Apologies....

I have not lived up to the blogging expectations.  Since getting home from Des Moines life has been a tad hectic...

The challenge of producing two quilts for each AQS show has been a rough road along with the need to quilt custom quilts for customers. I am about on track but have a month to produce a stunner for Paducah.

 

These are the quilts entered into Lancaster!

 



 So please be kind if the Mystery Quilt is late and if I am not as regular as I should be with the blog - life is taking over - in a good way. 

 

 

 

Things I have learned this week.....

since I have been back from Des Moines many things have been achieved. 

I unpacked and did laundry - so I have clothes to wear.

I dealt with all the paperwork that had built up and paid all the bills - I am a little tight in the bank.

I rested up for a couple of days, ran errands and caught up with everything that needs to be done - my to do list is two miles long.

I ran a 5k race and didn't come last!

I went out for a training run this morning with Caper and met up with a black lab that escaped its collar and charged us - Caper did her best to protect me but I fell over the ensuing set to and landed on my knees, hand and face.  So I look like Booboo the clown.  I have a very grazed and red nose, top lip, hand and knees and they should all look spectacular tomorrow.  Not much sympathy (more hilarity) today, but wait until you see it tomorrow.....

I have done some work on the mystery quilt and I have also been working on the challenging prospect of putting two quilts into every AQS show this coming year.  The entries for Phoenix have been sent and I should hear back by December 6th if they have been accepted.  Lancaster entries are due by November 6th so some serious work needs to be done to get something ready by then - not sure what yet but I am excited.

Enough for tonight - if I can get caught up on custom quilting I hope to begin the mystery quilt next week.  It is a fabulous quilt and will look spectacular when it is finished so I hope you will play along with me.  Time for bed....

Back from Des Moines......

and very glad to be home.  It was a wonderful show and there are many new members of the PQ3000 family and it is going to be FUN!!!

The advantages of 17 plus hours each way (wow, 35 hours of my life!) is that my scrappy notebook that I scribble in when I am driving (trust me, a lot of the time I can't read what is there as I have to write with my eyes on the road) is full of silly thoughts.  This trip I worked out a very pumped up playlist for my 5K runs - maybe not music that most 56 year old ladies listen too, but full of energy.  I love it - 41 minutes of pure beat. 

So here is the challenge for 2014 - remember the 'at least one a month 5K' year with 12 T-shirts in the quilt? - well next year is the 'at least one a month 10K' year for the quilt.  I am going to DO IT!!

So I am listening to my new playlist while I am writing this and I am excited.  There are no more shows until February so I can concentrate on the mystery quilt and developing patterns for PQ3000 quilts and getting videos out there.  (And getting fitter).

On the trip I saw a lot of strange things being transported on very long trucks.  I spent a couple of hours wondering what they were.  They were very long, white and kind of fish wing shapes - then I got into farmland and worked it out - each one was a blade from a wind turbine.  I love those things - there is one in Wales that you can stand right next to, and it makes a wonderful, peaceful, swooshing sound. 

I was lucky on the trip up - the weather was wonderful.  There were also some lovely people at the Des Moines show who helped me to unload and laid the flooring in the booth.  And then they sent a volunteer to give me a bathroom break mid morning and mid afternoon.  I wish I could say I saw anything of the town, but I can't - just the show and the hotel.  The trip back was more eventful as I caught the remnants of the bad weather in Louisville KY late on Sunday night, so I got off the road and stayed safe. 

Some years ago, my late husband, John, had made a trip to Hiawatha, Iowa and traveled much of the same route that I took to Des Moines.  So there were many points of the trip that gave me memories - he would call me at regular points of the trip and tell me where he was - my favorite was when he called to say that he wanted to get off the road at 'Stinking Creek Road' to see it the creek really did stink!  As I drove past that exit I really missed him and his sense of humor!  And I also wanted to check it out...

And there were times on the trip when I missed him so much I didn't think I could carry on, but I did - and that is all that you can do after losing someone you love - just carry on, because the alternative is not pretty and, I'm sure, not what your loved one would want for you.  So, for tonight I will finish there.  Moving on there is the mystery quilt and lots of fun thing with the PQ3000 and quilt patterns, classes and books.  But for now there are memories and many happy years....

The mystery quilt is designed....

so give me a couple of days and I will work it out over a few weeks - as a little teaser it is called 'The trip to Morocco" and is the first in the series of a number of 'trips'!! 

So I made it back from the Florida trip and the electronic 'sunpass' device had me sprinting through the tolls on the Florida Turnpike - I love the look of panic from the drivers behind me who see the South Carolina plate in the Sunpass lane thinking 'she's in the wrong lane....'.  It was good to visit with my aunt - she is my only family here in the US.

I am so excited about the trip to the AQS show in Des Moines.  It will be a very long trip and I am going to be alone - someone has to run the studio for the week that I am gone - come on people, it's getting close to Christmas!! 

But for tonight - it's been a long day - I finally managed a run (6 laps of the track in a veeeeery  slow time - about three miles) but at least I got out there - time for bed.  Tomorrow will be faster - I promised Caper.  She ran with me and was not impressed.

So the mystery qulit will start soon and will be fun - come join me......

Well it has been an interesting week so far.....

and it's not over yet.  I have to thank J.P. big time for the free tickets to the Clemson game on Saturday - it was a blast!  I love live football and I went to my first NFL stadium game in Cincinnati in 1975 with my aunt and uncle.  I was a green (very green) seventeen year old visiting from Wales - I did not have a clue as to what was going on.  Then when Michael was about nine years old I took him to a game held at Crystal Palace in London where the commentator explained the game and it finally began to make sense - that was 26 years ago.  I have been a major football fan ever since.  At times it has required some serious effort to be a Dolphins, Packers and Panthers fan - but I just hang in there! 

So Sunday morning the girls arrive at work to find that there has been a break in at the kennel - they did everything just right.  They took pictures (how did we manage without smart phones?) and called the police.  It is very unlikely that we will find the culprit, but fortunately they were too high, drunk or stupid to find anything.  The cash register was turned off but they obviously couldn't work out how to turn it on (Duh!) so they left with nothing.  Just some damage to the window with the a/c unit which will not take much to fix.  New procedures now about putting the cash away in a lock box at night - we keep learning.  Oh and I need to remember to lock my gate between the kennel and the house.......

Off to Florida on Friday to visit my aunt - driving back Tuesday, so just a short visit.  Things are getting busy around here, thank goodness!  I can really feel the Christmas rush starting and there is a ton of stuff to do before the AQS show in Des Moines, Iowa.  

Anyway - stuff got done in the back yard over the weekend.  The honeysuckle was getting out of hand......

 

Hello - there is the deck!  It looks so much better and is ready to paint.

 

 

And the back deck was looking awful.

 

 

Hot tub has been empty and needing cleaning for weeks - I had thought to sell it, but then I thought of those colder winter days when it is so nice to sit in the hot water.

 

 

There will be more pictures of the progress once the painting has been finished.

 

 

 

Caper wants out and that door needs painting - ask the lovely Lindsay how long the painter's tape has been on the glass!!

 

 

 

 

And whatever it is, is out here somewhere - if I could just find it.

 

 

 

 Thank you W.G - the daisies are lovely!!

 

 

 Sometimes a bunch of cheerful flowers is enough to make my day - heartfelt thanks.

Now there was a bunch of other stuff I was going to spout at you tonight, but I need to get some other tasks done before the trip.  But I am going to use the time on the journey (about 11 hours each way) to review all that I am trying to achieve and to make some decisions about my direction and my priorities.  It's been a very hectic couple of years and I need to regroup. 

I also want to make this blog more about quilting (as I have mentioned before) so look for a mystery quilt when I get back - it's a mystery to me right now so we'll discover it together!! 

See you all when I get back and I will update you on my journey - keep safe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passwords are beginning to drive me crazy......

apparently they should all be different, shouldn't use a pet's name (or yours), should have upper and lower case (or lower case only..), should (should not) include strange characters, should be 8 characters long (or more, or less) and SHOULD NOT BE WRITTEN DOWN.  So just how am I supposed to remember them all!!!!?

There is one (government driven) requirement where I have to go when I hire someone new (and I bet they are monitoring me now!) that requires me to change the password every time I log on - so I have to know the last password I used, invent a new one and confirm it, and it has to be totally different from any I have used before - so no incrementing the ending numbers.  And I SHOULD NOT WRITE THEM DOWN.  Ok government peeps - I am 56 years old, I have a few too many glasses of wine at night, I work too many hours every day and I have hormones - I don't always know WHAT DAY IT IS, never mind the password I used last time I logged on - so there is my rant for this week.  Can we move on to retina recognition on the personal computer in the next week or so - pretty please?

It has been a busy weekend - Labor Day and all that it entails.  The kennel was very busy and the lovely Lindsay did a sterling job of staying in control of upwards of 80 dogs.

I will post pictures later of the work done by myself and the engineer to clear the honeysuckle that was attempting to eat my house.  There was one very interesting side affect to the removal of the honeysuckle - tonight J.P. was watching out of the studio window and saw a very perplexed hummingbird hovering over the (very empty) feeder that I had left outside and never filled.  He (she) then huffed off to somewhere else to find food.  I had not realized that the hummingbirds were still around and had been feeding off the honeysuckle flowers - Oh, shame on me - starving the hummingbirds.  So I made some syrup and I hope that they will be back tomorrow and forgive my transgression.  All that said - the garden looks so much better now!

The U.S Open is still on and so it is wall to wall tennis in my house.  Both of the TV's are set to the channel showing the tennis and if anyone hates tennis - I am so sorry!  You are so out of luck!  And it has been very exciting.

So - drum roll please - I.D. your quilt is finished so expect a call tomorrow.  Crazy quilting lady, this puppy has been on the frame forever, has challenged me to the point of insanity and is utterly gorgeous!!  I cannot wait until you see it - but the rest of the blog followers are going to have to wait until you have seen it and enjoyed the fabulousness!  Thank you so much for trusting me with this beauty.

Let me head back to the tennis while I am still awake and I will try to post pictures in the next day or so - the lesson of the I.D. quilt is the same as the Chinese (or someone's) proverb - the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, or something like that, which is the same as the journey of a million stitches begins with the first one.  Wow - I just took the last one!!!

Going to take a shot at loading another video.....

this one is definitely of the home video variety - I tripped over the new tiles that J.P. put in front of my frame so that I could reach the quilt (vertically challenged is all I can say!).  Then just as it was about to reach Hollywood epic status - the battery gave out.

So that appears to be taking a while, so in other news...

The last few weeks have been a little crazy and not much quilting has been done by me - but I think it is all beginning to settle down now.  The lovely Lindsay has wheels and time to do stuff for me - there is a brief video on the website to show how the PQ3000 frame works.  It's a fine line to draw with regards to putting up enough for everyone to see how it works and putting up too much for someone rascally enough to try to make a copy!  But I think I am getting a little more confident about making videos (I feel like such a ham!) so the video today was just a little practice to get more comfortable.  Still need to deal with the squeaky voice - does anyone else hate the sound of their own voice?

The kennel is beginning to come together.  The new drying cages arrive tomorrow and the old ones are moved, cleaned and out of the way.  The floor got a severe scrubbing and we are ready for the new stuff.

The landscaping is looking better and the sprinkler issues will be resolved on Thursday.  Both wells got fixed in the last week - rats had chewed through the wiring at the house and a part got jammed at the kennel - oh boy, well fixes are expensive, but at least neither was a pump problem.

J.P. is going to school, which makes us all students.  I started a course in 'Oracle' database software with the engineer and it is fun to be learning again.  I will still consider a degree in Accountancy (I would love to do Forensic Accounting) but time is the issue, especially with the possibility of putting a book together - watch this space, I will let you know how that goes!

The video is still uploading, so you will have to put up with more chatter!  Hah!

Uh, oh, now it's 'Processing Video' - we could be close......

Or maybe it will 'process' as long as it took to 'upload'?

Ok - done - I will get better at making videos, but don't you love the simplicity and clarity of digital and video cameras these days!

Back from Grand Rapids, Michigan....

you can probably tell that I am English because I am not 100% sure about the state abbreviations, so I have to put in the whole state name. 

We had a great time - and many, many thanks to J.P.'s family for their hospitality and kindness.  Without you all the show would not have been the success that it was - and it was a success.

Sometimes, coming back from a show is a real let down.  There has been so much energy surrounding the whole process, meeting customers, meeting major contacts, being upbeat and excited and keeping it up all day for 9 hours.  So getting home after a 14 hour journey the whole thing falls flat as exhaustion sets in and energy dissipates.

But I look back after a few days of rest and reflection and it was a great show.  We met so many wonderful people and they were so excited about the PQ3000 frame. 

And now it is time to expand on all the wonderful things that happened at the show.  There are PQ3000 frames that need to be shipped and one that will get delivered to Florida (FL - got that one!) on my way to visit my aunt.  Then there are the new patterns to design and write and the class portfolio to get together - so much to do but all of it exciting.  Also a number of PQ3000 videos to make, so I will endeavor to post them here as well as on the website once they are done.  My lovely assistant Lindsay and I will discuss the schedule tomorrow since her role in life has changed dramatically in the last couple of weeks.  She became the new kennel manager, but we are trying to work out time with a new girl (who seems to be doing well) so that Lindsay and I can still get together a few hours a week to get PQ3000 stuff done. 

So I am tired, well travelled, a little jaded, somewhat motivated and ready to get started on the next phase.  Once again I will attempt to blog on a more regular basis and get more pictures and stuff together.

So finally for tonight - I.D., your SID is ongoing (and ongoing, and ongoing....) and will take a while, but I am at least half way through that part.  But who knows how long the next part will take - watch this space.....

Tomorrow may not sparkle, but here's hoping for at least a twinkle!!!

Can I post a video?

let see......

This is a link to a website or video etc.

Ok - I think that works.

Then one of my videos:

 

Well that seems to be taking a very long time - but I'm sure it will be worth the wait.  Probably time to pour a glass of wine.  But at least I can type some more words while it is uploading.  It really is time to make some more videos to add to the PQ3000 education and support.  And I would also like to start the mystery quilt on a video.

 

Still uploading - wow!  May have to go read a book for a while......

 

 

 

 

Getting very excited about the show in Grand Rapids.......

and of course I am not ready yet.  Started (yes, started) work today in the small English Paper Piecing patterns to kit up for the show.  It's a fun project - I love E.P.P.- there is so much more to it than Grandmother's Flower Garden, although everyone has to at least make one flower for a GFG even if they give up after that!

I was going to give you lots of pictures to show you what it is going to be, but then I got mischievous and decided to tease this out for a while.  So the question is - did I go with this layout for this block??

 

Apparently not.......

 

 

 So this is the chaos on my cutting table today.  Little bits of fabric and paper everywhere.  It may be a late night tonight because there is a bunch of basting to do for the blocks but hopefully in the next two days I should have the finished kit.

 

 

So Caper has had a wonderful day - climbed onto the garbage cart and tore open a trash bag, got herself left out in the rain and needed toweling dry, ate the towel after it was laid down for her, chased a lizard, chased a bird, chased a rabbit, barked at the UPS guy, slept like a baby, destroyed another soft toy, chewed on her bone, ate some thread, ate some fabric pieces, chewed on a pin (oh boy!) and just had a really good time.  I had forgotten how much aggravation, delight and pure joy it is to be around a young dog!  But she is learning fast and today was taught not to cross the boundary of the studio door that opens to the road.  I don't trust it to be foolproof yet, but she did well.

 

I do have a slight head cold but, hopefully, it will have worn off by the time we leave for Grand Rapids.  I am also very excited that 'Ooodles of Sensations' has been accepted at the show so we can go see it hanging there!  I have decided that when she gets back home after the show I am going to put crystals on the back of the quilt (this was the quilt that got a Merit Award in the Asheville Show for 'Best Back').  So why not highlight that?  Since there are already crystals on the front I think that will really make it twinkle.

 

So I have a number of projects that I want to muse over and contemplate while we are travelling.  I have the 22 fabric quilt to design to use up a stash of fabric, the 'Bed Quilt Hanging' which has been in my head for over three years, the next series of patterns which will be six 'stash buster' quilt designs and two more English Paper Piecing designs.  J.P. will have to take notes at a furious pace to keep up - still it's a fourteen hour drive - we should get it done!

I will let you know when we are packed up and ready to leave - the kennel is doing well under a new captain and there are a lot of good ideas floating around ready to be implemented.  It's so good to be excited about that area again! 

My new close out line again - tomorrow sparkles with possibilities - so to sleep until it dawns.

Pictures and gratitude......

I have been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and positive feelings from everyone following the changes made at the kennel.  I feel that I should apologize for taking so long to deal with the issues and make life easier for the girls that work for me - there were many references to communication during today and I hope that we can all keep that up and support each other.

So - moving on to much better places - things are looking up.  In the studio we finished piecing the quilt for the magazine and loaded it for quilting.  Other projects also were finished and we are on track with almost everything.  Caper loves being in the studio and is getting much better at greeting customers instead of eating them!

 

So here is the latest custom project.  Miss I.D. knows who she is and what this is all about.  I loaded it on Nora today and started work.  These are 4 3/4" log cabin blocks, so the strips are miniscule. 

 

 

See the little, tiny strips.......

 

See that the ruler is measuring the block at about 4 3/4" there on the left....

 

And see how many blocks there are - twelve across and I don't even want to count how many going down.  But on the plus side, the grass got cut!

 

I know I mentioned that the landscaper had a stroke and, really!, he was out there about two weeks later and mowing the grass on a riding mover and weed whacking the edges.  But it looks so good now.

 

 

This is the new design/blocking wall and R.H. is coming next week to use the wall to block her latest show quilt.  Very excited.

 

 

J.P. is still working on the Cathedral Windows quilt and has about 15 little squares left.  Since it takes about 15 minutes for each one she still has four hours of stitching left to do - but she has done a wonderful job of matching the work that the original sewer did - no one will ever know that the final work was done by J.P. - always the plan!

 

 

Fabulous.......

 

Just thought I would revisit the giant GFG which needs to be finished - two squares done and a few more to do....

 

And to finish tonight - very exciting news - the entry for the Hoffman Challenge has been accepted to travel, so will be out on the road across the country for the next fourteen months or so - a real result after the failure of last year.  Live and Learn!!

 

So for tonight I am thankful for my staff, happy with where I am with quilts and ready for bed.  I had a wonderful conversation with my son today and all is well with his world - not much more that a mother could wish. 

 

Sleep well and tomorrow sparkles with possibilities.

I have no pictures.....

but lots to talk about.  Caper is doing well and has relaxed enough to show a somewhat mischievous side.  More training I feel!  Still, she is truly delightful and we are getting closer every day.

I have been running, but I have a way to go - I am sad that I have let things slide so much, so I need to get back in control of losing weight and running.  Even though so much has been sorted out life still has a way of sabotaging things.  

There have been some changes at the kennel and that can only be a good thing.  And that sort of thing makes you feel that everything should be looked at and addressed.  And that also makes me feel that I neeed to address all area of my life.  I really hope that things can turn around and improve.  I believe in the people in my life who care enough to make it work.

So I am left with my personal life.  I believe there are two kinds of people in life - those that are happy alone and those that have to be with another.  I am the one that has to be with another - John and I were married for almost nineteen years when he died (and would have been married 23 years next week).  I loved it - and I know that he did too.  

We had a truly special relationship, as do any happily married couple.  I miss it, I long for it, and I will search for it again.  And I will never settle for anything less than the perfection of a beautiful partnership.  I will be alone rather than settle for less than the joy that I had with John.  Finally I understand why my lovely aunt never loved again after twenty years.  

This post is hard. I miss my partner so much.  It's my birthday and our wedding anniversary in the next two weeks.  Never marry near an important date!   I'm done.........

Heading to new beginnings.......

isn't it amazing that at any point in your life you can hit a new beginning that breathes life into everything that you are doing and trying to achieve?  And this happened this week....

A relationship that I thought I had lost has been revived and there is forgiveness from both sides and a new understanding of family.  Then another friendship that I thought was strained became as it had always been and I can believe in that again.  Then, following on from the stress of the visa renewal the bank came through and all the things I want to do in the next few years are now possible.  So here I come world!!

Caper is proving to be an absolute delight.  I miss Bandit very much, and Maggie, but this little lady is just wonderful.  I did some research and found that she had been at the kennel with Heartworm Project (www.heartwormproject.org) for a whole year and that she is only about eighteen months old - so she came to the kennel at about six months old.  She is a little pudgy and still a puppy, but so easily trained and willing to do what I want her to do - she loves her crate and took only two nights to get house trained and is now running with me on a loose leash and able to wait in doorways and in the car.  Very impressive. 

 

The picture is a little bit blurry, but black dogs are so hard to picture.  Her ears are usually pricked up but she was so 'what are you doing new mom?'.

 

 

This quilt is a bit of a sad story.  My new landscaper asked me to make a quilt for his 25th anniversary to include silver and earth tones.  We made this quilt and spoke to him on the day, since we had not heard from him, and he had had a stroke.  I hope that this story will have a happier ending next week.

 

So 'Oodles of Sensations' has been given a new lease of life with a lot of crystals.  Crystals do not show up in a photo so I cannot show you how spectacular this quilt now looks.  So let's see how it does at AQS Grand Rapids!!

 

Reinar and Jill - I am working on your quilt!!

 

The new design/blocking wall - J.P. got her DIY on and this is the result - thank you so much!!

 

And this is the chaos caused by the new design/blocking wall - J.P. (the other one) I hope you are ready for tomorrow!!

So - that is enough for tonight - we have plans for mystery quilts and other things in the near future, as well as other exciting things on a much more regular basis.  Caper says 'Hi' and could you please let me out to go potty.  Nature calls!

Oh my, life has become interesting.......

and I am glad to share it with you.  It's not about quilting - it's about life.  I opened up to my lovely J.P. and realized that I had issues that needed to be addressed.  Over the last many years I have kept a day minder and looking back over the last three years I was able to see that I had a major event in my life in late December 2010 that changed my life. 

I had no idea that this event had caused so many issues, but now that I have related the event to what has been going on in my life, I can make adjustments and sort things out.  So things are looking up - I realize that I can make it on my own and that I am stronger than I think I am - so look out world - here I come!!!!

Watch this space - things are going to happen.

For my lovely furry friend......

who finally gave in to old age and joined his mother, Maggie, and his human father, John and is united with them both in my closet.  It may seem strange to some that I keep the cremains of them all on the closet shelf, but my aunt started this tradition and now it seems to me as if they are all together and it is a good place for them - I know they are there and they are always in my thoughts.

When I got back Bandit was so glad to see me and I was so glad to be home, with my visa and five more years to come up with a plan.  On Tuesday afternoon last week I picked up Caper from the kennel - she has been there for at least a year as one of the dogs that we keep for the Heartworm Project (www.heartwormprogect.org) - please check them out and consider adopting a pet from them if you are looking to add a furry friend to your family. 

So Bandit knew that I had a furry friend to look after me before he passed on and he lived until last Saturday evening and I was holding his paw when he took his last breath.  There were four of us that crossed the pond to be here in the USA (me, John, Maggie and Bandit) and now there is just me - the last of the four musketeers.  And although sometimes it seems strange to make plans on my own I have to move on without them and take my life in the direction that I want to go - and that is the challenge.  Where do I want to go and what do I want to do? 

I do know that quilting is my absolute passion, as well as teaching what I know to anyone that will listen.  So I will focus on that for a while and try to put as much into the blog as I can in the near future.  And to that end, I have to recommend Sally Collins to you - she has a number of books that I have loved and a DVD that has some of the most amazing tips for precision piecing that I have ever seen.  Check her out and watch and learn.  My J.P. doing piecing took up one of the tips on the DVD and has produced one of the most masterful quilts in terms of the pressing that I have ever seen - trust me I have seen all of the spectrum of piecing and pressing! - anyone who pieces needs to see this pressing and cooling technique. 

OK - I am drawing up a new schedule that should have me blogging more often and with a plan!  I have the next new fabulous craze that I want to introduce in the next week or so and a lot of other things that I want to do - more quilting but also more other hand work and skills. 

Thank you J.P. - the quilting one - for prompting me to blog.

I need to thank all the kennel staff and the studio staff for the wonderful work that they have done to help me out, keep me going and keep the businesses ticking over. 

Tomorrow is a haircut!!

 

So here is Caper - black dogs are so hard to photograph!

 

And here is the Hoffman Challenge that actually made it on time and will be judged - I should know by the end of July if it has won anything or will travel.  This time I have hopes for a win or at least a travel......the last one bombed but this one should do well!

 

Goodnight all - does anyone in the USA or UK remember the Magic Roundabout and Zebadee - 'time for bed'? 

This is the last post for a couple of weeks or so......

sorry, things to do and places to be.

Raleigh NC for the show next week and there is a ton of stuff to do.  My lovely assistant Lindsay is sequestered down at the kennel and I have to do the preparation myself with J.P. and J.P. (aka Jeeves!).

So this down time is quite a challenge - the guild challenge quilt has got to be quilted this weekend so that someone can get it to the meeting for me (hey J.P.!!) and then the Hoffman Challenge quilt need to be in their hands by July 19th - that will be tight as I will be down until July 8th (which also happens to be my favorite son's birthday xxxx M.C.G).


And my dear friend R.H. would very much like her Lone Star quilt completed for show by July 24th - love you!

But all this gives me so much to strive towards and plenty to keep me occupied - so much better than nothing to do. 

I am going to change the look of the blog once I get back and attempt to give you much more content and fun things to look at - vidoes, patterns, ideas and much more.  I love telling you all about what is going on in my life, but I really want to share more and give you interesting stuff to see.  Which means learning how to add stuff!

Back to my personal goals! I know - me, me, me.  When I get back I am going to get a companion for Bandit.  We have discovered that when he is at the kennel he eats much better because he feels that he is in competition with the other dogs, so I have decided to get him a companion and a friend for me so that I can take them running with me in the mornings.  'Caper' is being homed at the kennel at the moment and I will pick her up when I return.  I have read all about her and I think she will be a perfect addition to our small family.  Pictures later, but in the meantime, a return to my favorite photo of Maggie and Bandit (for new followers, Maggie was Bandit's mother and she lived until she was 16 and a half and one day!)  Bandit is the taller dog in the picture.

 

I have no idea what they had seen on the deck or in the back yard, but they were intense.  The funniest thing (and they are still there) were the two nose holes in the screen door at their different heights.  I hope you read this R.G. in New Jersey - I saw your post about your Maggie today, and mine would have been 18 last week!!  

 

OK - I promised a wedding photo and the engineer approved this one for the blog!  

 

 

It never ceases to amaze me how brides always look so radiant and she was no exception - absolutely gorgeous and, of course, a very proud Dad.

 

Very excited about the next five years and there is much in the planning - life is all about five year plans (Oh Boy - is it ever!!) and much will change going forward. 

 

Watch this space and when I get back I will update you all on where I am going and what I envision for the studio, the kennel and the books and patterns planned.  New beginnings.

 

In the meantime, as I head out for an important time of my life, be safe, be kind, be challenged, be artistic, but most of all, be happy.  See you all in a couple of weeks!

 

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON - the original.  Although 'Keep Calm and Exterminate, Exterminate, Exterminate' is really cool. (Whovians unite - watched the 'Five Doctors' last weekend - those who know, know).  Quick pole - who (haha) is your favorite Doctor?  Pertwee for me........

 

 

I promised to post yesterday.....

And I tried.  I typed up a storm for an hour or so, and then my wifi network went down and I lost the whole thing.  Today had a new router purchase.

But I have to say that I have a bunch of better things to tell you - so here goes.

The wedding went well - breezy but gorgeous.  White sand and blue sea - absolutely wonderful.  The cruise was fabulous and a good time was had by all.

I have discovered peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - fabulous but not exactly carb friendly.  Thanks J.P.  can you NOT leave this temptation around?

So, today was a really interesting day.  The problems with the landscaper escalated to a real issue so he is fired and I am out of pocket and have no grass on the hill at the kennel.  But it will be sorted. And then I got an email from my attorney and I have a visa interview in London which may be as early as June 26th.  So a trip to the UK is in my very near future.

That covers most of the drama, so now I am down to planning for the future of the quilting studio.  Once I get back with my visa I can plan the rest of my life (or at least the next five years).  I have to say that this is getting old, so there will be a major review in the next year or so.

There is a lot going on, so I need to post some pictures in the next few days.

I need to thank you all for your support and good wishes.  So many of you have helped me to believe that this could happen again.  I get to stay home.

Where in the world did May go?.........

Last time I looked up it was April - wow, so much has happened!

Here is a quick update on all that has been going on:

Visa application is in, attorney has been paid and everything is in the hands of The Universe (or the American Embassy).

The engineer's daughter graduated.

Training has been ongoing and a 5K race was run (if slowly) and the emphasis is now on getting faster.

Quilts done for the designer to go in the magazine.

Fixed the very expensive sewing machine that I broke because I did not read the directions - does that make me a man??

All bills paid (for the most part).

The guild challenge quilt is made and just needs to be quilted.

The Hoffman Challenge quilt is put together and needs to be appliqued and then quilted.

I have a bunch of ideas for new classes.  English paper piecing is going to be HUGE and I have sooo many ideas, my head is busting.

Here is a rough mock up of Hoffman - still a lot of work to do!

 

OK - W.G. gave us permission to post this - a fabulous dragonfly quilt that she allowed us to choose the pattern - and she has modern leanings.

 

 

 So this is the front, on it's side, but you can still see the pattern.

 

But just look at the back - a fabulous pattern!!

 

Now it's time for a break - the engineer's daughter has her wedding on a cruise next week, so we are all off on a jaunt.  The wedding will be on a beach in the Bahamas and the celebration will be for five days - sun, sea and sand.  It has been a while since I had a break so I am willing to learn how to do fun things.  I closed the studio at 6.30pm today and, apart from packing, I have nothing pressing to do - now that is a very strange sensation.  So, of course, I will leave the packing until the last minute!

 

The kennel is now in it's busy season and the sun is shining.  Bandit is still hanging in there and I have decided to get another four legged friend to keep is both company.  I am going to work on that when I get back from the cruise.  I really would like a doggy friend who can run with me on 5K races.  Bandit is too old to do that now, but he used to be so good - I would have him on a loose leash and he would run about two paces in front of me and at exactly my speed - a complete natural!  He's asleep on the office area rug right now - covered in threads from the studio!

 

So - time to do my nails (really - I said that!) - it is a wedding after all.  And packing since we leave in the morning. 

 

Happy quilting in the meantime and if I remember to take pictures I will post them in a week or so.  That is if I remember to take the camera!

 

 

A little bit of sunshine today.....

makes everything seem better.  The visa application is at the attorney's and there is nothing more that I can do - there may be a few little questions but it's all done.

I had a wonderful weekend and lots got done.  The guild meeting on Saturday morning was the 'Gullah Lady' and was a huge success.  She was truly a wonderful story teller.

So what are the priorities now?  Well, catching up with custom quilting, the Hoffman Challenge, the guild challenge and patterns for upcoming classes. Oh and running!  I ran last week on the treadmill but tomorrow I want to get out on the track - be right back, got to set the alarm.......

Done - and the pork chops are cooking for dinner. 

Just to tease you all a bit - here are some clues to the guild challenge (Blue and the letter 'B'). 

 

Very definitely blue, but that's all I am giving away!

 

Now on to the Hoffman Challenge.  The challenge fabric is the first folded fabric on the left in the picture below.  I laid out all the fabric that I will use on the background fabric.  Since last year's quilt was a disaster (due to the hanging sleeve!) I am using a variation of the same design, but I have started much sooner so I should have much more time to get it right.

 

And this is were I finished today - interesting eh?  Much more to do, but I will post more pictures in the next post.  Obviously I cannot show the finished thing but I will let you know how it's going.

 

Aside from running (there is a race this coming Saturday), I have decided that I absolutely have to finish the house renovations before I go back to England for the visa trip.  I am determined to come back to a completed house!  These renovations have been going on for well over two years and it's getting very old!  Below is a quick rundown of what is left to do.

 

 

Excercise Room - window treatment, so no-one can see me sweat!

 

Living Room - baseboards (skirting boards for the UK).  A quilt over the door, nicer window treatments and an area rug.

 

Master Bedroom - not much to do here except a TV and another quilt.  And, yes, that is a king size bed - go big or go home!!  I am especially pleased with the bedside lamps.

 

 

OK - Master Bathroom has a lot to do - painting, edge the wainscotting, molding and hang all the rails etc.  Plus window treatments.  A good long weekend in here I think.

 

 

Funny little microwave and new closet area - taping, mudding, painting and general what goes here questions?  See that certificate on the wall above the microwave - it's the original specifications for the mobile home and it's registration number etc.

 

 

Above and below is the utility room - painting, floor and hopefully all the tools can go back in the shed once all is finished!

 

Above and below - the office - just a tidy up, some paint touch up and get that ladder out of here!  Oh and hang a couple of needlepoint pictures - they are lurking next to the archive box. 

 

 

Guest room - done!

 

Guest Bathroom - paint touch up, baseboard and it's finished.

 

Oh Boy!  The kitchen - needs baseboard, cabinets painted, countertops, oh - that's it!  Not so bad - maybe a new sink and faucet (tap for the Brits).

 

 

So that it - the full list.  When I think about what needed to be done when I started this, I am amazed at how much has been done.  I did most of it by myself with some help from the engineer in the last year - so, even though there is still some to do, an amazing amount has been achieved.  And I love the floors!

 

Wow - time to close - a glass of wine calls.