Misc. Stuff

Are praying mantis good bugs or bad bugs? I was working in the yard this morning an found these guys.

One was in the lantana, the other was in a pot with some not to green daisies. I might have to Google them after this post.

My hen and chick is blooming:

This is the first time it has bloomed.

I got the half square blocks for the first quadrant of my friendship triangles quilt squared up and laid out.


I think it is going to take me a while to sew this together.

My latest civil war blocks are done. Both really easy.

I like Ohio Stars.

And last but not least...the monster lives!

Now I need to learn how to tame the beast. Lessons learned so far:

1. Don't roll the quilt up too high or you get gaps in the quilting.

2. You are delusional if you think you don't need to practice A LOT.

3. You need to breathe every once in a while...holding your breath is not good.

I'm sure there will be more lessons to learn before I get to my first quilt.

Quick

Talk about customer service! I talked to a technical support person at the Grace Company on Wednesday morning, by Friday afternoon a new Sure Stitch Regulator was delivered. Wow. They tested it on site to ensure it works with my Juki 2000....does it work? Don't know. I'm not as fast or efficient as they are. Installing the first regulator was a pain in the keister. I'm not looking forward to taking it off and installing the new one.

Two new civil war blocks... one was exceptional easy and the other was exceptional difficult. Can you guess which was which?

Difficult Easy

I started out using Barbara Brackman's pattern and templates for the Confederate Rose block. I should have tweaked this one like I have a few of the other blocks, it would have been simpler to just make a square in a square in square block with cheater corners. Having said that, it is one of my favorite finished blocks.

On a side note: I got called in for jury duty today. It was a civil case, someone ran a red light that caused an accident. A passenger in one of the cars sued both drivers. I didn't get picked but it was interesting to watch the jury selection process.

Sew Eventful Weekend

Lots of sewing did and did not occur at my house this weekend.

On Saturday Dawn, Stacey and Nancy came over to sew. They were my motivation to get everything attached, plugged and pinned...


Nada, nothing...literally. I could get it working with the presser foot, but not the regulator. So disappointing. We tried everything, Googled everything, and no luck. So very disappointing. Does anyone in blogland have a Sure Stitch Regulator hooked up to a Juki 2000? Any suggestions?

To add to it all Fred peed on Stacey's sewing machine carrier and an ex-boyfriend was in the area and decided he wanted to visit even though I told him I had a house full of women sewing and it wasn't the best time. (I talk to him about once year and haven't seen him in 11 years.) His comment once he got here..."I didn't realize you were so into this stuff." Really?

I was so distracted I didn't take any pictures on Saturday. Stacey worked on friendship star blocks, Dawn worked with templates to make a complicated sunflower block and Nancy worked on making very colorful snowball blocks with Kaffe fabrics.

Yesterday was more relaxing. Nancy came back over and we watch p.s. I love you with Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler. Now if Gerard Butler had stopped by on Saturday I would have kicked all those women out the door so fast they wouldn't have seen the boot coming. Good movie. A 5 Kleenex rating.

Nancy finished putting together the rows for this Just Can't Cut It (more Kaffe).


The picture doesn't do the quilt justice. It is SO bright and cheerful.

I've mention the charm packet challenge Nancy and I have going...here's where she is.

And this is where I am...


Hmmmm... doesn't look quite right does it.