This quilt has gotten big. It now has borders around the medallion and I'm working on the top, side and bottom rows. This picture just shows the center. I'm starting to panic about machine quilting it. It will be my first "real" quilt to machine quilt. I just hope I don't ruin it.

I'm a much better person if I get to sew at least a little bit everyday. Sewing calms me and helps me focus. And anyone who spends time with me enjoys the benefits.

Quilting is enjoyable in that it is broken down in small sub-tasks much like a software development project. It allows you to set daily and weekly goals.

I finally was able to pick up my new sewing machine and set it up in my studio. I played with all the features including the BSR. I worked on my insulated roman shades. What a difference the new machine makes. It is much quieter and I don't feel like I'm working so hard.



I'm trying to finish organizing my studio. It is definitely a work in progress. I keep moving things trying to find the perfect best place for everything. I bought these cabinets from Home Depot and they look pretty good. Now to get the other side of the room organized. I might get two more of the cabinets. With all the stuff I have, I need all the space I can get to fill up.



It still needs work, huh?

I opened my card from Dale and he had written "Let's go get your new sewing machine." Yeah! So we drove to Oregon to A Common Thread so I could get my Bernina 440QE. Unfortunately, it had to be ordered so I will make another trip to pick it up. So I have a week to get my studio organized so my new Bernina has a good home and I can get to work quilting some tops I have ready. I have been working on it for several weeks but need to kick it gear. I have wanted this machine for a long time. I drooled over someone else's Bernina at Enchanted Freedom 2001 and then had an opportunity to use the 440QE at Northwest Quilting Expo last September. I was hooked. I had never machine quilted before and was able to just like that. It was amazing. I test drove the Pfaff Expression 4.0 but didn't feel it was as easy to machine quilt. I felt like I was forcing it while the Bernina made it easy. So now I wait for the call that my machine is here.

I haven't posted anything in a long time. But its not like I haven't been doing anything. I finished a genie doll in August and entered him in a online challenge on the Glittering Threads group. Then he was entered in the Puyallup Fair and won a blue ribbon. It is my first blue ribbon.


I spent November writing 50000 words in the NaNoWriMo.org challenge. I managed to get the finish line right at the end. That is pretty much all I did in November in addition to work. I would write wherever we went with pad and paper or laptop if I was lucky to have it with me. I have had a laptop stolen before so I'm uneasy about bring it with me unless I know it will be attached to me at all times. So I was a winner there too. It was a lot of fun and I'm still working on my novel.


Now I am working on insulated roman shades for my great room. Not a bad project except nearly all the windows are huge picture windows. I bought 20 yards of fabric and now need the batting too. This will be a huge undertaking but I want to be finished by the end of December. If I can write 50000 words in a month then I must be able to sew up some curtains.

I had to put my dog, Rocky, down today. He suddenly couldn't walk last week and went down hill quickly. Rocky was a 3 legged dog due to a hunter adjacent to our property shot him in the leg. The vet thinks it was more than arthritis, probably cancer. He went calmly and quietly. I'm going to miss my buddy.

I just bought some storage units from Home Depot that will help get things off the floor, out of boxes, and easier to find. I bought 3 cabinets that are 30" wide and almost 16" deep. I bought 3 bookcases that fit on top of the cabinets. The cabinets are a dark brown called espresso. I plan on painting the walls of my studio blue some day so the cabinets should look great against blue walls. Anyway, its all out in the garage in boxes waiting for me to have time to make room and put them together. I had to get my taxes done first. I'll post before and after pictures when I'm done.