Happy Halloween

Monday night, I & my daugther were invited to a Jack-o-Lantern carving party. Each year a few days before the big day, this family (& I mean the whole family - sisters, cousins, husbands, etc.) get together and carve pumpkins. We were lucky to be included. Candy, beer, pizza and good time fun was enjoyed by all.

One UFO finished & ???? to go!

It's Official

"It's a BSR Christmas"

is now finished!< Label and all!

We received this fabric in late August, maybe early September. Saw it had to have it!
The creative juices were flowing. I envisioned it as a perfect fabric to practice using my BSR

(Bernina Stitch Regulator).

I cut each (8) panel/block into a usable size, layered batting and backing fabric and began having fun with my BSR.

Then the unthinkable happened. I left for my wonderful trip to Switzerland an a new UFO was born!

With the hubby gone for 5 days it is now complete.

After quilting each block I used the Reversible Quilt technique to put the blocks, sashing & binding on the quilt.

Reds, Oranges, Yellows OH MY!

Fall has arrived at the local grocery store. Aren't the colors beautiful? May your Sunday be sunny & bright. Enjoy your day.

Go Deacons on your victory over the Tarheels!!!!

Day Off!

Today found me in my sewing loft for a few hours of stress relief and "ME" time. After teaching on Monday, working on Tuesday and teaching BSR Basics on Wednesday, I finally had a little time to do things I really wanted to do.
However, upon spending time in the loft I realized how many UFOs I really have. So....my goal for the weekend is to get some of them finished!
The Hubby leaves in the early am for South Dakota and a 5 day hunting trip with customers and friends. Hopefully he will come home without any extra holes in his body!
To explain the holes....3 years ago on the first annual trek to SD hunting, he came home with an added hole in his left ear. It seems as they were walking up and over a hill, hunters in the group, who were in the lower edge of the field, cave across a covey of birds that flew up an toward hubby's group. Of course as all hunters do they fired upon the poor helpless birds. The shot went up and into hubby's ear. To make a long story short. They get back to the hunting lodge. A Doctor (from Texas) who is also hunting, takes him under his knife (and I mean knife not scalpel) while sitting at the bar in the lodge and removes the pellet!

Thanks for the Rain today!! Needed so much, even going out in the rain wasn't bad.

Busy Monday

Today I spend the morning teaching a beginning Serger class at the LQS where I work. It was a challenge to say the least. But then all serger classes can be challenging! We (the students) didn't get anywhere finished with the first lesson. The main object in the class is to learn to thread the machine, that did get done. The big deal is to see if they can get it done by themself at home over the next 2 weeks. Their assignment was to practice, practice, practice the threading of the serger so the next 3 classes move faster!
The rest of the day I spend in my sewing loft and I completed the church landscape block and started another scene from my trip! It's the covered bridge in Lucrene. Will share when it's complete!

Landscape Quilting

I have started a new venture! Landscape Quilting.
Quiltkeemosabe showed me a few of the new landscaping books in our LQS (that we both work in) and the creative juices have been flowing. My trip to Switzerland has been my inspiration.
I printed a few of my favorite pictures from the trip and headed to the shop to begin finding the needed batiks and landscape feature fabrics. I have now finished one block depicting the Lions Gate in Lucrene and have begun a second landscape.



I still have trees and other details to add to the landscape with the church. Maybe by tomorrow I will be able to post the finished block!?! There are so many pictures from my trip that would be beautiful depicted in the same way as theses. I have my work cut off for me.

Have a terrific Thursday!

Food for Thought!

The Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all..

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence,empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grand son thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Switzerland Photos

We stopped at rest stop stop on the way to Jungfrau and in the community was this church. I just loved the scene.



This is a painting done by a street artist. I was surprized I did not see any other art by local artists.




These are the Rhinefalls. They are famous because of the amount of water that falls over them in a minute. Not the height of the falls.



The stained glass windows were made and designed by Marc Chagal. The church is in St. Gallen. I think!

Back to normal, I hope!

The past 3 weeks have been a whorl wind. The first week was spent in Switzerland. The middle week getting over jet lag. This past week I was in Aurora (outside Chicago) at Bernina USA. I and one of the girls from our sister shop in Boone, NC went there for a Software Infusion class. We are now certified in the Artista Software developed by Bernina. It is a wonderful embroidery software. The features, functions and other capabilities are unbelievable. With this program, you can digitizes pictures you have scaned into your computer and make them into embroidery designs. Also make cross-stitch designs for the embroidery machine, plan your quilts, design orginal monograms even applique pictures! The functions it is capable of are endless! By the end of the week, we were brain dead from all the information they threw at us. But oh how excited we were!