Home Again, Home Again...

Summer has been a little slow in coming to Erie, Pennsylvania this year. Our temperatures have been in the high 60's and low 70's for most of June and July. If I wanted to see summer, I had to take matters into my own hands. Fortunately, We have family in Jacksonville, Florida. Last week Honey and I headed south. We took the motorcycles. The little puppy boys (That includes my Great Pyrenees) went to Camp Diane and Camp Bonnie. Diane NextDoor watched the cat for me as well.

The weather was a balmy 65F when we left Friday evening. We made it to Clarksburg, WV on Friday. If you are ever near Clarksburg on a motorcycle, make sure to head East on 50. What a great road. Unfortunately we missed that side trip this time. We had 700+ miles to go. The mountains were beautiful as always. Very misty which turned into rain at the higher elevations. We rode the rollercoaster between rainy and cold at elevation down to hot and muggy in the valleys. Ah well, the joys of riding. Once we cleared the mountains, the weather was beautiful.

Most of our trip was spent visiting family. Honey's brothers, sister, and mother were all happy to see us. We took a short 300 mile (round trip) ride to visit my sister in Tallahassee. What a beautiful town. I agree with her the live oaks are stunning and Tallahassee has plenty of them. She also has a really cute quilt shop. I stopped in the Quilting Patch and looked around.

My sister-in-law has the same crazy infatuation with fabric that I do. She took off an afternoon so we could do a little shopping. We visited Paula's Fine Fabric and looked at the Bernina Sewing Machines. Neither Chris or I are really looking for a new machine, but it was fun to look at what is new. Paula also had rows of beautiful apparel and handbag. I love the Michael Miller collections she carries. Paula's focus is clothing, not quilting. She did have a few quilts that must have snuck in her back door though. She also has a service person in the store on Wednesdays. Chris and I agreed it would be nice to know you could drop off your machine Tuesday and pick it back up on Wednesday when it needed a cleaning. After Paula's we went down to Old Green Cupboard. They have quite a fabric collection. We were there a long time. I bought fabric to make a new bag and more of the In The Beginning Wintergraphix snowflakes. It's really too bad we can't buy more time to make the beautiful things. Old Green Cupboard has plenty to offer in addition to fabric. The store was full of pumpkins last week. They were all so cute. It's a good thing we brought the bikes down, or I might have brought many more home with me.

Unfortunately we only had a week to spend in the south. We took 2 days to come home. The weather cooled off again as soon as we hit the mountains of West Virginia. It's still in the high 60's and low 70's here at home. I hope summer arrives before September. I would like a little warm weather before the snow starts to fly.

The Sewing Gazette

It's official. I sent out the first issue of the Sewing Gazette. It is a newsletter in a PDF format that I hope to send out monthly. It is general sewing related information, not just quilt things. You can sign up for your copy at http://www.sewinggazette.com/. There is a great interview with Laurie MacDonald from Chili Pepper Quilts. She is doing some amazing things with paper piecing. Check her website while your browsing. www.chilipepperquilts.com If you have other people you would like me to talk to or little tidbits you think I should include, please send me an e-mail and I'll do my best.


What else am I working on? Placemats and table runners for my fall classes. I'll share these when I get them finished. I've been playing with paper piecing more and a few simple curves. I've been working through this idea that you can create any shape with a few simple lines and curves. This time of year I'm really thinking ice cream! You'll have to wait until next time for more on that.


My motorcycle bag. I've been collecting supplies. The fabric arrived for the exterior. It's amazingly beautiful. Love that Kona Bay fabric! I bought the fusible fleece and the decor-bond interfacing to give it body. I still need purple bungee cords to strap it on the back of the bike. Black will do, but I would love to find purple. I have D rings, zipper, grommets and fasteners. I still need a little bit of webbing.

I was originally thinking saddle bags, but my tailpipe is too high and I haven't been able to find a frame to keep the fabric away from it. I decided on a bag to attach to the passenger seat. I am using the Butterick 3934 Duffel to get started. It is the right shape and about the right size. I will have to shorten the straps, add cinch straps to the top and a panel on the bottom for the bungee cords. More pictures to follow soon.

My Latest Challenge

I'm giving myself a challenge project, stepping outside my comfort zone a little. First, a little background. I have been riding motorcycles for about 20 years (Yes, I started riding before I could walk, haha.) One of the things I learned over the years it that it is very helpful to have a place to put all your stuff. Riding motorcycles requires stuff. You have several different pairs of gloves in case the weather changes, hot weather gloves, cold weather gloves, waterproof gloves. I always carry a sweatshirt in case the temperature drops. Honey gave me a heated jacket liner for Christmas. I have to bring that. A rain suit is a good idea if you have the room. There always seems to be lots of stuff before you even begin to bring anything along or (heaven forbid) purchase something like fabric along the way.

My current bike is a 2005 Kawasaki Z750s. It is a great little bike. Fast when I want to be fast. It looks fast all the time, so I must be fast. Blue is a good color. Other drivers seems to see me coming. Always a good trait in a motorcycle. It is comfortable to sit on for long periods of time. Great for those 14 hour trips to Florida, or 10 hours to Tennessee. My bike has one major downfall. There are no bags. No place to put all that stuff. I have a bungee thing to tie things down on the back seat. That works for the larger items. It does not work so well for fabric. I have looked at every motorcycle bag that is out there. There are some that are very nice. They tend to be very black. Maybe black and red and black and yellow, but always black.

So, now to my challenge. I am going to make a duffle bag out of very pretty, girly fabric that I can attach to the back of my bike so I look like a girl (a fast girl) going down the highway. I want bungee thingys on the bottom to fasten around the back seat, but I want to be able to put them away so I can carry my pretty bag in to where ever I'm going. So. Follow along with me on this new adventure. I'm picking out the fabric now. I like the green ginkgo by Kona Bay, but I would have to paint my bike green or get a new one. I know, I know I have said lime green is a neutral. I think I'll try to stay in the blue/purple family this time. Maybe I'll use the Ginkgo to make a bag for Honey's green Goldwing. Like he needs more room to put things. Ha! I love the Lavish Florals by Kona Bay. I think maybe the Lavish Florals April in violet. The challenge is not so much the making of the duffle bag. I have done that before. The challenge will be the outfitting it for the motorcycle. Wish me luck! I'll let you know how it's coming along as I work on it. I wonder if I should make a rain cover for it also. Hmmm..