It has been quite some time since I posted because I just don't have anything interesting to post about.  I haven't been doing any quilting to speak of mainly because I still haven't organized my sewing space in the new house.

I did finish one small piece for my guild's monochromatic challenge.  There were no size requirements for the work so I decided to work small.

The paper pieced wedges are 4"

Although it's embarrassing, here are some photos of my sewing space in its current state of disarray.

I have the entire bottom floor of the new house for sewing.  My machines are set up in what used to be a family room and I am using the 2 bedrooms on this floor for fabric storage etc.

Here's one view of the fabric storage room.  I am going to get some wire drawer units from IKEA to put the actual fabric into, but haven't made the 3 hour trip up to Charlotte, NC yet to get them.  I expect the units to go around the room against the walls.

Another view of the room showing some of the boxes of fabric (and you can't see the boxes behind the boxes!)

This is the other bedroom - which Jerry is calling the cutting room.  In addition to cutting I am storing books and assorted stuff in this room.

The unit I'm using as a cutting surface is a free-standing kitchen drawer unit from IKEA.  I really like this unit and am glad I got it.

Here's one view of the sewing room.   I use my Janome 6500 almost exclusively, but didn't want my Bernina to feel left out, so I found a table on Craigslist that I'm using for the Bernina.  I initially was going to have Jerry drop the Bernina down into the table, but am reconsidering it.  I usually only use the machine with the embroidery attachment and need to have easy access to add and remove the embroidery unit. Who knows, Jerry may still figure something out for me.  He's good like that!

The design wall is opposite the sewing machines.

The only natural light in the sewing room comes from this door to the outside.  The lighting isn't ideal for sewing, but we have put natural light bulbs in the overhead fixtures which is helping a lot.

I really need to get this area organized so I can actually be productive.  Once I get my fabric storage units in place, I'm confident the rest of the room will come together (at least I hope!!)

Visiting Detroit

Jerry and I just returned from a trip to Detroit to visit family. My nephew, Chris, was having his graduation party so it made a good excuse to make the trip.

It had been about 2 years since we'd traveled up that way. Detroit isn't usually high on any one's list for a vacation!

Here's the graduate, Chris, with his family: my brother Ed, sister-in-law Terry, Chris, and his brother Eddie. (click photos for larger view)

I don't like to have my picture taken, but someone convinced my brothers and me to pose with our mother. The brother seated next to mom is Claude and Ed is standing in the back next to me.

My nephew, Claude, jr, has 3 kids. His twins are Ryan





and Cameron

and the twins' older sister Olivia. (seen here with her father)

The newest member of the family is Riggins, the 4 week old son of my nephew Kevin.



One thing I always try to do when I'm in Detroit is to have a Sanders Hot Fudge Creme Puff. I sure miss Sanders!

It's probably I good thing I don't still live in the area or I'd be eating one of these on a daily basis!

Finally finished!

Some time ago several of my quilting friends decided to make a quilt called Monterrey Medallion.  Each person chose her own colorway for the quilt so it was fun watching them take shape and seeing how each looked so different.    I got to thinking that I would like the quilt in a black and bright colorway and finally decided to make it.    It took me a while because I don't usually make anything this big.   Most of my work is wall sized.   This is the first quilt that I can actually put on a bed and have it actually fit.  I want to make matching pillow shams for it, but until I do, these Bed Bath &Beyond black shams will have to do.   I've named the quilt Stars over Monterey. 

(click photos for a larger view)  Please excuse the disorder in the bedroom.  We STILL are not completely unpacked and haven't put art work on the walls yet or anything.



She knows what she likes

The other day when the kids were here Hayden decided to pick out some quilts to put on the walls in "her" room.  We went through the pile of wall quilts waiting to find a home.  It was very interesting to watch her reactions.  She never hesitated and gave a yes or a no immediately. 

Over her bed is a quilt I made in a class with Miriam Nathan-Roberts at Asilomar.  In the class we selected a traditional block and used it in 3 different sizes.  It's called Asilomar Pinwheels. (click photos for larger view)

Hayden picked where the quilts were hung and I'm going to have to move this basket quilt.  This quilt was made for our guild's 25th anniversary challenge.  The symbol of the guild is a basket and we were supposed to make any kind of basket.



This quilt was made from a kit and was supposed to just be a circle.  I didn't want to make it exactly like the pattern so I changed it a bit.  (yes, that's a Christmas bell pull hanging next to that quilt.  She found it in a box and just had to have it to decorate her room.  She kept trying to hang it on her bed but it wouldn't stay so it ended up on the wall)

The village quilt was made in a class with Karen Eckmaier.  It was fun to do.

We haven't gotten around to putting blinds in the windows yet and the previous owners didn't leave the curtains. I hate the shades, but they keep the sun and heat out until we get what we want.

Wall of Shame

My friend Dotty has put all of her UFOs on her design wall and dubbed it her Wall of Shame. I liked that title so much that I decided I should use it too.   I'm just getting my design wall (of shame) back up at the new house and put a few of my UFOs on it. (click photos for larger view)   The daffodil quilt is so close to being done that I'm ashamed of myself for letting it go this long.  It's even partially quilted.  I pieced it a couple of years ago at our guild's annual Beach Retreat. 

Under the daffodils is a circle quilt that was featured in a Bernina magazine.  It needs a bunch of circle embellishment and then quilting.  I used my circle attachment for this and it was fun to use.   In the middle is my class project from the Carol Taylor class I took at Mid Atlantic Quilt Fest in February.  The big butterfly was started in a class with Marilyn Wall.   The sun face on the bottom right was from a class with Susan Carlson at Asilomar a couple of years ago.

 I've been trying to bring some order to my new sewing space but am not having much success.   The space is the lower floor of our house.   There is a rec room where I will set up my machines.  One of the 2 bedrooms on that floor will hold my books, notions, and assorted stuff.

The 2nd bedroom has fabric.  Right now most of the fabric is in boxes.  I want to set up some sort of bin/drawer system but haven't quite figured it out.

My sewing tables are still covered with a bunch of crap.  There was some sewing I wanted to do, so I just shoved the stuff out of the way.

There is still a bunch of non-sewing related stuff sitting around on this level.  We're still figuring out where some things go.

This is the wet bar area on the lower level which I eventually hope to be able to use for some dyeing projects.  For some reason Jerry thinks he should actually be able to put bar related stuff in the area.  Wonder where he got that idea!

Long time no post

Wow, what a busy few weeks we've had. The weekend of May 20th was the latest edition of the 24 Hours of Lemons.

The Bumble Bee car driven by team Terminally Confused had great new wings added for this race. (click photos for larger view)






Here's Charlie - the wing man!



The wings actually fluttered as the car raced around the track. Very cool.

On Friday night all the race cars took part in a special parade in downtown Camden, SC.

The parade leader was Jeff "Speedycop" who usually has a car in the race. Unfortunately a couple of weeks before the race Jeff broke his ankle in a softball game and was on the DL after having surgery to insert some screws. A quick modification to the ever present motorized bar stool allowed Speedycop to not only lead the race, but to get around the paddock areas all weekend in comfort. (that's Craig there in the background making sure his modifications were working okay.)




The beginning of the parade



Here come the judge...




A long line of cars



Assorted themes




"Our Lady of Perpetual Downforce" (I know...some odd team names...)




This team was called Bumble Bee racing. We thought our bee theme was better. These guys only raced a few laps on Saturday and then didn't hit the track again. They must have had a major breakdown.




Because the race was held the same weekend as the predicted Rapture, one team themed their car accordingly



The Cheese car



This was a team of Firefighters from Goose Creek - the city where Craig lives. They had a siren on their car which they used frequently during the parade



The Simpsons car was a popular one. Homer's head made it through the race with no problems



At least one car had problems even before the race. These guys got lots of cheers for pushing their car up the street



The Chuck Norris car was raced by Mike Smith - a neighbor of Craig's. When the guys began working on their car for their first race back in September Mike noticed the activity and stopped to chat about it. Turns out he's a LeMons racer as well, but he wasn't racing in the September or February races. He very generously volunteered some of his tools and a lot of his expertise to the team. They were glad he was racing this time. You can't see it on the car, but they had taken a sharpie and written "Chuck Norrisms" all over the car. I loved the hairy chest!




Our car was near the end of the parade. Craig was driving with Charlie on the hood, Paul in the window and Paul's girlfriend riding on top. Jerry had already hopped off.






The Judges again - notice Speedycop off the bar stool and using his crutches




Unfortunately, the race didn't go so well. On Saturday they only got in 20 laps. Since the track was hot from 10am to 7:30 pm you know they had major problems! They even resorted to an engine change during the day.



When they finally got back on the track on Sunday they had a couple of black flags requiring serving a penalty. The first flag was because the car spun and was hit by the then 2nd place car. Broke our steering arm which we were able to repair but took the 2nd place car out permanently. When we were ready to race again the penalty was to take sparkly stick-on letters and do this:







Remember the Rapture guys? They didn't get off as easily for their penalty. Two of their guys were shrink wrapped to the top of the car and they had to drive around announcing the pending end of the world



We had an additional black flag penalty on Sunday which required the team to get lunch for the LeMons staff.




The next race is in September and will be held at Charlotte Motor Speedway. They're looking forward to it, but will need to do some work on the car so they can actually race!

Right after the race we moved...more about that some later post.