Finally! Got my computer fixed!

So happy to finally have my computer fixed.  Now I have to install all my programs again.  Lost a ton of pictures and music and things I really didn't want to lose.  Adam got a new CPU and motherboard and then had to get a new hard drive.  I was using my old computer thru all this but I had replaced it because it was driving me crazy.  I am glad I kept it but so happy to not have to use it.

 

The lavender tote bag was the one I made as a class sample.  The others were made in class by my students.  Anne made the red, white and blue one.  She put a star on the pocket on the back.  My friend Debbie made the selvage tote.  Didn't she do a great job?  The one in autumn tones was made by Angie.  Kim was also in the class but hers didn't get finished that night, so I didn't get a picture of it.  They all did a phenomenal job and I am so proud of them!  I told them I was going to put them on my blog.

 

My Class Sample

On Tuesday we are repeating the 3D Bowtie class we did several times last year.  I think I have four students signed up.   

Damien's Visit

 Damien finally spent the evening with us on Thursday.  First time we've seen him since August.  He has grown!  And so smart!  He finally got to open his Christmas presents.  After spending some time with all of us Adam took Damien to his house for a while.  I took him back home pretty late that night.  We were so happy to see him.  He is quite the little man!  We are going to make sure we see him a lot more often.  As a baby and toddler he looked a lot like Adam and Richard, but now I see a lot more of Tiffany in him. 

Last November I bought a portrait package thru LivingSocial.com.  It was a deluxe portrait bundle with four portrait sheets, two wall portraits, and free sitting fees for up to 10 people from Sears Portrait Studio for $35.  It was expiring on March 16, so we had to scramble to use it.  I wanted to get a family portrait with all of us; Richard and me, Audrey and Jason, and Adam and Damien.  But it was impossible to get our schedules together, especially since I almost forgot it entirely.  I called on Friday and made an appointment for Saturday at six.  I had to work until four and Audrey was working too, so we decided to get just Richard and me in the pictures this time.  We rushed up to the mall after I got off work and were early, so we went to the food court and got a bite to eat.  There was a big basketball tourney going on at the Civic Center and the mall was crowded, but ChickFilA wasn't too busy.  The hard part was finding a table after we got our food.  Then we went to Sears and got the portraits made.  They took seven pictures and the package included six so they offered us the other one for only $10 so you know we took it.  They should have our pictures ready on March 30.  I can't wait to see them because we saw the digital pictures on the monitor and they looked pretty good.  Richard didn't like them because he thinks he looks so old, but I told he that he IS old, so why fuss about it?  I mentioned it will be nice to have pictures to put in the paper, and he said yes, our obituary, but I said no, our 35th anniversary next year.  I never thought about our obituary.  Anyway, I hope to be a lot older before that is needed.

Finished Wallhanging

Quilt Design Wallhanging

String Tote Bag



Close-up of Quilt Designs



I made this wallhanging at work this past week to showcase the quilting designs we sell.  This design pack makes 5" square quilt designs.  You make the entire quilt and then hoop the quilt sandwich (quilt top, batting, and backing) and then embroider the designs, which are also the quilting.  After the designs were done, I stitched in the ditch around the blocks and around the borders.  That was enough quilting for a wallhanging.  I love getting things done.

The other picture shows the string tote bag I made for work.  I am teaching classes on this bag.  The front pocket is made of strings, and there are several pockets inside.  Like I said earlier, I love getting things done.

No pictures yet - computer trouble

I have been having trouble with my PC for some time.  It was s-l-o-w to do anything, and some things it would not do at all.  Then Saturday morning I got the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH!  Richard said he knew then that I had big trouble.  I went on to work and he and Adam worked on my computer.  He called me a little later and said my CPU and motherboard were toast.  So they ordered these parts from Newegg.com and spent about $134 instead of $700 or more on a new computer.  I this fixes the problem.  I am using my old laptop and although it works it is not what I am used to and I don't have all my programs on it.  I use it for Skype and embroidery and Electric Quilt.  Richard says the parts will come tomorrow and he will get busy on it, so maybe my next post will be from the PC.  Meanwhile, he has not had any emails from Newegg so no tracking number or anything.  I can't believe they don't email their customers.

Another Finish

I made a tote bag to teach in class at Viking next month.  I call it a String Tote Bag.  I used strings (small strips of fabric I used to throw away) to make blocks which became the front pocket of the bag.  There are several pockets inside also.  I finished it while at work today and left it there as a sample of my class.  We will take three classes, one each week, to make the string blocks (which a lot of people have never tried) and then to put the bag together.  I am working again on Saturday so I will take pictures of it then.  I am using this blog to document all my finishes this year.  I have never done that before.

Another Quilt Top Finished

 I know that I haven't posted recently.  I've been busy with many things.  The first weekend of February I went to retreat with my very best friends.  We spent three days at Cedar Lakes in Ripley, WV sewing and eating and talking and laughing.  I worked on the blocks for the quilt pictured here.  This is a pattern I found in a 2007 magazine.  I like to go thru my old magazines every now and then.  I usually find something I overlooked before, or else my tastes change and I get interested in something different.  I liked the scrappy look of this one, and I liked that Judy Laquidara designed it.  It is called Topsy Turvy Nine-Patch, and that is such a good name for it!  I started out putting together the nine-patches out of my scrap bins while making my Tropical Punch quilt top.  I had a little trouble with the brown/beige half-rectangle triangle (I don't know what else to call it).  Judy said to foundation-piece it but I won't do that unless I can't figure out any other way to do it.  Fortunately, the pieces were cut over-sized so I soon learned how to piece them.  I had almost no beige fabric left, but I had enough brown for the top.  I am backing it with the same brown fabric, and I will probably bind it with the brown also.  I love the border on this one!  I will definitely use the border again on other quilts.  And all the border pieces fit - exactly as Judy designed it!  Judy has a book out featuring borders, and I think I will get it soon.  I have made several of her designs and I have loved every one.  I hope to deliver this quilt top to my favorite long-arm quilter in the next few days, and she usually gets them back to me with little delay.  I can't wait!

Finished my Easy Street Quilt Top

I just finished the Bonnie Hunter mystery called Easy Street.  I changed mine to Tropical Punch because the colors did not shout "Easy Street" to me.  I picked Tropical Punch because I could see all the oranges and key limes and grapefruit in my colors.  I used Bonnie's colors except for her gray, which I changed to an orange/yellow print.  Gray would have receded while the orange/yellow pops.  It took me a while to choose my borders.  I was going to make more orange/yellow four patches to set on point in the border but my husband didn't like that idea.  I wanted to make it bigger to fit my king size bed.  So I finally settld on a narrow purple border, a wider orange/yellow border, and then a piano key border using all the purple, turquoise, and green colors randomly sewn on.  The quilt top is now 104" square and looks beautiful on my bed.  It is hard to take pictures of a quilt on my bed because it is a platform bed with a tall headboard and footboard and has drawers and space under the mattress, so I have to tuck in my quilts.  I doubt I will get a better picture until it is quilted.  I still have to choose batting and backing.  I am thinking about using one of the white with black background prints for the backing.  I hope to find something terrific this week for it. 

Cornerstones carry the orange out to the edge