Back from Vacation

We had a great trip to visit the Longaberger Factory.  There are baskets everywhere you look.  It was amazing to visit the factory but sad to hear how the economy has hurt their business - 1,000 basket weavers have been laid off since 2001.  As the biggest employer in the area, I'm sure there have been hard times in the local area.  It will be great if/when we can retire so we can take trips like this more often.  We're back to work and planning our next trip to Florida.  I'm counting the months till we can make the move permanent. 

Get Away Trip

Finishing up at work and heading out for the Longaberger vacation.  Hoping to leave around 7:30 tomorrow morning so David has plenty of time to get there for his 2:00 tee time.  Since that is the only part of the trip that he'll enjoy, I really don't want to run late.  I'm looking forward to seeing all the goodies and hand-made crafts.  Who knows, maybe they'll have a quilt shop.  That would make the trip even better.  I'll post some pictures next week.  I'm out the door and heading for a great trip.  Till next time...

Back to Work

Weekend is over, and it's back to work.  The machine quilting class was interesting, but discouraging.  I guess I expected to take one class and be able to do free motion quilting like an expert.  Of course that isn't the case but a girl can dream.  I may need to "stay in the ditch" for a long time but I still enjoyed the class.  As you would expect, the instructor was wonderful, and I met some great fellow quilters.  I signed up for another class in October, and I'm sure it will be fun too.  I took a few hours yesterday and cleaned up my quilting room - it looks great.  Downside is I don't want to drag everything out and mess up my perfect room.  I have a few projects I need to finish so I'll probably start on them again in a week or so.  We're heading up to Ohio for a few days this week so I definitely don't want to start anything before we go.  Guess I better get to work for now so I can get through the day and go home and work on my Halloween cross stitch picture.  I'm still hoping to get it framed to use this year but the clock's ticking.

Ready for the Weekend

Fun Saturday tomorrow - I'm going to a beginning machine quilting class from 10:00 - 4:00.  Everything I do is in the ditch, so I'm anxious to learn about other alternatives.  I haven't taken a class in over a year, so it should be a great day.  There is so much to learn, and I need to take advantage of local classes.  It's also a great opportunity to meet new people.  Quilting folks are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet.  We love to share ideas and learn new techniques.  Heck, we just enjoy hanging out with other people that understand our need to buy fabric even when we don't have any new projects planned.  I'm sure I'll come away with more fabric I don't need, but that's part of the fun. 

Mid-Week Blahs

Busy week at work, slow week for crafts.  I'm cross stitching a Halloween picture, and odds are I'll never have it done and framed in time to use this year.  I'm tempted to put it up for now and start an Easter picture, but that would be 6 cross stitch projects in various stages of completion.  I'd love to have every UFO finished in my lifetime but I doubt if that will happen. 

I'm still working on binding David's birthday quilt during my lunch hour at work, should have that finished in time.  I love the colors and he should be pleased.  His old quilt will go on the shelf in my quilting room as a reminder to buy good batting. 

Till later, happy crafting.

Monday

Finally finished my latest quilt this weekend.  I love the old fashioned sewing machines.  I found some great colors to match this one.  Matching colors is definitely one of my weaknesses.  I know you should just pick what you like, but I fret over fabrics more than anyone I know.  I've almost bought kits just to avoid that problem but there always seems to be something special I want to kits don't work.

I also finished quilting David's birthday quilt this weekend.  I just need to sew on the binding so I brought it to work to do on my lunch breaks.  I have over a week so it shouldn't be a problem.  I think he looked in on me once and might have seen the quilt, but I was running out of time and had take a chance.  He's a guy so he won't care about the surprise being ruined, but I've been trying so hard to do it while he's gone - he's just never gone!!! 

Weekend

No big plans for the weekend which is always a problem.  I get the "I miss my boys and my life is over" syndrome and that's not good for anyone to be around.  I'm going to finish a couple of projects and try to organize my craft closet which should help pass the time.  I don't know what I'd do it I didn't have my job - I'd rather be sewing when I'm here but it keeps me busy.  Hope everyone has a good weekend and starts an exciting project. 

Finishing Quilt

I finally started sewing on the binding for my latest quilt last night.  This one is for me so it's been sitting several months waiting to be finished.  It seems when something is a gift, I get it done as quickly as possible, but when it's for me, there is no hurry.  I love the fabric, it has sewing machines on it.  I'll post a picture as soon as I finish.  David has a golfing lesson tonight so I'm going to get some time to work on his birthday quilt.  I'm running out of time (his birthday is the August 25th) and may need to schedule a vacation day.  This is actually the second quilt I've made for him.  I gave him the first one for Christmas but was disappointed in how it turned out.  I tried a new pattern and didn't give any thought to how long it is.  This one doesn't cover his feet so it doesn't keep him warm on those cold winter nights.  Plus, I tried using a lower quality batting which was a BIG mistake.  Once I get this one done, the old quilt will probably find itself on a shelf somewhere.  Oh well, being a new quilter has it's drawbacks, but I won't make these mistakes again.  I'm sure I'll make other mistakes, but these two are in my past.  Hope everyone has a great day and makes a little time for being creative.

Busy Week

Way too busy at work recently.  I'm not having time to blog or read any quilting magazines that I keep stashed in my desk for lunch time reading.  This is probably a good thing since reading those magazines just makes you want to start another project - and I definitely DON'T need to do that.  I can't wait for the day that I can craft morning, noon, and night, but I try to keep in mind that you need to be careful what you wish for.  You have to enjoy the moment and not wish for the future, but it's tough when your heart is at home and your mind is at work.  Till next time. 

Monday - ugggh

The weekend has come and gone too quickly.  David and I shopped most of the day on Saturday.  I found a great rolling cart for my sewing machine which will make it much easier to take classes.  He found a great golf club which will definitely improve his game - or so he says.  I spent Sunday bouncing around on various projects.  I need to pick one and stay with it, but while I'm working on one, another one keeps tugging at me.  I finished piecing the new place mats for the kitchen, just need to quilt them next weekend.  That's one of the projects I've been meaning to do since we moved in (about 2-1/2 years ago), and I'm just now getting it done.  I'm going to try to stay with this one till it's done and on the table.  Got to get back to Jazzercise this week so I'll have even less time for crafting.  Oh well, the projects are out there waiting and eventually everything gets done. 

Empty Nest Quilter: Weekend Plans

Empty Nest Quilter: Weekend Plans: "It's finally Friday. Working full time makes it difficult to work on my many projects. I have one quilt that just needs the binding, one t..."

Weekend Plans

It's finally Friday.  Working full time makes it difficult to work on my many projects.  I have one quilt that just needs the binding, one that needs to be quilted, and tons more stored away in my head (in plastic bins in the closet).  I make up my mind to not buy any more fabric, and before you know it, I'm shopping for another pattern.  I guess I could spend my money on worse things, but honestly, how many quilts does one person need!  I have another addiction besides quilting - cross stitching.  I think I have five projects in various stages for that hobby too.  I always swore I wouldn't become one of those people that never finish anything, but here I am.  Someday I hope to retire and finish everything but unfortunately I don't see that happening anytime soon.  It's not that I don't love my job, I just love crafts more.  I'm sure you know how it is, if you don't work, you don't have the money to keep buying more fabric.  Oh well, Friday is here and I've got the weekend to be creative.

Longaberger Tour

Just made reservations for a short trip to Longaberger basket country in Ohio starting August 25th - 2 nights and 3 days of fun shopping and sightseeing.  David plans on playing golf on the first day, but since it's his birthday, it seems appropriate. 

After down-sizing the house, we no longer had room for a garden.  We're now getting our fresh produce from the Topsy Turvey.  Seems to work but you don't get a lot of tomatoes.

Christmas Quilt

This was one of my first projects.  I can't tell you the happiness I felt giving away my first quilt.  I don't think I'll be happy until everyone I know has received a quilt from me. 

Empty Nest

Welcome. This is going to be a blog about my empty nest which is what led me to the wonderful world of quilting. My husband, David (the most patient, understanding man in the world), and I were the parents of two boys (Jason and Danny) that were always involved in everything our kids did, PTA, Scouts, Little League, etc. If my kids participated in an activity, you could find me cheering on the sidelines or in the concession stand selling hot dogs. I wouldn’t change what we did for anything in the world, but somewhere along the way, those boys grew up and left home. They keep telling me what a good job we did raising them because they were strong enough to leave home. Okay, I’ll give them that, but did they have to move 12 hours away from me (that’s a story for another day). Anyway, I found myself with too much time on my hands and no idea what to do with myself. This is the point that quilting came in and turned my life around. I didn’t grow up sewing (I’ve been known to throw away a shirt if the button came off) but all of a sudden I was shopping for sewing machines and looking for a class. I’d like to share with you my empty nest tears and the joy I find in quilting. If anyone finds this blog that is facing the empty nest soon, or someone already there looking for a hobby, I hope this helps. Please feel free to comment if you are going through the same transition, I’d love to meet new empty nest quilting friends wherever they may be. Till next time . .