbins, needles, tension.. the works. It looked like something I had done worked so back to the quilt. I got a section of about 4" square done before the thread started breaking again! Grrrr. I now called the dealer and spoke to the tech. I hate when they assume you are an idiot. We first went through... maybe the frame is not set up right.... I have the frame set up permanantly and had not changed a bloody thing since I last used it successfuly in May. He now suggested I take the machine off the frame and set it up on a table to see if the same thing happens. (He still did not believe me and was convinced it was the frame). Taking the machine off is a pain in the butt, but I did it. Set it up on the table and guess what???? the thread kept breaking. Did I mention that I need to have this quilt finished by Thursday before I go out of town? Dealer is not open on Sunday and I have to bring the machine in. Owner of shop is out of town and while she would normally give me a loaner for a few days, her help do not have that authority. They said they would call her. In the meantime on Monday morning I took the machine and the quilt into the shop. Of course the tech had to try it out and commented... the thread keeps breaking. DUH! The good part is that I got a loaner. I took it home and set it up and of course tried it on the sample piece and it worked like a charm. Now I have to reload a quilt that already has quilting on it. I thought I had it straight and tight.... Sigh. I finished the quilting this morning and removed it from the frame only to find out I had a bloody bubble in the center. *&^%$#E. What to do, what to do? Ah, the light bulb went off. I could applique something to the back... I can cut out some fabric and replace it with something else. Stay tuned... I will see if it works. If not, I can relegate all this work to the trash bin.

Autumn is coming

I can tell the seasons are starting to change here in Scottsdale... not by the leaves turning colors though but because the night time temperatures are dropping. We are still having days in the 90's but at night it has been a lovely 70's. I can open the windows and turn off the a/c. My roses are going to put on a spectacular show again and maybe this time I will take a picture.
I have been working on my b/w challenge piece and I am getting tired of it so I decided I needed some color to perk me up. I used some scraps and stamps to turn out this block. It is going to be used in a quilt for someone else. My part is finished.

Happy dance!

My JQ was the first piece I ever entered into a juried competition and with probable good cause it was rejected. However, I was NOT daunted and so with some trepidation, I sent off my piece Dance! to be juried into PIQF . I got the FAT envelope back today! Whoot, whoot! I am dancing! I had been thinking of doing some others along this line and now I am pretty sure I will. I know it is not Houston or Paducah, but it is a nice start for me. I was not planning on attending so if anyone goes and sees it, please take a picture for me.

PIQF is Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, CA.

Through Rose Colored Glasses

So far I have been able to stick with my resolution to spend at least a few hours a day working. We will see how long I can keep this up! I have finished a piece I started in Pamela's class... this is a landscape using 2 colors. I have called it Through Rose Colored Glasses. I did (for me) lots of hand stitching... so its now a toss up which I detest most... hand stitching or machine quilting! Comments are always welcome.
I have also been working on my b/w challenge piece. Working in b/w is much more difficult than working in color. I have had to come up with other ways to create the punch. While I am not thrilled with the piece, I may grow to like it with more work. If nothing else, it is a learning experience.

I got the whip out

I admit, I have problems making myself just sit and work on my art every day. I get distracted so easily. I have promised myself to try harder and since Monday it has been working. I have been sitting 2-3 hours every morning and getting projects worked on (ok, so I am taking a break!). I am making progress. The first piece I have gotten done was one that was started when I was playing with coffee filters. This is a pretty small piece and I did not quite know what to do with it. There was a discussion on the QA list about mounting small pieces on canvas so after inquiring as to how this was done I took the plunge. I painted up a canvas (a painter I will never be), finished off the piece and mounted it. It came out OK. I have called this Arizona Sunset. We get the greatest colors here.

I am also making good progress on a piece that I started in Pamela's class. I am doing lots of hand (UGH) work on this one and while I find it tedious, it has added something to it. Besides, that is less quilting I will have to do! No photo yet. I am also trying to finish up my B&W challenge piece. I think this one needs some help at the moment. I have a whole bunch of other ideas churning in my head but I really need to finish this stuff first or I will still have too many UFO's. Of course I will probably forget half of them when I finally am ready for them. Oh well.
Back to work for me.

Still waiting on wedding photos, sigh.