Leaving the Nest

I have a little tear on my cheek......I have officially listed my BabyLock on craigslist...:(.  I would love to keep both machines, but do not have the space so I have listed her for sale.  You can see all about her here. You all know how much I am enjoying my new baby, but this is kinda sad for me.  Maybe you can help me find her a good home where someone will love her as much as I do.  She is a great little machine, has a beautiful stitch and even does lovely embroidery.

On a happier note, the board for the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild met today and we did some more planning for the guild meeting.  The next meeting is April 8th at City Craft.  I'm excited to see everyone again.  And we have some really fun things coming up.  I hope everyone comes to join us at the next Weekend Sew on April 24th.  The last one was SO much fun and we all got a lot accomplished that day.  You can go to the Ning group for the guild and sign up. 

I Won!

Another amazing day!  I won a giveaway over at Did l Say That Out Loud?  I'm SO excited, I can't stand it!  And it was absolutely gorgeous here in Dallas today.  Rex (The Wonder Dog) and I went for a nice little walk this afternoon when I got home.  And I did my first free motion quilting on the new Bernina.  LOVE IT!  I have done quite a bit of free motion quilting over the years, but my new machine came with Bernina's new Stitch Regulator.  I am without words.....so smooth, no skipped stitches, so FUN......okay, maybe I have words...I am so happy I made the purchase.

It's hard to see on the black and white fabric, but it's such a beautiful quilting stitch.  I'm in love with her, my new baby.  I feel a little sad for my Babylock, she is still a great machine.  I think I am going to try and find her a new home.  She does embroidery and also has a beautiful stitch and I'm sure she will make the next owner very happy.

I'm off to bed now, my mom is taking me shopping for my birthday tomorrow!  Yeah!  She lives in Denton and I love heading down to the square downtown.  It's lovely and has so many neat shops and eateries.  Looking forward to spending time with Mom!  It's been awhile since we got together.  I have to call weeks in advance to get on her schedule!  She's retired and I think she is busier than I am!

Thanks again to Amy over at "Did I Say That Out Loud" for the great giveaway.  I'll be picking up my prize from her at the next meeting of the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild.

Basted

I have my Black & White commission quilt basted, finally!  I was feeling very overwhelmed about the process and just kept putting it off and starting new projects in front of it.  Then, one day last week, I read this post by Red Pepper Quilts Aligning The Quilt Sandwich.  It was like the proverbial "light bulb"!  So, I came home from work tonight and ........drumroll.......done in about 2 hours!  Thanks, Rita!  I am so grateful for all of the tutorials I find in blogland!  What did we all do without the internet?

It's been such a lovely day, today.  I got the quilt basted, this wonderful package was in the mail from Fat Quarter Shop.  I just ordered this fabric three days ago and it's in my hot little hands tonight.  I saw this fantastic orange and white quilt over at The Sometimes Crafter and I knew that with orange being my favorite color and all.....I have to make and orange and white quilt.  And I am thinking I may just use her "Orange Sherbet" pattern.

So, my next really exciting news.....and I have saved the biggest news for last!  It's official, I'm teaching a class over at City Craft!!!!!!  It's a beginning quilt class and it will be a two session class.  The first class is scheduled for April 25 and the second session will be on May 2.  You can sign up online at City Craft or better yet, go by and see the shop!

Whew!  What a day.  I am not sure I can take any more excitement today.  I'm thinking it's time to crawl in bed and start a new book.  I finished "The Help" last night.  It's by Kathryn Stockett.  It's SO good.  I stayed up many a night the past couple of weeks unable to put the book down.  I am going to miss all of the characters a lot.  I feel as if I know each and every one of them.  To me, that is a sign of a great book.  When I miss the characters and keep thinking about them long after the book is done.  Not sure what I am going to read next.  Any thoughts?  Suggestions?  What are you reading these days?

New Baby

Oh man!  I bet I scared you with that title, huh?  No, I did NOT just give birth.  But I did get to go pick up my new machine at the Bernina dealer on Thursday night after work.  Yep, she's home.  And I heart her already!  So far everything about her is perfect.  10 little fingers, 10 little toes.....no just kidding.  But she does has some really cool feet (hahahahah)  (I know, I crack myself UP)  Right out of the box, it was so easy to set her up, she fits perfectly in my sewing cabinet.  Ah, love.....

I finished the dress for my niece and the matching dress for her doll.  It was lots of fun to sew that little dress, but the really little one for the doll?  It was HARD!  Those itty bitty sleeves were killer.  But, it's done.

I know, the picture is blurry, I never said I was a good photographer.  But, I'm learning.  These shots turned out a little better.  Max the Cat wants the dress out of the way, so he can look outside.  Not happy with me, at all.

The Dallas Modern Quilt Guild held their first "Sew Day" today.  It was lots of fun, even if it was freezing cold and raining.  Great day to be inside sewing.  Yesterday was 70 and sunny.  Gotta love Texas in the spring!

Dallas Quilt Show

So, I took the day off on Friday so I could go to the Quilters Guild of Dallas show.  My wonderful, fantastic husband came with me and I think he enjoyed the quilts as much as I did.  He's just amazing to me, he spent the whole day there with me and never once asked me if I was ready to go.  We saw some amazing quilts!  The "Best of Show" was a breath taking applique.  It was a rendition of the "Little Brown Bird" quilt.  This is one of those quilts that has been on my wish list of quilts to do before I die since I first saw it several years ago.  It is an amazing amount of very detailed applique.  Time will tell if I ever get to it.  Umm.....this next photo gives a hint of the highlight of the show for me......

Yep, I bought a new sewing machine!!!!  OMG!  I am SO excited, I can barely stand it.  I have looked at this machine for several years.  GK was entertaining all of the women in the booth, and pushing me into the decision (I was hesitant about  the cost!)  I currently own a Babylock Esante that has an embroidery unit.  It's been a really great machine, but I just don't use the embroidery portion anymore.  It does a much better job at free motion quilting than the machine I had before, but my new machine (Bernina 440 EQ) is AMAZING at free motion quilting.  I cannot WAIT until it comes in.  The dealer was set up at the quilt show and had a really good show special going on.  I'm going to sell my Babylock and let it go to a home that will utilize the embroidery features.  I'll be a little sad to see her go, she's been really good to me.  But this new machine will ease that pain, I'm sure!

I spent the weekend working on the dress for my niece, it's coming out so cute.  I'll post pictures as soon as I am done with it.  I just hope it fits her and that she likes it.  I need to finish it up so I can get it in the mail before her birthday on the 23rd.

Next Project & Another Patchwork Pillow

This is the next project I'll be working on.  It's for my niece's birthday that is coming up in just a couple of weeks.  She has two American Girl Dolls, so she and one of her dolls are getting matching dresses.  It's the Kyoko and Mini Kyoko by ModKid.  The fabrics are "Good Folks" by Anna Maria Horner, "Midwest Modern" by Amy Butler, "Hope Valley" by Denyse Schmidt.  I'm so excited to see them done.  I'll definitely post my progress and pics of the finished dresses.  I see more of these little dresses in my future.  One for each of my granddaughters.  They are just too cute.

 And I finished another pillow using the Star Puzzle block mentioned here.  This one is created out of fabrics I already owned........do you know what that means????  Remember "The Challenge" my husband issued at the first of the year?  Well, this pillow qualifies for item number two in the category of "other fabric projects".  Yeah!  I know, I know I better get busy if I'm going to meet that deadline.  And let me say this, it will be no fun at my house if I fail to meet the deadline.  He will rub it in forever if I don't get these projects done.  Not, in a mean way, but he will tease me ruthlessly.  So, I must stay on track.

We had a meeting this afternoon of the Board of Directors for the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild.  It was a fun productive meeting and I am really excited about this guild.  If you haven't heard about it yet, you can read all about it here.  I think we are all going to have so much fun.

A Patchwork Pillow

I was inspired to make this pillow after seeing this entry by Red Pepper Quilts Star Puzzle Block.  She used such fun fabric, and I loved the design.  It was so much fun to select the fabric and sew it up.  I just LOVE working with half-square triangles.  There are so many possibilities and it's all in the way you look at them and the fabrics you use.  Love that!  It's kind of like life, don't you think? I think my life is all about the way I look at it and the fabrics that make it up.  I have this really neat quote that I keep in my office that says "Be Happy for this moment, for this moment is your life."  When I think things aren't going my way, or the day seems overwhelming and I start wanting to be somewhere else, I look at that quote and realize that all any of us really have is this very moment.  I have watched several of my friends this past year as their lives changed in an instant.  So, I have been trying to get the most I can out of every day.  So far, so good!