Where have I been?

I have been heads down getting ready for Quilt Market. For those that don't know, Quilt Market is a show for the shop owners to attend to see what is new in the world of quilts and bring those things back to their shops. I have about a week left and am so happy to have only bindings left to finish. YEAH! I'll have pictures of the quilts for you then. Quilt Market is in Pittsburgh this year, only a 2 hour drive for me. I'm going down on Thursday to set up and the show runs Friday-Sunday. I'm so excited. Most of the local shops are going, so I will see many, many people that I know this time. The thought of it all almost makes my head spin.

My Simplicity jacket is coming along, very slowly. I have quilted some of the pieces, but am still working on it. I had thought about quilting the fabric on my longarm, but thought I might be more likely to use the scraps if they were not quilted. Not that I ever do. I keep thinking I need to make several scrap quilts to use up those little pieces. Right now they go into an already overstuffed box. I wonder how many quilts I would have to make to put a dent in that pile. Would I then have room for more new fabric? Hmmm...

I took a little motorcycle marketing trip last weekend up Route 5. I stopped at several shops along the way. It was a beautiful day to be out, 75 and sunny. Route 5 runs along Lake Erie. It was a little cool in some spots right along the lake. I did spend some time on Route 20 on the way home and it was much warmer and Route 20 is less than half a mile from Route 5. Crazy! My plan (excuse) was to stop in the shops and give them my flyer for quilt market. I think the Motorcycle Marketing Trip should become a regular activity.

Three Weeks and Counting

I leave for Quilt Market in Pittsburgh in 3 weeks. These next 3 weeks will be full of binding quilts and printing patterns. I thought you might be interested in this article on bias vs straight binding. http://pir8.freeservers.com/quilting/CBT/index.htm Most of the time I use a straight binding. I have been contemplating the switch to bias bindings because they wear better. When done correctly, they also lie beautifully. The downside is always figuring out how much fabric I will need. Shelley Rodgers from http://www.quiltedparadise.com/ has a great chart that makes calculating easy. Of course you can always purchase binging already cut. These are called lollipops. You can see why. This particular group is available from http://www.popsbindings.com/.

I have big plans for this weekend. I would really like to finish the Palumbo quilt top. I have 40 blocks finished, granted all the easy ones are done. There are 24 paper pieced blocks to go. In a perfect world, I will have those finished Friday night. I already planning a little break for Saturday. I want to take a ride up into NY along Route 5. Route 5 runs along Lake Erie. There are a couple new shops I found in Jamestown I would like to visit and always the shop in Dunkirk. I guess I had better put the big bag on the back of the bike, or I'll have trouble bringing things home. I heard it might be 75!

A Binding I am Going

I am deep in Quilt Market preparation mode. I looked at the calendar yesterday and realized there are only four weeks left. YIKES! I am not really in a time crunch yet, but those dates kind of sneak up behind me and shout BOO. I have most of my new designs made and quilted, but quite a bit of binding to do still. It looks like several nights in from of the television, hand sewing the binding. Hmmm, that does not sound so bad.

I was out at the North East Crazy Quilter's Quilt Show today and helped serve (and taste test) pie. There were some amazing quilts on display. I'm sorry I didn't bring my camera. I did a little shopping though and picked up the Sewline Fabric Pencil. Now this looks really cool. It is a mechanical pencil with a ceramic lead that is used to mark fabric. The lead comes in a a variety of colors, white, yellow and green. You can also buy the eraser refills. I have used white and yellow pencils for ever, but they always need sharpening and you have to compensate for the thickness of the lead when you are using them with a ruler. I know there are pens available also, but they always seem to dry our before I think they should. I think I'll need at least one more of these so I can have a white and a yellow available at all times.

What else have I been trying out? I have a small sample of Quilter's Dream (http://www.quiltersdreambatting.com/ )new Orient batting. It is a blend of silk, bamboo, botanic tencel and cotton that has a beautiful hand. It is machine wash and dry so I am thinking it will do wonderful in a new jacket. My plan is Simplicity 2858, using the Wilmington Essentials print. I know the pattern is not a quilted jacket, but I am going to quilt the outer shell anyway. I will have to quilt the fabric and then cut out the pieces to make sure the fit is correct. There is always some shrinkage when a fabric is quilted. I am only going to quilt the outer fabric to the batting. I will construct the lining as directed so I do not have to finish the seams. I will let you know how it all turns out. I have to finish my samples for market first.

The Martha Washington Sewing Table

For those interested in my red sewing cabinet, here is a link that gives some of the history of that style of cabinet. http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1994/6/1994_6_30.shtml

My New Sewing Room

It's been a month since the big move and I think my new sewing room is finally coming together. I have an odd shaped room to work with, but I am very happy with the results. As some of you know, I had my sewing all over the house. My cutting table, fabric and ironing board were on the second floor and my sewing machine was on the first. I would do the sewing aerobics every day. Upstairs to cut, downstairs to sew, upstairs to press, back downstairs to sew. It was getting a little crazy. I think Honey was getting a little tired of the sewing paraphernalia spread everywhere.Now, we have consolidated most everything into 1 room. My fabric is still in the attic, but at least it is all on the same floor.

I do not have any "real" sewing furniture. The tables made specifically for sewing are beautiful, but the do not fit well in my room. My room is only 8 feet wide in the largest section. I have 2 six foot tables in a corner to cut and sew on with shelves under both. I love having the extra space to spread out on when working on a large project. It also gives the "little boys" a place to sleep or watch the going's on out the window. I also love having a basket to collect all my scraps just under the table. I really should make more scrap quilts. Add them to the project list I guess.

I have added a few shelves and still need one more. Maybe this weekend. The shelves and drawers are next to my sewing machine. I can open the drawers without getting up. I keep my thread and needles in there, close at hand. My room is about 16ft. long. At the other end I have my ironing board, my serger and an old Martha Washington sewing cabinet. Some day I'll strip the red paint off and refinish it.

I love having this dedicated space. Honey teases about the invisible line at the doorway. The one that allows everything to go in and nothing to come out. I need a few things fort he walls, but I think I'm going to paint it first. Best of all, I love looking out the window while I'm working.