Hot Pursuit

I'm in hot pursuit of a Juki TL-2010Q quilting machine.  I've searched nearby dealers, even all the way to Cleveland, with no luck.  Seems it's a hot ticket item and no one has any in stock near me.  But.  I.  Have.  Not.  Given.  Up.  Yet.

Now I could get one from a dealer in Mississippi and they could over-night it to me for an extra $200+ !!  Uh, don't need it that badly.  I could always break out my Bernina (I know - poor me!) to get the job done and I still may need to, but it would be so much easier for me to use a Juki.  No chance of using my Featherweight -- Denver's quilt is just too big for the harp.

Tomorrow I'm putting in one last call to a dealer on the west side of the state and I'll haul myself over there tout suite if they've got one.  I sure wish I'd had this brilliant idea BEFORE I went to the AQS show in Grand Rapids back last month.  I'm sure I could have take one home that day if I'd known I wanted it.  That's the trouble with brilliant ideas - you don't always get them at the perfect time!

More Quilts from the AQS Show

Here are a few of the magnificent quilts I saw at last week's AQS show in Grand Rapids.  They were made by American artists and included in the Tentmakers of Cairo quilt display.  The  pieces that were made by Egyptian quilt makers were lovely, too, but to me they were not technically quilts as we refer to them since they did not have our traditional batting and were not quilted.  They were for sale and many had sold.

I got to see one Egyptian artist demonstrate his applique technique - very interesting!

Busy Week

I've had a pretty busy week for someone who is out of work, again.  I'm not sure how I could work and get all I need to do done.  Most of my efforts this week have been related to quilting.  

I needed to get a location for the November workshops and decided on using the church where that month's meeting is to be held.  I ordered more rack cards from Vistaprint to broadcast our schedule for the year and some business cards that will serve as membership cards for members who need a card to get the 10% discount at Joann's.  I sent updates for the website to our webmistress, who's vacationing in the Bahamas this week - poor thing!  Next I organized the speaker addresses for our correspondence secretary so she can send out the thank you cards I had printed by Vistaprint in the spring.

Tuesday I had lunch with my Chicken friend Sue at my favorite restaurant of late, Vinsetta Garage, and we had the exact same thing, Chop Shop Salad, Iced Tea, and split a side of their fabulous, did I say fabulous?, macaroni and cheese.  Then we headed down to Material Girls in Dearborn, where we both managed to find a *few* fabrics we had to have.  I bought 3 more spools of the 60 weight 3 ply Presencia thread and when I got home I discovered two of the three colors I already had!  Guess I have plenty to quilt with now.  Our Chicken Stitch Group met that night and it was nice to get caught up with the ladies.

Wednesday I had my orientation meeting with the outplacement firm and met someone who told me I should apply at the company he just left.  Hmmm.  Sue's husband works for the same company so I know it's a good place to work.  We'll see.  This finding a job thing is a job in itself!  I've got one agency sending me jobs and the guy is clueless about what I can do.  I'm about to give up on them.

Yesterday I had an appointment with my dentist for my occlusal guard check up.  I've been faithful about wearing it every night except for one when I forgot and went to bed without it.  After the appointment I finished sewing the last of the borders on my grandson Denver's birthday quilt.  Good thing -- today is his first birthday!  

Today I got the first oil change done on my Focus.  While I was waiting I wandered over to the used car lot to see if they had anything for my roommate.  They have the perfect truck for him and I hope he gets it.  He works so many hours that he can't even look for a new truck but I'm hoping we can swing the deal next week before someone else snatches it up!

I'm off to baste and quilt Denver's birthday present, which I will give to him at his party on the 9th -- good thing I've got a little buffer to complete it.  Then I have one more baby quilt to finish and then???????

In the mean time I'm swatting nasty fruit gnats -- any suggestions for ridding my house of them?  Besides putting the fruit in the fridge, which I've already done.  I'm walking around the house with my swatter -- going nuts!

Hope you have a great weekend!

So Many Quilts.....

....so sew little time!  It was challenging to see all the quilts at the AQS show on Saturday and I will admit that I did not see them all.  Here are some of my favorites.  I was hindered in my photo taking because I foolishly forgot to put my SD card back into my camera after downloading some pictures on Friday night -- argggghhhh!

The first two quilts were part of the Gwen Marston exhibit, though they were created by people who attended her retreat.

The next quilt was part of an exhibit of Japanese made quilts.  This one was amazing to me in part because the maker used blue silk fabric from her grandmother - see the sign below it for her story.

This next quilt was simply stunning -- the detail had to be seen in person to be appreciated!

Cathy McIntee's Extreme I-Spy Silhouettes quilt is so much fun to look at:

I love this beautiful green, red, and white quilt -- wonderful quilting on it:

Doesn't this terrific quilt remind you of a wool rug??

Two more quilts that I thought were spectacular:

And finally, the quilt that won Best of Show.  I liked it a lot but I saw a couple of others that could have won as well.  Beauty is in the eye of the judges!

Worn Out!

I spent the day Saturday with my friend Mary at the AQS show in Grand Rapids.  We weren't alone.  Many thousands of people trekked to see over 900 quilts on display.  Oh, and the vendors too. Instead of starting with viewing the quilts, as is my norm, I decided we should start by stopping by a FEW booths and I did my part to help spur on the economy.  Ok, maybe a little more than my part but it's retail therapy, right?

More pictures and details coming tomorrow!

Drive By

This is a drive by post.  I've been home for a day, just long enough to get my laundry caught up and take Maggie to the Vet's.  She's having a terrible allergy season and is itchin' and scratchin' so much it's even making ME crazy.  She's had a shot, gotten some new medications to take with some cheese, and I gave her a bath with a VERY expensive shampoo -- $30 -- I would never spend that much on me!  But she seems to be feeling much, much better and I'm so glad for that.

Now that my chores are done I'm off to stay at Holly's house tonight so I can watch my grandson Denver all day tomorrow.  Shameful to say, but it's the first all-day sitting experience for me with him.  I can hardly believe it hasn't happened already but Holly has several sitters who live closer and were always more available, especially when I was still working.  I'm taking out some early birthday gifts -- his birthday is August 31st -- woohoo!

Hope you've had a great week.  I'll check in again soon.

Absent but Busy

My photography class went really well and I learned a lot.  I learned I have a lot to learn!  I'll keep practicing.  I already put some of it to good use when I photographed a little quilt I made for someone special (more next week).

Today I updated my resumé on the unemployment website and before I could finish my in-person meeting there, I had a call and message from someone who had a position I might be interested in -- amazing!  We'll see what happens next week.

For now, I'm off to bed and will probably sleep fitfully, the way I always do before a vacation.  I'm driving up to Charlevoix tomorrow morning for a visit with my sister Denise and her family.  So much packing to do still and lots of little things to remember to take.  I'm hoping my brother in law Mike will be able to tutor me on my camera.

Have a great weekend!  Catch up with you next week.......