Baby's Bow Wow Blankie and a Halloween Boo!

I started back to the gym this week and it feels like I've got energy to spare.  I get more done in the first 4 hours of the day than I was getting in 12 hours ... I've always known this would happen but it seems that putting on my sneakers is the hardest part of exercising ... but once I'm there and then back home, I'm a New Woman!


So I have finished these two customer quilts and they are both so cute!


First up is Jennie's Bow Wow Blankie ... 4 little dachshunds all around the quilt with hearts in the middle.  Isn't it cute?

The second quilt is a fun Halloween quilt that Catherine pieced for someone who loves Halloween candy ... and spiders ... and spiderwebs ... and ... BOO!  It was a lot of fun once I figured out that spiders and spiderwebs needed to grace those jars of candy.    And by the way, I'm blaming the poor pictures on our weather.  It was 21 deg F outside this morning.  This is Georgia, for goodness sake ... not Minnesota!   No way am I going out in that frigid air to take pictures!  Click on the picture and you can see close up all the pretty webs and their inhabitants.  

My by-line - I'm not afraid of a little color!

 I spent some time this week quilting something just for me!  Wheeeeee   .... and now that I've had some fun playing, it's time to get back to work.  Sigh ...


This is my Kaffe Fassett quilt that I pieced sometime before Christmas.  I decided to put it on Max this week ... and then I had another thought ... careful now ... I've always wanted to play with two threads on top so why not try it on this quilt?  There is no way that the quilting is going to be noticed because the colors and the fabrics are so awesome, so why not?  

So I used two Magna-Glide threads .... a lime green and a dark purple ... on top and a pre-wound SoFine Bottom Line in the bobbin.


Let me tell you, buddy ... these APQS machines are tremendous.  I had no issues whatsoever with the two threads!  I tweaked the top tension just a bit ... tighter ... and away we went!  I am so loving this machine.

And here it is on our guest room bed!  Doesn't Snowflake the Teddy Bear look comfortable?  LOL!  


It is really really pretty.  Love those Kaffe Fassett fabrics!

I'm back!

My trusty computer came down with a horrible virus this past week and I just got it back today!  I can't tell you how much work I got down while computer was in the hospital!  You know what I'm talking about ... don't deny it ... stitch a bit, check the web ... stitch a bit, come back and check e-mail ... stitch a bit ...  


Anyway, I'm relearning my system.  They put Google Chrome on for me ... supposedly helps to drive away the virus's (viri??) and malware and trojans.  Sounds like we are continually fighting a huge war, doesn't it?


I have been busy.  I finished a couple of quilts and I'll post pictures soon.  Just wanted to keep in touch and let you know that I haven't deserted the blog.  


Oh, wait for it ... my big ol' Kaffe Fassett quilt is almost quilted and I did something different! 


More later!


Thanks for visiting.  


Sylvia

Cowboy Trail

It's too early for me to write my own stuff here, but just take a peek at this ...

http://silverthimbletalk.blogspot.com/2012/01/so-much-to-tell.html

Scroll down to the Cowboy Blues Trail ... you'll know it when you see it ...

It's mine!  All mine!  Love that Cowboy Blues Trail!

Let me know what you think.  And when it's completed I'll post a new picture.  

Pat was great!  If you ever get a chance to take a class or retreat with her, go!

APQS ROADSHOW IN MARIETTA TODAY

THE APQS ROADSHOW WILL BE IN MARIETTA TODAY STARTING AT NOON.

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS OFF OF FRANKLIN ROAD

1250 FRANKLIN ROAD

MARIETTA, GA

COME ON BY AND 'DRIVE' THE BEST LONG-ARM MACHINE ON THE MARKET - AN APQS MILLENNIUM OR FREEDOM OR LENNI!  

BEST PRICES AVAILABLE FOR THESE GREAT MACHINES.

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Post Road Trip ... Love Road Trips!

Quilting Retreats are a real Treat!

I just got back from a quilting retreat in Panama City and it was wonderful!  My friend and fellow quilter Patsy Ruth and I made the trip from Marietta to Panama City, FL.  We got there late Thursday evening and had the best seafood dinner at Uncle Ernie's.  And then on Friday morning we shopped the store, Quilting by the Bay, which is a great quilting heaven.  It's amazing how much $$$$ can be spent in just 2 hours!  Oh yeah ...  and then we spent almost 3 days just sewing sewing sewing.   There were about 65 quilters sitting and stitching!  What a great time we had!  The staff at Quilting by the Bay really went out of their way to make this a great experience for all of us.  Thanks, Linda and Hubby!  Thanks, Sue!  Thanks, Kathy!  Thanks to all of you! 

Our teacher/retreat guest was Pat Wys who has a book that she featured at the retreat ... Spotlight on Neutrals.  I'm not a 'neutral' person ... my byline is "I'm not afraid of color ..." but I certainly appreciate the whole neutral movement.  Some beautiful quilts were being made using this book.  I took one of her patterns in the book, Havenstone, and adapted it to my own color scheme.  When it's done I'll post pictures ... it is just sooooo cool!  

Stayed tuned, cowboy!

Current quilt:

Last week I returned a customer quilt.  Dianna's sister made the top for Dianna for Christmas and I got to quilt it for Dianna.  I don't know the name of the pattern ... I called it Window Panes.  It is just so soft and cuddly!  The backing is a red tone-on-tone.  I almost used a green thread but thought it would look too Christmasy, so I used a gold thread and it turned out beautiful.  And of course I don't have a picture of the back.  Duh ...


Thanks to both Dianna and her sister for the lovely notes they sent me after the quilting.  So special.

 

Misty Mountain Pond and Gold Standards

In life, we have our 'gold standards' ... my gold standard for college instruction was Dr. C, who taught Calculus I, II, and III to a room full of science and engineering majors - tough, no nonsense, and knew his stuff.  My gold standard for work manager is Tom L. who nursed me along when I graduated from college (later in life than most) and started working with Honeywell.  My 'gold standard' in cars is my old 1987 Chevy Suburban that I had for years and years and years.  That old ugly suburban took me and my brats from Florida to Washington, D.C., and all points in between during one hot August holiday.  And my 'gold standard' for piecing and applique is Barb D.  When I first moved to this area, I started shopping the LQS and took classes with Barb teaching.  She is such a perfectionist and it shows in her work.  Barb has mastered the Judy Neimeyer quilts ... she's done more than a couple!  And she recently handed me her Misty Mountain Pond quilt to lightly custom quilt for her.  It was sooooooo nice to quilt!  Talk about a square quilt ... this one was square in all directions ... and the piecing and applique were excellent.  Barb's coworker/friend Mindy did the applique. This isn't quilted til it stands up in the corner ... lightly quilted with some density in the center. 

Remember that you can click on the picture to get a close-up.  The wonkiness at the bottom of the first picture is due to fact it is raining outside and I couldn't take it out and hang it on the photo stand ...  and DH can only reach up sooooo high!  Gotta figure out a suitable in-door photo op.

This was done all free-hand.

Emeril's done it again ...

I got to tell you ... that new cookbook that I got for Christmas was money well spent!  Thanks so much, Jess!  The cookbook is Emeril Lagasse:   Sizzling Skillets and other One Pot Wonders

I have fixed at least 5 of the slow-cooker/large pot recipes since Christmas and they are all winners.  Today I put together the Red Bean and Rice Soup - which is a misnomer as far as I'm concerned - this is more like a chili recipe.  The only meat is hot chorizo sausage and it is yummy!  Just a little bit of heat, big ol' red beans, and rice.  Looking forward to the second serving later tonight!

So eating and quilting ... life is good!

Road to California

Oh, this is just too much!  My friend Tina who lives in the San Diego area and my friend Pam who is from New York are BOTH going to Road to California quilt show in Ontario, CA!  And hopefully they will meet up and the circle will be complete!  And I'm the missing link!!  Isn't that just too cool?  It's almost as good as ME being there ... yeah, I wish!  

Pam is in San Diego visiting her family and I called her a couple of days ago and asked her if she was going to take the opportunity to go to Road to CA, and told her about Tina's home quilt store Country Loft, which is in La Mesa.  She has taken time out to visit Country Loft and while there she talked with Tina's friend and co-worker, Colleen ... Hi, Colleen!  One of these days I'll be visiting Country Loft myself.  Sigh ...   And I think Pam is planning a trip to Road to CA.  Have a great time, Pam!  Take lots of pictures!

I'm busy working customer quilts so the blog has been silent for a while.  Plus I got into watching the pregnant bear Jewel who was SUPPOSE to have her cub(s) on Sunday ... well, we're still watching and waiting!  It can be fasinating but also boring ... almost like watching grass grow.  But any day now, we'll hear the squeals of baby bear cubs!  

Here's the site: 

http://www.bear.org/livecams/jewel-den-cam.php 

And I also added to the Places I Like to Visit on the right ... over there ... yeah, there it is!

The New Man in my Life

Ok, now that I have your attention ... LOL!

I requested a certain cookbook for Christmas and one of my daughters delivered!  It's Emeril Lagasse's Sizzling Skillets.   Lots of Big Pot meals, Skillet meals, Crock-Pot meals, and Wok meals.

I should explain.  Mr. Dancing Bear does a wonderful job keeping me nourished while I'm slaving away over a sewing machine or a quilting machine.  He does such a good job that for a while I didn't cook at all ... nada ... zilch...zip.  And during the summer I really am not interested in cooking.  So Mr. Dancing Bear does it all.  Now that winter is here, it's a different story!  I love good ol' fashion comfort food ... I love one-pot and crock-pot cooking.  There's nothing better than getting up early in the morning, firing up the crock-pot, and then settling down for about 8 hours of quilting, knowing that a delicious meal will meet me at the end of the day.  So when I saw this cookbook I knew that I wanted it for Christmas ... and let me tell you, it is WONDERFUL!  We had the crock-pot pork loin with fruit last night and tonight we're having the Chicken in a Pot (picture below).  Doesn't it look scrumptious??  And I have finally figured out that the scrumptious-ness is in the seasonings.  I have used Emeril's Essence for several years now and it does make a difference ... can be found in the seasonings dept of your grocery.

So, back I go to quilting ... there's Chicken in a Pot upstairs, simmering away ... and I'm a happy Dancing Bear!  And on Sunday maybe we'll have the Mushroom and Fall Squash Barley Risotto.  Yum!!