Road was Packed!

I am happy to report that Road California was busy busy busy.  Lots of wonderful quilts to see and lots of people.  Great news for the quilting industry!

We had a great day at the show yesterday and saw everything we could in one day!

And yes, cracked the wallet open and picked up some goodies.

3 yards of lovely!  I got this from Natalie's Beyond the Reef, not sure what to do with it yet but it was talking to me.  Trendex BD-003R.










A couple of patterns of Kenna Ogg of Madison Cottage Design, go Kenna!  I feel a scrappy quilt coming on!

Picked out a border template for a hand quilt that I have been working on for .....3 years (yeah i know!)

Been looking for clamps for quilt sandwiching.  Found these little gems at the gadget booth.  They work pretty well.   Sandwiched two quilts this morning! 

Ok thats it, I did my part for the quilting economy.

Hope you all have a wonderful week and find some time to sew.
Love
Aunti

Smoke from my finger tips

Hi All,

Been hand quilting like a crazy person trying to get a baby quilt done!  But while I'm working away over here my sister in law Susie was hard at work too and she made a baby.  Here is Liam!

I am sure he wont mind waiting a little on his quilt, as long as I get it done before he graduates High School.  I would like to get it to him by Christmas this year.   

So since I don't have much new to post, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite hand quilting  gadgets.     When I'm hand quilting and one a roll... I don't like to stop thread needles.  So this little guy comes in handy.  Not mention the fact that it has a cover so WillieNo! can't hurt himself or others by steeling it.  Though the cats' war on thread has been deemed unwinable, still he battles on!

So I stick 10 quilting betweens in my quilt.

I use a long cheapy needle threader to load 5 needles at a time.  Put my thread through, still attached to the Spool.

and pull through all 5 needles without cutting my thread.

Then I pull off the first needle on the short thread side (not the spool side) and pull out the desired then.  It is recommended that you only use a length equivalent to your arm.  Then stick the needle in the top of the quilt and clip the thread before the next needle.  Then do again until all the needles are threaded.  Do the same for the next 5 needles.

all five needles threaded, no knots though.

Load 5 needles into slots on the winder.  Gently hold the threads out and away, making sure they are not tangled.  Move the dial on the back of the winder until the threads catch in the slot on the side. then wind and wind until they are all nice and tucked in.  Then repeat for the other five.

You can now cover it with the plastic dome top.  As you need needles just pull one out gently.  Sometimes it tangles a bit, but if you are gentle it does knot up.

I can get through about 2 loads of needles in an evening.

The end!

So the quilt is almost done, I have 2 1/2 borders left to quilt and then binding and label.  I let my husband pick out the border pattern and its nuckin futz.  I really love the way the way it is coming out, but its a little slow going.  

Ok, back to work.

I hope you all get a chance to quilt this weekend!

Love Aunti Nicole

One Note - Cool Tool!

Inside of Office 2010 is a really cool tool that I have found to organize my life and of course my quilting projects.   One Note is a notebook type project that is totally interconnected.  Here I'll show you....

 I created several notebooks, see along the very left of the below image.  Quilting projects, Household, Guitar Lessons, Vacations.  Each notebook has pages that you can drag from one notebook to another. 

On the pages, you can type text where ever you put your cursor.  You can insert images and move them around just by dragging. Todo, tasks, meetings actually show up in Outlook and are connected so when they are finished on your task list in outlook.

Above is a little project I am working on, there is a sample I found on a blog, I have her blogsite written down so I can give her credit.  Then my little variation of it and plans on what to do with it.  

I have created tasks so that next time I go to a quilt store, Outlook gives me a list of stuff I need for my 15 or so projects that are up in the air.

This was a project done with my Bee Splendid group.  She gave us some samples and then some fabric an we had to make our own strip.  See my idea and my final on the right.

You can keep your notebook on your computer or share it on the web with other people.  Make it password protected and a whole lot of stuff I haven't had to use yet.

You can simply email a page from your notebook directly to people who you want to share it with.

It will also be listed as one of your printers, so you can print an email or image and have it create a new notebook page or go to an existing page.

I love organizational tools because they allow me to juggle more balls ;]  

If you don't have MS Office 2010, I believe Evernote is a similar tool but has fewer features.

Have a great week and hope you get to sew.

Love Aunti Nicole

Lefty's Lot in Life

Being a left handed person growing up in a world designed for right handed people, its nice when someone makes something just for us.  We do things and think just a little different than our righty siblings.  Not so much as any one would notice, we just tend to just deal.

Remembers that Homer Simpson's neighbor Ned Flanders?  He owned a store  specializing in products for left-handed people: everything from left-handed can openers to an entirely left-handed car, of which only three were ever made. Many of the Leftorium's products are merely labeled as "left-handed," such as pens and nunchucks. He does not sell, however, left-handed eyelash curlers.

As a lefty, you may have overlooked a few little things we learn to deal with along the way, like:

• When I write with pen or ink, my hand drags across the writing and so its usually smeared and my hand is dirty.  Really an issue back in the day when I did hand drafting.
• Playing a right handed guitar, i can finger the fret pretty well but my right arm has big trouble strumming a rhythm.  I think Jimi Hendrix actually took a right guitar and restrung it to play it left handed.  Makes my head swim just thinking about it.
• Can Openers can be a bear because we have to use weaker hand.
• Rotary cutting fabric on the other side of the table, makes it a little difficult to work at a quilt store layed out for righties, those of you who have tried know what I mean.
• Most instructions for embroidery, knitting, crochet, etc are for righties, but I just turn them upside down.  On line tutorials you can use a photo editor to give you the reverse.
• When teaching hand techniques to righties, i just face them and have them mirror my movements.
• Righty's scissors can be downright painful to use.  Your fingers get all cramped up in the holes and its just awkward from the get go.

Some great Christmas gifts for that left handed quilter or for your wish list if you are a lefty.  My Mom bought me the left handed Ginghers one year for Christmas.  Its like cutting through butter and they fit perfectly.  Also, Martelli makes this left handed rotary cutter, cuz we can get carpel tunnel too.

Do these tools make a difference?  Absolutely!  And one fun added little bonus when righty pick up our tools they are just a little awkward and look at us and smile with a whole new understanding of our lot.

Lefties and friends, please comment with a story or favorite lefty tool.  I'm sure I'm not the only one.  Lefties follow me and I'll bring you news of other lefty tools and funnies along the way.

Love Aunti