Well we did the show in Rock Hill......

and we learnt a lot, like taking shopping bags for the things people buy to carry their loot away!  But it was a great show and a lot of people showed interest in the PQ3000 frame.  We are very excited but still have a way to go!

So I lost my tennis match tonight - played a girl way better than me and it made me realize that I really play for fun and I shouldn't take it so seriously.  But I really got slaughtered and sometimes that can be very discouraging!!  So that is the time to remember that what I do every day is very far removed from where I started and I am very proud of what I have achieved with my fabulous team and amazing friends behind me.  And playing tennis is supposed to be fun and to relieve the stress of the day - so get over it Linda!

Wednesday will be the big meeting to get the whole new team together to move forward - it's a lunch meeting, so pizza all around.  I am looking forward to letting other team members help me out and    work towards the current goal.

And I have some fabulous ideas for some quilts that I want to quilt on the PQ3000.  I'll post pictures as soon as they are done.

So, many thanks to the engineer, who helped out with the show on Saturday and is so passionate about  the frame and the add ons that are in progress.  Without his special skills this project would never have got off the ground.

So - time for bed - and my thoughts are with all those fighting Hurricane Sandy, we are thinking of you.

The tomboy is doing her nails....

I probably need to explain that!  I was and have been a tomboy for all of my life.  I love getting dirty, making sawdust, renovating the house and not bothering much with my looks!  So it is kind of fun to be doing my nails for the vending show tomorrow.  I want to look the part!

So we set up the booth and got all the PQs at the show.  We have decided that after moving all those boxes we have no need to go to the gym!  The booth looks fabulous, so we will post pictures later.

Ok one more coat of nail polish, an early night and a weekend of selling PQs - watch this space!

Final thought - believe in your dreams and next week I will tell you all about the engineer - the builder of my vision and the wind beneath my wings.  A very special person.

Feeling my age......

which is something I rarely admit!  Yesterday they came and demolished my master bathroom and left me to finish removing the floor and tidying up last night.  So I was busy until after nine removing flooring and nails.  Then today they installed the shower base and walls and some drywall.  So tonight I needed to install wainscoting and the laminate floor underlay.  This all needs to be finished by the end of the day tomorrow so that while I am gone to Rock Hill they can finish the install.  Oh boy!

So tomorrow I need to run allover quilts and finish laying the floor.  We also need to get everything together for the show and pack up the car.  

There are moments when I worry that we won't sell all the PQ3000s at the show, but then I remember that the Universe gives you what you believe in, so I need to believe!!  Therefore we will sell out of PQ3000s by the end of day one and will need to take orders all day Saturday.

Blogging may take a second place to fixing my nails tomorrow, but as soon as we get back from Rock Hill I will let everyone know how it went.  

I am always thinking of stuff I can tell you all on the blog, so it's frustrating when I don't have the time to tell you what is going on - and there is always something going on!  

I really need to go to bed - my only thought for tonight is sleep!

The surprise bathroom renovation.......

I had pretty much decided that I was done with renovating bathrooms after doing the guest bathroom myself.  Then one day last month we had to call a plumber at the kennel, and while he was here I asked him to look at the bathroom to see what he could do.  So he came by last week and quoted me a good price and said that he could start on Monday (today). 

Well - that resulted in a frantic weekend of running around picking up materials and delivering them for PQ3000s, picking up completed PQ3000s and abject apologies to the two ladies who came by at the allotted time to pick up theirs and I wasn't here!!  It all worked out in the end and I owe them eternal gratitude for their patience and kindness - I know they are having fun with their frames now that they have them.

And then the rest of the weekend was a blur of shopping for the stuff - a walk in shower base, walls and doors.  The new toilet and two vanity units with all the bits to go with that lot - faucets, shower head, shower control and what not.

So the plumber came by this morning, which was a delightfully cool fall morning, the trees are just beginning to turn....

 And this is was he did to my master bathroom!

 

Bandit is saying 'where did the vanity unit go?' 

 

 

And I am saying 'where did the bathtub and shower go?'

 

Anyhow, just to add to the construction choas, yesterday I decided to investigate the missing space in the house.  This is the space that a few years ago John and I had measured for something and decided that there was some missing space between the master closet, the bathroom closet and the pantry.  We never did anything about it, but on Sunday morning curiosity got the upper hand and a small hole was cut in the drywall.  Oops - there was another wall about 4 inches in - nothing ventured, so another hole in the second wall.  Bingo - space - so down with the walls!  And this is the result - a two foot by two foot wall to ceiling space that is absolutely ideal for a pantry and storage cupboard.  I can't wait to get that sorted, but the cleaning lady was less than delighted with the drywall dust created by this little adventure.  Pictures of the completed pantry and the new bathroom when all is completed!

 

 

And as for quilting - well a good number of customer quilts have been completed and sent back to their owners.  Preparation for the show in Rock Hill is going well although we don't think we will have enough PQ3000s to go around!  We are getting them made as fast as we can, but it takes time.  The 'Lancaster Project' has ground to a halt so a major push will be required next week. 

 

November has us on a crazy schedule.  My new assistant starts, Joan gets to marketing the PQ3000, we vend in Tampa, I am registered for the 5k race on the runway at Columbia airport and then it's Thanksgiving and for the first time since John and I arrived at my aunt's house in the early hours of Thanksgiving morning, nine years on I get to visit her on this holiday.  Bitter sweet memories of our arrival in this wonderful country and thoughts of John - always.

 

And thoughts of John as I continue on this exciting journey and wild ride.  Now to laying the bathroom floor.......

A fabulous day, despite a few wrinkles...

So we delivered three PQ3000s - one to Carol G. and two to the store for purchases made there.  The wrinkle on that was that I sort of crunched into Lindsay's car as I was pulling out - $225 to fix mine and a bottle of Scratch Doctor for her - silly me!!

Anyway it was still a good day.  Quilts were done, PQs were packed and stuff was ordered for the units we need for the Rock Hill show.  I won my tennis match in three sets and played for two hours and ten minutes - I will pay for that tomorrow!

I'm seriously hoping to get to the Lancaster Project in the next few days.  We have how to videos to make, but I think we can get those done fairly quickly.  The two quilt have been sent out to NC for the show up there (that's Fire and Ice and Oodles of Simplicity Two).  I have high hopes for them, but they will be up against some serious competition. But that is a good thing!

Ok - it's been a long day and I need to run in the morning.  I signed up for the Color Me Rad 5k race for Saturday which will be a lot of fun.  So I need to train.  It's actually ok to run without training, but it hurts, so I would rather train!!

So to finish this rather short blog, I would like to thank all the amazing people in my life who have made this wild rise possible and have supported me and encouraged me and always believed that this would happen - thank you all!

The quilter's dog (Bandit) and I are needing sleep.

Tomorrow is another day

Such a wonderful day.....

and so many people happy with their PQ3000 frames.  I cannot express the joy that is felt when someone loves and appreciates something you have worked on and developed for so long.

So a bunch of people joined the inaugural PQ3000 club (they may not know this!) and everyone who gets a frame will belong to a family of quilters who want to share and grow together.  I have never met a quilter who was not willing to share - share knowledge, share tips, share disasters and share triumphs.

I know that this can only grow and I am loving all that is happening right now - I am sure that if there are any adjustments that need to be made someone in the PQ3000 family will let us know so that we can sort it out.

It has been a very long day!  Payroll, payroll taxes to be paid, bills to be paid, PQ3000so to be delivered and set up, grocery shopping (wine, beer, milk and dog food - in that order) then sort out the hardware order for the next 12 units and now it has to be time for wine and bed.

We took a bunch of pictures of the happy PQ3000 owners and they will be posted soon - so my final thought for today is that this moment has been a long and productive time in the making and felt so right from the first idea until this finished product.  It seems that when you are on the right path it may take thought and dedication but it works and flows - so go with the flow and where life is taking you - the Universe knows where you should be going.

And finally......

The PQ3000s are ready to go!

 

 

And those of you who know me realize just how stressed I am about the pile up in the studio!  But all these will get delivered or stored tomorrow and my world will be straight and organized again.  Those of you who are on the list - expect a call tomorrow - YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, are you excited yet??  I am!!
I will attempt to blog some more later, but we are on our way out to pick up more PQ3000s - did I just say my studio was going to be straight tomorrow - oh boy.

A few comments to address.....

It's been a long, busy, happy day.  I had a class at Pieces and Patches for Simplicity Three - paper piecing - and we had a really good time.

Following a conversation I had with a friend who was at the Open House for the launch of the PQ3000 frame it seems there are a few points that need to be clarified.  Someone mentioned that the poles supplied to roll up the quilt should be round.  Well, we tried that and it was not good.  A round pole is hard to square up to the quilt edge and clip in place, and is almost impossible to clamp down to the sides.

During the seven months that we have been developing and testing the frame we tried a number of different poles and the square ones that we finally settled on were the best solution!  Over the development period I believe we have tested and solved every problem that we have encountered.  With my background as a long arm quilter I have been able to translate all the issues and counter them using my years of experience.

I believe that this product is the best that it can be at the moment, but we will never stop trying to evolve it and improve it so that it can be the best product on the market.  It will always have limitations compared to the $20,000 systems, but it will give you the opportunity to use your domestic sewing machine to quilt in the best way possible for a sensible price.

I think my final thought for today is that I really hope that people realize that the PQ3000 has been a long time in development and that we have spent a lot of development dollars to make sure that it works as well as possible within a domestic machine's limitations.  I have a lot of faith in this product - check it out at www.quiltersexpress.com.

It's been a while.....

and we have been so busy - which, of course, is a good thing.

The final piece of the PQ3000 fell into place this afternoon - the manual!!

 

Now is that snazzy or what??

 

So there are 13 PQ3000s in pieces in the studio, waiting to be packed up and delivered.

That's a lot of pieces!  We should get all that sorted out on Wednesday.

The 'Lancaster Project' is sadly lacking at the moment, but hopefully I will have time to crack out some blocks tomorrow.  'Fire and Ice' needs the binding put on, along with the label and the hanging sleeve as shipping to the show is this week - talk about last minute.

Got to go for a tennis match - I will do better tomorrow!

So blessed.....

I just had not realized that all I needed to do was to ask for help!  So I asked you guys on Facebook to like me so that I could get to 30 likes and lo and behold I got there in a few minutes!!  And then I remembered that after John died I gutted it out on my own for a long time before I realized that there were so many people that wanted to help, but I had shut them out.

I love to help, but I forget that others love to help too - so, even though this is a short post tonight, we all need to remember that we are not alone.  Even in the most dark and depressing moments our friends want to help, but we have to ask them and let them into our pain.

This is my thought for today - friends are there for all times, the good and the bad.  Don't just share your good times,  let your friends help with the bad as well.

I am so grateful for the way things have gone in the last few days and as soon as things settle down I will post pictures of Fire and Ice with the binding attached, and more blocks for Lancaster.  We also have a few bright ideas for Quiltcon - the show for Modern Quilts - more pictures to come.

Friends are so special.  All of you, thank you.

So it finally begins....

and it is even better than I expected.  The Open House was a great success and so many people were interested in the PQ3000 frame.  That meant a lot after all the hard work during the last seven months.

There is still a lot to do to get the first batch out to our customers, but we are on our way.  Lindsay is working on the manual, and is very understanding when I change things up!  We did get a slot at the show in Rock Hill SC at the end of October.  Lindsay will be adding the show schedule to the website      
this week.  She is also adding FAQ's to the PQ3000 section.  Sometimes it seems to take so long to get all this done, but we want to get it all right so that PQ3000 owners can enjoy their purchase and the wonderful things that they can do with it - I want everyone to be happy.

So it's been another long and productive day.  The future is looking bright and I am very thankful for all the support from my friends.  In the next few weeks I want to take the blog to a new level with ideas for quilting using the PQ3000, videos, tips and anything else I can think to do.

So bear with me during this launch period and watch this space for exciting stuff as we head into 2013 - scary how quickly that happened!  Final thought for today is that now that this plan is beginning to roll I wonder why I was so scared that it would not work - have faith in what you want to do and  chase your dreams with passion and belief.

And a special goodnight to my niece who talked to me today and made my day.