Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Blogger problems...

Are any of you having trouble with blogger? I have finally had time to sit down all by myself with nothing else to do.....my last hair client for the day no/showed and it did not make me mad......and I am trying to catch up on some overdue blogging and it seems that I am blocked from all my favorite blogs! I can view them but when I try to post a comment it says that I do not have permission to do so. Did I make all of you mad when I started yet another blog? When I haven't had time to add my VERY FAVORITE blogs to my sidebar? When I haven't had time to sit down at the computer but for a very few minutes at a time in eons?

Well, I appologize! I will add all of you to my page right now and see if that helps!

(I do not have the stay signed in block checked either)

Monday, November 7, 2011

Canning Jar Quilt and an iron review....

This fabric still makes my mouth water.
As I mentioned in my post from this morning, JoAnn Fabrics had their irons on sale for 25% off and I had a coupon for 25% off of my total purchase.
I spent enough on my total purchase that I saved $71 and the retail price of the iron was only $65......any way I look at that it looks like a free iron!

My previous Rowenta, which was about 20 years old, finally died. I had a spare Sunbeam iron that I really wanted to be able to use but it just was too bulky and had uneven heat. So I bit the bullet and took advantage of the deal.

Now I am here to tell you that this, Rowenta Effective Iron, is wonderful!
It is so much better than any iron that I have ever had in my hands!
It is the perfect weight and really lets out the perfect amount of steam. The shape of the soleplate is also perfect for quilting. You will just have to buy one to try it for yourself!



























Part of the border finished for pics, it is all finished now and I am piecing the back.

























I wanted to spice up the upper border and spent a lot of time measuring and figuring and was so proud of myself for getting it all to fit just so.........then in another second I realized that I had sewn the wrong width strips on this part! Oh well, that's what they make seam rippers for! I just really hate to use them!
















Spoke with my friend, the salesperson, about my machine and it's missing parts. She offered to just leave this machine with me and send all the accessories along with a nice gift certificate for all my troubles!! OKAY! So I then felt free to go ahead and give the machine a really good workout. I found out that my open toe quilting foot from my Kenmore also fits this one and I have played around with machine free motion quilting
and it is going to be great. I think I will quilt this jar quilt on her!

(lots of condensation on my windows today)
















Just had to share my sweet little Lillie!

She is such a happy baby!



















Been wearing my canning apron.....

...... and canning up a storm!

Sorry for the poor picture quality but it's from my blackberry in low light.

My latest project is a Jar Quilt that I have been wanting to make for a long time.

I saw these fabrics at our local quilt shop and my mouth started watering!


I was dying to jump into a project in my newly (almost completely organized) rearranged sewing studio. Of course it's no fun to finish a project that has been sitting around for a couple years, is it? So, I purchased these fat quarters last week and started planning and cutting Saturday evening, making up my own pattern as I went. I finished all the jars that night and I had to go back to JoAnn Fabrics yesterday, because all of their irons were on sale and I had a coupon, so I thought I could pick up the fabric for the shelving part while I was there.

Danny wanted to sit in the truck and I told him I would be right back after I grabbed my iron and some 2x4's!!! He didn't quite understand how I could get 2x4's at a fabric shop! LOL

I showed him last night what I was talking about!


I have the border finished at this time on one side and yet my picture would not download from my blackberry so I will try that later today with my real camera.

Sure feels good getting a project started and almost completed in a couple days!!


Now I am sure that you are thinking that I sewed this on a borrowed Juki that is to be returned to the store, right? Nah, I resisted temptation and used my older Juki that is so much fun to sew on too! I am trying to decide if this will be my first quilt project to go in my frames to be machine quilted with the Juki mid arm or just sit down and quilt it at the machine? Too many decisions to be made!! I did try out several, well many of the stitches on the new Juki but I will be good for now!

Friday, November 4, 2011

and you hurry up just to wait....

My new Juki arrived today as promised! Woot woot! Can you just imagine my excitement?
Yes Ma'am, I was all giddy inside again, just as I was last year when my other Juki arrived!
I tore into this box as fast as I could only to find a beautiful new sewing machine and no parts............................................ Seriously? Why? How? Why me? Really? There must be some mistake, right? Maybe I slung them across the room when I was tearing into this box so fast?
No! There are no parts/accessories/essentials with this machine other than a standard presser foot, a button hole thingy, an extension table, manual and the power cord/foot control! However they did happen to send one bobbin! HOW GENEROUS!

Can you imagine my disappointment? The screwdriver wasn't even in there! No patchwork foot, quilting foot, lint brush, 20 extra bobbins, walking foot, 100 organ needles, etc etc etc.....There was no way I could list the parts that were missing because there were so many of them so I only listed the few things that I actually recieved to the nice sales lady on the other end of the country. She really thought I was making this all up! She laughed at me and swore that this has never happened before! This was a brand new machine in a brand new factory box!

She said she would be happy to send me another machine as soon as I sent this one back to her. I said "Well thank ya ma'am but why don't you just go ahead and send that new machine from California to Virginia NOW!" She said "Yes, that's a good idea". That's what I thought! UPS will deliver another machine and pick up this one at the same time. Whew!

Now the best part of the story......they DID send me that ONE bobbin and the manual.......well think about what I have been doing? Is it wrong? Probably but I just can't help it! All I asked for were the missing parts but she offered to send a whole new box, so it's her fault that I have a week or more to play with their machine, right?

I LOVE IT!!!! It is so easy to use, it does everything, it is super duper quiet, and it will be an absolute dream machine when all it's pieces are here! I can't wait for the rest of them to arrive so I can actually dive into a new project!

Friday, October 28, 2011

On goes the sewing apron....



so I can get some MEGA organization going in my sewing room/rooms. I need that organization, yet again, to make room for my newest addition to my sewing machine collection. Yes, you read correctly, I have done it again! I hope this is finally my dream machine. It's the Juki HZL F600 Exceed Quilt and Pro Special. Now that's a mouth full! I have been totally in love with my Juki TL98Q but it's only a straight stitch machine that is fabulous for quilting...at least that's what they say, maybe when I actually get a project finished I will report back on that one.....


I have been scaling down and selling various machines for the past couple years now and I still have at least one more to go out the door and I really believe this will be the one machine to take care of ALL my sewing needs, along with the quilting machine and serger, of course.

I bought this machine in the blind going only on the features and the great Juki name and I hope that was not a mistake. I also purchased from the same great company that I purchased my other Juki from.


Now I will have no excuse, not nary a glimmer of an excuse, no reasons nor excuses to arise to keep me out of the sewing room working on projects. Do you believe me? Shut up! Don't be so negative and help me out here!


Gotta get back to work on this major overhaul of a couple rooms!

There will be pics to come, soon.

How exciting it will be to recieve my new machine and place it in a nice organized space to try it out for the first time.......ahh I'm dreaming again!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

In my party apron...

Friday evening my little hair studio was turned into a party house!
A Sabika Jewelry party house!
Dttr Robin is a Sabika consultant and dttr Leslie hosted a party for her but asked if it could be held here in the salon.
I think it turned out perfect!



This jewelry is absolutely beautiful and so addictive, if you get one piece you have the fever and want every piece to go with it.
Yes, I do speak from personal experience and have been collecting for over a year now ;-)





Leslie really has the Sabika bug now and she sold................ drum roll please.....

twenty five hundred $$$$$$$$$$$

and earned ..........

seven hundred and forty three $$$$$$$$$$ FREE








We had a really good time and had such a nice turn out




































































this was the "special" table....

Leslie is giving me one of these pendants for having the party here....she's a good egg!




















Saturday, October 1, 2011

There's sand and salt on my apron hem...

...that came from the beautiful Tybee Island, Ga.






where Danny and I spent 4 fabulous nights in celebration of 35 years of wedded bliss!





This is only a snort of the 869 pictures that I took while there!







This cute couple graciously agreed for me to take their picture.



They really look like they are in love!









Enjoy the Island as we did!



This place is AWESOME!



I did not want to return to the mountains....






































































































(we did not catch these fish)












































































































































































you know I really really love birds of any sort....even the one who flew over my left shoulder and took my cheese cracker right out of my mouth...........seriously!



Danny still cracks up everytime he thinks about it!

























































































































































































































































there were jelly fish everywhere and lots of gorgeous shells















































this is the house where the movie "The Last Song" with Miley Cyrus was filmed

















































surfers were out each morning and late evening at high tide




















































WIPEOUT!



(I thanked this guy for the great pics, he loved it)












































































































cargo ship coming into the Savannah River


























































we spent a lot of time in the shade under this pier


























































we did lots and lots and lots of walking






























































what's not to love?































































we were just a couple of love birds.......teehee