I really need to get serious about weight loss. I haven't been trying, but the pants are a little looser. But I need to lose some serious weight. So tomorrow morning, rain, sun, sleet or snow, I am going to walk. I have a beautiful walking path down main street to a community park with a walking path, so there is no excuse. I just need to do it.


This week I am quilting a quilt for a client and I am using prewound bobbins of Bottom Line thread. I am having a lot of issues with the tension. It changes from bobbin to bobbin which it really shouldn't do. It is a very large quilt and there is just a small space beside it on the frame to test the bobbin tension on. The tension looks great till I start into a sharp curve and then the bobbin thread is pulling to the front. I took a minute, went to youtube and found a video on how to set the tension when you are having this particular problem, so I will try again tomorrow.


I am trying to stay home and work on my quilting and the new house instead of flipping around to everything that is going on in the quilting and motorcycle part of my world. It is really hard for me as I am a very social creature and always have been. Life is good and I count my blessings and realize just how good it is.


If I finish the quilt tomorrow, I will try and post pics tomorrow afternoon. It is turning out great. She wanted a panto and I would have preferred custom quilting, but I understand the reasoning behind the request.

I have really neglected my blog, but I have been sooooo busy with the house. I am working on the last moving boxes now and hope to have everything put up by the end of next week.


This past weekend, I spent 3 days in Virginia Beach, Virginia at Birds of a Feather long arm conference. It was fabulous and I learned so much and can't wait to apply my new knowledge to my next customers quilt which I will start tomorrow morning. We are waiting on ice and snow here in the south, so hopefully I will get a lot done in the next couple of days.


Stay warm

Well blogger finally gave up the ghost on google and I had to install Chrome. Hope it works OK.

Are you ready for Christmas? I have been dragging my feet and I guess I am ready. I started taking down the Christmas tree today. Guess the notion has come and gone of decorating the new house. Picked up my Christmas presents this morning. I give chocolate and it is received very well. This year I bought two boxes of sugar free. I will have to see how that does.

Baked sausage balls today, and ate one or two for every pan I baked. Quite full of them and don't think I want another one for a while. That is the end of my Christmas baking for this year. Maybe next year I will do something different.

Merry Christmas

Blogger is still doing strange things........the plumber is back and has starting installing the kitchen side hot water heater. This should be so neat. I have a huge (but not claw foot) tub on that side of the house and I can't wait to fill it with hot water. Once the tub is warm it keeps the water warm. I am also having him put a new shower head in there since I think the one in there is the original. The faucets on the sinks are the original and are impossible to replace (they don't make anything like them anymore) so that is where he will change out the washers to make them work better and not drip. I know this sounds like a lot of work, but I knew all of this coming in, so it is no surprise and I got such a great deal on the house that it is worth it.

I pulled out Christmas decorations and ended up putting up just one tree and I still haven't decorated it. I am going to wait till next year. I plan on going shopping after Christmas to buy some new decorations.

I also starting thinking about replacing the old shades with wood blinds. Shades never want to co-operate when you need them too. And of course, a 1940 era house needs curtains, but I think they are a ways off. All of the windows are odd sizes and I am pretty sure this will have to be a make it myself job and there is way too much to do now. I want light and airy.....

The long arm has been oiled this morning and I am enjoying my hot chocolate as the oil penetrates to where it needs to go. I am quilting a beautiful but very unique T-shirt quilt that my client has made. I believe it is her first one and she has done a great job.

I guess I better go to work now. Have a great day!

Plumbing issues

Blogger seems to be having issues this morning and keeps giving me errors. I may have to go visit Miss Frogquilter for a lesson.

The plumber finally showed up and all the expensive stuff under the house (that I was expecting to have to have him do) is done already. The water pressure is not what it should be coming from the street. But he will be putting in a lot of washers in fixtures to stop small leaks and to make it easier to cut the water off once you cut it on. He will also be installing new instant on hot water heaters, one for each side of the house. I currently have one 60 gallon gas hot water heater and one 40 gallon electric hot water heater. I am heating 100 gallons of water.......geez. I would never use that much water at one time or even during one day. This should drop my SCE&G bill dramatically.

I am going to have to remove the quilt I was playing with on the frame, so I can put a customers quilt on. But first I have to run to West Columbia to pick out a new kitchen faucet and shower head. Yeaaaa!

First Quilt Bee at the new house

I know it has been a while since I posted anything, but I have been really busy. I finally sold the other house. This was a huge leap of faith for me and I am so glad I did it. I love my new home with the largest bedroom to be dedicated as my quilting studio and the long narrow Florida type room with large windows that was made to set a long arm right in the middle of it. Unfortunately there are no lights in this room, so I have purchased two track lights to mount above it. For the studio I have friends coming tomorrow who are not only delivering bookcases for fabric storage, but are staying to help me put them together and fold fabric and start loading them up. This process should empty the living room. My only concern is where to put my project boxes. If I don't finish a project, I put it in a clear styrene box with all the pieces and pattern so that everything will be together when I start back to work on this project. My goal is to finish up some of those projects and not have so many things started at one time.

Tomorrow the Knight Bee is meeting here for the first time and it should be sooooo much fun to share my new space with them. I have an Amaretto cheese cake chilling and will be finishing up the rest of the refreshments tomorrow. Tomorrow will also be spent cleaning and maybe trying to put away some of those items that just can't seem to find a home here. I am thinking, if I haven't used or needed some things for over two months, do I really need them? We shall see........Next week I have a closet to unload and donate most of it, including quite a lot of shoes. Suddenly my feet seem to have grown.

I did sew something this week. I repaired 5 flags to be used in the Columbia Vet's Ride on December 8th. Please contribute to this great cause. You do not have to ride a motorcycle to help. This may be the only Christmas presents these veterans will receive at Dorn VA Hospital.

Sew something, anything.
Margaret

A good friend nudged and encouraged me to enter The Nimble Thimble quilt show in Fountain Inn that was held last week end. I entered 6 quilts and won 3 ribbons.

 

A Little Storm at Sea

 

Mama's Callie Lillie's

 

A Christmas Tree Skirt

 

 

 

All of these were done several years ago and quilted on my domestic machine. Entering the show and winning ribbons did inspire me this week. I finished quilting a child's charity quilt and will be putting a South Carolina Gamecock quilt on the machine today. Tomorrow I will be heading out to the Augusta Quilt show with a group of ladies. What fun! Since moving, the vendors are not getting much of my business. I think it has something to do with all of the boxes in the living room. Hopefully I will get the IKEA bookcases soon and get this stuff organized. 

 

I received an offer on the house yesterday that I accepted. The planned closing date is November 15th, so I guess I better get my address changed. As you are probably aware, they can back out at any time for any reason and only risk their Earnest money, so it's not sold till I have the check in hand.

 

Ride for Kids is this Sunday at Lexington High School at 2pm. If you ride come join us, if not, please go to the web site and donate to this cause. Ride for Kids supports the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. There will be several of these kids there to thank you for your support.