Emergency!

A couple of weeks ago we were heading home from the middle son's new house in PA.  I made sure Jim was heading east and then I promptly fell asleep - we've taken some interesting detours when I fall asleep too soon!  Sara and Nathan were sleeping in the backseat.

I woke up about the time we hit the exit for Rt 1 that heads towards Philly.   It was about 8:30 and dark.  Jim and I were remarking on how gorgeous the full moon was as we tooled along the PA Turnpike heading for the bridge to take us back into NJ.   We passed a trailer truck and I thought the noise we were hearing was him using his engine brakes for some reason but after we'd passed him and the noise got louder, we decided we needed to pull over.

Of course we'd passed into the middle of nowhere and are now trying to see the tires in the pitch black.  Sure enough, we discovered pretty quickly that the rear driver's side tire had blown out and we were dang lucky it wasn't a front tire that had done it.

I made Jim move the car up about 50 yards "I don't care if we ruin the rim, I don't want you changing the tire this close to the highway!

Sara timed it, 18 minutes to get all the junk out of the trunk to get to the spare, discover that yes, the emergency kit was not in the trunk, get the tire changed and back on the road.  18 minutes of Jim changing, Sara holding the big flashlight so he could see, me standing 20 yards up the highway swinging a smaller flashlight like a train signalman and Nathan sleeping through the whole thing.

In my very unscientific 18 minute survey, truckers are the most courteous drivers on the road.  If they could move over they did, if they couldn't, they at least slowed down some.  Cars whizzed by us in the passenger lane even though the passing lane was empty - how inconsiderate can you be????  MOVE OVER!

18 VERY LONG minutes later, we were back in the car with the doughnut tire on.  Yes, all three of us have Triple A but Jim was right, he could change it before they could get to us.  If it had been just Sara and I, Triple A would have been the way to go and I'd have stressed that we had an infant in the car when I called.

Halfway home from there, we pulled into a WAWA and discovered the doughnut spare was almost flat . . . .

Moral of this story?  PUT AN EMERGENCY KIT IN YOUR TRUNK AND LEAVE IT THERE!  And look at your spare tire every once in awhile.  We've decided we never looked at ours in the 10 years we've had the car and we we're dang lucky it hadn't dry rotted.

For Christmas all my kids are getting the orange glow in the dark triangles and they'd better keep them in their trunks, right next to their emergency kits.

Till next time.

Dog Days of Summer Are Here EARLY!

It's hot here at the Jersey Shore!  I haven't been to the beach yet but I would imagine it's hot there too.  What's a girl/guy to do?  Stay inside and SEW!  It's just too danged hot to do anything else.

I've been working on my Nine Patches.  How many do you have done?  Ok, ok, I'm behind again but for one brief, shining moment - I actually had more done than I was supposed to have.  Let's see, I've done 42 and it's July 26, so we're all supposed to have 56 done as of today.  So I'm not that far behind.  I can still catch up!

I've also been sewing some things for Nathan - sheets mostly.  Have you seen how expensive sheets for Port A Plays and cribs are????  That's crazy!  A rectangle of fabric, some elastic and about 20 minutes and you have a designer sheet.  Simple.  We're going to be producing our own baby patterns and one of them is going to be for sheets.

I've also been sewing for Halloween. Such is the life of a shop owner, we're always thinking a season ahead!  This is a simple table runner made from a striped fabric.  You can find a kit on our website.

And speaking of being a season ahead, it's so danged hot, I'm sewing snowflakes!  This is still on my design wall.  I had a border on it and then decided it was too big and didn't add anything, so it went in a pile to be used for binding.  It's from some GORGEOUS batiks by Laundry Basket.  I'm hoping that sewing a winter project will cool me off.  It's a mental thing . . .

Hey, those are nine patches!  Wait!  I now have 50 done!!!  :0)








We're still pulling wallpaper off at the house Jeremy, the middle child, bought.  Jim's graduated from wallpaper pulling to wiring for internet and cable & electrical problems.  I've graduated from being ballast for the ladder on the stairs to running the steamer.  Today we're going out there for, hopefully, the last day of wallpaper duty.  Sara goes back to work next Monday, Jeremy's vacation is over and Grammy and Grampy start babysitting two days a week.  Wallpaper duty will be over so hopefully we'll get it all done today.

The reward for all this work is supper with all the family.  Worth pulling wallpaper for any day!

I hope this finds you quilting in a COOL place!

Till next time!

Machine Update

My trusty machine came home from the QP Spa purring like a kitten.  The foot pedal works, the beeping has stopped and the machine goes the speed it's supposed to.  No comment from the tech except he said "I cleaned it"  The look that came with that statement however spoke volumes . . . .

So my machine decision is put off again.  Off to Bernina University and Baby Lock Tech, the dealer conventions, this summer - we'll see what they have coming!

Debbie 

A New Sewing Machine?

My trusty Elna 7200 is on it's way to the QP Machine Spa, the hospital ward to be exact.  It's definitely having problems and the way I sew on it, it's no wonder.  As you can imagine, I sew  A LOT and, shall we say, I'm not gentle with my machines?  I'm not abusive but I could probably - ok, definitely - clean it more and take it in for service more often.

Right now the foot pedal isn't working.  I sew FAST - hence why I have a machine that sews 1,000 stitches per minute - and having the machine go fast, then slow down, then go a little faster, then speed up to fast again is, how shall I put it?  ANNOYING AS HECK!  To top it off, if it isn't doing that, it's beeping at me, stopping and showing me the knee lever is up.  THE KNEE LEVER IS NOT UP!  Can you tell it was a frustrating sewing morning?

Eleanor Burns signed my machine so it's dear to my heart.  El did a two day workshop for us in 2005 and I took home the machine she used for those two days after she wrote me a note on it.  It's been a workhorse since with not a problem until a few days ago.  I think it's tired.  Maybe a trip to the spa is just what she needs and she'll be fine.

On the other hand . . . . .

Have you looked at the new machines lately?????  So many neat features!  I have to admit I have a laundry list of what a new machine has to have - just in case.

1. Built in scissors - a DEFINITE.  Love that feature on my current machine and won't buy a new one without it.
2. Needle Up/Down - goes without saying.  I wish when you turned the machine on, it automatically started with the needle down engaged.
3. Knee lever - love being able to lift the presser foot without taking my hands off the fabric.  Great control when free motion quilting and chain piecing
4. A stop/start button.  Sometimes I don't want to use the foot pedal, like when sewing long strips or stippling.
5. Built in walking foot - ok, I admit I'm lusting after this feature.  The 7200 doesn't have it and I'm just tired of having to put one on and off and having it come loose if I go too fast.
6. An extended bed.  Have it now and wouldn't buy another machine without it.  Quilting and sewing bulky items is a breeze.
7. Stitches and more stitches - the more stitches a machine has, the better I like it.  How do you know when you'll want/need 80 million decorative stitches for a project?
8. Speed - it's got to sew at least 1,000 spm or it's too slow for me.
9. A motor that can handle qulting for long periods of time
10. A good feed dog system for great stitch formation.
11. A low bobbin warning.

A Wish List For Things I'd Love To Have but don't exist - sewing machine companies are you listening????

1. I don't want it to weigh 400 pounds.
2. I want it to run off two spools of thread - NO MORE BOBBINS! 

I think if I found a machine that ran off two spools of thread instead of a bobbin and a spool of thread, I might just give up one of the first 11 want/needs and buy a wagon to cart it around if it weighed 400 pounds!

Till next time.
Debbie

A Woman's Perogative . . .

is to change her mind!  Ok, it's day 20 of the Nine Patch Project and I still don't have any Nine Patches done.  I fear I'm failing in this project - ok, not a fear but a reality!  It hit me later in the day that I wrote the last blog that I can't take until August to finish the sample from the NJ lighthouses, it needs to be done ASAP.  So much for combining projects!

I've designed the NJ lighthouse project and have started making the blocks.  They're kind of like a nine patch in that they have a 9 patch in the middle.  I'm doing it in a couple of sizes and my goal is to have the wall hanging done and hanging in the shop next weekend.  Today's goal is to make the table runner sample from the challenge fabric.

Here's the wall hanging.  We'll be cutting kits this week and posting them on the web page as soon as they're ready.  Well, as soon as I finish the sample and we can take a picture to put in the kits!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there.

Ok, I admit it, I'm 13 Nine Patches Behind . . . .

Since today is June 13th that means I haven't even done one yet . . . .  AGGGHHHHH!  I was going to be so good and do one a day.  What happened???? 

Life happened.  I have been a little busy.  New grandson, who is absolutely adorable even with the current shade of orange/yellow skin he's currently sporting making him resemble a little pumpkin, the shop turned 14 and had a birthday celebration, I had a birthday.  Hmmm, what else has been going on?  ISN'T THAT ENOUGH????  That all happened in one weekend so I think I can use the excuse that I took this past week off to recover and didn't get any Nine Patches sewn. 

But even I have to admit - no more excuses.  I've decided to combine two projects into one.  I NEED to  make something with our NJ batik.  I want to make nine patches.   Why not combine the two? 

So today, I'm going into the store and dipping into the 30 new batik bolts that went onto the sales floor yesterday and finding something for a background for my 9 patches.  Then I'm going to claim owner's privilege, designer's privilege, SOME PRIVILEGE, snatch a whole bolt of the lighthouse batik and bring it home.  That's what I'm going to make my Nine Patch Blocks out of.

Ok, I have a plan, a course of action, and a deadline.  This could work!

Till next time.

Announcing our 2010 Summer Challenge and Our EXCLUSIVE Batik!

Isn't it gorgeous???  This is our exclusive batik done with Hoffman Fabrics for our 14th birthday celebration!  I'm so excited about the whole thing, I can hardly stand it!

Last fall market I was at the Hoffman booth chatting with my Hoffman rep Barry.  (Yes Barry, I stole your picture off Facebook!)  He reminded me that Hoffman does exclusive prints for shops and I mumbled something to the effect of "Yes, I've been thinking about it".  And I really had, I just hadn't done anything more than give it a passing thought of something I'd like to do "someday". 

Turns out, that was the day.  Jane, the head designer at Hoffman, happened to be at the booth right then and Barry called her over.  A short time later, she walked away with my ideas of what I wanted.  Turns out I'd been giving it more thought that I'd thought!

I knew I wanted a batik.  I knew I wanted a lighthouse batik and I wanted it to be only NJ lighthouses.  I also had colors in mind but beyond that, I was clueless.  Jane rode to the rescue and sent a black and white copy of a "cap" (pronounced chop) about a month later.  A chop is a picture of what will be printed on the fabric.  I loved it but wanted the shells a bit further apart,  Once that was ok'd, they sent 5 strikeoffs - large rectangles of the printed fabrics - for me to choose colors.  Of course I wanted them all!  Well, until I sat down and figured out how much it would all cost - reality check!  I really wanted two colors but storing 1,000 yards of fabric was not practical so I chose one and sent my choice off to Hoffman in April.

Click here to read how batiks are made.

Barry, being the great rep that he is, kept on top of the whole process.  First emails kept going off into cyberspace somewhere and that caused delays.  Then the rainy season came to Bali - no printing of fabrics then.  We didn't think we'd get it in time for the birthday celebration, did I still want it?  YES!  YES! YES!
After being out of phone range in South Dakota for awhile, we picked up our messages one day last week and one was from Barry, the batik had arrived and SHIPPPED last week!  YAY!  It's here and I'm sure Barry is thrilled he doesn't have to think about it anymore.

I'm ABSOLUTELY thrilled to see something that was in my head printed on fabric! 

We're doing a challenge this summer using the NJ Lighthouse Batik!  Here's the details:

1. Challenges are due into the shop by August 29th.
2. One yard minimum purchase of the NJ Batik fabric is required to participate
3. Quilt entries must be a minimum of 24" x 24".  Wearables and purses/totes are also welcomed.
4. Entries must be finished.
5. The NJ Batik fabric must be recognizable on the front of the challenge entry.
6. Entries will hang in QP for viewer voting from September 4th - 26th.
7. Three viewer choice prizes will be awarded - first prize will be a $100 QP gift card, second prize will be a $50 QP gift card and third will be a $25 QP gift card.  We'll also have a special prize given out by a special judge - Barry Spingarn!

The fine print: - we will do our utmost to ensure your entry is taken care of but QP cannot be responsible for any theft or damage.  All prize decisions are final.  Prizes have no cash value.  Entries must be picked up by Oct 1st.

I'm hoping that you will all take part in our 2010 Challenge and I'm looking forward to seeing what you all come up with!  Click here to purchase that batik online.

Till next time.