happenings around here

Time for an update!  Besides being totally fascinated by my sweet grandson and trying to be helpful to his mom and dad, I have snuck in a few fiber-ish moments.  I worked on quilting this "Cancer Quilt" for a customer.  She is going to give it to a family member dealing with a new leukemia diagnosis requiring a prolonged hospitalization.  It is designed for a printed fabric panel from Block Party Studios.
 All of the text is motivational words that will hopefully help this young woman through a tough time.

And I actually quilted something for myself!  I have shown you some pictures of this before and finally got it on the quilt frame and all stitched up.  Since it is batik fabric on both front and back, and lots of seams, it took a little tweaking to get the stitching to look the way I wanted it to.  Even with the tweaking I wasn't totally satisfied, but have to remember that few people (if any) will be examining it under a microscope so I can just let it go, right?  I am really liking the look of it.

I participated in teaching a class at Bear Patch last Wednesday and Sunday, which was a successful experience.  Unlike other classes that I have taught there, this one was a shared project with Laurel and was designed as a demonstration session instead of a hands-on sewing class.  We called it the Bear Patch Sew Creative Event and chose 7 different specialty rulers to feature.  There are a lot of quilting rulers in hundreds of shapes and sizes and from numerous manufacturers.  I know that as a quilter, sometimes we see them hanging on a display rack and their odd shape or strange markings have us wondering just what in the world they are for.  Well, Laurel and I took those rulers, practiced with them and made sample projects, then demonstrated how they function.  Combining the rulers with some patterns and notions that work together, we were able to enlightened the gathered women on some potentially new ideas.  And there were treats, too!  This also was a good experience for us in the power of the internet.  About a week before the classes were scheduled, we had only about 12 people total signed up for the 3 sessions.  Because this was a different format than our typical class offering, it can be hard to get the message across to our wonderful customers and sell them on the idea of attending.  The price was low (only $5) but some publicity was needed.  A group email was sent out to the store's mailing list, and low and behold, we ended up with about 90 attending!  So we will be planning ahead for future Sew Creative Events, looking for new gadgets and gizmos to feature.  Since we are going to Quilt Market in May, we will have a good opportunity to gather ideas there.

Now I want to remind you about another significant event happening in my family.  My son, Dan, has been pedaling his bike across the country since January 6, and is nearing his destination in Florida.  He has been posting pictures and notes about the trip on his website.  We try to talk and text often because we think this is a fabulous adventure for him (and we miss him and wish we could do it, too).  Ever since he started out, Bob and I have been toying with the idea of meeting up with him somewhere along the way.  We  also needed to stay handy near home for this new baby happening, but now we have worked out a plan.  Later this week we are setting out on a road trip aimed at intercepting Dan near his endpoint (St. Augustine).  We should be able to be his support crew for the last few miles and then celebrate his accomplishment.  Dan seems pretty happy about the prospect, and then will get a ride  back to Minnesota for some R & R before returning to CA.  I am pretty happy about the idea of seeing him!  Palm trees, here I come!

Good thing we are not relying on my car for the upcoming trip!

For the first time in over 250,000 miles, the trusty Saturn took a tow truck ride last night.  So sad.  It hemorrhaged red transmission fluid all over the street, and refused to budge any further. Today we will find out what the damage is and figure out where to go from there.  It really was a sad feeling to see it towed away.  This followed a fatal diagnosis for my trusty iPod, so I am wondering what the 3rd strike will be?

vintage tech

I guess that ~8 years of use from any kind of computer/techie gadget is far beyond the life expectancy.  At least that's what the 12 year old boy in the Apple store hinted at!  Well, maybe not 12, but barely shaving!  It somehow became unsyncable, which is the opposite of unsinkable, and is no longer supported due to the fact that it is museum material now.  To his credit, the young man did tell me that he and his co-workers were impressed by the fact that it had worked this long.  I think he was trying to soften the blow, maybe he could see the dejected look on my face or the tear in the corner of my eye. I'm not yet ready to replace it, I keep checking it to see if it will just wake up and work like it has so many times before!  I will live in my land of make-believe a little while longer!  At least until I get the call from the transmission shop later today!