Finished and More

The king quilt with embrodiery is finished and delivered to Debbie Neubauer, the person who pieced this lovely quilt. What a great experience it has been to quilt Debbie’s quilt and she was gracious enough to let me take photos and post them here so that you could see her handiwork.

I also completed a cute monogramming project for another client. She had added ribbon trim to two towels for a new grandbaby and asked that I do the monogramming. The new baby’s middle name is Rose, so I decided that a monogram with a rose would be a great way to show off the new baby’s name. You will also see these posted today.

Next on my list is a lap quilt for a client in Colorado Springs and then 2 art quilts for ladies here in San Antonio. It is so much fun to have the opportunity to quilt different ways and have the challenge of deciding how best to get the “feel” the client wants for his/her quilt.

I am not going to be able to go to Houston for the Quilt Festival this year. My husband had to have spinal injections last week, so I decided it would be a good idea for me to stay close to home in case he needed to get back to his doctor. The injections have helped…any one who has ever had back or neck pain certainly knows how painful it can be.

Can you believe it is almost Halloween? I noticed that the Christmas decorations are already being displayed in the local department stores, so I will need to get my gift suggestions posted…stay tuned for ideas for holiday gift giving.

Back in the Saddle, Yet Again!

Well, the AC is fixed and the quilt has been turned FOR THE LAST TIME!!!I am so excited that I will be able to finish the king size quilt before the weekend and deliver it to the customer! Because each of the 500 smaller blocks had to be stitched in the ditch and then 1/4 inch stitched within the blocks (and some of the blocks had two rows of 1/4 inch stitching), this quilt took quite awhile to complete. However, the simpler quilting really made the embroidery blocks pop so it was worth the time and effort. The quilt has a folk feel to it and heavy quilting would not have been the way to go, although it might have been a little faster!

I think it is very important to look at the quilt and truly ask the client what is the “feel” they want for the quilt? Will it be for a show, a gift or for their own personal enjoyment? The answers to these questions certainly help the longarmer determine what would be the best route to go with the actual quilting that will take place. If a quilt is very busy (lots of fabric changes, etc), custom quilting would not be appropriate…an edge to edge design to give the quilt texture would be the best “recipe” for that type of quilt.

Diverted by the Compressor

Well, I had great hopes to finish the elusive king size quilt this weekend but, unfortunately, our air conditioner had other plans for me. The compressor passed on into AC heaven and, alas, took my well laid plans with it. Before I succumbed to the heat, I did get to finish the first two side borders, so, if we get the compressor today, I might be able to finish everything by the middle of the week. I share this simply because sometimes what we hope will be a deadline just doesn’t happen…certainly not because of laziness or lack of interest but because of physical restraints not under any human control.

Meanwhile, I am living like a character in Little House on Prairie…we are using a borrowed portable air conditioner (thank you, Lord!) and basically are living in the living area/kitchen of our townhouse. Our labradoodles are loving the close community…(they would love for us to be in their kennels with them I am certain), but sleeping on couches and chairs isn’t a particularly great way to prepare for an upcoming day of work. Nevertheless, in the humidity and heat, a little AC is better than NO AC!

Innovations Day 2

What an awesome day! Today I got to teach some very wonderful and cute people how to create a business blog.What a treat! Later, I had the opportunity to have lunch with another APQS owner as well as her guild. You cannot imagine how much you can learn from an informal lunch with quilters from a different geographical area. I learned about the geograpical differences in Washington, current quilting trends, and who had been to Texas!  After lunch, I took a wonderful class on feathers from Elaine Huffman. If you have been following my blog, you will remember that Elaine is the author of a book called Bread and Butter Quilting and I am a great fan of her techniques. The finale for the day was a class with Sally Terry. Sally is not only a phenominal quilter, she is HILARIOUS and super talented. I loved her class, which is the first I have ever taken from her. She had some super designs to share as well as great tips for customer service.

After a lovely dinner at the Pacific Grill, next to my hotel, the Courtyard, I am sitting once again in front of my picture window watching the sunset over Mt. Rainier. How blessed I am! More tomorrow….

Viewing Mt.Rainier

Greetings from Tacoma, WA! I am sitting in my hotel room with the most incredible view of Mt. Rainier that you could ever imagine. It is a beautiful sunny day here and I can also look over to an area with several slips and lovely sailboats. I love this part of the world…it is so beautiful.

I am a VERY fearful flyer…I had a bad experience over 20 years ago and I have never allowed myself to forget it.  With some of the recent events (the Hudson River splash down that saved lives after birds flew into the engines, blown fuselages, etc), I was more fearful than ever…almost to the point that I thought I couldn’t come to this event. Luckily, I have great friends who are supportive and a wonderful husband…they have “prayed” me through letting me know that I was in their thoughts and prayers throughout the day today as I flew from SA to Seattle.  The first leg of the flight was tough on me, but I have to say, as the day went on, I was more peaceful and was even able to relax a little bit on the 3 hr flight and listen to my iPod…this in itself is a miracle. My Point: Don’t underestimate the power of prayer…knowing that I was in people’s thoughts and prayers was very comforting.  Since I will be teaching again in April in Providence, RI, I have to have a victory over this tremendous fear and I think, thanks to God and my friends praying, I am well on my way.

Tomorrow I am taking a TON of classes and will report on what I learn later in the day. Thursday and Friday, I will be teaching my blogging classes and as well as taking classes for my own self edification.  Stay tuned…anything that I think is helpful, I will pass along.  I will also introduce my students to you…I had two really great classes last year and know they will be great this year, too.

Well, it is time for my teacher’s meeting so I will sign off for now. More tomorrw…

Innovations Tomorrow!

Tomorrow morning I will place my fear of flying sassy self on a plane and head to Tacoma, WA for the 2009 Innovations Machine Quilting Conference. I am teaching two classes, but I have also registered to take several classes. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn from some very talented machine quilters and I don’t want to miss it!

Please join me as I share my experiences, the classes attended and taught and, of course, the wonderful people that I will be sure to meet.  It’s going to be GREAT!

Back To See Another Day

I believe that I am always thankful for my family and friends, but sometimes I wonder if I have not been thankful enough for the simple blessings of getting up every morning and being alive and well. That might have been true in the past, but I got a giant reality check a few days ago and I hope my story will explain my lack of posts recently and be helpful to you.

I was on my way home from my part time job when my purse fell down around my feet and my phone was dislodged. In my stupid attempt to untangle myself and retrieve my phone (I was not smart enough to try to stop by the side of the road or get over to a side street), I veered from the road path, over a center median with a huge boulder that sent me airborne. I could feel the car starting to roll over and then, just like the scene in The Wizard Of Oz, when Dorothy’s house plunks down in Munchkin Land, it righted itself and landed with 3 flat tires and the underbelly of the car destroyed. Amazingly, I was not hurt; God had my guardian angel on duty and I didn’t have a scratch or bruise. The miracle of this was brought home to me by the insurance adjuster who kept asking my husband if I was hurt…my car was totalled and, according to the adjuster, 6 ” would have made the difference in the final scenario, which wouldn’t have been a happy ending.

So what is my take on this experience? First, I am thankful that the God took care of me and I am alive and well. Secondly, DON’T LET ANYTHING DISTRACT YOU FROM THE ROAD!!!! I have driven the same stretch of road forever, but in the few seconds I was distracted I ended up wrecking my car and coming close to wrecking myself! I have seen the recent pieces on the national news about how cell phone usuage, eating while driving, etc can increase the chances for accidents and now I am a true believer. Please keep all your “stuff” away from your feet and your phone put away; I was blessed and now I keep my purse, phone, and anything that could be a distraction in the back seat.

I believe that everything that happens has a purpose, so perhaps this experience will help you think about the little things that can distract you during a drive…changing stations on your radio or iPod, phone calls, eating, shaving or putting on makeup while on your commute (yes, I have seen this as well as people eating their cereal while on a major highway). I didn’t hurt anybody or myself with my stupidity, but I was VERY blessed.  Please be careful!

It has taken several days to get through the process of officially totalling my car, getting another vehicle, etc, but, thankfully, that seems to be completed and I am ready to get back to the business at hand. Next week I will be teaching in Tacoma, WA at the Innovations Quilt Conference, and then I will be back to work in my little studio to finish several quilts and some embroidery “

Traveling Longarmer’s Slow Cooker Recipe#1

I love this recipe! It is simple and, even if you are not traveling around in an RV, you will enjoy it! I got this recipe from the book,Fix It and Forget It Lightly, which I highly recommend.

Italian Chicken (serves up to 4)

4 skinnless, boneless chicken breasts
2 15 oz cans of whole potatoes (drained)
1 package of frozen green beans OR Italian vegetables
1 bottle of  low fat or non fat Italian dressing
1 small can of waterchestnuts

Place chicken breasts on the bottom of your slow cooker. Pour approximately 1/2 of the bottle of dressing over the top of the breasts. Pour the drained potatoes, vegies and drained chestnuts on top and pour on the remaining dressing. Allow to cook on low for 6-8 hours. Delicious!

Magical Quilt Shop Tour#5

Going Batty-9744 S. Virginia Street, Suite C, 775-351-2424 Reno, Nevada

Going Batty Quilt Store, Reno, Nevada

I had the opportunity to visit Going Batty, a DARLING qult shop in Reno. It is VERY well organized, light, airy, the latest fabrics and so much more, I spoke with Adam Robey, sales manager,who told me that they carry both sizes of the Tin Lizzie as well as the new 830 Bernina and frame. They also have tons of embroidery accessories and supplies (including the variegated Isacord that isn’t found everywhere), longarm and shortarm machine quilting supplies and many books and patterns. The shop has a longarm for rent and a full service repair shop for both domestic and longarm machines. I also liked the samples of the quilt kits that they had displayed in the store..they added to charm of the shop. Adam also said that they are launching and online store, so you may want to check it

Innovations 2009 and Info on Luggage Tags and Koozie

Greetings from Reno, Nevada! We are still traveling throughout the U.S. and, unfortunately, some of our destinations were without connectivity. It’s great to be connected again and I wanted to bring you up to date on what is going on with ChiliQuiltes!

First, I am scheduled to teach again this year at Innovations. As you may remember, Innovations is a machine quilting conference (along with many other related topics) and it will begin Sept. 15, 2009 in Tacoma, Washington. I will be teaching a course entitled,” Blog Cabin Blocks with Twittering Embellishment” and I hope you will join me.

Also, I received a comment recently asking abou the luggage tags and Koozies. Yes, they can be easily monogrammed and they come in a variety of colors and designs.

I hope to post the latest info on quilt shops and quilting that I have found during my travels tomorrow. Since we have just arrived in Reno, I need to get organized!