PIQF

 
Warning: lot of pictures.

The Pacific International Quilt Show in Santa Clara, CA this year was great for quilts, not so much for vendors. I don't know if it is because this show is just before Fall quilt market or what, but vendor wise there was nothing new or exciting...or maybe I'm just jaded or have way too much stash (probably both).  I didn't but any fabric, but did buy two new patterns.

BUT the quilts were great. Here are a few of my favorites:

The flowers in this quilt were embroidered and crocheted or tatted. Beautiful.

Loved the quilting in this modern quilt.

The weasel was adorable and had lots of texture.

This quilt is for Rose; a new layout for crumb blocks. Loved the colors.

I texted a picture of the pirate quilt to a friend who's youngest son loves everything pirates. He was a pirate last year for Halloween and a zombie pirate this year. :o)

If I remember correctly the bow ties were two inch blocks.

Loved the details of this medallion quilt.
 

This quilt was my favorite.

The fabric was a waxed linen.

It looked like carved Alabaster.

Loved the details of this old house.

I want to make this quilt.

Even the borders were pieced blocks.

Two fabrics and threadplay. Another favorite.

Fun modern quilt. I really liked the colors and the quilting.

As always it was a fun day spent with quilts and friends.

Next week I'll show some pictures of the quilts from the Material Girls of Shady Cove quilt show.

Still in Limbo

The people who I bought my house from are having a new house built, it was supposed to be finished by October 31.  Guess what? Yup. They have asked to continue renting until mid-December. I'm really hoping it won't take longer.

To while away the time, I've been helping my mom with a major cleanup of her basement - I broke the basement today, for some reason none of the electrical outlets are working (yes, I checked the circuit breaker). I've joined a cross stitch group that meets twice a week (I've only been going once a week). I've gone to a few quilt shows, including a road trip back to California for the Pacific International Quilt Festival (I'll share pictures next week). Gotten my library card and my Oregon driver's license (DMV screwed up and put a picture of an old lady on my driver's license). And done very little sewing.

My mom really likes the log cabin quilt I've been working on so I'm trying to figure out how to make a 60 inch center fit a queen size bed.

I'm thinking lots of borders. I'm trying to decide if I want to add a small border (or two) of the hunter green that is in the large print fabric. It will probably be determined by whether or not I can find a fabric that matches.

Bella has settled in really well. Every door here has a sign on it saying "CAT!" to remind everyone not to let the cat out. We (my mom) has also had to move every house plant to either my mom's bedroom / bathroom or the garage as Bella loves to eat plants. We even had to move a few fake ones. I got her a tub of wheat grass that she can eat instead, hopefully she will stop chewing on the fake plants.

She LOVES my mom's gas fireplace. Who doesn't love a warm belly. ;o)
 

I'm Here

  
Moving is not fun. Half of my belongings are in this trailer in storage, and the other half is in my mom's garage. It will be roughly six weeks (cross your fingers) before I can move into my new house.

In the meantime I've set up a sewing station at my mom's. Don't you love the little side table, I got it at a garage sale.

I have been able to do a little bit of sewing, I'm even further along than this picture shows. One more strip and I'll be able to start laying out the blocks.

At the same garage sale I bought this beautiful little quilt. The label on the back dates it to November 1998.

Look at those points! And how small the pieces are! The quilt is 18 inches square.

I think it may have been paper pieced. I'd love to find the pattern and make a new version. I wonder how difficult it is to draw your own paper piecing templates?
 

Moving Stuff

I've been taking truckloads of boxes and stuff up to my mom's for the last five months. Yesterday I moved fabric...

and more fabric...plus a few finished quilts.

What you don't see is that the truck is a cab plus and the plus was also full of fabric, the Juki sewing machine and other odd sewing room stuff.

My mom definitely loves me. Instead of hauling everything down to the basement as originally planned, she decided we should stack everything in her dining room. What you don't see is the other side of dining room which has large tote boxes stacked up.

Ha, ha, ha, you didn't think that was all my fabric did you? I'll be taking another load up Thursday.
 

What day is it?

  
The house sold again. This time I think it will stick. Escrow closes on September 26 so I am doing some serious packing. I took a load up to my mom's this past weekend and will probably take at least one load a week. My poor little truck is starting to have some mileage - I bought it three years ago, it is a 2001 Toyota Tacoma. When I bought it it had about 34k miles on it, now it has a little over 40k. It is a very basic truck, manual transmission, manual locks, and manual window handles - when was the last time you had to turn a handle to lower the windows? It is a cab plus so it does has a little bit of extra room. Right now I don't know what I'd do without it.

There are so many little things that need to get taken care of, making repairs to the house (or hiring someone to do the repairs), changes of address, homeowners insurance, scheduling movers (can you say $$$), open enrollment for medical insurance; cancelling utilities, cancelling TV/internet; and trying to see friends one last time before I leave for Oregon. I have lists, multiple lists.

I'll be staying at my mom's for 6-8 weeks until my new house is available, then I'm sure there will be more lists.

I'm trying to say positive and think all the possibilities of the new house.  Which room should be my sewing room? The office with all the built-in selves and cabinets?

Or the smaller bedroom with lots of windows? (tried to talk the seller into leaving the vintage Dresden quilt and treadle sewing machine but she said no)

Or both? The quilt frame and Juki will go in one of the rooms and the little Bernina in the other.

Bella was so helpful, she packed herself in this box. She then tried to eat it.

I have had time to sew a bit in the evenings. Making very slow progress on the log cabin blocks.

Staying Positive

 
But I gotta say, some days it is difficult. My house still hasn't sold again; I did drop the price so my fingers are crossed. With the loss of the original buyer I am jumping through hoops to keep the house in Oregon. The original buyer did a home inspection so I'm working on all the fixes / repairs needed to my house. It will be good to have them all out of the way.

I finished the trapezoid quilt...okay I like it a little better now that it is done. Bella is really good at kitty approving quilts.

Notice the pillows? Bella is also really good at clawing furniture. I've found putting pillows at corners helps. Any other suggestions?

The quilt is 57 x 73 inches.

Is there a cat around that doesn't like playing with measuring tapes?

I found a good solution for sewing mojo...find something already cut out so you don't have to think, all you have to do is sew.

I'm not a big fan of log cabin blocks, but I love Moda's French General fabrics. I think these are going to go together fast.
 

Que será, será

  
I got a call this afternoon from my California realtor letting me know the buyer was backing out of the deal. They wanted me to replace, not repair, fences, the HVAC system, and more. PLUS they wanted me to drop the price $20k ??? My house is 20 years old, it has issues, but it is overall in really good shape, in a very desirable neighborhood with great schools. Most of the things their home inspector found were minor and easily fixable - he even commented it was a really nice house and in good shape. I've already fixed most of the issues he found. There was so much drama with the buyer that I'm actually relieved I don't have to do business with them...

...except I found a house in Oregon that I love 💖. I made an offer and it was accepted!

The sellers of this house are building a new house that won't be finished until the end of October. I'm really hoping they will extend the escrow close as it could take another 10-15 days to sell my house again. I'll know more in the next few days.

On the quilting front, the trapezoid quilt is almost done.

I've decided it is the most boring quilt I've ever made. I only have three more seams to sew (granted they are very long seams) but I'm not excited about finishing it. And I don't have another quilt (or 10) ready and waiting to start. The new Project Linus mystery starts next month and Diane at Butterfly Threads is hosting a sew-along that I think I'll participate in. I'm hoping both of these will help get my quilting mojo jumping again.

Well, I guess I better do my dishes, make my bed, pick up the house, put away the ironing board, vacuum and mow the yard. Hopefully someone will want to see the house tomorrow.