So I blogged and lost the post.......

really upset - it was all about what is going on.  So here is a potted history of what is going on.....

Too much.

New patterns.

Catching up with custom.

Selling PQ3000's.

Visa application.

Life........

I'll try to do better on Wednesday!!

The new patterns are coming along nicely....

Still can't tell you the special secret about these patterns but they are looking good as they go together!

Here's a sneak peek at one of the three - the block goes together with a mitre as opposed to a Y-seam.  I know how you all love those Y-seams!!  The mitre is similar but not as fiddly.

I am beginning to feel the blob after not being able to run due to the pinched nerve.  I think I'm about to get used to the idea of numb fingers and get back to running anyway.  Some clothes are getting tight and that will never do!!

Therefore, tonight I am going to draw up a new schedule to include running and some down time and since Spring is on the way - the groundhog said so - I will sign up for a race in a month's time. 

Tuesday Roz brought her 'Quilting 101' students to the studio for a field trip and I think they had a good time.  Jyl made a really ugly quilt - wineing the whole time! - with missed seams, bad 1/4" seams, fluffly borders, stretched borders and flip-flop ditches.  It was a bit extreme but I think we managed to show them some of the pitfalls to look out for while piecing a quilt.  And on the point about flip-flop ditches, these are created by bad pressing.  Some are flipped by the iron and can be pressed back again, but others are when one end of the seam gets stiched one way and the other gets stiched the opposite way when the next pieces are added.  This means that doing custom quilting and stitch in the ditch has problems.  The idea of stitch in the ditch is to stitch in the lower part of the seam and hide the stitching.  If the seam is wonky underneath the ditch changes sides and the stitching shows as it crosses over - not good.  There you go - I've finished for now, but do take care with pressing because it makes all the difference and done right gives you a lovely crisp looking quilt top.

Yesterday was another busy day with a T-Shirt class - all that was left to do as homework was attach the borders.  Then the engineer and I headed out to Charlotte NC for his daughter's wedding.  It was a lovely event - they actually held the ceremony in a pretty little park in Rock Hill SC (for legal reasons) and then everyone went to dinner in Charlotte.  We had a lovely Italian meal and the bride was looked radiant - as brides do!

We are getting very excited and a little stressed about New Jersey next week.  We are leaving on Wednesday and will not be back until late on Monday so there is a lot to sort out before then, and these patterns need to be written before we go - so to the computer to type up patterns!  Maybe before we go I will be able to break the secret about the new patterns.

It's been a while.....

The problem with the pinched nerve has caused havoc in my life - typing really hurts the muscles in my arm and quilting is very uncomfortable.  But it seems to be improving a little and although my fingers are still numb I've got much more done in the last few days.

We gave Bandit a doggy treat on his birthday.  He is now officially 14 years old and despite the scare a few weeks ago he seems to have rallied and is doing well. 

 

This amazing Cathederal Window came into the studio last week.  It needs to be completed and the whole thing is hand sewn!  There isn't much left to do so I'll put up a picture of the completed spread when it is done.  The Cathederal Window is considered a quilt but is not actually a quilt as per the definition since there is no batting.

The Crown Royal commission quilt was completed and went to its new home with a very happy owner.  Pictures will follow once she has handed it out as a gift.  It was a lot of fun to do so I'm sure it will be enjoyed.

We went to the One Stop Shop Hop in Lancaster SC, and would you believe it SNOWED on the way up there!  Maybe that kept people away, but we saw a number of people we knew as well as some PQ3000 owners so we had fun anyway.

So - the focus now is the New Jersey show.  This is a huge show and four days long and we have been working on an idea for something to take along with us as well as the PQ3000s.  Well, we have come up with the idea and once it has been turned into a couple of working examples I'll put up pictures - it's fun!!

For now I need to get on with some stuff - it's going to be a frantic few days before we leave for New Jersey - but I will do my best to be a better blogger.  And I am trying to carry out my father's saying, "you may not be able to make hay due to the rain, but you can make sure that when the sun does shine you are ready to go".  So I may be having trouble doing some things but I can get stuff ready to do when I am able again.

 

The PQ3000 lesson quilt is coming along.....

and it has been a long time in the planning.  So I will be able to get the new PQers their training time.  I was thinking that I would offer the time on Saturday afternoons, say 1 - 4 pm, and limit it to two people so that we can be very concentrated on the task!  I think three hours at a time is more than enough so there will be two sessions whenever the PQers can make the time.  The quilt that is produced in these sessions will be the workbook.  Any PQers out there let me know what you think.

Since I am also putting the lesson into a manual form, all those who are too far away to come for lessons, I will get this out to you as soon as it is complete.

Sometimes I get a little overwhelmed by how much is going on around here, so I am very grateful to the people around me who support me, encourage me and put up with my stress fallouts.  Now and again I need to be reminded of how much we have achieved as a team in the last year or so.  It may seem that we are behind and trying to catch up but so much has been done despite how much more there is to do - I get the feeling that that is what life is generally about for most people.  We should all stop and breath now and again, so tomorrow I will set aside time for the engineer and enjoy some relaxing time doing anything that is not work related!

There is still a lot to plan.  New designs - yes SH I am getting to them - they are in my head and need to come out to make room for other things, show quilts, teaching, developing the laser system and patterns for the PQ3000 and finishing the house.  And, of course, there is still the kennel to take care of and keep running.

But while this is all going on there are wonderful distractions.  Australian Open tennis, the upcoming football culminating in Superbowl and the promise of Spring.  The joy of living here in South Carolina is that when it is really cold, as it was this morning, you just know that it will change either tomorrow, next week or, at the latest, in a couple of months.  It was a little crazy to run in 60F yesterday morning and get up to 31F today, but variety is the spice of life!

Time to pour a glass of wine, settle on the couch to watch some tennis and go to bed.  It may have been a stressful day today but tomorrow is a brand new start.  There is just one little problem to report - my other assistant (not the lovely Lindsay) but the softy Jyl, has been psyched by the Quilter's dog, Bandit.  She was seen feeding the said dog from a bowl, with a spoon, and he was loving it!  Now we have all tried numerous methods of feeding Bandit - he is the pickiest eater ever.  But he was truly inspired when he trained Jyl to spoon feeding.  And he has also trained me to buy him really expensive canned food for Jyl to feed him!  (He is 14 years old and we are seriously trying to get him to eat since he is losing a bit of ground).  However, the side affect of the canned food has been a little smelly today, and we have discovered that trying to cover it up with natural citrus spray leads to smelly citrus smelling stuff - phew!!  And he is currently lying beside the couch and not so gently getting smelly again - so I am closing now and leaving the room.

I've been instructed to blog....

but it's really getting late and I ran three miles this morning and played two tough sets of tennis tonight and I am so tired.  I tried the hot tub and lasted ten minutes but it did help ease my back - I am paying for the extra weight I gained over the holidays and it's going to take a while to get back on track!  The half marathon training was going well but I missed the Saturday five mile run while I was at the show in Florida.  It went well considering that the attendance was not very good!  And then I had a great time at the guild demonstration on Monday - what a great group of people.

So, forgive me, I am going to bed and I'll catch up with everything tomorrow.

Do you think I'm getting older?? - never!!

Life can get a little too exciting sometimes.....

as when we found out that we have been accepted to vend with the PQ3000 in Grand Rapids, Michigan in August.  Now that is a big show and I need to get a number of quilts made and quilted on the PQ to show what can be achieved.

I am still excited about the Lake Worth show but there is a lot to do tomorrow, so early run, breakfast with the engineer and then head down and get through everything before leaving on Thursday morning.  Training for the half marathon is on track, but I may have trouble finding somewhere safe to run five miles on Saturday  morning.

This sketchy diagram is why I use EQ7 to design my quilts - only I could translate this!

So here I am trying to draw the sketchy quilt on a muslin quilt sandwich.

 But I got it and I am now practicing on the PQ3000.  And once again I prove to myself why I hate dark thread on light backgrounds.  Tomorrow I will change to white thread and show how much nicer tone on tone looks on a quilt.  Still it shows what can be done with the frame and all those straight lines are stitched also!  Practice, practice, practice.

Time to tidy house!  It's only acceptable to take clean dishes out of the dishwasher for a few days if you have a second dishwasher for dirty dishes - I wish!  Laundry needs folding and putting away - again dressing out of the tumble dryer every morning is probably not a good idea long term.

No more blogging until I get back from Florida - and then I should have a ton of stuff to blog about!

Finally sorted out the picture thing.......

And now we are using Google Chrome as the internet service for blogging.   Things have been busy this week and a lot did get done.  Although Bandit seemed quite happy to hold down the floor while we all stepped over him to get back and forth!

The studio move around is complete - we have a couple of little bugs to sort out such as 'where did we put that?'   The picture below was the old layout and Jyl (that is her foot) pulling up all the sponge tiles so that they could get a hosing off.

Now both the machines are on the same side of the studio.  The bookcase in the front is moving and the cupboards behind the design wall are going to end up in the new classroom.  Take note of the quilt on the design wall - not mine but an update in a little bit!

So, late one afternoon half way through the move I decided to lay laminate floor in the classroom.  Lindsay and I are surveying the mess and Bandit is hedging his bets as to where he should move next.  Is the new laminate more comfortable or should he stick with the carpet area?

And there is nothing for it but to finish the job!  

And while we were scrabbling around on the floor Jeeves was busy piecing together the latest version of Sensation Two.  I decided that it needed a very small border between the center of the quilt and the outside border with the blocks.  Hard to tell in the picture, but it made a huge difference.  This one will definitely be custom quilted for a show.

My T-Shirt quilt with all my tennis shirts is also completed and on the frame to get quilted and bound ready for the show in Lake Worth, FL on Friday and Saturday this week.  I am leaving in the early hours of Thursday morning to set up the PQ3000 and show everyone what can be achieved with this quilting frame!

Finally - the quilt on the design wall - Jyl's.  It is a spectacular pattern and beautifully made - we had a little conversation about the quilting required - hands up anyone who thinks an allover is OK on this gorgeous quilt.  I thought so - NO-ONE JYL!!  We'll work it out......

So now we are into the business of 2013 - payroll quarterly and annual returns, W2s, tax returns and all manner of lovely paperwork.  So, I ask very nicely, think about the small business owners slaving over their responsibilities and struggling to pay their taxes and their employees and go support them in this new year.  They employ a lot of your friends!