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This is quilting related, believe it or not. We live in a little house when compared to our family's varied interests and need for space (1400 sq. feet). Anyway, this shed will house a bunch of stuff which by its absence will allow me to move my studio (again) and maybe even get a dye sink. That would be so sweet.

So I'm looking forward to moving/tossing/rearranging stuff so that I can move. The only things I'll share in my new location is the washer/dryer (which is okay), the cat's litter box (which I'll put up with because he is pretty tidy & doesn't smell), and the freezer (an upright). All of the other stuff will be sewing related or it will be G-O-N-E.

We had a horrible accident with the freezer this week. Somehow it got unplugged and was in that state for a couple of days. Everything in it was ruined. Just awful. So my son & I took it all out to the burn pile and set it on fire. Smelled like a big BBQ. The neighbors probably wondered what we were doing down here.

Tomorrow I'm working on a video shoot. We're shooting 5 commercials in one day, with 5 actors and two locations. I have to cook a "stunt turkey" for the commercial dealing with Thanksgiving. This morning we were dyeing Easter eggs for that particular spot. It's going to be a long day, but this is what buys wooden sheds and increased space.

I need to get back to a project on the design wall, which I haven't shown here yet because I'm not sure if it's worthy of photography. It's made with scraps from the auction quilt (which has a bid now). This morning, I worked on accounting stuff so that the CPA can look at everything and give us some advice for the rest of the year. It may involve trading in my van and getting something new for the business. We went out looking yesterday and I'm still in "sticker shock". Very tiring, overwhelming, and depressing. My car has 115,000 on it and has been fine (we've had good luck with Toyotas), but I know its time is drawing to a close. And I've always had trouble judging distance in it. Ugh..I hate even talking about it here.

Think I'll sew. The solution for all of the world's problems.

Since I showed you my screw-ups on the back of the drunkard's path, I was asked to show the front. This is an example of my constant struggle with traditional quiltmaking and my darker, more dangerous side. I got all of the fabrics on the "sale" rack and thought they'd be something fun to mess with. Now for the advertisement...

Last year at Paducah, I saw this interesting gadget called the Curve Master (www.curvemaster.biz). It's a plastic presser foot that allows you to piece a curved piece against a straight piece, or a convex curve against a concave. I had always wanted to make a drunkard's path from my early quiltmaking days and had never tried because I didn't want to fuss with the piecing. Well, the Curve Master works. And it works incredibly well. The only problem I had with it was that the attachment for my sewing machine jiggled loose and the plastic shank broke. I emailed the Curve Master folks and lo and behold a new pack of shanks arrived in the mail...free of charge. Wow, a company who stands behind their product!

Now the next advertisement, since I had gotten the Curve Master to make the blocks, how about some templates. Betty Kiser from The Path Less Traveled (www.thepathlesstraveled.com) had just what I needed. A lovely set of hot pink templates for drunkard's path. You wouldn't want to try this without them. You can cut up to 4 thicknesses with no problem, using a small rotary cutter. Very slick. So now that I've made the drunkard's path, I'll be surprised if I do it again. But it was fun and the above products guarded against frustration and potential disaster.
They are now going to a friend at my guild who wants to try them out.

Now on to my exciting day in the big city. Center City Lancaster is really a great place on Market Days (Tuesday, Friday & Saturday). Central Market is open with lots of interesting things to see (and eat). Plus, it's summer and tourist season, so much more interesting. My job yesterday was to sit in the alley outside of the museum across from Central Market and sell raffle tickets to benefit the educational programming at the Museum from 10AM to 2PM. A very worthy cause, I might add, because they will do whatever it takes to get programming in front of schools and such. And all on a shoestring budget. It was a lovely day, not too hot, so I brought along some reading (The Red Dyes by Gosta Sandberg), some SAQA journals, and the new Keepsake Quilting catalog.

After about 2 hours of sitting, a woman smoking a cigar approached, waving her hand in the air and yelled at a noticeable volume...

Woman: I don't know who you think you are, but I have my cigars right here (pointing to her purse), and I'm going to smoke them.

Me: Okay

Woman: You have no right to tell me to leave.

Me: Okay

Woman: Everytime I come out here you policemen harass me and I'm not leaving.

Me: (Pretend to read my book)

Woman: So that's it, don't you even think of trying to make me leave.

Me: (Head still buried in book)

This banter went on for what seemed like hours, but was probably only a minute or two. For the rest of my shift, she sat on the bench outside of the Market and watched me. Creepy.

All I was thinking was "Please don't burn me or the quilt...Well, at least I can heal, but the quilt can't".

On a more normal note, I did get to chat with some nice folks from Maui. We talked about Hawaiian quilts. Talked with some quilters from Virginia and PA, too, who happened by. So, all in all, a good day, except for the cigar lady.

Here are the results of my weekend dyeing session. I dunno if it was the temperature, the water, my reckless technique...but I had some glorious results.
Twenty one full yard pieces and 8 half yard pieces. Here they are labeled and ready to be delivered to Brubaker's Sewing in New Holland. Buy them there. They are nice people and take excellent care of their customers.



I have another 25 yards left, but I'm out of several dye colors. So, I'm putting together an order for Pro-Chem. That's it for now. Tomorrow, I'm working a four hour shift selling raffle tickets in Lancaster to benefit the Museum.

This is the back of the pink/green/blue drunkard's path quilt for our guild charity project. I re-basted the entire thing and the quilting went much more smoothly.

Here's why I encourage everyone to make a lot of quilts...

With every one, you learn a little something...you get a little better...you learn to save time and frustration.

It's the only way to improve your skills. You can read all of the magazines and books in the world, but you gotta take the step and do it.

Working on quilts for these kinds of things is good for you. Sure, they are usually traditional quilts, but you can still decorate them with machine quilting you wanted to try. This is far from perfect, but in the end, someone gets a nifty quilt and you, as the quiltmaker, get practice. How many things in life are as mutually beneficial as that?

Next project.... I am using the hand dyed scraps from an earlier project for the second in a series I've been working on for 5 years. Yes...only the second in five years. Shameful.